What's on in the Midlands

Published: 17 July 2022
Reporter: Steve Orme

Chelsea Halfpenny (Jenna) and Matt Jay-Willis (Dr Pomatter) in Waitress in the Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham Credit: Johan Persson
Joe Pasquale as Frank Spencer and Sarah Earnshaw as Betty in Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em at the Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham
Quick Duck Theatre’s Fashion Spies at the Old Joint Stock Theatre, Birmingham Credit: Graeme Braidwood

Chelsea Halfpenny plays Jenna in the hit musical comedy Waitress in the Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham from Monday until Saturday while in the Theatre Royal English Youth Ballet performs The Sleeping Beauty by Tchaikovsky on Friday and Saturday.

Joe Pasquale takes on the role of Frank Spencer, Sarah Earnshaw is his long-suffering wife Betty and Susie Blake is his disapproving mother-in-law in Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em at the Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham from Tuesday until Saturday.

A “new musical adventure” developed, devised, written and featuring members of the community, Robin Hood makes its merry way to Lichfield Garrick from Tuesday until Saturday.

East Midlands theatre group Parky Players, made up of people who are living with and supporting others with Parkinson’s Disease, takes its play Shake It Up to the Blue Orange Theatre, Birmingham on Wednesday.

Gypsy: A Musical Fable, with book by Arthur Laurents, music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, featuring Joanna Riding in the role of Rose, continues as part of Buxton International Festival in the town’s Opera House on Wednesday and Sunday.

At fashion weeks across the globe, expensive items have been stolen and every agent sent to investigate has been kidnapped in Quick Duck Theatre’s Fashion Spies at the Old Joint Stock Theatre, Birmingham on Thursday.

Paperback Theatre unfolds Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows on the Treehouse stage at the Assembly Festival Gardens, Coventry on Saturday and Sunday, while on the Queen of Flanders stage, the parody musical Friendsical, inspired by the TV show Friends, continues to be there for you until Sunday 31 July.

Talking Birds celebrates the world of lawn bowls in its new outdoor show, Come Bowl with Me, commissioned for the Birmingham 2022 Festival, at Leamington Spa in Jephson Gardens at 11AM and 1PM and Pump Room Gardens at 3PM from Saturday until Monday 25 July.

Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre revives Alan Pollock’s The Allesley Silas, based on George Eliot’s novel Silas Marner and staged by From the Heart Theatre Company, in its B2 auditorium from Saturday until Saturday 30 July.

The Queen and Ben Elton show We Will Rock You, which features 24 of the band’s greatest hits, should have audiences at Birmingham Hippodrome in rhapsody as it continues until Saturday 30 July.

Sally Ann Triplett plays dance teacher Mrs Wilkinson in Billy Elliot the Musical, featuring music by Elton John and book and lyrics by Lee Hall, which continues at Curve, Leicester until Saturday 20 August.

Disabled actor Arthur Hughes plays the title role in the Royal Shakespeare Company production of Richard III which continues in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford until Saturday 8 October.

    Related listings

  • We Will Rock You - Queen and Ben Elton (Phil McIntyre Live Ltd, Queen Theatrical Productions and Tribeca Theatrical Productions)

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