COULD this be a lieder recital? In an early music Christmas festival? Although it contained no mention of Christmas, nor even a fortepiano for authenticity, mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston and her piano-partner Sholto Kynoch delivered a lunchtime recital so memorable that none of the fortunate 70 in the audience would have had the slightest qualms about hearing it in the festival.
It was billed as A Lyrical Interlude, a translation of Heinrich Heine’s Lyrisches Intermezzo of 1827, from which all its poetry was drawn. It culminated in Schumann’s Dichterliebe, after seven related songs, including two each from the Mendelssohn siblings, Fanny and Felix.
It is not necessarily an easy option to include a chestnut like Felix’s On Wings Of Song. But here Charlston’s cleverly suppressed ecstasy, complemented by Kynoch’s gently rippling keyboard, delivered something special. Reiselied (‘Song Of Travel’) was vivid enough to evoke Schubert’s ‘Erlking’.
Fanny Hensel’s two songs, about a lonely pine and a swan giving its last, revealed Charlston’s ability to nail a mood at once. In juxtaposing settings of ‘Die Lotosblume’, she found an appealing line in Schumann’s but surprisingly greater depth of emotion in Loewe’s.
Few Anglophones can boast her command of the German language. This is not merely a question of good pronunciation, although hers is excellent; it is the ability to convey literary nuance. It proved a huge asset in her account of Dichterliebe, a cycle much more often associated with male voices. Both performers went well beyond the poetry’s “mask of irony” referred to by Kynoch in his first-class spoken preface to the work.
Her early naivety and the chattering excitement of ‘Die Rose, Die Lilie’ (even so, finding room for rubato) gradually dissipated as the shine of the romance began to tarnish. Charlston found greater chest tone for ‘Im Rhein’, leading to the start of nostalgic bitterness, although the hammered postlude was out of scale for the venue and left little in reserve for later in the cycle.
‘Ich Grolle Nicht’ (I Bear No Grudge) was positively dripping with sarcasm, slightly muted by her choice of the optional lower notes at the end: her mezzo would comfortably have reached the more telling higher ones. But what really made the song was the brief sotto voce at its centre, as she recalled a dream.
After a deeply elegiac ‘Hör’ich das Liedchen Klingen’, the next song, ‘Ein Jüngling Liebt ein Mädchen’ brought playful relief. She stayed rivetingly in character through the tearful dream, evoking tears in her listeners.
There was yet another new mood for a jaunty start to ‘Aus Aalten Märchen’ (From Old Fairy Tales) but a smoothly regretful transition as these in turn melted away like foam. There was real anger in the final ‘bad old songs’, as both performers wrung every last drop of self-pitying pain from the poet’s ‘Schmerz’.
The postlude was finely drawn, even if its rallentando was a touch over-pointed. But this had been
a genuine duet, the performers drawing from one another. This programme, plus Héloïse Werner’s song- cycle Knight’s Dream, can be heard at Leeds Song on April 15 next year. You dare not miss it.
Apollo 5 members, left to right, Penny Appleyard, Thomas Mottershead, Augustus Perkins Ray, Joseph Taylor and Lily Robson
APOLLO5 is a vocal quintet featuring soprano, mezzo, two tenors and a bass. Its early evening programme was entitled The Crimson Sun, reflecting both the close of day and the title of a piece by Alexander Campkin.
Despite the title, all the works on the programme were seasonal and most were festive too. Dobrinka Tabakova’s springy, syncopated Good-will To Men was immediately contrasted with Piers Connor Kennedy’s A Spotless Rose, not the traditional tune, but a reworking of two of the ‘O’ antiphons, moving gracefully from the original plainsong into modern close-harmony versions.
Thereafter we backtracked to the 16th century, where the singers’ straight tone was especially apt. Handl’s Omnes de Saba was brisk but lacked shading, whereas Guerrero’s Virgen Sancta – a rare example for its time of sacred music in the vernacular – had all the tenderness you might expect from the Spanish master.
The calmer centre of Byrd’s Laetentur Caeli contrasted well with its vivid frame. The passing dissonances of Poulenc’s O Magnum Mysterium were also neatly tuned.
It is always risky when modern composers attempt to rework established favourites: the results may inspire or annoy, rarely both. In the first camp were Fraser Wilson’s fresh new harmonies for The Angel Gabriel, whereas a new take on The Coventry Carol lacked clarity.
New creations rather than arrangements included Ola Gjeilo’s Ubi Caritas, respectful of tradition but also exultant, the reverent last-verse adoration of James Bassi’s Quem Pastores, the mediaeval feel of James MacMillan’s O Radiant Dawn, with its repeated cries of “Come! Shine!”, and Adrian Peacock’s Spanish-flavoured Venite, Gaudete!.
As for Campkin’s setting of Rev George Grantham’s Victorian carol, The Crimson Sun, it suffered slightly from being heard in the wake of Walton’s frisky Make We Joy Now, but its repeating downward motif in the soprano helped paint the fading daylight and its ‘Gloria’ refrain stirred the spirit.
Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych’s Carol Of The Bells made an ideal ending. On this evidence, Apollo5 is a versatile, well-balanced ensemble, whose programme was perfectly tailored to the festival.
Weather Balloons: Boschian vignettes and betrayals of guitar music at As Yule Like It at The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse
YORK arts collective Navigators Art promises “All cracker, no cheese” at As Yule Like It, Saturday’s live, local and loud showcase of “some of York’s finest and most individual sounds”.
On the Musique en Croute menu are Beatbox In Blankets: University of York music student Cast Beatbox, racing up the ranks in national contests; Post-Punk Profiteroles: Knitting Circle, York’s socially conscious and urgent post-punk trio, and Folk & Figgy Pudding: York St John University folkies The Queeries, purveyors of fun, frolicsome fiddling.
