Staffordshire What's On November 2022

News from around the region

Critically acclaimed play Art comes to Shropshire

Tickets are now on sale for Shropshire Drama Company’s (SDC) forthcoming production of Yasmina Reza’s internationally acclaimed play, Art. SDC will perform their version of the show at Shrewsbury’s Theatre Severn from 9 to 12 November. For more information and to book tickets, visit the venue’s website.

Adventure Cinema’s Elvis Open-Air Cinema Tour ‘will bring together Elvis fans, film enthusiasts and family & friends to provide an unforgettable outdoor experience’. To find out more, visit adventurecinema.co.uk

Act of kindness launched at Telford theatre

A new initiative has been launched by Telford Theatre to offer ‘the gift of pantomime’ to local families living in difficult circumstances this festive season.

Enjoy an illuminating festive-season experience at Weston Park

Christmas attractions at Weston Park once again include the venue’s ‘illuminated forest’ experience, available to enjoy (between 5pm and 9pm) from 9 to 11 and 15 to 23 December. Visitors to the estate’s Temple Wood can follow a trail of colour and light through the ancient trees and woodland. But that’s not all. The venue is also making available an array of street food, local ales, fizz and warming winter cocktails, all on offer in the Stables Courtyard. Live music and fire pits (for marshmallow toasting) also feature.

Bongo’s The Winner Takes It All extravaganza will feature flamboyant costumes, rave rounds, dynamic dance-offs and plenty of audience participation. The show takes place on 2, 16, 17, 23 & 31 December... For more information, visit thebuttermarket.co.uk

Sir Tim Rice at the Grand

Legendary lyricist Sir Tim Rice is bringing his ‘an evening with’ show to the Grand Theatre in Wolverhampton early next year.

Cornbow Hall renamed

Cornbow Hall is to be renamed Halesowen Town Hall as part of plans to raise the profile and visibility of the building.

The rebrand will see the venue come under the new banner of DBleisure, alongside Dudley and Stourbridge town halls. Over the next few months, building signage will be replaced and directional signage improved. A new website promoting all three venues under the one overarching banner will be created, making it easier for customers to book show tickets or hire the halls.

Elvis on screen outdoors

The UK’s largest touring outdoor cinema will next autumn present a screening of Baz Luhrmann’s hit movie, Elvis, at popular Shropshire visitor attraction Attingham Park (Friday 1 September).

The Kindness Ticket will be distributed to recipients through the Christmas Smile project, providing families with the chance to enjoy the venue’s panto production of Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs. Anybody interested in purchasing one of the tickets, which will then be passed on to an in-need family, can do so at telfordtheatre.com

Best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber on hit musicals Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita - and for his contributions to the soundtracks of Disney’s Beauty And The Beast, The Lion King and Aladdin - Sir Tim presents Circle Of Words on Thursday 9 February. For more information and to book tickets, visit grandtheatre.co.uk

Birmingham 2022 Festival enjoyed by millions

Abba-tastic Bongo’s Bingo at The Buttermarket

Dig out your dancing shoes and get your disco pants on - the ever-popular Bongo’s Bingo event at Shrewsbury’s Buttermarket venue will next month be paying tribute to Swedish super-troupers Abba.

A combination of live show, all-inclusive party and a heads-down game of bingo,

Organisers of this year’s six-month-long Birmingham 2022 Festival have revealed that the wide-ranging cultural programme attracted a total audience of over 2.4 million. Commenting on the news, the festival’s executive producer, Raidene Carter, said: “I’m delighted we’ve been able to showcase how diverse and inclusive the West Midlands is through a festival of wholly brand-new work. In many ways it’s been a creative timecapsule for 2022, and it’s so exciting for the future.

“Working with our partners, we will now turn our attention to defining what the legacy of the festival can be, to make the most of this moment.”

New tour dates for Romesh

Comedian Romesh Ranganathan will be hitting the road again in 2024 with a brand-new show entitled Hustle.

The ever-popular laughter merchant’s UK tour will include a stop-off at Birmingham Utilita Arena on 30 May. For more information and to book tickets, visit the venue’s website.

Celebrated star of stage & screen Sir Ian McKellen will take the title role when a pantomime version of Mother Goose stops off at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre early next year (Wednesday 22 - Sunday 26 February).

Sir Ian, who is perhaps best known globally as Gandalf in the Lord Of The Rings movies and Magneto in the X-Men films, will be joined in the show by John Bishop... To find out more and book tickets, visit grandtheatre.co.uk

Olly Murs heads for the Midlands

Olly Murs will stop off at Birmingham’s Resorts World Arena next spring as part of a UK tour to promote his new album, Marry Me, which is released early next month (2 December). Olly will be joined in the Thursday 4 May show by Scouting For Girls. To find out more and book tickets, visit resortsworldarena.co.uk

Camp Bestival Shropshire to return in 2023

Camp Bestival Shropshire will return to Weston Park in 2023.

The four-day event will include comedy, theatre, shows, wellbeing workshops, circus spectacles, sideshow commotions, ‘lashings’ of food & drink and ‘the very finest in outdoor living’. The event takes place in late summer, from 17 to 20 August. For more information, visit weston-park.com

Strictly out on tour again

The live tour of Strictly Come Dancing will be foxtrotting its way around the country again in the new year - and for the first time ever, Anton Du Beke will join fellow TV judges Shirley Ballas and Craig Revel Horwood for the on-the-road version of the show.

The Strictly Live Tour will also feature the welcome return of Janette Manrara as host. As usual the tour kicks off in Birmingham (Utilita Arena) in January (20th to the 22nd). For more information and to book tickets, visit StrictlyComeDancingLive.com

Sir Ian McKellen to star in Mother Goose at the Grand

News from around the region

Christmas craft-away with Dragons’ Den’s Sara

Dragons’ Den star and Strictly Come Dancing contestant Sara Davies is heading for Birmingham next month - complete with a cornucopia of quality Christmas crafting tricks and tips.

Covering everything from gifts and garlands to cards and crackers - all via ‘a peek inside the Den’ and ‘a sprinkling of Strictly sparkle’ - Sara’s show will feature practical demonstrations, creative ideas and a healthy slice of down-to-earth know-how. The Queen of Crafting stops off at Birmingham Town Hall on Tuesday 6 December. For more information and to book tickets, visit bmusic.co.uk

Disney’s roar-some musical returns to the Midlands

Disney’s The Lion King will return to Birmingham Hippodrome next summer. Showing at the venue from Thursday 6 July to Saturday 16 September, the hit musical has thrilled a combined global audience of more

Live music soon to return to iconic Wolves venue

A festive light show with a difference...

Lichfield Cathedral has teamed up with acclaimed animation team Illuminos to put on a light show with a difference this Christmas.

The display, titled Sing Choirs Of Angels, will feature a number of installations and take visitors through the story of the Nativity. It will also explore links between the city and the carol O Come All Ye Faithful. The installation will be available to view from 16 to 20 December (from 5.30pm). For more information, visit lichfieldcathedral.org

Shows are now being booked for Wolverhampton’s iconic Civic Halls following the Council’s multi-million-pound investment in the venue.

AEG Presents, which runs The O2 in London, is aiming to ‘bring the feelgood factor back to the city with an exciting programme of big bands, the best comedy acts and much more’.

Commenting on the news, Wolverhampton local and AEG Presents CEO, Steve Homer, said: “Having hosted artists from The Clash, Bowie and Nirvana to the Manic Street Preachers and Morrissey - who debuted his first solo performance post-The Smiths at ‘The Halls’ - it’s incredible to be able to bring an iconic venue back to life. And as a local lad, this is all the more special. I saw

than 110 million people since premiering on Broadway in 1997.

For more information and to book tickets, visit birminghamhippodrome.com

The Clash perform here in 1978, and it was an event that forever cemented my love of music. We can’t wait to open the doors of The Halls Wolverhampton and bring the world’s best artists to the West Midlands stage.”

Britain’s Got Talent teen star Eva in Midlands hospital fundraising ball

Fourteen-year-old Cannock comedian and Britain’s Got Talent contestant Eva Abley (pictured) is taking to the stage this month in aid of Birmingham Children’s Hospital, where Eva herself is a patient. Eva has cerebral palsy and has been cared for by the specialist teams at the hospital since she was a baby.

Her charity ball, taking place on Saturday 12 November at the ICB Centre in Wolverhampton, also features three of Eva’s fellow Britain’s Got Talent 2022 finalists: singer Tom Ball, ventriloquist Jamie (with Chuck) and comic Ben Nickless.

The winner of the 2018 series, Lost Voice Guy (Lee Ridley), will also be taking to the stage. For tickets, call 07722 566914 or email evasball2022@outlook.com

News from around the region

Children’s festival offering springtime ‘fairytale’ fun

A brand-new event for children under 12 years of age will take place at Staffordshire Showground next spring (Sunday 12 March).

Organised by a female-led team with firsthand experience of parenting, The Kids’

Take the Tale Trail to Alice’s Wonderland

Staffordshire’s New Vic Theatre is inviting families to step inside the world of classic children’s story Alice In Wonderland this Christmas.

To complement its festive-season production of Alice, the venue is hosting interactive storytime adventures under the title of Tale Trail (Saturday 10 - Saturday 31 December).

The initiative provides kids with an opportunity to meet characters from Lewis Carroll’s famous book and experience the story for themselves. For more information, visit newvictheatre.org.uk

Make a date for Danny’s final installment...

Veteran broadcaster Danny Baker will make three February stop-offs in the Midlands with a brand-new show.

At Last… The Sausage Sandwich Tour is the final part of a trilogy which has also featured Cradle To Stage and Good Time Charlie’s Back!

Danny visits Stafford Gatehouse on 8 February, Victoria Hall in Stoke-on-Trent three days later on the 11th, and Walsall’s A3 Arena on the 24th. He then returns to the

Festival is described as an ‘immersive, fairytale experience bursting with a wide range of thrilling and enjoyable interactive activities’. To find out more, visit thekidsfestival.co.uk

region in the spring, appearing at the Swan Theatre, Worcester, on 15 April.

For more information and to book tickets, visit DannyBakerLive.com

Santa’s elves are coming to the Black Country!

Santa’s elves will be making Christmas presents at the Black Country Living Museum this year, as part of the venue’s festiveseason line-up of entertainment.

Visitors to the popular Dudley attraction on Saturday 3 & Sunday 4 December will be able to find out about the contribution that elves, toy soldiers and even sugar plum fairies make to the creation of Christmas cheer... The venue’s yuletide programme also includes the chance to join historic characters around the fireside for an evening of Glad Tidings (Friday 9 & Saturday 10, Friday 16, Saturday 17 & Sunday 18 December). To find out more, visit bclm.com

The Beat announce hometown memorial gig

Legendary British band The Beat will celebrate the life of their late frontman and musical pioneer Ranking Roger with a special one-off evening of live music at The Mill, Birmingham, on Thursday 22 December.

Fronted by Roger’s son and vocalist, Ranking Jnr, the show will feature a full performance by the Birmingham trailblazers plus special guests from the worlds of ska, reggae and punk...

Tickets for the gig are available via bit.ly/rankingrogermemorialshow

SpongeBob musical to debut in the Midlands

Much-loved children’s television character SpongeBob is visiting Birmingham Hippodrome next spring with his very own musical.

The popular Nickleodeon star will take centre stage in a production that’s being described as ‘an all-singing, all-dancing, deep-sea pearl of a show’.

The SpongeBob Musical stops off at the Hippodrome from Tuesday 11 to Saturday 15 April and then Wolverhampton Grand Theatre from Tuesday 27 June to Saturday 1 July.

Sponsor a family to enjoy panto at the Garrick

Lichfield Garrick Theatre is once again calling on local businesses to help struggling families enjoy the magic of Christmas.

Since 2017, over 150 families have attended the Garrick’s pantomime thanks to the generosity of local businesses - and the venue is hoping its ongoing initiative will bring even more festive cheer in 2022.

For more details about how to lend a hand, visit lichfieldgarrick.com/supportus/sponsorships

I’m too old to play the good characters nowmaybe when I was younger! But playing the villain is so much more fun.

“ ”

EASTENDERS GOOD GUY TURNS PANTO BADDIE

Former EastEnders star Michael Greco talks to What’s On about surviving fame as a soap star, a surprising career change, and returning to a familiar role (not that one) in Aladdin, this year’s pantomime at the Wolverhampton Grand...

Twenty years ago Michael Greco was at the height of his fame - but he wasn’t particularly enjoying it. He adored his five-year stint playing Beppe di Marco in EastEnders, but not the stardom that went with it.

“I kind of got disillusioned with the whole acting business when I left EastEnders,” he says. “I didn’t like the fame, I didn’t like the celebrity status, and I decided I just didn’t want it anymore.

“People don’t understand that the fame we had from EastEnders 20 years ago was completely different to anything now. Back then we had 20 million viewers, so we were recognisable in the street by every man and his dog, from young kids to old people.

Everybody would know who you were, even if they didn’t watch the show. We were at its peak - you’ll never get soaps with 20 million viewers ever again.”

After giving up acting, Michael stumbled into an unexpected second career as a professional poker player, touring the world and winning more than $1million along the way.

“I fell into poker at a casino one night and really loved it. Then this company came in and started sponsoring me, so I travelled the world playing poker - with their money, I might add - and was very successful at it for about 10 years.”

He admits his acting skills came in handy in terms of maintaining a poker face in the cauldron-hot atmosphere of competition.

“When you’re playing for millions of dollars, especially somewhere like Las Vegas, it’s like being a swan - serene on top of the water, but your feet are going ten to the dozen underneath. It’s the same with your heartyour heart is going through the roof, but you have to have a poker face because so many great professionals in the world can read you. Your eyes give away a lot - that’s why people wear sunglasses playing poker - the pulse in your neck… everything can give you away.

“There’s a lot of luck in poker, but there’s a lot of skill as well. Being an actor definitely helped.”

The ‘acting’ element contributed to

something of a renaissance with his chosen profession, too. A stint living and working in Los Angeles saw him “get the love for it back”, as well as picking up better and better roles.

He’s recently been filming The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes, a prequel to the hugely popular film series.

It’s already one of the most anticipated movies of 2023. So much for wanting to avoid fame and stardom!

“I think I’m a bit older and wiser now so can handle it a bit more. I was on set the other day with Viola Davis, who is obviously one of the darlings of Hollywood, and was thinking how lucky I’ve been to have a second bite of the cherry in my career - and being able to do things that I love doing, including theatre and panto.”

Which brings us nicely on to his latest role, as the evil Abanazar in Wolverhampton Grand Theatre’s new production of Aladdin, appearing alongside Zoe Birkett, Ben Cajee, Tam Ryan, Ian Adams and Duane Gooden.

It’s a show Michael knows and loves wellbut having played the baddie twice before, he’s being encouraged to take it to a whole new level this time out.

“It’s a great part to play. I’ve done it before, but this time I’ve been promised by the producers that they’re going to make him even more evil, so I’m really looking forward to that. This is going to be more than just your normal pantomime villain - this is gonna be a proper actor’s stage Abanazar!

“I’m too old to play the good characters nowmaybe when I was younger! But playing the villain is so much more fun.”

Michael would even want to bring a dark side to serially luckless Beppe, if the character ever returned to Albert Square.

“Beppe was a good guy - he was the knight in shining armour most of the time. That was really fun to play at the time, but if I ever went back, I think I’d want him to be a little bit more evil.”

Michael’s not planning any nods to his famous alter-ego in his portrayal of Abanazar, but admits EastEnders’ well-

known cliff-hanger drum beats will almost certainly make an appearance in the show: “I’m sure there’ll be at least one ‘duff duff’ moment!”

After a couple of difficult post-Covid years for the theatre industry, there’s mercifully little drama hanging over the new production, with a strong, confident cast and ticket sales “through the roof”, according to Michael.

“We could be heading for capacity audiences every night,” he says, delighted that the costof-living crisis has potentially fuelled rather than dented the audience’s appetite.

“I think the tickets are well priced, but at Christmas everybody wants a bit of relief and to get away from this, that and the other. Panto is the ideal way for families to enjoy some escapism, and Aladdin’s the perfect panto for that. Everyone knows the story of Aladdin and the lamp, and I think kids especially will love this kind of magical, theatrical performance.”

And while Michael admits he’s looking forward to getting booed - by kids and adults alike - he expects his villain’s downfall to elicit some sympathy too, given panto’s predilection for a happy, feelgood ending.

“There’s always the demise of the baddie at the end, because there has to be, but there’s a transition along the way, so I’m hoping that when I get my demise, people are going to feel sorry for me as well.”

Throw in a fabulous venue and cast - some of whom have already asked him for poker lessons - and Michael admits the six-week run can’t come soon enough.

“The theatre’s incredible - it’s one of those old-style theatres that I love, with a really close auditorium - and there’s some really great talent in the show as well. I’m really looking forward to it; I can’t wait for the six weeks to start.”

Aladdin shows at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre from Saturday 3 December to Saturday 7 January

Food news from across the region...

Forage wild food in Staffs countryside

Foraging Course Company are running a wild food foraging walk & course on Saturday 12 November.

Taking place in Staffordshire’s Baggeridge Country Park, the course includes exploration of the local species, recipe ideas, wild food treats to sample and instruction on how to tell edible species from poisonous lookalikes. For more information, visit: foragingcoursecompany.co.uk

Whisky festival launched in the region

The first English Whisky Festival is taking place on Saturday 19 November at Birmingham’s The Custard Factory. Featuring 20-plus English distilleries and bottlers, the event will constitute the largest-ever gathering of English whiskies under one roof.

Tickets are £40 and can be purchased at exploringenglishwhisky.co.uk

Alcohol-free bottle shop opens in Shrewsbury

Alcohol-free bottle shop Dry has opened on Shrewsbury’s Wyle Cop. The business is run by Mike Dalton and his wife, Nicola, and provides a wide range of beers & spirits for customers to enjoy. To find out more, visit their website: drybychoice.com

Fireworks In A Glass at Gindifferent’s ‘therapy’ event

Shrewsbury Market Hall’s artisan gin parlour, Gindifferent, is running a Fireworks In A Glass Gin Therapy event on Friday 11 November.

Taking place from 7.30pm to 10.30pm, the tasting session costs £25 and includes six gins, three brand-new cocktails and a selection of ‘delectable nibbles’.

Advertising the event, Gindifferent says:

Market’s Winter Warmer nights make a return

Shrewsbury Market Hall is hosting ‘winter warmer’ events every Wednesday evening from 23 November to 14 December.

Winter Warmers will see gift stalls, cafes & bars stay open until 8pm (and will also feature appearances by Disney characters on 30 November and 7 December).

The first Winter Warmer, on the 23rd of this month, coincides with Shrewsbury’s Christmas lights switch-on.

Meanwhile, the market’s last Saturday Late Night of the year - when cafes, bars, street-food venues and a selection of retail stalls open until late evening - will take place on 3 December (bars open until 10pm, cafes until 9pm).

“Whether it’s couples counselling or a group session, we have what you need. Why not come to our therapy session and let us take you through a journey of discovery as you share with likeminded individuals and sceptics alike the love of the juniper libation.”

Tickets are available from eventbrite.co.uk

Classical music from across the region...

Birmingham Bach Choir

Lichfield Cathedral, Sat 19 November

Returning to Lichfield’s historic cathedral, the acclaimed Birmingham Bach Choir present Johann Sebastian’s Christmas Oratorio.

Written in six sections, first performed in

the 1730s, and telling the story of the birth of Jesus, Bach’s beautiful festive classic has become a firm yuletide favourite. The concert, featuring parts one, two, five and six of the Oratorio, is being viewed as a celebration of conductor Paul Spicer’s 30 years with the choir.

City Of Birmingham Choir: A Sea Symphony

Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Sun 6 November

The City of Birmingham Choir here celebrate the 150th anniversary of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ birth with a performance of his first and most-loved choral symphony.

Vaughan Williams’ orchestral miniature, Fantasia On Greensleeves, and the stirring Benedicite - scored for choir, orchestra and soprano soloist - also feature.

The choir is joined for the concert by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

Adrian Lucas is the man with the baton.

Shrewsbury Choral

The Abbey, Shrewsbury, Sat 12 November

A mixed amateur choir drawn from Shropshire and the Welsh borders, Shrewsbury Choral finds inspiration in a wide variety of styles but also presents a selection of ‘old favourites’, including Mozart’s Requiem and Handel’s Messiah. This latest concert sees the choir getting their teeth into Benjamin Britten’s Saint Nicolas, a work intended primarily for performance by amateur musicians. The programme is completed by Requiem - In An Age Of Anxiety, a piece written by the choir’s accompanist, John Bowen, and here receiving its debut performance.

Ex Cathedra: Songs Of Protest

Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Sun 13 November

“Music expresses our deepest thoughts and has the power to change the way we think and feel,” says Ex Cathedra founder and conductor Jeffrey Skidmore . “Songs Of Protest on Remembrance Sunday puts the case for peace, political freedom, compassion for our fellow human beings and the fight against torture.

One of the UK’s top symphonic ensembles, the Manchester-based Halle is admired around the world for its extensive orchestral repertoire.

This Victoria Hall concert sees the orchestra performing a programme of work that includes Edvard Grieg’s much-loved Piano Concerto. The piece was famously brought to wider public attention by a nowadays oft-

repeated sketch from the 1971 Morecambe & Wise Christmas Show featuring composer/conductor Andre Previn (or Andrew Preview, as Eric & Ernie repeatedly referred to him throughout).

Also featuring on the concert bill is a popular selection of ‘winter’ favourites.

This concert features conductor Stephen Bell and pianist Tom Poster (pictured).

“Classic works by John Joubert and James MacMillan are performed alongside profoundly moving new works by Sally Beamish and Alec Roth.”

Halle Orchestra Victoria Hall, Stoke-on-Trent, Fri 18 November

by Diane Parkes

For writer and director Debbie Isitt, it’s Christmas all year round. As the creator of four hit Nativity! films and a successful stage musical, there’s an element of jingle bells in her life every day.

