Jess Steel, left, Heather Findlay, Annie Rae Donaghy and Beth McCarthy committing to Murder On The Dancefloor big style. Picture: David Harrison
THIS was the 12th edition of Big Ian’s A Night To Remember, the eighth to fill York Barbican en route to raising more than £200,000 for York charities.
Early signs are that a record sum may have been collected from Wednesday’s three-hour fundraiser to boost St Leonard’s Hospice, Bereaved Children Support York, Accessible Arts & Media and York dementia projects. (UPDATE: 18/11/2025. £30, 249.70p was raised.)
You will know Big Ian, HUGE party band frontman Ian Donaghy, who won the Outstanding Contribution Award at the 2025 York Community Pride Awards, organised by The York Press, in recognition of his extensive charity work and efforts to tackle loneliness and raise dementia awareness in the city.
A Night To Remember master of ceremonies Big Ian Donaghy with Shed Seven’s Rick Witter, Big Ian’s pick for “the new Duke of York”
This is one ID who doesn’t need ID, but A Night To Remember really isn’t about Ian, even if he organises the event and finds sponsors to cover all the costs,so that all the ticket money goes to the charities, along with donations and raffle proceeds on the night.
Oh, and he secured an opening message on screen from Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer, arranged all the myriad participants – a hush-hush appearance by Shed Seven’s Rick Witter et al – in a late-changing set-list order, hosted the show with patter and swagger, and sung his lungs out too. No wonder he walked 17 kilometres on Wednesday.
He is frontman, showman, show opener too with Uptown Funk, but A Night To Remember is Big Ian’s night every two years for putting York’s diverse world of music on one stage: a night of York Helping York, a night of celebrating why music can be made by everyone for everyone. Where we became one big family, in unison for the finale of Sister Sledge’s We Are Family, as Ian sang “I’ve got all my sisters with me”. Sisters in soul and much more besides, brothers too.
Making A Night To Remember exactly that: Many, but not all, of the musicians who took part on Wednesday night. Picture: David Kessel
There are plenty of familiar performers that return each time: Las Vegas Ken, now 78, still in jeans, stiffer in leg, joined by fiddler Kieran O’Malley for a singalong Wild Rover; Graham Hodge, now 75, replacing his standard guitar with bow tie and suit for crooning Cry Me A River with full band accompaniment in Las Vegas manner; George Hall, leading the band from the keyboards; the HUGE brass section; Rob Wilson and Simon Snaize on guitar,
And Ian Chalk leading the bright young talents of York Music Forum, now so important to fledgling talent in the city when schools are finding it more and more difficult to fulfil that role.
Participants young and old had their moment in the spotlight. Responding to Big Ian’s challenge, Easingwold-based choir leader Jessa “Hurricane” Liversidge assembled the 10 Decade Choir, aged from seven to Shirley in her nineties, bonding in the joy of Labi Siffre’s Something Inside So Strong, a hymn to the power of music.
York Music Forum brass and woodwind players in action at A Night To Remember. Picture: David Harrison
Annie Rae Donaghy: Solo rendition of Maneater at A Night To Remember. Picture: David Kessel
On the run: Beth McCarthy giving everything to Bat Out Of Hell in A Night To Remember. Picture: David Harrison
Suits you, sir: Graham Hodge taking on Las Vegas cabaret crooner mode for Cry Me A River at A Night To Remember. Picture: David Kessel
The ever-watchful young keyboard player in York Music Forum’s rendition of Dave Kemp’s Fryin, I learnt later, was playing his first ever gig at nine. Keep an eye on him.
Likewise, Big Ian had asked nascent talents to put themselves forward for a solo slot: he picked 12-year-old singer Lacey Hart, performing I Have Nothing to 1,400 people to the accompaniment of the full band, one mightily impressive debut after warm-up slots at a handful of HUGE gigs. Tackling Houston, Lacey had no problem matching Whitney’s dramatics.
North Eastern classical singer Sam Holden hit the heights early on in You’ll Never Walk Alone, ironically performed solo – but spectacularly – to a backing track, and later Y Street Band, their members peppered through other songs throughout, relished the spotlight in Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer, immediately followed by Scissor Sisters’ Take Your Mama.
Arms held aloft: Lacey Hart, 12, with A Night To Remember host Big Ian Donaghy, left, and her father, James Hart, after singing I Have Nothing. Picture: David Kessel
Back to those sisters in soul, who are so integral to A Night To Remember: Jess Steel, the singing hairdresser; Beth McCarthy, back in York after playing Glastonbury and an American tour; Annie Rae Donaghy, soon to appear in Next Door But One’s Christmas show When Robins Appear, and Heather Findlay, long-standing folk and prog-rock queen.
They took solo turns, they sang backing vocals, all except Annie changed costumes more often than Cher. Jess’s Running Up That Hill set a high bar; Annie revamped Hall & Oates’s Maneater; Beth surpassed her Mr Brightside with Bat Out Of Hell, preceded by her duet with Annie, Britney at the double for Baby One More Time.
A Night To Remember master of ceremonies Big Ian Donaghy keeping eye on proceedings from the side of the stage, resting on a donations bucket for York charities. Picture: David Kessel
Best of all was Heather’s rendition of Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven, a stairway she not so much climbed as glided up with elan. It was only right they should do a climactic number together, Murder On The Dancefloor, and they nailed it.
What of Mr Witter, crowned the new Duke of York by Big Ian? The man in black might have been expected to conclude the show given his status in York, but no, just like Ian, he said the show was the star, not him.
Instead, his appearance kept quiet until the last minute, he ended the first half, singing It Takes Two with Jess, who has cut his hair all these years (“I’ve lived my dream,” she said “I’ve sung with Rick Witter”), followed, inevitably, by Sheds’ anthem Chasing Rainbows, brass accompaniment and all. Rick may not have closed the show, but he closes this review.
Shed Seven’s Rick Witter duetting with Jess Steel on It Takes Two, the 1966 Kim Weston & Marvin Gaye hit. Picture: David Harrison
DILETTANTE is the real thing! She has won the inaugural New Music Stage showcase for the UK’s most exciting emerging musical talent at York’s Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2025.
At last Saturday’s event, part of the festival’s debut Beyond the Frame strand at York Theatre Royal, Dilettante delivered a set that captivated audience and jury alike with emotive vocals, layered textures and commanding stage presence.
Reflecting on her victory, she said: “What a massive honour to win this inaugural award. I’m a massive film nerd and I’m really excited to see both film and music festivals starting to work together to support artists across forms. Especially great to win in my home county of Yorkshire and in such a beautiful theatre!”
Signed to EMI North, praised by Mojo and Uncut magazines and featured at SXSW(South By Southwest) and The Great Escape, Dilettante – the inventive art-pop project of Francesca Pidgeon – has risen from Manchester basements to now embarking on festival appearances and cross-disciplinary collaborations across music, film and XR (Extended Reality).
Daisy Gill: From The Voice UK to New Music Stage at Aesthetica Short Film Festival
Last Saturday’s 2pm to 11pm curated line-up of breakthrough talent featured acts championed by tastemakers such as BBC Radio 1, BBC 6Music, RTÉ Radio 1 and Mojo and Rolling Stone magazines.
Taking part were winner Dilettante; BLÁNID, an Irish singer-songwriter with one million Spotify streams; Crazy James, lauded by BBC Introducing for his high-energy rap; Daisy Gill, alumna of The Voice UK with Glastonbury and Royal Albert Hall appearances to her name, and Ewan Sim, featured on Spotify Fresh Finds.
Participating too were Isabel Maria, BBC Introducing One-to-Watch and North East Culture Award winner; Emma Johnson, an alt-pop artist featured on BBC Radio 1 and Radio X; Kengo, BBC Introducing-supported hip-hop talent; Messy Eater, immersive art-rock innovator, and Tarian, a Welsh artist who blends hip-hop with emotive pop and classical roots.
The New Music Stage jury brought together leading industry representatives including James Matthew, from Universal Music Group; Rachel Hill, of Futuresound Group, Leeds; Pablo Ettinger, Caffè Nero co-founder; Emma Stakes, of Production Park; Rob Clark, head of media at Imagesound, plus plus musical artists such as Jack Savoretti, The Dunwells, Fauzia Habib, Kat Day (The KVB) and singer-songwriter Rachel Croft, formerly of York, now based in London.
