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The Brand New Heavies celebrate 35 years of sharing joy, funk and love in Acid Jazz groove at York Barbican on March 19

The Brand New Heavies’ Andrew Levy, left, Angela Ricci and Simon Bartholomew

ACID Jazz pioneers The Brand New Heavies are marking their 35th anniversary with a 12-date tour that takes in York Barbican on March 19 as their only Yorkshire destination.

From Dream On Dreamer, Midnight At The Oasis, Back To Love and Spend Some Time to Sometimes, You Are The Universe and You’ve Got A Friend, they created a fusion of jazz, funk and hip-hop that fuelled their chart and airplay domination en route to 2.5 million album sales.

Introducing themselves with their self-titled debut in 1990, followed by fellow Top 40 album Heavy Rhyme Experience, Vol. 1 in 1992, The Brand New Heavies exploded with 1994’s Brother Sister, peaking at number four, followed by further Top Five entrant Shelter in 1997.

Now, founder members Simon Bartholomew, vocals and guitar, and Andrew Levy, bass and keyboards, will be joined on tour once more by Angela Ricci, vocalist with the Ealing band since 2018.

“We can’t wait to hit the road across the UK again!” said Simon and Andrew, when announcing the tour.  “There’s nothing quite like the connection we feel when we play these songs together. Celebrating 35 years of The Brand New Heavies has been incredible, and this tour is all about sharing that joy, funk and love with everyone who’s been part of the journey – old friends and new faces alike.”

Rolling back to when school friends Simon, Andrew and Jan Kincaid formed the band, they needed a name, “In a nutshell, it was the pressure of being about to sign a record deal with Chrysalis. We were in my basement, weren’t we, in Hackney?” recalls Andrew, speaking from his kitchen near Wimbledon.

“No, I remember, actually, there was another time – I think there were a few discussions – we were parked in your Morris Minor,” says Simon. “And this guy who was in the band at the time, Lascelle Lascelles, he was a DJ, and he had this vinyl, a James Brown vinyl, and it said on the back, ‘James Brown is the minister of a super new, heavy, heavy funk’. We literally had to deliver the name the next day.

“So we sort of somehow came up with ‘The Brand New Heavies’, which, over the years, a lot of people think is a rock band – until you know – but it’s stuck, it’s quite an unusual name, and there you go. People knew our songs, but didn’t know the name of the band, but that’s sorted itself out over the years.”

As for “Acid Jazz”, “Basically Giles Peterson and Eddie Piller formed a label; Acid House had come out and so they wanted to call it ‘Acid Jazz’,” explains Simon. “So they took the logo, the smiley face logo, synonymous with Acid House, and draw a moustache on it, and glasses and stuff, and it was all very fun. Very much like the name of The Brand New Heavies, we just were having a laugh.

“And then Chris Bangs was DJing at the Watermans Arts Centre in Ealing, near where we live and grew up. There was a rave before they played, playing Acid House. . .and there’s a song called Iron Leg by Mickey And The Soul Generation, an American band; it’s a proper old rare groove. They said, ‘that was Acid House, this is Acid Jazz’. They made it up on the spot, and they used it for their label name. That was the provenance, right there.”

Recalling The Brand New Heavies’ roots, Simon says: “When when we first started jamming together, we’d go around to the drummer’s house every Sunday. His mum and dad were thrilled!”

“They were thrilled that he was making friends,” says Andrew.“Oh, no, I think they probably were a bit thrilled,” rejoins Simon. “We would play just one groove, do you remember, Andrew, for ages. So all the parts sort of fitted in. You go, ‘oh, there it is’, and that became the groove, when the parts, the puzzle, fits together, the bass, drums and guitars. You go, ‘that’s a groove, that’s the groove’.”

The Brand New Heavies’ poster for their 2026 tour

Andrew says: “Yeah, it’s like cooking. Different measurements of, you know, maybe you put in more sugar, more flour, a little bit more cayenne, and you stir it for a bit longer. But because we were untrained musicians, in retrospect, I saw that as almost a way of learning.

“Listen to your fellow musicians, and how to learn how to play your instrument. Because music, in terms of playing in a band, I reckon it’s 90 per cent listening. The rest is just technique.”

