One of the greatest musicals of all time is returning to Manchester later this as part of its UK tour, and tickets are now on sale.
That’s right – Chicago is back, and we already can’t wait.
Known, loved, and celebrated by millions worldwide, and having scooped up countless awards along the way since first hitting the Broadway stage all the way back in 1975, followed by the West End in 1979, and then its first UK tour back in 2021, it’s been announced this week that Chicago is back to entertain the masses.
The multi award-winning musical production is heading out on a tour of the UK in 2024 and 2025 – and, of course, it will be paying us a visit here in Manchester later this year.
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CHICAGO, the "sexiest musical ever" (Metro), is back on Tour in 2024 and coming to the Palace Theatre this November!
The show’s talented cast and crew will be pulling into our city for one week only in early November.
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The beloved production’s tour of the UK kicks off in Milton Keynes on 12 October, and will stop off at other major cites such as Newcastle, Bradford, and Southampton, before arriving in Manchester and taking to the stage at our city’s iconic Palace Theatre from Monday 4 – Saturday 9 November 2024.
Further tour dates are a set to be announced in the coming weeks, and the cast for the show is to be named in due course too.
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Legendary musical Chicago is coming back to Manchester later this year / Credit: Tristram Kenton (via Supplied)
Unfamiliar with Chicago?
Set amidst the razzle-dazzle decadence of the 1920s, the musical tells the story of housewife and nightclub dancer, Roxie Hart, who murders her on-the-side lover after he threatens to walk out on her.
As she’s so desperate to avoid conviction, she dupes the public, the media, and her rival cellmate, Velma Kelly, by hiring Chicago’s slickest criminal lawyer to transform her malicious crime into a barrage of sensational headlines.
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It’ll be taking to the stage at the city’s iconic Palace Theatre this November / Credit: Tristram Kenton (via Supplied)
The show was created by musical theatre legends John Kander and Fred Ebb, alongside iconic choreographer Bob Fosse, and includes a score of famous songs including ‘All That Jazz’, ‘Cell Block Tango’, and ‘All That Jazz’.
It’s now the longest-running American musical in Broadway and West End history, and has played in a whopping 38 countries worldwide to an estimated 34 million people.
Chicago the Musical will be at Manchester Palace Theatre from Monday 4 – Saturday 9 November 2024, and tickets are now on sale from just £15.
Legendary pop duo Erasure announces huge Manchester arena gig on 2027 UK tour
Emily Sergeant
Legendary pop duo Erasure have announced a UK arena tour next spring, and they’re set to stop off in Manchester.
Andy Bell and Vince Clarke – better known by their duo name, Erasure – have announced details of their long-awaited upcoming 20th studio album today, titled Radio!! Radio!!, alongside details of an arena tour in spring 2027 across the UK and Europe.
Described as a ‘deeply personal’ project, the BRIT and Ivor Novello award-winning duo’s first new studio album in six years sees Bell and Clarke continue to refine and deepen the pop catalogue they’ve been building over the past 40 years.
The album will be comprised of a set of songs about love, loss, and injustice that they hope speaks to our ’empathy-starved times’.
Erasure will take to the road in 2027 for an arena tour that kicks off at Cardiff’s Utilita Arena on 25 April before travelling throughout the UK, including a stop in Manchester at the AO Arena on 1 May, before finishing off in London and heading over to Europe, with more dates to follow.
Vince Clarke will be Musical Director for the tour, but will not be appearing onstage alongside Andy Bell, it has been revealed.
Bell says: “I’m so pleased that we were able to find a way for the tour to work for Vince. He’s always too modest but he’s so much more than the Musical Director, Vince is one of the great loves of my life and everything we do as Erasure we decide together.”
Erasure will be performing at the AO Arena in Manchester on 1 May 2027, and tickets go on presale this Thursday 1 October at 10am, before general sale begins a day later (2 October) also at 10am.
Strictly Come Dancing Live to return to Manchester as part of 2027 UK tour
Emily Sergeant
Strictly Come Dancing Live is set to return in 2027 for a spectacular new UK arena tour.
Hot on the heels of last weekend’s dazzling launch show for the 2026 BBC series, audiences are invited to get their dancing shoes on and their ’10’ paddles at the ready, as a new lineup of celebrities and professionals will be taking to the dancefloor for 29 shows across the country – including three shows in Manchester.
Head judge Shirley Ballas will be hitting the road, alongside fellow judges Anton Du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood, with Janette Manrara also presenting.
Directed by Craig Revel Horwood himself, Strictly Come Dancing Live takes the magic of the BBC TV show and turns it up to another level.
Expect jaw-dropping group dances, breathtaking routines, stunning costumes, and live music from the legendary Strictly band and singers, all brought together in a first-class arena production.
As always with the Strictly Live Tour, there is one very important decision to be made at every show – which couple will lift the Glitterball Trophy?
And that decision is not in the hands of the judges. The judges are there to critique and provide their invaluable opinions on each dance routine, but they do not hold the power, as this lies with the audience instead, who can vote using their mobile phones to decide who is the winner.
Strictly Come Dancing Live is returning to Manchester as part of its 2027 UK tour / Credit: Supplied
The tour kicks off at Birmingham’s Utilita Arena on 22 January for the first of five shows, and will then cha-cha-cha its way across the UK, visiting other major northern cities like Sheffield, Newcastle, Liverpool, and Leeds, before arriving in Manchester at the start of February.
Strictly Come Dancing Live will take to the AO Arena stage on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 February 2027, with two shows happening on the Saturday.
Tickets officially go on sale this week, with venue pre-sales beginning at 10am on Thursday 24 September, before general sale starts on Friday (25 September), also at 10am.
Emily Sergeant -
20th February 2024 
