The eyes have it: Love-struck Natalie Windsor’s Titania and Tweedy the clown’s Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, on tour at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Andrew Huggins/Thousand Word Media
GOTHIC Austen, a clowning Bottom, a dose of the blues, a Technicolor dreamcoat, open studios and a reactivated newsroom satire feature in Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations for a busy diary.
York play of the week: Cheltenham Everyman Theatre in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, York Theatre Royal, April 9 to 13, 7pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees
EVERYMAN Theatre Company’s staging of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream puts a new twist on the familiar tale by casting comedy clown Tweedy as Bottom and making him “comedy advisor” on Paul Milton’s production to boot.
The night’s magic, mischief, and mayhem unfold in an enchanted Athenean forest, intertwining the romantic misadventures of four young lovers, the playful meddling of mischievous fairies and the comedic antics of amateur actors, culminating in a tale of love, mistaken identity and reconciliation engineered by Jeremy Stockwell’s meddlesome Puck. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Tom Killner: Soul-drenched Southern rock and Americana at York Blues Festival
Festival of the week: York Blues Festival, The Crescent, York, today, 1pm to 11pm; doors, 12.30pm
NAME of the week? Step forward The 20ft Squid Blues Band, participants in this weekend’s York Blues Festival, curated by Paul Winn and Ben Darwin, hosts of Jorvik Radio’s Blues From The Ouse show and the Ryedale Blues Club.
Performing too will be Dirty Ruby, Bison Hip, The James Oliver Band, Hot Foot Hall, York band DC Blues, The Milk Men and Tom Killner. Tickets update: Sold out; for returns only, yorkbluesfest.co.uk.
Ceramicist Patricia Qua, who will make her York Open Studios debut in Hemplands Drive, York
Preview of the week: York Open Studios, Hospitium, York Museum Gardens, York, today and tomorrow, 10am to 4pm
YORK Open Studios 2024 hosts a taster exhibition this weekend at the Hospitium, ahead of the full event on April 13, 14, 20 and 21. More than 150 artists who live or work within a ten-mile radius of the city will be welcoming visitors to 100 workspaces to show and sell their art, ranging from ceramics, collage, digital, illustration, jewellery and mixed media to painting, print, photography, sculpture, textiles and wood. Among them will be 29 new participants. Full details can be found at yorkopenstudios.co.uk.
Back in the news: The original cast reassembles for Drop The Dead Donkey: The Reawakening! at Leeds Grand Theatre
Breaking News of the week: Drop The Dead Donkey: The Reawakening!, Leeds Grand Theatre, April 9 to 13, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees
THIRTY years since the launch of the trailblazing television series Drop The Dead Donkey, the Globelink News team is back, live on stage for the first time. Original cast members Stephen Tompkinson, Neil Pearson, Susannah Doyle, Robert Duncan, Ingrid Lacey, Jeff Rawle and Victoria Wicks reunite for a new script by sitcom writing duo Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin.
“It’s going to be hugely enjoyable to watch those seven funny, flawed characters from Globelink News being plunged into the cutthroat world of modern 24-hour news-gathering and trying to navigate their way through the daily chaos of social media, fake news, and interim Prime Ministers,” say the writers. Box office: 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.
Go, go, Joseph: Lead actor Reuben Khan in York Stage’s poster for Joseph And The Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Grand Opera House, York
Musical of the week: York Stage in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Grand Opera House, York, April 12 to 20, 7.30pm except April 14, 15 and 19; 2.30pm, April 13 and 20; 4pm, April 14; 5pm and 8pm, April 19
BE ready to paint the city in every colour of the rainbow as Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s musical dazzles the Grand Opera House in York Stage’s vibrant production, directed by Nik Briggs, with musical direction by Adam Tomlinson and choreography by Lesley Hill.
Reuben Khan leads the cast as Joseph, joined by Hannah Shaw as the Narrator, Carly Morton as Pharaoh, Martin Rowley as Jacob, Finn East as Simeon and Matthew Clarke as Potiphar, among others. Tickets are selling fast at atgtickets.com/york.
Shareefa Energy!: Guest performance poet at April 12’s Say Owt Slam at The Crescent
Spoken word clash of the week: Say Owt Slam, featuring Shareefa Energy!, The Crescent, York, April 12, 7.45pm
SAY Owt, “York’s loveable gobby gang of performance poets”, take over The Crescent twice a year for raucous, high-energy nights of verse that combine a slam war of words with a guest performer.
“In a slam, poets have three minutes to wow the audience to become the champion,” says host Henry Raby. “It’s fast, frantic and fun: perfect for people who love poetry, and those who think they hate poetry too.”
Special guest Shareefa Energy! is a poet, writer, activist, educator, creative campaigner, workshop facilitator and arts and wellbeing practitioner of Indian and Muslim heritage from working-class Highfields in Leicester. Box office: thecrescentyork.com or on the door.
Robert Gammon: Performing with Maria Marshall and Alison Gammon at St Chad’s Church
Dementia Friendly Tea Concert: Maria Marshall, Robert Gammon and Alison Gammon, St Chad’s Church, Campleshon Road, York, April 18, 2.30pm
CELLIST Maria Marshall opens this Dementia Friendly Tea Concert with Faure’s Elegy, accompanied by pianist Robert Gammon, who then plays two short solo Grieg piano pieces. Alison Gammon joins them for Beethoven’s trio Opus 11 for clarinet, piano and cello.
The relaxed 45-minute concert, ideal for people who may not feel comfortable at a formal classical concert, will be followed by tea and homemade cakes in the church hall. Seating is unreserved; no charge applies to attend but donations are welcome for hire costs and Alzheimer’s charities.
Lucy Worsley: Revelations about Jane Austen at York Barbican
Show announcement of the week: An Audience with Lucy Worsley on Jane Austen, York Barbican, October 14, 7.30pm
FOLLOWING up her Agatha Christie tour, historian and presenter Lucy Worsley’s latest illustrated talk steps into the world of Jane Austen, one of English literature’s most cherished figures as the author of Pride And Prejudice, Sense And Sensibility and Persuasion.
Through the houses, places and possessions that mattered to Austen, Worsley looks at what home meant to her and to the women like her who populate her novels. Austen lived a “life without incident”, but with new research and insights Worsley reveals a passionate woman who fought for her freedom. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Shirt alert: Which bright idea will Milton Jones try out next on tour?
MILTON Jones, the shock-haired master of the one-liner, has been toying with using his latest tour title for a while.
Cue Ha!Milton, heading for the Grand Opera House, York, on September 7 on his September 3 to December 15 itinerary. “To be honest, people have been encouraging me to use my name in a title for a long time. This one’s been around for seven/eight years,” he says.
“This is not a musical,” he clarifies, wanting to “make it clear that it’s not a spoof of Hamilton”, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s multi award-winning Broadway and West End hit. “I am tone deaf and have no sense of rhythm, but at least I don’t make a song and dance about it.”
In his “whole new show of daftness”, the 59-year-old Kew comedian from BBC Radio 4 solo series and TV panel shows has “more important things to discuss. “Like giraffes…and there’s a bit about tomatoes,” he says.
Giraffes and tomatoes, Milton? “You know what it’s like. You don’t want to be painted into corner when you’re asked for a title and some details a year ahead of a tour without making a rod for your back,” he says.
“I have 200 new jokes, but if it has a story, it’s about my life being tone deaf, starting with a Nativity play, with me playing Angel A and everyone else calling me ‘Angela’.
“I’m also including an AI machine, something called an ‘overhead projector’! It’s nice when you uncover it and you release observational gizmo nostalgia.”
Whereas music fans want bands to play the old hits, comedy audiences demand fresh material. “People want similar, but not the same jokes, and as long as you can provide that, that’s OK,” says Milton.
“To some degree I’m fortunate because I travel at such speed in my shows that people don’t always remember the jokes, but for my own sanity I don’t want to go dead behind the eyes by sticking to the same lines throughout the tour.
“Apparently, I go around the house muttering words, constantly looking at words and images and turning them upside down and then coming up with new things. In fact, soon I’ll be going out for a jog because physical exercise is one of the few things that turns my brain off by putting my body under stress.”
