The art beat of YORKshire
YORKSHIRE culture podcasters Graham Chalmers and Charles Hutchinson discuss the impact of Covid on the busiest time of the theatre year in Episode 70 of Two Big Egos In A Small Car.
Under discussion too are Don’t Look Up, Andy McKay’s follow-up film to The Big Short; filming The Witcher in Harrogate; farewell to the Uthink Piccadilly Pop-Up art studios in York, and World Party’s neglected forewarning of climate change decades ago.
To listen, head to: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1187561/9786685
IF you could put together one York double bill for Christmas, this would surely be the one.
Headliners, for art rock with a heart and anthemic choruses? The Howl & The Hum. Tick. Late addition, as party poppers, not party poopers? Bull. Tick. Definitely, not probably, “the greatest band in the world”, according to Sam Griffiths in his thanks, as if he were only here for the Beers, frontman Tom and festive sister Holly on keyboards.
History will record that both bands had the misfortune to release their big-label debut albums in the mire of lockdown: first, The Howl & The Hum’s presciently titled Human Contact on AWAL in May 2020; then Bull, snapped up by EMI after a decade’s toil, with their March 2021 invitation to Discover Effortless Living: a state denied us by the silent, stealthy creep of shape-shifting Covid.
This, however, was a night to reinforce just how much those contrasting albums have mattered in these inhibited times, prompting busy trading at the merchandise desk.
Bull entered, not quite like the proverbial bovine in the porcelain department, but certainly with bags of pent-up energy, Tom seemingly sporting a makeshift Santa white beard for the occasion (unless the lighting was playing tricks).
This was impromptu Bull, not only sister Holly for Christmas, but Jack Woods guesting on guitar and Joe Lancaster, on secondment from the New York Brass Band, on trumpet. Later, Tom would join in on trombone in a clash for top of the brass class.
Discover Effortless Living’s perfectly formed guitar pop nuggets featured prominently, from Eugene to Perfect Teeth to Disco Living – but not Green surprisingly – and Bull even stepped into Christmas territory with a delightfully messy but merry number that may or may not have been called I’m Coming Home For Christmas.
When we last gathered for a Howl & The Hum alternative carol concert in 2019, Sam Griffiths raided the Nativity Play cupboard for angel’s wings. This time, at 9.35pm precisely, he lit up the stage dressed as a decorated Christmas tree, giving him the shape of a block of Toblerone, but with the specs and cherubic look of a choir boy.
Sam revealed he had been in a grumpy mood before the gig, blaming his cat for persistently hiding, but as soon as he put on that shiny tree ready to come on stage with “these three idiots”, he felt much better.
One of the joys of Christmas is meeting up with old friends again, never more so than at this gig. “Ladies and gentlemen, Bradley Blackwell is back,” said Sam, to the biggest cheer of the night, and there he was, back among “the idiots” on bass after time away from the band.
The fab four was restored: Blackwell’s bass ballast; Griffiths, out front on rhythm guitar and ever more transcendent vocals as York’s answer to Thom Yorke; Conor Hirons, on eclectic guitar, and Jack Williams as “the clock at the back”, as Sam has called him, on drums.
Human Contact addresses the absence of such tactile relations, the withdrawal to liaising online, choosing the bedroom over the dancefloor. Yet here, at last, after the band’s livestreamed concert from York Minster in May, was life with the human touch, that togetherness restored.
Band and audience alike loved it, so many songs turning into singalongs, from “our greatest hit”, Godmanchester Chinese Bridge – played early rather than held back till the home straight – to Sweet Fading Silver; from The Only Boy Racer Left On The Island, now usurping ‘Bridge’ as the climax, to first encore Hostages.
Death and vulnerability, modern masculinity and mental health have come to the fore in Sam’s songwriting, but at least he could celebrate outliving the sentiment of last year’s 27. More poignant still was this year’s new recording, Thumbs Up, a confessional about “men not knowing how to talk to other men about important stuff”, so he wrote a song about it instead.
Nick Drake and Ian Curtis did not survive such candour in their songwriting; hopefully, in 2021, we can now both talk more freely and listen too.
“Thank you, I couldn’t think of a better end to a really weird year,” said Sam, before taking Hostages to new heights.