And from mid-month, she’ll be enjoying sharing the festivities with audiences, when Nativity! The Musical returns to the stage at Birmingham Rep.

Born and brought up in Birmingham, Debbie first launched the story of two schools battling it out for the best Christmas show in her 2009 film, Nativity!

Set in Coventry and starring Martin Freeman, Marc Wootton and Ashley Jensen, the movie rapidly won the hearts of children and adults alike - so much so it was followed by Nativity! 2, 3 and 4, featuring a host of top actors including David Tennant, Martin Clunes, Catherine Tate, Celia Imrie and Meera Syal. The stage show was produced by Birmingham Rep in 2017, and Debbie, who now lives in Coventry, is delighted the new tour again launches back on home turf.

“When we decided to do the show, we wanted to do a co-production with a local theatre because it’s set in Coventry and about the West Midlands. The Birmingham Rep is one of the greatest theatres in the country, and it’s somewhere that’s very important to me. I grew up watching shows at The Rep since I was about six or seven years old, so it felt like home and it felt absolutely right that the show started there.

“Although I’d been on a tremendous journey with the filming, it felt extra-special seeing it on the stage. To think that I was now instrumental in bringing a piece of musical theatre to that very same stage where I had watched shows as a child was really emotional, moving and tremendously exciting. There’s nothing to beat live theatre at its best. Now the musical is coming home again, which is really brilliant, especially after everything we’ve been through with the pandemic.”

Nativity! was inspired by Debbie’s own experiences of childhood Christmas shows.

“I’ve got two sisters, and my mum was keen on each of us being Mary in the nativity at school, so she terrified the teachers to make sure we got the part. So all three of us got to play Mary. We always talk about it at Christmas, me and my sisters!

“It’s funny because Mary’s not actually the best part; there are more entertaining parts. I would’ve loved to have been an angel because I loved the costume with the wings and the long dress. I dreamt of being an angel, but no, it was Mary.”

Debbie believes it’s this shared memory of school plays which has made Nativity! popular with film and theatre audiences.

“The story is so relatable - so many people have either been that child at school doing the Christmas show, or the parent of that child, or the grandparent of that child. It’s a multi-generational story that we all kind of understand and empathise with.

“Since I made the first film, I’ve heard a lot of nativity stories and seen a lot as well. People send me a lot of bits of film of their children in nativities.

“Then there’s the idea of the underdog, the child who is the outsider, overcoming obstacles and showing that everyone is special and everyone has their gifts and talents. That’s what’s really at its heart - the children, and overcoming adversity. It’s a very empowering message, and at Christmas time we want to feel good, we want to feel the world is a lovely place. Nativity! really does offer those messages.”

Central to the story is the madcap teaching assistant Mr Poppy, a child at heart, who is overflowing with enthusiasm for the class he teaches and their Christmas show. So did Debbie have a Mr Poppy when she was a youngster?

“Mr Poppy isn’t based on any teachers I knew, but I wish he had been because I would’ve loved to have a Mr Poppy at school.

But I think he’s a kind of wish-fulfilment character - that imaginary friend or imaginary teacher or imaginary classroom assistant. He’s from my imagination, based on the desire for a Mr Poppy. I’ve since heard lots of people say, ‘I’ve got a teacher that’s just like Mr Poppy,’ and I think, ‘Aren’t you lucky - how brilliant!’”

The production features 37 schoolchildren in the cast, performing in teams on different dates, and Debbie says it’s always a hard decision to choose the young actors.

“One of the highlights for me is auditioning the children because, like within the film and within the show, when children audition they bring their heart and soul and they put it all out on the table. It’s such good fun, and they have a very happy time with a lovely workshop.

“All the children bring something magical, so it’s very tough for me because I would love to cast them all! We have to whittle it down to get there, and it’s quite a process. We have thousands apply, and 37 doesn’t seem so many when you’ve looked at 800 tapes.”

The opening night on 19 November will be particularly special for Debbie, coming as it does after the past few years of Covid and the death of her father.

“It’s going to be very emotional for me because there was a moment there for a couple of years where we thought it might never happen again - not just Nativity! but all theatre. And, like many other people, I lost my dad to Covid. We went through a very, very sad time, and this is hopefully a tribute to him as well. As a Brummie and someone who loved the theatre, it’s a really lovely way of honouring his memory. We are dedicating the whole production to him.”

Nativity! The Musical shows at The Rep, Birmingham, from Saturday 19 November to Saturday 7 January.

A fabulous festive family favourite, Birmingham-born Debbie Isitt’s critically acclaimed Nativity! The Musical is the perfect show to get theatre-goers in the Christmas spirit. Boasting a feelgood storyline, a romantic element, bucketloads of humour and a cast of extremely talented kids, the hit production is showing at Birmingham Rep across the festive season. What’s On recently caught up with Debbie to talk about the show’s enduring appeal...

Live music from across the region...

Vitor Pereira

The Hive, Shrewsbury, Sat 12 November

Alongside a performance by his highly acclaimed and ever-adventurous quintet, London-based Portuguese guitarist & composer Vitor Pereira here presents Electric Chamber, a more recently created foursome that includes the atmospheric cello of Shirley Smart. Vitor was inspired to launch the quartet when he stumbled across years-old composition sketches and unfinished songs in which he had explored the possibility of using a cello in a chamber jazz setting.

Kris Drever

Lichfield Guildhall, Sat 26 November

Hailing from a musical background - his dad was a member of Scottish band Wolfstone, best known for their combination of Highland music and rock & roll - Kris Drever came to prominence in the mid-noughties, first of all forming award-winning folk trio Lau - who’re still going strong, of course - and then releasing debut solo album Black Water. In the years which have followed, he has established himself as one of Scotland’s finest and most in-demand contemporary folk musicians.

The Birthday Massacre

Newhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton, Thurs 10 November

Electronica, goth and new wave are cleverly and effectively combined in the musical output of Canadian darkwave ensemble The Birthday Massacre. The band visit Wolverhampton in support of ninth album Fascination, released earlier this year and

Talisk

Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury, Thurs 17 November

Concertina, guitar and fiddle combine when Talisk work their extraordinary magic. Loved and admired by the likes of Mark Radcliffe and Rolling Stone magazine, the Scottish folk trio have been causing a stir for the better part of a decade now. And their talent has certainly been recognised - a BBC Radio Two Young Folk Award win back in 2015 was followed three years later by another major success when they bagged Scotland’s biggest music prize: the Belhaven Bursary for Innovation in Scottish Music.

Hugh Cornwell

The Robin, Bilston, Fri 25 November Hugh Cornwell is best known as the vocalist and guitarist for punk rock/new wave band The Stranglers, with whom he played from 1974 to 1990.

One of the most celebrated songwriters of his generation, Hugh boasts a backcatalogue that includes Peaches, No More Heroes, Golden Brown, Always The Sun and Duchess.

This Bilston concert sees him performing

written in response to the challenges of the pandemic and lockdown. “During that time, self-reflection took over,” says lead singer Chibi. “When forced to spend so much time with oneself, you can uncover some very dark things... Getting back together in the studio to write and record Fascination was a step towards releasing those emotions and feeling like maybe things will be right with the world again soon.”

songs from latest album Moments Of Madness, released last month, alongside numerous Stranglers classics.

Funke & The Two Tone Baby

Albert’s Shed, Southwater, Telford, Thurs 3 November

Big beats, sub kicks, folky singalong anthems and blistering blues riffs are all in a day’s work for the one-man phenomenon that is Funke & The Two Tone Baby. Wowing audiences at festivals from Glastonbury to WOMAD, the trilby-wearing Dan Turnbull has also played support slots with the likes of Skinny Lister, Beans On Toast, Hazel O’ Connor, Ferocious Dog and Hayseed Dixie. Expect an evening of hang-onto-your-hats (trilbies, maybe?) sonic explosion.

A TIMELY REVIVAL

by Steve Adams

The Royal Shakespeare Company’s festive production could hardly be more pertinent. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens’ tale of poverty, social inequality, compassion and redemption, was written in 1843 but resonates louder than ever at the moment, with Britain in the grip of a cost-of-living crisis and economic recession.

The contemporary context isn’t lost on any of the key players in the new production, which is a revival of David Edgar’s socially conscious adaptation that played to packed houses in Stratford in 2017 and ’18. This year’s version features a new cast, led by former Young One Adrian Edmondson as Scrooge and TV regular Sunetra Sarker as the Ghost of Christmas Present. Both are acutely aware of the story’s depressing relevance in 2022.

“A Christmas Carol is an extraordinary book,” says Adrian, who returns to the RSC after starring in Twelfth Night five years ago. “It’s been in print continuously since 1843, so it must be saying something very important that catches our imagination. A lot of people think it’s about Scrooge and ghosts, which of course it is, but at the heart of it, it’s about poverty and our individual reaction to it. So it couldn’t be more relevant today than it has been in the past 30 to 40 years - not since rationing really. Actual poverty in our streets, people at food banks. That’s the driving force of it for Dickens - he’d read a report on poverty and was considering writing this as a dry pamphlet, but wrote it as a story because he thought it would connect more. And, of course, it does. So it’s hard to find a play that’s more relevant, especially one you might enjoy.”

Playwright David Edgar talks of it being a “universal story of how benevolence is stronger than greed”, and of his determination to keep “Dickens and his ambitions” front and centre in the adaptation.

Sunetra, meanwhile, sees the importance of telling a tale that remains so relevant. “Heating and eating are all we see in the newspapers, and the energy crisis is the first headline we’re reading about, hearing about and talking about,” says the actor familiar to millions via roles in TV shows such as Casualty (where she spent 10 years as Dr Zoe

Hanna), Cold Feet, No Angels, Ackley Bridge, Sherwood and The Bay. “The state of society, the way the world ignores and neglects what the real wants and needs are, and how ignorance plays a role in that - it’s all tied up in this story. So without realising it, we’re right on the button.”

The production represents Sunetra’s RSC debut (“it’s an honour to be able to tread the boards where so many great actors have been before”), as well as her first time on stage in nearly two decades. And the likeable scouser - the accent remains strong - is loving every minute of it, even when I point out that she could hardly have chosen a more prestigious or high-profile arena in which to make her return.

“I hadn’t thought about it like that, but now you say it, maybe I should! But it’s been more of an honour really - it’s such a gift to be invited to be part of the company at the RSC.

It’s always been a big deal - even coming from an Indian family, everybody knew about the Royal Shakespeare Company.”

She says her return to the stage has largely been prompted by her children getting olderthe long, inconvenient hours and the travel involved would have been too big a commitment when they were young.

“It wasn’t that I didn’t want to do more stageeveryone wants to do more stage because you get that immediate intensity and reaction from the crowd that’s just joyous. You can’t bottle that sort of stuff because it’s so real.

It’s like having a really good night out with your friends - you can’t pretend to have a really good night out with your friends!

“So it feels like I’ve missed out on some wonderful moments on stage, but I’m here giving it my best. It’s a big show, there are a lot of set pieces, and I’m just getting my stage memory back in shape. But I’ve never felt more welcomed or supported by a company of strangers before - they’ve been absolutely delightful, and I’m just trying to keep up because they’re all so very good.”

Sunetra also acknowledges the importance of her character in the play; the Ghost of Christmas Present is widely regarded as the mouthpiece for Dickens’ own views.

“I’ve chosen to make her a Northern, grounded, earthy activist. She’s like a nosey

news reporter going ‘Look, Scrooge, this is what’s going on in the world today, not yesterday or tomorrow, but today.’ I’d like to say she’s got a sunshine and brightness about her, but she’s also weighted in the reality of ‘You need to get your act together, shape up.’”

And Adrian can’t wait to get his act together as the old miser at the heart of the story.

“I’m really looking forward to playing Scrooge. Why, you might ask, would you watch a show about a really horrible person?

You watch it because you’re cheering him on, urging him to become a better person. You’re on his side, you want him to turn. I think that makes him one of the most fundamentally interesting characters in literature, and a great part to play.”

And as much as we’ve been talking about the disheartening timeliness of the show in terms of the current prevalence of food poverty and economic hardship in society, there’s plenty of positivity to be found throughout the production, as well as in its redeeming denouement.

Sunetra is “loving the magic that a show like this brings - the set design, the music, the dance”, while David Edgar is quick to praise director Rachel Kavanaugh’s “wonderful production - combining a glorious set with dazzling choreography and musical score”. He also believes the tale shines a light on the positives that can be found while living in darker times.

“When we premiered the show in 2017, millions were already relying on food banks, and beggars haunted city streets. Covid and the cost-of-living crisis have made economic inequality - and raw poverty - an even more pressing reality. And yet - in the way the nation came together around the NHS to combat the pandemic - we have been reminded of the selflessness and generosity of spirit which lies at the heart of Dickens’ enduringly optimistic story.”

A Christmas Carol shows at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-uponAvon, until Sun 1 January

With Britain seemingly on the verge of a return to Dickensian times, the RSC’s revival of its acclaimed version of A Christmas Carol could hardly be more opportune. Three of the production’s key players reveal why the enduring tale of redemption and compassion is more relevant than ever this festive season...

Comedy previews from across the region...

Harriet Kemsley

Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Sun 13 November

Harriet Kemsley’s new show, Honeysuckle Island, takes its inspiration from a dream travel destination the comedian created and committed to paper when she was 11. Along with having “everything a pre-teen could want’, from waterfalls and ziplines to monkeys, the island also featured a cellulite machine.

When Harriet recently looked at her drawing of the island and saw the machine, it inspired her to write a show about how societal pressure impacts young girls.

“It’s a long, hard squint at the beauty industry through my two remaining false eyelashes,” she explains, “but it’s also lots of funny jokes about me and my life, from having a baby through to being a ridiculous person!”

Ed Gamble

Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Sat 19 November; The Alexandra, Birmingham, Sun 20 November

“I’m essentially a great guy delivering humour through your classic microphone/speaker combo,” says a tonguein-cheek Ed Gamble, in describing himself. “As well as being a standup comedian, I’m an actor and a writer - although, to be honest, I very rarely act, and ‘writing’ is a very lofty term for the absolute filth I’ve committed to paper in the past.”

Co-host (with James Acaster) of awardwinning podcast Off Menu, a judge on Great British Menu, Taskmaster champion and host of Taskmaster The Podcast, Ed stops off in the Midlands this month with his touring show, Electric.

Actor Alex Lowe enjoyed big success with comic creation Clinton Baptiste when the character first appeared more than 20 years ago in Peter Kay’s award-winning television series, Phoenix Nights.

A tacky and inept clairvoyant, medium and psychic, Clinton was Kay’s brainchild but has since been fleshed-out further by the man who plays him.

Despite the serious amount of work he’s put into developing the character, Alex remains appreciative of Clinton’s origin: “The fact

Rich Hall

Foxlowe Arts Centre, Leek, Thurs 10 November; Lichfield Garrick, Fri 11 November; Palace Theatre, Redditch, Wed 23 November

An official biography of Rich Hall modestly describes the American funnyman as ‘a comic genius’, albeit a ‘grouchy, deadpan’ one.

With much of his comedy focusing on making fun of life across the pond in his homeland, Rich is best known for his creation of Otis Lee Crenshaw, a bourbonswilling redneck jailbird from Tennessee whose many wives have all been named Brenda.

Rich returns to the Midlands this month with latest touring show Shot From Cannons, the publicity for which reveals: “You’ll pay for the whole seat, but you’ll only need the edge of it.”

that he’s from Phoenix Nights is great! It’s like having a head start, because I already feel four-nil up before I even get on stage, and I know the audience is going to laugh.” This brand-new touring show sees Clinton pitting his psychic wits against his arch Scottish nemesis, Ramone Tamine, a soothsayer character played by actor, comedian and mimic Lewis Macleod. But which of these two coiffured titans of the ‘unknown’ will be declared Britain’s greatest paranormalist, we wonder?...

Ivo Graham

The Glee Club, Birmingham, Wed 23 November

Seriously posh and admirably selfdeprecating, Ivo Graham won plenty of new fans in 2019 when one of his gags was nominated for the coveted ‘best joke of the Edinburgh Fringe’ award...

“I’ve got an Eton-themed advent calendar,” explained Ivo, “where all the doors are opened for me by my dad’s contacts.”

The Tokyo-born Oxford alumnus visits the Midlands to discuss ‘the heavy-duty pranking, parenting and procrastinating’ which has informed his life over the last few years.

Clinton Baptiste: Clinton vs Ramone Birmingham Town Hall, Wed 23 November

Comedy previews from across the region...

Jon Richardson

Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, Wed 2 & Thurs 3 November; Regent Theatre, Stoke-onTrent, Sun 22 & Mon 23 January; Birmingham Hippodrome, Sun 28 & Mon 29 May

Jon Richardson has been referred to as an OCD-afflicted grumpy young man - a description which will strike chords with anybody who’s ever caught the 40-year-old’s hugely entertaining act.

A familiar television face, Jon is married to fellow comedian Lucy Beaumont, with whom he stars in Dave TV’s Meet The Richardsons - a semi-fictional (and inevitably very funny) account of their life together.

His new touring show, The Knitwit, which he’s bringing to Wolverhampton this month, sees him asking some of life’s big questions: Will the recycling be put out on the right day? Who is going to smooth over the top of the margarine? How many lights are on upstairs when everybody is downstairs?

“I’m neurotic by nature,” admits Jon, “but I’m wary of becoming more of a play than a comic. You don’t want people coming to see a man having a breakdown for two hours. I’d prefer them coming to hear my astute and witty observations.”

“Fresh from finding and proving decisive links between IKEA, the CIA and the Nazis, 1930s throwback and home-schooled investigator

Troy Hawke battles a new enemy on behalf of all people everywhere: the bastard saboteur that lurks in our own minds…”

The above description - the publicity for Troy’s award-winning and currently touring show, Sigmund Troy’d - makes it pretty clear that

Mark Watson

Stafford Gatehouse Theatre, Thurs 10 November; Much Wenlock Arts Centre, Sun 20 November

Well-established on the UK comedy circuit, Mark Watson was born in Bristol to Welsh parents and initially delivered his act with a Welsh accent, claiming he felt “more comfortable talking in a voice that I didn’t quite recognise as my own”.

The Indians Are Coming

Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, Sat 12 November; Glee Club, Birmingham, Sun 13 November; Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Fri 25 November

With her life experiences including a teenage suicide attempt, a Spanish-retreat encounter with psychoactive brew ayahuasca, and a train-station breakdown involving a cheese & onion pasty, Sukh Ojla has plenty of fantastic raw material around which to build a standup set... Sukh is joined at all three venues by Anuvab Pal (plus two other comedians) - for a show which is promising ‘belly laughs that are big enough to burn off an entire biryani

A regular contributor to the Edinburgh Fringe, Mark has the curious distinction of having performed standup shows which have lasted for a period in excess of 24 hours.

“Comedy is certainly a time-consuming element of my life,” he admits, “but then while I’m out touring and on stage, there are people at home doing far less glamorous things. There have certainly been times when I’ve been very happy to say, ‘Of course I’d like to stay and help out with that plumbing crisis, but the Midlands awaits!’”

Mark’s latest visit to the region sees him presenting This Can’t Be It, a show which he says will reflect on “a couple of years of pathological overthinking”.

audiences are in for plenty more than a standard evening of standup when they check out this foppish Errol Flynn-lookalike.

Comedian Milo McCabe was playing Troy for nearly a decade before finally hitting the online jackpot and going viral on TikTok. Expect an evening of splendidly incongruous, occasionally brain-addling, delivered-withwarmth comedy.

Katherine Ryan

Victoria Hall, Stoke-on-Trent, Fri 11 November

Having experienced motherhood, divorce and MTV, the awardwinning Katherine Ryan is well placed indeed to take a wry look at those aspects of life that can make people feel angry and bitter. But while she often writes and performs material which proves that even the darkest subject matter can have a funny side, she’s also got plenty in her life to feel happy about - not least the fact that she’s now married to her high-school sweetheart. This latest tour by the Canadian star of hit Netflix series The Duchess sees her brandnew life as a wife taking centre-stage.

“Magically my high-school boyfriend walked back into my life, and I did everything possible not to marry him,” Katherine told The Sun. “I really was against partnership at that point. I was looking forward to ageing alone with many dogs. And then I just loved him too much. It’s funny that fate has a way of finding you, and what’s meant for you won’t pass you.”

Troy Hawke Sutton Coldfield Town Hall, Fri 11 & Sun 13 November

Never-ending story

by Diane Parkes

Emilia Marty seems to have it all. She is successful, beautiful and adored by everyone. And what’s more, she is immortal. Yet Emilia, the lead character in Leoš Janáček’s opera, The Makropulos Affair, is far from happy. After more than 300 years of living, she’s realised that she has nothing left to enjoy.

Being immortal may seem like a dream come true, but, says Spanish soprano Ángeles

Blancas Gulín, who plays Emilia in the new Welsh National Opera (WNO) version of the show, her character gradually learns that life without love is meaningless.

“Emilia Marty does a lot of things,” says Ángeles. “She takes cocaine, and she is smoking and drinking because she doesn’t care. She does everything she wants and says everything she wants to say.

“But for her, living 300 years has been hard because she has lost all kind of emotions and feelings. She doesn’t feel anything now because she has had so many huge experiences in her life that she doesn’t care anymore about it. She doesn’t feel love, she doesn’t feel pain, nothing.

“Nobody knows what it would really be like to be immortal; what someone can do, really do, when they are living forever, but also the cost. It would be so tough.”

Czech composer Janáček premiered The Makropulos Affair, which is based on a play of the same name by Czech dramatist Karel Čapek, in 1926. It was last performed by WNO in 1994, in a production by the company’s former artistic director, Sir David Pountney.

Directed by Olivia Fuchs and conducted by WNO Music Director Tomáš Hanus, the new production is set in the 1920s and also features Nicky Spence, Gustáv Beláček, David Stout, Harriet Eyley and Mark Le Brocq in the cast.

