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Merlin reaching high for Excalibur

Northern Ballet to screen Merlin in cinemas

Following the success of its national tour, Northern Ballet’s Merlin is to be shown in cinemas across the UK and Ireland on Sunday 24 April.

Merlin is Northern Ballet’s sixth full length ballet to be captured for screen under the leadership of Artistic Director David Nixon OBE, who will step down from his role in April after more than 20 years. Previous screen successes include 1984, Casanova, Dracula, Victoria and Dangerous Liaisons.

Merlin is the first full length ballet created by Olivier Award winning choreographer Drew McOnie (Broadway’s King Kong and Baz Luhrmann’s Jesus Christ Superstar). Inspired by the legendary wizard Merlin, the ballet is a magical spectacle for all of the family telling the story of how the world’s most famous sorcerer mastered his magic to unite a warring kingdom.

The ballet was filmed at Leeds Grand Theatre in November 2021 in front of a live audience, with original music by Grant Olding (One Man Two Guvnors, National Theatre), played live by Northern Ballet Sinfonia. The film capture was directed by Ross MacGibbon.

Northern Ballet are once again partnering with CinemaLive, leading producers and distributors of event cinema, to give audiences the opportunity to see this thrilling production up close on the big screen. The film is set to be shown in more than 200 cinemas throughout the UK, as well as screenings across Europe and North America.

Full cinema listings will be made available at cinemalive.com. The cinema trailer is available to be watched at northernballet.com.

Tickets for Merlin in cinemas are on sale now. To find your closest participating cinemas and to book tickets visit CinemaLive.

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