Christmas tree fancy-dress back on, he welcomed back Bull for a full team line-up for THE Christmas cover version, playing Kirsty to Tom’s Shane in a rumbustious rendition of The Pogues’ Fairytale Of New York, bolstered further by Tom’s accordion and Joe’s trumpet as the bells were ringing out for Christmas.
What could possibly spoil the memory of such a special York night and its Fairytale Of Old York finale? Being pinged on Sunday to say “you were in close contact with someone with Covid-19” on December 15. Happy Christmas, my a**e, I pray God it’s our last with this accursed plague causing such misery. Thankfully, the PCR test was negative.
Gary Barlow, The Dream Of Christmas (Polydor) *****
Wrapping: Where to begin! There’s a choice of the standard 11-track CD, a deluxe book version with 16 songs, a box set, a clear vinyl album, plus bundles including Barlow Christmas sweaters, bobble hats, baubles, cassettes and other merchandise. All are beautifully packaged, but the variety of options is a little baffling.
Gifts inside: All versions include a cocktail of Barlow originals and updates of Christmas classics, given a very pleasing Big Band makeover, including Paul McCartney’s Wonderful Christmas Time and Shakin’ Stevens’ Merry Christmas Everyone.
Sheridan Smith, The Puppini Sisters, Sheku and Aled Jones all make guest appearances. Seek out the deluxe version for I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm, I Believe In Father Christmas, In The Bleak Midwinter, The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year and The Christmas Sweater (also to be found on Michael Buble’s tenth anniversary set).
Style: Gary has embraced the Big Band sound with gusto. Think Strictly at Christmas, featuring the odd Rhumba, Cha Cha Cha and American Smooth, and you’re in the right territory
’Tis the reason to be jolly: If you like Strictly Come Dancing, love Gary Barlow and find Christmas the most wonderful time of the year, there is much to enjoy.
Scrooge moan: Had I known the deluxe version had the best tracks, I would have tracked it down immediately.
White Christmas? Surprisingly not.
Blue Christmas? No.Gary Barlow has a happy soul. Even a sad ballad is given a caring Barlow twist. Yes, this is decidedly a happy album.
Stocking or shocking? Everyone knows someone who likes Gary Barlow. It’s universal. What’s more, this will still sound good 20 years from now.
Ian Sime
Norah Jones, I Dream Of Christmas (Blue Note Records) ****
Wrapping: Norah pictured outside the Christmas season, wearing a red dress and holding a star against a cityscape. Slim pickings inside, simply detailing the musicians and credits for each of the 13 songs.
Gifts inside: A mix of originals and evergreens, elegantly produced in Jones’s distinctive jazz pop purr. A deluxe edition comes with three extra numbers including Last Month Of The Year and I’ll Be Home For Christmas.
Style: Steady yourselves, it’s languid, it’s jazzy and it’s classy. Very much in the fashion of the records Tony Bennett and Doris Day used to make, back in the day.
’Tis the reason to be jolly: Seemingly effortlessly evokes a mood of relaxed festive nostalgia. Jones’s originals show a real affinity for the genre (Elton take note) and stand unassumed alongside perennials. Perfect if you are warming St Bernards by a dancing fire or have people round for a work meeting with wine and cheese.
Scrooge moan: It’s impossible to dislike but equally difficult to love. Jones’s music has to be served up in the background while something else, more interesting, takes place. Listen too closely and you’ll soon be nodding. Scrooge like, the three extra tracks on the expensive edition have more life and interest than the rest, belatedly but brilliantly bringing in soul and gospel.
White Christmas? Centre stage, and Jones sings it beautifully. For once, a Bing cover that is worth hearing, upbeat and swinging. The brushed drums and upright bass provide the only frame needed to accompany her jaunty piano.
Blue Christmas? Blue Christmas is present and correct, relocated to the Crescent City. Like the rest, this track is even in mood and tone. As a whole, at 42 minutes, this album of old-fashioned length is balm to soothe away present-day worries.
Stocking or shocking? Strong album if you are seeking a very specific mood, or you entertain a lot. Since its release for Thanksgiving, millions of plays have accumulated on Spotify. Fans have been waiting a long time for a full-length Christmas album from Jones, and despite a prolific 2021, still yearn for more.