Being served up too will be Singer-Songwriting Surprise: Tang Hall Smart tutor and passionate singer-songwriter Toemouse, offering an invitation to a mystical ride, and Renegade Rock-y Road: Weather Balloons, off duty from regular band Fat Spatula but here on soft-rock on duty with Boschian vignettes and betrayals of guitar music.
The Queeries: Fun, frolicsome fiddling
Knitting Circle: Urgent post-punk tunesmiths
Expect “all the trimmings to kick-start your festive week”. Please note, some material may not be suitable for young children. The Basement is fully accessible. Doors open at 7pm. Box office: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/navigators-art-performance.
Navigators Art’s regular Folk & Word open-mic session at The Artful Dodger, Micklegate, York, returns on December 18. Further 7.30pm bills will follow on January 15 and every third Thursday of each month.
“We welcome writers and ‘wordful’ acoustic musicians who’d like to share their work in a warm and appreciative environment,” says co-founder Richard Kitchen. “We operate a safe and friendly ethos. Entry is free with a purchase from the bar. Access is by stairs only.”
Toemouse: Invitation to a mystical ride
One more date for the diary: Navigators Art will be hosting A Feast Of Fools III at the Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green, York, on January 4 2026 at 7.30pm (doors 7pm).
“Welcome to our annual end-of-season celebration of Twelfth Night and Old Christmas, with a nod to the pagan and the impish,” says Richard. “On the bill are traditional song and contemporary treatments; hurdy gurdy, squeezebox and fiddle; harmonies, electronics and sound spells, headlined by York’s alt-folk legends White sail.” Access is by stairs only. Tickets will be available on the door.
Cast Beatbox: University Of York music student performing on Saturday’s bill for As Yule Like It
Alexandra Mather’s Reno Sweeney: Leading with pizzazz in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Anything Goes. Picture: Felix Wahlberg
IF your search is for anything but pantomime on the York stage over the festive season, then go full steam ahead for Cole Porter’s 1934 musical, one set on a Christmas steamer, it just so happens.
Pick Me Up Theatre supremo Robert Readman is on design duty (as well as in producer and co-choreographer mode), fitting out the Theatre@41 auditorium with blue-and-white seating on the deck of the SS American, the audience placed port or starboard side in a traverse setting.
The upper deck, as it were, likewise fills the mezzanine level with more seating in familiar sea-faring livery.
Add two white-frosted Christmas trees on raised platforms at either end that open up to turn into beds, and Theatre@41 looks a picture, a picture that has you wanting to join this fast-moving, fizzing, funny and fun party.
Susannah Baines’s Evangeline Harcourt and Mark Simmonds’s Elisha Whitney in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Anything Goes. Picture: Felix Wahlberg
Andrew Isherwood is at the helm, steering Porter’s Anything Goes with a keen eye for comic as well as dancing rhythm, working in tandem with chief choreographer Ali Kirkham, whose CV reveals her past days on cruise ships.
On board is a cast that combines plenty of the cream of York’s theatre world with two new arrivals, Fergus Powell and Thea Fennell, who moved up from Cambridge only two months ago. Two classically trained voices are to the fore too: York Opera leading lady Alexandra Mather fronting a musical theatre production for the first time with aplomb as Reno Sweeney and University of York graduate Claire Gordon-Brown singing delightfully as Hope Harcourt.
As the SS American makes its stately way from New York to London under the ever watchful eye of Adrian Cook’s ship’s Captain, Mather’s nightclub singer-cum-evangelist Reno glides coolly hither and thither, as if Dorothy Parker were penning her lines.
Adam Price’s Billy Crocker, left, Alexandra Mather’s Reno Sweeney and Fergus Powell’s Moonface Martin in Anything Goes. Picture: Felix Wahlberg
Newly red-headed and looking every inch the Thirties’ part, matched by her Angels (Chloe Branton’s Chastity, Sophie Curry’s Virtue and Sophie Kemp’s Charity), Mather’s Reno is working with her forlorn buddy, Wall Street broker Billy Crocker (Adam Price, lovely singing tone), the stowaway desperate to woo his beloved Hope Harcourt (Gordon-Brown’s role).
Porter, as elegant as eloquent in his writing, has such fun with Crocker’s character, who must take on myriad disguises not to blow his stowaway status. Price, light of comic touch, is a joy, particularly when faced with that old Skakespearean comic device of the mistaken identity.
He works well not only with Mather’s Reno, queen of the acid comment, but also with Powell’s Moonface Martin, Public Enemy #13 conman, who joins Reno in backing Crocker’s cause, while also seeking to elude detection. Both have to keep their wits about them, and Porter gives them lines plenty to fit that bill.
Thea Fennell’s Erma Latour is given a lift-off by Charlie Fox, left, and James Robert Ball’s Sailors in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Anything Goes. Picture: Felix Wahlberg
Taking on disguises: Fergus Powell’s Moonface Martin, left, and Adam Price’s Billy Crocker take on ever more extreme steps in Anything Goes. Picture: Felix Wahlberg
Charlie Fox, in a break from cruise-ship engagements, bonds with the equally agile James Robert Ball as a brace of nimble sailors, while Ball has a second string to his comedic bow as the righteous Minister Henry T Dobson, something of a turbulent priest to rock the ocean liner.
Neil Foster first played Hope’s fiancé, Sir Evelyn Oakleigh, the only Englishman aboard, at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre all of 27 years ago, and the role fits him like a familiar glove, immaculately attired, thoroughly decent, delighted by American sayings. You might call Sir Evelyn nice bit dim in that Harry Enfield way, but Foster’s characterisation is more than mere caricature, and he revels in Sir Evelyn’s sudden revelation.