The Makropulos Affair is said to be partly inspired by Janáček’s unrequited passion for a married woman. Pouring his emotion into his work, Janáček created one of opera’s most dramatic and enigmatic female roles in Emilia Marty.

“It is an absolutely amazing part,” says Ángeles. “Janáček’s music really gets inside the story, so you are always inside a real drama. Emilia is playing a role because she is the only one who really knows what’s happening.

“Everyone is crazy about this woman, but she knows everything they don’t know, and they are all asking ‘How is this possible?’ This is what makes the story very interesting - she is a really mysterious woman.

“When you play the part of someone who has a really deep life, a spiritual life, you can feel it. And with Emilia Marty, it’s like that. She is so strong; she’s had 300 years of living, so a lot of different experiences, and it is something that people can smell - the energy. When you find somebody who has a different energy inside like this, it’s irresistible.”

Ángeles first played Emilia at La Fenice Opera House in Venice in 2013, and then again at Strasbourg Opera House in 2016. Each time she comes to the part, she learns more about her character.

“I was a completely different woman the first time I played her. Now I am older, I’ve changed, I have so much more experienceand different kinds of experience - so I am different. And that means I understand her so much better now than nine years ago and six years ago.

“And it’s about how you play the role. So for example, sometimes in the opera you want to make a lot of movement. You don’t like the empty moments, so you do things to fill them - but actually, the less you do, the better it is.” Ángeles was born in Spain and made her debut in concert with Plácido Domingo. Since then she’s performed roles in operas including Mozart’s Magic Flute, Puccini’s Tosca, Verdi’s Aida and Monteverdi’s Coronation Of Poppea. And she has appeared in venues across the globe such as Liceu Opera in Barcelona, Carnegie Hall in New York and the Colón Theatre in Buenos Aires.

The Makropulos Affair is her first engagement with Welsh National Opera. She is looking forward to touring with the company.

“I’ve sung at Covent Garden and the Barbican Centre, but that is all for the UK, so everywhere I go, it will be for the first time.

I’m very excited about this.”

The production is also travelling to Brno in the Czech Republic, where it forms part of the line-up for the prestigious biennial Janáček Brno International Opera & Music Festival.

The Makropulos Affair is the final part of a WNO Janáček trilogy which has also included The Cunning Little Vixen and Jenůfa. Under

the baton of Brno-born Hanus, the company has gained an international reputation for its Janáček works.

For Ángeles, the composer’s work is highly theatrical. “Janáček is very passionate; there is passion inside his music. This opera is very dramatic - the acting is very important because Emilia Marty is such an exhilarating woman that you don’t need to do extra things for the audience to understand her. If you do exactly what is written, it’s going to be wonderful.”

One of the challenges of performing Janáček is mastering the Czech libretto, which is surtitled in Welsh and English on the tour.

“This is a new production and has a wonderful conductor who is Czech, so I feel I am really inside the Czech mood. But learning the Czech language is hard work.

“The first time I met with the Czech language was with the opera Rusalka in 2007. I began to work really hard to get inside the language - I write all the words, I translate, I memorise, I listen to the pronunciation, and I need to understand the music of the language.

“The main thing is to make all the different words have a distinct beginning and end because even though the audience is going to listen just to a line, you must be saying each word separately, and you must feel each word individually. It must come from inside your soul. Only then will it make sense to anyone who understands the language.”

The Makropulos Affair may be nearly 100 years old, but Ángeles believes it has a very current message.

“I think the opera is saying that we need to go to the really important things in life. There is a phrase of Emilia Marty’s in which she says: ‘You are idiots because you don’t understand how important it is just to live one life, a normal life, with the really important things.’”

Welsh National Opera’s The Makropulos Affair shows at Birmingham Hippodrome on Tuesday 8 November. Other WNO productions showing at the venue include La bohème, from Wed 9 to Fri 11

November, and Migrations on Sat 12 November

A contemplation on immortality, Janáček’s The Makropulos Affair this month features in Welsh National Opera’s Birmingham Hippodrome programme of shows. What’s On recently caught up with Spanish soprano Ángeles Blancas Gulín, who plays the lead role of Emilia Marty in the production, to find out what audiences can expect...

Theatre

Theatre previews from around the region

Strictly Ballroom The Musical

Strictly Come Dancing favourites Kevin Clifton and Maisie Smith star in this brand-new Craig Revel Horwood-directed musical, based on Baz Lurhmann’s iconic 1992 film of the same name. “This show introduces people to the backstage world,” says Craig. “Everyone who watches Strictly Come Dancing is seeing the glossy side of it, but Strictly Ballroom delves into the hearts and minds of the

Saturday Night Fever

The Alexandra, Birmingham, Tues 22 - Sat 26 November

Tony Manero knows there’s more to life than he’s got: an unremarkable existence in New York City with family and friends who’ve accepted their lot and expect him to do the same...

But there’s fat chance Tony will do that; he’s way too busy living his very own American Dream, hitting Manhattan’s nightspots with his dancing partner and strutting his funky stuff...

The mother of all disco shows, the 1970s-set Saturday Night Fever pulsates to the music of the Bee Gees’ famous soundtrack. Classic hits like Stayin’ Alive, Jive Talkin’, Night Fever, If I Can’t Have You and Tragedy guarantee an evening of flares-flapping fun for anyone who’s ever enjoyed the pumping sounds of the disco dancefloor. In short, you can expect to find yourself well and truly, er, Lost In Music...

people doing the dance - the trials and tribulations they have to go through in order to get to that competition standard. It’s about the fight and struggle, and all the animosity that’s involved in it to win the day and become a gold medallist. It’s about dancing with your heart rather than just dancing the steps.”

Six The Musical

Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, Tues 15 - Sun 20 November; Birmingham Hippodrome, Tues 28 February - Sat 4 March

From Tudor queens to battling boss-women, the 2022 Tony Award-winning Six The Musical sees the wives of Henry VIII take to the stage to tell their own versions of their lives.

The one-act production, which premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2017, was enjoying a runaway success until Covid put the brakes on - but being a show that sits somewhere between a Girls Aloud gig and a traditional musical, it’s having no trouble whatsoever re-gaining its momentum.

A loud and colourful celebration of girl power, the production sees the cast being ably supported by allfemale band The Ladies In Waiting.

Birmingham Hippodrome, Mon 31 October - Sat 5 November; Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, Mon 13 - Sat 18 February

Theatre

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical

Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, Tues 1 - Sat 5 November

Making another welcome return to the Midlands, the Olivier Award-winning Beautiful is a homage to the life and music of legendary singer-songwriter Carole King. Featured numbers include You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman, Take Good Care Of My Baby, You’ve Got A Friend, So Far Away, It Might As Well Rain Until September, Up On The Roof and Locomotion.

Agatha Christie’s The Mirror Crack’d

Malvern Theatres, Mon 14 - Sat 19 November; The Alexandra, Birmingham, Tues 14 - Sat 18 February

The sleepy village of St Mary Mead is changing. A new housing estate is causing disquiet among the residents, and a rich American film star has bought the Manor House.

When a vicious crime takes place, the indomitable Miss Marple suddenly finds herself with yet another baffling murdermystery on her hands...

Susie Blake - whose screen credits include Victoria Wood’s As Seen On TV, Coronation Street and Mrs Brown’s Boys - takes the starring role as Agatha Christie’s legendary spinster sleuth. The show is presented by the well-regarded Original Theatre company.

A Dead Body In Taos

Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Tues 15 - Sat 19 November

Theatre previews from around the region

The Memory Of Water

Stafford Gatehouse Theatre, Tues 8 - Sat 12 November

Childhood conflicts re-emerge, memories collide, and the secrets of three separate lives are revealed in Shelagh Stephenson’s Olivier Award-winning play.

Bossy big-sister Teresa, over-achieving Mary and attention-seeking Catherine are siblings with little history of getting along. And when they return to the family home on the Yorkshire coast, it soon becomes evident that even more turmoil is on the cards...

Part mystery, part sci-fi epic and part love story, David Farr’s new play contemplates the ways in which developments in artificial intelligence might impact the human understanding of death, consciousness and the soul.

Set against the backdrop of modern America, the story follows Sam as she travels to a place of pilgrimage in the New Mexico desert, where her estranged 70-year-old mother, Kath, has died.

Julie: The Musical

The Old Joint Stock, Birmingham, Wed 16 - Fri 18 November

Tap-dancing sword fights, twerking nuns and kazoo choruses are not so much the order of the day as the order of the first 30 minutes of this brand-new musical. Talk about being fast out of the traps!

The show is based on the life, times and outrageous adventures of 17th-century operasinging bisexual swordswoman and LGBTQ+ icon Julie D’Aubigny.

Julie was most certainly one of a kind, seducing nuns, duelling multiple men all at once, burning down convents, taking bribes from princes and innovating opera - and all before she’d reached the age of 30!

With all of that and plenty more going on, it’s fair to assume this will be no ordinary evening of musical theatre...

But once arrived in Taos, she discovers that Kath has secretly exercised ‘the ultimate right as a consumer - the right to defy death’ - a fact which leaves Sam with a terrible decision to make...

Co-commissioned by Warwick Arts Centre and Fuel Theatre, A Dead Body In Taos is loosely inspired by Adam Curtis’ The Century Of The Self, a 2002 documentary series which explored the ways in which governments and organisations have used psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud’s ground-breaking theories to try and control people in an age of mass democracy.

Circus Of Horrors: The Witch

Telford Theatre, Thurs 3 November; KK’s Steel Mill, Wolverhampton, Thurs 17 November; Stratford Playhouse, Stratford-upon-Avon, Fri 25 November

An off-kilter affair that bears more resemblance to a freak show than any modern definition of a circus, the one-time Britain’s Got Talent finalists here present a world beyond political correctness and taste. With the performers dressed in a manner reminiscent of The Rocky Horror Show, there’s no denying the skill of those participating - or indeed the ensemble’s sheer ‘wow’ factor.

Latest offering The Witch comes complete with an original rock score and is described as ‘a sensational new phantasmagoria which encompasses amazing & bizarre circus acts’.

Theatre previews from around the region

Done To Death, By Jove!

The Core Theatre, Solihull, Wed 23 November

Fun-loving duo Gavin Robertson and Nicholas Collett blend humour, variety, theatre and dance in a show that pays spoof homage to the ‘great British detective’. Well reviewed in Edinburgh back in the summer, the show is based around the idea that a cast of six has become a cast of two due to an M6 breakdown of the van carrying the props, the set and four of the performers. The intrepid remaining cast members, Messers Robertson and Collett, are therefore left to present the show on their own - an endeavour which, not surprisingly, leads to all manner of mix-ups and mayhem.

mystery of the monstrous moorland beast, the story continues to be rehashed both for stage and screen.

This latest incarnation, marking the story’s 120th anniversary, is being presented by Crime And Comedy Theatre Company as a radio play on stage. One-time Dr Who Colin Baker and Terry Molloy - who played the role of Mike Tucker in The Archers for 40 yearsstar as Holmes and his faithful assistant Dr John Watson.

The Orphanage

Blue Orange Theatre, Birmingham, Fri 11 - Sun 27 November

If Halloween got you in the mood for more spinetingling experiences, then bagging yourself a seat for this brand-new production would definitely be a good idea.

When a young couple dare themselves to spend the night in a spooky old out-of-town building, they soon find that they’ve bitten off considerably more than they can chew... The show is presented by DR1 Theatricals Limited, who scored a hit last year with their adaptation of The Wicked Lady.

The Lavender Hill Mob

The Hound Of The Baskervilles

Tamworth Assembly Rooms, Thurs 10 - Fri 11 November

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes is one of literature’s most enduring characters, The Hound Of The Baskervilles his most famous adventure. And no matter how many actors don the deerstalker and solve the

Malvern Theatres, Mon 7 - Sat 12 November

This stage version of the classic Ealing Comedy of the same name tells the story of an unassuming bank clerk and the team he puts together to steal the gold bullion that he drives across London every day.

Miles Jupp and The Thick Of It’s Justin Edwards take the lead roles in this worldpremiere adaptation of the 1951 movie, which

The Shawshank Redemption

The Alexandra, Birmingham, Mon 7 - Sat 12 November

Given that film critics regard The Shawshank Redemption as one of the greatest movies of all time, it’s hardly surprising to find that its stage version is out on the road yet again and doing good business.

Based on a 1982 Stephen King novella, the story revolves around the character of Andy Dufresne, a man serving a double life sentence at the notorious Shawshank facility. An unlikely friendship with prison fixer Red makes the experience a little more bearable. But when the warden decides to make Andy’s life a living hell, the nothing-to-lose lifer hatches a daring and ingenious plan to escape...

Joe Absolom and Ben Onwukwe star.

the British Film Institute ranked the 17th greatest Brit film of all time.

The Syrian Baker

Newhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton, Tues 8 November; SpArC Theatre, Bishops Castle, South Shropshire; Thurs 10 November; Welshampton Parish Hall, North Shropshire, Fri 11 November; Farlow and Oreton Village Hall, South Shropshire, Sat 12 November; Meole Brace Peace Memorial Hall, Shrewsbury, Sun 13 November

“Our shows are written for all to enjoy,” explains Farnham Maltings, the company behind this thought-provoking production.

“There is nothing to offend, and we hope everyone will take something special home with them from the evening.”

The Syrian Baker revolves around the experiences of two people who decide to return home despite the state of their country.

Told ‘with affection, irrepressible humour and bread - because without bread nothing happens’, the show reflects on the way in which small actions can make the biggest difference.

The production’s storytelling style and language is considered suitable for audience members aged 10-plus.

Theatre

Theatre previews from around the region

Alice In Wonderland

New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Fri 18 November - Sat 28 January

The New Vic theatre is reaching back into its past for this year’s Christmas production, revisiting - and, according to Artistic Director Theresa Heskins, ‘refreshing’ - its acclaimed version of Alice In Wonderland, which was first performed 11 years ago.

“Alice is one of the shows we’re fondest of,” says Theresa. “It was nominated for awards, engaged the imaginations of so many young people who are now adults, and we saw that it had so much impact. We’re also fond of it because it has great music, and it’s very lively, funny and witty. It’s a much-loved story told in a very dramatic and exciting way.”

theatrical magic aplenty, so this is definitely a show that’s well worth catching.

Presented by the team behind two other hit kids’ productions, Dear Zoo Live and Dear Santa, the show features puppetry, toetapping songs and, as a special festive treat, the chance to help Squirrel find everything she needs to build a snowman.

Cinderella

Blue Orange Theatre, Birmingham, Wed 30 November - Sat 10 December

With its comical Ugly Sisters, matchmaking fairy godmother, drop-dead-gorgeous Prince Charming, super-cute mice and fits-one-footonly glass slipper, Cinderella can justifiably lay claim to being the most popular of all pantomimes.

This Blue Orange Arts version brings together ‘romance, comedy, lots of magical songs, dances, sweets, sets, glorious costumes and buckets of audience participation’.

Beauty And The Beast

Old Rep, Birmingham, Fri 18 November - Fri 16 December

The Bear

Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham, Thurs 17 November - Fri 30 December

The late Raymond Briggs is best known, of course, for his story about a little boy who makes friends with a snowman.

His picture book of The Bear has a similar child-meets-unusual-friend theme - except that in this case, it’s a little girl and an enormous polar bear who take centre stage. Adapted for the theatre by Pins And Needles and already the recipient of enormous critical acclaim, this heartwarming and decidedly wintry tale features puppetry, music, storytelling and plenty of humour. Highly recommended.

Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs

Lichfield Garrick, Fri 25 November - Sat 31 December

Everybody knows the story - the nasty old queen’s less than keen on her younger and more beautiful stepdaughter, who takes refuge from her royal evilness by holing up in the deep, dark forest with a household of small but splendidly friendly miners... The fact that Snow White’s a twenty-four carat classic of a fairytale means that a pantomime version is always a surefire winner. Expect all the usual panto elements, with the Garrick’s ever-popular Dame, Sam Rabone, taking top billing.

Tales From Acorn Wood

At Christmas

Royal Spa Centre, Leamington Spa, Sat 12 & Sun 13 November; Birmingham Hippodrome, Tues 13 - Sat 31 December

Stage adaptations of books by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler invariably offer

“Beauty And The Beast is an inspiring tale, perfect for children and families,” says Old Rep Executive Director Michael Penn. “Our theatre is delighted to be teaming up with the Birmingham Ormiston Academy (BOA) Group, and the creative team behind last year’s wonderful Alice In Wonderland, to bring a fresh and exciting take on this classic story.”

The seventh Christmas show that the Old Rep has produced alongside BOA, Beauty comes complete with ‘spectacular costumes, catchy original songs, creative choreography and plenty of fun’.

Snow White

Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury,

Sat 26 November - Sat 31 December

The creators of the critically acclaimed King Arthur: The Panto! - that’s BAFTA-winning writer Maurice Gran (Birds Of A Feather) and local playwright Nick Wilkes (the Almost series) - this month return to Tewkesbury for another bite of the yuletide apple, this time with a famous fairytale that they’ve brought bang up to date.

Theatre previews from around the region

Theatre

Beauty And The Beast

Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury, Wed 30 November - Sun 8 January

“There are pantos that go a bit near the knuckle, but I don’t think we do really,” says Brad Fitt, who’s long been a much-loved fixture in Theatre Severn’s annual pantomime production. “I would never tell a joke that was offensive or rude. Sometimes you can use a double entendre - but then that’s in your mind, that’s not me. You have to blame yourself!”

Brad this year takes on the role of Nurse Nelly and also directs the show, his 11th Theatre Severn panto. He’s joined in the cast by Britain’s Got Talent 2022 contestant Tommy J Rollason, who’ll play comedy character Jangles.

Nativity! The Musical

The Rep, Birmingham, Sat 19 November - Sat 7 January

Debbie Isitt’s 2009 movie, Nativity!, proved so popular that it spawned three further films. It also inspired the Birmingham-born writer & director to create this musical stage adaptation, here making a welcome return to The Rep complete with some brand-new songs.

For those unfamiliar with the plot, it concerns the children of St Bernadette’s primary school and their ambition to present a musical version of the nativity. An already big challenge for the kids is made all the

trickier by false promises, a complicated love interest and a rival school vying with St Bernadette’s for the critics’ award. Not surprisingly, chaos ensues!

“I always believed that Nativity! would make a fantastic stage musical,” says Debbie. “It’s so full of joy, the children are so sweet and funny and the songs so catchy that it lends itself to being the perfect Christmas musical. The songs really do change the dynamic. It gives you much more insight into the characters and their backstories. And the emotions are more intense, like with the love story between Mr Maddens and Jennifer - it feels even bigger now because they’re singing duets.”

Disney On Ice: Dream Big

Resorts World Arena, Birmingham, 26 & 27 November & 30 November - 4 December

Disney On Ice makes a welcome return to Birmingham with a show that’s encouraging audiences to Dream Big.

Featuring a host of the Mouse House’s most popular characters, including numerous Disney princesses, the production has enjoyed more than its fair share of positive reviews since debuting at the start of the millennium. For tickets, visit theticketfactory.com.

Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-uponAvon, until Sun 1 January

Of all Dickens’ festive stories, A Christmas Carol reigns supreme. The covetous sinning of the miserly Scrooge, the eternal hope offered by Tiny Tim, and the eerie visions of redemption - visiting Ebenezer in the shape of three yuletide ghosts (four if you count the chain-clanking Jacob Marley) - all combine to give the tale a real olde worlde charm... Adrian Edmondson stars as Scrooge in this highly acclaimed David Edgar-penned adaptation, which debuted at the RSC five years ago.

Cinderella

Swan Theatre, Worcester, Tues 29 Nov - Mon 2 January

Worcester Repertory Company have an excellent reputation for producing quality family theatre, and they will no doubt be doing so again when they get their collective teeth into the ever-sparkling story of Cinders and her search for true love.

A Christmas Carol

Dream time

Dreamgirls Effie, Deena and Lorrell are coming to The Alexandra

The smash-hit Broadway and West End musical Dreamgirls comes to Birmingham theatre The Alexandra next month and shows at the venue across the festive period.

Packed full of catchy songs, including Listen and One Night Only, the show tells the story of three young black women - Effie, Deena and Lorrell - whose dream is to achieve superstardom as singers. But they soon discover that behind the glitter, fame is a rollercoaster ride where love, loyalty and friendship can be put to the test.

Set in the US in the 1960s and ’70s, Dreamgirls is inspired by a host of top Motown acts, including The Supremes, The Marvelettes and The Shirelles. It premiered on Broadway in 1981, was adapted for an Oscarwinning film starring Beyoncé, Jennifer Hudson and Jamie Foxx in 2006, and opened in the West End six years ago.

Nicole Dennis played Effie in London and returns to the role for the tour.

“I love playing Effie, as she’s such a complex character,” says Nicole. “It’s been a long journey with her, because although I started playing her professionally when I was 22, I first played her in amateur dramatics when I was 18.

“We first meet Effie as an 18-year-old who is very sassy, outspoken, and knows what she wants: to be a big star. A lot of people don’t relate to her when they first meet her, and that has been a tricky and difficult thing, allowing people to understand her. But it’s also been the fun of the part, getting to know her and unravel all those layers, and getting to the roots of why she thinks like that and emotes like that.

“I wish I was as brave as she is. She’s very outspoken about the things she wants in her life, and I think playing her has allowed me to take on some of that and be a bit braver in my own life. But in the end she’s just a girl who wants to be loved as much as she wants to be a superstar.”

Dreamgirls was a story Nicole knew well even

before playing the part of Effie.

“I’ve grown up with this show and listening to this music since I was 10 years old. I think that’s what a lot of people find attractive about the show; the soundtrack is some of the best music I’ve ever heard - not just in musical theatre but in all of music - but it also has a very strong story to match it. The characters are so well thought out, developed and relatable. It’s one of the greatest musicals of all time.”

