The Merseyside Spring tour will visit Liverpool, Southport, St Helens and New Brighton between 10th March and 23rd April.
The new ensemble production features eight cast members, including a number of faces familiar to Liverpool theatregoers, namely Eithne Browne, Jake Abrahams and Emma Dears.
The tour opens with a three-week run at the Epstein Theatre Liverpool (10th to 28th March). This is followed by visits to Southport Theatre (9th to 11th April) and St Helens Theatre Royal (14th to 16th April). The tour ends with a trip across the River Mersey to the Floral Pavilion in New Brighton (19th to 23rd April).
The full cast line up is Emma Dears (Judy & Liza, Les Miserables) as Mother, Christopher Jordan (Moving On, Coronation Street) as Father, Young Helen is played by Maria Lovelady and with Young Alan played by Daniel Stephen Davies. Eithne Browne (Brookside, Brick Up The Mersey Tunnel), Jake Abraham (Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Game of Thrones), Roy Carruthers (Night Collar, Tales from Haunted Liverpool) and Brian Dodd (Tony Teardrop, Treasured) all take on lead roles, as well as supplementary characters throughout.
The production is being staged by Pulse in collaboration with producer and stage writer Rob Fennah and new co-producer Bill Elms. They are joined by director Bob Eaton. The show will celebrate 21 years on stage during its Merseyside tour which also starred Eithne Browne.
Helen Forrester’s Twopence to Cross the Mersey tells the true story of a young girl and her formerly wealthy family as they are suddenly thrown into poverty during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Leaving behind the nannies, servants and comfortable middle-class life in the South West of England, they uproot their shattered lives and choose Liverpool as the place to start again to rebuild their dreams and fortune.
Theatregoers also have an extra incentive to catch the show following a collaboration with Merseyrail – they can travel by train to selected performances at two Merseyside venues for just two pence – the first time prices have been so low since 1948.
The specially priced train tickets will be available for people travelling into Liverpool for the Epstein Theatre’s matinee and evening performances (2.30pm and 7.30pm) on Wednesday 18th March. This will be followed on Wednesday 22nd April, for theatregoers travelling across the Mersey to New Brighton for the Floral Pavilion’s matinee and evening performances.
Ticket holders can register for a ticket online via the Merseyrail website using www.merseyrail.org/twopencemarch or www.merseyrail.org/twopenceapril links. The 2p will be collected at the theatre on arrival and will go to the production charity partner North West Cancer Research.
Merseyrail passengers can also enjoy a £2 discount off their Twopence To Cross The Mersey tickets for any performance at any of the tour’s four venues (the offer is available via promotional material available at stations across the Merseyrail network – Northern & Wirral lines only – and upon production of a valid Merseyrail ticket).
Performance details:
Epstein Theatre
Hanover House, Hanover Street, Liverpool, L1 3DZ
Tue 10th – Sat 28th March 2015
www.epsteinliverpool.co.uk
Southport Theatre
Promenade, Southport, PR9 0DZ
Thu 9th April – Sat 11th April 2015
www.atgtickets.com/southport
St Helens Theatre Royal
Corporation St, St Helens WA10 1LQ
Tue 14th April – Thu 16th April
www.sthelenstheatreroyal.com
Floral Pavilion
Marine Promenade, New Brighton, Wirral, CH45 2JS
Sun 19th April – Thu 23rd April
www.floralpavilion.com
