Fancy an arts and culture reawakening? Well you’re in luck, because some of the biggest theatre shows in the world are set to grace the Manchester stages this season – and that front row seat most definitely has our name on it. From reimagined classics to some of the biggest stage shows of all time, with some new material sprinkled in, here are some of the best theatre shows coming to Manchester this winter.
1. Here You Come Again – The New Dolly Parton Musical – February 4 – 8, Manchester Opera House
For the first time ever, all of Dolly Parton‘s biggest hits can be experienced together in a rollicking and joyous new musical comedy. Packed with the iconic songs Jolene, 9 to 5, Islands in the Stream, I Will Always Love You, Here You Come Again and more, this lively and touching new musical tells the story of a diehard fan whose fantasy version of international icon Dolly Parton gets him through trying times.
With her wit, humour and charm, Dolly teaches him a whole lot about life, love and how to pull yourself up by your bootstraps… even if your bootstraps don’t have rhinestones! This is one musical that is sure to make you smile.
🎟️ Book here.
2. Kinky Boots – February 4 – 8, Palace Theatre
Kinky Boots The Musical features a score by the iconic Cyndi Lauper and the book by Harvey Fierstein. It will be directed by Artistic Director Nikolai Foster (The Wizard of Oz, A Chorus Line, Billy Elliot) and will star TV dance sensation and international champion Johannes Radebe as Lola and rising star Dan Partridge as Charlie Price.
Kinky Boots The Musical was a Broadway and West End phenomenon based on a true story and film of the same name released in 2005. After inheriting his family’s failing shoe factory and with a relationship on the rocks, life is proving to be very challenging for Charlie Price. That is until he meets Lola, a drag queen whose sparkle and unsteady heels might just hold the answer to saving the struggling business.
🎟️ Get tickets here.
3. Coming to England – February 5-9, The Lowry
The UK tour of the stage adaptation of Floella Benjamin‘s much-loved and award-winning book, Coming to England is set to arrive at The Lowry, Salford from 5th – 9th February 2025. This vibrant and energetic new play with music from Nicoll Entertainment and MAST Mayflower Studios tells Floella’s personal story of moving to England in the 1960s at the age of 10.
Coming to England is an inspiring tale about determination and perseverance from which hope and triumph emerge during the Windrush Generation and is being adapted for the stage by David Wood OBE, one of the country’s leading writers and directors of plays and musicals for children.
At the age of just 10, Floella and her siblings left Trinidad and sailed alone to join their parents in England. But Floella’s excitement for her new life is short-lived, with her family subjected to racism and intolerance in 1960s London. Guided by her mother, and working twice as hard as her classmates, Coming to England tells the story of how a young Floella overcame adversity and grew to become Baroness Benjamin of Beckenham.
🎟️ Get tickets here.
4. One Punch – February 12-15, HOME
One punch, one second, lives changed forever. When two life-long friends embark on a night out in Hull no one thought that the events of that night would be so catastrophic. What should have been a routine night of shots, bars, laughs and a taxi at two, turned into a nightmare.
Funny, gritty, emotional and shocking, One Punch recounts such a night based on real events. How can a night out with mates get so out of hand, how can one single blow alter so many lives, how could mates become enemies, and how can we stop it happening to others? Working in partnership with the charity One Punch Hull, this new physical high energy production holds nothing back in its depiction of the visceral realities of a good night gone bad.
🎟️ Book here.
5. Horrible Histories – Terrible Tudors & Awful Egyptians – February 13 – 15, Palace Theatre
It’s time to prepare yourselves for two amazing shows with Horrible Histories live on stage! Using actors and eye-popping 3D special effects, these astounding shows are guaranteed to thrill you and your children. Historical figures and events will come alive on stage and hover at your fingertips! From the horrible Henries to the end of evil Elizabeth, hear the legends (and the lies!) about the torturing Tudors. Find out the fate of Henry’s headless wives and his punch up with the Pope. Meet Bloody Mary and see Ed fall dead in his bed. Survive the Spanish Armada as it sails into the audience!
Or, with Awful Egyptians, from the fascinating Pharaohs to the power of the pyramids, discover the foul facts of death and decay with the meanest mummies in Egypt. Are you ready to rumble with Ramesses the Great? Dare you enter through the Gates of the afterlife? It’s the history of Egypt with the nasty bits left in!
🎟️ Book tickets for Terrible Tudors here, and Awful Egyptians here.
