... Essential Scottish Opera Musselburgh/Touring This annual tour of highlights from Scottish Opera is an unashamedly populist treat. It provides people across Scotland with an evening of guaranteed hits. Beyond that, it allows regular patrons to savour strong and confident voices, like that of tenor Alfred Boe, up close in a relatively small space, as here at the Brunton. Cleverly directed by ...

... Peppered with frenetic action Sadler's Wells Salt Edouard Lock, choreographer of radical Canadian dance company La La La Human Steps, gave up studying literature for dance, and the switch seems more than academic. Actively resisting to embed meaning in his direction, he attempts to get as close as possible to a state of pure dance. For the nine performers this means 100 minutes of the most ...

... Versatility shines through Criterion London Studio Centre/Musical Theatre Showcase Seedtime, directed by Ian Dewar, is the performing company of third year students following the Musical Theatre Professional Option on London Studio Centre's theatre dance course. At this point in the year, the company is divided into three groups which undertake different projects a play, a TV and video ...

... Santa and Nicolas Stirling It is Christmas Eve and Nicolas is bored with being left on his own to watch telly. He is fed up with his parents and wants a ski-board so he can play in the snow even if it only exists on the TV screen and in his imagination. So when he wakes up in the middle of the night, to find a strange girl in the sitting room who tells him how Santa is fed up because no one ...

... Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Worthing What are the basic ingrediants required to make a good pan tomime? Music, mayhem and magic, plus glittering costumes, sparkling sets and a host of charac ters ranging from the bizarre to the beautiful and at the Pavilion Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs pretty much had the lot. Show creators Hammond Productions manages to sqeeze all the necessary ...

... The Snow Queen Hounslow Parasol's Richard Gill has adapted Hans Christian Andersen's tale of devilry and shattered glass as an adventure story for younger audiences, filling the eye with images of prancing white wolves, a giant Swan and a palace of glittering danger at the journey's end. but instead of breaking into dangerous splinters the Snow Queen's distorting mirror becomes an obsession ...

... Little Red Riding Hood Rotherham The spirit of pantomime is alive and well at the Civic Theatre, where Duggie Chapman's show is delight ing audiences, with local favourite Barry Cheese making a most appealing Muddles, gleeful, full of life and fun, yet sympathetic. Personable Rob Malone plays Prince with a light touch, with Ann Micklethwaite as a sweet Red Riding Hood, equipped with a strong ...

... Dick Whittington Bishops Stortford Rhodes Centre's pantomime could be called plucky, courageous even, but not spectacular. A young cast tries hard to make David Baldock's script as funny as possible but director Lucy O'Hare allows her charges to screech almost continuously. Glyn Trefor-Jones tries hard to bring a simple sincerity to the role and he sings well. Nicole Freeman- Wright as his Cat ...

... Cinderella Halifax Bold, but never brash, the Victoria Theatre's show never loses sight of the fact that it is telling a favourite story. It is a beautifully constructed pantomime with colourful sets and radiant lighting. The dancing is crisp and varied and the songs are staged with spirit and style. Once a feeling of briskness is brought to Act I its success will be assured. The Royle ...

... Jack and the Beanstalk Grays Darren Williams, Thameside's ever-expansive Dame, solved a pantomime conundrum bothering me about this year's crop: sympathy was the missing quality in those dames criticised as too blokish. Williams, as president of the Grays Massive, abusive to his audience as he likes, never forgets Tilly is a poor widow. Combine his talents with Darren Maddison's likeable ...

... The New Adventures of Peter Pan Southend-on-Sea What was Edwardian, gentle, subtle and, yes. rather fey has become brash, raucous and in-yer-face in Terry Morrison's production at the Cliffs Pavilion. The enigmatic James Barrie would recognise his material but it is played at full volume for the MTV age. Thus Shane Richie as Mr Darling swaggers about telling jokes with a strong Estuary ...

... Aladdin Hastings White Rock Theatre, once a huge hospital, is a rambling place with a large stage. Paul Hammond's cure is to engage 68 babes and dancers, sending them on stage in alternating troupes of 20. Strong and colourful production scenes are the result, with performers even dancing in the aisles via Lisa Jarrett's choreography. Mitchell Armstrong has much to do as a strangely hatless ...