Messy Eater: Replaced Scarborough’s Pleasure Centre in the New Music Stage line-up at York Theatre Royal
The New Music Stage aims to be about “more than performance”, connecting artists with the broader cultural ecosystem being built through such festivals as ASFF.
The showcase combines collaborations with Universal Music A&R and Imagesound with opportunities for national airplay across Caffè Nero as the festival creates a pipeline to connect grassroots talent with national and international audiences.
“Dilettante’s win demonstrates the extraordinary potential of the next generation of musicians,” said festival director Cherie Federico.
Caffe Nero founder Pablo Ettinger highlighted the industry opportunities for emerging talent: “Supporting emerging talent at this level is vital,” he said. “These stages give artists the chance to reach audiences and figures they might not meet otherwise.”
“The New Music Stage promises to grow into a landmark event for UK and global music, reaffirming the vital role of live discovery in the cultural ecosystem,” says ASFF director Cherie Federico
The New Music Stage was set up against the backdrop of the culture of discovering new music live being in decline. Between 2022 and 2023, the UK lost roughly 13 per cent of grassroots music venues, compounded by more than 15 per cent closing or ceasing live music activity last year alone, while audience numbers for live shows have fallen by nearly 17 cent since 2019.
“The New Music Stage addresses this gap, giving audiences the thrill of experiencing music at its moment of emergence, just as grassroots venues once did,” said Cherie.
“By integrating the New Music Stage with film, games and XR, Aesthetica fosters a multidisciplinary creative community. Audiences can witness performances in context with broader creative innovation, and artists gain exposure to delegates from more than 60 countries, industry leaders and tastemakers, helping to launch careers on a global scale.
Rachel Croft: York singer-songwriter on the New Music Stage jury
Running from November 5 to 9, the 15th BAFTA-qualifying ASFF brought together together 300 films, music, games, podcasting, the UNESCO City Of Media Arts EXPO, masterclasses, workshops, the VR Lab, the first Aesthetica Fringe and Beyond the Frame in one immersive environment in York, providing a platform for collaboration, discovery and cultural exchange.
Across five days, York became a hub for creativity, where tomorrow’s stars in film, music, VR, games, and podcasts were discovered first. The festival’s international reach and multidisciplinary programming ensure it is not only a British event but also a meeting point for the most exciting voices in global screen and creative media.
Summarising the festival’s vision, Cherie said: “We’re building a festival where creativity meets opportunity. It’s not just about performances; it’s about creating connections, sparking collaborations and nurturing the next generation of artists across multiple disciplines.
“With this international scale, the New Music Stage promises to grow into a landmark event for UK and global music, reaffirming the vital role of live discovery in the cultural ecosystem.”
Danny Horn’s Ray Davies, left, Oliver Hoare’s Dave Davies, Zakarie Stokes’s Mick Avory and Harry Curley’s Pete Quaife in Sunny Afternoon. Picture: Manuel Harlan
IT may be dreich and dreary outside, but the weather forecast predicts a Sunny Afternoon all week at the Grand Opera House, York.
Welcome back the four-time Olivier Award-winning musical tale of the rise and fall-outs of Muswell Hill firebrands The Kinks, last sparking fireworks here in February 2017, and still as thrilling, visceral, anarchic, smart and smarting as it was when premiered in 2014 by Ray Davies (original story and songs, 29 of them, from the chief Kink’s katalogue) and Joe Penhall (book) before transferring to the West End.
Returning to the York theatre where Davies last played on May 3 2007, his story of sibling rivalry with younger brother “Rave Dave” (lead guitarist, fashion hound) is the fractious London forerunner to the Gallagher brothers’ Manchester ructions. Northern softies by comparison.
Clashing not only with each other but with authority and management too, The Kinks hold their place in pop history as the first British band to be banned from the United States. No wonder Penhall says “they were punk before punk”.
Sunny Afternoon is not a jukebox musical, more a raucously rude reawakening of Davies’s satirical commentaries on English customs, class wars, fashions and fashion, love and loss. The hits are delivered as much by fists – and a cymbal in the case of drummer Mick Avory (Zakarie Stokes) hospitalising Dave Davies (Oliver Hoare) with blows to the head in All Day And All Of The Night at a Cardiff gig – as they are by Ray’s golden pen.
Told with all the electric charge of Dave’s guitar riff for You Really Got Me, this turbulent tale is an eye opener for those familiar with the songs but not the blistered, bruising history from 1963 to 1967’s Waterloo Sunset and onwards to 1969’s American return, peppered with all its riotous controversies, physical and mental exhaustion and love’s headiness and headaches.
The Kinks’ Ray Davies standing in front of a billboard for Sunny Afternoon, on tour this week at the Grand Opera House, York
Equipped with Ray Davies’s inside track on all things Kinks, Penhall’s book is at once witty and scabrous, rebellious and moving (to the point of tears in Dress Circle, Row C, Seat 26), as he charts The Kinks’ rise from rowdy backing band to cavalier working-class lads caught in a maelstrom of mendacious, manipulative management deals and recording contracts, American red tape, band fall-outs and brotherly spats.
We learn, for example, of Ray’s childhood stutter that returns in moments of stress; his refusal to have his gap teeth fixed; his marriage to an expelled Bradford convent girl Rasa (Lisa Wright, as in 2017); his breakdown after the exploitative American tour; how he misses sister Rene, who died when dancing on the day she gave him his first guitar on his 13th birthday.
You will love how songs both feed off or into the storyline, whether in the moment when a homesick Ray (Danny Horn, himself of Muswell Hill stock) craves comforting words down the phone from Rasa, eliciting her rendition of I Go To Sleep (his devastating ballad resurrected by The Pretenders in 1980), or when his breakdown is encapsulated in Too Much On My Mind, made all the more impactful by segueing into Rasa’s frustrated response, Tired Of Waiting.
Likewise, a tired and emotional Dave’s rowdy rendition of I’m Not Like Everybody Else defines Hoare’s Molotov cocktail performance.
The blow-by-blow re-enactment of the creation of two Kinks landmarks book-ends the show, firstly the raucous 1964 number one You Really Got Me, giving equal credit to Dave and Ray for sticking sharp objects into the speaker cone to make that wall-shuddering, ear-shattering guitar squall
Later, and climactically, amid so much turmoil, beauty beyond compare emerges piece by piece in Waterloo Sunset, a song famously denied top spot by The Beatles’ All You Need Is Love, but here making you wish you were Terry and Julie meeting at Waterloo station every Friday night.
Joe Penhall: “His bookfor Sunny Afternoon is at once witty and scabrous, rebellious and moving”
Elsewhere, framing 1966 chart topper Sunny Afternoon in the glow of England’s World Cup victory that July makes for a right old London knees-up, while the barbershop quintet reinvention of Days is breathtaking.
Reuniting with Hoare from Sunny Afternoon stints in London in 2015 and Chicago earlier this year, Horn’s Ray leads the show with fire and rage, mischievous wit but the burden of grief too, and their partnership is equally strong in song and sibling flare-ups.
Hoare spells trouble with a capital T as dangerous dandy Dave; Stokes’s volcanic drummer Avory erupts in a remarkable drum solo and Harry Curley’s reserved bassist Pete Quaife is eventually crushed under the weight of the Cain and Abel toxicity.
There is no room for Autumn Almanac, alas, but the likes of Stop Your Sobbing, This Is Where I Belong, The Moneygoround and A Rock’n’Roll Fantasy take Sunny Afternoon beyond the Kinks klassics to the storyline’s benefit.
Miriam Buether’s set and costumes evoke the era in every detail; Adam Cooper’s choreography is almost combustible and Matt McKenzie’s sound design enhances the Kinks’ progression from incendiary, foundation-shaking early numbers to the broader canvas that followed.
Horn and Hoare never let up, their raw energy propelling director Edward Hall’s exhilarating slice of Sixties’ London life to new heights in its potent yet poetic portrait of sunny afternoons and dark days.
Sonia Friedman Productions and ATG Productions present Sunny Afternoon, Grand Opera House, York, tonight, 7.30pm; tomorrow and Saturday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Box office: 0844 871 3024 or atgtickets.com/york. Age guidance: 12 plus.
