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What's on guide

15/ 4/2008

MUSIC, CONCERTS AND GIGS

16 April

The Fratellis – Manchester Academy 2. Glaswegian rock trio. Tickets £17.50. Telephone 0161 832 1111.

The Solid Silver 60s Show – Opera House, Manchester. Gerry And The Pacemakers, Dave Berry, Swinging Blue Jeans and special guests rekindle the 60s vibe. Tickets £19.50-£23.50. Telephone 0870 401 6000. Also at Victoria Theatre, Halifax. Tickets £17.50-£21.50. Telephone 01422 351158.

17 April

The Masters of the House – Victoria Theatre, Halifax. Former stars from Les Miserables sing songs from the musicals. Tickets £17. Telephone 01422 351158.

Lau – Bury Met. Traditional Scottish music. Tickets £14 (£10 concessions). Telephone 0161 761 2216.

Niamh Parsons with Graham Dunne – Burnley Mechanics. Irish singer performs with guitarist Graham Dunne. Tickets £10 (£9 concessions). Telephone 01282 664400.

RNCM Concert Orchestra – RNCM, Manchester. Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. Free admission. Telephone 0161 907 5555.

18 April

Black Rose – Rochdale Transport Club. Thin Lizzy tribute band. Tickets £7. Telephone 01706 632087.

The Clone Roses – Burnley Mechanics. Stone Roses tribute. Tickets £10 advance, £12 on the door. Telephone 01282 664400.

BBC Philharmonic – Bridgewater Hall, Manchester. Britten, Walton, Tippett and Bridge. Tickets £9-£31. Telephone 0161 907 9000.

Supergrass – Manchester Academy. Britpop band still on tour. Tickets £17.50. Telephone 0161 832 1111.

19 April

The Meat Loaf Trilogy – Victoria Theatre, Halifax. Meat Loaf tribute led by Steve Steinman. Tickets £19.50. Telephone 01422 351158.

IQ – Bury Met. Prog rock band. Tickets £14 (£12 concessions). Telephone 0161 761 2216.

Secret’s Out – Trades Club, Hebden Bridge. Soul and Blues rock by female duo. Tickets £6. Telephone 01422 845265.

Chris Difford and Boo Hewerdine – Burnley Mechanics. Former Squeeze and The Bible members link up. Tickets £13 (£12 concessions). Telephone 01282 664400.

Hallé – Bridgewater Hall. Music by Schubert, Britten and Schumann. Tickets £9-£35. Telephone 0161 907 9000.

The Courteeners – Manchester Academy 1. Up-and-coming Manchester band. Tickets £11.50. Telephone 0161 832 1111.

20 April

Marti Pellow – Bridgewater Hall. Former Wet Wet Wet singer goes solo. Tickets £26 and £30. Telephone 0161 907 9000.

Presidents of the United States of America – Manchester Academy 2. Seattle rock band. Tickets £12.50. Telephone 0161 832 1111.

21 April

Barry Douglas – Bridgewater Hall. Pianist plays music by Liszt, Schumann, Ravel and Schubert. Tickets £12-£27 Telephone 0161 907 9000.

22 April

Vilmos Szabadi and Andrew Wilde – violin & piano recital – RNCM, Manchester. Beethoven and Mozart sonatas. Tickets £15. Telephone 0161 907 5555.

THEATRE AND FILMS

Until 19 April

Blood Brothers – Playhouse2, Shaw. Willy Russell’s play about twin boys separated at birth. For more information, telephone 01706 847494.

Lilya – Contact Theatre, Manchester. Play based on the award-winning film Lilya 4-Ever and explores the world of sex trafficking. Tickets £10 (£6 concessions). Telephone 0161 274 0600.

Honk – The Lowry, Salford. Magical musical retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic story The Ugly Duckling. Tickets £15. Telephone 0870 787 5780.

Until 26 April

Spring and Port Wine – Octagon, Bolton. Bill Naughton’s play set in Bolton tells the lives of the Crompton family. Tickets £8.50-£18.50. Telephone 01204 520661.

Frozen – Library Theatre, Manchester. Award-winning play about three people drawn together by horrific circumstances after 10-year-old Rhona goes missing. Tickets £9-£18 (concessions £2 off). Telephone 0161 236 7110.