The poster for Milton Jones’s Ha!Milton tour, bound for York Barbican on September 7
Putting a show together, built around quickfire gags and puns, is “not just a case of whether a joke is good or bad, but of how you package it so they don’t see it coming,” says Milton.
“What I like doing is putting something in someone’s head, where they think of one punchline but then it veers off into another one.”
What’s more, Milton does not merely rattle off pun after pun. “You have to try to pace the show overall because, after 15 minutes, people can’t take more of the same,” he says.
“So you have to change the angle of attack, whether it’s with the overhead projector, or with a narrative story or a cartoon, to pace the show and find ways to keep it fresh. That’s why you do work-in-progress shows to do that.
“What you don’t want is for the audience to be ahead of you, so you have to keep making the formula different for the next joke.”
Milton tours regularly and favours long itineraries when doing so. Why? “Possibly because I enjoy it! That’s rather a basic answer, but one of things about Covid, when all of us were at home, we were thinking, ‘how are we going to get out of it, if we are going to get out it?’, and I really missed touring,” he says.
“It takes so long to put together a tour that I might as well do as many dates as possible before doing another one.”
What happens when a new idea pops into that punning cranium? “I can hold about three things in my head, and if I think of something and don’t write it down, normally I’ll run into it again,” he says.
“You think you have brilliant ideas in the night, but then when you look at them in the cold light of day, often they’re not so good. Or sometimes you have a bad idea but you improvise something from it, and you wouldn’t have got to that point without coming up with the first thought. The point is to try something out so at least you’re one step up the ladder to something working.”
Come September 7, let’s see what has become of Milton’s first thoughts on discussing giraffes and tomatoes…
Milton Jones: Ha!Milton, Grand Opera House, York, September 7, 7.30pm. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.Also Sheffield City Hall, December 4, sheffieldcityhall.co.uk; King’s Hall, Ilkley, December 8, bradford-theatres.co.uk.
Look into my eyes: Tweedy’s Bottom and Natalie Windsor’s Titania in Cheltenham Everyman Theatre Company’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Picture: Andrew Huggins/Thousand Word Media
PROFESSIONAL clown Tweedy will be making an ass of himself as “rude mechanical” Nick Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at York Theatre Royal from April 9 to 13.
Cheltenham Everyman Theatre Company director Paul Milton has not only put this new twist on Shakespeare’s tale of magic, mischief and mayhem but appointed the Scottish-born performer as the “comedy advisor” too, utilising his clowning knowledge to give the touring production a modern facelift.
“Throw in Tweedy’s physical slapstick, and we think this is a really enjoyable show for everybody, especially families and students,” says Milton of his aim to “create an accessible Shakespeare show that will appeal to a present-day audience”.
Tweedy will be making his second appearance in York after being one of 35 international acts in Cirque Berserk’s February 2015 show at the Grand Opera House. “There were no animals, apart from a man in a horse’s head pulling a mini-caravan,” read the Press review. “There was a clown, Tweedy from Scotland, with his juggling and unicycling and unfeasibly large and loose trousers.”
Tweedy appears regularly in the Everyman pantomime and also performed in Samuel Beckett’s tragicomedy Waiting For Godot in 2019, prompting chief executive Mark Goucher to put his name forward to director Paul Milton for Bottom: his first ever Shakespearean role (although he did direct Redshift Theatre in Much Ado About Nothing “a long time ago”).
“They suggested Bottom to me and I went ‘yeah’, because it’s a great role…but then initially I wasn’t 100 per cent sure because when I’ve seen Bottom being played, he’s quite arrogant and not that likeable, and as I play the clown, that didn’t feel quite right,” says Tweedy.
Such a comic ass-et: Tweedy the clown in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Picture: Andrew Huggins/Thousand Word Media
“But I just had to think about how I would play him. I realised that it’s not dissimilar to how I clown around in that he gets super-excited. That over-excitement leads to him saying he can do anything, and in that child-like quality, I can see the clown in him.”
Tweedy brings his clowning skills to his second role as comedy advisor for Shakespeare’s tale of love, mistaken identity and reconciliation, set in an enchanted forest wherein the romantic misadventures of four young lovers, the playful meddling of mischievous fairies and the comedic antics of amateur actors (the “rude mechanicals”) intertwine.
“The beauty of physical comedy is you don’t need to rewrite anything; you just add slapstick to what’s already there,” he says. “As a clown I find physical comedy appeals to all ages and generations, so I’m excited to add this element to the production.
“Putting a lot of physicality and slapstick in there feels really good with the mechanicals team I’m working with.”
As for his own performance as Bottom: “There’s the romantic thing going on with Titania, but there’s also that ridiculous thing of being transformed into an ass. Physically that’s fun to play,” he says.
Tweedy is joined in the cast by his old friend Jeremy Stockwell as the meddlesome Puck after playing Estragon to Stockwell’s Vladimir in the Everyman Theatre’s Waiting For Godot. “Paul [Milton] put us together for that, and afterwards I said ‘No, never again with Paul!” he says, playfully as it turns out, because Stockwell was within hearing distance after entering the rehearsal room.
Tweedy the clown with his trademark red tuft
In truth Tweedy had loved performing that play alongside Stockwell. “You’re on stage the whole time,” he says. “I see them as clowns in a dire situation, and you know what they say about clowns: ‘when you look into the eyes of a good clown, you see the humour in the human condition’,” he says.
“Jeremy and I come from similar backgrounds; we love to play and draw the audiences in so they feel involved, and of course we love to create mischief, so I’m really looking forward to having lots of fun.
“Bottom and Puck don’t spend much time together in the play, but Jeremy is also playing one of the mechanicals, Smug, so we do have scenes together. It’s always great if you have chemistry with someone as it becomes infectious. The thing with the clown is to have fun and joy, and when audience sees how much joy you’re having, it rubs off on everyone else. We’re very lucky that it’s a great cast, where we’re having great fun with the play.”
Should you be wondering how Tweedy acquired that name, he explains: “When I first joined Zippo’s Circus, I was going to call myself ‘Weedy the clown’ as my last name is Digweed, but I was told there was already a Weedy, so Zippo himself suggested adding the ‘T’ to make it Tweedy. It just felt right and had a Scottish connection too.”
As ever, Tweedy will be parading his trademark red tuft. “When I first started, I wore big traditional make-up, big shoes etc,” he says. “I never really liked wigs so dyed all my hair red. During a show I did a routine where I’d fall into a birthday cake; I’d lie there for a really long time; I found it got good laughs just to lie there.
“One day, however, the candles didn’t go out. I was lying there thinking, ‘this is getting a bigger reaction than usual’. I then smelled singed hair and realised my hair was on fire. Luckily, I wasn’t hurt. All that was left was a red tuft, which I really liked the look of, so I kept it. I like to think of it as a modern equivalent of a red nose as I no longer wear a clown nose.”
Cheltenham Everyman Theatre Company in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, York Theatre Royal, April 9 to 13, 7pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Copyright of The Press, York
Did you know?
TWEEDY has worked as a comic stuntman at Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show at Disneyland Paris, performing alongside cowboys and Native Americans.
And finally…
How did you react to receiving a British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to circus and the local community in the honours list, Tweedy? “Initially confused. I nearly didn’t get it; for some reason they couldn’t get hold of me to accept it; they phoned my agent who thought it was a joke. By the time I got the email to accept, the deadline had passed. Lucky they didn’t stick to the deadline.
“When it was announced, I felt very proud. It’s not something as a clown I expected. It’s also good news for circus as it’s the first time it’s been specifically for circus, opposed to entertainment.”
Rebecca Banatvala, back, AK Golding, middle, and Sam Newton, front, in Northanger Abbey at the SJT, Scarborough. Picture: Pamela Raith
GOTHIC Austen, a clowning Bottom, dark pop chat, vintage blues and harmonious folk feature in Charles Hutchinson’s suggestions for a busy diary.
Play of the week outside York: Northanger Abbey, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, until April 13, 7.30pm plus 1.30pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees
ZOE Cooper adapts Jane Austen’s coming-of-age satire of Gothic novels in a co-production by the SJT, Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, Octagon Theatre, Bolton, and Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, starring Rebecca Banatvala (Cath), AK Golding (Iz) and Sam Newton (Hen) under Tessa Walker’s direction.
