What's on in the Midlands

Published: 15 December 2019
Reporter: Steve Orme

Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch in the Patrick Studio at Birmingham Hippodrome
Swiss Family Robinson at The Core at Corby Cube, Northamptonshire
Peter Pan at Birmingham REP Credit: Johan Persson

Fat Rascal Theatre presents a new musical, Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch, in the Patrick Studio at Birmingham Hippodrome from Monday until Sunday while on the main stage, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs featuring Lesley Joseph as the Wicked Queen, Matt Slack as Muddles, Joe McElderry as The Spirit in the Mirror, Faye Brookes as Snow White, Flawless as The Wicked Queen’s Men, Doreen Tipton as The Lady in Waiting, Andrew Ryan as Nanny Annie Aspirin and Jac Yarrow as the Prince runs from Saturday until Sunday 2 February.

Hambledon Productions adapts episodes of Ray Galton and Alan Simpson’s scripts into Christmas with Steptoe and Son at the Winding Wheel, Chesterfield on Wednesday.

Beautiful Shadows stages two Victorian ghost stories in Dark Tales in Winter, comprising Hannah Torrance’s adaptation of The Open Door by Charlotte Riddell and Matt Beames’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’s The Signalman at the Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton from Thursday until Saturday.

Lyon Devereux adapts The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen for Ceridwen Theatre Company at the Albany Theatre, Coventry which continues until Saturday 28 December.

Based on the picture book by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees, Giraffes Can’t Dance continues in the Studio at Curve, Leicester until Tuesday 31 December while on the main stage, Jamie Muscato plays Tony and Adriana Ivelisse is Maria in West Side Story which continues until Saturday 18 January.

Anita Dobson heads the cast as the Wicked Stepmother and is joined by Bernie Clifton, Sid Sloane and Martyn James in Cinderella in Derngate, Northampton which continues until Sunday 29 December, the world première of the musical of the children’s book Pippi Longstocking continues on the Royal stage until Tuesday 31 December and Julia Donaldson’s sequel to Edward Lear’s poem The Further Adventures of the Owl and the Pussycat continues in the Underground Studio until Sunday 5 January.

Imagine Theatre’s festive family show Santa’s Dizzy Day continues during the day at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry until Tuesday 24 December, a “tempestuous tale of romance through the ages”, Club 2B continues to offer “a festive experience like no other” in the B2 auditorium until Tuesday 31 December and on the main stage Puss in Boots, with writer and director Iain Lauchlan marking 25 years at the theatre, continues until Saturday 11 January.

A new, comic retelling of Swiss Family Robinson with a cast of four and staged by New Old Friends continues at The Core at Corby Cube, Northamptonshire until Sunday 29 December.

Raymond Briggs’s Father Christmas, a Lyric Hammersmith Theatre and Pins and Needles production, continues at Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry until Sunday 29 December.

Birmingham Old Rep’s Christmas show, Hans Christian Andersen’s Snow Queen, continues until Monday 30 December.

Hammerpuzzle has two presentations in the Studio at the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham, Under The Greenwood Tree, adapted from the novel by Thomas Hardy, which continues until Monday 30 December and a new adaptation of Edward Lear’s nonsense poem The Owl and The Pussycat which continues until Tuesday 31 December.

Kipper’s Snowy Day, based on the Kipper stories by Mick Inkpen and performed by Slot Machine Theatre, continues at mac Birmingham until Tuesday 31 December.

Strictly Come Dancing winner Katya Jones makes her panto debut in Peterborough New Theatre’s The Wizard of Oz which continues until Tuesday 31 December.

Atomic Kitten’s Natasha Hamilton plays Slave of the Ring in Aladdin at Castle Theatre, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire which continues until Tuesday 31 December.

Shannon Flynn and James Holmes are among the cast of Cinderella which continues at Buxton Opera House until Wednesday 1 January.

Hiccup Theatre’s new version of Little Red Riding Hood continues in the mornings and afternoons at Derby Theatre until Saturday 4 January while Neil Duffield’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol continues at other times until Saturday 4 January.

Morgan Brind is Auntie Hilda, Bill Ward plays Captain Hook and Katrina Bryan is Tinker Bell in Derby LIVE and Little Wolf Entertainment’s Peter Pan at Derby Arena which continues until Saturday 4 January.

A new version of Pinocchio continues in the Neville Studio at Nottingham Playhouse until Saturday 4 January while on the main stage Sleeping Beauty continues until Saturday 11 January.

Antony Costa and Sam Bailey fly in to De Montfort Hall, Leicester to appear in Aladdin which continues until Sunday 5 January.

Lee Latchford-Evans plays Jack and Andrea Valls is Princess Jess in Jack and the Beanstalk which continues at the Pomegranate, Chesterfield until Sunday 5 January.

Les Dennis and Connor McIntyre are Ugly Sisters, Gareth Gates is Prince Charming and Richard Cadell and Sooty play Buttons in Cinderella which continues at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham until Sunday 5 January.

Olivia Birchenough, Melanie Walters, Adam Moss, Jamie Morris and Tarot Joseph go to the ball in Cinderella at Mansfield Palace Theatre which continues until Sunday 5 January.

The Theatre Chipping Norton pantomime Puss in Boots continues until Sunday 12 January.

A new, reimagined version of Peter Pan specifically for Birmingham audiences continues at Birmingham REP until Sunday 19 January.

A new production of Mark Twain’s The Prince and The Pauper continues at the New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme until Saturday 25 January.

At the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford, David Walliams’s The Boy in the Dress featuring music by Robbie Williams and Guy Chambers continues until Sunday 8 March while in the Swan Theatre Hannah Khalil’s A Museum in Baghdad continues until Saturday 25 January and Shakespeare's rarely-performed history play King John featuring Rosie Sheehy in the title role continues until Saturday 21 March.

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