CELEBRATING more than 20 spellbinding years on the stage the live version of Raymond Briggs’ iconic and much-loved children’s classic, The Snowman, flies into Mayflower Theatre to enchant audiences of all ages from January 13 to 17, 2016.

Sparkling with charm and wit, The Snowman tells the magical story of a young boy’s adventures when his snowman comes miraculously to life on Christmas Eve.

A glittering host of international snowmen and snow women are joined onstage by an array of colourful characters including dancing penguins, magical reindeer, a beautiful snow princess and her abominable beau Jack Frost and of course, Father Christmas himself.

With its joyful combination of classic storytelling, music and dance, The Snowman is an enchanting treat for all the family.

The Snowman first appeared as a beautifully illustrated picture book by Raymond Briggs in 1978.

It subsequently inspired the classic Oscar nominated, BAFTA award-winning animated film featuring Howard Blake’s wonderful score, first transmitted by Channel 4 on Christmas Eve 30 years ago.

The film’s signature song Walking in the Air reached number three in the UK charts when sung by choirboy Aled Jones in 1985, and the song was voted number two in a poll conducted by Classic FM to find out children’s favourite pieces of classical music, beating Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and Tchaikovsky’s Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy amongst others.

Since its premiere at Birmingham Repertory Theatre in 1993 the live stage show of The Snowman has been seen by more than one million people world-wide and has thrilled audiences at the Peacock Theatre, London for a record-breaking 18 years.

The show has been seen in Korea, Japan, Holland and Finland and in 2010 a performance of the stage show was filmed in the auditorium of Birmingham Repertory Theatre - the show's birthplace - with a live audience, 14 cameras and a superb narration by Joanna Lumley. It is now on major DVD release in the UK.

The Snowman is directed by Bill Alexander and choreographed by Robert North with set and costume designs by Ruari Murchison and lighting by Tim Mitchell.

Mayflower Theatre are also presenting a Relaxed Performance of The Snowman on Saturday, January 16 at 11.00am.

It is designed to welcome people who will benefit from a more relaxed performance environment, including people on the autism spectrum, with sensory and communication difficulties, or a learning disability.

There is a relaxed attitude to noise and movement and some small changes may be made to the light and sound effects.

Tickets for The Snowman are on sale from Mayflower Theatre Box Office tel: 02380 711811 or online at mayflower.org.uk.