While playing Effie in the West End in 2019, Nicole was scouted to join television talent show The Voice, in which she was mentored by Jennifer Hudson, who played Effie in the Dreamgirls film.

“Having a relationship like that with Jennifer has been a high point of my career. It was like it was written in the universe. It was a massive experience, as she comes from a very similar background to me, where she had to do everything on her own but with the support of her family and her friends. Being on The Voice was a real experience, and I learnt a lot about the industry and how it moves.”

Natalie Kassanga takes the role of Deena, whose friendship with Effie comes under strain when fame arrives.

“At first Effie is pretty much at the forefront of the group, but then Deena ends up becoming the lead,” explains Natalie. “She’s a very ambitious young lady - they all share the same dreams, and any of them will do anything to be at the top. The fact that Deena is given this opportunity to change the black music sound is something she really wants. Even if that means damaging friendships, then she will do it to experience that form of fame. She is ambitious and very determined but also full of love.”

The musical shows the many challenges faced by black women trying to make their way in the music business in the 1960s and ’70s. And, says Natalie, their fight to gain success and recognition is an inspiration to all.

“When the film came out, I remember being so inspired by seeing three black women representing and showing empowerment. They showed that it might be hard along the way, but you always come out stronger. This show is something to relate to even today. It’s about struggling to be who you are, and anyone can relate to that.”

Natalie hopes that seeing the musical will encourage other people to follow their dreams.

“It shows there are trials and tribulations, but as long as you’re able to find your strengths, then it shows you should keep going and never give up. I grew up listening to Motown music, artists like Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder - those were artists I was constantly in awe of; I wanted to be those people.”

And now Natalie is living her dream, taking top roles in a host of musicals. Although Dreamgirls will be the first time she’s been on stage in Birmingham, it’s not her first visit to The Alexandra.

“A couple of my friends were in Birmingham at university and I came to visit. I came to The Alexandra to see Motown. I’d played Diana Ross in Motown in the West End, and it was really fun to be in the audience, seeing their reaction to that show. Now I’m really looking forward to bringing Dreamgirls to the theatre.

“I hope the audience will take away the nostalgia of the Motown era, that they will learn from such a beautiful story about what happens in the music industry and how hard it is, but also that they appreciate the music. I’m sure the audience will have a good night, enjoy the show and be inspired by it.”

Dreamgirls shows at The Alexandra, Birmingham, from Tuesday 6 to Sat 31

Fame, fortune and fandom are at the heart of the musical Dreamgirls, which makes its Midlands debut at Birmingham theatre The Alexandra next month. Set in the 1960s, the story centres on three talented young singers and their rollercoaster ride to stardom. What’s On recently caught up with two of the show’s leading ladies - Nicole Dennis, who plays Effie, and Natalie Kassanga (Deena) - to find out what it’s like to be a Dreamgirl...

Dance previews from across

region

“I want audiences to be awakened; to experience my work from the gut,” says avant-garde Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter. “Trusting the gut is, to me, like trusting nature, or God, or a sense of purpose; a source, a spark. Trusting a higher and better force than our limited, oppressed, cultured minds.”

Hofesh’s award-winning Shechter II company is the ensemble behind this critically acclaimed production, an adapted and extended version

Swan Lake

Stafford Gatehouse Theatre, Mon 7 November

The highly regarded Classical Ballet & Opera House here presents its production of a timeless favourite, set to Tchaikovsky’s mesmerising score.

Swan Lake tells the story of Odette, a beautiful princess who, caught under the spell of the evil Von Rothbart, must spend the daytime hours as a swan, returning to human form only when night falls...

A sumptuous visual feast, the production offers an evening of ballet which is ideal for the first-time trier as well as the more seasoned dance-goer.

of the original 2019 show created for European trailblazers GoteborgsOperans Danskompani.

Hofesh selects the members of his company - all aged between 18 and 25 - every couple of years. His present crop of talented youngsters have been garnering plenty of praise for this currently touring show. The work features an eclectic sound-score that comes complete with ‘euphoric feel and throbbing beats’.

Rhythm Of The Dance: Christmas Special

Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, Sat 26 November

Unknownrealms Double Bill

Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Wed 23 November

Rhythm Of The Dance will be celebrating a quarter-century of touring next year. The production has so far visited four continents and been seen by more than seven million people in over 50 countries.

If you’ve not yet checked out the show, this Potteries performance provides a perfect opportunity to catch up with one of the most popular Irish step dance offerings in the world (which, on this particular occasion, comes complete with a collection of Christmas songs).

ACE Dance & Music bring their inimitable African style to this thought-provoking collaboration with two internationally acclaimed Black male choreographers - Serge Aimé Coulibaly and Vincent Mantsoe. Presenting a double bill featuring six brilliantly creative performers, the show is described by the company as a celebration of mortality and perseverance, and of hope overcoming adversity.

Fabric: Contemporary Dance

Patrick Studio, Birmingham Hippodrome, Thurs 24 & Fri 25 November

The Nutcracker transformed

John Macfarlane talks

Birmingham Royal

by Diane Parkes

Birmingham Royal Ballet’s The Nutcracker is without a doubt one of the company’s most popular shows. The production was gifted to the city in 1990 by the then artistic director, Sir Peter Wright, as a thank you to Birmingham for making the company so welcome when it moved from London. The show has been performed almost every Christmas since.

The Nutcracker is loved for its amazing costumes and sets, from giant Christmas trees through to sweets and snowflakes. And yet its designer, John Macfarlane, admits he was initially reluctant to take up the commission.

“Strangely enough, of the three Tchaikovskys, The Nutcracker was the one I least wanted to do. Sir Peter Wright writes in his book that when he asked me to do it, I ‘was uncertain’.

“But it was such an enormous production to be offered. I asked Sir Peter for a few days to think about it and work out how I would approach it.

“I was anxious that the Rat Battle should be frightening - a band of rats, not little miceand that Clara should take part in the diverts in act two and not just watch them. Above all that the Christmas tree and the fireplace should grow to an enormous scale.”

John managed to achieve all three of those ambitions. His transformation scene, in which the Christmas tree grows and the fireplace rotates, has become a magic moment of ballet staging for dance fans in Birmingham and beyond.

The show has now been performed more than 500 times to a total audience of over one million people. But after being staged for more than 30 years, The Nutcracker had begun to show its age, so every elementincluding lighting, sets and costumes - has been recreated.

This month the newly refurbished production will be unveiled at Birmingham Hippodrome.

“I think the rebuild will be a return to the palette of this show on its first night in 1990,” says John. “This is the first time I’ve

completely re-built an existing production. What is really interesting is that you go into it thinking ‘I’m going to change this and I’m going to change that,’ and then, when you actually start to try and do it, you suddenly remember why you did certain things the way you did.

“I’m not sure the audience has actually realised how much The Nutcracker has worn over the years - but when they see this rebuild, it will be so vibrant; everything will be rich and colourful.”

The update has given John the chance to make some tweaks to costumes and setsincluding updates he has been keen to undertake for years.

“More than 80 per cent is the same, but we have been able to do some changes with new fabrics and materials. And it has given us the chance to come back to some things and improve them.

“So, for example, we have new snowflake wings. When we made them originally, they were made appliqué on net and were extremely difficult to side light. Now the wings are hard and the filigree is cut out of a hard material. So it’s a little bit more scary for dancers because they are running and doing jumps, but it will make the whole thing look absolutely clean and crisp. We are also building 44 new Snowflake costumes and headdresses.

“And there are some other changes. On the front cloth, the little nutcracker is front-on instead of side-on, which I always wanted to change. I’ve made it so that he is now looking straight out at the audience.”

John has created sets for ballet, theatre and opera across the globe, but he admits BRB’s Nutcracker is special for him.

“The ideas and production concept evolved very easily, and I remember feeling that there was something quite special about the process. In your career you can pick out three or four productions that have changed your direction, and you realise you cannot go back to how you did things before. I think that Nutcracker was one of those. It was a huge

learning process, and I didn’t realise it until a long time afterwards.

“When I thought of the objects that you could use to explain the change of scale, the fireplace was the obvious choice. The tree, of course, is explained in the orchestral score, but the fireplace could be dramatic and monumental and prove a great entrance for the King Rat.

“But I do remember being in complete anxiety about what to do with the snowflakes because the thought of big slobbery pine trees with snow on them was just horrible to me. I was building the model in February and March, and at that time I lived in Mid-Wales, and on our property there was a small copse of larch trees. It was one of those mornings where, in the night, there had been a snowfall, no wind and clear sky, and every tiny twig of the larches for about half an hour before the sun melted it had a little line of snow on it. It was this amazing image. And that was the snowflakes.”

The rebuild took more than a year, cost £1million and was made possible thanks to the extraordinary support of hundreds of individuals, numerous trusts & foundations and BRB investment.

“People have really supported this,” says John. “I did an evening at the Hippodrome where we went through all the costumes with an audience. We had the old headdresses and the first of the new ones, and I could show bits of the model. I couldn’t imagine anyone turning out for that on a Tuesday night in December, but they did - and they raised so much money in just that one evening.

“I hope the audience are going to love their new Nutcracker after all the work we’ve done on it. It’s richer and more opulent, but it’s still their Birmingham Nutcracker.”

Birmingham Royal Ballet presents The Nutcracker at Birmingham Hippodrome from Sat 19 November to Sat 10 December

Birmingham Royal Ballet’s version of The Nutcracker has been delighting Midlands audiences for more than 30 years. The magical sets and sumptuous costumes, created by designer John Macfarlane, have made a major contribution to the production’s popularity. What’s On caught up with John to find out what’s new for The Nutcracker in 2022...

highlights in

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

CERT 12 (161 mins)

Starring Angela Bassett, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Danai Gurira, Florence Kasumba, Lupita Nyong’o, Martin Freeman, Tenoch Huerta, Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Mabel Cadena and Alex Livanalli Directed by Ryan Coogler

With King T’Challa dead, the nation of Wakanda is vulnerable to external forces and needs to be protected. But who will step into the late ruler’s shoes and embrace the role of the Black Panther?

This latest Marvel Cinematic Universe movie has been a source of significant speculation since lead actor Chadwick Boseman died in 2020, with fans eager to know how producers intended to move the story forward.

Boseman played the character four times in all, earning rave reviews along the way, and Marvel Studios confirmed that, in honour of the late actor, the role of T’Challa would not be re-cast.

The movie’s trailers do, however, hint at the introduction of a new Black Panther, with several of the supporting characters firmly in the frame to don the distinctive black & gold suit... Released Fri 11 November

Living CERT 12a (102 mins)

Starring Bill Nighy, Aimee Lou Wood, Alex Sharp, Adrian Rawlins, Hubert Burton, Oliver Chris Directed by Oliver Hermanus

The consistently excellent Bill Nighy is on top form in this Kazuo Ishiguro-scripted remake of a 1952 Japanese film about a man dealing with a terminal diagnosis. Set, like the original, in the 1950s - but relocated to London - the film follows the character of Mr Williams (Nighy) - an impeccably dressed and seemingly immeasurably dull civil servant - as he reacts to a diagnosis of cancer that means he has only a year to live.

Faced with the reality of his imminent demise, Mr Williams realises that he’s been living life in the slow-to-stationery lane. So he determines to make a modest impact on the world in the short time he has left - by forcing the city authorities to build a children’s playground for which local mothers have long been petitioning... This gentle and poignant film was screened to great acclaim at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, in the wake of which it picked up numerous four and five-star reviews.

Released Fri 4 November

Armageddon Time

CERT tbc (115 mins)

Taking place in an early-1980s America on the threshold of voting Ronald Reagan into the White House, acclaimed filmmaker James Gray’s coming-of-age family drama contemplates the generational pursuit of the American Dream.

When 12-year-old Paul Graff and his AfricanAmerican best pal, John Crocker, are caught sharing marijuana, Paul finds himself moved by his parents to a private prep school - an institution not only positively awash with white, privileged kids but also routinely rife with prejudice.

Paul is desperate to escape the misery of his new existence, and it isn’t long before he and John hatch a plan that will see the hitherto inseparable friends running away from their troubled New York lives in pursuit of a better future in Florida...

Released

The Menu

If you like your food served with a succulent side-order of gore, The Menu is the main course you’ve been waiting for.

Playing out on a remote island, the dark comedy-horror follows the fortunes of a group of people who arrive for an exclusive fine-dining experience laid on by a celebrity chef (Ralph Fiennes).

At $1,250 per head, the once-in-a-lifetime culinary extravaganza certainly comes at a cost - but little do the unsuspecting diners realise just how high a price they will soon find themselves paying for the tastebudtantalising experience...

Released Fri 18 November

Starring Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong, Anthony Hopkins, Banks Repeta, Jaylin Webb, Ryan Sell Directed by James Gray

CERT tbc (106 mins)

Starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Fiennes, Nicholas Hoult, John Leguizamo, Hong Chau, Janet McTeer Directed by Mark Mylod

She Said CERT 15 (128 mins)

Starring Samantha Morton, Tom Pelphrey, Carey Mulligan, Jennifer Ehle, Zoe Kazan, Andre Braugher Directed by Maria Schrader

The latest in a long and distinguished line of films about tenacious journalists breaking sensational stories - think The Post (2017), Spotlight (2015), and surely the headline-maker of the lot, All The President’s Men (1976) - She Said stars Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan as The New York Times’ Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor, the two women who blew the lid on Harvey Weinstein’s years of sexual misconduct. Brad Pitt is named as executive producer on the film, an involvement which has seen him come in for some significant criticism in the last few months. Social-media users have been pointing out that the Oscar-winning actor twice worked with Weinstein despite knowing about the now-disgraced movie producer’s predatory behaviour around women.

Released Fri 25 November

Bones And All CERT 15 (130 mins)

Starring Timothée Chalamet, Michael Stuhlbarg, Chloë Sevigny, Taylor Russell, Mark Rylance, Jessica Harper Directed by Luca Guadagnino

Creepy cannibal caper Bones And All has been voraciously feasting on five-star reviews since its screening at this year’s Venice Film Festival.

Set at the tail end of Ronald Reagan’s eightyear presidency (1980s-set movies seem to be all the rage this month - see Armageddon Time, opposite), the film focuses on the character of shy-but-smart youngster Maren, a girl whose move to a new school soon sees her invited to a sleepover with some other teen females.

But Maren, it turns out, is no ordinary young lady, bringing to the table an alarming propensity for devouring human flesh...

Released

November

Strange World CERT PG

With the voices of Jake Gyllenhaal, Jaboukie Young-White, Gabrielle Union, Alan Tudyk, Dennis Quad, Lucy Liu Directed by Don Hall

Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical

CERT PG (117 mins)

Starring Alisha Weir, Emma Thompson, Lashana Lynch, Andrea Riseborough, Stephen Graham, Carl Spencer

Directed by Matthew Warchus

Matilda is an extraordinary child but unappreciated by her parents.

When not glued to the television set, Matilda’s mum practises ballroom dancing and her dad gloats about his latest dodgy business deal. Life at school isn’t much better for Matilda either. Then, one day, she discovers that she’s got very special powers and decides it’s high time the grown-ups were taught a much-needed lesson...

“I loved reading the old issues of pulps growing up,” reveals Strange World director Don Hall. “They were big adventures in which a group of explorers might discover a hidden world or ancient creatures. They’ve been a huge inspiration for Strange World.” Disney’s 61st animated movie is an actionadventure about a legendary family of explorers. But not every member of the Clade clan is up for a life of outrageous excitement. Although Searcher Clade would much prefer to spend his life quietly farming the land, he instead finds himself journeying deep into an uncharted and dangerous world where fantastical creatures await him...

Released Wed 23 November

Originally adapted for the stage from one of Roald Dahl’s best-loved books, Matilda The Musical has been wowing theatre-goers for over a decade and is now set to delight legions of film fans.

Tim Minchin, who previously wrote songs for the stage version, has penned some new numbers for this big-screen adaptation.

Released Fri 25 November

Visual Arts previews from around the region

Wildlife Photographer Of The Year

Wolverhampton Art Gallery, until Sat 24 December

“Captured by some of the best photography talent from around the world, the photographs encourage curiosity, connection and wonder. These inspiring images convey human impact on the natural world in a way that words cannotfrom the urgency of declining biodiversity to the inspiring bounce-back of a protected species.”

So says Dr Doug Gurr, director of the Natural History Museum, which has developed & produced the 2022 Wildlife Photographer Of The Year competition.

The hugely prestigious show - visiting Wolverhampton Art Gallery as part of a UK tourfeatures a host of awe-inspiring images capturing fascinating animal behaviour and breathtaking landscapes.

The photos included in the exhibition have been selected from thousands of submissions, with photographers from no fewer than 93 countries taking part.

Image credit: Heikki Nikki

© Brandon Güell

Peasants And Proverbs: Pieter Brueghel The Younger As Moralist And Entrepreneur

The Barber Institute, University of Birmingham, until Sun 22 January

Paintings, drawings, etchings and engravings from both public and private collections feature in this exhibition, which offers a fascinating insight into the work of Pieter Brueghel the Younger.

An artist who laboured in the shadow of his renowned father - Pieter Bruegel the Elder - he was nevertheless a prodigious and skilled painter, albeit one whose prolific output as a copyist led to claims that he was capable of producing only derivative works.

The exhibition focuses on one Brueghel painting in particular, Two Peasants Binding Firewood, a comical yet enigmatic creation which is one of the Barber’s most popular artworks. It’s accompanied in the show by three other versions of the same composition.

Craftspace: Queer + Metals

Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), Birmingham, Sat 12 November - Sun 2 April

The multiplicity of queerness is here explored via metalwork and metalsmithing, in an exhibition that makes visible the ways in which LGBTQIA+ creatives are shaping, disrupting and contributing to

‘Bombed - A Trilogy’

By Saranjit Birdi

Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry, Fri 11 - Mon 21 November

Saranjit Birdi’s immersive and combinedarts installation contemplates the subjects of bombing, war and conflict resolution, making links between the World War Two blitzes of Coventry, Dresden and Birmingham and events taking place in modern times.

Presenting both new and retrospective works and research documentation, the exhibition brings together performance, painting, music and animations with oral testimonies from British and German blitz survivors.

contemporary culture.

Featuring artworks, video interviews and an Instagram campaign, the Craftspace presentation aims to ‘make connections within a diverse, intersectional, complex and fluid community of making’.

Horror In The Modernist Block

Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, Fri 25 November - Mon 1 May

High-rise towers. Concrete buildings.

In an exhibition featuring the work of 20 contemporary artists, these modernist structures are viewed through the lens of the horror genre with which they are often associated in dystopian fiction.

Using as its starting point Birmingham - a city renowned for its brutalist architecture - the show also contemplates the architecture of Ikon’s galleries, taking viewers on a journey that highlights how the design and features of a building can shape not only people’s movement and perception, but also their deepest fears.

Breaking The Mould: Sculpture By Women Since 1945

New Art Gallery, Walsall, until 16 April Surveying the post-war period and exploring the art of more than 40 female sculptors, Breaking The Mould addresses the many accounts of British sculpture that have marginalised women or airbrushed their work from art history altogether. The works on show have been selected from the Arts Council Collection, which holds more than 250 sculptures by over 150 women.

A wide range of digital resources have been developed to accompany the exhibition.

A VENETIAN’S VIEW

A world-class collection of artwork by Giovanni Antonio Canal (better known as Canaletto), is currently on show at Worcester City Art Gallery & Museum. The exhibition features stunning paintings on loan from the Woburn Abbey Collection, as well as artworks from Worcester’s Fine Art Collection and loans from Birmingham Museums, Tate and Compton Verney. What’s On recently caught up with curatorial officer, Claire Cheshire, to find out what visitors can expect from this prestigious exhibition.

Canaletto: A Venetian's View has been called a once-in-a-generation exhibition and the gallery’s most ambitious show ever. Can you explain why it’s so prestigious?

The 24 paintings of Venice commissioned by John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford (1710-1771), in the 1730s constitute the largest series of paintings ever undertaken by Canaletto. They normally hang in the dining room of Woburn Abbey and in the last 70 years have only left a couple of times. That we have been able to exhibit 20 of them is extraordinary in itself, but we have also brought together three further works by Canaletto and a number of works by other artists who were directly influenced by him, in particular William Marlow, which have never been hung together before.

Historically speaking, why is Canaletto such an important and revered artist?

Canaletto was the leading painter of views of Venice and arguably the greatest of all the eighteenth-century Italian school of ‘view painters’. During the nineteenth century, paintings by Canaletto could be viewed by the public across the country - his first publicly accessible painting, The Stonemason’s Yard, was hung at the newly opened National Gallery in 1828, and the inclusion of Canaletto artworks in subsequent London exhibitions secured his place as a leading influencer on British art.

What will viewers learn about the artist, his life and times, by visiting the exhibition?

Canaletto is particularly noted for weaving the hustle & bustle of daily life into his work.

You can really get a feel of everyday goingson in Venice - from people collecting water in the communal wells, to workmen repairing roofs, to wealthy ladies travelling through the canals in gondolas. The exhibition explores trade and commerce in the busy port, the influence of religion and the importance of the Grand Canal.

Which Canaletto painting is your personal favourite?

It’s very difficult to choose, but there is a view of the Piazza San Marco looking towards the Basilica San Marco and the Campanile which I think really shows Venice at its finest. It features the Church of San Marco, the Cathedral of Venice - and the pink marble front of the Doge’s Palace, once the seat of the Venetian government, is visible beside the belltower. Standing side by side, the church and the palace represent the historic connection between religious and political power in Venice.

In the square, Canaletto has included Levantine merchants, a surprising number of

dogs and, in the centre foreground, what appears to be two young British gentlemen with a guide.

Can you share with us a fascinating and little-known fact about Canaletto?

Canaletto’s real name was Giovanni Antonio Canal, and he was the son of the painter Bernardo Canal, hence his mononym Canaletto (‘little Canal’).

Has the gallery’s process for preparing for the arrival of Canaletto differed from its process when preparing for the arrival of less-prestigious exhibitions?