In a play fizzing with imagination, humour and love, Cath Morland knows little of the world, but who needs real-life experience when you have books to guide you? Cath seizes her chance to escape her claustrophobic family life and join the smart set in Bath. Between balls and parties, she meets worldly, sophisticated Iz, and so Cath’s very own adventure begins. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
Megson: Folk duo Debs and Stu Hanna at Helmsley Arts Centre
Folk concert of the week: Megson, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 7.30pm
BRITISH folk duo Megson combines Debs Hanna’s vocals, whistle and piano accordion with Stu Hanna’s guitar, mandola and banjo on songs filled with perceptive lyrics and exquisite musicianship. An infectious mix of heavenly vocals, lush harmonies and driving rhythmic guitars mark their concerts, topped off with northern humour between numbers.
Chalking up 13 studio albums in 20 years, the four-time BBC Radio 2 Folk Award nominees and two-time Spiral Earth Award winners will be showcasing their latest release, March 2023’s What Are We Trying To Say?. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Red, a dare: Tweedy’s Bottom, clowning around and chancing his luck in love in the Everyman Theatre Company’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, on tour at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Andrew Huggins/Thousand Word Media
York play of the week: Cheltenham Everyman Theatre in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, York Theatre Royal, April 9 to 13, 7pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees
THE Everyman Theatre Company staging of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream puts a new twist on the familiar tale by casting comedy clown Tweedy as Bottom and making him “comedy advisor” on Paul Milton’s production to boot.
The night’s magic, mischief, and mayhem unfold in an enchanted forest in Athens, intertwining the romantic misadventures of four young lovers, the playful meddling of mischievous fairies and the comedic antics of amateur actors, culminating in a tale of love, mistaken identity and reconciliation engineered by Jeremy Stockwell’s meddlesome Puck. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
John Robb: Rock’n’roll tales at Pocklington Arts Centre
Pop chat of the week: John Robb: Do You Believe In The Power Of Rock’n’Roll?, Pocklington Arts Centre, April 11, 8pm
JOHN Robb discusses his life in music; his pop culture book Art Of Darkness: The History Of Goth; being the first person to interview Nirvana; inventing the word Britpop and his adventures on the post-punk frontline.
Blackpool-born Robb is an author, musician, journalist, television and radio presenter and pundit, music website boss, publisher, Louder Than Words festival boss, eco-warrior and talking-head singer of The Membranes. His special guest is The Sisters Of Mercy co-founder Gary Marx. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Pianist Robert Gammon: Performing with Maria Marshall and Alison Gmmon at musical tea concert
Dementia Friendly Tea Concert: Maria Marshall, Robert Gammon and Alison Gammon, St Chad’s Church, Campleshon Road, York, April 18, 2.30pm
CELLIST Maria Marshall opens this Dementia Friendly Tea Concert with Faure’s Elegy, accompanied by pianist Robert Gammon, who then plays two short solo Grieg piano pieces. Alison Gammon joins them for Beethoven’s trio Opus 11 for clarinet, piano and cello.
The relaxed 45-minute concert, ideal for people who may not feel comfortable at a formal classical concert, will be followed by tea and homemade cakes in the church hall. Seating is unreserved; no charge applies to attend but donations are welcome for hire costs and Alzheimer’s charities. On-street parking along Campleshon Road complements the church’s small car park.
The Nightcreatures’ Henry Botham and Tom Davies: Blues songs and stories at Milton Rooms, Malton
Blues gig of the week: The Nightcreatures, Farewell To Storyville, Songs and Stories from New Orleans, Milton Rooms, Malton, April 12, 8pm
THE Nightcreatures duo of pianist Henry Botham and guitarist and singer Tom Davies take a journey to old New Orleans for a night of songs and stories, serving up a spicy gumbo of filthy blues, funky grooves and classic tunes.
Old blues, Mardi Gras songs and vintage New Orleans material are explored, drawing on the heritage of Dr John, James Booker, Professor Longhair, Allen Toussaint and the great Louisiana bluesmen. Jenny Wren and Her Borrowed Wings, a trio led by singer and double bassist Jenny Trilsbach, support. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Sam Jewison: Interpreting the Great American Songbook at the SJT
Jazz gig of the month: Sam Jewison, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, April 27, 7.30pm
JAZZ singer and pianist Sam Jewison returns to the SJT after a sold-out show in 2023 to perform his interpretation of the Great American Songbook in a fusion of jazz, classical and popular music.
Expect to hear new treatments of songs from the Broadway stage, Hollywood screen and golden age of American popular music, made famous Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and Oscar Peterson, from the pens of Cole Porter, Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin. Joining Jewison will be Fraser Smith (tenor saxophone), Harry Sankey (guitar), Harry Evans (double bass) and Joe Dessauer (drums). Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
Lucy Worsley: Revelations from the life of Jane Austen at York Barbican
Show announcement of the week: An Audience with Lucy Worsley on Jane Austen, York Barbican, October 14,
FOLLOWING up her Agatha Christie tour, historian Lucy Worsley’s latest illustrated talk steps into the world of Jane Austen, one of English literature’s most cherished figures as the author of Pride And Prejudice, Sense And Sensibility and Persuasion.
Through the houses, places and possessions that mattered to Austen, Worsley looks at what home meant to her and to the women like her who populate her novels. Austen lived a “life without incident”, but with new research and insights Worsley reveals a passionate woman who fought for her freedom. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Leg power: Riverdance celebrates 30 years with The New Generation tour in 2025, playing York, Sheffield and Hull among 30 UK venues
RIVERDANCE 30: The New Generation will visit York Barbican for five performances from October 24 to 26 2025 on the Irish dance troupe’s 30th anniversary tour.
The British leg of next year’s global travels will take in 30 venues – one for each year of Riverdance’s history – from August to December, including further Yorkshire performances at Sheffield City Hall from August 16 to 18 and Hull Connexin Live on October 7.
For the 30th anniversary, Riverdance will welcome a new generation of performers who were not born when the show began. Those beginnings were as an eight-minute interval act in the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest at The Point in Dublin, where Michael Flatley was among the original dancers.
Directed by John McColgan, produced by Moya Doherty and featuring compositions by Bill Whelen, Riverdance 30 will “rejuvenate the original show with new innovative choreography and costumes and state-of-the-art lighting, projection and motion graphics” in a performance by dancers, musicians and singers that will blend the traditional with the contemporary.
McColgan says: “It is both a privilege and a delight to celebrate 30 years of Riverdance and the unique journey it has taken us on. In those 30 years, the show has transformed from a spectacle into a global cultural phenomenon – continuously evolving yet remaining true to its Irish roots.
“On this upcoming tour we look forward to welcoming ‘The New Generation’ of artists while paying tribute to the talented performers, creators, dedicated crew and the millions of fans who have made Riverdance a worldwide celebration of music and dance.”
Irish green: Anniversary celebrations in Riverdance 30: The New Generation
Principal dancer and dance captain Fergus Fitzpatrick says: “Being part of Riverdance’s journey is an absolute honour. It’s truly a dream come true to get to perform the principal role in this phenomenon.
“As we approach our 30th anniversary, the excitement for the incredible work our team and creative talents are about to unveil is palpable.
“I can’t wait to see what they will produce and feel the excited pulse of the audience’s response. This milestone is not just a celebration of Riverdance’s past but a light that inspires the new generation of performers all around the world.”
Fellow principal dancer and dance captain Amy Mae Dolan adds: “I am fascinated to see how Riverdance continues to grow and evolve over the next decade. I have no doubt that it will continue to surpass our expectations, move audiences and inspire new generations for dancers to come.”
Riverdance 30: The New Generation, York Barbican, October 24 to 26 2025, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday and Sunday matinees. Box office: axs.com/york.
Sheffield City Hall, August 16 to 18 2025, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday and Sunday matinees; sheffieldcityhall.co.uk. Hull Connexin Live, October 7 2025, 7.30pm; connexinlivehull.com.