Paul Rhodes
Lucinda Williams, Have Yourself A Rockin’ Little Christmas (Thirty Tigers) ***
Wrapping: Pastiche of vintage Christmas album sleeves, with holly decorations and Lucinda and her Gretsch guitar pictured before having herself a rockin’ little Christmas. Jukebox-style song titles on the back. Credits in festive green and recording session snapshots inside.
Gifts inside: This is Volume 5 of Lu’s Jukebox, Lucinda’s In Studio Concert Series, her 2021 covers’ collections taking in Tom Petty, Southern Soul, Dylan, Sixties’ country classics and The Rolling Stones, each with a sleeve matching the iconography of the subject. This one brings the blues, swingin’ jazz, southern soul and country template to Merle Haggard (If We Make It Through December), Irving Berlin (I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm), Charles M Brown (Merry Christmas Baby), Mack Rice (Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin) and Willie Dixon (Little Red Rooster, with the lyrics given a Christmas reboot).
Style: If Shane and Kirsty’s name-calling lovers had continued scoring points through the New York night. Or if Quentin Tarantino had put together a Christmas soundtrack. Or if you had the Boxing Day hangover and stonking headache every Groundhog Christmas Day, you might not make it through December. Rockin’, croakin’ Lucinda sounds like she’s been to one helluva party.
’Tis the reason to be jolly: To have yourself a merry little Christmas, with the emphasis on the merry, just add Lucinda’s heady winter warmer.
Scrooge moan: You may well have the Boxing Day hangover by the time you come out the other end of these dozen Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want To Fight) encounters.
White Christmas? No, but Lucinda changes “The dogs begin to bark” to “The snow begins to fall” in Little Red Rooster. Oh, and “Snowball fighting, it’s so exciting!”, she exclaims at one point.
Blue Christmas? Oh yes, as blue as those veins in the Christmas Day Stilton.
Stocking or shocking? Just the gift for the Little Red Rooster who needs driving home for Christmas.
Charles Hutchinson
Michael Buble, Christmas, 10th Anniversary Edition (Reprise) *****
Wrapping: Again, be careful of what you are looking for. Deluxe and anniversary versions have been released every year since 2011, on so many different formats, that it makes the marketing for Paul McCartney’s III and ABBA’s Voyage look understated. There are deluxe box versions, a multitude of coloured vinyl sets and the special two-disc version unique to 2021.
Gifts inside: This year’s set includes Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow, collaborations with Rod Stewart, The Puppini Sisters and Naturally 7 and a brand new song, The Christmas Sweater, which also features on Gary Barlow’s Christmas set.
Style: Along with Mariah Carey’s collection, Merry Christmas, the original Buble Christmas album set the benchmark by which all modern festive albums are judged. Buble’s impeccable presentation and delivery is nothing short of perfection.
’Tis the reason to be jolly: The Christmas Sweater is a new classic. Expect to hear this song every December for the rest of our lives.
Scrooge moan: In common with Mr Gary Barlow’s set, it is confusing to devotees to identify which version is the best value for money.
White Christmas? Of course! Shania Twain sings on the original 2011 set; Michael sings a solo version on the second disc.
Blue Christmas? Mostly happy. Any album that includes Buble’s renditions of Mariah’s All I Want For Christmas Is You, Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town and Santa Baby is invested in making people happy.
Stocking or shocking? Chances are that everyone interested in Michael Buble already owns this album. 14 million homes have a copy, and the songs are always on the radio. Why not opt for Gary Barlow instead, aimed at exactly the same audience.
Ian Sime
Hiss Golden Messenger, O Come All Ye Faithful (Merge Records) ****
Wrapping: Peace be with you twice over: a dove on the red front, a peace symbol on the green back. Inside, a sepia photo montage of MC Taylor and his myriad guest players, among them Buddy Miller (electric guitar), Matt Douglas (saxophone and flute) and Nathaniel Rateliff (singing).
Gifts inside: Three MC Taylor originals (Hung Fire, Grace and By The Lights Of St. Stephen); Taylor re-made lonesome hymns (O Come All Ye Faithful, Joy To The World, Silent Night) and canny covers (Spiritualized’s Shine A Light, Woody Guthrie’s Hanukkah Dance and Creedence Clearwater Revival’s set-closing As Long As I Can See The Light).
