Section:OBS RW PaGe:14 Edition Date:090322 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 20/3/2009 19:42 cYanmaGentaYellowblack

OUR CRITICS PICK THE SEASON'S HIGHLIGHTS Brontë goes to Bollywood, Blur bury the hatchet, Ian McKellen waits for Godot. It's all happening here…

THEATRE THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA Rising star Adam Guettel composed the music and lyrics for this Tony-festooned musical romance, which has its European premiere at Leicester’s Curve. Previews from 30 April.

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1 POP EMINEMFive years after Encore, the rapper (right) returns with his greatly anticipated album, Relapse, produced by Dr Dre and featuring 50 Cent.

CLASSICAL FALSTAFFThe 75th Glyndebourne Festival opens with Verdi’s Falsta! , directed by Richard Jones, with music director Vladimir Jurowski leading an international cast and Christopher Purves as the fat knight. Lewes, East Sussex .

POP ALL TOMORROW'S PARTIES Butlins Holiday Centre in Minehead, Somerset, once again becomes cool for a weekend as hosts the Breeders introduce a fi ne line-up including Foals, Gang of Four and Bon Iver.

POP ANTONY & THE JOHNSONS The Mercury Prize winner showcases his bewitching voice on the fi rst of eight UK dates, beginning at the Brighton Dome.

DANCE WUTHERING HEIGHTS Bern Ballet (right) makes its fi rst visit to Britain in Cathy Marston’s adaptation of Emily Brontë’s novel. Music by David Maric. Expect wild weather . Linbury Studio, ROH, London.

CLASSICAL PETER GRIMESNew David Alden staging of one of the greatest operas of the last century. Edward Gardner conducts a luxury cast, with Stuart Skelton and John Daszak sharing the title role . ENO , London.

POP GRIZZLY BEARBeloved of indie kids both sides of the Atlantic, the experimental Brooklyn quartet release their much-anticipated third studio album.

FILM SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORKPhilip Seymour Ho! man stars in Being John Malkovich writer Charlie Kaufman’s directorial debut. A controversial oddity, the title of which might invite multiple interpretations.

FILM STAR TREKThe hugely anticipated fi lm of the classic TV space saga. The USS Enterprise’s crew includes Simon Pegg as Scotty and Winona Ryder as the mother of Spock.

FILM CHÉRIStephen Frears’s fi rst big-screen release since The Queen, an adaptation of the Colette novel, stars Michelle Pfei! er (right) and Rupert Friend.

THEATRE WAITING FOR GODOT Simon Callow, Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart arrive in London (previews from 30 April), following a UK tour. Sean Mathias’s debut as artistic director of Theatre Royal Haymarket company.

FILM HANNAH MONTANADisney’s darling Miley Cyrus hits the big screen as teenage singer Hannah Montana struggling with her growing stardom. Includes a shoe fi ght with Tyra Banks.

SPRING AR TS CALENDARARTFILM THEATRE CLASSICAL DANCE COMEDYPOP

APRIL

POP PRODIGY No doubt still intent on taking your brain to another dimension, the Prodigy kick o! their Invaders Must Die tour in Cardi! , fi nishing with two Wembley Arena dates.

ART WHITECHAPEL GALLERYGrand reopening with double the space, new galleries and restaurant, starting with a show by German sculptor Isa Genzken and installation artist Goshka Macuga.

COMEDY ROBERTO BENIGNIThe Academy award-winning actor, comedian and Dante-enthusiast comes to London’s Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

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CLASSICAL AFTER DIDO, WORLD PREMIEREAn ENO-Young Vic collaboration for Purcell’s 350th anniversary with a film-theatre-opera version of Dido and Aeneas, directed by Katie Mitchell and the team who made the National Theatre’s Waves. Young Vic.

FILM IN THE LOOP Award-winning political satire The Thick of It transfers to the big screen: expect ga! es and expletives galore as Armando Iannucci's hapless politicians negotiate the build-up to war. The toast of Sundance.

