Love Actually in Concert

Love Actually in Concert comes to the Royal Concert Hall on Thursday 10 December, as part of the Love Actually Live In Concert tour. It's a straightforward premise: the film is projected onto the big screen while a full live orchestra performs Craig Armstrong's score right there in the room. If you've seen it before, you know the one — the romantic comedy set in contemporary London in the weeks before Christmas, with its ensemble of intersecting love stories.

That ensemble is a huge part of the film's pull. The cast includes Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, Laura Linney, Bill Nighy, Martine McCutcheon, Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, Keira Knightley, Rowan Atkinson and Martin Freeman. The stories it weaves together run the full range — romantic, sad, and sometimes just plain stupid — and they all build towards that Christmas Eve finish.

Watching it with a live orchestra changes the experience. Instead of the score coming through the speakers, you've got the musicians playing Armstrong's music in real time, so the sound fills the room rather than just sitting on top of the picture. It's the same film you know, but with the music played live in front of you.

It's at the Royal Concert Hall in the Main Auditorium, Theatre Square, Nottingham, NG1 5ND. The show starts at 7:30pm, with doors opening at 6:30pm, so there's plenty of time to get settled before it kicks off. Tickets range from £44.50 to £87.00, and there's an age guidance of 15+.