As we move out of the winter months and head into the spring period, and Easter, it’s easy to forget while we’re exploring the outdoors, that there’s still an amazing amount of shows taking place in our theatres. We’ve run down some of the highlights here.

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Hitting the stage

The month starts with family focused fun as a witch with a cat and a very tall hat hit the stage with a production of Julia Donaldson’s Room on the Broom

It’s rare enough to get a superstar here in Leicester, let alone a living legend, but Sir Ian McKellen will be starring in Mother Goose at the Curve from 15-19 March alongside John Bishop. This is a real ‘don’t miss it’ moment!

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The National Theatre’s groundbreaking production of An Inspector Calls returns to the stage at Curve on 21 March, having been seen by 4 million people worldwide! And in a bit of a change of pace, Dick and Dom celebrate 20 years of ‘In Da Bungalow’ at De Montfort Hall on 23 March.

Coming to the Y Theatre from 31 March-15 April is a superb musical adaptation of The Railway Children which brings masterful emotional depth to the much-loved English classic. Are your little squirrels ready for Hey Duggie at Curve? The BAFTA and Emmy winning CBeebies show comes to the stage in this brand new live production with puppets, songs, dancing and lots more on 14 and 15 April.

And finally in theatre world, the award-winning production of The Bodyguard comes to Curve from 17-22 April, with Grammy nominated former Pussycat Doll Melody Thornton starring as Rachel Marron

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Celebrity chat

Recognisable to millions as one of the faces of Bake Off, Prue Leith will be appearing at De Montfort Hall on 17 March as she tells all about her life’s journey from restauranteur to appearing on one of the country’s biggest TV shows!

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Rugby giant, England legend and now podcaster extraordinaire James Haskell will be bringing his Sex, Tries and Videotape show to the Y Theatre on 20 April. Always outspoken and guaranteed to be entertaining as he talks everything from professional rugby to his stint on I’m A Celebrity.

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Classical concerts

Relax in the atmospheric Y Theatre by the gentle glow of subdued candlelight as you enjoy Vivaldi’s Four Seasons played by String Quartet on the 15 March.

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Often called one of the most romantic operas ever made, La Boheme is playing at De Montfort on 24 March. This is followed on 25 March by the award-winning production of Madama Butterfly with exquisite sets and costumes including a spectacular Japanese garden and antique kimonos. Both operas will feature The Ukrainian Opera & Ballet Theatre Kyiv.

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Music

Strap on your sou’wester and grab a Fisherman’s Friend for a celebration of sea shanties at De Montfort Hall on 3 March, then later in the month from 28 March – 1 April the musical telling their story will be coming to Curve, Fisherman’s Friends : The Musical is a feel-good voyage of friendship, community and music.

Curve will be getting its singalong voices in order at the start of March as they show the classic musical Annie. You can bet your bottom dollar it’ll be amazing. This is swiftly followed by the double Olivier and Tony award-winning Girl From The North Country, which reimagines the songs of Bob Dylan for this story of family and love, which is touring the UK for the first time.

On 14 March the amazing Martha Tilston brings her mix of folk, acoustic and electronica to the Musician. Hailing from the heart of the Appalachians, Hayseed Dixie bring a blistering bluegrass take on classic rock and metal and on their latest tour, coming to the O2 Arena on 16 March, they are exploring the stadium rock of the 70s and 80s!

There’s some St Patrick’s Day Craic at De Montfort Hall on 18 March, as Seven Drunken Nights brings the Story of the Dubliners to town. Grab a Guinness and stamp your feed to the fiddles and flutes.

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Something a little different here as the Space Centre hosts a planetarium show like now other! Working with Darkside The Pink Floyd Show they are creating a unique experience to celebrate the 50^th birthday of The Dark Side of the Moon.

Two legendary names from the 80s round out our music round-up with Mike and The Mechanics returning to De Montfort Hall on 22 April with their Refueled tour playing all the hits, plus a drop of frontman Mike Rutherford’s former band Genesis. Then the following night at the Y Theatre Paul Young brings his Behind The Lens show to Leicester as he sings the hits and tell stories about his incredible career.

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Loughborough Live!

Loughborough Town Hall hosts one of the region’s best theatres and they have an exciting programme of upcoming shows. Kicking off with Steven Sondheim’s classic Sweeney Todd musical which runs from 7-11 March, they will also be hosting comedy from Angela Barnes and Tom Davies, a musical production of The Jungle Book, concluding with a performance by Status Quo legend Francis Rossi on 25 April.

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Phoenix

The Phoenix has recently expanded to a four screen cinema and now it can host an even more diverse programme of world and art cinema alongside the latest films.

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During March the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme returns, featuring brand new films that have only just been released in Japan alongside some all time classics of Japanese cinema.

A Grand Tour – a new season curated by DMU Film Studies students with films evoking the spirit of countries and cities around the world from In Bruges to Cinema Paradiso and Coco to Train to Busan. The season runs from 17-25 March and all tickets are £5!

This is alongside their usual programme, which features the best movies from award season and their regular programme of Stage on Screen, which gives you the chance to see world class theatre, ballet and opera on screen.