6. Northern Live – Do I Love You – February 18, Manchester Opera House
Keeping the faith to the original sounds of the underground movement that started on the dance floors in the North and eventually swept the nation including an 11-piece band with four lead vocalists performing over 30 original hits. expect to hear: Dobie Gray – Out On The Floor, R Dean Taylor – There’s A Ghost In My House, Frank Wilson – Do I love You – Indeed I Do, Gloria Jones – Tainted Love, Al Wilson – The Snake, Yvonne Baker – You Didn’t Say A Word, Jimmy Radcliffe – Long After Tonight Is Over, Garnet Mimms – Looking For You, Dean Parrish – I’m On My Way and many, many more.
🎟️ Book here.
7. Dear Evan Hansen – February 18 – 22, Palace Theatre
A new production of the Olivier, Tony and Grammy award-winning Best Musical Dear Evan Hansen will be gracing the stage of the Palace Theatre Manchester as part of its UK tour this February. Off the back of the film adaptation of the original Broadway musical, starring ben Platt, Kaitlyn Dever and Julianne Moore, the show is packed with some of the biggest musical theatre songs of the last decade.
Today is going to be a good day. And here’s why… Meet Evan: an anxious high school kid who wants nothing more than to fit in. The thing is, on his way to fitting in, he didn’t tell the whole truth, and now must give up on a life he never dreamt he’d have. As events spiral and the truth comes out, Evan faces a reckoning with himself and everyone around him.
🎟️ Book here.
8. Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical – February 24 – March 8, Palace Theatre
The award-winning Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical, featuring Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf‘s greatest hits, returns to the Manchester Palace Theatre this February. Inspired by the spectacular arena tour of Australia and New Zealand, this reimagined show promises to be a thrilling experience, featuring a dynamic eight-piece rock band on stage and sprawling multi-level platforms that will transport you through the diverse worlds of Bat Out of Hell, from Raven’s bedroom to the depths of the Lost’s underground domains.
As the Lost boys and girls flee into the tunnels below the city from its ruler Falco, his teenage daughter Raven locks eyes with fearless leader of the Lost, the immortal Strat, and the immensity of their love-at-first-sight-obsessions threaten to destroy both of their families. Experience the thrill of the electrifying songs of Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf’s epic collaboration: Bat Out of Hell.
🎟️ Book here.
9. Ghost Stories – February 25 – March 1, The Lowry
After exhilarating audiences across the globe with record breaking, sell-out productions and a smash hit film, Simon Friend Entertainment is delighted to announce the return of Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson’s supernatural sensation Ghost Stories in a full UK Tour. More spine-tingling and terrifying than ever, the production was last seen in the UK in 2019 when, after a celebrated run at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, the show transferred to the Ambassador’s Theatre for its latest West End Run. It embarked on a partial UK tour in early 2020, but this was cut short by the pandemic.
When Professor Goodman, arch-sceptic out to debunk the paranormal, embarks on an investigation of three apparent hauntings – as recounted by a night-watchman, a teenage boy, and a businessman awaiting his first child – Goodman finds himself at the outer limits of rationality, and fast running out of explanations. Enter a world full of thrilling twists and epic turns, where the ultimate love letter to horror is imagined live on stage. A fully sensory and electrifying encounter, Ghost Stories is one of London’s best reviewed plays of all time and will keep you on the edge-of-your-seat. This is a theatrical experience like no other.
🎟️ Book here.
10. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat − February 26 – March 9, Manchester Opera House
Told entirely through song with the help of the Narrator, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat follows the story of Jacob’s favourite son Joseph and his eleven brothers. After being sold into hardship by the brothers, he ingratiates himself with Egyptian noble Potiphar but ends up in jail after refusing the advances of Potiphar’s wife.
Featuring much-loved pop and musical theatre classics, including Any Dream Will Do, Close Every Door, There’s One More Angel In Heaven and Go, Go, Go, Joseph, the show has become one of the world’s most beloved family musicals, and it’s back in Manchester this March.
🎟️ Book here.
Theatre shows in Manchester to look out for this year:
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Carousel: A Theatre Show by Ivo Graham – March 6 & 7, HOME
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Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – March 11 – 16, Palace Theatre
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Cruel Intentions – March 25 – 29, Palace Theatre
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Mary Poppins − April 9 – May 17, Palace Theatre
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A Knight’s Tale The Musical – April 11 – May 10, Manchester Opera House
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Coraline – A Musical − May 15 − June 7, HOME
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The Rocky Horror Show – May 19 – 31, Palace Theatre
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Quadrophenia, A Mod Ballet − July 15 − 19, The Lowry
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Moulin Rouge! The Musical − August 20 – October 4, Palace Theatre
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CHICAGO − August 25 − 30, The Lowry
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13 Going On 30 – The Musical – September 21 – October 12, Manchester Opera House
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Miss Saigon – November 4 – 15, Palace Theatre
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TINA – The Tina Turner Musical – November 25, 2025 – January 3, 2026, Palace Theatre