Style: When MC Taylor went shopping for wrapping paper during Covid-ruined Christmas 2020, he found the jolly piped music incongruous in the bleak circumstances. Cue a country blues album of sombre reflection, downbeat but beautiful too, weathered, watchful, even weary, but spiritually uplifting.
’Tis the reason to be jolly: Up there with Tracey Thorn’s Tinsel And Lights, Glasvegas’s A Snowflake Fell (And It Felt Like A Kiss) and Aidan Moffat and R M Hubbert’s Ghost Stories For Christmas as a truthful antidote to enforced jollification, full of wonder and hope for a guiding light but alive to the season’s propensity for heightened sadness and loneliness too.
Scrooge moan: Not even the gorgeous By The Lights Of St. Stephen will ever greet MC Taylor in the shopping malls of home-town Durham, North Carolina.
White Christmas? No. Dream on.
Blue Christmas? Blue is the dominant mood here, all except Hanukkah Dance.
Stocking or shocking? Burst the Buble bubble. Take a punt instead on pleasing the Scrooge in your life with these golden messages in song.
Charles Hutchinson
CINDERELLA and you will not be going to the ball for a week at York Theatre Royal after Covid-19 – re-cast as the Ugly Sister of the panto world – forced “an increasing number” of the company to self-isolate from today.
All being well, Juliet Forster’s production will be back on stage on Thursday, December 30 with two performances that day at 2.30pm and 7pm.
Chief executive Tom Bird tweeted: “We tried so hard. We got to our fourth Cinderella. But it was too much to carry on. See you on the 30th.” The rehearsal room needed a revolving door, it was so hectic this week.
The Theatre Royal’s statement advises: “Our box office will be in touch with ticket holders as quickly as they can to make alternative arrangements. We want to thank everyone for their patience and understanding at this difficult time”.
Understudies already had stepped into roles at some performances this week after several cast members tested positive for Covid. A new actress was drafted in to play Cinderella, arriving in York last night, but when several more cast members tested positive today (23/12/2021), it was decided the show could not be performed over Christmas, given the uncertainty surrounding cast availability.
“We’ve tried really hard to ensure the show goes on, but the increasing number of the company having to self-isolate has meant that we can’t continue,” the statement continues. “We are offering several options to our audiences: to book for another performance of Cinderella from December 30; to transfer their tickets to Peter Pan next winter; to have a credit or voucher to book for another show, or the offer of a full refund”.
Extra performances are being added to the schedule to make up for the lost shows. Cinderella will not go into extra time; the show will still end on January 2…unless the Government imposes prohibitive new restrictions in its next Covid briefing before then. Wait and see.
GIVEN the ever-changing Omicron briefings, Charles Hutchinson has a rubber as well as a pencil in his hand as he highlights what to see now and further ahead.
Still time for pantomime unless Omicron measures intervene part one: Dick Turpin Rides Again, Grand Opera House, York, until January 9
BACK on stage for the first time since February 2 2019, grand dame Berwick Kaler reunites with long-standing partners in panto Martin Barrass, David Leonard, Suzy Cooper and A J Powell.
After his crosstown switch to the Grand Opera House, Kaler steps out of retirement to write, direct and lead his first show for Crossroads Pantomimes, playing Dotty Donut, with Daniel Conway as the company’s new face in the Essex lad title role amid the familiar Kaler traditions. Look out for the flying horse. Box office: atgtickets.com/York.
Still time for pantomime but only after a week in self-isolation: Cinderella, York Theatre Royal, ending on January 2 2022
COVID has struck three cast members and understudies too, leading to the decision to cancel performances of Cinderella from today until December 30.
Fingers crossed, you can still enjoy Evolution Productions writer Paul Hendy and York Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster’s panto custom-built for 21st century audiences.
Targeted at drawing in children with magical storytelling, silliness aplenty and pop songs, Cinderella has a thoroughly modern cast, ranging from CBeebies’ Andy Day as Dandini to Faye Campbell as Cinders and ventriloquist Max Fulham as Buttons, with his Monkey on hand for cheekiness.
Robin Simpson and Paul Hawkyard’s riotous step-sisters Manky and Mardy and puns galore add to the fun. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Buy now before her prices go up! Julia Borodina, Into The Light, Blossom Street Gallery, York, until January 31
JULIA Borodina will be competing in Sky’ Arts’ 2022 Landscape Artist of the Year, set for screening in January and February. Perfect timing for her York exhibition, Into The Light, on show until the end of next month.