Pick Me Up Theatre’s leading couple for Sunday In The Park With George: Husband and wife Adam Price and Natalie Walker at Moorlands Nature Reserve. Picture: Matthew Kitchen
PICK Me Up Theatre follow up last week’s Sondheim We Remember revue with a swift return to Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, in Sunday In The Park With George.
New York composer Stephen Sondheim’s 1984 collaboration with playwright and director James Lapine follows French post-Impressionist painter Georges Seurat (played by Adam Price) in the months leading up to the completion of his most famous painting, A Sunday Afternoon On The Island Of La Grande Jatte.
Consumed by his need to “finish the hat”, the controversial Seurat alienates the French bourgeoisie, spurns his fellow artists and neglects his long-suffering mistress Dot (Natalie Walker), not realising that his actions will reverberate through the next 100 years.
Running from April 5 to 13, director and designer Robert Readman’s production also features Alexandra Mather and Nicola Holliday as Celeste, Mark Simmonds as Franz, James Willstrop as Jules, Neil Foster as Soldier, and Sanna Jeppsson as Yvonne, among others.
Pick Me Up Theatre present Sunday In The Park With George, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, April 5 to 13, 7.30pm except April 8; 2.30pm, April 6, 7 and 13.
Adam Price and Natalie Walker: the back story
ADAM grew up in Goole, where he has always had a keen interest in history and music.
His father was a gigging musician in a band and, as a result, Adam started playing guitar and singing as a teenager – joining several bands of his own.
He studied history at Lancaster University and Queen Mary’s College, University of London, and has a particular interest in the First World War, regularly visiting the battlefields to research.
He has run several tours of the battlefields as a guide and writes a blog about the servicemen of Goole.
As well as history, he has a keen interest in travel, working as a travel consultant for an independent travel company just outside York.
His interest in musical theatre came much later and he made his debut with Pick Me Up Theatre in My Fair Lady in 2017. He then played Young Buddy in Follies in 2018, followed by Dad’s Army in 2019, and the role of Marlowe in Shakespeare In Love in 2022.
Natalie Walker and musical director Matthew Clare in rehearsals for Sunday In The Park With George
NATALIE has been interested in music from an early age and started to play piano at the age of eight.
She studied music and theatre at Hull University and began working professionally as a musician in 2009. She runs two choirs in Goole, as well as managing Castaway
Goole with Pick Me Up Theatre’s Robert Readman: a charity that provides life- changing opportunities through the arts to adults and young people with disabilities and autism conditions.
Musical theatre has always been a passion, leading to her being the musical director for Pick Me Up’s production of Shakespeare In Love in 2022, using period instruments to support the score.
Since then, she has worked on Pick Me Up’s productions of The Sound Of Music, Oh What A Lovely War and Matilda. She has worked professionally with She Productions in Beverley, Snappy Operas and Middle Child in Hull.
ADAM and Natalie first met in 2009 when he joined a choir that she was accompanying.
They share a great love of music and first came together by singing as an acoustic duo. They still enjoy singing and playing together regularly and were married – after a long Covid delay! – in 2022.
They live in Bainton, near Driffield, after buying a derelict house and renovating it over several years.
“Sunday in the Park has been a lovely opportunity to spend time in the theatre together, being a pretend couple as well as a real one!” they say.
“Rehearsing together has been a genuinely lovely process,” say Adam and Natalie. Picture: Matthew Kitchen
Here CharlesHutchPress interviews husband and wife Adam Price and Natalie Walker about playing painter Georges Seurat and his lover Dot
What attracted you to auditioning for the role of artist Georges Seurat, Adam?
“Seurat is such a fascinating character to explore. In some respects, he can be seen as a very simple character who is solely driven by his work to the exclusion of all others.
“Yet there are so many moments in the show when we see the conflict that is constantly playing out within him, how he struggles to manage his relationships with people around him, and even how he processes the criticism of his work and questions his vision.
“He is a character who struggles to connect with those closest to him and it is the challenge of communicating that struggle to an audience that attracted me to the role.”
What sparked your desire to perform in musical theatre, on top of your interest in history, the First World War, battlefield tours and travel?
“I grew up in a musical family and always enjoyed singing and playing music. I was first introduced to musicals through my grandad. He used to perform in dance bands and was always listening to jazz standards, including Gershwin and Cole Porter. “Later in life, I started watching the shows instead of just listening to the songs in isolation and it opened up a whole new world for me.
“My musical theatre knowledge was very limited and it was Natalie who really introduced me to the whole variety of the genre, including Sondheim, as well as singing show tunes in The Warblers.
“I always enjoyed singing but was not sure about the acting side of things until I did a theatre workshop a few years ago with Andy Reiss, who had directed the touring production of Les Miserables.
“I really enjoyed the whole experience and thought I would give performing a go. Performing in musicals is so much fun and rewarding and is a great way of giving you self-confidence.
“What I especially enjoy about performing is that it gives you the opportunity to step out of yourself and inhabit a completely different character for a time, getting under the skin of a character, finding out what motivates them, how they see the world; it can be revealing and rewarding.
What do you most enjoy about performing for Pick Me Up Theatre?
“York has a really rich amateur theatre scene, so it was natural to look to York when I was thinking about joining a company and Pick Me Up has such a good reputation for the quality of their shows.
“They were auditioning for My Fair Lady at the time, which was special for me as it was the first musical that I watched and enjoyed, so I gave it a go. I was very lucky because it was such a great cast, and I learned a lot; everyone was so welcoming and worked so hard to get the best out of their performance that I knew I had found a home there.
“Coming to amateur theatre later in life, I’d always been inhibited by the reputation it is has for being cliquey, but I’ve never experienced that in any shows I’ve done or when working with Pick Me Up.
“Robert is always willing to give people a chance, and if he thinks you’re right for a role then that is that. He always assembles a dedicated and talented cast and crew and always has a clear vision for what he wants to achieve.”
“We’ve had the benefit of being able to run lines and work on songs at home, so it’s been really nice to be fully immersed in the show as much as possible,” say Adam and Natalie. Picture: Matthew Kitchen
What are the characteristics of Sondheim’s composing skills that you most admire?
“Sondheim is a craftsman, pure and simple. Nothing is by chance and even the most seemingly frivolous throwaway musical phrases or lyrics have been carefully considered and backed up with an unrivalled ability and knowledge of his art, coupled with a deep psychological understanding of the human condition.
“What I love in particular is the relationship between the music and lyrics; they work together rather than one simply being laid on top of the other, as you often get with other composers. Ultimately, he was respectful of his audience and always wanted to give them the best of himself.”
Has growing up in Goole had an impact on you?
“I think we are all affected by where we grew up. Goole has had its share of problems, but its people are friendly, caring, decent and down to earth. No matter where else I’ve ended up in my life, growing up in a community like that, you realise that qualities like that are the most important.”
What would be your perfect Sunday in the park? Spent where? With whom? Food? Drink?
“I aspire to be a real epicurean so there is nothing I would like more than spending Sunday in a park with friends, talking about everything: life, art, music, philosophy. Laughter and conversation are the best music in life. I honestly wouldn’t need anything else.”
With all that travelling nous, do you have a favourite park you have visited, one you would recommend visiting, and one you most want to visit that you are yet to do so?
“That is a tough question. I will always have a soft spot for Regent’s Park, as that was my local park when I was living in London, and living in a big city, it was the place I could go for a bit of greenery.
“For people watching, the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris is wonderful and Central Park is an incredible place to just wander around and get lost in. Ultimately though, I don’t think you have to journey a long way; everyone should take time out to visit their local park every now and then. It’s always a good opportunity to get out and take a break, as well as a place to connect with your local community.”
Do you have a favourite hat? If so, why that one?
“I’ve always been a big fan of bobble hats. I have a bobble hat that I’ve had for about 14 years that is nice and warm, but it is also incredibly comfortable, so I tend to wear it all year round, not just in winter.”
Pick Me Up Theatre’s poster for Sondheim We Remember and Sunday In The P:ark With George
What attracted you to auditioning for the role of Dot, Natalie?
