WHAT’S ON

Summer is here and with it lots of great shows and events, including the return of the biennial festival of new and original work that is Manchester International Festival. Families can check out the brand-new free exhibition at The Lowry celebrating 30 years of favourite stories from Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler and there are many new musicals to enjoy too, including Strictly Ballroom, SIX and Shrek.

Children and family

Winnie The Pooh

Manchester Opera House / 24-26 July

Featuring the Sherman Brothers’ classic Grammy Award-winning music and with further songs by A.A. Milne, this beautiful, fresh stage adaptation brings a new story from the Hundred Acre Wood, told with stunning life-sized puppetry through the eyes of the characters we all know and love.

Zog

The Lowry / 4 August – 3 September

The smash hit stage adaptation is back and promises to be bigger, brighter and more roar-some than ever before.

Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s much-loved Zog is full of lively songs and is a magical production for little ones and their families.

Musicals

Blonde Bombshells of 1943

Bolton Octagon / 9 June – 1 July

A warm and witty musical play filled with glorious live swing performances of 1940s classics by Glenn Miller, The Andrews Sisters, George Formby and Fats Waller. The Blonde Bombshells, the most glamorous all-girl swing band in the North, loses members every time it plays a GI camp. Now there’s an important BBC job in the offing and Betty needs to find new musicians fast!

Strictly Ballroom: The Musical

The Lowry / 26 June – 1 July

Craig Revel-Horwood directs this star -spangled musical that brings together over 20 world-class performers and stars, including Strictly Come Dancing favourite Kevin Clifton and treasured Coronation Street star and Dancing on Ice finalist, Faye Brookes. The soundtrack features some fabulous songs, such as Love Is in the Air, Time After Time and Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps

SIX The Musical

Manchester Opera House / 8-23 July

The amazing, wonderful, multi-award -winning story of the wives of Henry VIII returns – this time to the Opera House. It is fun, funny and powerful, but you need to move fast to get a ticket as it may already have sold out. Don’t worry if you miss it – you can book early for 2024 performances at The Lowry too.

Charlie & The Chocolate Factory – The New Musical

Palace Theatre / 11-30 July

Based on the iconic Roald Dahl story, this spectacular stage show follows the hit West End and Broadway productions to combine the memorable songs from the original 1970s’ motion picture (The Candy Man and Pure Imagination) with all new numbers from the multi-award -winning songwriters of Hairspray

This is a glorious musical journey into the amazing world of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory as we follow the story of Charlie Bucket and the other winners of the highly sought-after Golden Tickets!

Shrek The Musical

Manchester Opera House / 1-12 August

This Broadway and West End smash-hit musical is based on the Oscar-winning movie and is a fun-filled and hilarious musical comedy with a cast of vibrant characters and a terrific score. Antony Lawrence (The Lion King, Mary Poppins, Matilda The Musical, We Will Rock You) stars as Shrek, Strictly Come Dancing‘s and leading lady Joanne Clifton (The Addams Family) as Princess Fiona, Olivier Award-nominated James Gillian is the evil Lord Farquaad and theatre favourite Brandon Lee Sears is the loveable donkey.

Heathers The Musical Palace Theatre / 8-12 August

Following two smash-hit West End seasons, a record-breaking run at The Other Palace and winning the Whats OnStage award for Best New Musical, Heathers The Musical, the black comedy rock musical based on the eponymous 1989 film, embarks on a new national tour. Heathers follows Veronica Sawyer, a high school ‘nobody’ who dreams of becoming popular. Her call is finally answered when she's accepted into the 'Heathers' school clique – and then the fun begins…

Dance

Romeo & Juliet

The Lowry / 11-15 July

Matthew Bourne’s simply stunning production of Romeo and Juliet gives Shakespeare’s timeless story of forbidden love a scintillating injection of raw passion and youthful vitality. Confined against their will by a society that seeks to divide, two young lovers must follow their hearts as they risk everything to be together. Directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne, Prokofiev’s dynamic score is given a wonderfully fresh orchestration by Terry Davies. This beautiful show will delight all dance, music and romance lovers.

Message in a Bottle

The Lowry / 27-29 July

This is a spectacular production that was first intended for the Lowry stage in 2020, but the pandemic had other plans. Exhilarating dance styles, high-energy choreography and breath-taking athleticism lead the way throughout this unifying and uplifting story from triple Olivier Award nominee Kate Prince. Newly honoured Ivor Academy Fellow Sting provides the musical inspiration, with hits such as Roxanne, Every Breath You Take and Walking on the Moon just some of his iconic hits that feature in the show.

Drama

RSC: Julius Casear

The Lowry

20–24 June

The Royal Shakespeare Company return to The Lowry with a fast-paced, emotionally charged political thriller, directed by Atri Banerjee. This fresh interpretation of Shakespeare’s timeless classic asks us all to consider how far we would go for our political principles.

untitled f*ck m*ss s**gon play

Royal Exchange / 24 June – 22 July

Winner of the inaugural Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting 2019, International Award, this powerful world premiere is directed by Roy Alexander Weise (The Mountaintop) for the Royal Exchange Theatre as part of Manchester International Festival. Kimber Lee’s untitled f*ck m*ss s**gon play jumps through time, wriggling inside of and then exploding lifetimes of repeating Asian stereotypes, wrestling history for the right to control your own narrative in a world that thinks it can tell you who you are.

OutStageUs

The Lowry / 14–15 July

This unique showcase of some of the UK’s most exciting LGBTQ+ new writing is a celebration of diversity, talent and the power of storytelling. It will feature a diverse collection of stories presented through powerful narratives and engaging performances.

Exhibitions and special events

Manchester International Festival

Various venues / 29 June – 16 July Manchester International Festival returns to the city with dozens of exciting events, all featuring new work and exciting projects and productions, including performances by Janelle Monae, John Grant and Richard Hawley. Try to see at least one event during the festival – it’s the perfect place to see something that is original, provocative, challenging and unusual! Visit factoryinternational.org for listings and venues.

Julia and Axel – 30 Years of Favourite Stories

The Lowry / 22 July 23 – 1 Jan 24

The Lowry, in collaboration with publishers Macmillan Children’s Books and Scholastic, are hosting a new, free family-friendly exhibition celebrating the acclaimed partnership between Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, who have created some of the world’s best-loved and best-selling children’s books, including The Gruffalo, Zog, Room on the Broom, The Smeds and the Smoos and, most recently, The Baddies

The exhibition will feature several of Julia's personal writing notebooks, containing the very first ideas and creative thinking behind her picture book stories, alongside Axel's artwork, showing the process of his illustrations from sketches and works in progress, to the full-page, final illustrations in the finished books.

Words: Catherine Reed