Theatre

THE DREAMBOYS New Theatre, Oxford Wednesday, May 1, at 7.30pm Box office: 0844 871 3020 or atgtickets.com/oxford The Dreamboys have fast become the biggest and most famous male glamour group in the world. Everywhere they go they have adoring fans screaming in hysteria. This promises to be an action-packed show full of music, muscle, magic and mayhem. The Dreamboys: Fit and Famous Tour has been created to ensure it has something for everyone, with high-energy dance routines full of stunts and acrobatics. The troupe have made special guest appearances on TV shows including The X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent, Celebrity Big Brother, Pineapple Dance Studios and Loose Women. By the time they appear here, the boys will have their own television show, so book now before the rush .

Music

SJE ARTS – CORONA STRINGS St John The Evangelist Church, Oxford Saturday, April 6, at 7.30pm 01865 244806/musicatoxford.com Hear the county’s exciting new professional orchestra, Corona Strings, in a programme by three of the finest British composers. To mark Britten’s centenary, the concert features both the well-known Simple Symphony and his exquisitely beautiful song cycle Les Illuminations with acclaimed soprano Erica Eloff as soloist. Also featuring the Concerto for Double String Orchestra by Tippett, a composer with whom Britten had great affinity, the concert opens with Fantasia by Vaughan Williams.

Film

Simon Starling: The transit of Venus The Radcliffe Observatory, Green Templeton College, Oxford Screenings February 23-25, March 3, 4, 9-11, 15, 17,18, 22-24 at 6pm Free. Booking essential: 01865 722733 modernartoxford.org.uk This film, commissioned by Modern Art Oxford in association with the University of Oxford, was made in response to this rare planetary phenomenon and its relationship to the start of moving image technology. The next transit takes place in 2117, making 2012 the last in our lifetimes. Starling journeyed to Hawaii and Tahiti making this potentially the last transit to be recorded using 35mm film technology. Starling delves into the advent of astronomical photography, its relationship to the transits and the roles of Pierre Jules César Janssen and Captain James Cook. Black Drop is a documentary illustrated with images depicting geographical locations, contemporary footage and historical information.

Theatre THE MISANTHROPE The Oxford Playhouse April 9-13, at 7.30pm (Friday 8pm), plus 2.30pm matinées on Thursday and Saturday Box office: 01865 305305 or oxfordplayhouse.com How to lose friends and infuriate people! Master wordsmith Roger McGough dips his quill into a Molière classic in this mockery of manners and morals set amid 17th-century French aristocracy. Considered by many to be Molière’s best work, The Misanthrope is fashioned by the creative forces of McGough, director Gemma Bodinetz and English Touring Theatre. Not to be missed.