Susannah Baines’s grand mama Evangeline Harcourt (a role shared with Beryl Nairn), Mark Simmonds’s resolute Elisha Whitney and Leo Portal’s busybody Ship’s Purser are all in fine form too, and we are sure to see more of Pick Me Up debutante Fennell on the evidence of her Erma Latour, who’s a scream. Zachary Stoney and Reuben Baines, from Pick Me Up’s autumn hit production of Bugsy Malone, add a youthful spark here too as Spit and Dippy.
Fergus Powell’s Moonface Martin, left, with Reuben Baines’s Dippy, centre, and Zachary Stoney’s Spit. Picture: Felix Wahlberg
Deputising for musical director John Atkin, who was on Father Christmas duty elsewhere on press night, Nigel Ball led the band as merrily as Porter’s wonderful tunes demanded, while Mather, Price and co delighted in his witty lyrics.
Kirkham’s choreography is playful, stylish, thrilling, making the most of the open deck with panache and exuberance, all enhanced by Julie Fisher’s fabulous costume designs. Throughout, Mather leads with pizzazz, hitting the heights with a knockout performance that affirms she is as much at home in musical theatre as opera. Cue a fight for her services! You’re the top, Miss Mather, as the opening number proclaims.
Does the director let anything go in Anything Goes? No, sirree, precision, precision, precision rules as he puts the swish into Isherwood, turning the madcap into the ever maddercap, the tap number into top of the taps, the romantic buds into full bloom.
All the while, the Porter hits keep a’coming: It’s De-Lovely, Let’s Misbehave, Bon Voyage, I Get A Kick Out Of You, Blow, Gabriel, Blow. Isherwood and his company get a kick out of every one of them, and so will you. Truly, it’s delightful, it’s delicious, it’s de-lovely.
Pick Me up Theatre, Anything Goes, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York. Performances, 7.30pm, December 15 to 18, December 20 and December 27 to 30; 2.30pm, December 20, 21 and 27. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Do you bite your thumb at me, sir? James Robert Ball’s Sailor in Anything Goes
Gerard Hobson’s Christmas card design for Yorkshire Wildlife Trust
YORK printmaker and wildlife enthusiast Gerard Hobson has teamed up with the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust to design a mixed-media illustration of a Robin for the charity’s 2025 Christmas card.
York Open Studios regular Gerard, of Water Lane, Clifton, says: “As a Yorkshireman and artist, I hold a deep love for our country’s wild and varied landscapes. Each visit leaves me renewed and inspired by its beauty and the wildlife I encounter, from the snow buntings and swallows to curlews and short-eared owls that influence my work.”
Celebrating the wonder of wildlife this winter, Gerard’s exclusive Robin illustration is available in a pack of eight cards, left blank inside for your own message, on sale at Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s visitor centres at #PottericCarr Nature Reserve, Mallard Way, Doncaster, and Spurn National Nature Reserve, Spurn Head, south of Kilnsea, East Riding.
York printmaker Gerard Hobson at work in his garden studio
Responsibly sourced and 100 per cent recyclable, the cards, envelopes and packaging are on sale at Hobson’s Choice, Gerard’s daughter Grace Bird’s shop in Castlegate, Malton, and online at ywt.org.uk/shop too.
“The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust chose the Robin print,” says Sheffield-born former zoologist Gerard. “The trust felt it had neglected Robins for its card in recent years but said ‘everyone likes them’, so decided the Robin should be the card design for this year.”
The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust is driving nature’s recovery, from the Yorkshire Dales to Flamborough Head. “We care for our nature reserves, landscapes, rivers and coastline so wildlife and people can thrive,” says the trust. “With the help of our members, we are nurturing our wild life and wild places back from the brink. Consider adding your voice to the chorus at: ywt.org.uk/membership.”
A shoe-in for the new Paul: Miles Frizzell, right, takes up his seat as The Bootleg Beatles’ Paul McCartney, making his tour debut in 5: The Concert. Picture: Copyright, The Bootleg Beatles
THE Bootleg Beatles’ latest tour, 5: In Concert, introduces the tribute band’s “new Paul McCartney” in a show built around the Fab Four’s five top-selling albums.
Playing 14 pre-Christmas British dates, including York Barbican on December 15, as part of a huge 2025-2026 European tour, Miles Frizzell, from Nashville, Tennessee, will make his Bootleg debut on this run, performing songs from 1965’s Rubber Soul, 1966’s Revolver, 1967’s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1968’s The Beatles (aka “The White Album”) and 1969’s Abbey Road.
“It’s all here…the iconic mop tops and the Chelsea boots, the Vox amps and the Chesterfield suits,” promises The Bootleg Beatles’ multi-media show. “Each tiny vocal inflection and each witty Beatle quip, all meticulously studied on this Magical Mystery trip. It’s not the Beatles but you simply won’t believe it.”
How come a 21-year-old American from the country capital of Nashville, Tennessee, was drawn to playing Liverpudlian Paul McCartney in The Bootleg Beatles? “The Beatles’ music has always been in my family,” says Miles. “My dad was a huge fan, my mum was a fan, and when I was 12/13, I ‘rediscovered’ a couple of songs I first hear when I was five or six, and I became really obsessed with them.
“The songs they wrote; how they they wrote them; how they dressed…it all became a huge part of my life. Even learning to play the guitar upside down. Some believed it might never happen, but here I am, playing Paul.
“There are some drawbacks to playing guitar this way. Like, usually, in any guitar shop, there are no guitars that I can play. But there are definitely some pros too.