London City Ballet in the UK premiere of Alexei Ratmansky’s Pictures At An Exhibition
LONDON City Ballet, former resident company of Sadler’s Wells, returns to York Theatre Royal with Momentum on Friday and Saturday.
This new repertoire showcases artists rarely seen in the UK and is in keeping with the company’s ethos of bringing to the stage rarely performed works.
George Balanchine’s early work Haieff Divertimento was thought to be lost for 40 years after its premiere and to this day had remained unseen outside the USA until this London City Ballet season.
Alexei Ratmansky, New York City Ballet’s artist-in-residence and a leading light on the global dance scene, delivers the UK premiere of his work Pictures At An Exhibition, performed to Modest Mussorgsky’s eponymous score, set against a backdrop depicting Wassily Kandinsky’s best-known masterpieces as the dancers bring the art to life.
Unseen in the UK since its 2009 premiere, Liam Scarlett’s Consolations & Liebestraum is a response to Franz Liszt’s piano score of the same name. Played live, Scarlett’s affecting ballet depicts the life cycle of a relationship, its blossoming and later fracturing love.
Emerging choreographer Florent Melac, premier danseur at the Paris Opera Ballet, has created a new work for the company in fluid musical style that combines inventive transitions with intimate partnering.
Returning to the London City Ballet company for 2025 are Alejandro Virelles, Joseph Taylor, Nicholas Vavrečka, Arthur Wille, Jimin Kim and Cira Robinson.
New dancers for the 2025 season include Samuele Barzaghi (formerly Paris Opera Ballet), Yuria Isaka (former soloist at Staataballett Berlin), Sahel Flora Pascual (formerly School of American Ballet, Ballet Austin), Constance Devernay-Laurence (former principal at Scottish Ballet/TV actress), Josue Gomez (formerly Birmingham Royal Ballet), Pilar Ortega (formerly Joffrey Ballet Studio Company, Indianapolis Ballet), Siméon Sorange-Félicité (formerly Conservatoire de Paris) and Lydia Rose Hough (formerly English National Ballet School).
Last year, on its return after three decades, the company was awarded Best Independent Company at the National Dance Awards, received a UK Theatre Awards nomination for Achievement in Dance and was nominated for Dance Europe’s Critics Choice for Best Company, New Name To Watch, Best Director and Best Revival for Kenneth MacMillan’s Ballade.
London City Ballet artistic director Christopher Marney
HERE artistic director Christopher Marney discusses London City Ballet’s origins, its triumphant return in 2024 and what to expect from its new programme.
LET’S start with the history bit. “London City Ballet was formerly the resident company of Sadler’s Wells,” says Christopher. “They grew a fond and loyal audience around the country by touring to venues in towns and cities where other dance companies dared not!
“Their reach was important because they engaged new audiences with excellent quality dance and built a foundation with a wide public.”
Returning after a 30-year hiatus, London City Ballet re-emerged into a radically altered dance scene. “I noticed that many of our wonderful venues around the UK were under-served by dance,” says Christopher. “Theatres had bustling programmes of plays and musicals but little on offer to dance audiences.”
The revitalised London City Ballet sought to address that scenario: “I was keen to help facilitate this by building the model of a ballet company that was tourable whilst still providing world-class talent and repertoire on stage,” says Christopher.
London City Ballet had inspired his own career in dance, one that had taken in being principal dancer at Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures and director of the Joffrey Ballet Studio Company of Chicago and Central School of Ballet, London. “I would see them often as a child, so had always harboured the desire to rebuild the company and get it back on the road,” he says.
Despite this reverence for the original form, he sensed the need to reflect the world wherein we live now: “This time around, I wanted to make it adept for the times we are living in but still retaining the original ethos of bringing top-drawer choreographers’ work and international dancers to regional theatres,” he says.
The experience of reviving London City Ballet in 2024 was highly meaningful, not only for Christopher but also for the dedicated audience of English ballet: “It was a heart-warming return and we felt so welcome by the audiences around the country,” he says.
“Some were formerly avid London City Ballet followers 30 years ago, remembering what the company stood for, and many were new audience members seeing us for the first time. We opened the performance with projected images telling the story of the company’s beginnings, which set the scene well, and this was always met with great audience response.”
London City Ballet in Liam Scarlett’s Consolations & Liebestraum
In all, the company toured to 17 venues across three different continents in 2024, including bring the Resurgence tour to York Theatre Royal on September 6 and 7 as part of Theatre Royal chief executive Paul Crewes’s drive to bring more dance to York.
Opening with Kenneth MacMillan’s 1972 one-act ballet Ballade, unseen in Europe for more than 50 years, Resurgence also featured Ashley Page’s Larina Waltz on its 30th anniversary, the premiere of Arielle Smith’s Five Dances and Marney’s full company work Eve, premiered at Sadler’s Wells in 2022.
London City Ballet is committed to bringing dance to audiences far and wide, a subject of passion for Christopher. “I am committed to keeping the company active and introducing people to revivals of works they have not seen before,” he says.
“When we arrive in a theatre we try to provide engagement opportunities around the performance, which includes participatory workshops and opportunities for audiences to watch the dancers in their daily warm-up ballet class before the performance.”
As to what audiences should expect from the new Momentum programme, Christopher says: “A mix of classical based work with a new contemporary creation made specially for the company. We will bring a ballet by George Balanchine which has never been seen in the UK and is highly anticipated.
“It has something for all the family and is a perfect introduction to dance with bite-sized pieces that are relatable through the portrayal of the company’s wonderful dancers.”
Christopher is particularly excited to see Alexei Ratmansky’s Pictures At an Exhibition being brought to life in the UK for the first time as part of the mixed bill: “It is set against a backdrop of projected masterpieces by Kandinsky and the dancers onstage truly bring the art to life. It’s a spectacular work,” he says.
The company members remain of paramount importance to Christopher, who enthuses over the troupe of dancers he has assembled for this year’s tour: “Our performance is an opportunity to witness thrilling, talented dancers hailing from all over the globe, many who are new to the dance scene in the UK.
“From experienced principal dancers to emerging young UK talent, it’s a real showcase for their technical prowess and unique artistic qualities. It makes for an exciting mix.”
London City Ballet: Momentum, York Theatre Royal, November 14, 7.30pm, with post-show discussion; November 15, 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk. Age guidance: Five upwards.
London City Ballet in George Balanchine’s Haieff Divertimento, opening the Momentum programme
Christopher Marney: back story
FROM growing up watching London City Ballet in the early 1990s, the company was an early inspiration for his career as a choreographer, teacher and artistic director.
Formerly, as director of the Joffrey Ballet Studio Company Chicago and Central School of Ballet, London, he had the pleasure of programming tours internationally, curating and commissioning diverse programmes.
These have included the repertoire of such choreographers as George Balanchine, Kenneth MacMillan, Liam Scarlett, Frederick Ashton, Jasmin Vardimon, Matthew Bourne and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa.
As a dancer, Chris worked internationally for the Balletboyz, Gothenburg Ballet, Ballet Biarritz, Bern Ballet, Michael Clark Company and Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures, where he danced many principal roles around the world.
The Critics Circle National Dance Awards nominated him for Outstanding Performance in Modern Dance two years running as well as including him in Dance Europe’s Outstanding Male Dancer 2013 list.
Chris retired from performing in 2017 with Ivan Putrov’s Men In Motion where he danced the Faun in Nijinsky’s L’Apres Midi d’un Faun.
As a choreographer, he has created works for Ballet Black, English National Ballet’s Emerging dancer, The Four Seasons for the Joffrey Ballet Studio Company, Nutcracker at the British Museum, Eve at Sadlers Wells and Lady Macbeth at the New National Theatre in Tokyo.
His London West End credits include choreography for McQueen The Play at the Theatre Royal Haymarket and Tell Me On A Sunday at the St James.
Named associate artist of the UK Foundation for Dance and holds a Masters degree in choreography, awarded by the University of Kent.
Remains committed to reviving less familiar but important works, shining a new light on those choreographies and providing access through extensive touring.
Re-formed London City Ballet in 2023 after 30-year hiatus, launching the first tour, Resurgence, in 2024.