FILM STATE OF PLAYFilm version of the TV thriller, now transposed from London to Washington . Kevin Macdonald directs Russell Crowe, Helen Mirren and Ben A" eck.

POP THE SPECIALSUndeterred by the controversial absence of founder Jerry Dammers, the 2 Tone pioneers (right) reform to celebrate their 30th with a tour, starting in Newcastle.

DANCE THE FORSYTHE COMPANY: DECREATIONChoreographed by William Forsythe, the high priest of European new dance, Decreation is inspired by Canadian poet Anne Carson . Sadler’s Wells, London.

CLASSICAL FUSE FESTIVALPioneering biennial festival mixing experimental, jazz and contemporary music. Performers include Exaudi Vocal Ensemble, Andy Sheppard, Mary Dullea, Britten Sinfonia. Leeds.

CLASSICAL SIMON BOLIVAR ORCHESTRA The sensational Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela with 28-year-old conductor Gustavo Dudamel (right) are here for a brief Southbank residency. Includes Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring.

POP ETHER FESTIVALSouthbank’s annual festival of innovation in sound and art hosts the likes of Peaches, Brian Eno and Squarepusher . Expect directional haircuts.

THEATRE BOLLYWOOD WUTHERING HEIGHTS Tamasha replace the Haworth moors with the desert landscape of Rajasthan. Felix Cross and Sheema Mukherjee compose music to which the actors lip-synch. Tonight in Exeter, then on tour nationwide including Glasgow and London’s Lyric Hammersmith.

DANCE THE RED BALLOONAletta Collins's dance-drama, based on the children’s fi lm, follows a boy's adventures in 1950s Paris. For ages seven -plus, Linbury Studio, ROH, London.

FILM TONY MANEROUncompromising drama set in Chile during Pinochet's regime. Alfredo Castro plays a serial killer obsessed with John Travolta's character in Saturday Night Fever. A favourite at last year's festivals.

POP NEIL YOUNGRock’s elder statesman returns with a distinctly eco-fl avoured album, Fork in the Road. Prepare to hail “The awesome power of electricity/Stored for you in a giant battery”.

THEATRE INFERNO, PURGATORIO, PARADISOThe explosive director Romeo Castellucci takes audiences from Hell to Heaven with his Dante adaptation. Part-installation, part-play, the trilogy uses a new Barbican performance space. London.

THEATRE ARCADIAEd Stoppard features in this revival of his father Tom’s play at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London, alongside Nancy Carroll, Neil Pearson and Dan Stevens. Previews. Opening night: 11 June.

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THEATRE THE CHERRY ORCHARD/ THE WINTER'S TALE Sam Mendes directs a double bill for the inaugural season of the Bridge Project. Simon Russell Beale, Sinead Cusack, Rebecca Hall and Ethan Hawke head the Old Vic’s transatlantic cast.

ART VENICE BIENNALEAs the world battles recession, will the mood be muted at the art pack's glitziest fair? Almost certainly not. Following the success of his fi lm debut Hunger, artist Steve McQueen is Britain's representative.

POP GLASTONBURY FESTIVALPlaying it safe but by no means dull, Eavis’s headliners this year include Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen (both also headlining at the Hard Rock Calling Hyde Park concert the same weekend).

ART FUTURISM All the wild men of Italian modernism – from Marinetti to Boccioni to Severini (right) – in a massive tribute to the live-fast-die-young art movement. Tate Modern, London.

FILM TERMINATOR: SALVATIONThe fourth Terminator fi lm, the fi rst without Arnie and already famous for Christian Bale’s explosion on the set.

FILM LOOKING FOR ERICWith a script by his favourite writer, Paul Laverty, Ken Loach looks at the football culture of Manchester where Eric Cantona gives instruction to a soccer-mad postman.