All our exhibitions are very important to us. We try to do a range of themes every year to appeal to as many people as possible. Each one takes at least 12 to 18 months of planning, and we become very involved with the subject and strive to present the gallery so that it is visually beautiful but also informative and easy to navigate. This exhibition was complex in terms of logistics and layout, but we are very lucky to have such a wonderful team working on it, all of whom take a real pride in the exhibitions.

Can we expect further once-in-ageneration exhibitions at Worcester Art Gallery & Museum?

Our aim is to bring world-class art to people’s doorstep, and we will continue to work hard in order to achieve this.

Canaletto: A Venetian’s View shows at Worcester City Art Gallery & Museum until Sat 7 January

Events

BBC Good Food Show Winter

NEC, Birmingham, Thurs 24 - Sun 27 November

It’s once again time to eat, drink and be merry as the BBC Good Food Show brings its winter edition to the NEC.

As well as watching celebrity chefsincluding James Martin, Nadiya Hussain, and Ainsley Harriott - cook up a storm on the show’s Big Kitchen stage, visitors can also check out Christmas workshops and pick up

some tasty festive treats from hundreds of hand-picked producers.

Also back by popular demand is the Fabulous Food Finds Tasting Theatre, giving visitors the opportunity to test their tastebuds, expand their foodie knowledge and sample everything from coffee to spices.

Peaky Blinders Nights

Black Country Living Museum, Dudley, Fri 18 & Sat 19 November

Flat caps and flapper dresses at the readythe Black Country Living Museum’s everpopular Peaky Blinders is back for the final time this year.

The immersive experience brings to life the popular BBC television series with the help of 1920s-themed cocktails, live music, street theatre and plenty more.

Festive

The Midlands’ biggest fair of its kind is back at the NEC this month to spread some festive cheer.

The four-day event sees thousands of exhibitors showcasing all manner of gift ideas, from traditional trinkets to the quirky and unusual.

Artisan food & drink stallholders will be

offering everything from prosecco to pickles, with plenty of new additions available to purchase and some ‘fabulous fan favourites’ making a welcome return.

Festive cheer comes courtesy of jazz bands and choirs, with St Nicholas himself further adding to the yuletide magic.

MCM Comic Con Birmingham

NEC, Birmingham, Fri 11 - Sun 13 November

Catering for all areas of pop culture, MCM Comic Con Birmingham is split into different areas, offering fans the chance to create a bespoke day out.

The Treehouse area keeps the kids entertained with workshops, interactive activities and performances, while The Side Quest zone is the home of gaming, featuring both retro and modern consoles.

Meanwhile K-pop, J-pop, Anime and Manga fans can head over to Pop Asia, whilst Artist Alley showcases numerous independent creators.

And, as always, for those who choose to dress up for the event, Cosplay Central will be hosting casual showcases and masquerades.

Christmas Celebration Weekends

Cadbury World, Birmingham, weekends from Sat 19 November - Fri 23 December

Festive celebrations get under way at Cadbury World this month. The popular venue is presenting a whole host of seasonal activities for families to enjoy, all of which come complete with that ever-important chocolately twist.

While Santa himself stars in an exclusive stage show, his super-helpful elves will be handing out gifts to young audience members.

Visitors can also enjoy one of the 10 daily performances of this year’s pantomime: Cinderella. The Santa stage show and panto are both included in the ticket price.

Before heading for home, be sure to swing by the World’s Biggest Cadbury Shop to pick up some handmade Christmas chocolates.

Ice Skate Birmingham

Ice Skate Birmingham and the Big Wheel make a welcome return to Centenary Square this month.

While the wheel offers the opportunity to enjoy fantastic views across the city, the weather-proofed ice rink accommodates up to 300 people per session.

Younger or inexperienced skating enthusiasts can keep upright by using special penguin skating aids. And when skaters have finished their Torvill & Dean routine, they can warm themselves up with some festive fare in the nearby Ice Lounge and double deck rooftop bar.

Winter Wonderland Stoke-on-Trent

Lichfield Street, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, Thurs 24 November - Mon 2 January

Returning for a sixth year, Hanley’s Winter Wonderland features a real undercover ice rink, Santa’s grotto, stomach-churning rollercoasters, a 60m sky swing, a selection of family entertainment, a fully licensed Bavarian bar and a range of festive cuisine. For th0se who’re looking for non-stop fun, there’s the option to purchase a wristband to access unlimited skating and rides.

Lantern Festival

After a successful debut in 2021, West Midland Safari Park’s ‘illuminating’ festival is back for a second year. Discover an epic lantern trail, where you can enjoy ‘mesmerising lighting displays, marvel at a “wild” range of breathtaking lanterns and explore the walk-through areas of the park like never before’.

In total, the festival features more than 40 light groupings - all with a flora & fauna theme - and over 1,000 individual lanterns. The park’s walk-through animal exhibits will remain open for guests to enjoy, as will the Land Of The Living Dinosaurs and Ice Age exhibits.

West Midland Safari Park, Bewdley, various dates from Fri 11 November - Sun 8 January

Centenary Square, Birmingham, Thurs 3 November - Sun 8 January

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Winter Glow returns this month with a mix of festive fun. Highlights include immersive themed light trail A Christmas Odyssey, transporting visitors from the depths of ancient Atlantis to the fanciful shores of festive islands.

The ever-popular Santa Experiences make a welcome return too (this year in an indoor

location), while a new covered winter market (available to visit without a ticket) showcases a wide range of stalls and a fairground featuring fun rides for all ages. A Bavarian-style bar, one of the region’s largest indoor ice rinks and the 120ft Malvern Observation Wheel further add to the event’s appeal.

Steam In Lights

Severn Valley Railway, selected dates from Sat 18 November - Fri 23 December

Severn Valley Railway’s Steam In Lights is back for 2022 with bigger and better displays then ever before.

The 90-minute adventure begins at Bridgnorth station, where families jump aboard an illuminated train, settle down at a table or in a private compartment, and enjoy on-board narration and music as they journey through a selection of bright and bold light displays, the journey home then features ‘an up-tempo celebration’.

Santa’s Winter Wonderland

Snowdome, Tamworth, Sat 12 November - Sun 1 January

Tamworth’s Snowdome will once again be transformed into a ‘winter wonderland’ this month.

Step into the Christmas Village, where you can say hello to Santa’s real-life furry friends, take a ride on the carousel, and visit Santa’s house, dropping off your list for the big man along the way. Play and slide around in real snow on the Christmas trail, explore the enchanted forest, battle it out in a snowball fight and enjoy a ride on a sledge.

Plus, Santa, Rudolph and the North Pole Players will perform brand-new stage show Alice In Winter Wonderland.

Showground,

HALLOWEEN FIREWORK SPOOKTACULAR Wear your Halloween costumes for a truly ghoulish experience, Sat 29 Oct, Corporation Meadow, Evesham

FIREWORKS DISPLAY With food stalls, entertainment, bouncy castles and more, Fri 28 Oct, The Warwickshire, Leek Wootton, Warwick

FIREWORKS SPOOK-TACULAR Halloween-themed fireworks and soundtrack, Sun 30 Oct, Drayton Manor Resort, Staffordshire BRITISH OAK FIREWORKS EXTRAVAGANZA With street food, craft beer, cocktails and live music, Wed 2 Nov, The British Oak, Stirchley, Birmingham BONFIRE BONANZA Entertainment includes fire show, street food traders, funfair and live music, Fri 4 Nov, Far Forest Showground, Bewdley TIPICALLY INSPIRED BONFIRE Promising an exciting evening with fire-eating performers, a bonfire, fireworks and live music, Fri 4 Nov, Far Forest Showground, Callow Hill Rock (near Kidderminster) ILLUMINATED GARDEN AND PLAYGROUND BY NIGHT Enjoy the unique experience of play by nightincluding the splash pad! Fri 4 Nov, Dartmouth Park, West Bromwich REDDITCH FIREWORK DISPLAY An event featuring two displays of fireworks, an on-site bar and children’s rides, Fri 4 Nov, Redditch Cricket, Hockey, Rugby and Squash Club

HALESOWEN CRICKET CLUB BONFIRE AND FIREWORKS With toffee apples, candy floss and all the fun of the fair, Fri 4 Nov, Seth Somers Park, Halesowen BROMSGROVE BONFIRE AND FIREWORKS With bonfire, fireworks, live music, food & drink and a fairground for the kids, Fri 4 Nov, Bromsgrove Rugby Football Club

ULTIMATE FIREWORKS SPECTACULAR Featuring music, lights and live-action storytelling, Fri 4 - Sun 6 Nov, Alton Towers, Staffordshire BONFIRE WEEKEND Luxury glamping weekend with fireworks, campfires and mulled wine, Fri 4 - Sun 6 Nov, Barnutopia Glamping & Venue, Oswestry FIREWORKS EVENING Featuring live music & performances, a carnival zone, street food and a shopping bazaar, Sat 5 Nov, Dartmouth Park, West Bromwich

FIREWORKS SPECTACULAR Free event promising an evening of fun and entertainment for all, Sat 5 Nov, Tamworth Castle Grounds

BOMERE HEATH BONFIRE NIGHT With funfair, Sat 5 Nov, Bomere Heath Cricket Club, Shropshire BONFIRE AND FIREWORK EXTRAVAGANZA Two firework displays, a huge bonfire plus all the fun of the fair, Sat 5 Nov, Alderford Lake, Whitchurch, North Shropshire

BRIDGNORTH RFC FIREWORKS DISPLAY With hogroast and a licenced bar, Sat 5 Nov, Bridgnorth Rugby Club, Shropshire

FIREWORKS NIGHT Explore the Victorian streets after dark and enjoy an 18-minute firework display, Sat 5 Nov, Blists Hill Victorian Town, Ironbridge, Shropshire

BONFIRE AND FIREWORK SPECTACULAR Two fireworks displays, a funfair, food, drink and live music, Sat 5 Nov, The West Mid Showground, Shrewsbury

FIREWORKS SPECTACULAR & FUN FAIR Complete with food & drink stalls, Sat 5 Nov, Edgbaston Stadium, Birmingham

SOLIHULL ROUNDTABLE FIREWORKS Annual charity fireworks display, Sat 5 Nov, Tudor Grange Park, Solihull

HIMLEY BONFIRE AND FIREWORKS With night market, street entertainers, seasonal refreshments and a funfair, Sat 5 Nov, Himley Hall and Park, Dudley

ANNUAL FIREWORKS GALA Taking place for the first time in three years, Sat 5 Nov, Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire

WARWICK TOWN BONFIRE With two firework displays, food & drink stalls and live entertainment, Sat 5 Nov, Warwick Racecourse

BONFIRE AND FIREWORKS 2022 An evening of bonfire fun for all the family, Sat 5 Nov, Stourport Rugby Club

WOLVERHAMPTON FIREWORKS SPECTACULAR Complete with funfair, bars, food stalls and two firework displays, Sat 5 Nov, Wolverhampton Racecourse

BEDWORTH CHARITY BONFIRE The annual charity event returns, complete with fireworks, Sat 5 Nov, Miners Welfare Park, Bedworth

WALSALL

Featuring fireworks, a bonfire, food & drink stalls and a funfair for the kids, Sat 5 Nov, Walsall Arboretum

SUTTON COLDFIELD

BONFIRE & FIREWORKS A family-friendly event popular with the local community. Expect big bangs! Sat 5 Nov, The Roger Smoldon Ground, Sutton Coldfield BONFIRE NIGHT With two firework displays, food & drink stalls and live entertainment, Sat 5 Nov, Warwick Racecourse THE RUGBY FIREWORKS SHOW Includes a child/toddler-friendly display, Sat 5 Nov, Whinfield Recreation Grounds, Rugby WESTON HALL FIREWORK NIGHT With children’s rides, live performances and music, Sat 5 Nov, Weston Hall Hotel, Coventry BONFIRE AND FIREWORK DISPLAY With licenced bar and food, Sat 5 Nov, 3rd Coventry Scout HQ, Coventry

BONFIRE NIGHT SPECTACULAR All profits to Zoe’s Place Baby Hospice & other local charities, Sat 5 Nov, Coventrians

WHODUNNIT?

Having made its debut some 70 years ago, Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap is the ‘ world’s longest-running play’ with a continued capacity to put bums on seats. It’s touring version makes a welcome return to the Midlands this month with former Grange Hill and Eastender actor, Todd Carty, starring alongside Gwyneth Strong (Cassandra in Only Fools And Horses) and Eastender’s baddie, John Altman. What’s On recently caught up with Todd to chat about his current role - and more...

What attracted you to The Mousetrap, Todd?

I saw it about 40 years ago, when I was a much younger man. I remembered it being such a great play, and I’ve always been an Agatha Christie fan, having first gotten hooked on her storytelling by seeing the Margaret Rutherford/Miss Marple films on TV. Now here I am 40 years later playing Major Metcalf in the UK & Ireland tour. It’s fantastic.

How would you describe Major Metcalf and his role in the story?

He’s a retired Army major and one of the guests in a guesthouse in the countryside. All of the characters have a secret and a mysterious background that audiences can’t quite put a finger on. The audience becomes the detective, trying to work out who’s up to no good and who isn’t, along with the real detective on stage. Major Metcalf appears to be a typical ex-Army guy. He enjoys the odd drop of brandy in the evening and maybe the odd drop of Scotch at lunch. On the face of it, he seems to want to help people, but every now and then the characters in the play disappear and we don’t know what they’re up to, Major Metcalf included.

The show is celebrating its 70th anniversary. How do you account for its longevity?

I honestly don’t know. We’re opening at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, where it premiered back in 1952 before a short tour and then moving to the West End, where it continues to play. I think basically we all like a whodunnit because we’re all amateur detectives; we’re all modern-day Columbos. I’ve been to see the show again recently, and in the audience there are kids of 13 right up to grandmas and granddads, all going ‘He did it’ or ‘No, it was her or him.’ When I first saw it, I couldn’t quite work it out myself, but it’s great fun trying to figure out who the killer is.

You came to fame in Grange Hill. What are your memories of that time?

Not to give my age away, I’d been acting since I was four. I loved doing all those adverts when I first started out, but Grange Hill changed my whole life. One day I was happily going to school, the next day I was Tucker Jenkins. The day before it first aired in 1978, nobody on the tube knew who I was, then the next day it was ‘Bang!’. Anonymity was a thing of the past.

What have been your favourite jobs over the years?

I loved doing EastEnders and The Bill. I also did five years on and off playing Patsy in Spamalot, and that was brilliant. I’d sing Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life every night and there’d be seven and eight-yearolds singing along, Mum and Dad singing it, Granny and Granddad, and they all knew the words.

What do you most enjoy about doing stage work?

It sounds obvious and clichéd but it’s the audience. When you’re doing a panto and all the kids are getting involved and shouting back, going ‘Oh yes he did!’ and ‘Oh no he didn’t!’, it’s a great feeling. Plays are different, but the audience is listening to every word, and with The Mousetrap they’re thinking ‘Ooh, I thought it was so and so.’ I love live theatre, and it’s especially pleasing now, after the pandemic, when people who work in theatre had a really tough time. It’s great being around other actors and crew members again. I can’t tell you how much it warms our hearts to be back in front of an audience.

What are you most looking forward to about taking the show around the country?

Just the different reactions from different

audiences. They always vary depending on where you are in the country, and every night is different, with different reactions to different parts of the show. There’s a real appetite now for seeing good shows and supporting theatre. A lot of the people coming along will be Agatha Christie fans, but they also tend to bring family members and friends with them, saying ‘You’ve got to come and see this.’ That means a whole new audience is introduced to the show, as well as existing fans. As for the cast and crew, we’ve been really happy during rehearsals, and I’m sure we’ll be just as happy when we’re on the road.

The Mousetrap shows at The Alexandra, Birmingham, from Mon 31 October - Sat 5 November; Malvern Theatre, Worcestershire, from Mon 30 JanuarySat 4 February; Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, from Mon 13 - Sat 18 February; Lichfield Garrick, from Mon 27 March - Sat 1 April and Regent Theatre, Stoke-onTrent, Mon 3 - Sat 8 April

Tuesday

- Sunday

THROUGHOUT

Visual Arts

Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery

WE ARE BIRMINGHAM Exhibition cocurated by Birmingham Museums and six members of Don’t Settle - an initiative empowering young people of colour from Birmingham and the Black Country ‘to change the voice of heritage through the arts, research and governance’, until Sun 13 Nov

IN THE QUE: CELEBRATING THE QUE CLUB Sensory celebration of one of the UK’s greatest music venues, featuring personal artefacts, photographs, film footage, flyers, posters and more... until Sun 13 Nov

BLACKLASH: RACISM AND THE STRUGGLE FOR SELF-DEFENCE Mukhtar Dar’s extensive archive of photographic, video and political ephemera showcases the street & state racism faced by Asian and African Caribbean communities, until Sun 13 Nov

COLLECTION STORIES Featuring internationally important showstoppers and everyday items, as well as objects from around the world and some made in Birmingham, until Sun 13 Nov

Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham

NRITYA: COLLECTING THE STORY OF INDIAN DANCE IN THE BLACK COUNTRY 1960 - 2000 Featuring shared stories, memories, photographs, films and objects collected from pioneer dancers, teachers and choreographers, until Sun 13 Nov

New Art Gallery, Walsall

WALSALL SOCIETY OF ARTISTS Annual exhibition showcasing works in a wide range of media, Fri 18 Nov - Sun 8 Jan

The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent

LOVELY JUBILEE: THREE CENTURIES OF ROYAL COMMEMORATION POTTERY

Display of royal jubilee wares spanning three centuries, until 8 Jan MAJOLICA MANIA: TRANSATLANTIC POTTERY IN ENGLAND AND THE UNITED STATES, 1850 - 1915 This first major exhibition of its kind in four decades examines the brightly glazed earthenware made by a variety of British and American potteries, until Sat 29 Jan

Wolverhampton Art Gallery

WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR World-renowned exhibition capturing

fascinating animal behaviour, spectacular species and the breathtaking diversity of the natural world, until Sun 24 Dec

A ROYAL CELEBRATION Featuring a variety of artworks and objects from the gallery’s collection relating to royal special occasions, from coronations and jubilees to weddings and visits, until Sat 31 Dec

Elsewhere:

TONY WILD: RECENT LANDSCAPE COLLAGES until Sat 12 Nov, New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme

MOMENT TO MOMENT: EDWARD LEAR

Featuring approximately 60 works by the prolific nonsense poet, many of which have never been shown in public previously, until Sun 13 Nov, Ikon Gallery

SIKNURE: LET ME LIVE First UK solo exhibition by Ainu artist & musician Mayunkiki. Exhibits include historical family portraits, handwritten observations and video work commissioned by Ikon, until Sun 13 Nov, Ikon Gallery

ASSOCIATION OF ANIMAL ARTISTS

Showcasing a plethora of animals and in an array of mediums and styles – from realistic insects in coloured pencils to gestural elephants in oilsm until Wed 30 Nov, The Granary, Weston Park, Shropshire

THE MAGIC OF MIDDLE EARTH New exhibition featuring a treasure trove of more than 200 rare objects and artworks associated with or influenced by the fantasy world of JRR Tolkien, until 11 Dec, The Hub @ St Mary’s, Lichfield

THE ANIMATED PUPPETS OF ‘HANA’S HELPLINE’ Exhibition looking at the stop-motion puppets from the animation series for pre-school children about a duck who runs a telephone helpline for young animals with problems, until Fri 6 Jan, Bantock House Museum, Wolverhampton

PEASANTS AND PROVERBS: PIETER BRUEGHEL THE YOUNGER AS MORALIST AND ENTREPRENEUR Featuring 17 artworks drawn from public and private collections in the UK and Europe. Paintings, drawings, etchings and engravings all feature, until 21 Sat Jan, The Barber Institute, University of Birmingham

SHOUT FESTIVAL SHOWCASE WITH JOHN YEADON Solo exhibition by Coventrybased artist John Yeadon, whose artistic practice explores issues of politics, sexuality, food, national identity, the grotesque and carnival, Wed 9 - Sun 13 Nov, Ikon Gallery

Gigs

KIEFER SUTHERLAND + FINELINES Tues 1 Nov, O2 Institute, B’ham

PIP MILLETT Tues 1 Nov, O2 Academy, Birmingham

SUGABABES Tues 1 Nov, O2 Academy, Birmingham

ANASTACIA Tues 1 Nov, Symphony Hall, Birmingham

MATT CARDLE Tues 1 Nov, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury

JAKE CLEMONS Wed 2 Nov, O2 Institute, Birmingham

JACK HARLOW Wed 2 Nov, O2 Academy, Birmingham

FAIRPORT CONVENTION Wed 2 Nov, Dudley Town Hall

THE CLARE TEAL FOUR Wed 2 Nov, New Vic Theatre, Newcastleunder-Lyme

THE MAGIC OF MOTOWN Wed 2 Nov, Stafford Gatehouse Theatre

JORDAN ADAMS Wed 2 Nov, Lichfield Garrick

SOMEONE LIKE YOUADELE TRIBUTE Wed 2 Nov, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury

GABBA GABBA HEY! Wed 2 Nov, Albert’s Shed, Shrewsbury

TOVE LO + MIYA FOLICK Thurs 3 Nov, O2 Institute, Birmingham POP EVIL Thurs 3 Nov, O2 Institute, B’ham

JOHN CALE Thurs 3 Nov, Birmingham Town Hall

THE PITMEN POETS Thurs 3 Nov, Stafford Gatehouse Theatre

ONE NIGHT IN DUBLIN Thurs 3 Nov, Tamworth Assembly Rooms

MERCURY - QUEEN TRIBUTE Thurs 3 Nov, Lichfield Garrick

LEO SAYER Thurs 3 Nov, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury

THE DOORS ALIVE Fri 4 Nov, O2 Academy, Birmingham

MAGGIE ROGERS + SAMIA Fri 4 Nov, O2 Academy, Birmingham

LEO SAYER Fri 4 Nov, Birmingham Town Hall

KASABIAN + THE LATHUMS Fri 4 Nov, Utilita Arena Birmingham SEPULTURA + SACRED REICH + CROWBAR Fri 4 Nov, KK Steel Mill, Wolverhampton