Simon adds: “Especially with jazz, you know, if you’re not listening to everyone else, it’s like, that’s really where the listening is quintessential. I mean, there’s so many nuances, and it’s almost like Maths as well, the groove. You syncopate or play on top of each other, and it can be really simple. If you listen to early James Brown records, everything around the bass lines builds up into this phenomenal thing. It’s really lovely, kind of like a bowl of fruit.”

“Space” in the music is important too, suggests Andrew: “The amount of space you put into this genre of music, funk, disco, whatever, is the space that you can connect with through dance. So you don’t play all the beats, you leave a little bit of space so you can dance to it, you can put your foot in that space, or you can shake your bum to that little bit of space in the groove.”

Simon concurs: “Absolutely. I mean, one of my favourite examples of that is, because I was kind of a rock player before, playing big bar chords…but when I got into this funk, it was like, I was playing…[he makes the sound of musical notes]…space!

“And this amazing song called Green Onions by Booker T & The MGs, the guitar part is really crucial because it adds a sort of sonic thing, and without that, the record wouldn’t be the same – and that is probably the most spacious example of a groovy, funky thing. Within that, there’s different bits of space for someone else to play in.”

The space for free-form expression applies to each and every Brand New Heavies concert. “We get some complaints…but I’m not gonna name names!” says Andrew. “But, do you know what, there’s something that we do sometimes between songs, at the end of songs, or the beginning of songs, where we just make up a completely new groove arrangement, and maybe that will last for a couple of minutes, and then we go on to the actual song, but we’re very good at that.

“I suppose it’s a form of live remixing, we just change the beat, and maybe start in a different, slightly different voicing of a key of the song. And that can go on for 64 bars, or a couple of minutes, or whatever. And then we finally start the actual song that people know. We love it! I think people really like that, because we’re don’t use tapes, we don’t use any form of backing tracks or anything like that.

“Everything is off the cuff, and there’s a level of vulnerability that comes with that, because no-one exactly knows what to do next – and I think the crowd really like that.”

Vulnerability? “Oh, definitely, and that keeps it interesting for us,” says Simon. “It makes every show unique.” “Like, we don’t remember these jams,” adds Andrew. “Some are sort of songs, some might even turn into songs, occasionally.”

“We might take a song like Stay This Way, where, with the outro, we’ll just go on longer, because we’ll just break it down and let Angela have a sort of diva moment, in a positive way,” further explains Simon. “We don’t know what’s going to happen…but we’re treading the boards, and it keeps it fresh. That’s definitely a thing, so you’ll never see the same Brand New Heavies show twice, that’s for sure – but with some bands you do, you know.”

“That moment of intensity is performance, and that’s what differs from plodding away at a 9-to-5 job,” says The Brand New Heavies’ Simon Bartholomew, above, right

When Angela Ricci took on the lead vocalist’s role, occupied previously by N’Dea Davenport and Siedah Garrett, what drew Simon and Andrew to her voice? “At this point, I have to say that it’s really hard to find a singer for The Brand New Heavies,” says Andrew. “What you’re doing is kind of letting go of your own dreams and passions, or maybe ego, a little bit, because when you’re singing, it’s like being in a theatre production: you’re actually singing songs that have already been developed and sung by someone else.

“So you have to reinterpret songs that were sung by Siedah Garrett, and it’s hard to find a singer that’s willing to let go of their own own dreams or whatever. Fortunately, Angela does it so, so well – and she’s an ex-model, so she knows how to carry herself on stage.”

Simon adds: “Angela had a cassette when she was younger, an Acid Jazz compilation thing that had our song Brother Sister on it, so she’s known the band for a long time, and she’s, like, a fan, you know.”

“She’s done a lot of session work, so she’s used to that sort of role, singing someone else’s songs and interpreting,” says Andrew, who recalls Angela being thrown in at the deep end.

“I thought, ‘oh my god, I hope she can handle it’. We were playing to 5,000, supporting Soul II Soul. We were worried, and she was worried, but we pulled through, and we supported each other, and, you know, eight years later, she gets it. She slots in with what the crowd expects, she’s very poised and very good at engaging with them”… “And with putting up with us,” chips in Simon.