Danny Horn’s Ray Davies leading The Kinks in Sunny Afternoon, on tour at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Manuel Harlan
SUNNY Afternoon’s Kinks songs for dark nights, Dibley comedic delights and drag diva Velma Celli’s frock rock catch Charles Hutchinson’s eye.
Musical of the week: Sonia Freidman Productions and ATG Productions present Sunny Afternoon, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Friday and Saturday matinees
RETURNING to York for the first time since February 2017, four-time Olivier Award winner Sunny Afternoon charts the raw energy, euphoric highs, troubling lows, mendacious mismanagement and brotherly spats of Muswell Hill firebrands The Kinks, equipped with an original story (and nearly 30 songs) by frontman Ray Davies.
The script is by Joe Penhall, who says: “As a band The Kinks were the perennial outsider – punk before punk.” Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Nicki Clay’s Reverend Geraldine Granger in MARMiTE Theatre’s The Vicar Of Dibley at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York. Picture: Paul Miles
Village drama of the week: MARMiTE Theatre in The Vicar Of Dibley, Theatre:41, Monkgate, York, until Saturday,7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
NICKI Clay is going doubly Dibley for MARMiTE Theatre in the new York company’s debut production of The Vicar Of Dibley, having played Geraldine Grainger for The Monday Players in Escrick in May.
Martyn Hunter directs Ian Gower and Paul Carpenter’s cherry-picking of the best of Richard Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer’s first two TV series, bringing together all the favourite eccentric residents of Dibley as the new vicar’s arrival shakes up the parish council of this sleepy English village. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
N’Faly Kouyaté: Dancing shoes recommended
African rhythms of the week: N’Faly Kouyaté, National Centre for Early Music, York, tonight, 7.30pm
AFTER gracing stages across the world with Afro Celt Sound System — where Celtic voices and instrumentation met the vibrant heartbeat of African rhythms — avant-garde griot N’Faly Kouyaté embarks on a profoundly personal journey.
This masterful Guinean multi-instrumentalist, inspired vocalist and living bridge between ancestral heritage and future sounds returns with his album Finishing, whose songs stir the soul, provoke reflection, elicit smiles and set bodies moving. Bring your dancing shoes! Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
Velma Celli: Rock Queen with a nod to David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane slash. Picture: Sophie Eleanor Photography
Drag night of the week: Velma Celli: Rock Queen, York Theatre Royal, tonight, 7.30pm
YORK’S international drag diva deluxe Velma Celli follows up her iconic October 1 appearance in Coronation Street soapland withan “overindulgent evening celebrating and re-imagining the best of rock classics” with her band.
The alter ego of West End musical star Ian Stroughair, who has shone in Cats, Fame, Rent and Chicago, cabaret queen Velma’s live vocal drag act has been charming audiences for 14 years, whether at Yorktoberfest at York Racecourse, her Impossible Brunches at Impossible York, or in such shows as A Brief History Of Drag, My Divas, God Save The Queens and Divalussion (with Christina Bianco). Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Beth McCarthy: Heading back home to play Big Ian’s A Night To Remember charity concert. Picture: Duncan Lomax., Ravage Productions
Charity event of the week: Big Ian’s A Night To Remember, York Barbican, tonight, 7.30pm
BIG Ian Donaghy hosts a “night of York helping York” featuring a 30-strong band led by George Hall with a line-up of York party band HUGE, Jess Steel, Beth McCarthy, Heather Findlay, Graham Hodge, The Y Street Band, Simon Snaize, Annie-Rae Donaghy, fiddler Kieran O’Malley, Samantha Holden, Las Vegas Ken and musicians from York Music Forum, plus a guest choir.
Proceeds from this three-hour fundraiser go to St Leonard’s Hospice, Bereaved Children Support York, Accessible Arts & Media and York dementia projects. Tickets update: Balcony seats still available at yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Staff woes: William Ilkley, left, Levi Payne and Dylan Allcock in John Godber’s Black Tie Ball, on tour at the SJT, Scarborough
One helluva party of the week: John Godber’s Black Tie Ball, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, November 12 to 15, 7.30pm plus 1.30pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees
ON the glitziest East Yorkshire fundraising night of the year, everyone wants to be there. The Bentleys are parked, the jazz band has arrived, the magician will be magic, but behind the bow ties, fake tans and equally fake booming laughter lie jealousies and avarice, divorces and affairs, as overdressed upstairs meets understaffed downstairs through a drunken gaze.
The raffle is ridiculously competitive, the coffee, cold, the service, awful, the guest speaker, drunk, and the hard -pressed caterers just want to go home. Welcome to the Brechtian hotel hell of John Godber’s satirical, visceral comedy drama, as told by the exasperated hotel staff, recounting the night’s mishaps at breakneck speed in the manner of Godber’s fellow wearers of tuxedos, Bouncers. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
Ensemble 360: Performing works by Shostakovich and Dvořák at Helmsley Arts Centre. Picture: Matthew Johnson and Music in the Round
Classical matinee concert of the week: Ensemble 360, Helmsley Arts Centre, Sunday, 2.30pm
ENSEMBLE 360’s chamber musicians Benjamin Nabarro and Claudia Ajmone-Marsan, violins, Rachel Roberts, viola, Gemma Rosefield, cello, and Tim Horton, piano, perform the dramatic intensity and soaring lyricism of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 57 and the radiant warmth and Czech folk-inspired melodies of Antonín Dvořák’s Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major, Op. 81, a piece cherished for its lush harmonies, spirited dances and seamless instrumental interplay. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Rock’n’roll show of the week: Two Pianos, Pocklington Arts Centre, Thursday, 7.30pm
IN the words of Jerry Lew Lewis, “Two Pianos are awesome rockers”. Tomorrow night, David Barton and Al Kilvo bring their rock’n’roll piano show to Pocklington for a journey through the golden age of Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins, Ray Charles, Wanda Jackson, Brenda Lee and, yes, the “The Killer” himself. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Lydia Hough and Joseph Taylor in London City Ballet’s Pictures At An Exhibition, on tour at York Theatre Royal
Dance show of the week: London City Ballet: Momentum, York Theatre Royal, Friday, 7.30pm (with post-show discussion); Saturday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm
LONDON City Ballet, former resident company of Sadler’s Wells, returns to York Theatre Royal with Momentum, a new repertoire that showcases artists rarely seen in the UK. Haieff Divertimento, an early George Balanchine work, was thought to be lost for 40 years after its premiere and remained unseen outside the USA until now. Emerging choreographer Florent Melac, premier danseur at Paris Opera Ballet, combines inventive transitions with intimate partnering in his fluid new work.
Alexei Ratmansky, New York City Ballet’s artist in residence, presents Pictures At An Exhibition, performed to Modest Mussorgsky’s eponymous score, set against a backdrop depicting Wassily Kandinsky’s paintings. Unseen in the UK since its 2009 premiere, Liam Scarlett’s Consolations & Liebestraum is a response to Franz Liszt’s piano score, depicting the life cycle of a relationship, its blossoming and later fracturing love. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2025 Best Documentary and Best of Fest winner: JD Donnelly’s The Hold
YORK’S Aesthetica Short Film Festival has concluded its landmark 15th anniversary edition by announcing 2025’s award-winning filmmakers: a new generation of talent poised to shape the future of screen culture.
For 15 years, Aesthetica has been the home of new voices in film, where tomorrow’s BAFTA and Oscar nominees and winners are first discovered.
Across five transformative days, fromNovember 5 to 9, York welcomed filmmakers, delegates and industry professionals from more than 60 countries worldwide, underscoring the BAFTA-qualifying festival’s significance as an international platform for storytelling and creative exchange.
This year’s winners, selected from more than 300 films spanning 15 categories, represent the best in innovation, creativity and emotional storytelling. Audiences were reminded that the filmmakers, writers and artists celebrated here are the stars of tomorrow, destined to become household names on the international stage.
Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2025 Best Director: Reiff Gaskell for Cuerpos
2025 Award Winners
Genre awards:
Best Advertising: Swimming With Butterflies – Karl Stelter
Best Animation: Wild Animal – Tianyun Lyu
Best Artists’ Film: Mother Company – Alexandros Raptotasios; Konstantinos Thomaidis
Best Comedy: Dating In Your 20s – Lily Rutterford; Lucy Minderides
Best Dance: Spoken Movement Family Honour – Daniel Gurton
Best Documentary: The Hold – JD Donnelly
Best Drama: El Corazón – Oscar Simmons
Best Experimental: We Will Be Who We Are – Priscillia Kounkou Hoveyda
Best Fashion: Fugue – Nastassia Nikè Swan Yin Winge
Best Family Friendly: Girls Together – Christie Arnold
Best Music Video: Tank – Garath Whyte
Best Thriller: Scope – Emma Moffat
Best VR & Immersive: Xian’er (Chinese Immortals) – Fang Zhou
Best Game: Blue Prince – Dogubomb
Best Feature (Documentary): Torn – Kullar Viimne
Best Feature (Narrative): Disremember – Matthew Simpson
Best Podcast: Reality Looks Back – Anne Jeppesen
Craft & special awards:
Best Director: Cuerpos – Reiff Gaskell
Best Cinematography: Baby – Simisolaoluwa Akande
Best Editing: No One Really Knows Me Well – Gaia
Best Screenplay: Giants – Alex Oates, Andy Berriman
Best of Fest: The Hold – JD Donnelly
Mark Kermode: Busy festival, playing with his band The Dodge Brothers twice, first at Silent Cinema with Live Score screening of 1928’s Beggars Of Life, starring Louise Brooks, at York Theatre Royal on November 6, then at The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, on November 7, after his In Conversation with Mark Kermode book discussion with Surround Sound co-author Jenny Nelson at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Julie Edwards
Festival Highlights: Five days of creativity, performance and innovation
A Global Programme of Film
Aesthetica 2025 screened more than 300 films across multiple venues, representing genres from drama and documentary to experimental work and immersive VR projects. Filmmakers from around the world attended in person, sparking conversations and collaborations that extended beyond the cinemas into York’s streets and cafés. The festival’s international scale reinforces its role as a launchpad for talent on a global stage.
Masterclasses and industry insight
THE festival’s Masterclass series offered audiences unparalleled access to industry leaders, including:
Peter Straughan (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy)
Jasmin John(Adolescence, Boiling Point)
Mick Audsley (Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire)
Industry organisations such as Aardman, BBC, Film4, Framestore, The New York Times, ITV, Industrial Light & Magic and Ridley Scott Associates shared insights into directing, screenwriting, post-production and the creative use of emerging technologies.
Beyond the Frame: Live performance, comedy & music
York Theatre Royal played host to live events and performances:
Comedy Night with Sophie Duker & Friends, featuring Eleanor Tiernan and Bella Hull.
Silent Cinema with Live Score, featuring Louise Brooks in 1928’s Beggars Of Life accompanied by bass player Mark Kermode’s band The Dodge Brothers and Neil Brand.
Mark Kermode in Conversation with Surround Sound co-author Jenny Nelson, exploring the role of music in film storytelling.
The New Music Stage, showcasing ten emerging acts, with Universal Music A&R and singer-songwriter Jack Savoretti attending.
The poster for Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2025
Immersive & Interactive: The EXPO, VR & Games Lab
THE VR & Games Lab pushed the boundaries of storytelling through interactive and immersive media. The Podcasting Lounge celebrated excellence in audio storytelling, while the York UNESCO City of Media Arts EXPO highlighted cutting-edge innovation across digital media, visual effects and design. Workshops for children and teens in filmmaking, animation, and coding nurtured the next generation of creative talent.
UK Film Production Summit
THE UK Film Production Summit, held at The Grand, York, brought together more than 150 leading production companies, development executives and commissioners. Chaired by Ridley Scott Associates, discussions explored The Future of Production: Scripted, Unscripted, Film, TV & Streaming, with sessions on AI, virtual production, global streaming and investment models.
Mark Herbert, CEO of Warp Films, delivered a keynote speech on independent storytelling and the future of British production, joined by representatives from BBC Films, Film4, Working Title, Paramount, Clerkenwell (Baby Reindeer), Scott Free and many more.
Festival director Cherie Federicosaid: “Aesthetica is about discovery, ambition, and possibility. Over five days, York becomes a place where the next generation of talent is seen first, where ideas collide, and where creativity thrives across every discipline – from film and music to VR, games and podcasts.
“This festival is the beating heartbeat of the UK’s creative sector, a space where innovation, culture and storytelling converge, shaping the future of our industry.”
Continuing online
AESTHETICA 2025 continues online until November 30, offering audiences the chance to catch up on all the films, see the winners and discover the brightest and boldest talent in screen from around the world. This digital extension ensures the festival’s creativity, innovation and international spirit can reach audiences across the UK and globally. Visit: www.asff.co.uk.
Velma Celli: Rock Queen with a nod to David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane slash make-up. Picture: Sophie Eleanor Photography
YORK’S international drag diva deluxe Velma Celli follows up her iconic October 1 appearance in Coronation Street soapland with an “overindulgent evening celebrating and re-imagining the best of rock classics” with her band.
The alter-ego of West End musical star Ian Stroughair, who has shone on the London stage in Cats, Fame, Rent and Chicago, cabaret queen Velma’s live vocal drag act has been charming audiences for 14 years.
In York, Velma is to be spotted hosting Yorktoberfest at York Racecourse and her Impossible Brunches at Impossible York, as well as on stage down the years at York Theatre Royal, the National Centre for Early Music and The Basement at City Screen Picturehouse.
Wider afield, Velma has starred in such shows as A Brief History Of Drag, My Divas, God Save The Queens, Equinox, her David Bowie tribute Irreplaceable, Velma Celli Goes Gaga, Show Queen and Divalussion (with American actress, singer and impressionist Christina Bianco), performing in London, at the Edinburgh Fringe and with award-winning success in Australia.
On Wednesday, Velma will be joined by musical director Scott Robinson on keyboards, Al Morrison on guitar, Olly Chilton on bass and Chris Sykes on drums.
Velma’s Act One set list will comprise Summer Of ’69; I Was Made For Loving You; Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me; It Must Have Been Love; Wicked Game; The Edge Of Glory; When Doves Cry; Bohemian Rhapsody and I Wanna Break Free/Under Pressure.
Act Two will open with a David Bowie medley, followed by Starman; Hey Jude; Ironic; Creep; Wonderwall; (Everything I Do) I Do It For You; If I Could Turn Back Time and The Best. Rock Queen will bid goodnight with the encore American double whammy of Livin’ On A Prayer and Sweet Child O’ Mine.
Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
The poster for Toby Lee & James Emmanuel’s Blues & Soul Revue at The Crescent, York
BLUES guitar prodigy Toby Lee was last spotted in York playing with Jools Holland and His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, sharing special guest billing with Soft Cell’s Marc Almond at York Barbican on December 11 2024.
Next Wednesday, he will be in good company again, sharing the stage with Decca label-mate soul singer James Emmanuel as their eight-date Blues & Soul Revue promises to “melt faces and warm souls” at The Crescent.
Featuring Lee’s full touring band, solo sets, glorious collaborations and on-stage jamming, the night will deliver “guitar solos, smooth vocals and at least one person in the crowd yelling ‘Woo!’ at the wrong time”…if you ever wondered how AI would put together a press release about a UK blues sensation going on tour (it says here).
Warwickshire-born Lee, who headlined the Fulford Arms on May 18 last year, is touring on the back of dropping into myriad summer festivals, from Glastonbury to Love Supreme, Isle of Wight to Belladrum.
“I’m very excited. It should be a fun tour,” says Toby, speaking to The York Press while in rehearsal for an itinerary that opened on October 22. “I’ll be playing The Crescent for the first time – and I do like a standing gig, so that’ll be great.
“I’m always that annoying member of the band who says, ‘guys, let’s cut four songs and play something we haven’t played for two years’,” says Toby
“I’m still promoting House On Fire, which we released on October 4 [on 100% Records] last year as my first fully original record. Quite a step up from doing covers mixed with originals previously [on 2021 debut Aquarius] but this time we wanted to focus on originals.”
All the songs were composed by Toby, working with Shadow Hands (alias Bnann and Gareth Watts) and Sam Collins, who plays bass in his band, at Cube Recording Studio in Truro. He is now working on the next record, he says. “It’s at the very early stages at the moment, but there will be something that will come out next year,” he promises.
What did he learn from making House On Fire? “The thing for me, if I’m totally honest, I didn’t realise how vulnerable you are as a writer when you’re writing about heartbreak,” says Toby, still only 20, after teaching himself guitar from the age of eight.