NEW PURPLE CELEBRATION - PRINCE TRIBUTE Fri 4 Nov, The Sugarmill, Stoke-onTrent

COCKNEY REJECTS + WASTED LIFE + RISE UP Fri 4 Nov, Eleven, Stoke-on-Trent

JOOLS HOLLAND AND HIS RHYTHM AND BLUES ORCHESTRA Fri 4 Nov, Victoria Hall, Stoke-onTrent

THE ENEMY + SHADER Fri 4 Nov, Keele University Students’ Union, Newcastleunder-Lyme

THE SAX SHACK BIG BAND Fri 4 Nov, Stoke Repertory Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent JUAN MARTÍN Fri 4 Nov, New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme

THE TRIALS OF CATO Fri 4 Nov, Foxlowe Arts Centre, Leek, Staffs THE BLACKHEART ORCHESTRA Fri 4 Nov, The Hub at St Mary’s, Lichfield COUNTERFEIT STONES Fri 4 Nov, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury

JILTED GENERATIONTHE PRODIGY TRIBUTE Fri 4 Nov, The Buttermarket, Shrewsbury

THE SOCIAL IGNITION Fri 4 Nov, Albert’s Shed, Shrewsbury

SONIC BOOM Fri 4 Nov, Albert’s Shed, Southwater, Telford

AIR DRAWN DAGGER + CRYSTALLINE + ATHEANA Fri 4 Nov, Percy’s Cafe Bar, Whitchurch, North Shropshire

INJURY RESERVE + BODY MEAT Sat 5 Nov, O2 Institute, Birmingham

THE DAMNED + PENETRATION + TV SMITH & THE BORED TEENAGERS Sat 5 Nov,

November

O2 Academy, B’ham DYLAN Sat 5 Nov, O2 Academy, Birmingham KENDRICK LAMAR Sat 5 Nov, Utilita Arena Birmingham

THE REYTONS + THE LOTTERY WINNERS + THE CLAUSE Sat 5 Nov, Keele University Students’ Union, Newcastle-under-Lyme DEP LEPPARD Sat 5 Nov, Eleven, Stoke-onTrent

PETER FRAMPTON Sat 5 Nov, Victoria Hall, Stoke-on-Trent

BARBARA DICKSON WITH NICK HOLLAND Sat 5 Nov, New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme FLOYD IN THE FLESH Sat 5 Nov, Brewhouse Arts Centre, Burton upon Trent

THE MAGIC OF MOTOWN Sat 5 Nov, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury

MANRAN Sat 5 Nov, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury

SOLAR MOHICANS Sat 5 Nov, Albert’s Shed, Shrewsbury

EGO FRIENDLY Sat 5 Nov, Albert’s Shed, Southwater, Telford

FOREVER ELTON Sat 5 Nov, Theatre On The Steps, Bridgnorth

FOREVER IN BLUE JEANS Sat 5 Nov, Festival Drayton Centre, Market Drayton, North Shropshire

THE SCRIBES + SHAWTY + MASTARATT + BENZY Sat 5 Nov, Percy’s Cafe Bar, Whitchurch, North Shropshire

SIGRID + TOMMY LEFROY Sun 6 Nov, O2 Academy, Birmingham

STEVE IGNORANT + HEADSTICKS Sun 6 Nov, Katie Fitzgerald’s, Stourbridge

ENUFF Z’NUFF Sun 6 Nov, Eleven, Stoke-onTrent

WITH IT - TINA TURNER TRIBUTE Sun 6 Nov, The Prince Of Wales, Cannock

T.REXTASY Sun 6 Nov, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury

Classical Music

HALESOWEN CHORAL SOCIETY

Featuring Stephen Davis (conductor) & Alexandra Saunders, Gemma King, Rebecca Lloyd, Ash Turnell & Henry Saywell (soloists). Programme comprises Pergolesi’s Magnificat and Handel’s Dixit Dominus & Magnificat, Sat 5 Nov, St. Margaret’s Church, Hasbury, Halesowen

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS AT 150: A SEA SYMPHONY Featuring the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Choir, Alexandra Lowe (soprano) & Benson Wilson (baritone), Sun 6 Nov, Symphony Hall, Birmingham

MANCHESTER CAMERATA ENSEMBLE: UNQUIET Featuring Carmen Villain. Programme includes works by Bryce Dessner, Hildur Gudnadottir, Philip Glass & Mica Levi, Sun 6 Nov, Jennifer Blackwell Performance Space, Symphony Hall, Birmingham

Comedy

MARK THOMAS Wed 2 Nov, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury

HUTCHINSON & ELEANOR TIERNAN Sat 5 Nov, The Glee Club, Birmingham

JOANNE MCNALLY Sat 5 Nov, Telford Theatre

LUISA OMIELAN Sun 6 Nov, The Glee Club, Birmingham

HARRY HILL Sun 6 Nov, The Alexandra, Birmingham

STEVE HARRIS, CRAIG DEELEY, DAN ANTOPOLSKI & NIK COPPIN Sun 6 Nov, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury

Theatre

TILL I DIE An exploration of the gender stereotypes of the slasher genre. Expect ‘fake blood, that famous phone-call scene, and an outspoken feminist’, until Tues 1 Nov, The Rep, Birmingham

STRICTLY BALLROOM THE MUSICAL Kevin Clifton and Maisie Smith star in a brand-new musical directed and co-choreographed by Craig Revel Horwood, until Sat 5 Nov, Birmingham Hippodrome

TARTUFFE The return of Iqbal Khan’s acclaimed production, in which Moliere’s classic farce is set in the Sparkhill area of Birmingham, until Sat 5 Nov, The Rep, Birmingham

DEAR JACK, DEAR LOUISE The Nonentities present an amateur production of Ken Ludwig’s heartwarming story of his parents’ courtship during World War Two, until Sat 5 Nov, The Rose Theatre, Kidderminster

THE MOUSETRAP Agatha Christie’s ‘genre-defying’ murder-mystery - and the world’s longest-running play, until Sat 5 Nov, The Alexandra, Birmingham

Summer Wine in Dave Payne’s dark comedy thriller, Thurs 3 Nov, Wem Town Hall, North Shropshire

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS Brownhills Musical Theatre Company present an amateur staging of Alan Menken’s cult musical, Thurs 3 - Sat 5 Nov, Prince of Wales Theatre, Cannock HANSOM & PETAL The classic tale of Hansel & Gretel is given a panto spin by the students of RADS, Fri 4 Nov, Brewhouse Arts Centre, Burton upon Trent

THE KILLER QUESTION The Silence Of The Lambs meets Last Of The Summer Wine in Dave Payne’s dark comedy thriller, Sat 5 Nov, Chapel Lawn Village Hall, South Shropshire

Kids Theatre

JON RICHARDSON Wed 2 - Thurs 3 Nov, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

DOM JOLY Thurs 3 Nov, Mitchell Arts Centre, Stoke-on-Trent

BOBBY MAIR, LUKE TOULSON, ASHLEY

FRIEZE & JAMES COOK Thurs 3 Nov, Lichfield Sports Club

PAUL CHOWDHRY Thurs 3 Nov, Dudley Town Hall

NOEL JAMES & COMICS TBC Thurs 3 Nov, Stourbridge Town Hall

STEVE GRIBBIN, MARK NELSON, CARL HUTCHINSON, ELEANOR TIERNAN & INGRID DAHLE Fri 4 Nov, The Glee Club, Birmingham

SEAN MCLOUGHLIN Fri 4 Nov, Bilston Town Hall

SCOTT BENNETT Fri 4 Nov, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury

PAUL CHOWDHRY Fri 4 - Sat 5 Nov, Walsall Arena & Arts Centre

DARA O’BRIAIN Fri 4 - Sat 5 Nov, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

STEVE GRIBBIN, MARK NELSON, CARL

A CHRISTMAS CAROL Adrian Edmondson plays Ebenezer Scrooge in David Edgar’s critically acclaimed adaptation of Charles Dickens’ muchloved classic, until Sun 1 Jan, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratfordupon-Avon

THATCHER’S NOT DEAD, SHE’S LIVING IN MY COUNCIL FLAT! Spooktacular comedy treat featuring a ouijja board, two gays, Satan and the ghost of Margaret Thatcher, Tues 1 Nov, The Old Joint Stock, Birmingham

SHE’S ROYAL A brand-new stage production revealing the untold relationship between Her Majesty Queen Victoria and two extraordinary women of colour: Sarah Forbes Bonetta and Sophia Duleep Singh, Tues 1 Nov, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

THE ADDAMS FAMILY Amateur staging presented by Acton Amateur Operatic Society, Wed 2 - Sat 5 Nov, Crewe Lyceum Theatre

THE KILLER QUESTION The Silence Of The Lambs meets Last Of The

THE TIGER WHO CAME TO TEA Interactive show for younger audiences, based on Judith Kerr’s much-loved tale of teatime mayhem, Tues 1 - Wed 2 Nov, Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent

a spine-tingling evening featuring three tales of the supernatural from EF Benson’s collection of ghost stories, Wed 2 Nov, Stafford Gatehouse Theatre

JORDAN ADAMS - ONE NIGHT ONLY Hits from West End musicals and Hollywood movies in a ‘fun night of music and chat’, Wed 2 Nov, Lichfield Garrick

CIRCUS OF HORRORS: THE WITCH New show fusing bizarre circus acts with an original rock score, a sinister story of witchcraft and magic, Thurs 3 Nov, Telford Theatre, Oakengates

OH, WHISTLE... AND I’LL COME TO YOU, MY LAD RM Lloyd Parry brings two of MR James’ spine-chillers to life, Thurs 3 Nov, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury

Talks & Spoken Word

TOLKIEN AND STAFFORDSHIRE: A TALK BY JOHN GARTH Hear about how connections with Lichfield and Cannock Chase helped shape the mythology behind The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings, Thurs 3 Nov, The Hub at St Mary’s, Lichfield

THE NAUGHTY FOX Toucan Theatre present a multisensory show for younger audiences. Set in a magical forest, follow Fox as he goes on an adventure and learns that sharing is caring, Fri 4 - Sat 5 Nov, Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton

Light Entertainment

NIGHT TERRORS: THE GHOST STORIES OF EF BENSON Gerard Logan presents

SUSIE DENT: THE SECRET LIFE OF WORDS Join the Countdown star for a journey into ‘the curious, unexpected and surreal origins of the words we use every day’, Sat 5 Nov, Lichfield Garrick

AN EVENING WITH DEBBIE HARRY & CHRIS STEIN Find out about five decades of Blondie and gain insight

She’s Royal - Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

into the duo’s lives as artists and creative partners, Sun 6 Nov, Birmingham Town Hall

NEC, Birmingham

BIRMINGHAM FRANKFURT CHRISTMAS MARKET The largest authentic German Christmas market outside of Germany or Austria, offering a large range of traditional goods and gifts and a selection of tempting food & drink, Thurs 3 Nov - Fri 23 Dec, throughout Birmingham city centre

Events

PUMPKINFEST Pick your own pumpkin, walk the giant scarecrow trail and enter the Little Scary House, until Wed 2 Nov, Park Hall Farm, Shropshire

SIMPLY CHRISTMAS - THE CRAFTY CHRISTMAS SHOW Exhibitors showcase exclusive ranges of bespoke and unusual gifts, Thurs 3Sun 6 Nov, NEC, Birmingham

THE CREATIVE CRAFT SHOW A haven for knitting, cross stitch, paper crafting, jewellery, dressmaking and stitching enthusiasts, offering all the latest supplies as well as festive ideas and inspiration, Thurs 3 - Sun 6 Nov,

ICE SKATE BIRMINGHAM Enjoy an ice skate session or take a ride on the big wheel and marvel at the views across the city, Thurs 3 Nov - Sun 8 Jan, Centenary Square, Birmingham

ILLUMINATED GARDEN & PLAYGROUND

BY NIGHT Family fun for all ages with an illuminated playground and lighting displays, Fri 4 Nov, Dartmouth Park, West Bromwich

ULTIMATE FIREWORKS SPECTACULAR An event taking the electrifying bursts, bangs and howls of amazing fireworks to another level with music, lights and live-action storytelling, Fri 4 - Sun 6 Nov, Alton Towers Resort, Staffordshire

BAKE INTERNATIONAL Featuring ‘the very best suppliers, the biggest baking stars’, demos, workshops, and a dedicated baking competition, Fri 4 - Sun 6 Nov, NEC, Birmingham

CAKE INTERNATIONAL Join thousands of cake decorating and cake art lovers, Fri 4 - Sun 6 Nov, NEC, Birmingham

SHOUT FESTIVAL Birmingham’s annual festival of queer art & culture, Fri 4Sat 12 Nov, various venues across Birmingham

FIREWORKS SPECTACULAR The free event returns with another breathtaking display, Sat 5 Nov, Tamworth Castle Grounds

SANDWELL GOES GLOBAL FIREWORKS EVENING Sandwell’s biggest-ever fireworks display takes a global theme, Sat 5 Nov, Dartmouth Park, West Bromwich

SHREWSBURY WINTER FAIR Featuring stalls offering a wide variety of products from local traders, Sat 5 Nov, St Mary’s Church, Shrewsbury

WOLVERHAMPTON FIREWORKS AT THE RACECOURSE Featuring two firework displays, a family-friendly funfair and live music, Sat 5 Nov, Wolverhampton Racecourse

BONFIRE AND FIREWORK EXTRAVAGANZA Two firework displays, a huge bonfire, all the fun of the fair, and plenty of food, drink and music throughout the evening, Sat 5 Nov,

Alderford Lake, Shropshire

HIMLEY BONFIRE AND FIREWORKS

Featuring a huge bonfire and firework spectacular, plus a night market, street entertainers and funfair, Sat 5 Nov, Himley Hall, Dudley

FIREWORKS NIGHT Soak up the carnival atmosphere as you explore the Victorian streets after dark, then enjoy an 18-minute firework display, Sat 5 Nov, Blists Hill Victorian Town, Shropshire

FROST FAIR Featuring a wide selection of handmade crafts and Christmas gifts from talented Shropshire makers, Sat 5 - Sun 6 Nov, Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre, Craven Arms

PUMPKIN TRAIL Sun 6 Nov, Powis Castle, Welshpool

BONFIRE & FIREWORKS NIGHT

Featuring a large bonfire with a traditional funfair, food & drink offerings and two firework displays, Sun 6 Nov, Weston Park, Shropshire

QUIET AT THE AQUARIUM A quieter SEA LIFE experience that aims to provide a more comfortable visit for those with autism and other sensory requirements, Sun 6 Nov, National SEA LIFE Centre, Birmingham

Gigs

KEEP OF KALESSIN + DØDHEIMSGARD + CADAVERS + BORNHOLM + TEMPLE OF EVIL Mon 7 Nov, O2 Academy, Birmingham

SANGUISUGABOGG + CELESTIAL SANCTUARY Mon 7 Nov, The Flapper, Birmingham

THE AUSTRALIAN PINK FLOYD Mon 7 Nov, Symphony Hall, B’ham

PJ MORTON Tues 8 Nov, O2 Institute, B’ham

ALY & AJ + HAZEL ENGLISH Tues 8 Nov, O2 Academy, B’ham

TVAM [LIVE] Wed 9 Nov, Hare & Hounds, Birmingham

STILL WOOZY Wed 9 Nov, O2 Institute, Birmingham

JAMIE WEBSTER Wed 9 Nov, O2 Institute, Birmingham

THE WONDER YEARS Wed 9 Nov, O2 Academy, Birmingham

SAM LEWIS Wed 9 Nov, Katie Fitzgerald’s, Stourbridge

ARNIE SOMOGYI Wed 9 Nov, Newhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton

ROB KEMP’S THE ELVIS DEAD Thurs 10 Nov, Hare & Hounds, B’ham

SET IT OFF + CEMETERY

SUN + LIZZY FARRALL + WEATHERS Thurs 10 Nov, O2 Institute, Birmingham

STICK TO YOUR GUNS + LANDMVRKS + SCOWL

Thurs 10 Nov, O2 Academy, Birmingham

LIGHTNING SEEDS + BADLY DRAWN BOY Thurs 10 Nov, Birmingham Town Hall

CHRISTINE BOVILL’S PIAF

Thurs 10 Nov, The Hub at St Mary’s, Lichfield

REMA Fri 11 Nov, O2 Institute, Birmingham

ABSOLUTE BOWIE Fri 11 Nov, O2 Academy, Birmingham

JAMIE T Fri 11 Nov, O2 Academy, Birmingham BIFFY CLYRO + ARCHITECTS Fri 11 Nov, Resorts World Arena, Birmingham

FLEETWOOD MAD Fri 11 Nov, The Rhodehouse, Sutton Coldfield

THE BON JOVI EXPERIENCE Fri 11 Nov, The River Rooms, Stourbridge

HOT2TROT Fri 11 Nov, Katie Fitzgerald’s, Stourbridge

UGLY KID JOE + MASSIVE WAGONS Fri 11 Nov, KK Steel Mill, Wolverhampton

TURIN BRAKES Fri 11 Nov, Newhampton Arts Centre, W’hampton

THE MAGNETIC JELLYFISH Fri 11 Nov, Eleven, Stoke-on-Trent 80S MANIA Fri 11 Nov, The Prince Of Wales, Cannock

REMI HARRIS Fri 11 Nov, The Hub at St Mary’s, Lichfield

MAET LIVE - MEAT LOAF TRIBUTE Fri 11 Nov, The Buttermarket, Shrewsbury

GUNS FOR GIRLS Fri 11 Nov, Albert’s Shed, Shrewsbury

CAPTAIN STINGRAY’S GROOVE MACHINE Fri 11 Nov, Albert’s Shed, Southwater, Telford

STRICTLY ABBA Fri 11 Nov, Theatre On The Steps, Bridgnorth

DIRE STREETS Fri 11 Nov, Ludlow Assembly Rooms

ALEXANDER 23 Sat 12 Nov, O2 Institute, Birmingham

Sat 12 Nov, KK Steel Mill, Wolverhampton SABBRA CADABRA + METAL GODS Sat 12 Nov, Newhampton Arts Centre, W’hampton

HAND OF DIMES Sat 12 Nov, Eleven, Stoke-onTrent

ANASTACIA Sat 12 Nov, Victoria Hall, Stoke-onTrent

THE ELO TRIBUTE SHOW Sat 12 Nov, Stafford Gatehouse Theatre

THE REAL THING Sat 12 Nov, The Prince Of Wales, Cannock

A BEAUTIFUL NOISENEIL DIAMOND TRIBUTE Sat 12 Nov, Lichfield Garrick

VITOR PEREIRA Sat 12 Nov, The Hive, Shrewsbury

BREAK THE RECORD Sat 12 Nov, Albert’s Shed, Shrewsbury

NORTHERN ECHOES Sat 12 Nov, Albert’s Shed, Southwater, Telford JO HARMAN & MIKE FARRIS Sat 12 Nov, Telford Theatre

Classical

LUNCHTIME ORGAN CONCERT WITH THOMAS TROTTER: CELEBRATING THE BICENTENARY OF THE BIRTH OF CÉSAR FRANCK Mon 7 Nov, Birmingham Town Hall

NOBUYUKI TSUJII Programme includes works by Beethoven, Liszt, Ravel & Kapustin, Mon 7 Nov, Birmingham Town Hall

BELGIAN NATIONAL ORCHESTRA Featuring Roberto González-Monjas (conductor) & Paul Lewis (piano). Programme includes works by Respighi, Mozart & Saint-Saëns, Tues 8 Nov, Symphony Hall, Birmingham

SOFYA GULYAK PIANO CONCERT Programme includes works by Brahms, Mussorgsky, Clementi & Mozart, Wed 9 Nov, Ludlow Assembly Rooms, Ludlow, South Shropshire

CBSO VAUGHAN WILLIAMS AT 150: MYSTICAL SONGS Featuring Michael Seal (conductor), Roderick Williams (baritone), City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and CBSO Choir, Thurs 10 Nov, Symphony Hall, Birmingham

CBSO: VAUGHAN WILLIAMS AT 150: SCOTT OF THE ANTARTIC Featuring Martyn Brabbins (conductor), Katie Trethewey (soprano), CBSO Youth Chorus and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Fri 11 Nov, Symphony Hall, Birmingham

MARK WATSON Thurs 10 Nov, Stafford Gatehouse Theatre

FRANKIE ALLEN Thurs 10 Nov, The Prince Of Wales, Cannock JASON BYRNE Fri 11 Nov, Birmingham Town Hall

RUDI LICKWOOD, CHRISTOPHER MACARTHUR-BOYD, CRAIG HILL, SCOTT

BENNETT & HARRY WRIGHT Fri 11 Nov, The Glee Club, Birmingham

ROB AUTON Fri 11 Nov, The Glee Club, Birmingham

JASON MANFORD Fri 11 Nov, Utilita Arena Birmingham

KATHERINE RYAN Fri 11 Nov, Victoria Hall, Stoke-on-Trent

RICH HALL Fri 11 Nov, Lichfield Garrick

THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE Thurs 10 Nov, Newhampton Arts Centre, W’hampton MY HEART WILL GO ONCELINE DION TRIBUTE

Thurs 10 Nov, Lichfield

N-DUBZ + WES NELSON Sat 12 Nov, Utilita Arena Birmingham

THE BEATLES SOUND Sat 12 Nov, The Rhodehouse, Sutton Coldfield

ZEAL & ARDOR + HERIOT

JANICE BURNS & JON DORAN Sat 12 Nov, Herman Arts, Oswestry TAUNTS + RESTING B!TCH FACE + ALIAS GRACES Sat 12 Nov, Percy’s Cafe Bar, Whitchurch, North Shropshire

