The Gates of Kyiv
14th September 2024
Tickets from £19.50
Running time approx 2 hours 10 minutes
Age guidance: 12+
Content warnings: Contains some strong language
Production warnings: None
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Bill Kenwright Ltd and Theatre Royal Windsor in association with Oxana Symonds and George Fenton for BEMUSE Performing Arts UK present the world-premiere of THE GATES OF KYIV.
Narrated live by Broadway and Hollywood legend STOCKARD CHANNING and renowned British stage and screen actor MICHAEL PRAED, The Gates of Kyiv tells the story of the extraordinary life of the Soviet piano virtuoso Maria Yudina – fearless protestor, disruptor, and ‘dissident.’ Fiercely defiant of the repressive regime of Joseph Stalin, she publicly denounced him and his regime, yet somehow, she lived. The legend is, she and Stalin met…
The Gates of Kyiv is about the power of the live arts in troubled times, using Yudina’s own original repertoire, ending with her famous and furious rendition of Mussorgsky’s Great Gate of Kyiv. The grandiose designs for the gate which the music references, were intended as a symbol of Tsarist dominance in Ukraine, but it was never actually built. On the 150th anniversary of the piece’s writing, Kyiv stands defiant against Russian invasion.
Joining Stockard Channing and Michael Praed in this unique combination of storytelling, music, and dance are celebrated Italian-based Russian pianist GALA CHISTIAKOVA, and international ballet star XANDER PARISH OBE.
The Gates of Kyiv is written by playwright, actor and historical biographer Ian Kelly and will be directed by Roxana Silbert. Choreography is by Kenneth Tindall, with design by Ti Green, Lighting Design by Rick Fisher, Sound Design by Fred de Faye, and Video Design by Louis Price.
Stockard Channing is a revered American actress. On stage, Stockard was most recently seen in the acclaimed ‘Night, Mother at Hampstead Theatre. Before that she led the West End and subsequent Off-Broadway run of Alexi Kaye Campbell’s Apologia. Channing has received eight Tony Award nominations for her roles in Other Desert Cities, Pal Joey, The Lion in Winter, Four Baboons Adoring the Sun, The House of Blue Leaves and Six Degrees of Separation, for which she also received an Olivier nomination and an Obie Award, and was subsequently nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award reprising her role for the 1993 film version. She won the Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Play for her performance in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg.
Other stage credits include It’s Only A Play, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Little Foxes, Hapgood (nominated for Drama Desk Award), Woman in Mind (for which she won a Drama Desk Award), The Rink, The Golden Age, They’re Playing Our Song and the original off-Broadway production of Love Letters. In London, she has appeared at The Riverside Studios in Exonerated and she was last seen at the Almeida in Awake and Sing.
Channing has received a total of 13 Emmy nominations and won three Emmy Awards, including those for her television roles in The West Wing and The Matthew Shepard Story, both of which she also received Screen Actors Guild Awards. Channing has been nominated for a total of 11 Screen Actors Guild Awards. She also starred in Joan Rivers’ The Girl Most Likely To and The Baby Dance for which she was nominated for another Golden Globe Award. She was most recently seen in a recurring role on The Good Wife.
On the big screen Channing has appeared in Mike Nichols’ The Fortune, Practical Magic, The First Wives Club, Moll Flanders, Up Close & Personal, Smoke and Grease, earning a People’s Choice Award for her performance as Rizzo. Stockard Channing received a London Film Critics Circle Award for Actress of the Year and an AFI Best Actress nomination for The Business of Strangers.
Michael Praed is a celebrated British actor of stage and screen.