“First of all, I’m going on tour making my British debut in the greatest Beatles’ tribute show in the world, so that can’t be bad!”
This tour is only the second time that Miles has travelled to Britain. “The first was for my audition, meeting the rest of the band for the first time when I auditioned by Putney Bridge in London,” he says.
“There were about 130 people people overall that auditioned, and there were four or five others auditioning on that day, so it was quite competitive. I met only one other, Joe Kane. We had a good chat, talked about The Beatles; how much we both loved them.”
Miles was picked for Paul and returned to UK to rehearse with his new Fab Four compadres from November 18. They first time they would play together would be at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, in The Beatles’ home city, on December 7. What a baptism of fire!
“I’m an American, but you just listen to The Beatles so much, so you can just pick up the accent. Anybody could do it. It just takes time!” he says.
“It’s been a long road, and especially now I’m finding little things with the accent. The music came first for me. I learned how to play like Paul, sing like Paul, singing like a Brit, a Scouser, but The Beatles were also impersonating the American style, so I’m learning as an American how to be a British person, a Scouser and yet American too. We’ve had fun ‘Scousing around’ and I’m enjoying that challenge of ‘Can you tell that I’m an American?’!”
The poster for The Bootleg Beatles’ 5:The Concert itinerary in 2025-2026
It had to be Paul for Miles. “Not only is he a songwriting genius, but also he has this cheeky charm about him, though John [Lennon] was the witty one,” he says. “Paul always feels like the main one, and I don’ think The Beatles could have continued after [manager] Brian Epstein died without Paul leading them. He wasn’t everything in The Beatles but he was the glue.”
The new tour show, 5: In Concert, will take The Beatles’ story from appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show in their iconic suits and white shirts, through green lapels, red satin shirts – the Budokan look, one of Miles’s favourites – and onwards to Sgt. Pepper and the White Album.
“I get to wear a flashy pink suit for that one. It’s an exciting wardrobe change,” he says. “For Abbey Road, you can’t go wrong with what they wore on that iconic album cover, with George in his famous jean look.” And Paul in bare feet, of course!.“We’ve been thinking about that; we’ve kicked around the idea of me being barefooted, in sandals or in Beatle boots.”
To find out what the decision was, you will have to attend Monday’s concert. Miles, meanwhile, is decisive on his favourite of the five albums featuring in the show. “It’s a hard question to answer. It’s always different, actually listening to the album rather than dissecting them,” he says.
“Listening to them, Abbey Road might be my favourite, but getting ready for the tour, I feel I really fancy ‘The White Album’ now. Great orchestration, great songs, and, man, weren’t they in their prime! It feels so Beatley, this band playing great songs and rocking out.”
Still rocking out, after all these years, is one Paul McCartney. “I got to see Paul in Nashville and, two days later, at Atlanta, Georgia. I didn’t meet him but he did wink at me!” says Miles. “Seeing him, it felt spiritual.
“Paul played at this place called The Pinnacle [in the Buckhead neighbourhood of Atlanta]. It holds only 4,000, which is a small venue for Paul, where tickets cost $1,500. I couldn’t make that happen, but I ended up at the last minute going to the venue just to get a glimpse of him as his entourage arrived.
“We went to the box office on the off-chance, and they now had tickets going for 300 dollars for general admission standing tickets, which means you can get as close to the stage as possible. We got to the front, in the middle! Like the Pinnacle name, it was my pinnacle of going to gigs. It was truly incredible!”
Miles continues: “The fact that you can still see Paul McCartney in the flesh, and he still looks great and sounds great, is fantastic. Not everyone gets that opportunity – and with John [Lennon] and George [Harrison], you can only go from the videos now.”
It was only at this point that CharlesHutchPress enquired if Miles had past experience of playing Paul. “I’ve been doing it professionally for four years, since I was 17,” he reveals. “I perform in the USA in The Fab Four show, the Emmy-winning American tribute show, and I also work with a show called 1964 – The Tribute, Forever Abbey and Classical Mystery Tour. I play Paul in all those.”
Ah, right, that’s why it’s a thumbs-up to Miles being picked as “the new Paul” in The Bootleg Beatles.
The Bootleg Beatles, 5: In Concert, York Barbican, December 15, 7.30pm; Sheffield City Hall, December 19, 7pm. Box office: York, yorkbarbican.co.uk; Sheffield, sheffieldcityhall.co.uk; also bootlegbeatles.com/gigs.
Next Door But One movement director Bailey Dowler, left, with writer-director Matt Harper-Hardcastle and cast members Ceridwen Smith, centre, Annie Rae Donaghy and Emily Chattle rehearsing for their Explore York library tour of When Robins Appear
CAROL concerts, festive shows and a musical aboard a Christmas steamer fill Charles Hutchinson’s in-box for December delights.
A different kind of Christmas show of the week: Next Door But One in When Robins Appear, York Explore, today and tomorrow, 11am and 2pm; Tang Hall Explore, December 15, 5.30pm;Clifton Explore, December 18,5.30pm;York Explore, December 20 and 21, 11am and 2pm
WRITTEN and directed by Next Door But One artistic director Matt Harper-Hardcastle, When Robins Appear follows two friends as they face the big changes of moving house, starting new schools and a first Christmas without Grandma, when the festive sparkle seems to be missing.
Equipped with the help of a magical Robin (played by Ceridwen Smith), 12-year-old Ellis (Annie Rae Donaghy) and Lowen (Emily Chattle) are whisked away on a heart-warming journey through their favourite wintery memories to find the magic again. Soon they discover that the real sparkle of Christmas will not be found under the tree, but in the laughter, love and unforgettable moments we share together and that can live forever in our hearts. Tickets update: Sold out. For returns only, go to: www.nextdoorbutone.co.uk.