THE Christmas tree of the season: Christmas In Narnia at Castle Howard, near York, until January 2
CASTLE Howard has topped past peaks by installing a 28ft spruce tree from Scotland in the Great Hall as part of the Christmas In Narnia displays and decorations.
“We believe that this is the largest real indoor Christmas tree in the country, standing around eight feet higher than the impressive tree normally installed in Buckingham Palace,” says the Hon Nicholas Howard, guardian of Castle Howard.
“It’s certainly the largest we have had, both in terms of height and width at the base, which has a huge footprint in the Great Hall – but thankfully leaves a gap on either side for visitors to walk right around it.” Tickets for Christmas In Narnia must be booked before arrival at castlehoward.co.uk.
Choirs galore: York Community Choir Festival, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, February 27 to March 5 2022
EIGHT shows, different every night, will be the format for this choral celebration of how and why people come together to make music and have fun.
At least four choirs will be on stage in every concert in a festival featuring show tunes, pop and folk songs, world music, classical music, gospel songs, close harmonies, blues and jazz.
From primary-school choirs through to teenage, young adult and adult choirs, the choral configurations span male groups, female groups and mixed-voice choirs. Proceeds will go to the JoRo theatre from ticket sales on 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
If you see one sage and rage singer-songwriter next year, make it: David Ford, Interesting Times Tour 22, Pocklington Arts Centre, March 10 2022, 8pm
EASTBOURNE troubadour David Ford will return to the road with an album of songs documenting the tumultuous year that was 2020.
May You Live In Interesting Times, his sixth studio set, charts the rise of Covid alongside the decline of President Trump. Recorded at home during various stages of lockdown, the album captures the moment with Ford’s trademark emotional eloquence and dark irony.
After the imposed hiatus times three (and maybe four, wait and see), the new incarnation of Ford’s innovative, incendiary live show promises to demonstrate just what happens when you shut such a creative force in a room for two years. Box office: 01759 301547 or at pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Amid the winter uncertainty, look to next summer’s knight to remember: Sir Tom Jones at Scarborough Open Air Theatre, July 26 2022
SIR Tom Jones will complete a hattrick of Scarborough Open Air Theatre concerts after his 2015 and 2017 gigs with his July return.
In April, the Welsh wonder released his 41st studio album, the chart-topping Surrounded By Time, featuring the singles Talking Reality Television Blues, No Hole in My Head, One More Cup of Coffee and Pop Star.
Sir Tom, 81, will play a second outdoor Yorkshire concert in 2022, at The Piece Hall, Halifax, on July 10. Box office for both shows: ticketmaster.co.uk.
Deep in the bleak midwinter, think of days out on the Yorkshire coast part two: Elbow, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, July 9 2022
MAKE Elbow room in your diary to join Guy Garvey, Craig Potter, Mark Potter and Pete Turner on the East Coast in July.
Formed in 1997 in Bury, Greater Manchester, BBC 6 Music Sunday afternoon presenter Garvey and co chalked up their seventh top ten album in 2021 with Flying Dream 1.
Released on November 19, Elbow’s ninth studio album was written remotely in home studios before the lifelong friends met up at the empty Brighton Theatre Royal to perfect, perform, and record the songs. Box office: ticketmaster.co.uk.
DIRECTOR Juliet Forster first noted Robin Simpson and Paul Hawkyard’s stage chemistry when they played two of the Rude Mechanicals in her Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in York in July 2018.
Now York Theatre Royal’s creative director has cast them us unruly stepsisters Manky and Mardy in Cinderella.
Both have dame roles in their panto locker, Robin last year donning the frocks for the Theatre Royal’s Travelling Pantomime, having appeared in the Lawrence Batley Theatre panto in Huddersfield in the past few years.
“I was never under contract though; it was always just a case of them giving me a call early in the year, so it was a very free and easy arrangement,” he says.
Last Christmas, the Huddersfield panto was cancelled, and so Robin was able to continue an association with York Theatre Royal that began with The Little Mermaid in 2005 by appearing in Juliet and Evolution Productions’ writer-producer Paul Hendy’s first collaboration, the Travelling Pantomime.
