Christmas Shows Round-up

A guide mostly for parents

London area •

Alice in Wonderland, musical version of the Lewis Carroll story, with Alison Frazer and Pat Burke: Ashcroft Theatre, Croydon. Cinderella, the big pantomime of the year, with Ronnie Corbett, Clodagh Rogers, Terry Scott: London Palladium.

Circus — no longer Bertram Mills at Olympia but Billy Smart's at the Fairfield Hall, Croydon.

Dandelion, with the Paper Bag Players from New York: Young Vic, Dick Turpin, a first-rate fictionalisation of the legend: Mermaid.

The Disappearing Spell, Unicorn fairytale for toddlers: Arts Theatre Club.

The Extraordinary Case of the Kipper and the Café, Unicorn play for older children (7-14): Arts Theatre Club.

Give a Dog a Bone, the uplift panto staged by MRA: Westminster Theatre.

Hans the Bellringer, a puppet play: Little Angel Marionette Theatre, Islington. The Nutcracker, for stripling balletomanes: Royal Festival Hall.

The Owl and the Pussycat Went to Sea, based on Edward Lear verses and stories, for younger children: Apollo.

Peter Pan, new production of the Barrie play, with Dorothy Tutin as Peter and Eric Porter as Hook: Coliseum. •

The Plotters of Cabbage Patch Corner, a musical play about the troubles of garden insects: Shaw Theatre,

Robinson Crusoe on Ice, though it's still a tropical isle: Empire Pool, Wembley. Sooty's Christmas Show, Harry Corbett and friends for the real tots: May Fair.

The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood, traditional Victorian pantomime, lightly spoofed: Players Theatre Club. Toad of Toad Hall, the Milne play from Kenneth Grahame's ' The Wind in the Willows ' with Derek Smith as Toad, and Richard Goolden again as Mole: Duke of York's.

Winnie the Pooh, a bit better than last year but still pretty precious, though perhaps the under-tens don't notice: Phoenix.

The Wizard of Oz, stage version with the music from the old Judy Garland film, not often done in London: Victoria Palace.

Provincial

Aladdin: a starry one with Anita Harris, Dallas Boys, Bernard Bresslaw and Billy Dainty at Manchester Palace; and an original version by Frank Hauser for his Playhouse company at Oxford.

Cinderella: with Arthur Askey and Dickie Henderson at Nottingham Theatre Royal; with David Nixon, Mike Yarwood and Basil Brush at the Coventry Theatre; with Peter Goodwright at the Cambridge Arts, Dick Whittington: with Norman Vaughan and Dana at Wimbledon; with Peter Noone, Roy Hudd and Ivor Emmanuel at Bristol Hippodrome.

Humpty Dumpty: with Michael Collins and Kevin Miller at Guildford's Yvonne Arnaud. Jack and the Beanstalk: with the Bachelors, and Yvonne Marsh at Birmingham Theatre Mother Goose: with Cyril Fletcher at the Cheltenham Everyman.

Puss in Boots: with the resident John Counsel] company at Windsor Theatre Royal. Robinson Crusoe: with Norman Wisdom at Liverpool Empire; with Les Dawson and Jack Tripp at Birmingham Alexandra. Toad of Toad Hall: with the Royal Shakespear Company at Stratford-upon-Avon; and another production at Leeds Playhouse.