From film screenings to live music, The Gateway has it all this January

The Gateway Theatre in Seaton is getting the New Year off to a raring start with National Theatre Live, films, live screenings and live music.

To kick things off, there will be a screening of the inspiring film 'Save the Cinema' on Friday, January 14, based on the true story of hairdresser and youth theatre leader Liz Evans' fight to save the Lyric Theatre from closure.

Set in Carmarthen, Wales, Liz decides to take on the local council who are planning to knock the theatre down and replace it with a shopping centre. With the help of local postman turned councillor, Richard (Tom Felton), they persuade a Hollywood mogul to hold his premiere at the ailing theatre. But will it be enough to keep the developers at bay?

Starring Tom Felton, Samantha Morton, Erin Richards and Wynne Evans, this is the perfect antidote to all the gloom and is so full of feel-good, you won't want to leave the theatre to go back to the real world!

This is going to be one of the Gateway's famous Film Picnic Nights and is on Friday, January 14, doors 6.30pm, tickets £7. Cert 12A.

Keeping the roots firmly in Welsh soil is 'Quant'. With contributions from Kate Moss, Vivienne Westwood, Edward Enninful and Jasper Conran, this is the only official feature documentary that tells the story of arguably one of Britain's greatest fashion designers.

Credited with the introduction of the mini skirt, she ignited the 1960s youth-driven fashion revolution and put her unique stamp on the swinging sixties, "the point of clothes for women should be that you're noticed".

Quant, now 91 years old is rarely seen in public. Actor, producer and former fashion designer Sadie Frost, who traced her roots back to when she was a fashion-conscious tomboy growing up in rural Wales and on through her life until she is made Dame Mary Quant, said: "I wanted to keep her legacy alive because she is such an amazing woman."

Show time, Saturday, January 22, doors 6.30pm, tickets £7. Cert 12A

With all the restrictions in place, going to see a live performance has been out of the question, but live screenings put you up front with the best view. Live from Moscow, the world famous Bolshoi Ballet performs its first 2022 ballet with George Ballanchine's 'Jewels'.

Emeralds for the elegance and sophistication of Paris, rubies for the speed and modernity of New York and diamonds for an imperial St Petersburg, three sparkling scenes will make sure the start of the year is all shiny and new.

This live screening is on Sunday, January 23, doors open 2.30pm and the screening starts at 3pm. Tickets £15.

Next up is National Theatre Live's 'Leopoldstadt' – a new play written by Tom Stoppard and directed by Patrick Marber and filmed live in London's West End. The story is set at the beginning of the 20th century in the old crowded Jewish quarter of Vienna where factory owner, Hermann Merz, has moved up in the world.

Baptised a Jew and married to a Catholic, a company of 40 actors lead us through Hermann's family story through war, revolution and the Holocaust.

The Guardian said it was "grand, contemplative and elegiac".

Time Out called it "the last great play of the last great writers of the 20th century".

Screening on Thursday, January 27, doors 6.30pm, starts 7pm. Tickets £13.50 adults / £7 child (15 years and under).

Then to round off January, it's time to pull on your dancing shoes, shake off the winter blues and enjoy the nation's funkiest 10-piece band, the brilliant Joey the Lips.

You'd be hard-pressed to think of a place or big event they haven't performed at. Think Will Young, Bob Geldof and UB40 as well as recording alongside the great Geno Washington.

Playing soul, funk, blues and Motown, this is going to get your 2022 off to the best start of the year and tickets are selling fast.

Showtime is Saturday, January 29, doors open 7.30pm. Tickets £20 (£25 on the door if available).

With such a brilliant January programme, you need go nowhere else for the best in entertainment. Make sure you keep an eye on the website www.thegatewayseaton.co.uk for updates and tickets for all shows are available to buy online 24 hours a day seven days a week.