“It was a lovely script and such a lovely show to do, when we were all so happy to be in that situation of being able to perform when so many places were in Tier 3, but there we were in Tier 2, taking every day as a blessing, testing every other day, but still worrying that it would be shut down or that someone would test positive,” he says.
“We were always living on a knife edge, but we got through most of the run and we had such a blast because people were delighted they could see a show again and were so happy to see their children enjoying themselves.”
Lawrence Batley Theatre’s creative team changed with a new chief exec coming in; likewise, York Theatre Royal was looking to move on from Berwick Kaler’s 40-year damehood.
“Both theatres were starting afresh, and with me facing a choice, I thought it would be a good time for me to move on, as they could start with a clean slate at Huddersfield, and performing in York always feels like coming home,” says Robin, who lives in Slaithwaite, near Huddersfield.
“York Theare Royal is such a wonderful theatre and I’ve done so many shows on that stage. I think York is the city I’ve worked in the most, playing at the National Railway Museum and Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre as well.”
Paul Hawkyard, standing somewhat taller and wider than Robin at 6ft 2, was born and raised in Leeds, and, as chance would have had it, he had just moved back to Yorkshire after many years of living down south when the opportunity to appear alongside him in Cinderella came about.
“We’d loved being in the Scottish play [Macbeth] and A Midsummer Night’s Dream together in 2018,” he recalls. “Robin played the Wall in ‘the Wall Play’, I played Bottom, and we’d bring the show to a stop on numerous occasions, getting told to stop doing that!
“We were neighbours in the dressing room and got on so well, putting the world to rights, waiting for our cues, scrambling to the stage, so it’s lovely to be doing this show together.”
Actor and wildlife artist Paul has shed four stones since first playing Bottom. “I got diabetes and I packed in everything after that. I started the Blenheim Palace production in 2019 at one size and ended it at another. I don’t think the costume lady was very pleased!” he says of his fitness regime. “I started doing boxing workouts again and I’m no longer in the diabetic range.”
Paul subsequently left behind Bordon, Hampshire, for a new beginning in Selby. “Covid kicked in hard, and that was a big factor in deciding to return north. It meant I could come back because a lot of auditions are done on Zoom now, so you’re in a position where you don’t have to live in or near to London,” he says.
“I had a look around a lot of areas in Yorkshire and settled on Selby. I’d only been there once before, but I just wanted to be somewhere near York, as I love the place, and Selby is just down the road. I saw the house and that was it!”
Weight loss, house move, and now Paul has become engaged too, to Nicola Filshie. “I decided to marry the girl I’ve known for 26 years, who lives in Glasgow, so I spend a time a lot of time going up there. We’ve worked together a few times, and now we’ll be marrying next October,” he says.
Paul contacted Juliet Forster before making the move to Selby. “I said I was moving to Yorkshire and it would be lovely to see her, asking her to keep me in mind if anything came up.”
Lo and behold, up came the Ugly Stepsister partnership with Simpson in Cinderella. “We are very different,” says Paul. “He’s quietly brilliant and I’m very loud!”
Making his professional debut in pantomime, he first played Simple Simon in a Pantoni Productions show in his early 20s and has since appeared as Buttons, assorted dames and even the villainous Abanazar out in Dubai.
By comparison, Robin has always played dame. “Maybe a lot of dames see themselves as appealing to the adults, with the comedian turn for the children, but I’ve never thought of it like that. You have to appeal to everyone. I don’t want to alienate children,” he says.
Somehow, this even applies when playing the outwardly unappealing, antagonistic stepsisters Manky and Mardy. Robin and Paul may enter each time to ever more raucous jeering, but they are lovably absurd, boastful villains, mean but funny. “Aren’t we brilliant?” they jest. They are, as it happens!
COVID UPDATE 23/12/2021
NO performances of Cinderella from December 23 for a week after a Covid outbreak among cast members. Provisionally, the production will resume on December 30, with two extra performances being added to the run that ends on January 2. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Copyright of The Press, York
YORK Musical Theatre Company is seeking to attract new members to take part in next year’s exciting shows to marks its 120th anniversary.
First up will be Jekyll & Hyde The Musical, directed by Matthew Clare, with musical direction by John Atkin, at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, from May 25 to 28.
