For the first time the Lady Boys of Bangkok will present it’s unique cabaret show in the heart of Manchester.

Loaded with more glamour, fun and surprises than ever before the Lady Boys of Bangkok celebrates its record-breaking tenth successive UK touring season with a spectacular new production – Devils and Angels.

Hotter than Hades with a galaxy of heavenly bodies, it’s a paradise of glittering stylish cabaret fun and glamour performed by 16 of the world’s most stunningly beautiful representatives of the Third Sex (Kathoey) – in the unique ambiance of The Sabia Pavillion, at Sackville Street NCP Car Park (off Bloom Street) Manchester from Saturday 28th June to Saturday 26th July.

Devils and Angels – an ecstasy of non-stop hits – including outstanding favourites from the past decade that the audiences have demanded to see again. It couldn’t be more fun! From the Spice Girls tribute to Broadway show stoppers from Grease to Sound of Music. From fabulous feathers to raunchy disco from Bassey to Beyonce and beyond…the fun just keeps rolling on. Painstakingly immaculate make-up… hundreds of to-die-for costumes… sparkling new choreography - the Lady Boys of Bangkok are in bubbling champagne form. (more…)

Afrika! Afrika!, the hit show that has taken London and Europe by storm, opens at Manchester’s Trafford Centre on July 23rd. The show has been described as a show like no other. It has had rave reviews when it opened in London and, by the time it closes there at the end of May, over 350,000 people are expected to have seen it.

The show features over 100 artists from 15 different African nations and has enjoyed massive critical success since it first opened in Frankfurt in 2005 with audiences across Europe now reaching over 2 million. Solo artists and dance numbers skillfully intertwine, daring acrobatics and stunning unicycle numbers alternate with hushed, poetic performances – all accompanied by a rousing live African musical score performed by musicians from Gambia, South Africa and other nations.

Andre Heller’s Afrika! Afrika! is very much an experience. From the beautiful Moorish tents with Moroccan style cafes to the authentic African arts and crafts and the African food, the audience is given a glimpse of the heart of Africa from the moment they step through the door. (more…)

Whatsonstage.com has expanded at an enormous rate over the last few months. Here in Manchester, we have been amazed at how many of you are enteting competitions, visiting the site and emailing us. Unsurprisingly, some of you have asked if the micro-sites could have their own dedicated discussion boards.

Here, you will be able to discuss all things Manchester, in terms of what’s on stage. So, if you have seen a great play in Manchester or squirmed your way through something quite awful, or you are looking forward to Mary Poppins flying into Manchester or anything else on stage in the North-West, we would like to hear from you, via the discussion board.

Don’t forget you can also leave comments at the end of stories and reviews. (please don’t enter competitions using this method though, as your entry will not be counted. See ticket offers page for details on how to enter).

So, if you have anything you wish to discuss with other Manchester folk, please click here.

As ever, if you have any more suggestions or thoughts on the site, please email me- glenn@whatsonstage.com

Thanks for visiting and don’t forget, discuss!

Glenn Meads
WOS Manchester- Editor

Venue: Palace Theatre
Date Reviewed: 19th June, 2008

Beauty and the Beast is a fairytale that is becoming increasingly popular with production companies. In recent years Birmingham Royal Ballet have presented a production and currently the Disney musical version appears to be on a never ending tour of the country.

Added to this, increasing numbers of pantomime stagings are cropping up each festive season and now the Russian Ice Stars are approaching the end of their latest UK tour with this excellent adaptation of the tale which deserved a fuller theatre than it got in this oversaturated market.

The basic tale of Beauty (Belle), danced by Irina Tkachuk, and the Beast, danced by the extremely tall Andrey Chuvilyaev is well known and tells of the selfish prince who is transformed by an enchantress into a hideous Beast and must earn someone’s love in order to redeem himself and return his castle of strange creatures to their original glorious state. (more…)

Following its huge success at the Lowry at Easter, the brand new LazyTown Live! brings the all-singing, all dancing world of LazyTown for four days only at the Opera House from 21st-24th August.

Stephanie, an optimistic and enthusiastic girl with bright pink hair, comes to live in LazyTown and meets a zany mix of kids and grown-ups, including the world’s laziest super-villain, Robbie Rotten. Fortunately for Stephanie, Sportacus, a slightly above average superhero who jumps, leaps, flips and flies his way around LazyTown in his airship is also on hand to help the townsfolk battle Robbie’s latest lazy schemes.

The man behind LazyTown, Magnús Scheving said: “LazyTown is about action and excitement. It makes kids want to get up and do something right now. To think, move and GO!” (more…)