“I’m quite reticent with my emotions, but then suddenly you’re at the point of letting out every emotion to someone you’ve never met before – and that’s a rare thing about being a musician.
“But I do love writing on my own because you tend to have this voice in your head, and it’s so much more satisfying when your version comes to fruition – though it’s also good to have someone to help you cross the finishing line.”
Toby Lee and his band in action
From being uncertain initially about songwriting, Toby has grown to enjoy it the most of his music-making roles. “Songs tend to come to me when I’m most relaxed or when I’m about to fall asleep and I have to stay up to complete them,” he says.
“But I also like that thing of looking out to sea. It’s the best place for it [creativity]. That’s my happy place, where I can be relaxed and open myself to it. It might not be so great for recording, but sometimes I can record a demo in my 14ft-long old 1967 Volkswagen bus, with dogs barking and seagulls squawking!”
Toby has found his musicianship progressing from the blues – he played guitar at B.B. King’s Blues Club in Memphis in 2015, aged ten – to embracing a “more soulful, rocky style”, now bringing together a live set that will still please blues and jazz devotees too.
“When you’re playing so many styles, the thing that takes the longest is creating the set list,” he says. A set list that keeps changing too! “One hundred per cent, I do that! I’m always that annoying member of the band who says, ‘guys, let’s cut four songs and play something we haven’t played for two years’.
“I get that for some musicians, when you know what you’re doing each night, there’s no anxiety, but I really like to change it up because it keeps us in the moment, having a bit of fun, and keeping the jamming parts very natural.”
Toby Lee’s cover artwork for last year’s House On Fire, his first album of original compositions. Toby filmed the video for his House On Fire single in his 1974 Corvette Stingray, named “Elvis” by next Wednesday’s guest act Isabella Coulstock
Mentored by Bernie Marsden in his early days, Toby has shared stages with Buddy Guy, Slash, Billy Gibbons, Peter Frampton and Joe Bonamassa (at the Royal Albert Hall), as well as starring in the West End production of School Of Rock and performing with McFly on Tonight at the London Palladium in his teenage rise.
Above all, Toby looked very much at home in Jools Holland’s company at York Barbican last December and when performing House On Fire with the dapper boogie-woogie piano doyen on Jools’s Annual Hootenanny 2024 show on BBC Two last winter.
“I know people say ‘never meet your heroes’, as they seem like one person and then you meet them and they’re totally different, but that’s not the case with Mr Jools Holland, who’s even more lovely in person,” he says.
“Even if he hasn’t got the time, he’ll still find it for you, and it was such a compliment for him to give me that time on tour with him. It was an experience I’ll never forget. It could come across as quite daunting with him being a household name, so there’s a pressure attributed to it, because you want to get it right, and two nights before we played The Royal Albert Hall, I lost my voice, as I was also touring with my own band and doing lots of radio stuff.
“But Ruby Turner [ever present on Jools’s tours] got her voice coach in to help me get my voice back, and Jools ended up having me playing guitar on a couple of extra songs. I love how it’s such a family with him.”
“It was an experience I’ll never forget,” says Toby Lee, recalling last year’s tour with Jools Holland (left) and His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra
Looking ahead to next Wednesday’s Blues & Soul Revue show at The Crescent, Toby says: “It’s a bit of a different tour for me, this one. Something we’ve never done before. Touring with James Emmanuel, a soul singer from Edinburgh, who’ll open for us.
“He’s one of those soul singers with a voice like butter. He’ll be playing with my band for his set, which is good for my guys to try something different. It’ll be really cool because we’ve never had a full band support at our gigs before.
“The one thing that we wanted to create was to change it up a bit with having different parts to the show, so here we have different musicians working with us to give a diiferent vibe to it.”
Completing the line-up will be Toby’s fellow vintage car enthusiast Isabella Coulstock. “She’s a singer-songwriter, who’s supported The Who, Chris Isaak, Jools Holland and Nick Heyward, so I feel like she’s doing me a favour,” he says.
Toby Lee & James Emmanuel, An Evening Of Blues & Soul, with Isabella Coulstock, The Crescent, York, November 12, 7.30pm. Box office: thecrescentyork.com/events/toby-lee/.
Danny Horn’s Ray Davies leading The Kinks in Sunny Afternoon, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York, from next Tuesday. Picture: Manuel Harlan
SUNNY Afternoon’s Kinks songs for dark nights, Dibley comedic delights and drag diva Velma Celli’s frock rock catch Charles Hutchinson’s eye.
Musical of the week: Sonia Freidman Productions and ATG Productions present Sunny Afternoon, Grand Opera House, York, November 11 to 15, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Friday and Saturday matinees
RETURNING to York for the first time since February 2017, four-time Olivier Award winner Sunny Afternoon charts the raw energy, euphoric highs, troubling lows, mendacious mismanagement and brotherly spats of Muswell Hill firebrands The Kinks, with an original story (and nearly 30 songs) by frontman Ray Davies.
The script is by Joe Penhall, who says: “As a band The Kinks were the perennial outsider – punk before punk.” Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
MarcoLooks: Exhibiting at Inspired – York Artists & Designer Makers Winter Fair at York Cemetery Chapel
Christmas presence of the week: Inspired – York Artists & Designer Makers Winter Fair, York Cemetery Chapel, Cemetery Road, York, today and tomorrow, 10am to 5pm
NINE York artists and designers will be selling their work for the Christmas season in the divine setting of York Cemetery Chapel. Among them will be collagraphy printmaker Sally Clarke, jewellery designer Jo Bagshaw, artist Adrienne French, printmaker Petra Bradley and illustrator MarcoLooks . Enjoy a winter walk in the beautiful grounds too. Free entry, free parking.
Clive Marshall RIP: York Railway Institute Band and York Opera perform in his memory at The Citadeltonight
Marshalling forces: York Railway Institute Band and York Opera, Clive Marshall Memorial Concert, The Citadel, Gillygate, York, tonight, 7.30pm
YORK Railway Institute Band and York Opera members come together tonight for a charity musical tribute to much-loved colleague Clive Marshall (1936-2025). Expect soaring choruses, heartfelt arias and the very best of operatic overtures in tonight’s programme of popular classics, in aid of St Leonard’s Hospice, where Clive spent the final days of his life in March this year.
He was chairman of the RI band, leading the trombone section for many years, and first performed for York Opera in 1968, going on to play multiple character roles and stage direct myriad productions too. Box office: https://tickets.yorkopera.co.uk/events/yorkopera/1793750 or on the door.
At your service, in the French style: Nicki Clay’s Reverend Geraldine Granger in MARMiTE Theatre’s The Vicar Of Dibley
Village drama of the week: MARMiTE Theatre in The Vicar Of Dibley, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, November 11 to 15,7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
NICKI Clay is going doubly Dibley for MARMiTE Theatre in the new York company’s debut production of The Vicar Of Dibley, having played Geraldine Granger for The Monday Players in Escrick in May.
Martyn Hunter directs Ian Gower and Paul Carpenter’s cherry-picking of the best of Richard Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer’s first two TV series, bringing together all the favourite eccentric residents of Dibley as the new vicar’s arrival shakes up the parish council of this sleepy English village. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Velma Celli: Rock Queen, with a nod to David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane slash make-up, at York Theatre Royal
Drag night of the week: Velma Celli: Rock Queen, York Theatre Royal, November 12, 7.30pm
YORK’S international drag diva deluxe Velma Celli follows up her iconic October 1 appearance in Coronation Street soapland with an “overindulgent evening celebrating and re-imagining the best of rock classics” with her band.
The alter ego of West End musical star Ian Stroughair, who has shone in Cats, Fame, Rent and Chicago, cabaret queen Velma’s live vocal drag act has been charming audiences for 14 years, whether at Yorktoberfest at York Racecourse, her Impossible Brunches at Impossible York, or in such shows as A Brief History Of Drag, My Divas, God Save The Queens, Equinox, Velma Celli Goes Gaga, Show Queen and Divalussion (with Christina Bianco). Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
The poster for Toby Lee’s 2025 tour show, An Evening of Blues & Soul, at The Crescent
Blues gig of the week: Toby Lee & James Emmanuel plus Isabella Coulstock, An Evening of Blues & Soul, The Crescent, York, November 12, 7.30pm
BLUES prodigy Toby Lee’s musical journey started at only four years old when his grandmother bought him a yellow and green ukulele. This little instrument went everywhere with him, and he played it constantly, mainly tunes by Elvis and Buddy Holly. At eight, he received his first electric guitar for Christmas while staying at a Cornish. By chance, staying there too was Uriah Heep’s Mick Box, who duly gave him tips and picks. From that moment, Lee knew precisely what he wanted to do when he grew up.