“Dot is a character that truly goes on a journey in this show. She can be feisty and fiery but at the heart of it just wants to be seen and loved. The role is a real challenge as, ironically, she’s not two-dimensional at all. I think that is what attracted me most to her character as there’s so much depth to be found.
Her relationship with George is also incredibly interesting to try and get right. Both need to be likeable enough that an audience will root for them, but also damaged enough that their relationship could never be conventional.
“The interesting thing for me is that Dot is the character who truly changes throughout the show, against the rigidity of George and his unwillingness to look away from his painting and truly look at her.”
When were you last on stage in a show, rather than taking the musical director’s role?
“I’ve been on stage singing/playing a fair amount, including performing as one of the on-stage singers in Dad’s Army in 2018, but actually doing a show with any sort of narrative or characters, I would take a guess that it’s been about ten years!
“I think the closest I’ve come is being on-stage musical director for two productions of Beverley Does Broadway with She Productions at East Riding Theatre in 2022 and 2023.
“There was a bit of acting and a couple of lines to learn, but I was very much playing a version of myself for those shows, so it’s quite a big switch for me to be on the stage in character rather than under/behind it!
“Performing in Sunday In The Park With George is a great opportunity to tread the boards again, after spending many hours in the pit!”
What first attracted you to work with Pick Me Up Theatre?
“I’ve always admired Pick Me Up for the high quality of the shows that they produce. The talent in the York area is astounding, and the vision for each show is always executed so beautifully. It was actually Adam that first worked with Pick Me Up after auditioning for My Fair Lady in 2017, and after seeing a few performances I couldn’t resist throwing my hat into the ring.
“Having been an audience member for several of their shows, I think the real joy is seeing that there is absolutely nothing amateur about the productions and everyone involved works so hard to make the best show possible.
Sanna Jeppsson’s Yvonne poses against the backdrop of Georges Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon On The Island Of La Grande Jatte
“I first started working with Pick Me Up as a singer in Dad’s Army but then went on to musically direct Shakespeare In Love (with full period costume and instruments!)
“I also think their choice of shows is really inspired, with genuinely out-of-the-box choices, rather than just the standard crowd pleasers in the amateur scene!”
What are the characteristics of Sondheim’s composing skills that you most admire?
“The thing that I love about Sondheim is that nothing is ever an accident. Every note has been placed very specifically for a reason, whether it’s a note for every magic bean in the Into The Woods theme, or the placement of a blob of paint in Sunday [In The Park With George].
“The same is true of Sondheim as a lyricist: every word has value and nothing is ever thrown away for the sake of a rhyme or rhythm. Everything about Sondheim’s work is truly crafted, and it makes it such a delight to delve into, as there are constantly new things to discover on each reading.”
What was the most important lesson you learnt for performing in your studies at Hull University?
“I think people often think that being successful in music or theatre means that you have to be some sort of diva or have a massive ego. During my degree, I actually found, quite reassuringly, that the opposite was the case. The ability to be supportive of other people and work well together, either as a cast or as a band makes not only a more pleasant experience, but also creates the best work.
“As boring as it sounds, I think just learning to work hard is a big part of it – there is no glory in being lazy and expecting everyone else around you to make allowances!”
Which choirs do you run in Goole? Where do they perform and how often?
“I run two choirs known as the Warblers – one sings pop music; the other sings show tunes. The choirs have been running since 2009 and have around 90 members. They’ve developed a really great reputation in Goole thanks to their twice-yearly concerts at Junction, often performing with other musicians – recently including West End performers, brass bands and stars of English National Opera.
They were also part of the Song For Us project over lockdown where they premiered a new piece by Goole-born composer Gavin Bryars virtually. The choirs are now going through some changes as, until 2023, it was a joint venture between myself and a colleague, who has now retired.
“This presented an exciting opportunity for me to continue the hard work of the last 15 years! We’re hoping to go from strength to strength and are working towards our next concert in July.”
Neil Foster’s Soldier and Mark Simmonds’s Franz blend into Georges Seurat’s painting
What does running Castaway Goole with Robert Readman involve?
“Castaway is a wonderful charity that provides life-changing opportunities through the arts to adults and young people with learning and physical disabilities, mental health difficulties and autism conditions.
“They provide weekly classes in music, singing, drama, art, craft, dance and musical theatre to approximately 50 members who may not be able to access these opportunities elsewhere.
“Castaway is actually where Robert and I met, when I was asked to play piano for their production of Just So in 2017. Since then, we’ve worked together on four full-scale musicals and a film version of David Copperfield, after the stage production was cancelled due to Covid.
“After the retirement of the charity’s founder in 2022, Robert and I were given the role of general manager and now oversee the running of the whole charity. Every day is completely different but incredibly rewarding in its own way!
“We stage a full-scale musical once a year, as well as co-ordinating staff in running the other classes throughout the week.
“I also run the Castaway Sing community choir, who perform regularly in the area at various events. We always say that we get far more back from the members than we could ever put in – it really is such a rewarding place to work, and the achievements of the members are absolutely huge.
“Robert often jokes that we’re ‘work husband and wife’ because we always seem to know what the other one is thinking, so it’s made for a very interesting process being directed as part of the on-stage cast, rather than working alongside one another!”
What have been the highlights of your career as a professional musician?
“It’s so difficult to pinpoint anything in particular as I genuinely love every job that I do. I wanted to be a professional musician from a young age but it’s such an uncertain field that I never 100 per cent believed that it would happen, particularly combined with my love of theatre.
“As soon as I started to work as an accompanist and musical director, I knew it was the job I wanted to do forever! The highlights for me are always those that involve making work with people who you really gel with and with whom you share a mutual respect.
“I’ve worked with a few theatre companies in the past couple of years where this has been the case, but none more-so than She Productions in Beverley, so I think working with them would be my highlight so far!”
What would be your perfect Sunday in the park? Spent where? With whom? Food? Drink?
“My perfect Sunday in the park would involve English springtime, music, friends, family and lots of food! I can’t think of anything better than a sunny day spent with the people I love most, and tons of homemade cake!
“I don’t actually drink but unlimited tea and coffee is the absolute dream. Peace and tranquillity is great, but I would also never say no to some sporting activity – you can’t beat a good game of rounders (as long as it’s followed by more cake!)
Do you have a favourite hat? If so, why that one?
“I’m not really much of a hat wearer! But there is something about the comfort of a woolly hat in winter that can’t be beaten – and if it’s got a bobble on top, all the better!”
Adam Price and Natalie Walker: “Sunday In The Park has been a lovely opportunity to spend time in the theatre together, being a pretend couple as well as a real one!” Picture: Matthew Kitchen
Joint questions for Adam and Natalie
Where did you marry?
“At St Michael’s Church in Eastrington, Natalie’s childhood village church, where she still plays organ for Sunday services. Natalie comes from a farming family, so we held the reception in her parents’ barn. Her parents are both incredibly creative and they made it look absolutely stunning – it was a dream come true!”
Have you performed in a musical together previously?
“We both performed as singers in Pick Me Up Theatre’s production of Dad’s Army in 2018. Aside from that, Adam performed in Oh What A Lovely War, for which Natalie was musical director, but that’s as close as we’ve got until now!”
How have you found the experience of rehearsing together?
“It’s been a genuinely lovely process, as usually one or the other of us is heading off to a rehearsal somewhere without the other one, so it’s been great to share the experience.
“We’ve also had the added benefit of being able to run lines and work on songs at home, so it’s been really nice to be fully immersed in the show as much as possible.
“Sometimes you do wonder if it’s going to affect your relationship if you constantly have to play tension between each other, but we’ve been pretty good at leaving the tension in the rehearsal room and going back to talking about what we’re having for dinner!”
How is the house renovation going?
“After buying a derelict house the week before the first national lockdown, it’s been a rather lengthy process but we now have a finished home that we absolutely love, and we’re just waiting on some nice weather to make the garden slightly less reminiscent of a swamp!”
Putting themselves in the picture: Sunday In The Park With George cast members James Willstrop (as Jules), left, Neil Foster (Soldier), Natalie Walker (Dot) and Sanna Jeppsson (Yvonne), front, pose with Georges Seurat’s painting
The four doormen of the apocalypse: John Godber Company in Bouncers, on tour at York Theatre Royal
THE northern 1980s and Bath society in 1798, French park life and a canny tortoise stir Charles Hutchinson into heading out of the front door.
