MUSIC and theatre is packing out the new year schedule at the Thameside Theatre and Civic Hall in Grays.

With this year’s successful pantomime Robin Hood and the Babes in Wood wrapping up on Sunday, the first musical event in the Grays calendar kicks off with The Return of Serious Problem, a showcase of six bands including Waterburner, One Fell Down and Serious Problem, taking place at the Civic Hall on Saturday, January 15, from 5.30pm until 11,30pm. Tickets are £7 each.

Top flight fiddler Phil Beer and his band will be making their annual appearance at the Thameside, in Orsett Road, Grays, on Friday, February 4, at 8pm. Tickets are £17 for adults and £12 for children.

With a traditional blend of folk and drawing on from his love of traditional tunes and American country rock, Phil and his band produce a show playing songs they love and enjoy.

Members of Thurrock Courts Players are getting ready to put on Not Now Darling, a classic Whitehall tale where Philandering Gilbert has worked out how he can give a mink coat to his mistress by fiddling the books.

When she turns to collect her coat, only to be told that she can’t have it, she takes off her clothes and throws them out of a window.

Gilbert’s loyal assistant donates her clothes and they also get lost, so he now has two women in their barest of underwear and his wife on the warpath.

The show will take place between Thursday, February 10, and Saturday, February 12, from 7.45pm each night. Tickets are priced between £6 and £8.

The kids will not be missing out on entertainment as CBeebies presenter Andy Day and long-term comedy partner Mike James bring their much-loved humour to a high energy and fast-paced children’s show. Called Andy and Mike’s Big Box of Bananas, the show will be taking place on Monday, April 21, at 2pm. Tickets are £9.50 each. The show, taking place at the Thameside Theatre, is aimed at three to 11-year-olds as Andy and Mike create a hilarious, slap-stick and chaotic atmosphere for the audience.

Finally the Rat Pack, a Vegas spectacular, is back in Thurrock by popular demand.

They will be performing classic live songs including Come Fly With Me, Under My Skin, Mr Bojangles and Lady is a Tramp.

The show is taking place at the Thameside from 7.30pm on Friday, February 25, with tickets priced at £18 each.

Call the Thameside Theatre box office on 0845 3005264 or log on to www.thurrock.gov.uk/theatre