Adrian Cook’s Captain, top, Alexandra Mather’s Reno Sweeney and Leo Portal’s Ship’s Purser in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Anything Goes
Full steamer ahead of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Anything Goes, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, until December 21, then December 27 to 30
DITCH York’s December chills and climb aboard the S.S. American as it sets sail in Andrew Isherwood’s all-singing, all-dancing staging of Anything Goes, Cole Porter’s swish musical, charting the madcap antics of a motley crew leaving New York for London on a Christmas-themed steamer.
Meet nightclub singer/evangelist Reno Sweeney (Alexandra Mather) and lovelorn Wall Street broker Billy Crocker (Adam Price), who has stowed away on board in pursuit of his beloved Hope Harcourt (Claire Gordon-Brown). Alas, Hope is engaged to fellow passenger Sir Evelyn Oakleigh (Neil Foster). Enter second-rate conman Moonface Martin (Fergus Powell) to join Reno in trying to help Billy win the love of his life. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Dr Lara McClure: Weird and wonderful storytelling in Christmas Presence
Cabaret night of the week: Baps & Buns Burlesque, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, tonight, 7pm
YORK burlesque artiste Freida Nipples hosts her last Baps And Buns Burlesque of 2025 at Bluebird Bakery, joined by drag queens and acrobatic acts for a night of debauched and glamorous cabaret in Acomb. Sorry to raise hopes, but this one is waiting list only at bluebirdbakery.co.uk.
You may have better luck for Christmas Presence, Dr Lara McClure’s weird and wonderful stories for the festive season, on December 17 at 8.30pm. Tickets: bluebirdbakery.co.uk.
Jingle All The Way cast members Emilio Encinoso-Gil and Hannah Christina in rehearsal with musical director Dylan Allcock for Elizabeth Godber’s Christmas play at Pocklington Arts Centre
Deer double act of the week: Jingle All The Way, Pocklington Arts Centre, until December 23; relaxed performance on December 14, 1.30pm
FROM the team behind The Elves And The Shoemaker Save Christmas and Jack Frost’s Christmas Wish comes Elizabeth Godber’s latest Christmas family adventure, co-directed by Jane Thornton with musical direction by Dylan Allcock.
Reindeer siblings Rex (Emilio Encinoso-Gil) and Rosie(Hannah Christina) are reluctant to start at a new school just before Christmas, especially when that school is the East Riding Reindeer Academy, home of supreme athletes. Santa has a position free on his sleigh squad; could this be Rex’s big chance? Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Eve Lorian: Conducting Prima Choral Artists in Christmas concerts at St Olave’s Church, Marygate, York tonight and next Saturday
Choral concerts of the week: Prima Choral Artists, Family Christmas Concerts, St Olave’s Church, Marygate, York, today and December 20, 4pm to 5pm; Choirs At Christmas, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, December 16 to 18, 7.30pm
PRODUCED and conducted by Prima Choral Artists director Eve Lorian, these concerts combine her choir with the New World String Quartet, organist James Webb and pianist Greg Birch in reflective and cheerful Christmas celebrations. Here come high-spirited festive classics, modern choral arrangements and string and organ repertoire, including works by Tchaikovsky and Rawsthorne. Box office: primachoral.com and on the door.
The Joseph Rowntree Theatre plays hosts to three magical fundraising evenings of Christmas classics from Tuesday to Thursday. The Shepherd Brass Band’s brace of Gala Christmas Concerts on December 19 and 20 at 7.30pm are fully booked. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Christmas Carols composer Don Pears, left, York Guildhall Orchestra leader Fiona Love, producer Bob Whitney and conductor Simon Wright
Album launch of the week: A Christmas Selection Box, A Music Night Production with Don Pears and Singphonia Singers, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tomorrow, 7pm
THE Singphonia Singers, a group of talented performers formed by York composer Don Pears, showcases Don and Jo Pears’ festive album Christmas Carols in A Christmas Selection Box. The album will be on sale at Sunday’s concert or can be downloaded from Spotify, Apple iTunes and Amazon Music. Box office: 01904 501935, josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk or on the door.
Steve Cassidy: Performing at York’s Annual Community Carol Concert at York Barbican
Family festive fun of the week: York’s Annual Community Carol Concert, York Barbican, tomorrow, 2pm
SUNDAY is the time to don Christmas jumpers and Santa hats for York’s Annual Community Carol Concert, where Shepherd Brass Band, St Paul’s CE Primary School Choir, All Saints RC School Choir andAmber Ford join special guest Ken Humphreys for an afternoon of Christmas cheer.
Carol concert regular Steve Cassidy sings with the ensemble, while the community singing will be led by musical director Mike Pratt. The Reverend Andrew Foster and Adam Tomlinson will be on hosting duty. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
The poster for The Bootleg Beatles’ Monday concert at York Barbican, focusing on the Fab Four’s five biggest-selling studio albums
Tribute show of the week: The Bootle Beatles, 5: The Concert, York Barbican, December 15, 7.30pm
THE Bootleg Beatles follow up their celebration of songs from The Beatles’ quintet of films with another Famous Five. This time, the focus is on the Fab Four’s top five-selling albums, the Bob Dylan-influenced Rubber Soul, the experimental Revolver, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, heralding the Summer of Love and psychedelia, The White Album, with its glorious mish-mash of styles, and their grand finale, Abbey Road. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Recommended but sold out already: Jools Holland and His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra with special guests Imelda May, Ruby Turner, Louise Marshall and Sumudu Jayatilaka, at York Barbican on December 17, 7.30pm.