York play of the week: John Godber Company in Bouncers, York Theatre Royal, April 5, 7.30pm; April 6, 2.30pm and 7.30pm
MEET Lucky Eric, Judd, Les and Ralph, the original men in black, as they tell the torrid tale of one Eighties’ night in a Yorkshire disco in John Godber’s northern parody of Saturday Night Fever. All the gang are out on the town, the lads, the lasses, the cheesy DJ, the late-night kebab man, and the taxi home, under the watchful eyes of the Bouncers (Nick Figgis, George Reid, Frazer Hammill and newcomer Tom Whittaker).
“We’re delighted to be taking Bouncers back to the heyday of disco and the 1980s,” says Goober. “Looking back, there was so much wrong with the decade but also so much to celebrate; this new production dances a balance between what was great and what is cringe-worthy now!” Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Rebecca Banatvala, back, AK Golding, middle, and Sam Newton, front, in Northanger Abbey at the SJT, Scarborough. Picture: Pamela Raith
Play of the week outside York: Northanger Abbey, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, until April 13
ZOE Cooper adapts Jane Austen’s coming-of-age satire of Gothic novels in a co-production by the SJT, Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, Octagon Theatre, Bolton, and Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, starring Rebecca Banatvala (Cath), AK Golding (Iz) and Sam Newton (Hen) under Tessa Walker’s direction.
In a play fizzing with imagination, humour and love, Cath Morland knows little of the world, but who needs real-life experience when you have books to guide you? Cath seizes her chance to escape her claustrophobic family life and join the smart set in Bath. Between balls and parties, she meets worldly, sophisticated Iz, and so Cath’s very own adventure begins. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
Yu Wakizuka’s Hare in Northern Ballet’s Tortoise & The Hare, racing around York Theatre Royal. Picture: Sophie Beth Jones
Children’s show of the week: Northern Ballet in Tortoise & The Hare, York Theatre Royal, Tuesday, 2pm, 4pm; Wednesday, 11am (Relaxed Performance), 2pm, 4pm
CHOREOGRAPHED by former Northern Ballet dancers Dreda Blow and Sebastian Loe, Tortoise & The Hare is an introduction to live ballet, theatre and music for “little ones”. When cheeky Hare can’t stop boasting about his speed, thoughtful Tortoise, so tired of being teased for his slowness, decides to challenge him in a race. No-one thinks Tortoise can win, but once Hare is distracted by games and treats, Tortoise might surprise everyone.
Leeds company Northern Ballet’s 40-minute adaptation of Aesop’s fable features an original score by Bruno Merz, set designs by Ali Allen and live music performed by Northern Ballet Sinfonia members. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Benjamin Francis Leftwich: Opening his spring tour at Leeds Brudenell Social Club
Gig of the week: Benjamin Francis Leftwich, Leeds Brudenell Social Club, Thursday, 7.30pm
YORK singer-songwriter Benjamin Francis Leftwich follows up Dirty Hit Records’ February 9 release of his fifth album, Some Things Break, with a nine-date spring tour that opens in Leeds.
He will perform alongside The 1975’s guitarist and keyboard player Jamie Squire on a tour managed by Bradley Blackwell, former bassist and keyboards player in The York band The Howl & The Hum.
Benjamin has released a 15-minute film of Some Things Break, directed by Harvey Pearson, that combines documentary footage of the recording process with interviews and four live videos of album tracks featuring Squire on keyboards and backing vocals. You can watch the film at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqAUE3jrp6w
Now based in Tottenham, London, Benjamin will be returning to York on July 18 to open the bill for Jack Savoretti’s open-air concert in York Museum Gardens on July 18. Box office: Leeds, brudenellsocialclub.seetickets.com; York, jacksavoretti.com/events.
Jessica Fostekew: On her mettle at Pocklington Arts Centre
Comedy gag of the week: Jessica Fostekew, Mettle, Pocklington Arts Centre, Thursday, 8pm
IN her new stand-up show of passion, pace and purpose, Jessica Fostekew’s son has joined a cult and her cat has learnt to talk. Nevertheless, she feels fine. In fact she is hurtling faster and hustling harder than ever for the things that she wants and needs.
Fostekew appeared in the sitcom Motherland and Sundance Festival Grand Jury prize-winning film Scrapper and is a regular co-host of The Guilty Feminist podcast, host and creator of her own podcast about eating, Hoovering, and the star and writer of BBC Radio 4’s Sturdy Girl Club. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Savva Zverev: Russian-born violinist, playing York Late Music concert on April 6. Picture: Mixei & TunaPutting themselves in the picture: Pick Me Up Theatre cast members James Willstrop (as Jules), left, Neil Foster (as Soldier), Natalie Walker (as Dot) amd Sanna Jeppsson (as Yvonne), front, set the scene for Sunday In The Park With George
York musical of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Sunday In The Park With George, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, April 5 to 13, 7.30pm except April 8; 2.30pm, April 6, 7 and 13
STEPHEN Sondheim and James Lapine’s musical follows painter Georges Seurat (played by Adam Price) in the months leading up to the completion of his most famous painting, A Sunday Afternoon On The Island Of La Grande Jatte.
Consumed by his need to “finish the hat”, Seurat alienates the French bourgeoisie, spurns his fellow artists and neglects his lover Dot (Natalie Walker), not realising that his actions will reverberate through the next 100 years. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Fairground Attraction: Mark Nevin, left, Roy Dodds, Eddi Reader and Simon Edwards reunite after 35 years for a York-bound tour and new album
Gig announcement of the week: Fairground Attraction, York Barbican, October 1
AFTER an absence of nigh on 35 years, all four original members of short-lived late-Eighties’ band Fairground Attraction are reuniting for a 14-date British tour and an as-yet-untitled new studio album, preceded by first single What’s Wrong With The World?, out now.
Best known for their chart-topping debut, Perfect, winner of the Best Single prize at the 1988 Brit Awards, Fairground Attraction return with their country-pop line-up of singer Eddi Reader, guitarist Mark Nevin, guitarrón bassist Simon Edwards and drummer Roy Dodds. Box office: axs.com/York.
In Focus: A triple bill of York Late Music concerts, Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York, April 5 and 6
Violinist Savva Zverev. Picture: York Late Music
THREE York Late Music concerts promise compositions by Bach, Bartok, Brahms, Bryars, Webern, Pärt, Farrenc and Debussy, new works and old works, York composers and even a York Suite, Richard Stoker’s Eboracum.
First up, on April 5 at 1pm, pianist David Hammond plays William Baines’s Pictures Of Light, Drift-light, Bursting Flames and Pool-lights, Steve Crowther’s Michael Dances, Ruth Karn’s The Loneliness Of Now and Gavin Bryars’ Ramble On Cortona.
Richard Stoker’s aforemtioned work A York Suite, Eboracum comprises Vale Of York, chorale prelude; Micklegate, interlude 1; Minster and the Five Sisters, lullaby; River Ouse, scherzo; Bootham Bar, interlude 2; Station and Railway Museum Castleand Clifford’s Tower, nocturne.
Hammond’s programme is completed by Matt Dibble’s Prelude in B minor, Hammond’s own work Variations On A Scottish Jig and William Baines’s Tides, The Lone Wreck and Goodnight To Flamboro’.
At 1pm on April 6, Amabile’s trio of Lesley Schatzberger, Nicola Tait Baxter and Paul Nicholson bring the distinctive blend of clarinet, cello and piano to life with a combination of trios by Brahms and performer, composer and equality campaigner Louise Farrenc, complemented by a new Steve Crowther work.
In the evening, at 7.30pm, Russian-born violinst Savva Zverev and pianist Sid Ramachander combine Bach’s Violin Concerto No 1 in G minor and Preludes by Debussy with works by Webern, Lutoslawski, Bartok, Pärt and Franz Waxmann. Tickets: latemusic.org or on the door.