SQUEEZE + DR JOHN COOPER CLARKE Sat 12 - Sun 13 Nov, Symphony Hall, B’ham COIN Sun 13 Nov, O2 Institute, Birmingham

THE STYLISTICS Sun 13 Nov, The Alexandra, Birmingham

MAN THE LIFEBOATS Sun 13 Nov, Katie Fitzgerald’s, Stourbridge

NINE BELOW ZERO Sun 13 Nov, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury TALON Sun 13 - Mon 14 Nov, Lichfield Garrick

SHREWSBURY CHORAL Featuring Chris Barnes (tenor) and Peter Athans (trumpet). Programme comprises Benjamin Britten’s Saint Nicholas and John Bowen’s Requiem - In an age of Anxiety, Sat 12 Nov, Shrewsbury Abbey

EX CATHEDRA: SONGS OF PROTEST Featuring Backbeat Percussion Quartet, Jeffrey Skidmore (conductor), Imogen Russell (soprano) and Lawrence White (bass). Programme includes works by MacMillan, Beamish, Joubert & Roth, Sun 13 Nov, Birmingham Town Hall

Comedy

FREDDY QUINNE, KEVIN DANIEL, TAL DAVIES & RICKY BALSHAW Mon 7 Nov, Albert’s Shed, Southwater, Telford MARK SIMMONS Tues 8 Nov, The Glee Club, Birmingham

TOM STADE Wed 9 Nov, The Glee Club, Birmingham

OLGA KOCH Wed 9 Nov, The Glee Club, Birmingham

DOM JOLY Wed 9 Nov, The Prince Of Wales, Cannock

ZOE LYONS, JEN BRISTER, KATE MCCABE & MAUREEN YOUNGER Thurs 10 Nov, The Glee Club, Birmingham

CHRIS MCCAUSLAND Fri 11 Nov, Telford Theatre

TROY HAWKE Fri 11 Nov, Sutton Coldfield Town Hall

JACK CARROLL Sun 13 Nov, The Glee Club, Birmingham

Theatre

THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION Joe Absolom and Ben Onwukwe star in a new stage version of Stephen King’s famous story, Mon 7 - Sat 12 Nov, The Alexandra, Birmingham

WELSH NATIONAL OPERA - THE MAKROPULAS AFFAIR Janáček’s tale of immortal diva Emilia Marty and her desire to be the greatest singer of all times. Sung in Czech, with English surtitles, Tues 8 Nov, Birmingham Hippodrome

THE SYRIAN BAKER A story ‘about knowing where you belong, how small actions can make the biggest difference and about how much we all have in common’, Tues 8 Nov, Newhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton

ALL SHOOK UP Cradley Heath Amateur Operatic Society present an amateur show inspired by and featuring the songs of Elvis Presley, Tues 8 - Sat

Garrick

12 Nov, Stourbridge Town Hall

THE MEMORY OF WATER Shelagh Stephenson’s award-winning bittersweet comedy focuses on three sisters on the eve of their mother’s funeral, Tues 8 - Sat 12 Nov, Stafford Gatehouse Theatre

PETER PAN Bilston Operatic Company present an amateur staging of JM Barrie’s swashbuckling adventure, Tues 8 - Sat 12 Nov, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

LEGALLY BLONDE THE MUSICAL Amateur staging presented by Stoke Youth Musical Theatre Company, Tues 8Sat 12 Nov, Stoke Repertory Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent

IS THAT A BOLT IN YOUR NECK? Gonzo Moose present a fast-paced show fusing spooky paranoia, surreal nightmare and frantic farce, Wed 9 Nov, Foxlowe Arts Centre, Leek, Staffs

LA BOHEME Welsh National Opera present Puccini’s tale of love, loss, rebellion and freedom, Wed 9 - Fri 11 Nov, Birmingham Hippodrome ART Shropshire Drama Company present an amateur staging of Yasmina Reza’s dark comedy, Wed 9 - Sat 12 Nov, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury

NATIVITY! THE MUSICAL Get Your Wigle On present an amateur staging of Debbie Isitt’s festive family musical, Wed 9 - Sun 13 Nov, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury

THE ODYSSEY ‘Greek stuff (sex! swords! sandals!) with all the boring bits removed!’ Thurs 10 Nov, Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton

THE SYRIAN BAKER A story ‘about knowing where you belong, how small actions can make the biggest difference and about how much we all have in common’, Thurs 10 Nov, SpArC Theatre, Bishops Castle, South Shropshire

THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES Crime And Comedy Theatre Company present a tale of murder, mystery and horror... Thurs 10 - Fri 11 Nov, Tamworth Assembly Rooms

SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE VALLEY OF FEAR Blackeyed Theatre bring Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s final Sherlock Holmes novel to life in a brand-new production, Thurs 10 - Sat 12 Nov, Crewe Lyceum Theatre

THE SYRIAN BAKER A story ‘about knowing where you belong, how small actions can make the biggest difference and about how much we all have in common’, Fri 11 Nov, Welshampton Village Hall, Shropshire

MIGRATIONS Welsh National Opera present a new opera exploring the highs and lows of migration, Sat 12 Nov, Birmingham Hippodrome MUM’S THE WORD An emotional ride, from pregnancy pitfalls to teenage tantrums, Sun 13 Nov, Crewe Lyceum Theatre

Kids Theatre

THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR Eric Carle’s colourful children’s book is brought to life in this interactive show featuring puppetry and live music, Sat 12 - Sun 13 Nov, Tamworth Assembly Rooms

Dance

SWAN LAKE Presented by Classic Ballet & Opera House, Mon 7 Nov, Stafford Gatehouse Theatre

SLEEPING BEAUTY Presented by Classic Ballet & Opera House, Tues 8 Nov, Stafford Gatehouse Theatre

Talks & Spoken Word

AN EVENING WITH PHILIPPA GREGORY: CHANGELINGS, REBELLION, & THE LOST STUART QUEEN Join the historical novelist as she gives an insight into life in the Stuart court, Wed 9 Nov, Lichfield Garrick

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SERIAL KILLERS WITH JENNIFER REES Join the expert forensics lecturer as she explores one of forensic psychology’s most troubling topics, Thurs 10 Nov, Victoria Hall, Stoke-on-Trent

Events

BREADWINNER FESTIVAL Celebrating the birth of wheat in the ancient lands of the Middle East via interfaith prayer, bread tasting, public discussions and art workshops, Mon 7 - Sun 20 Nov, Newhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton CRIMES OF PASSION Featuring true stories of queer crime and imprisonment, Wed 9 Nov, West Midlands Police Museum, B’ham

LANCASTER INSURANCE CLASSIC MOTOR SHOW The ultimate season finale for classic car/bike owners, collectors, club members and enthusiasts, Fri 11 - Sun 13 Nov, NEC, Birmingham

MCM COMIC CON BIRMINGHAM A weekend celebration of all things pop culture, Fri 11 - Sun 13 Nov, NEC, Birmingham

LANTERN FESTIVAL Discover an epic lantern trail and explore the walkthrough areas of the park, Fri 11 Nov - Sun 8 Jan, West Midland Safari Park, Bewdley, Nr Kidderminster SCALE MODEL WORLD 2022 Featuring group displays, trade stands and a model competition, Sat 12 - Sun 13 Nov, Telford International Centre

SANTA’S WINTER WONDERLAND With real snow, real animals and the allnew winter wonderland show, Sat 12 Nov - Sun 1 Jan, Snowdome, Tamworth

CRAFTING AT THE MUSEUM: TEXTILE ARTIVISM Join artist Jane Thakoordin to create a mini-protest banner celebrating the campaign to save Broadfield House and the role of activism in the glass industry, Sun 13 Nov, Stoubridge Glass Museum

FATHERHOOD A new solo piece inspired by the experience of becoming a father to a mixedheritage son, Fri 11 Nov, Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton

DIWALI UTSAV: SITARON KE SANG Family-friendly celebration featuring British South Asian Dance artists, companies and community groups from the West Midlands and across the UK, Sat 12 Nov, Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton

Light Entertainment

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY LIVE Based on Yvette Fielding’s popular podcast. Expect terrifying tales, live ouija boards, audience interaction and more... Tues 8 Nov, Crewe Lyceum Theatre

MILLION DOLLAR MEN Tribute to Magic Mike featuring dancing and ‘fun interaction’, Fri 11 Nov, Mitchell Arts Centre, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent PANDEMONIUM Evening of alternative wrestling, Sat 12 Nov, Halesowen Cornbow Hall

SING-A-LONG-A ENCANTO Sing your heart out with the show’s live host, who will teach audiences dance moves and how to use the free props bag provided, Sat 12 Nov, Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent

Gigs

FUTURE ISLANDS Mon 14 Nov, O2 Institute, Birmingham

SURCO TRIO Mon 14

Nov, Bill’s Kitchen, Ludlow, South Shropshire

EVANESCENCE & WITHIN TEMPTATION Tues 15 Nov, Utilita Arena Birmingham

WICKED SMILE Tues 15 Nov, Eleven, Stoke-onTrent

WIDOWSPEAK Wed 16 Nov, Hare & Hounds, Birmingham

BRETT YOUNG Wed 16 Nov, O2 Institute, Birmingham

LOW Wed 16 Nov, Birmingham Town Hall

DAVE TANDY QUINTET

Wed 16 Nov, The Cathedral Hotel, Lichfield

ANYTHING FOR LOVETHE MEAT LOAF STORY Wed 16 Nov, Telford Theatre

DAISY BRAIN Thurs 17 Nov, Hare & Hounds, Birmingham

RAINBOW KITTEN SURPRISE Thurs 17 Nov, O2 Institute, Birmingham

MARK SUMMERS - ELVIS LEGACY Thurs 17 Nov, Brierley Hill Civic, Dudley

FASTLOVE - GEORGE MICHAEL TRIBUTE Thurs 17 Nov, Victoria Hall, Stoke-on-Trent

TALON Thurs 17 Nov, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury

TALISK Thurs 17 Nov, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury

SEA GIRLS + LAURAN HIBBERD Fri 18 Nov, O2 Academy, Birmingham

THE ICICLE WORKS Fri 18 Nov, O2 Academy, Birmingham

KAISER CHIEFS + THE FRATELLIS + THE SHERLOCKS Fri 18 Nov, Utilita Arena Birmingham

CHINA CRISIS Fri 18 Nov, The Robin, Bilston

ATTILA THE STOCKBROKER + SAM DRAISEY Fri 18 Nov, Katie Fitzgerald’s, Stourbridge

YOUNG EMPRESS + PENSACOLA MIST + INFRA VIOLET Fri 18 Nov, KK’s Steel Mill, Wolverhampton

MILES HUNT Fri 18 Nov, Newhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton

JUDY COLLINS Sat 19 Nov, Birmingham Town Hall

EZRA FURMAN Sat 19 Nov, The Mill, Digbeth, Birmingham

THE BOHEMIANS - QUEEN TRIBUTE Sat 19 Nov, Sutton Coldfield Town Hall

THE LACK OF COMMITMENTS Sat 19 Nov, The Rhodehouse, Sutton Coldfield

IDLEWILD Sat 19 Nov, Stourbridge Town Hall

CALLING PLANET EARTH Sat 19 Nov, Dudley Town Hall

SPECIAL KINDA MADNESS Sat 19 Nov, The River Rooms, Stourbridge

NICK HART Sat 19 Nov, Newhampton Arts Centre, W’hampton

THE ORB Sat 19 Nov, The Sugarmill, Stokeon-Trent

Classical

CBSO PLAYS PROKOFIEV & DVORÁK Featuring Elena Schwarz (conductor) & Clara-Jumi Kang (violin). Programme includes works by Dukas, Prokofiev & Dvorák, Tues 15 Nov, Symphony Hall, Birmingham

HALLE ORCHESTRA Featuring Stephen Bell (conductor). Programme includes works by Humperdinck, Grieg, Delius, Vivaldi, Waldteufel & Tchaikovsky, Fri 18 Nov, Victoria Hall, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent

CARDUCCI STRING QUARTET: CONNECTIONS 2 Fri 18 Nov, St Alkmund’s Church, Shrewsbury

DAN NIGHTINGALE Fri 18 Nov, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury

MAUREEN YOUNGER, BEN VAN DER VELDE, NATHAN CATON & ABIGOLIAH SCHAMAUN Sat 19 Nov, The Glee Club, Birmingham

DALISO CHAPONDA, WILSON MILTON, JAMIE HUTCHINSON & DAMION LARKIN Sat 19 Nov, Regent Theatre, Stokeon-Trent

FITZ OF LAUGHTER - LINE-UP TBC Sat 19 Nov, Katie Fitzgerald’s, Stourbridge

ED GAMBLE Sun 20 Nov, The Alexandra, Birmingham

Theatre

THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY: A POSITIVELY DISRUPTIVE YARN One-woman show in which Dr Daisy Black weaves together a vivid and epic account of the events leading up to the 1066 Battle of Hastings, Tues 15 Nov, Newhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton

LADY RAGE Thurs 17

Nov, Albert’s Shed, Shrewsbury

NINA NESBITT Fri 18 Nov, O2 Institute, Birmingham

PI’ERRE BOURNE Fri 18 Nov, O2 Institute, Birmingham

KEITH JAMES - THE SONGS OF LEONARD COHEN Fri 18 Nov, Brewhouse Arts Centre, Burton upon Trent

THE DUNWELLS Fri 18 Nov, Foxlowe Arts Centre, Leek, Staffs THE CHRISTIANS Fri 18 Nov, Tamworth Assembly Rooms

JEREMY SASSOON - A TRIBUTE TO THE MUSIC OF RAY CHARLES Fri 18 Nov, The Hub at St Mary’s, Lichfield

FLEETWOOD BAC Fri 18 Nov, The Buttermarket, Shrewsbury

CALL OF THE KRAKEN Fri 18 Nov, Albert’s Shed, Shrewsbury

LIAM PRICE MUSIC Fri 18 Nov, Albert’s Shed, Southwater, Telford PROMETHIUM + ASYLUM CITY ZOO Fri 18 Nov, Percy’s Cafe Bar, Whitchurch, North Shropshire

THE ASSIST Sat 19 Nov, O2 Institute, B’ham MARCUS MUMFORD Sat 19 Nov, O2 Institute, Birmingham

DEMON Sat 19 Nov, Eleven, Stoke-on-Trent CAPTAIN ACCIDENT & THE DISASTERS Sat 19 Nov, Albert’s Shed, Shrewsbury

BLACK HEART ANGELS Sat 19 Nov, Albert’s Shed, Southwater, Telford

MICK HUTTON’S BOATROCKERS + RATTLE Sat 19 Nov, SpArc, Bishops Castle, Shropshire

PRAY FOR MOJO + CRY FOR MERCY + TRENCHES Sat 19 Nov, Percy’s Cafe Bar, Whitchurch, North Shropshire

LADY MAISERY Sat 19 Nov, The Hive, Shrewsbury

BIRMINGHAM BACH CHOIR: CHRISTMAS ORATORIO Featuring Paul Spicer (conductor), Thomas Hobbs (evangelist), Sophia Larsson (soprano), James Laing (counter tenor), Daniel Auchincloss (tenor), Ashley Riches (baritone). Also featuring Birmingham Bach Choir and The Musical & Amicable Society: baroque style orchestra, Sat 19 Nov, Lichfield Cathedral

LUDLOW ORCHESTRA Programme includes works by Wagner, Mendelssohn & Bizet, Sat 19 Nov, St Laurence’s Church, Ludlow, South Shropshire

Comedy

RAY BRADSHAW Tues 15 Nov, The Glee Club, Birmingham

COMEDY CAROUSEL WITH ANDY ROBINSON, NATHAN CATON & ABIGOLIAH SCHAMAUN Thurs 17 Nov, The Glee Club, Birmingham

GARY DELANEY Thurs 17 Nov, Foxlowe Arts Centre, Leek, Staffs

GORMENGHAST Studio 61 present an amateur version of Mervyn Peake’s fantasy tale, set in a world bound by iron laws and dead rituals, Tues 15Thurs 17 Nov, Newhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton

NOUGHTS AND CROSSES Pilot Theatre present a story of love, revolution, and what it means to grow up in a divided world, Tues 15 - Sat 19 Nov, The Alexandra, Birmingham

BIG THE MUSICAL Five Towns Theatre present an amateur version of the feel-good musical based on the 1988 film starring Tom Hanks, Tues 15Sat 19 Nov, Stoke Repertory Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent

SIX THE MUSICAL From Tudor queens to pop princesses, the six wives of Henry VIII take to the mic to tell their tales, remixing 500 years of historical heartbreak into an 80-minute celebration of 21st-century girl power, Tues 15 - Sun 20 Nov, Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent

JULIE: THE MUSICAL Brand-new musical about the life and adventures of historical LGBTQ+ icon Julie D’Aubigny, Wed 16 - Fri 18 Nov, The Old Joint Stock, Birmingham

ABSURD PERSON SINGULAR

LAURA ASTON Sun 20 Nov, Hare & Hounds, Birmingham

CHRIS CLEVERLEY Sun 20 Nov, Hare & Hounds, Birmingham

MUNA + BIMINI Sun 20 Nov, O2 Institute, Birmingham

THE RAYMOND & MR TIMPKINS REVUE Thurs 17 Nov, Katie Fitzgerald’s, Stourbridge

MAUREEN YOUNGER, BEN VAN DER VELDE, NATHAN CATON, ABIGOLIAH SCHAMAUN & FARHAN SOLO Fri 18 Nov, The Glee Club, Birmingham

Pattingham Drama Group present an amateur version of Alan Ayckbourn’s classic play, which centres on the changing fortunes of three married couples, Wed 16 - Sat 19 Nov, Pattingham Village Hall, Pattingham, Nr Wolverhampton

ELSIE & NORM’S MACBETH Starcross Youth Theatre present an amateur version of Christopher Wood’s play, in which Elsie and Norm decide to have ‘a bit of a bash’ at culture by staging a production of Macbeth in their living room, Thurs 17 - Fri 18 Nov, Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton

CALENDAR GIRLS Amateur staging presented by Third From The Right Productions, Thurs 17 - Sat 19 Nov, Cornbow Hall, Halesowen

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST A reimagining of the classic fairytale that promises to leave audiences ‘spellbound’, Fri 18 Nov - Fri 16 Dec, The Old Rep, Birmingham

ALICE IN WONDERLAND Lewis Carroll’s much-loved classic returns to the New Vic stage for Christmas, Fri 18 Nov - Sat 28 Jan, New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme

THE BLUEBIRD Join Mary Berylune, a Seer, and her tree spirit, Micky, on their quest to find the elusive bluebird and help unlock its mystery, Sat 19 Nov, The Rep, Birmingham

LEARNING TO FLY James Rowland mixes theatre, comedy and music to tell the story of his remarkable friendship with ‘the scary old lady who lived in the spooky house on his street’, Sat 19 Nov, Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton

LEGENDS AND DREAMS Concord College present an evening of internationally inspired dance, drama, music & art, Sat 19 Nov, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury

NATIVITY! THE MUSICAL Debbie Isitt’s heart-warming festive musical, Sat 19 Nov - Sat 7 Jan, The Rep, Birmingham

Kids Theatre

THE BEAR Pins And Needles’ heartwarming stage show, based on Raymond Briggs’ classic children’s book, Thurs 17 Nov - Fri 30 Dec, Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), Birmingham Dance

DICK WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT

Presented by Dragonfly Dance, Thurs 17 - Sat 19 Nov, Stafford Gatehouse Theatre

THE NUTCRACKER Birmingham Royal Ballet present Sir Peter Wright’s world-famous production, Sat 19 Nov - Sat 10 Dec, Birmingham Hippodrome

Light Entertainment

SING-A-LONG-A-GARETH Gareth Malone will be joined by his band and a group of stellar singers as he guides you through an evening of song, Mon 14 Nov, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

PSYCHIC SALLY Evening of mediumship, Tues 15 - Sat 16 Nov, Tamworth Assembly Rooms

THAT’LL BE THE DAY CHRISTMAS SHOW Featuring festive pop classics, traditional Christmas songs, comedy sketches, impersonations and more... Wed 16 Nov, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury

GARY BARLOW - A DIFFERENT STAGE Gary talks about his life and career, Wed 16 - Sun 20 Nov, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

THE STEPTOE AND SON RADIO SHOW Recreation of a live radio recording re-living some of Steptoe’s finest misadventures, Thurs 17 Nov, Prince of Wales Theatre, Cannock

LEGENDS AND DREAMS Concord College presents an evening of internationally inspired dance, drama, music & art, Sat 19 Nov, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury

THE RAT PACK CHRISTMAS SHOW Recreation of a festive show at The Sands in Las Vegas. Starring David Alacey (Lovejoy and Inspector Alleyn) as Frank Sinatra, Paul Drakeley (Inside Out) as Dean Martin and Central Television’s Des Coleman as Sammy Davis Jnr, Sun 20 Nov, Stafford Gatehouse Theatre

Talks & Spoken Word

AN EVENING WITH RICKY HATTON Gary Newbon MBE interviews one of the greatest European fighters of all time... Mon 14 Nov, Birmingham Town Hall

TALES OF THE WEDDING PRESENT An evening in the company of singer, guitarist, principal songwriter and ever-present band member David Gedge, Tues 15 Nov, Bilston Town Hall

Events

AGE UK TALK ON DRAGONFLIES Part of a series of talks, supported by Age UK, aimed at people aged 60-plus, Mon 14 Nov, Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre, Craven Arms

AUTUMN’S BEAUTY GUIDED WALK Part of a series of autumn bird & nature walks with local leader Dave Pearce, Wed 16 Nov, Shropshire Hills