Jools Holland: Sold-out return to York Barbican on December 17
Festive folk concert of the week: Green Matthews, Midwinter Revels, National Centre for Early Music, York, December 16, 7.30pm
FOLK duo Chris Green and Sophie Matthews complete a hat-trick of festive visits to the NCEM on Tuesday, following up A Christmas Carol: In Concert and A Brief History Of Christmas with Midwinter Revels.
Spanning several centuries, this celebration of Yuletide Past promises to warm the cockles of even Scrooge’s heart with Christmas carols, winter folk songs, tunes and weird and wonderful instruments, all complemented by Green Matthews’ trademark wit. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
Chris Green and Sophie Matthews: Returning to NCEM full of Christmas cheer
Recommended but sold out alas: Chapter House Choir, Carols By Candlelight, The Nave, York Minster, December 19, 7.30pm
IN The 60th anniversary of the Chapter House Choir, the candlelit Nave of York Minster will play host to Carols By Candlelight, the York choir’s much-loved seasonal tradition, directed by Ben Morris.
A rich selection of carols both old and new will be complemente by the Chapter House Youth Choir, under Charlie Gower-Smith’s direction, alongside festive favourites from the Handbell Ringers. A new commission by French composer Héloïse Werner, marking the choir’s milestone, receives its world premiere. Doors open at 6.45pm.
Kate Rusby singing in a winter winderland. Picture: David Angel
KATE Rusby, Barnsley nightingale, or the “first lady of folk” as her website now calls her, transforms into a Robin redbreast at this festive time of year.
No Yorkshire Christmas would be complete without her alternative carol services, where Kate in sparkly dress reunites her regular folk boys with her guest Brass Boys, glistening instruments standing out against black shirts, as they perform carols deemed too jolly by Victorian glums but resurrected by South Yorkshire pubs for “sings” with a pint in hand from late-November to the New Year.
Over 20 years now, these festive concerts have expanded to take in “Rusbyfied” takes on “Christmas shopping songs”, rediscovered quirky novelties (Hippo For Christmas, Sid Kipper’s Arrest These Merry Gentlemen) and Kate’s own winter songs.
Live recordings from the past five years have been assembled for Kate 20: Christmas Is Merry, a double album on sale only at katerusby.com, through Proper Records and on her tour merch table, or “Craft Shop”, as Kate is wont to call it.
Christmas is all the merrier for the inclusion of five new acoustic recordings [Kris Kringle, Little Jack Frost, Hippo For Christmas, Holly And The Ivy and The Wren) on Kate’s eighth Christmas record. Yes, a remarkable eighth. Sweet bells, what an achievement.
And everything is merrier still for her 20th anniversary being her best, boldest and brightest show yet by our leader of “Holly heads”. Everything has been not so much thrown at it as thoughtfully thought through. We are used to Ruby the nodding reindeer being to the side of the stage, but now her lights change, and on the opposite side sits a lit-up Father Christmas.
Kate’s microphone stand is bedecked as ever with festive foliage; lighting interweaves with winter greenery across the stage apron; a Christmas tree with a star atop and presents at its base, stands at the back. For the first time, Duncan Lyall has not only a Moog at hand but also the 1980s’ organ rescued from the skip grave by Kate after last year’s closure of The Royal Hotel, in Dungworth, brought an end to the pub ‘sings’ there (thankfully now revived in the village hall).
Kate Rusby: A festive fixture at York Barbican, already booked in for December 10 2026
Christmas Is Merry’s stage has been fitted out as retro pub of the Seventies: red (hopefully not sticky) carpet; stools and tables teeming with glasses (“not cleared from the night before,” notes Kate), even a bar with pumps, steaming mulled wine and decorative foil garlands. The ghosts of Slade, Wizzard, Elton John , Gilbert O’Sullivan, John Lennon and Greg Lake hits, Eric & Ernie and Benny Hill’s Ernie could all be popping in.
Over the years, Kate has decorated the back wall of her stage in myriad ways, most memorably with giant crocheted snowflakes. Now she has embraced new technology, as four picture frames light up projections, first with KATE spelled out in knitted white, then with Christmas wrapping paper designs, snowy landscapes, winter windows and, most impactful of all, an animated sequence for the chilling story of the Holly King, the climax to the first set.
Holly King is testament to how rounded, how complete, Kate’s festive musical landscape has become as accordion player Nick Cooke switches to doubling with Josh Clark on thunderous percussion, while Lyall’s Moog is eerier than ever.
Kate’s compositions are now cornerstones of her set, from the stillness of a Christmas Day’s walk in The Frost Is All Over, to the broken angel in the tree as morning awakes in Glorious, and best of all, the New Year’s dawn on a Cornish beach of Let The Bells Ring.
Kate’s Christmas concerts are nights of fresh joy, yet steeped in nostalgia of Christmases past, and so your reviewer is twice reduced to tears, first in Little Town Of Bethlehem, where the brass playing is so sublime atop Kate’s chorister purity.
Later, her proclamation of Let The Bells Ring, and with it Kate’s wish for love to prevail, has CharlesHutchPress transported to a better place, yet still close at hand in God’s Own Country against the grain of the relentless grind of warmongering politicos, such folly amid the holly, so at odds with Kate’s voice as pure as new-fallen snow.
The cover artwork for Kate Rusby’s eighth Christmas album: Kate Rusby 20 Christmas Is Merry, released on December 5
Kate is joker and jester, yet as wise as Shakespeare’s Fools in her trademark banter, her storytelling illuminating the path through each song, whether the reason behind so many versions of While Shepherds Watched, or the inspiration for her own winter songs, or the inclusion of a Cornish folk carol (Christmas Is Merry).