THIS cabaret revue of songs from Stephen Sondheim’s Broadway shows, film scores and television specials will stand side by side with Pick Me Up Theatre’s production of Sondheim and James Lapine’s 1984 musical Sunday In The Park With George next week.
Sondheim We Remember is very much in the style of the late New York composer and lyricist’s own anthologies, such as the oft-performed Side By Side By Sondheim (1976), Putting It Together (1993/1999) and Sondheim On Sondheim (2010).
Putting this new one together is director Helen ‘Bells’ Spencer, working in tandem with musical director Clive Wass, perched on his keyboards on the mezzanine level, beside Catherine Wigley (flute), Judy Day (percussion) and Georgia Johnson (bass).
Audience members are greeted exuberantly at the door by singer Susannah Baines in the first of her series of spangly dresses (and Mrs Lovett’s trademark apron for her riotous rendition of the Act One-closing Worst Pies In London, reprising her 2016 role in Pick Me Up’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street).
Wednesday’s audience is corralled around tables, drink of choice in hand, in the black-box John Cooper Studio set up in minimalist style: three microphones and a table behind, from where Spencer’s company picks up gold cue cards to introduce the next song with a Sondheim snippet of show detail or bon mot.
Baritone Sam Hird has travelled home to York to participate, in a break from his Royal College of Music Masters studies that will be followed by further studies at the London college’s opera school (after his selection for one of only six places available).
Pirate-bearded since his last publicity shot was taken, dinner-suited Sam opens the show with I Remember from Evening Primrose. Not for the only time, he leaves you with mouth agape at the beauty, warmth, resonance and controlled power of his voice. Operatic prowess surely beckons.
Upon singing Take Me To The World, Catherine Foster informs us that Emma Louise Dickinson is absent, unwell with the flu but hoping to return for later performances (featuring her renditions of So Many People, The Miller’s Song and I Wish I Could Forget You).
Catherine Foster’s bride, with Helen ‘Bells’ Spencer and Nick Sephton performing Getting Married Today in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Sondheim We Remember
Clever, witty lyricist and ever innovative and unpredictable composer, Sondheim is challenging but rewarding for singers, and so We Remember is a showcase for the vocal chops of Pick Me Up regulars, from young Matthew Warry (Giants In The Sky and Children Will Listen, both from Into The Woods) to Bells Spencer herself (Send In The Clowns, that rare palpable Sondheim pop hit, the bravura Broadway Baby and an even better take on The Ladies Who Lunch, from Company, full of character and yearning).
The show flows between solo numbers, duets and trios, leading to a full company finale of Sunday in a taster of Robert Readman’s production of Sunday In The Park.
Alexandra Mather, revelling in Sondheim’s complexities, excels in Anyone Can Whistle, Not A Day Goes By and Act Two’s supreme I Know Things Now. Susannah Baines has fun with the aforementioned Worst Pies In London, dispensing dubious pies to audience members, and delivers a belting Losing My Mind too and later Loving You from Passion.
Florence Poskitt flits across stage in a party dress in a silent cameo contribution to one number before taking centre stage for a tender, wide-eyed Not While I’m Around from Sweeney Todd. In Act Two she joins Spencer and Mather for one of the humorous high points, I Never Do Anything Twice.
Matthew Jarry in Sondheim We Remember
Nick Sephton’s stoic groom contrasts amusingly with Foster and Spencer in Getting Married Today and duets resolutely with Andrew Roberts in Agony from Into The Woods and potently with Spencer in Unworthy Of Your Love from Assassins. Roberts and Sam Hird have a ball with The Best Thing That Ever Has Happened from Road Show.
Favourite duets? Father and son Mark and Sam Hird in No More, from Into The Woods, and Mather and Sam Hird’s With So Little To Be Sure Of, both being given due weight and emotion.
Sam has one last solo number, Being Alive, from Company: that baritone, so close up to the front tables, makes you feel very much alive.
More Sondheim is on its way from Pick Me Up: A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum will be happening at Theatre@41 this autumn (September 27 to October 5).
Further performance of Sondheim We Remember: 7.30pm tonight; 2.30pm, 7.30pm, Saturday. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Rachel Hill: Project manager for Futuresound’s July concerts at York Museum Gardens
FUTURESOUND events promoter and project manager Rachel Hill has long had her eye on putting on concerts in the Museum Gardens in her home city of York.
This summer that aspiration becomes a reality when chart-topping local heroes Shed Seven play sold-out 30th anniversary shows on July 19 and 20, bookended by Anglo-Italian singer-songwriter Jack Savoretti on July 18 and Sugababes’ original girl group line-up of Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhán Donaghy on July 21.
“I used to come to the Museum Gardens as a kid, to sit in the gardens and muck around,” recalls Rachel. “As I got older and Mr H [Tim Hornsby] took me under his wing at Fibbers, I realised I wanted a career in music in some capacity. I remember thinking, ‘the Museum Gardens would be the perfect place for gigs: the landscape, the history, the location. It’s just beautiful.”
Rock and pop concerts are not unprecedented in the Museum Gardens: Hawkwind in July 1971; Roxy Music in July 1973, when they parked their tour van in Marygate; Procol Harum in July 1976 and Wendy Wu’s New Wave band The Photos in June 1980.
Since then, the Gardens have played host to the York Mystery Plays (most recently in 2012), light installations, children’s storytelling days, birds of prey displays and operatic soprano Rebecca Fewtrell’s York Proms concerts since 2017.
Jack Savoretti: Topping the Futuresound bill at York Museum Gardens on July 18
“We’re going to follow the same template as the York Proms because York Museums Trust knows that template works well,” says Rachel. “That’s why the stage will be set up in front of the Yorkshire Museum, rather than by the St Mary’s Abbey ruins [where the York Mystery Plays were staged from their revival for the Festival of Britain in 1951 onwards].
“St Mary’s Abbey might happen in the future, but in order for us to make it work this summer, it was right to use the York Proms template.”
The Futuresound Group, a music management and promotion company based in Munro House, Duke Street, Leeds, already runs the two Live At Leeds festivals (In The Park and In The City) each year, along with the pop-punk, emo and metal Slam Dunk Festival at Temple Newsam, Leeds and Hatfield House, Hertfordshire (May 25 and 26 2024), as well as owning The Wardrobe venue in the thriving Quarry Hill arts, media and education quarter of Leeds.
The four-day York event is the latest addition to the portfolio, as Rachel’s passion project comes to fruition. “York Museum Gardens lend themselves to staging concerts. I’m really passionate about this, and I wanted them to be put on by a local person, a Yorkshire company, with a relationship with the local community,” she says.
“It’s been in the pipeline for a while as a venue for Futuresound. It was about finding the right format, the right dates, taking into consideration what goes on at the Hospitium in the gardens [such as wedding parties]. It came down to careful planning, and thankfully the stars aligned.”
Shed Seven’s Paul Banks, left, Tim Wills, Rick Witter, Tom Gladwin and Rob’Maxi’ Maxfield, in front of St Mary’s Abbey, York Museum Gardens. Two sold-out gigs await in July
Shed Seven’s 30th anniversary was the perfect opportunity. “I know them from when they first performed at Fibbers, when I started working there for Tim Hornsby, and I still see them around town, though we don’t see each other in pubs these days. It’s now in supermarkets – and not even in the booze aisle!” says Rachel.
The chart-topping success of the Sheds’ January album A Matter Of Time gave further impetus to their 4,000-capacity Museum Gardens gigs, both selling out rapidly. Rachel then added Jack Savoretti and 2024 MOBO Award-winning Sugababes too.
“It was really important to have contrasting concerts,” says Rachel. “I’m very aware that York is a really diverse city culturally, and I really wanted to expand the genres over the four days. That was important to Futuresound’s head promoter, Andy Smith, too, who’s followed my lead on it, and that’s why we’ll have local opening acts.
“York singer-songwriter Benjamin Francis Leftwich will be on the Jack Savoretti bill, along with Irish musician Foy Vance, and we’ll be announcing the Sugababes’ supports over the next few weeks.
“The Sheds curated their own bill, which was important for them, with Libertines’ co-frontman Peter Doherty on both nights; The Lottery Winners and Serotones [Rick Witter’s son Duke’s band] on July 19, and Brooke Combe and Apollo Junction on July 20.”