Discovery Centre, Craven Arms, South Shropshire

CHRISTMAS AT CATHEDRAL SQUARE Featuring craft, gift and food & drink stalls, Wed 16 Nov - Sun 18 Dec, Cathedral Square, Birmingham PLANETARIUM LATES: EXPERIENCING THE NORTHERN LIGHTS See and hear about the experiences of Birmingham-based photographer and hiker Martin Kulhavý, on his trips to Norway to photograph the Northern Lights, Thurs 17 Nov, Thinktank Birmingham Science Museum

FESTIVE GIFT FAIR Featuring hundreds of colourful stalls and lots of live entertainment, Thurs 17 - Sun 20 Nov, NEC, Birmingham CHRISTMAS LIGHT SWITCH ON Take advantage of discounts and offers at the shopping village, Fri 18 Nov, Trentham Estate, Staffordshire

FLICKS IN THE STICKS FILM - GONE TO EARTH Based on the book Gone To Earth, written by Shropshire poet & novelist Mary Webb, Fri 18 Nov, Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre, Craven Arms

THE MURDER OF WALTER FELLOWS Consider the evidence, follow the clues and interrogate the suspects in their cells as you attempt to get to the bottom of a murder-mystery, Fri 18 Nov, West Midlands Police Museum, Birmingham

PEAKY BLINDERS NIGHT Grab your flatcap, don your finest threads and step into the smoky underworld of the 1920s, Fri 18 - Sat 19 Nov, Black Country Living Museum, Dudley STEAM IN LIGHTS Immersive nighttime experience turning the Severn Valley into a colourful light trail, Fri 18 - Sat 19 Nov, Severn Valley Railway, Bewdley, Nr Kidderminster

MEET FATHER CHRISTMAS Join Father Christmas and his loveable elves at Trentham’s North Pole, Fri 18 NovSat 24 Dec, Trentham Estate, Staffordshire

ENGLISH WHISKY FESTIVAL The annual festival makes its first-ever in-person outing, Sat 19 Nov, The Custard Factory, Digbeth

APLEY CHRISTMAS MARKET Featuring free tasters of your favourite products, a Christmas craft fair and a hot chocolate bar, Sat 19 - Sun 20 Nov, Apley Farm Shop, Shropshire CHRISTMAS MARKETS Showcasing award-winning local food & drink, art & craft producers, and vintage artisans, Sat 19 - Sun 20 Nov, Trentham Estate, Staffordshire

SHREWSBURY CHOCOLATE FESTIVAL Featuring some of the UK’s best chocolatiers, bean-to-bar producers and industry experts, Sat 19 - Sun 20 Nov, St Mary’s Church, Shrewsbury

MOTORCYCLE

LIVE IN ASSOCIATION

WITH BIKESURE The UK’s largest motorcycle show, supported by over 50 motorcycle and scooter manufacturers, Sat 19 - Sun 27 Nov, NEC, Birmingham

SANTA ISLAND EXPERIENCE An ‘enchanting’ boat journey across the lake to seek out the island of Santa and his elves, Sat 19 Nov - Sat 24 Dec, Alderford Lake, Shropshire

CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION WEEKENDS Festive celebrations with a Santa stage show and this year’s pantomime, Cinderella, Sat 19 NovFri 23 Dec, Cadbury World, B’ham

SANTA’S GROTTO EXPERIENCE Get ready to dive into the ultimate underwater fish-massy adventure with Santa and his elves, Sat 19 NovSat 24 Dec, National SEA LIFE Centre, Birmingham

SUTTON COLDFIELD VINTAGE & ARTS FAIR Over 60 stalls of vintage fashion, arts, crafts and homeware, Sun 20 Nov, Sutton Coldfield Town Hall ANTIQUES AND COLLECTORS FAIR View and purchase antiques and collectables from a wide variety of stallholders, Sun 20 Nov, Himley Hall, Dudley

Six The Musical - Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent

Gigs

WET LEG Mon 21 Nov, O2 Institute, B’ham FONTAINES D.C. + WUNDERHORSE Mon 21 Nov, O2 Academy, Birmingham

BELLOWHEAD Mon 21 Nov, Symphony Hall, Birmingham

NOTHING,NOWHERE. + GUCCIHIGHWATERS + SADEYES Tues 22 Nov, O2 Academy, B’ham NIGHTWISH Tues 22 Nov, Resorts World Arena, Birmingham RUTS DC + TV SMITH Tues 22 Nov, The Sugarmill, Stoke-onTrent

RED RUM CLUB Wed 23 Nov, O2 Institute, Birmingham

UPSAHL + ALISSIC + LIZZIE ESAU Wed 23 Nov, O2 Institute, Birmingham

RISE AGAINST + THE STORY SO FAR Wed 23 Nov, O2 Academy, Birmingham

TOMBSTONE DUNNERY Wed 23 Nov, Herman Arts, Oswestry, North Shropshire

THE BRASS FUNKEYS + DIDDY SWEG Thurs 24 Nov, Hare & Hounds, Birmingham

GENESIS VISIBLE TOUCH Thurs 24 Nov, O2 Institute, Birmingham

JIM BOB Thurs 24 Nov, O2 Academy, B’ham

BEVERLEY CRAVEN, JUDIE TZUKE, JULIA FORDHAM & RUMER Thurs 24 Nov, Symphony Hall, B’ham

FLORENCE + THE MACHINE Thurs 24 Nov, Utilita Arena B’ham FOCUS Thurs 24 Nov, The Robin, Bilston SABRINA CLAUDIO + JAMES VICKERY + ETHAM Fri 25 Nov, O2 Institute, Birmingham BEAUTIFUL TRAUMAPINK TRIBUTE Fri 25 Nov, The River Rooms, Stourbridge

HUGH CORNWELL Fri 25 Nov, The Robin, Bilston MILLIE MANDERS + JESS SILK Fri 25 Nov, Katie Fitzgerald’s, Stourbridge

CROBOT Fri 25 Nov, KK’s Steel Mill, Wolverhampton OASISH Fri 25 Nov, Eleven, Stoke-on-Trent

THE MANFREDS Fri 25 Nov, Tamworth Assembly Rooms

FRED ZEPPELIN Fri 25 Nov, The Guildhall, Lichfield VICKY JACKSON AS PINK Fri 25 Nov, The Buttermarket, Shrewsbury

WINGWALKERS Fri 25 Nov, Albert’s Shed, Shrewsbury

EMMA LINNEY Fri 25 Nov, Albert’s Shed, Southwater, Telford

GORDON HENDRICKS IS ELVIS Fri 25 Nov, Telford Theatre

VIOLETS LEAP + BALABAN AND THE BALD ILLEAGLES + THE GUS GLYNN BAND Fri 25 Nov, Percy’s Cafe Bar, Whitchurch, North Shropshire

THE KTNA Sat 26 Nov,

Hare & Hounds, Birmingham

HOLLY HUMBERSTONE Sat 26 Nov, O2 Institute, Birmingham

MIDNIGHT TRAIN TO GEORGIA - GLADYS KNIGHT TRIBUTE Sat 26 Nov, Victoria Hall, Stoke-on-Trent

KRIS DREVER Sat 26 Nov, The Guildhall, Lichfield

EFFERVESCENT Sat 26 Nov, Albert’s Shed, Shrewsbury

BACK 2 MIAMI Sat 26 Nov, The Place, Telford ELIZA CARTHY & THE RESTITUTION Sat 26 Nov, Ludlow Assembly Rooms, South Shropshire

K-TRAP Sat 26 - Sun 27 Nov, O2 Institute, Birmingham

ETIM GALLAGHER Sun 27 Nov, O2 Institute, Birmingham

BELLE & SEBASTIAN Mon 28 Nov, O2 Academy, Birmingham

THE AUSTRALIAN PINK FLOYD Mon 28 Nov, Symphony Hall, B’ham

TERRY REID Mon 28 Nov, The Robin, Bilston BILLY NOMATES Mon 28 Nov, The Sugarmill, Stoke-on-Trent

BLOSSOMS Tues 29 Nov, O2 Academy, Birmingham

GONG + OZRIC TENTACLES Tues 29 Nov, O2 Academy, Birmingham

JOHN CORABI + ROB WYLDE Tues 29 Nov, Eleven, Stoke-on-Trent

Monday 21- Wed 30 November

Classical

LUNCHTIME ORGAN CONCERT WITH THOMAS TROTTER Programme includes works by Bach, Bonnet, Merkel, Bourgeois & Dupré, Mon 21 Nov, Birmingham Town Hall

CBSO AND PEKKA KUUSISTO (CONDUCTOR): THE LARK ASCENDING Programme includes works by Tarrodi, Vaughan Williams, WallerBridge, Sibelius & Rautavaara, Wed 23 Nov, Symphony Hall, Birmingham

DUDLEY INTERNATIONAL PIANO

COMPETITION Featuring Michael Seal (conductor), Thurs 24 Nov, Symphony Hall, Birmingham

CBSO FAMILY CONCERT: A WINTER PARTY Featuring Michael Seal (conductor), Lucy Drever (presenter) and Sarah Butt (BSL Interpreter). Programme includes works by Vivaldi & Montgomery plus Lopez, Anderson-Lopez & Beck, Sat 26 Nov, Birmingham Town Hall

SINFONIA OF LONDON Featuring John Wilson (conductor) & Martin James Bartlett (piano). Programme includes works by Walton, Ravel, Gershwin & Debussy, Sat 26 Nov, Symphony Hall, Birmingham

MOZART FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA Featuring David Juritz (violin/director). Programme includes works by Corelli, Handel, Bach, Clarke, Charpentier, Mozart & Vivaldi, Sun 27 Nov, Symphony Hall, Birmingham

Comedy

CLINTON BAPTISTE: CLINTON VS. RAMONE Wed 23 Nov, Birmingham Town Hall

IVO GRAHAM Wed 23 Nov, The Glee Club, Birmingham

MARK STEEL Wed 23 Nov, New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme

JIMMY CARR Thurs 24 Nov, Victoria Hall, Stoke-on-Trent

JIMMY CARR Fri 25 Nov, Symphony Hall, Birmingham

ADAM HESS, ALASDAIR BECKETT-KING, AMY MATTHEWS, THE RAYMOND & MR TIMPKINS REVUE & VICTOR DANIELS Fri 25 Nov, The Glee Club, Birmingham

ADAM HESS, ALASDAIR BECKETT-KING, AMY MATTHEWS & THE RAYMOND & MR TIMPKINS REVUE Sat 26 Nov, The Glee Club, Birmingham

PAUL SINHA, JO ENRIGHT & JACK GLEADOW Sat 26 Nov, Katie Fitzgerald’s, Stourbridge

Theatre

JACK FROST AND THE SEARCH FOR WINTER Joseph Coelho’s new play, with important environmental themes

and original live music, Mon 21 Nov, SpArC Theatre, Bishops Castle, South Shropshire

SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE VALLEY OF FEAR Blackeyed Theatre bring Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s final Sherlock Holmes novel to life in a brand new production, Mon 21 - Wed 23 Nov, Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton

SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER Must-see musical that follows the story of Tony Manero as he embarks on a reckless yet thrilling journey to dancing success... Tues 22 - Sat 26 Nov, The Alexandra, Birmingham

YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN Mel Brooks’ madcap comedy collides with Mary Shelley’s classic monster tale in this musical based on the 1974 comedy film of the same name, Tues 22 - Sat 26 Nov, Brewhouse Arts Centre, Burton upon Trent BLACKOUT Play exploring how girls cope with dating as Millennials, the realities and pressures of starting a family later in life, and their exquisite ability to get completely blackout drunk, Thurs 24 - Fri 25 Nov, The Old Joint Stock, Birmingham

ERIC’S CHRISTMAS TURKEY ‘Funpacked festive treat’ featuring ‘60s songs, laughter, dancing and Christmas sparkle’, Mon 28 Nov - Sat 10 Dec, New Vic Theatre, Newcastleunder-Lyme

AN INSPECTOR CALLS JB Priestley’s classic thriller, Tues 29 Nov - Sat 3 Dec, The Alexandra, Birmingham

THE SNOW QUEEN CWAGMS present an amateur version of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic tale, Wed 30 Nov - Sat 3 Dec, Prince Of Wales Theatre, Cannock

Pantomime

SNOW WHITE & THE SEVEN DWARFS

Lichfield regular Sam Rabone is joined by Brian Wheeler (Star Wars) and Dean Whatton (Game Of Thrones) in this festive family favourite, Fri 25 Nov - Sat 31 Dec, Lichfield Garrick

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Featuring: the legendary Dame, Brad Fitt; Tommy J Rollason (Britain’s Got Talent); Samantha Dorrance (Disney Channel); Jo Osmond (The Mandalorian); and Kane Oliver Parry (Matilda, West End), Wed 30 NovSun 8 Jan, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury

Eliza Carthy - Ludlow Assembly Rooms

Kids Theatre

TALES FROM ACORN WOOD Theatre for younger audiences based on favourite stories by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, Mon 21 - Tues 22 Nov, Crewe Lyceum Theatre

DISNEY ON ICE PRESENTS DREAM BIG Join Moana, Maui, Anna, Elsa and the Disney Princesses in an ‘enchanting’ show filled with Disney songs and stories, Sat 26 - Sun 27 Nov, Resorts World Arena, Birmingham

TOUR Evening entertainment described as ‘the ultimate night of carefree fun’, Fri 25 Nov, Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent

THAT’LL BE THE DAY CHRISTMAS SHOW Featuring festive pop classics, traditional Christmas songs, comedy sketches, impersonations and more... Fri 25 Nov, Royal Spa Centre, Leamington Spa

CHRISTMAS VARIETY SHOW Featuring the D-Day Darlings and musician Andy Eastwood, Sun 27 & Tues 29 Nov, Tamworth Assembly Rooms

AN EVENING OF MEDIUMSHIP WITH CRAIG MORRIS Wed 30 Nov, Dudley Town Hall

STEAM IN LIGHTS Immersive nighttime experience turning the Severn Valley into a colourful light trail, Fri 25 - Sat 26 Nov, Severn Valley Railway, Bewdley, Nr Kidderminster

of festive activities, Sat 26 - Sun 27 Nov, Lower Drayton Farm, Penkridge, Staffordshire

DEMON DENTIST Birmingham Stage Company presents David Walliams’ ‘jaw-dropping’ tale for children, Wed 30 Nov - Sun 4 Dec, Crewe Lyceum Theatre

Dance

THE NUTCRACKER Birmingham Royal Ballet present Sir Peter Wright’s world-famous production, Sat 19 Nov - Sat 10 Dec, Birmingham Hippodrome

FABRIC - CONTEMPORARY DANCE 2.0 Shechter II reimagine a piece created for GöteborgsOperans Danskompani in 2019, which, set to an eclectic sound score, showcases ironic references to pop culture, Thurs 24Fri 25 Nov, Patrick Studio, Birmingham Hippodrome

A KISS GOODBYE ME Dance Company use contemporary dance to celebrate the nurses from World War Two who impacted modern medicine, Fri 25Sat 26 Nov, Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton

THE NUTCRACKER Crown Ballet presents its version of the ultimate fairytale, where goodness and beauty triumph over evil, Tues 29 Nov, Telford Theatre

Light Entertainment

NOSTALGIA MUSIC GROUP A gentle afternoon of companionship, listening to all your old-time favourites, Thurs 24 Nov, Sutton Coldfield Town Hall

CHRISTMAS MEMORIES Neil Sands hosts an evening of festive nostalgia, Thurs 24 Nov, Telford Theatre

DREAMBOYS: NO STRINGS ATTACHED

THE RAT PACK CHRISTMAS SHOW Recreation of a festive show at The Sands in Las Vegas. Starring David Alacey (Lovejoy and Inspector Alleyn) as Frank Sinatra, Paul Drakeley (Inside Out) as Dean Martin and Central Television’s Des Coleman as Sammy Davis Jnr, Wed 30 Nov, Telford Theatre

Talks & Spoken Word

AN EVENING WITH NOEL FITZPATRICK Gain an insight into the extraordinary world of the ‘nation’s most loved orthopaedic-neuro veterinary surgeon’, Tues 29 Nov, Birmingham Town Hall

Events

GREEN WILLOW WEAVING COURSE Learn how to make a willow Christmas tree and a flower hurdle to take home with you, Tues 22 Nov, Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre, Craven Arms, South Shropshire

ART & ANTIQUES FOR EVERYONE

Featuring specialist dealers offering a huge variety of desirable, rare and quirky items, Thurs 24 - Sun 27 Nov, NEC, Birmingham

BBC GOOD FOOD SHOW WINTER

Featuring TV chefs and hundreds of producers, Thurs 24 - Sun 27 Nov, NEC, Birmingham LIGHTS IN THE WOODS Brand-new Christmas light trail featuring light spectacles and interactive displays, Thurs 24 Nov - Sun 8 Jan, Alderford Lake, Shropshire

SKATE BY THE LAKE Feel the magic this Christmas and skate with your family and friends on a real undercover ice rink, Thurs 24 Nov - Sun 8 Jan, Alderford Lake, Shropshire

ADULT NIGHT Discover LEGOLAND Discovery Centre after hours, with no little ones in sight, Fri 25 Nov, LEGOLAND Discovery Centre, Birmingham

LUDLOW WINTER FESTIVAL Series of festive events and happenings, including a light trail and shopping opportunities, Fri 25 - Sun 27 Nov, Ludlow Castle, Shropshire SHREWSBURY FESTIVAL OF LITERATURE A weekend ‘bursting with literary events’, Fri 25 - Sun 27 Nov, Various locations around Shrewsbury THE POLAR EXPRESS TRAIN RIDE Immerse yourself in a re-creation of the 2004 movie, Fri 25 - Sun 27 Nov, Telford Steam Railway

SANTA SAFARI Featuring a four-mile winter safari and a visit to Santa’s grotto, Fri 25 Nov - Sat 24 Dec, West Midland Safari Park, Bewdley, Nr Kidderminster

LUMINATE SHUGBOROUGH A ‘captivating light trail’ through the historic grounds of Shugborough Estate, Fri 25 Nov - Sun 1 Jan, Shugborough Estate, Stafford CHRISTMAS AT ALTON TOWERS Make magical memories with a Santa Sleepover or explore the Towers Street Christmas Market. The hugely popular Lightopia Seasonal Wonderland light & lantern trail also returns, Fri 25 Nov - Mon 2 Jan, Alton Towers Resort, Staffordshire CHRISTMAS WREATH MAKING WORKSHOP Join Annika from Kiwi Creations for a festive wreath-making workshop, Sat 26 Nov, Himley Hall, Dudley

SANTA’S ICE CAVE ENCOUNTER Meet Santa, Mrs Claus and the elves in their magical ice cave, complete with sweet treats, songs and stories, Sat 26 Nov, British Ironworks Centre, Oswestry

FLICKS IN THE STICKS FILM - ELVIS Oscar-nominated filmmaker Baz Luhrmann’s musical drama about the life and music of Elvis Presley, Sat 26 Nov, Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre, Craven Arms, South Shropshire

CAROL TRAINS A festive four-course meal, on board a heritage train and curated by executive head chef Lucy Kelly, Sat 26 Nov, Severn Valley Railway, Bewdley Nr Kidderminster GREEN WILLOW WEAVING COURSE Learn how to make a willow Christmas tree and a flower hurdle to take home with you, Sat 26 Nov, Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre, Craven Arms, South Shropshire

CHRISTMAS WREATH MAKING WORKSHOP Get creative with local florist Louisa May, Sat 26 Nov, Tamworth Assembly Rooms XMAS AT THE FARM Head to the Xmas Wonder-barn, where the friendly elves will guide you through a series

COALBROOKDALE WINTER WONDERLAND Explore the enchanted forest as you search for Santa and his elves, Sat 26 - Sun 27 Nov, Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron, Shropshire

WARLEY NATIONAL MODEL RAILWAY EXHIBITION 2022 Featuring model railway layouts from gauges N to 1 and bigger, Sat 26 - Sun 27 Nov, NEC, Birmingham

CHRISTMAS MARKETS Showcasing award-winning local food & drink, art & craft producers, and vintage artisans, Sat 26 - Sun 27 Nov, Trentham Estate, Staffordshire

SANTA TRAINS Join Christmas characters for a vintage steam train ride and all-new pantomime, Sat 26Sun 27 Nov, Severn Valley Railway, Bewdley, Nr Kidderminster

FOXFIELD NORTH POLE EXPRESS Jump aboard the North Pole Express to meet the man in red himself, Sat 26Sun 27 Nov, Foxfield Railway, Stokeon-Trent

BAUBLE DECORATING WORKSHOP IN THE HOT SHOP Sat 26 - Sun 27 Nov, Stoubridge Glass Museum

ENCHANTED EXPRESS Inspired by the classic poem ’Twas The Night Before Christmas, Dame Julie Walters returns as narrator of The Enchanted Express, her iconic voice accompanying you throughout your heritage steam train journey, Sat 26Sun 27 Nov, Severn Valley Railway, Bewdley, Nr Kidderminster

MAGICAL CHRISTMAS Meet Father Christmas himself, enjoy Santa’s House Party show in the 4D cinema and check out the resort’s many rides, Sat 26 Nov - Sat 24 Dec, Drayton Manor Resort, Staffordshire

NORTH POLE ADVENTURE Enjoy an adventure to the North Pole, with plenty of festive activities along the way, Sat 26 Nov - Sat 24 Dec, National Forest Adventure Farm, Staffordshire

LUMINATE BIRMINGHAM A ‘captivating light trail’ through the stunning, historic grounds of Birmingham Botanical Gardens, Sat 26 Nov - Mon 2 Jan, Birmingham Botanical Gardens

CHRISTMAS WREATH FLORISTRY WITH KERRY GOODYEAR Learn a range of skills to wire and attach real foliage and embellishments, Tues 29 Nov, Weston Park, Shropshire

PAWS AT POWIS A specially designed pawsome trail for your furry friends, Wed 30 Nov, Powis Castle, Welshpool

STEAM IN LIGHTS An immersive nighttime experience turning the Severn Valley into a colourful light trail, Wed 30 Nov - Fri 23 Dec, Severn Valley Railway, Nr Kidderminster