Now 20, he has shared stages with Buddy Guy, Billy Gibbons, Peter Frampton, Slash, Lukas Nelson, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and his hero, Joe Bonamassa, at the Royal Albert Hall, as well as touring as Jools Holland and His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra’s special guest. On Tuesday, he is joined by James Emmanuel and Isabella Coulstock. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Beth McCarthy: Heading back home to York to play Big Ian’s A Night To Remember at York Barbican. Picture: Duncan Lomax, Ravage Productions
Charity event of the week: Big Ian’s A Night To Remember, York Barbican, November 12, 7.30pm
BIG Ian Donaghy hosts a “night of York helping York” featuring a 30-strong band led by George Hall with a line-up of York party band HUGE, Jess Steel, Beth McCarthy, Heather Findlay, Graham Hodge, The Y Street Band, Simon Snaize, Annie-Rae Donaghy, fiddler Kieran O’Malley, Samantha Holden, Las Vegas Ken and musicians from York Music Forum, plus a guest choir.
Proceeds from this three-hour fundraiser go to St Leonard’s Hospice, Bereaved Children Support York, Accessible Arts & Media and York dementia projects. Tickets update: Balcony seats still available at yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Staff woes: William Ilkley, left, Levi Payne and Dylan Allcock in John Godber’s Black Tie Ball, on tour at the SJT, Scarborough
One helluva party of the week: John Godber’s Black Tie Ball, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, November 12 to 15, 7.30pm plus 1.30pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees
ON the glitziest East Yorkshire fundraising night of the year, everyone wants to be there. The Bentleys are parked, the jazz band has arrived, the magician will be magic, but behind the bow ties, fake tans and equally fake booming laughter lie jealousies and avarice, divorces and affairs, as overdressed upstairs meets understaffed downstairs through a drunken gaze.
The raffle is ridiculously competitive, the coffee, cold, the service, awful, the guest speaker, drunk, and the hard -pressed caterers just want to go home. Welcome to the Brechtian hotel hell of John Godber’s satirical, visceral comedy drama, as told by the exasperated hotel staff, recounting the night’s mishaps at breakneck speed in the manner of Godber’s fellow wearers of tuxedos, Bouncers. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
Amit Mistry: Topping the Funny Fridays bill
Comedy gig of the week: Funny Fridays, Patch@Bonding Warehouse, Terry Avenue, York, November 14, 7.30pm to 9.30pm
African rhythms of the week: N’Faly Kouyaté, National Centre for Early Music, York, November 12 , 7.30pm
Guinean multi-instrumentalist N’Faly Kouyaté: Starting his Finishing tour at the NCEM
AFTER gracing stages across the world with Afro Celt Sound System, avant-garde griot N’Faly Kouyaté has embarked on a profoundly personal journey that finds him opening his autumn UK tour in York, playing the National Centre for Early Music for the first time.
This masterful Guinean multi-instrumentalist, multi-linguist, inspired vocalist and living bridge between ancestral heritage and future sounds returns with his September 12 album Finishing, whose songs stir the soul, provoke reflection, elicit smiles and set bodies moving.
Finishingis billed as a “a spiritual call to action – an artistic manifesto shaped by the soul of a griot and the conscience of a world citizen”
Conceived during nine reflective months along the banks of the Bafing River in Guinea, then recorded in Brussels, this album is both a deeply personal reflection and a universal cry for justice, compassion and balance.
“Finishing is my musical answer to a world searching for meaning,” says N’Faly. “It is the echo of my ancestors carried by today’s rhythms, a call to reflection and action. I wanted every note to be a question, every chorus a step towards a fairer, more conscious future.”
Hailing from the illustrious Konkoba Kabinet Kouyaté lineage – he is a member of the Mandingue ethnic group of West Africa; his father was the griot Konkoba Kabinet Kouyaté, who lived in Siguiri, Guinea – N’Faly is a master of the kora and balafon, a genre-defying composer and a cultural custodian with a mission.
His journey has taken him from Guinea to the Royal Conservatory of Belgium in 1994, where he formed the ensemble Dunyakan, onwards to global stages with the Grammy-nominated Afro Celt Sound System and now his solo projects, all speaking to his ability to weave past and future into the sound of now.
Should you be asking “what is a griot?”, let N’Faly explain.”The griot is an advisor to the people and the king in West Africa,” he says. “The griot is from the Mandingue kingdom; Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Burkina Faso.
“The king of this kingdom was the ancestor of Salif Keita, the Malian singer-songwriter. The griot is like the Bard in Celtic culture because we advise the king, the people, and if there’s a war somewhere, the griot comes to make peace.
“I continue the griot social class. I am griot, my father and my ancestors were griots. You can’t become griot; but you are born griot.”
How does this influence Finishing, N’Faly? “We griot, we advise all society. With this album you imagine the artist finishing his dream to end all these horrible things in the world,” he says. “My dream was that if all these troubles could be finished, we could be happy. What a finishing that would be. For the people, we’re asking for the finishing of all this horror in our world.”
Finishing is an album rooted in a wish for healing. “We can use music to say to the political world ‘what we need is peace and love’,” says N’Faly, who spreads that message by singing songs in Mandinka (the language of Mandingue), Soussou, Pular, French and English as he dares to imagine a world where war, lies, theft and violence suddenly stopped.
The cover artwork for N’Faly Kouyaté’s Finishing album
Each track on Finishing pulses with urgency and purpose. Free Water, a collaboration with reggae luminary Tiken Jah Fakoly, is a passionate plea for water protection, while Khili Kanè condemns the corrosive effects of slander.
Mandela stands as a reverent salute to the late South African statesman and peacemaker, and Kolabana, featuring Senegalese hip-hop icon Didier Awadi, takes aim at global indifference in the face of crisis.
Elsewhere, songs such as Mökhöya, Halala and Kawa reflect on the quiet erosion of human value – mutual aid, dignity and humility – reminding us that these virtues are not nostalgic relics, but essential foundations for a liveable future.
“In my concerts I explain the words of all the songs and I use the job of my ancestors to play traditional music as well as modern,” says N’Faly, whose trademark “Afrotronix” sound is a fusion of AfroBeat, AfroTrap, AfroPop, RnB, Jazz and traditional Mandingue instrumentation as electronica meets djembe and kora.
“I am the protector of culture and tradition, and for me, we can use technology to serve tradition. If you want to interest young people, you have to sing in the language they want to hear and use the instruments and style of who they like – and statistically, much of my audience is aged 18 to 44 and upwards to 66-70.”
N’Faly will be joined on the NCEM stage by his wife, Muriel Kouyaté and Jay Chitul after rehearsing together in Brussels. Bring your dancing shoes,” he advises. Finishing will be on sale at the concert, along with T-shirts. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
Did you know?
N’FALY Kouyaté’s collaborators range from Peter Gabriel and Sinead O’Connor to Tayc and Robert Plant, affirming how he is as comfortable in ancient traditions as he is on the modern sonic frontier.
“When I finished my studies in Belgium, I started to work with Afro Celt Sound System, whose albums were produced by Peter Gabriel, and we worked with him many times, recording at Real World studios in Bath and performing on stage with him.” says N’Faly.
He undertook an acting role in William Kentridge’s musical The Head And The Load, performing in Miami, Amsterdam, London and New York.
Oops! Nik Briggs’s big Ben sees his Big Ben showstopper topple over in York Stage’s The Great British Bake Off Musical. All pictures: Charlie Kirkpatrick, Kirkpatrick Photography
NIK Briggs’s York premiere of Jake Brunger & Pippa Cleary’s musical spoof could not be better timed, opening the night after the final to series 16 of Channel 4’s The Great British Bake Off, most notable for the winner’s Showstopper being the largest cake in the show’s history.
