Matthew Bourne’s Legendary ‘The Car Man’ Returns
New Adventures is delighted to announce that Matthew Bourne’s award-winning dance thriller The Car Man will return for a 2026 UK tour. It was last seen in a unique revival for The Royal Albert Halls’ 150th Birthday in 2022, and New Adventures can’t wait to bring it back next summer!
The production will open at Curve, Leicester on 15 June 2026 before visiting a further 16 venues over 22 weeks, including a 5-week summer season at Sadler’s Wells.
Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man is loosely based on Bizet’s ever-popular opera and is of one of the most thrilling and instantly recognisable scores in New Adventures’ repertoire. The familiar 19th Century Spanish cigarette factory becomes a greasy 1950’s garage-diner in the American Mid-West where the dreams and passions of a small-town are shattered by the arrival of a handsome and enigmatic stranger. Fuelled by heat and desire, the inhabitants are driven into an unstoppable spiral of greed, lust, betrayal and revenge.
Matthew Bourne’s vivid storytelling combines with one of the most passionately dramatic scores ever written, with music by Terry Davies featuring Rodion Shchedrin’s Carmen Suite (after Bizet’s Carmen), to create a dance thriller like no other.
“I never dreamed when we created this show at the beginning of the new millennium that it would still be around, thrilling audiences, 25 years later! Inspired by vintage movie film noir classics, it holds a unique and special place in the New Adventures repertory…I’m particularly happy that we are taking the show “on the road” again after more than 10 years and I can’t wait to re-visit the hot and steamy town of Harmony USA – the best place to be next Summer!” says Matthew Bourne, Artistic Director, New Adventures.
The Car Man will ignite your senses and leave you breathless. Visit New Adventures’ website for more information, and tour dates.
The Car Man, Image credit New Adventures