Showing titles in Music & Performing Arts

In Enid Blyton's best-selling school series, Elizabeth Allen is sent away to boarding school and makes up her mind to be the naughtiest pupil there's ever been. In book eight, Elizabeth is desperate to play the piano in the end of school concert. Elizabeth knows Arabella is very good - so she spends every waking minute practising. But exams are looming, and piano practice leaves Elizabeth with no time to revise. Will the Naughtiest Girl have to stay in first form another year?

Inspired by the much-loved classic Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild, Into the Spotlight is a magical new story from best-selling author and acclaimed performer Carrie Hope Fletcher. Brilliant Aunt Maude visits seasides the world over and has become quite the pebble collector. Pebbles of all shapes, sizes and colours and even one that looked a bit like Elvis Presley if you squinted a bit. Her favourite pebbles, however, are Marigold, Mabel and Morris.

Popular star basketball player Troy Bolton and academically gifted beauty Gabriella Montez come from different worlds at East High. But when they both decide to audition for the school musical, magic happens! Follow Troy, Gabriella, and their friends as they navigate high school together in the Encore Edition of the junior novelizations from this beloved trilogy.

Every family has its secrets, but it was a huge surprise to the three young Forbeses, fresh from a country vicarage, to discover that their grandmother was a famous actress. Sent to live with her in bombed-out, wartime London, they soon discovered that they were expected to follow in the family footsteps - to the footlights! As an actress herself, Noel Streatfeild was familiar with all the details of the backstage world of the theatre. She has created an authentic, perceptive and vivid picture of theatrical life - from stage school to auditions and performances.

After surviving a holiday to Italy without his parents (which included jellyfish and giant watermelons), Stan reckons he deserves a bit of a break. Or at a least a break in between trying to act in his school play. But when he’s offered the chance to take a tour around a TV studio, he thinks it can’t do any harm. How wrong he is.

Peter and Santa live a rather dull existence with their aunt, Rebecca, but when she dies, they face the awful prospect of life in separate orphanages. In desperation, they run away to find their only living relative, Uncle Gus, who works in a circus as a clown. Gus will let them stay only if they promise to work hard, and so the children plunge headlong into the circus world, where they soon discover skills they never knew they had. But life is so different - will they ever truly belong?

The Rock War TV show is the most-watched reality show on British telly, and it's only halfway through. Jay, Summer, Dylan and their bands have all made it past the tough boot camp stage, and now the last six will fight it out until the season's finale, live on Christmas Eve. But it's not all about the music. Summer was hit by a motorbike at the end of boot camp. Jay's brother, Theo, can't keep out of trouble - or out of handcuffs. And Dylan, the outsider, is investigating corruption within the workings of the competition itself.

Rachel and Hilary are sent to live with their ambitious aunt who runs a stage school, training a troupe of dancing girls. It's heaven for Hilary who loves to perform, but quite the opposite for quiet Rachel. The last thing Rachel wants is to become one of her aunt's Little Wonders—particularly if it means behaving like their irritating show-off of a cousin. A mischievous, fun and moving story about young performers, from the acclaimed author of the classic Ballet Shoes.

Delphie’s greatest dream is to become a ballerina, and she can't quite believe it when she is invited to join the new ballet school. But there's more to Madame Zarakova's than it at first seems, and with the help of some very special ballet shoes, Delphie finds herself spinning into a whole new world.

Hannah's family farm is once again under threat. This time, a water company wants to flood the land to make a reservoir. How can Hannah stand by and watch as her home, the land her family has farmed for generations, the wildlife, the ancient trees all disappear under a deluge of water? She isn't going to go down without a fight, and the school play might just be the answer... When the going gets tough, the tough take to the stage!

Meet Jay. Summer. And Dylan. Jay plays guitar, writes songs and dreams of being a rock star. But his ambitions are stifled by seven siblings and a terrible drummer. Summer works hard at school, looks after her nan and has a one-in-a-million singing voice. But can her talent triumph over her nerves? Dylan is happiest lying on his bunk smoking, but his school rugby coach has other ideas, and Dylan reluctantly joins a band to avoid crunching tackles and icy mud. They're about to enter the biggest battle of their lives.

Fizzlebert Stump lives in a travelling circus. But although he gets to hang around with acrobats, play the fool with clowns, and put his head in a lion's mouth every night, he's the only kid there - and he's bored. But then Fizz decides to join a library, and life suddenly gets a lot more exciting, when a simple library card application leads to him being kidnapped by a pair of crazed pensioners! Will he ever see the circus again?

Julia McKenzie, Simon Carter and Terry Molloy star in this BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation. On a hot, Edwardian summer's day, five children are granted a series of wishes by a strange creature they find.

Tom Falconer is in trouble. Pursued by the notorious criminal Ratsey, Tom soon finds himself alone and hungry on the streets of London. Luckily enough, the mysterious Dr Mobius soon recruits Tom to play an important role in a play to be performed in front of Queen Elizabeth. Tom knows there’s something not right about Mobius, but he’s willing to take a risk in order to keep his neck out of Ratsey’s murderous hands.

When a young girl wakes up in the middle of the desert, she has no idea who she is. She's wearing one shoe, a silky black dress, and she's carrying a strange, heavy case. She meets Tarni, who is on a mysterious quest of her own. Together, the two girls trek across the vast and ever-changing Australian Outback in search of answers. Except both are also hiding secrets.

Jay, Summer, Dylan and their bands are headed for boot camp at uberglamorous Rock War Manor. It's going to be six weeks of mates, music and nonstop partying as they prepare for stardom. But the rock-star life of music festivals and glitzy premieres isn't all it's cracked up to be. Can the bands hold it together long enough to make it through the last stage of the competition, or will there be meltdowns?

Five family pantomimes featuring musical numbers, silly jokes and fun for all the family! Enjoy fantastic live performances of these classics tales: Puss in Boots, Aladdin, Mother Goose, Dick Whittington and Sleeping Beauty. The pantos are recorded in front of a live audience, with full musical numbers and an orchestral score. Rousing songs, silly jokes and Widow Twankey all make an appearance! With casts including Terry Wogan, Maureen Lipman, Anita Harris, June Whitfield, Kenneth Connor and Frank Thornton.

The final instalment of Robert Muchamore's Rock War series. Jay, Summer and Dylan are fresh out of the biggest reality show there is. But they're about to discover what fame and fortune are really about. Jay's brother Theo is young, rich and famous: but is it making him happy? Summer's got to weather her one-star reviews and take her career back into her own hands. And Dylan might soon be seeing the world of show business from the four walls of a prison cell. They've got everything to play for.

Hi there, I’m Hank. Here’s what you need to know about me: I don’t try to make the kids in my class laugh, but somehow I do. Spelling is my worst subject. (Come to think of it, so are math and reading!) I try hard - I really do. So why does my brain always freeze into a popsicle? When Hank hears that his class is putting on a play, he’s the only one who’s not excited. That’s because every time he tries to read the script, his brain swirls, and it feels like his head is filled with soggy oatmeal! Can Hank get his act together and get a part?

Diamond wasn’t always a star. Born to penniless parents who longed for a son, she was a dainty, delicate daughter – and a bitter disappointment. Discovering she has an extraordinary natural gift for acrobatics, Diamond tries to use her talent to earn a few pennies. A mysterious stranger spots her performing on the street, and makes a deal with her father. Diamond is sold and is taken to become an acrobat at Tanglefield’s Travelling Circus.