Laura Lott

There are some stories that never grow old, and The Sound of Music is definitely one of them. Sixty years after the movie premiered, and sixty-six since the stage show first hit Broadway, this tale of love, family, the healing power of music, and resistance against persecution in 1930s Austria is as relevant and heartwarming as ever. Leicester Curve’s Christmas production, directed by Nikolai Foster, gives it a fresh new look while honouring the original and providing beautiful renditions of the Rodgers and Hammerstein songs we know and love.

Falling snow, a rapidly-growing Christmas tree and an army of sword-fighting rats: it can only be Sir Peter Wright's The Nutcracker. Birmingham Royal Ballet's opulent, charming and whimsical production returns to Birmingham Hippodrome - where Wright's version received its premier in 1990 - and brings with it a host of magical moments.

Talented by name, talented by nature: Ed McVey is a perfectly cast Mr Ripley, deftly juggling paranoia, wild optimism, self-pity and bouts of violence, while never losing either his sense of humour or the audience's tolerance. It's a demanding role requiring seemingly endless reams of dialogue as Ripley narrates his every thought, and McVey navigates it with style and charisma. 

There's something inherently magical about outdoor theatre, especially when the theatre is in such beautiful surroundings as Kilworth House's. Watching Rydell High's disco ball throw tiny swirling lights across the theatre's tented roof as the cast hand-jive beneath it and night falls outside, it's easy to find yourself transported back to the 1950s in this crowd-pleasing production of Grease.

What did our critic think of MARY POPPINS at Birmingham Hippodrome?

The current UK tour of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang has several well-known names attached to it - Ore Oduba, Liam Fox and Charlie Brooks all feature - but there's no denying that the star of the show is the car itself. Part polished wood, part shining steel and fully extraordinary, Chitty enchants audience members from the moment she appears, and when her wings unfurl and she soars and dips her way through a starlit sky, it's a true piece of theatrical magic.

Cheese and pineapple on a stick, anyone? The latest musical from Birmingham Rep takes us back to 1970s Britain, where trousers were flared, birthday parties required Iced Gems, and boys definitely didn't play girls in school musicals without everyone having something to say about it. BWW's critic weighs in.

If you're looking for sparkles, then Aladdin has you covered. The Broadway and West End hit is currently touring the UK and comes complete with heavily sequinned costumes and set pieces so drenched in gold they could have been created by King Midas. It's a slightly uneven production, but there are enough wow moments to leave children wide-eyed with enchantment.

It's a testament to Lin-Manuel Miranda's almost perfect show that even with some performance issues, Hamilton is still a stunning and moving experience. Its impact isn’t diminished even after several viewings, and its themes of love, grief, ambition, freedom, forgiveness and family are always resonant. Don’t throw away your shot at seeing this show in a city near you.

“Old friends in the morning, then wanting us dead in the afternoon”, says one of the men in Silence, repeating the line over and over. Decades after the event, he still can’t understand the speed at which hate and violence ignited in the wake of the 1947 Partition of India.

It's hard to imagine what more an audience could possibly want from a dance show than what Diversity provide in their current tour Supernova. There are stunning, tightly choreographed dance routines, impressive production values, up-to-the-minute technology, music loud enough to reverberate through your spine, and heavy doses of both humour and earnestness. Oh, and it rains on stage. This is bold, flashy entertainment underpinned by incredible talent.

New play The Promise, which has its world premiere at Birmingham Rep this week, looks at the intersectionality of dementia and deafness through the experiences of one family, and highlights the urgent need for more understanding and care options.

Society places a huge amount of pressure on mothers to be perfect, so it's a joy to see this new musical that reassures mums that their best is good enough. With a book and lyrics by Emily Beecher, who developed the show after her own diagnosis of postnatal depression, this production is produced, directed, designed and performed by mothers.

With a charming libretto by Jodi Picoult and Timothy Allen McDonald, and folk-style music and lyrics by Elyssa Samsel and Kate Anderson, The Book Thief is filled with the warmth of a young girl's friendships and discoveries. But the dangers of war and Nazi rhetoric are a constant threat beneath the surface.

The moment when you're presented with a whole new script can feel a little overwhelming for an actor, but Breaking Down Your Script: A Step-by-Step Guide for the Actor is here to help. It's written by Laura Wayth, who has worked as an acting teacher in Italy, Morocco, China and the UK.

The Lion King isn't an easy show to take on tour, but you needn't worry that this is a pared down version. The touring production brings with it more than 230 different puppets, around 50 cast members and 100 crew, and the same impressive sets that you'll see in London and on Broadway.

The theme song to Nickelodeon's super-popular animated series SpongeBob SquarePants encourages you to tune in 'if nautical nonsense be something you wish', and nautical nonsense is definitely what's on offer in this madcap but good-natured musical.

John Steinbeck's 1937 novel, set in California during the Great Depression, may be a period piece, but the parallels with current life in the UK are unmistakable. Dealing with themes of poverty, displacement, prejudice and the desperation for independence, Of Mice and Men makes a timely return to the Birmingham Rep stage in this new production directed by Iqbal Khan.

Lerner and Loewe's My Fair Lady is blessed with the sort of songs that never grow old. While the music is timeless, the plot and characters are firmly stuck in 1913, and this revival doesn't do quite enough to endear them to modern audiences.

Directed by Miranda Cromwell and adapted by Nesrin Alrefaai and Matthew Spangler, The Beekeeper of Aleppo tells the story of Syrian refugees Nuri (Alfred Clay) and Afra (Roxy Faridany) as they flee their homeland. Lefteri based the original story on her experiences of meeting people in a refuge centre in Athens, and while Beekeeper is not a true tale, 'all stories are true in their own way', as Nuri reminds us.