Almost two years exactly since ‘Black Sabbath – The Ballet’ made its world premiere in Birmingham, the theatrical performance returns to the Second City. The brainchild of Birmingham Royal Ballet’s director, Carlos Acosta, and former Black Sabbath guitarist, Tony Iommi, pays homage to heavy metal pioneers—who recently performed their farewell show at Villa Park, before Ozzy’s sad passing weeks later.
Birmingham Royal Ballet will dance alongside full orchestrations of the legendary Brummie band’s best tracks—including hits like ‘Paranoid’ and ‘Iron Man’—as well as new orchestral works inspired by Black Sabbath. ‘Black Sabbath – The Ballet’ will kick off the UK tour in Birmingham, before heading to Manchester, London, Plymouth and Edinburgh.
‘Black Sabbath – The Ballet’ will perform 12 times at the Birmingham Hippodrome, from September 18 to 27, 2025. This is the second of three Birmingham-focused commissions by Carlos Acosta, who has been a fan of the band since 2000 but only conceived of the ballet after taking up residence in Birmingham in 2020.
This full-evening ballet is led by renowned choreographer Pontus Lidberg (whose work has been performed by the Swedish Royal Ballet and the Paris Opera Ballet) and composer Chris Austin (whose work includes orchestrating the White Stripes music for Wayne McGregor’s Chroma), alongside award-winning writer Richard Thomas (Jerry Springer, The Opera) to create a metal symphony over three acts.
Black Sabbath – The Ballet 2025 tour dates:
- Birmingham Hippodrome (Thu 18 – Sat 27 Sep 2025)
- The Lowry, Salford (Wed 8 – Sat 11 Oct 2025)
- Theatre Royal Plymouth (Thu 16 – Sat 18 Oct 2025)
- Sadler’s Wells, London (Wed 22 – Sat 25 Oct 2025)
- Festival Theatre, Edinburgh (Thu 30 Oct – Sat 1 Nov 2025)
Tickets for ‘Black Sabbath – The Ballet’ at Birmingham Hippodrome go on general sale on 19 February, which you can purchase here.