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History

March 2011

On March 14 a double-CD of the music from the ballet The Most Incredible Thing is released under the name Tennant/Lowe. It contains the full performance score of the ballet with orchestrations by Sven Helbig.

2011 March

On March 17 the ballet The Most Incredible Thing has its first public performance at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London. Its genesis can be traced back to a week in where, by chance, two initially unrelated events took place. Ivan Putrov, a principal dancer at the Royal Ballet whom the Pet Shop Boys had got to know through Sam Taylor-Wood, called Neil to ask whether they would write a piece for him to dance to. Two days later, before Neil had even had a chance to ask Chris, Chris called to say that he’d just read a story in a new translation of Hans Christian Andersen’s tales that he thought would make a great ballet: “The Most Incredible Thing”. This eventually led to the Sadler’s Wells production, choreographed by Javier de Frutos and starring Ivan Putrov, Clemmie Sveaas and Aaron Sillis. All ten performances sell out.

May 2011

On May 27 the Pet Shop Boys appear at the Sunderland Stadium of Light, joining Take That at their invitation as “special guests” on their first reunion concerts as a five-piece on what will be the biggest British tour ever – 29 British stadium shows – followed by a short European leg. “45 minutes of intensity,” says Chris.

December 2011

On December 31 the Pet Shop Boys appear at a New Year’s Eve concert on an island in Sydney Harbour.

On this day

2000

The Pet Shop Boys perform in Brussels, Belgium.

2009

Neil and Chris drive to Croydon to visit the Brit School, which is funded by the U.K. record industry and the government. As they note on their official website, it is traditional for winners of the BRITS ‘Outstanding Contribution to Music’ Award—which the Boys will soon be receiving—to pay a visit there.

2012

They visit the Beverly Center, a huge eight-storey shopping mall in Los Angeles. On this same day, the second PSB b‑sides/bonus tracks collection, Format, is released in the U.K.

2017

Neil’s duet with Chrissie Hynde on the Pretenders’ ‘Let’s Get Lost’ is released today as a single. Chrissie had given the recording its world premiere over the weekend just past on Graham Norton’s BBC Radio 2 show.

2019

The second song from the new PSB EP Agenda, ‘On Social Media,’ debuts today.

2020

Neil is among the attendees at this evening’s performance of Gerald Barry’s 2016 opera Alice’s Adventures Under Ground (based on Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass) at London’s Royal Opera House.