Theatre Credits include: Julian Marsh in 42nd Street (UK Tour), Tom Beauregard in ‘Darker Shores’ (Theatre Royal Windsor & Tour), George in ‘War of the Worlds’ (Dominion Theatre, West End), Lawrence Jameson in ‘Dirty Rotten Scoundrels’ (UK Tour), Charles in ‘Dangerous Corner’ (Theatre Royal Windsor & Tour), Richard in ‘Two Into One’ (Menier Chocolate Factory), John Greenwood in ‘The White Carnation’ (Jermyn Street Theatre), Dexter Haven in ‘High Society’ (UK Tour), Captain Von Trapp in ‘The Sound of Music’ (UK Tour), Sir Robert Chiltern in ‘An Ideal Husband’ (UK Tour), Milo Tindle in ‘Sleuth’ (UK Tour), Tom Madison in ‘Killing Castro’ (UK Tour), F Scott Fitzgerald in ‘Beautiful and Damned’ (Lyric Theatre, West End), Michael in ‘Contact’ (Queen’s Theatre, West End), Tony in ‘Copacabana’ (UK Tour), Bernard Kersall in ‘The Constant Wife’, Otto in ‘Design for Living’ (Gielgud Theatre, West End), Alex in ‘Aspects of Love’ (Prince of Wales Theatre, West End), Billy Bigelow in ‘Carousel’ (Dublin Theatre), D’artagnan in ‘The Three Musketeers’ (Broadway Theatre, NY), Frederic in ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ (Theatre Royal Drury Lane, West End).
Film Credits include: The Queen in ‘9 Dead Gay Guys’ (9 Films Ltd), The Hitman in ‘Dangerous Obsessions’, Gary in ‘Staggered’ (Big Deal Productions), Max in ‘Son of Darkness’ (Arrowhead Entertainment), Royd in ‘Night Flyers’ (Independent Films).
Television Credits include: Frank Clayton in ‘Emmerdale’ (ITV), Nelson Morris in ‘Hindenburg: The Untold Story’ (Channel 4), James French in ‘Doctors’ (BBC), Rick Johnson in ‘The Bill’ (ITV), Chris Meredith in ‘Casualty’ (BBC), Michael Webb in ‘Mile High’ (Sky 1), Phileas Fogg in ‘The Adventures of Jules Verne’ (Talisman Films), The Hitman in ‘Darkness Falls’ (Lions Gate Films), Sally in ‘French and Saunders’, Marty in ‘Crown Prosecutor’ (BBC), Jake Lovell in ‘Riders’ (Anglia Films), Peter in ‘Writers Block’ (Paramount Pictures), Prince Michael in ‘Dynasty’ (ABC), Robin Hood in ‘Robin of Sherwood’ (HTV/Golcrest).
Gala Chistiakova, the Italian based Russian pianist is a prize winner of over 30 international competitions. Born in 1987 to a musical family in Moscow, she began her piano studies at three years old with her mother Liubov Chistiakova. She then graduated from The Central Music School (2005), and the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory (2012) with such professors as H. Khoven, A. Ryabov and M. Voskresensky. She also studied at the International Piano Academy “Incontri col Maestro” (Prof. B. Petrushansky) in Italy.
Since 2000, Gala has played both as a soloist and with symphonic orchestras in concerts across the world. She has also performed on various TV and Radio programs, recorded several albums, and served as a member of the jury at youth and international piano competitions. Since 2012, she has been based in Italy and has been on the Board of Directors of Cultural Association “Recondite Armonie”. In 2020 Gala became an ambassador of the “BeMuse” Performing Arts of Great Britain and has become a Steinway artist.
Xander Parish OBE, was born in East Yorkshire and trained at the Royal Ballet School before joining the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden where he worked for nearly five years. In 2010 he made history by joining the legendary Mariinsky Ballet in St Petersburg, becoming principal dancer in 2017, the first Westerner in the company’s history. In 2022, he relocated to Norway, joining the Norwegian National Ballet. He was awarded an OBE in 2019 for his contributions to dance and UK-Russia cultural relations, and his numerous international awards include the UK’s Critics Circle National Dance Award for Outstanding Male Performance (Classical). Xander has been a guest artist with companies including American Ballet Theatre, Stanislavsky Ballet & English National Ballet. His choreographic credits include The Ballet Class (2022) and Raymonda Suite (2023).
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