An introductory evening will be held on Thursday, January 6 at 7.30pm at Poppleton Methodist Church Hall. “This will be a chance for anyone interested in being involved with the show to meet the production team and chat about auditions, rehearsals, the characters, the plot and the music,” says new committee member Mick Liversidge.
“There’ll be auditions for all character and ensemble roles on Saturday, January 15, from 11am to 3pm, and Tuesday, January 18, from 7.3pm to 9.30pm, again at Poppleton.”
Based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s thriller The Strange Case Of Jekyll And Hyde, the musical sets the gripping tale of a brilliant mind gone horrifically awry to a powerful pop-rock score by Frank Wildhorn, with book and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse.
In attempting to cure his ailing father’s mental illness by separating “good” from “evil” in the human personality, talented physician Dr Jekyll inadvertently creates an alternate personality of pure evil, dubbed Mr Hyde, who wreaks murderous havoc on the city of London.
As his fiancée, Emma, grows increasingly fearful for her betrothed, a prostitute, Lucy, finds herself involved dangerously with both the doctor and his alter ego. Struggling to control Hyde before he takes over for good, Jekyll must race to find a cure for the demon he has created in his own mind.
“The music for this show is sumptuous, with some fabulous moving numbers for the lead characters to perform, backing up a truly bittersweet story of love, passion, sex and murder, mixed with both the physical and mental struggles of Dr Jekyll to vindicate his medical theories,” says Mick.
To register for an audition, send an email to: auditions@yorkmusicaltheatrecompany.org.uk.
“The auditions are open to anyone who wishes to be involved in what should be a truly memorable show to celebrate York Musical Theatre Company’s 120th year,” says Mick.
WHY re-tell West Side Story? Culture podcasters Graham Chalmers and Charles Hutchinson mull over Spielberg’s musical in Episode 69 of Two Big Egos In A Small Car.
Plus Christmas singles competing for the top spot; Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged and the American Dream; and cult band I Like Trains’ live comeback in Leeds.
That gig promptied this question: Is swaggering Manchester’s music scene really that much better than self-deprecating Leeds?
Catch the debate at: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1187561/9744141
THE Big Christmas Care Singalong, an hour-long concert celebrating all those who live and work in social care, is running online from today through to the New Year.
The video is being broadcast in its premiere this afternoon in care homes, hospitals, hospices and people’s own homes in an effort to tackle loneliness among vulnerable people, loneliness only exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Returning for a second year, the “play as live” event has been spearheaded by Big Ian Donaghy, the prominent York advocate for the social care sector and motivational speaker, who has published the helping-hand books Dear Dementia, A Pocketful Of Kindness and The Missing Peace.
Donaghy and friends from everyLIFE Technologies launched the inaugural Christmas Singalong last winter when Christmas was called off, leaving families unable to visit loved ones.
“After a resounding success last Christmas, the support of the organisation continues again this year,” says Ian. “Last year’s event was watched by thousands of people who live and work in the social care sector, with viewers drawn from the UK and further afield in Australia, New Zealand and even Venezuela.
“The online concert, funny, heart-warming and heart-breaking in equal measure, was created in response to the isolation experienced by many vulnerable people during the festive period. With Covid-19 causing significant disruption to the social care sector, the Big Christmas Care Singalong was a welcome reprieve from the challenges of the pandemic.”
This winter’s online Singalong is bigger and bolder, thanks to Big Ian and his team pushing through adversity to make a “festive feast to remember”.
Many of the performances were recorded in a purpose-made barn studio at York Maze, in Elvington Lane, during Storm Arwen. Recalling the recording sessions, Big Ian says: “It was freezing, snowing outside, and we were unsure if the roof was going to hold out, but sometimes adversity brings us even closer together.”
The free-to-watch concert features care home residents and team members performing their favourite Christmas songs and wishing festive cheer to all, across the country. Viewers also can look forward to a brass performance of In The Bleak Midwinter, arranged and performed by trumpet player Johnny Thirkell, who has recorded previously with George Michael, Phil Collins, Kylie Minogue and Bruno Mars, no less.
York favourites Jess Steel, Graham Hodge, Sarah Dean (harp) and The Grand Old Uke of York take part in the show, along with Teesside soprano Samantha Holden.
“It also features people singing their festive favourites from all over the world to varying degrees of quality,” says Big Ian. “People with hearing aids may wish to turn them down for some sections of the show!”