It measured 1.2 metres in length, should you be wondering. Nothing is baked on quite that scale beneath York Stage’s tented stage decked in bunting and banter, but more than 50 models of cakes have been made in foam and Polystyrene for Technical Challenges and Showstoppers alike.
‘Bake Off’ is the first musical where the Showstopper meets the show-stopper, drawing the increasingly trim producer-director Briggs back to the boards for his first principal role since Shrek – his 2020 pantomime cow doesn’t count! – to sing two of the peachiest numbers, My Dad (with Eady Mensah’s Lily, his chaperoned daughter) and The Perfect Petit Fours (with Harriet Yorke’s outstanding Gemma).
Bake Off contestants for starters:Stu Hutchinson’s Russell, left, Harriet Yorke’s Gemma, Joanne Theaker’s Babs, Grant McIntyre’s Dezza, Alana Blacker’s Francesca, Nik Briggs’s Ben and Fredo’s Hassan
Briggs’s widowed Bristol police detective Ben – “the cooking copper” – and Yorke’s Blackpool carer Gemma are two of the eight contestants, each with a back story and motive for competing to be revealed in song, like cutting through a multi-layered cake.
Joanne Theaker’s Babs, thrice married and looking for a fourth, is a lemon-sharp East London school dinner lady prone to euphemisms and giving back as good as she gets from Chris Wilson’s droll, Knock Knock joke-telling Phil Hollinghurst (the Paul Hollywood caricature).
Grant McIntyre’s powerfully voiced Dezza is the forceful vegan hipster environmentalist with a No Butter policy; Alana Blacker’s Francesca is a thirtysomething primary-school teacher, from Bognor via Bologna, bringing her Nonna’s traditional Italian recipes with her.
Joanne Theaker’s Babs on top form in Babs’ Lament, a show-stopper of the musical kind in The Great British Bake Off Musical
In his musical theatre debut, York busker Fredo (Sudeep Pandey) is Syrian-born Wembley teenager Hassan, with his lucky T-shirt and happy-go-lucky demeanour. In scene-stealing mode, York Stage regular Stu Hutchinson’s Russell is an aeronautical engineer, married to Mario, as camp as a tent and determined to apply science and spreadsheets to his experimental bakes.
Amy Barrett’s Izzy, the 21-year-old Cambridge student of Home Counties stock, is posh and pushy, taking the biscuit for being so ruthlessly determined to win, dreaming of books deals, TV series.
Introducing proceedings, teasing and goading as the heat rises, are Sam Roberts’s Jim and Mary Clare’s Kim (“Mel and Sue, who?”, they say), while Tracey Rae’s bespectacled grand dame Pam Lee fills the Prue Leith slot with polished glitter and nudge-nudge-wink-wink banter.
Having her cake and eating too much of it: Amy Barrett’s win-at-all-costs Izzy, front and centre, where else, in The Great British Bake Off Musical
Brunger and Cleary bring affection, rather more than tension, to the tent, sending up Hollywood’s motorbike riding, Leith’s myriad business deals and love of a tipple in a recipe, and the baking-hot baking conditions that always befall one episode per series.
All the while, the elimination fun and games must be played out, concertinaed largely into one song, Don’t Send Me Home, with ever reducing numbers and ever-changing harmony demands for the diminishing contestants.
Everyone has their solo moment to parade their singing chops, Theaker’s Babs excelling in the pathos of Babs’ Lament and Yorke’s Gemma rising to the occasion in Rise. Wilson’s Hollinghurst and Rae’s Dame Pam have a rather sweet moment in I’d Never Be Me Without You.
Harriet Yorke’s Gemma: Rising to the occasion in Rise
Bubbling away throughout – as the tables disappear one by one, cakes crumble and contestants tumble – is the growing bond of Briggs’s Ben and Yorke’s Gemma, both in slow recovery from loss, to provide the obligatory love interest of the piece. Eady Mensah’s Lily (in a role to be shared with Abigail Hodgson, Ella Laister and Megan Pickard ) is a delightful conduit between them.
In style, Bake Off echoes most closely the humour and musical diversity of Victoria Wood’s patter songs and Tim Firth & Gary Barlow’s Calendar Girls. The underscore music of the TV series filters cleverly through the songs, ranging from big bluesy ballads to Chicago and Cabaret pastiches.
Songs have a tendency to go on too long, to overegg the moment, to be layered on a bit too thick – you get the picture – but the humorous dialogue is well timed under Briggs’s joyous direction and Danielle Mullan Hill’s musical staging is whisked into pleasing shapes. Likewise, Stephen Hackshaw’s band is on egg-cracking good form throughout, revelling in Jessica Viner’s arrangements.
And then there were seven: York Stage’s Bake Off contestants in the firing line for elimination: Joanne Theaker’s Babs, far left, Fredo’s Hassan, Nik Briggs’s Ben, Stu Hutchinson’s Russell, Harriet Yorke’s Gemma, Amy Barrett’s Izzy and Alana Blacker’s Francesca
We know that Edinburgh-born medical student Jasmine Mitchell won the Bake Off glass cake stand on Tuesday, but who triumphs in York Stage’s Great British Bake Off? Not telling, except to say that you’re the winner if you buy a ticket. Hollyhurst/Hollywood handshakes all round for a recipe delivered so creamily.
Iced buns being handed out on the forecourt before the show was the icing on the cake.
York Stage in The Great British Bake Off Musical, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm tonight and tomorrow; 2.30pm and 7.30pm, Saturday. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Well judged performances by Tracey Rea’s Pam Lee and Chris Wilson’s Phil Hollinghurst in The Great British Bake Off Musical
Introducing Fredo, playing Hassan in York Stage’s The Great British Bake Off Musical
YORK busker Fredo is making his first venture into musical theatre in York Stage’s The Great British Bake Off as Syrian-born Hassan, a 17-year-old student now living in Wembley, London.
Originally from Nepal, Fredo (real name Sudeep Pandey) came to York to study. He took up director-producer Nik Briggs’s invitation to step into the breach when the original actor, from elsewhere in Yorkshire, had to pull out on the first day or rehearsals.
“York Stage has always been committed to authentic casting, but within York’s acting community there are not a lot of Asian male actors,” says Nik. “I’d seen Fredo busking in York with his fantastic voice, so I looked up his details, contacted him and said ‘would you be interested in playing Hassan?’.
“He said ‘yeah’, and came down straightaway that night to start, with only five weeks of rehearsals to go. It’s his first time in a musical, his first time without his guitar on the street. He said, ‘five weeks ago, I didn’t even know what a musical was’!
Fredo: York busker making musical theatre debut in The Great British Bake Off Musical this week
“It’s been great to support him through his first stage show. He’s just so loveable. He has the biggest heart.”
Fredo’s programme note states: “Fredo has built a reputation for his soulful vocals, intricate guitar work and dynamic live performances across Yorkshire’s vibrant music scene.
“Drawing inspiration from both Nepali roots and British contemporary sounds, his music blends cultures and genres with authenticity and heart.”
Catch Fredo busking, playing gigs or doing open-mic nights around York. When not performing, he continues to write, record and share his original music with audiences both locally and online.
Recipe for success: Brew & Brownie baker Mary Clare in rehearsal for her role as hostess Kim in York Stage’s Great British Bake Off Musical
Did you know?
JESSICA Viner and Stephen Hackshaw are sharing musical director duties for York Stage’s The Great British Bake Off Musical. “Jess has been with us for all the rehearsals and was set to be the MD for all the shows, but then she was offered the chance to do Singin’ In The Rain in China for three months – having just done the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang UK tour for a year,” says director Nik Briggs.
“Stephen was with us for the first week and will lead the band and conduct us through the shows, having worked with the band last week.”
Did you know too?
YORK Stage cast member Mary Clare (playing Bake Off hostess Kim) is a professional baker, baking for Brew & Brownie, in Museum Street, York. “It’s been hilarious in rehearsals, when there’s been lots of slow-motion ‘baking’ going on, and Mary will say, ‘oh, no, that’s not how you use that implement’, ‘oh, no, that’s not how you sieve’!” says director Nik Briggs. “She’s been our ad-hoc baking expert in the rehearsal room.”
Bake Off hosts Jim (Sam Roberts) and Kim (Mary Clare) mucking around in York Stage’s York premiere