Kate trips the light fantastic through such festive chestnuts as The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year, Winter Wonderland and the encore-closing Yorkshire Merry Christmas, while the likes Of Hark Hark , Sweet Chiming Bells, Here We Come A Wassailing and encore staple Sweet Bells make you thankful the South Yorkshire carollers gave the cold shoulder to those Victorian killjoys.
These Christmas concerts have acquired their own traditions: Kate’s sales pitch for the merch table (new album; natty new blue, white and red Christmas jumpers, and accompanying scarf and bobble hat, given a Rusby catwalk twirl); audience participation in a recording of a kazoo rendition of Sweet Bells; and Kate vacating the stage for “girly songs” to be replaced by “manly” reels led by the impish Irishman Damien O’Kane on banjo.
Oh, and the fancy-dress finale, this year resplendent in the theme of Frozen, the brass boys attired as Trolls, Kate as Kristoff and O’Kane as Olaf, the snowman, an all-consuming costume that has fingers striving to poke their way through huge twig fingers to play guitar, all adding up to a sight as gloriously wild and freewheeling as a school Nativity play.
Let’s meet again this time next winter. Glory be, Kate has confirmed her return to York Barbican on December 10 2026; tickets are on sale already at yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Christmas Is Merry indeed. “Let the bells ring”, sings Kate, “There is nothing now I fear/Let the sun rise on a happy new year.” Let’s raise a glass to that.
Knock, knock, who’s there? Writer Martin Vander Weyer’s Dame Daphne and Oliver Clive’s undoubting Thomas in 1812 Theatre Company’s pantomime Robin Hood’s Helmsley Adventure. Picture: Florrie Stockbridge
MARTIN Vander Veyer is a British financial journalist, business editor of The Spectator and member of the British-American Project.
Polymath Martin is also a poet, playwright, amateur actor, former investment banker in London, Brussels and the Far East, ardent Francophile, music lover, proud Yorkshireman of Flemish ancestry and intrepid traveller to boot.
His Any Other Business column in The Spectator stirred Boris Johnson to crown him “the most oracular and entertaining business commentator in London”. And now, should you be wondering if he has room for any other business in his busy, busy life, Martin has added another string to his ever-expanding bow.
Already Helmsley’s fabulously high-brow, low-blow dame, with the delivery of Edith Evans by way of Victoria Wood, he has scripted 1812 Theatre Company’s properly traditional pantomime for the first time. Where else would you find “the Coalition of the Willing” in a script that is so eloquent, erudite yet mischievously entertaining too?
“I gave up plans for retirement and decided not only to get the frock on again this Christmas but to have a crack at writing a script myself,” he says in his programme notes, adding that he “loves pantomime because its mix of saucy jokes, slapstick, song and romance transports us to a simpler world – and because it brings together so many different skills and talents”.
More fun and games for Martin Vander Weyer’s Dame Daphne and Oliver Clive’s Thomas in Robin Hood’s Helmsley Adventure. Picture: Oli Valenghi
Spot on, Martin, who captures the “theatre is a village” essence of a community pantomime, working in tandem with Helmsley Arts Centre artistic director and bracing panto director Natasha Jones to give so many their moment in the spotlight, while still being the leading light himself, except when he very noticeably scurries to the back in the song-and-dance ensemble routines.
From delayed grand entry to his obligatory tennis racket-projected rally of balls back and forth between dame and audience, to his meta-theatre commentary on the thin plotline, Vander Weyer’s classicist dame, amply bosomy Daphne, is an old-school theatrical delight.
His dame is a saucepot, but never crude. He gives you time to think where his punchline might land, then, like those tennis shots, having set up the double entendre, he volleys it away with panache.
This is typified by his third entry in the pick of Denise Kitchin’s exquisitely detailed designs for the dame’s frocks, throwing everything but the Kitchin sink at them. This one parades pink camouflage military jodhpurs, chest bedecked in medals. “Privates on parade,” he quips. Of course! What else could he say?! You’ll love his digs at neighbouring Pickering too.
Knock Knock jokes have become a staple of the Helmsley panto, along with the repartee, those bouncing balls and the singsong, and here panto daft lad Oliver Clive’s Thomas takes every opportunity to knock, knock out another one, while the audience is encouraged to send in its own suggestions in a Knock Knock competition. Don’t knock it until you have tried it.
Bec Silk’s Robin Hood and Martin Vander Weyer’s Dame Daphne promoting Robin Hood’s Helmsley Adventure
Knock, knock, who else is there? Bec Silk’s Robin Hood is a principal boy in the best tradition of thigh slaps, lusty singing and plucky leadership; Vicki Mason’s understated, girl-next-door Maid Marian has the weight of the world on her shoulders in the Sheriff’s captivity; Joe Gregory’s Sheriff of Pickering brings gravitas and a foie-gras thespian voice to the dark side.
Carolyn Potts’s Friar Tuck, forever nibbling from Tuck’s Tuck Bag, Robert Barry’s Little John, forever firing off his bow and arrow, Simon Read’s stoical Baron Robert of Helmsley and Sarah Barker’s declamatory Sharon, Town Crier of Helmsley, all relish their comic opportunities.
Meanwhile, Millie Neighbour’s Save The Planet Janet is forever popping out of a bin, making magic from her “rubbish” role. Lottie Robson and Daisy Lamb bring feisty bite to the Sheriff’s Savage Hounds.
Aided by Michaela Edens’ choreography, senior chorus trio Jeanette Hambridge, Edwin Youngman and Mani Brown’s Sheep are anything but sheepish in taking centre stage and the Green Team and Red Team’s duties as Maid Marian’s Animal Friends bring a smile to everyone’s face.
