Music

THE ORIGINAL RABBIT FOOT SPASM BAND O2 Academy Oxford December 21. Doors 8pm Tickets: £8 from ticketweb.co.uk The festive music makes way for Prohibition era jazz and blues, for a Christmas show by Oxford swingers The Original Rabbit Foot Spasm Band. The dapper band have a reputation for great songs, virtuoso musicianship and anarchic stage shows which appeal to music-lovers of all tastes and ages.

The gig will see “Baron” Stuart Macbeth and his bandmates serving up their usual repertoire of self-penned 1920s and ’30s-style songs, with the added Christmas bonus of a couple of new tunes which the boys have been working on. “Christmas is a time to celebrate, and that’s where we come in,” says Stuart. “We believe in partying hard and expect our audiences to join in . . . or else!”

Theatre

ABIGAIL'S PARTY

Oxford Playhouse

January 29 – February 2, 7.30pm, 8pm (Friday) and 2.30pm matinees Thursday and Saturday Box office: 01865 305305 oxfordplayhouse.com After a triumphant West End run, Lindsay Posner’s acclaimed revival of Mike Leigh’s popular play transfers to the Playhouse. Donna Summer is playing on the stereo. Dishes of cheese and pineapple are on the coffee table. . . the social get-together from hell is about to begin. Beverly and Laurence have invited round new neighbours, Tony and Ange, and nervous divorcee Sue, who’s twitchy about the party her teenage daughter Abigail is throwing over the road.

As Beverly plies the guests with alcohol, cigarettes, Demis Roussos and nibbles, the evening descends into drunkenness and debauchery. Comedy, drama and tragedy combine in this iconic piece of theatre.

Music

MICHAEL BALL: BOTH SIDES NOW

New Theatre, Oxford April 30, 7.30 pm Box office: 0844 871 3020 atgtickets.com/oxford

Michael Ball, Britain’s leading musical theatre star, makes a welcome return to Oxford in his UK tour in the spring. In a busy year for the star he will also be back on BBC Radio 2 with a new show and in February he will release a new studio album also titled Both Sides Now. Both the tour and the album will consist of two halves, encompassing Michael’s biggest hits from both his recorded and stage careers. Michael has won critical and public acclaim over the last 25 years with his dynamic, award-winning lead roles in the West End and on Broadway.

Michael’s many West End credits include originating the role of Marius (Les Miserables); Giorgio (Stephen Sondheim’s Passion); Raoul (Phantom of the Opera), Alex (Aspects of Love) and Caractacus Potts (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang).

Theatre

BIRDSONG

Wycombe Swan, High Wycombe February 12-16, at 7.30pm (2.30pm matinées Wednesday and Saturday) Box office: 01494 512000 or wycombe swan.co.uk

Following its 2010 success in the West End, Rachel Wagstaff’s acclaimed dramatisation of Sebastian Faulks’s much-loved wartime epic goes out on a national tour. This intimate story of love and sacrifice, set against the backdrop of the Western Front, is brought from page to stage with great skill.