Until 24 May

The Glass Menagerie – Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. When her troubled son finally invites a workmate round for dinner, an overbearing mother sees a potential suitor for her shy daughter. Tickets £8.50-£15.50. Telephone 0161 833 9833.

16 April

Moll Flanders – Bury Met. Satirical re-invention of the 18th century novel. Tickets £10 (£8 concessions). Telephone 0161 761 2216.

The Naked Truth – Stockport Plaza (until 19 April). For more information, see the main panel.

The Yamato Drummers of Japan – The Lowry, Salford. Yamato’s captivating music combines both delicate beauty and heart-thumping power. Tickets £17.50-£19.50. Telephone 0870 787 5780.

17 April

Celebration concert and awards evening – Gracie Fields Theatre Celebrating the Rochdale Youth Festival of Music, Speech and Dance, including a presentations of trophies. Tickets £3 adults, £1 children. Telephone 01706 750288.

West Side Story – RNCM, Manchester (until Friday). Leonard Bernstein’s musical based on Romeo and Juliet. Tickets £10. Telephone 0161 907 5555.

The Caucasian Chalk Circle – Square Chapel, Halifax (until Friday). A servant girl sacrifices everything to protect a child abandoned in the heat of civil war. A production by young actors aged 16-19 using contemporary music, physical theatre and puppetry. Tickets £8 (£6 concessions). Telephone 01422 349422.

An Inspector Calls – Oldham Coliseum (until 10 May). J B Priestley’s drama set round a death at an Edwardian dinner party. Tickets £5-£18. Telephone 0161 624 2829.

18 April

The Golden Mile – Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester (and 19 April). Show explores a series of interweaving stories all beginning on the first night of Blackpool illuminations. For more information, telephone 0161 833 9833.

The Am-a-zing Thing – Octagon, Bolton. Storyteller Peter Grimm uses puppets, acting and live music to tell a medley of Brothers Grimm tales. Tickets £8 (£6 concessions). Telephone 01204 520661.

Rainbow Live! – Burnley Mechanics. Classic children’s TV is brought to the stage with Zippy becoming a superstar DJ. Tickets £7. Telephone 01282 664400.

Nederlands Dans Theater 1 – The Lowry, Salford (and 19 April). Modern dance company brings together two pieces of work by internationally-renowned choreographers. Tickets £15-£27. Telephone 0870 787 5780.

X Files Improv with Dean Haglund – The Lowry Salford. Haglund (Langley in the X Files) improvises a new X Files episode using audience suggestions. Tickets £12. Telephone 0870 787 5780.

19 April

The Pilgrimage – Square Chapel, Halifax. Set in a fictitious country, two tribes, the shepherds and the goatherds, live in mutual animosity and fear. Only a miracle can break the cycle of hatred and revenge. Tickets £5 (£3 concessions). Telephone 01422 349422.

Born In Bethlehem – Contact Theatre, Manchester. A tour guide wonders how the nativity would take place in modern Bethlehem. Tickets £10 (£6 concessions). Telephone 0161 274 0600.

The Chuckle Brothers – Indiana Chuckles and the Kingdom of the Mythical Sulk – Opera House, Manchester. More madness and mayhem with the Chuckle Brothers. Tickets £12. Telephone 0870 401 6000.

22 April

Concert for the Young at Heart – Victoria Theatre, Halifax. Free evening of dance, comedy and music for senior citizens. To book, telephone Janet Fletcher on 01422 200334.

Oklahoma! – Stockport Plaza (until 26 April). Romiley Operatic Society perform Rodgers and Hammerstein’s classic musical. Tickets £13.50 (£12 concessions). Telephone 0161 477 7779.

Crazy For You – RNCM, Manchester (until 26 April). Gershwin musical sees an eastern boy fall in love with a western girl as they team up to save her local theatre. Tickets £12. Telephone 0161 907 5555.

James Son of James – The Lowry, Salford (until 26 April). A story of accidental heroism, hero worship, sadness, love, power, betrayal and revenge, told through image, dance, song. Tickets £18. Telephone 0870 787 5780.

COMEDY

18 April

Dave Spikey – Opera House, Manchester. Star of Phoenix Nights and 8 out of 10 Cats returns to stand-up. Tickets £18. Telephone 0870 401 6000.