Set designer and scenic artist Holly Cawte maximises the compact space with plenty of colour and time-honoured panto structures, always with room aplenty at the front for Vander Weyer’s larger-than-life dame to poke fun, tongue ever further in cheek.
1812 Theatre Company in Robin Hood’s Helmsley Adventure, Helmsley Arts Centre, tonight, 7.30pm; Saturday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm; Sunday, 2.30pm. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
The military camp sight meets the dark side: Martin Vander Weyer’s Dame Daphne and Joe Gregory’s villainous Sheriff of Pickering in 1812 Theatre Company’s pantomime. Picture: Oli Valenghi
Full steam ahead: Fergus Powell’s Moonface Martin and Alexandra Mather’s Reno Sweeney in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Anything Goes. Picture: Felix Wahlberg
YORK, it may be cold outside, but why not climb aboard the S.S. American as Pick Me Up Theatre’s all-singing, all-dancing Christmas production of Anything Goes sets sail at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, from tomorrow?
Directed by Andrew Isherwood, Cole Porter’s swish 1934 Broadway musical follows the madcap antics of a motley crew as they ride the waves from New York to London on a Christmas-themed steamer.
On board are popular nightclub singer/evangelist Reno Sweeney (played by Alexandra Mather) and her pal, lovelorn Wall Street broker Billy Crocker (Adam Price), who has stowed away on board in pursuit of his beloved Hope Harcourt (Claire Gordon-Brown).
Hope, however, is engaged to another passenger, English gent Sir Evelyn Oakleigh, played by Neil Foster, reprising the role he first played 27 years ago. “It’s amazing how I’ve remembered so many of the lines and lyrics,” he says. “They must have been buried somewhere in my memory.”
Sailing to England too is second-rate conman Moonface Martin (Fergus Powell), aka “Public Enemy #13”. Cue song, dance, fabulous farce and “chooey” Big Apple accents as Reno and Moonface try to help Billy win the love of his life.
Full steam a-redhead: Alexandra Mather in her first musical lead role as Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes. Picture: Felix Wahlberg
Reno will be Alexandra Mather’s first lead in a musical after principal roles aplenty for York Opera. “Taking on Reno Sweeney is incredibly exciting for me,” she says. “I’m stepping into such a sharp and charismatic role, which is a dream come true.
“It’s an utterly terrifying prospect, if I’m honest. I’ve been really, really lucky doing lead roles for York Opera, feeling comfortable wrapped in a carpet of familiarity, but Anything Goes is a very different style.
“I’ve been obsessed with the music since 2013 when I bought the soundtrack of the Joel Gray and Sutton Foster production and I’ve listened to the album for years and years, so I’ve looked forward to doing the show for years, and now is the chance.”
Assessing the abiding appeal of Anything Goes, Alexandra says: “With Cole Porter’s music and the brilliant, witty script, the whole experience feels nostalgic, stylish and incredibly glamorous.
“The songs are just so beautifully written. For a singer, they’re just a joy to sing, as Porter worked with some of the great artists of the burgeoning musical theatre scene. The other thing that should be highlighted is the lyrical quality, done to perfection. For someone like me, who often gravitates to the comedy side, it’s irresistible.”
Pick Me Up Theatre’s poster for Anything Goes. All aboard at Theatre@41, Monkgate, but can you spot what’s missing?!
Alexandra has “usually played ingénues and usually with comedy in the role”, but there is room to be more serious in Anything Goes. “In opera, because you’re focusing on the quality of the voice, you’re allowed a broader style of performance as it’s based on waves of emotion,” she says. In musical theatre, seeking a core truth rooted in realism, “you have to have a bit more sincerity,” she suggests.
Director Andrew Isherwood highlights what acting style is needed. “It’s the principle of doing less to get a true performance where they’re still acting but you don’t realise they’re acting,” he says.
“Some characters are larger than life, but Alex’s Reno has more vulnerability in a show where you want the audience to care, to want things to be resolved and to end up right.”
Alexandra adds: “We’re all trying to create these fully realised characters. For example, Andrew has said that I sometimes use an ‘actor’s voice’, so I’m trying to strip that back.”
Blonde-haired Alexandra will be wearing a redhead wig. “It wasn’t me who suggested it!” says real-life partner Andrew. “No, we spoke to Robert (designer Robert Readman) and Jo (wardrobe assistant Jo Hird) as we wanted a really distinctive look for Reno,” she recalls.
York actress and opera singer Alexandra Mather
“We talked about elevating her to a fiery redhead, not to play to clichés, but because it works really well for me, because usually I’m the blonde one playing these blonde roles, but getting into character, suddenly seeing a different person in the mirror, really does help.”
Andrew is promising an immersive production “where we’re all supposed to be on this cruise ship together”, audience and cast alike.”Robert has devised the set with lifebelts, so it feels like you’re on the deck of a ship – and it’s meant to be luxury transatlantic travel, not a budget trip!” he says. As for the costume design, “Reno is in the 1930s’ style of Greta Garbo and Katharine Hepburn.”
On the surface, December 12 to 30 would suggest a busy Christmas season for director and cast, but there will be room for a Christmas break. “Because of the how the dates have fallen, they’re more forgiving than they were for Oliver Twist last year,” says Andrew. “So we’ll have a good stretch of shows up to December 21, then time off from December 22 to 26, and then be back in action from December 27 to 30.”
Pick Me up Theatre in Anything Goes, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, December 12 to 30. Performances, 7.30pm December 12, December 15 to 18, December 20 and December 27 to 30; 2.30pm, December 13, 20, 21 and 27. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Thea Fennell’s Erma Latour, left, James Robert Ball, front, and Charlie Fox’s Sailors and Alexandra Mather’s Reno Sweeney in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Anything Goes. Picture: Felix Wahlberg
