Midlands productions

Published: 15 December 2013
Reporter: Steve Orme

Stewart Clarke as Sam Wheat and Rebecca Trehearn as Molly Jensen in Ghost the Musical at the New Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham from Tuesday until 5 January Credit: Sean Ebsworth Barn
Scrooge: Clive Francis in A Christmas Carol at Birmingham Town Hall on Saturday and Sunday
Cinderella continues at Buxton Opera House until 1 January

Written and performed by Bernadette Russell and Gareth Brierley in the response to the riots of 2011, 366 Days of Kindness plays in The Door at Birmingham REP from Tuesday until Saturday.

Ghost the Musical is the Christmas production at the New Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham, opening on Tuesday and running until Sunday 5 January.

Playbox Theatre presents The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe at the Dream Factory, Warwick from Tuesday until Sunday 5 January.

Thriller Live moonwalks into the ICC, Birmingham from Tuesday until Sunday 5 January.

All and Sundry presents Mother Goose at Artix, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire from Wednesday until Sunday.

The Christmas special of That’ll Be The Day visits the Victoria Hall, Stoke on Thursday.

Distraction Theatre Company bases Once Upon a Christmas Day on the story of the Danish drama film Babette’s Feast which will be staged at Buxton Pavilion Arts Centre Studio Theatre on Friday and Saturday.

Ragarella, “a hilariously funny raga version of Cinderella performed to pulsating music and energetic street dance”, with Charlene Tyrell as Ragarella, is at The Drum, Birmingham from Friday until Sunday.

Clive Francis recreates Charles Dickens’s first ever public reading in 1853 of A Christmas Carol at Birmingham Town Hall when he performs Dickens’s work in the same venue on Saturday and Sunday.

Michael Rosen’s new version of Carlo Collodi’s Pinocchio continues in Derby Theatre’s Studio until Tuesday 24 December.

Birmingham’s Blue Orange Theatre continues to perform three folk tales for Christmas in The Enchanted Tales until Saturday 28 December.

The Hundred and One Dalmatians continues at The Castle, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire until Saturday 28 December.

Adapted for the stage from the book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, Tall Stories Room on the Broom continues at Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry until Sunday 29 December.

Babbling Vagabonds continues to present Caryl Hart’s The Christmas Chocolate Shop at Derby’s Guildhall Theatre until Sunday 29 December.

Sarah Thomas plays the Fairy Godmother and Jonny Freeman is Buttons in Cinderella which continues at Buxton Opera House until Wednesday 1 January.

Bryony Lavery’s new adaptation of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol continues at Birmingham REP until Saturday 4 January.

Hardeep Singh Kohli is the Genie of the Lamp and Jocelyn Jee Esien is the Empress of China in Aladdin which continues at De Montfort Hall, Leicester until Sunday 5 January.

Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows, adapted by Patrick Sandford, continues on the Northampton Royal stage until Sunday 5 January while husband-and-wife team Linda Lusardi and Sam Kane are in Sleeping Beauty in the Derngate auditorium which also continues until 5 January.

Jack and the Beanstalk continues on the main stage at Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre until Sunday 5 January.

Jonathan Wilkes returns to the Regent Theatre, Stoke in Snow White and Seven Dwarfs which continues until Sunday 5 January.

Former EastEnders favourite Cheryl Fergison and X-Factor finalist Marcus Collins are in Jack and the Beanstalk which continues at Derby’s Assembly Rooms until Sunday 5 January.

Former Hi-de-Hi star Ruth Madoc continues as Fairy Godmother in Cinderella at Mansfield Palace Theatre until Sunday 5 January.

Lichfield Garrick’s panto Snow White and the Magic Mirror continues until Sunday 5 January.

The Courtyard Theatre, Hereford continues to present Cinderella until Sunday 5 January.

A “playful interactive adventure”, Along the Riverbank, which is inspired by Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows, continues in the Underground venue, Northampton until Sunday 5 January.

The Birmingham Stage Company production of Terry Deary’s Horrible Christmas continues at Derby until Saturday 11 January.

The rock ‘n’ roll panto Sleeping Beauty continues at Stafford Gatehouse until Saturday 11 January.

David Hasselhoff plays panto’s ultimate baddie Captain Hook in Nottingham Theatre Royal’s panto Peter Pan which continues until Sunday 12 January.

A new production of Chicago continues at Leicester’s Curve until Saturday, 18 January.

Kenneth Alan Taylor’s 30-year reign as dame in Nottingham Playhouse’s pantos comes to an end with his portrayal of Dame Daisy in Jack and the Beanstalk which continues until Saturday 18 January.

Comedian Joe Pasquale leads the cast in Wolverhampton Grand’s panto Sleeping Beauty which continues until Saturday 18 January.

Birmingham Stage Company continues to present David Wood’s adaptation of Philippa Pearce’s Tom’s Midnight Garden at Birmingham’s Old Rep Theatre until Saturday 25 January.

An adaptation by Theresa Heskins, artistic director of Newcastle-under-Lyme’s New Vic Theatre, of Dodie Smith’s The Hundred and One Dalmatians continues until Saturday 1 February.

At the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford, Ella Hickson’s new adaptation of J M Barrie’s Wendy and Peter Pan continues in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre until 2 March (press night Wednesday, 18 December) while in the Swan Mike Poulton’s adaptations of Hilary Mantel's award-winning novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies continue until 29 March (press performances Wednesday, 8 January).

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