How have the band founders’ priorities changed from 35 years ago? “My main priority is having enough energy and resting enough, so we can deliver, because we’re not spring chickens anymore,” says Andrew, now 59. “So you’ve got to rest, and you’ve got to look after yourself, as everything’s about walking on stage at a half past eight in the evening.

“It’s also remembering that people have got so much choice in live music now and in what to do with their money. So we need to deliver: we do like to dress up a little bit, put some fancy clothes on, and do the nice lighting and pyrotechnics and stuff like that. Our main focus is putting on a good show so that people will hopefully come back and see us again.”

The thrill of performance is alive as ever in Simon and Andrew: “If you’re backstage, it’s something no-one really talks about, it’s an ongoing rule, but there’s a certain level of energy and nervousness and vulnerability that builds up and builds up and builds up three hours before the show,” says Simon.

“Running around backstage, and dressing up, and sharing jewellery, I love it,” says Andrew. “I always start shouting, I start getting loud. I can’t help myself; I think I’ve got Funk Tourette’s,” says Simon. “I get loud, I try and control it. I’m like, ‘come on, go! Whoo!’, and I just start doing stupid voices and things like that.

“It’s part of the build-up, because the whole day is based around almost everything you eat and drink. It’s all leading up to this moment. No-one talks about it but from that point, it is kind of like when sportsmen prepare over a day to go out to perform. It could be a tennis player, it could be a footballer, whatever. That moment of intensity is performance, and that’s what differs from plodding away at a 9-to-5 job. You know you have a part of the day that really matters above all else.”

Andrew concludes: “It’s that concentration on getting it so perfect and right on stage in that moment. I mean, if you’re in a relationship, you’re married, and have kids and stuff, they all have to deal with that. I’m in a new relationship, and I’ve had to explain that, yeah, Andrew might be a little bit tetchy, a little bit short, distant, but it’s just transforming from being maybe daddy or boyfriend into funky bass player.”

The Brand New Heavies, with special guests Galliano, York Barbican, March 19. Doors 7pm. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk or aegpresents.co.uk.

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All is rosy in The Secret Garden as actor-musician innovator John Doyle returns to York Theatre Royal after 29 years

Director-designer John Doyle in rehearsal for The Secret Garden The Musical at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Marc Brenner

DIRECTOR and designer John Doyle returns to York Theatre Royal for the first time in 29 years with his actor-musician revival of Broadway hit The Secret Garden The Musical from March 17 to April 4.

Artistic director at the St Leonard’s Place theatre from 1993 to 1997, the Scotsman became synonymous with this performance style, going on to win Tony Awards in New York, where he directed Cynthia Erivo and Jennifer Hudson in The Color Purple.

“It is wonderful to have John Doyle return to York Theatre Royal and direct this beautiful Yorkshire story,” says chief executive officer Paul Crewes. “We are excited that this will be a fresh take on this critically acclaimed musical, and that our audiences will be the first to experience it.”

In his days of working in the United States, Paul had hoped to link up with John for a project. “I couldn’t do it at that time, but I was delighted to be asked back to York, as I’d been very happy here, so to do The Secret Garden in York felt right,” says John, now 73, of his thrill at the invitation to direct this “beautiful, hopeful musical”.

Poppy Jason rehearsing her role as Mary Lennox in The Secret Garden The Musical. Picture: Marc Brenner

“Though initially I wasn’t thinking of doing it with actor musicians, I then thought it would be good for the family elements of the story because, if you were to do it with an orchestra in the pit, so much time would be spent with only two people on stage, whereas having  the cast on the stage all the time gives it a sense of community.”

The 1991 Broadway musical combines music by Lucy Simon (Carly‘s sister) with book and lyrics by Pulitzer Prize winner Marsha Norman in its account of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s beloved story of love, loss, healing and hope, set in the North Riding of Yorkshire in 1906.

When newly orphaned Mary Lennox is sent to the moors to live with her widower uncle, she finds the secluded Misselthwaite Manor to be inhabited by memories and spirits from the past.

Whereupon she discovers her Aunt Lily’s mysterious, neglected garden and determines to breathe new life into it, with the help of her new friends, as she learns the power of connection and the restorative magic of nature.

Double bass-playing Steve Simmonds in rehearsal for his role as Ben. Picture: Marc Brenner

“To me there is something holy in this story,” says regular church attendee John. “To see the world through a child’s eyes – a spunky, difficult child that she is – Mary makes a miracle happen; she makes the boy walk, which is incredible.”