Sugababes: Playing York Museum Gardens on July 21
Rachel has past experience of working with Doherty, one of rock’s legendary wild men. “We assisted on Rock’n’Roll Circus with The Libertines a couple of years ago. You just have to mother him!” she says. “He’s got a great relationship with the Sheds, especially with Rick [duetting with him on A Matter Of Time’s closing track, Throwaways].”
Rumour has it that Doherty will not be the only contributor to A Matter Of Time likely to be making an appearance at the Sheds gigs. “I believe Rowetta will doing the shows too,” says Rachel, referring to the Happy Mondays’ singer, who plays the female foil to Witter on In Ecstasy.
Rachel believes in the importance of building relationships, especially with an eye to establishing Futuresound’s open-air shows as a regular component of the Museum Gardens summer. “York Museums Trust [which runs the Yorkshire Museum] have been very supportive of us running a four-day event, and we’ve been engaging with the local residents too with two community engagement evenings.
“The first one was at the Hospitium and the second one will be held in the Fairfax Room in the Yorkshire Museum, open to those who live in close proximity to the gardens. I’ve done all the letter drops myself. We would really like to keep doing these concerts; that’s something very close to my heart.”
The last word goes to Shed Seven’s Rick Witter in praise of Futuresound. “We’ve really enjoyed the experience of working with them as they’re really forward thinking,” he says. “They like to go down the unusual route, like having us play in the Museum Gardens. That’s something different from playing York Barbican or the new football stadium.
“They’re thinking outside the box by not putting on two more nights with more indie bands but appealing to people who like other types of music by having Jack Savoretti and Sugababes.”
Four sigils or “spell tokens” from the Believe It Or Not? exhibition at Ryedale Folk Museum, Hutton-le-Hole. Picture: Olivia Brabbs
MAGICAL thinking and life 11,000 years ago, Shakespeare mischief making and nightclub trouble-spotters, a comedian’s needs and a painterly musical outweigh the delights of chocolate at Easter for Charles Hutchinson.
Ryedale exhibition launch of the week: Believe It Or Not?, Ryedale Folk Museum, Hutton-le-Hole, until November 17, from 10am daily except Fridays
RYEDALE Folk Museum’s new exhibition turns the spotlight on folk beliefs through a selection of more than 200 objects. Believe It Or Not?’ explores the traditions and rituals of our ancestors, pondering whether whether we are still “magical thinkers” today.
Featuring heavily are stories of those accused of witchcraft, represented through their own objects, such as a crystal ball passed down by those seeking to foretell the future and four sigils or “spell tokens”, likely created as a form of “love magic” by a magical practitioner or service magician. Tickets: ryedalefolkmuseum.co.uk.
Curators Andrew Woods, left, Adam Parker and Emily North with Mesolithic remains of a wooden platform and materials used for fire-making in the Yorkshire Museum’s Star Carr exhibition. Picture: Anthony Chappel-Ross
York exhibition opening of the week: Star Carr: Life After The Ice, Yorkshire Museum, Museum Gardens, York; open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm
EXCAVATED in the Vale of Pickering, the Star Carr archaeological site provides the first evidence in Britain of the beginnings of home, a place where people settled and built places to live.
The Yorkshire Museum’s interactive exhibition brings together artefacts from “the Mesolithic equivalent of Stonehenge” to give an insight into human life 11,000 years ago, a few hundred years after the last Ice Age. On display are objects from the Yorkshire Museum collection, from antler headdresses and a decorated stone pendant to the world’s oldest complete hunting bow and the earliest evidence of carpentry from Europe. To book tickets, go to: yorkshiremuseum.org.uk.
Hoglets Theatre’s Gemma Curry, left, Claire Morley and Becky Lennon in A Midsummer Night’s Mischief, visiting Helmsley Arts Centre on Saturday
Children’s show of the week: Hoglets Theatre in A Midsummer Night’s Mischief, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 2.30pm
THE forest fairies are starting a fight, but which side are you on? Team Titania or Team Oberon? York company Hoglets Theatre presents founder Gemma Curry’s interactive, fun and larger-than-life show for children aged five to 11 based on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Expect wild characters, raucous singalong songs, puppets, stunts and some frankly ridiculous disco dancing in the company of Curry, Claire Morley and Becky Lennon. At 3.30pm, Gemma will be running a children’s workshop, showing how to make a paper boogie-woogie puppet of Shakespeare’s donkey-headed character Bottom. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Jessica Fostekew: On her Mettle at Pocklington Arts Centre
Comedy gig of the week: Jessica Fostekew, Mettle, Pocklington Arts Centre, April 4, 8pm
IN her new stand-up show of passion, pace and purpose, Jessica Fostekew’s son has joined a cult and her cat has learnt to talk. Nevertheless, she feels fine. In fact she is hurtling faster and hustling harder than ever for the things that she wants and needs.
Fostekew appeared in the sitcom Motherland and Sundance Festival Grand Jury prize-winning film Scrapper and is a regular co-host of The Guilty Feminist podcast, host and creator of her own podcast about eating, Hoovering, and the star and writer of BBC Radio 4’s Sturdy Girl Club. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
The four doormen of the apocalypse: John Godber Company in Bouncers, on tour at York Theatre Royal
York play of the week: John Godber Company in Bouncers, York Theatre Royal, April 5, 7.30pm; April 6, 2.30pm and 7.30pm
MEET Lucky Eric, Judd, Les and Ralph, the original men in black, as they tell the torrid tale of one Eighties’ night in a Yorkshire disco in John Godber’s northern parody of Saturday Night Fever. All the gang are out on the town, the lads, the lasses, the cheesy DJ, the late-night kebab man, and the taxi home, all under the watchful eyes of the Bouncers (Nick Figgis, George Reid, Frazer Hammill and newcomer Tom Whittaker).
“We’re delighted to be taking Bouncers back to the heyday of disco and the 1980s,” says Goober. “Looking back, there was so much wrong with the decade but also so much to celebrate; this new production dances a balance between what was great and what is cringe-worthy now!” Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Putting themselves in the picture: Pick Me Up Theatre cast members James Willstrop (as Jules), left, Neil Foster (as Soldier), Natalie Walker (as Dot) amd Sanna Jeppsson (as Yvonne), front, set the scene for Sunday In The Park With George
York musical of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Sunday In The Park With George, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, April 5 to 13, 7.30pm except April 8; 2.30pm, April 6, 7 and 13
STEPHEN Sondheim and James Lapine’s musical follows painter Georges Seurat (played by Adam Price) in the months leading up to the completion of his most fanous painting, A Sunday Afternoon On The Island Of La Grande Jatte.
Consumed by his need to “finish the hat”, Seurat alienates the French bourgeoisie, spurns his fellow artists and neglects his lover Dot (Natalie Walker), not realising that his actions will reverberate through the next 100 years. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
The Moondogs: Paying tribute to Fifties and Sixties favourites at Milton Rooms, Malton
Tribute show of the Easter break: The Moondogs, Milton Rooms, Malton, April 6, 8pm
PREPARE to be transported back in time to the late-1950s and Swinging Sixties as The Moondogs bring their raw energy to the hits of Chuck Berry, The Everly Brothers, Cliff Richard, The Searchers, The Swinging Blue Jeans, The Beatles, The Who, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones and more. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Fairground Attraction: Mark Nevin, left, Roy Dodds, Eddi Reader and Simon Edwards reunite after 35 years for a York-bound tour and new album
Gig announcement of the week: Fairground Attraction, York Barbican, October 1
AFTER an absence of 35 years, all four original members of short-lived late-Eighties’ band Fairground Attraction are reuniting for a 14-date British tour and an as-yet-untitled new studio album, preceded by first single What’s Wrong With The World?, out now.
Best known for their chart-topping debut, Perfect, winner of the Best Single prize at the 1988 Brit Awards, Fairground Attraction return with their country-pop line-up of singer Eddi Reader, guitarist Mark Nevin, guitarrón bassist Simon Edwards and drummer Roy Dodds. Tickets go on sale on Friday at 10am at axs.com/York.
