Entertainment

His name may sit alongside those of dancing dogs in the list of Britain’s Got Talent winners, but dismiss pianist Tokio Myers as yet another novelty act at your peril.

Spring Awakening is an ambitious, sweeping musical about teenagers trying to make sense of the world around them in socially repressive 19th century Germany, but with a very contemporary feel.

Part love story, part tribute to the astonishing bravery of the sappers who tunnelled underneath battlegrounds, Birdsong is as good a commemoration of the immense sacrifices made during the First World War as you will ever see.

It’s no surprise that the Kamaal Williams ensemble has been hailed as the most seismic jazz to come of out Britain in the past two decades.

Playing at the Lowry’s Quays Theatre, Carlos Pons Guerra choreographed this Spanish reading of Beauty and the Beast, which worked well in the intimate setting.

For actress Arielle Haller-Silverstone life almost seems like one long romantic comedy.

This production at The Lowry – starring Nigel Havers, Denis Lawson and Stephen Tompkinson – follows on from last year’s Old Vic revival and will tour nationwide from February until June.

Manchester was brought back to the swinging sixties as hit West End and Broadway musical Hairspray arrived at the Opera House.

Django Django brought their menagerie of synths, tambourines, and white trousers to Manchester armed with their all new third album, Marble Skies.

A show better be worth the hype if it’s to run for two consecutive months in Manchester.

If you go to an Eliza and the Bear gig expecting to see either a girl called Eliza or a bear, you’ll be sorely disappointed on both counts.