The singalong is available to watch on demand at www.thebigchristmascaresingalong.com from today over all the Christmas and New Year period. Already, on the first day, it has drawn viewers from Spain, Italy, Australia, New Zealand and the United States, as well as from the UK.
“We were determined to recreate the magic of last year’s singalong after seeing the beautiful response it generated. It proved to be more than an online concert: it was an opportunity for people across the entire care sector to come together and share their personal memories and love of Christmas,” says Big Ian.
“I’m incredibly excited about the release of this year’s video, which promises to once again galvanise all those who live and work in social care. Expect the unexpected. You will laugh, and you may cry, as people share their stories.”
Duncan Campbell, director at everyLIFE Technologies, provider of PASS, the care management platform, says: “The Big Christmas Care Singalong is quickly becoming a Christmas staple for those who live and work in social care sector.
“Its unique ability to bring people together, particularly in the wake of Covid-19, is a quality everyLIFE Technologies admires and fully supports. We’re proud to have partnered with Big Ian to create this year’s concert and look forward to seeing its positive impact across all care settings up and down the country.”
In addition, Big Ian and the rest of the Xmas Presence team will be busy in York on Christmas Day delivering hampers and Christmas dinners for older people living alone in this annual project run in conjunction with Age UK York.
WEST Yorkshire painter Julia Borodina will be competing in Sky Arts’ 2022 Landscape Artist of the Year, set for screening in January and February.
Perfect timing for her York exhibition, Into The Light, now on show at Blossom Street Gallery until the end of January.
“She’s managed not to let anything slip regarding the outcome,” says gallery owner Kim Oldfield. “I first met Julia when she exhibited here as part of the Leeds Fine Artists Group, and it’s very exciting that she’s now been selected for the Sky competition.”
Born in Tobolsk, Western Siberia, Russia, Julia graduated with distinctions in Fine Art from Omsk University, later completing a Masters in Painting in the UK in 2002.
“I usually work from my studio at the Creative Arts Hub in Mirfield, south of Leeds, or paint outdoors at various locations, depending on the season,” she says. “My main themes are landscapes and townscapes.
“I greatly enjoy working outdoors as it gives me an opportunity to develop suitable compositions and experiment with light conditions.”
Julia is always searching for beauty. “I’m trying to capture a unique moment of life, which on its own is telling a story. I’m interested in painting ‘portraits’ of things and places,” she says.
“The whole experience of painting ‘en plein-air’ is an ideal working environment for me. I start from investigating the area on foot or on my bicycle, noting the places of interest and making quick sketches.
“Next step will be to come back to the selected spots and to produce a number of preliminary studies and additional photos if needed. After that the collected material matures and expands in the studio.”
Julia has exhibited her work at the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, Society of Women Artists, Royal Society of Marine Artists and Society of Wildlife Artists at the Mall Galleries, London.
As well as being a member of Leeds Fine Artists Group, she has taken part in annual exhibitions in York and Holmfirth and at other British galleries and art fairs. Overseas, she shows work at the National Watercolour Exhibition in Russia.
Julia enjoys sharing her creative knowledge with students. “I have extensive teaching experience since graduating and have worked with all age groups, being especially excited to inspire my youngest pupils at primary-school level,” she says.
“We’ve produced some amazing artwork based on climate change, as well as international projects in Chengdu, China, funded by the British Council.
“I teach workshops for children on Saturdays at the Creative Arts Hub, Mirfield, and receive invitations to design and run unique art projects tailored to the needs of both primary and secondary schools.”
Julia also runs painting workshops, teaching short and long-term painting and drawing courses for adults.
From next month, the focus will fall on her Sky Landscape Artist of the Year endeavours after she was selected last summer for the seventh series. “I have very happy memories of the filming and invite you to watch it this winter, when it will be out on Sky Arts TV and Freeview in January and February,” says Julia, still staying tight-lipped on how she fared!
Julia Borodina: Into The Light, Blossom Street Gallery, York, running until January 31; gallery closed from December 25 to January 17. Opening hours before Christmas Day: 10am to 4pm; Christmas Eve, 10am to 3pm. From January 17: 10am to 5.30pm, Tuesday to Saturday; 10am to 4pm, Sundays.