ART PETER RANDALL-PAGE Exhibition at Yorkshire Sculpture Park of the British sculptor's monumental stone works inspired by nature. Includes new pieces commissioned for the spectacular Underground Gallery.

THEATRE PHÈDREHelen Mirren falls for her stepson in Ted Hughes’s version of Racine's masterpiece. Dominic Cooper and Margaret Tyzack also appear in Nicholas Hytner’s production at London's National Theatre.

ART RICHARD LONGThe artist who has walked the world and measured its forms in sculpture, words and mudworks fi nally gets the major retrospective he deserves at Tate Britain.

JUNE

THEATRE SISTER ACT Sheila Hancock is the mother superior in this musical comedy based on the hit movie, produced by Whoopi Goldberg and directed by Peter Schneider. London Palladium. Previews from 7 May.

POP PATRICK WOLF The fl ame-haired folktronica sorcerer enlists Tilda Swinton as a “Voice of Hope” on his fourth album, The Bachelor.

POP BRITNEY SPEARSQ: How many mother -of-all-comebacks can a pop princess legitimately stage?A: A lot fewer than the number of costume changes one show can take. O2.

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CLASSICAL ELIOGABALOEnterprising Grange Park Opera presents UK premiere of Cavalli’s opera, about the outrageous, hedonist young Roman emperor Heliogabalus. Grange Park, Hampshire.4

THEATRE GRASSES OF A THOUSAND COLOURS The world premiere of Wallace Shawn’s new play is directed at London's Royal Court by lifelong collaborator Andre Gregory. Shawn will appear alongside Miranda Richardson.

POP PET SHOP BOYSMove over, synth-pop’s young pretenders. Fresh from acclaim at the Brits and with a new album to promote, Tennant and Lowe (right) take to the stage in Manchester and London.

Patrick Wolf's new album is out on 1 June. Starstock/Photoshot

POP BLURStrong contenders for the most exciting reunion of 2009, Graham Coxon and Damon Albarn settle their di! erences and bring Britpop back to the MEN Arena, then two Hyde Park gigs in July.

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THEATRE HAMLETJude Law (right) is the prince in Michael Grandage’s production at the Donmar West End. Cast also includes Ron Cook, Peter Eyre, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Penelope Wilton.

CLASSICAL ALDEBURGH FESTIVALPierre-Laurent Aimard’s fi rst as director launches on a high, with a new building and a new music theatre double-bill by Harrison Birtwistle. Plus Steven Isserlis, Mark Padmore, Tabea Zimmermann and more. Snape, Su! olk. Until 28 June.

ART JW WATERHOUSE From The Lady of Shalott to Lamia in her snakeskin shawl, the paintings of one of the weirdest and most poetic of all the Pre-Raphaelites in a blockbuster show. Royal Academy, London

CLASSICAL SCOTTISH OPERA: COSI FAN TUTTEA strong cast (Marie McLaughlin, right, and Joel Prieto) and traditional 18th-century setting for David McVicar’s Opéra National du Rhin co-staging of Mozart. Glasgow, Inverness, Aberdeen, Edinburgh.

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ART GARDEN AND COSMOS: THE ROYAL PAINTINGS OF JODHPURFrom miniatures to monumental artworks, a rare chance to see these royal paintings from the 17th to 19th centuries, in Europe for the fi rst time. British Museum, London WC1.28

THEATRE A DOLL'S HOUSEGillian Anderson stars in Zinnie Harris’s new version, which sets Ibsen’s drama in late 19th-century Britain . Kfi r Yefet directs at London's Donmar.

POP FRIENDLY FIRESBuoyed by a swell of hype and a label bidding war, St Albans’s most exciting export bring their math-rocky rhythms to a series of UK venues, starting with Bristol's Anson Rooms.

ART TRACEY EMINAfter a disappointing performance at 2007's Venice Biennale , the queen of self-disclosure (left) is back with who knows what: nothing has yet been revealed. White Cube Mason’s Yard, London SW1.29

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