20 April

Jethro – Victoria Theatre, Halifax. Cornish comic returns to Halifax. Tickets £17 and £18. Telephone 01422 351158.

Nina Conti – The Lowry, Salford. The award-winning stand-up and ventriloquist with her solo show. Tickets £14. Telephone 0870 787 5780.

EXHIBITIONS AND ARTS

Until 19 April

Out of China – Gallery Oldham. Giant porcelain vases created by Felicity Aylieff. For more information, telephone 0161 770 4653.

Until 20 April

Blake’s Shadow: William Blake and his Artistic Legacy – Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester. Development of the visual arts from the 18th century to the present day. For more information, telephone 0161 275 7450.

Harold Riley: A Photography Retrospective 1943-2007 – The Lowry. Charting Riley’s long photographic career, beginning and ending in Salford, via locations around the world. For more information, telephone 0870 787 5780.

Spacecadets: Greenhouse – The Lowry. An installation of giant inflatable plants and flowers, as well as a collection of rare carnivorous plants have taken over The Lowry. For more information, telephone 0870 787 5780.

Until 27 April

Trade and Empire: Remembering Slavery – Whitworth Art Gallery. Remembering slavery and its influence on art, both then and now. For more information, telephone 0161 275 7450.

George Rodger’s War Photographs – Imperial War Museum, Salford. Pictures of modern warfare, from the London Blitz to liberation in warfare. For more information, telephone 0161 836 4000.

Until 10 May

Theodore Major – Gallery Oldham. Exhibition celebrating the centenary of the artist’s birth. For more information, telephone 0161 770 4653.

Until 11 May

Return of the Rochdale Sculptors – Touchstones, Rochdale. Sculptors from the 1960s and 70s return with works from the original exhibition. For more information, telephone 924492.

Time and Time Again by Lesley Halliwell – Touchstones. Resurrection of the Spirograph into large scape colourful works. For more information, telephone 924492.

Until 25 May

Still Crazy After All These Years – Touchstones. Hopwood Hall students exhibit their works alongside the history of the college and its past students. For more information, telephone 01706 924492.

Until 1 June

What Do You Want – Cornerhouse, Manchester. Five female artists who are living in India use photography, performance, objects, video and new media to analyse problems faced by Indian women and those living within traditional family structures. For more information, telephone 0161 228 7621.

Until 14 June

Trees – Gallery Oldham. Objects from Gallery Oldham’s natural history, social history and fine art collections. For more information, telephone 0161 770 4653.

Until 6 July

Fathers, Brothers, Sons – Imperial War Museum, Salford. Award-winning photographer Seamus Murphy captures the effects of conflict in Afghanistan since 1994. For more information, telephone 0161 836 4000.

Laura Knight at the Theatre – The Lowry, Salford. Works by Dame Laura Knight, inspired by the theatre. For more information, telephone 0870 787 5780.

Until August

City Visions – Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester. Looking how artists have represented urban living in the last 150 years. For more information, telephone 0161 275 7450.

Until September

Anne Desmet: Urban Evolution – Whitworth Art Gallery. Leading printmaker combines technical skill and architectural vision with inventiveness. For more information, telephone 0161 275 7450.

Until 7 September

Made in the 70s – Touchstones, Rochdale. Paintings and prints made by artists in the 1970s. For more information, telephone 924492.

Until 14 September

My New Robot – Contact Theatre, Manchester. Street artist Hammo incorporates canvases and prints in his new work. For more information, telephone 0161 274 0600.

Until 29 September

Step Into the 70s – Touchstones, Rochdale. Nostalgic look at the 70s. For more information, telephone 01706 924492.

Until October

Flights of Fancy – Whitworth Art Gallery. Select decorative schemes of the 1920s and 30s. For more information, telephone 0161 275 7450.

TALKS AND WORKSHOPS

18 April

Meet The Artist: Fathers, Brothers, Sons – Imperial War Museum, Salford. Award-winning photographer Seamus Murphy talks about his time in Afghanistan. Tickets £6 (£4 concessions). Telephone 0161 836 4000.

21 April

Square Circle – Square Chapel, Halifax (also 12 May, 2 June and 9 June). Regular arts classes for the over 40s. Tickets £10 for the term. Telephone 01422 349422.

Always check with venues before travelling to events.