In a nutshell, the appeal of actor-musician productions that stretches back to such Doyle productions as Into The Woods, Pal Joey, Cabaret and the TMA award-winning Moll Flanders lies in “putting the emotions of the music in the hands of the performers on stage, so it doesn’t come from under them but from within them instead,” says John.

“Because there’s no conductor, with no-one leading them, it has a risky potential to go wrong, but there is something joyous about that because it’s alive. It’s not a concept; it’s a means to an end to tell a story.”

John continues: “I come from the Highlands, where everybody in my family played an instrument. I played the cello, the piano and the bagpipes – not very well in the case of the bagpipes! – and this was in the days before TV when we would entertain ourselves by playing music together.”

Estella Evans, centre, will be sharing the role of Mary Lennox with Poppy Jason

That love of music, and its communal powers, has driven John’s actor-musician work all the way to winning a Tony Award for his production of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street.

“That legitimised it further because it was the first time that a major composer – Sondheim – had given his approval to work in this way,” says John.

“Now there are degree courses in actor-musician theatre, at places such as Rose Bruford, where I’m a Fellow, Mountview and the Royal Conservatoire [in Glasgow].”

He taught theatre as a professor at Princeton University Lewis Centre for the Arts for ten years too, but moved back to Britain after 20 years in America, disaffected by President Trump’s intolerant attitudes in his first term in office.

Cristian Buttaci: Rehearsing for the role of Colin. Picture: Marc Brenner

Whereupon John settled in Wells – all’s wells that ends in Wells, you could say – with time spent in his native Scottish Highlands too.

“I walk to work every day and I think, ‘how much longer can I do this? How long have I got left?’. You get to the point where you think, ‘I’m not going to live forever, what is the best way I can use that time?’, and theatre is still part of that.”

York Theatre Royal is very grateful for that philosophy and long may it continue.

York Theatre Royal presents The Secret Garden The Musical, March 17 to April 4, 7.30pm (except Sundays, Mondays and March 19); plus 2pm, March 19, March 26 and April 2; 2.30pm, March 21, 28 and April 4; 6.30pm, March 23 and 30; 7pm, March 19. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Interview copyright of The York Press.

Elizabeth Marsh: Returning to York Theatre Royal to play Mrs Medlock in The Secret Garden The Musical after earlier appearances in Into the Woods and Twelfth Night. Picture: Marc Brenner

Who’s in The Secret Garden cast and production team?

JOHN Doyle’s principal actor-musician cast for The Secret Garden The Musical will comprise Catrin Mai Edwardsas Martha;Joanna Hickman, Lily; Henry Jenkinson, Archibald; Elliot Mackenzie, Dickon; Ann Marcuson, Mrs Winthrop; Elizabeth Marsh, Mrs Medlock; André Refig, Neville, and Steve Simmonds, Ben.

In the company too will be Estella Evans and Poppy Jason, sharing the role of Mary Lennox, and Cristian Buttaci and Dexter Pulling splitting performances as Colin. The ensemble will be completed by Stephanie Cremona, Matthew James Hinchliffe, Lara Lewis and Melinda Orengo.

Completing the creative team alongside director-designer John Doyle are musical supervisor and orchestrator Catherine Jayes, co-designer David L Arsenault, costume designer Gabrielle Dalton, lighting designer Johanna Town, sound designer Tom Marshall and casting director Ginny Schiller.

John Doyle: director and designer of The Secret Garden The Musical at York Theatre Royal

John Doyle: back story

AWARD-WINNING Scottish director of theatre, film and opera. Served as artistic director of five major British and American theatre companies, including York Theatre Royal from 1993 to 1997.

Extensive stage credits include the world premiere of Alfred Hitchcock Presents at Theatre Royal Bath; Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street (Tony Award for Best Director of a Musical); Company (Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical); The Visit (Tony Award nomination for Best Musical, Drama Desk nomination for Best Director) and The Color Purple (Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical, Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director, Grammy Award).

Pacific Overtures (Drama Desk nomination for Best Musical Revival); Carmen Jones (Audelco Award for Best Musical Revival, Lucille Lortel nomination for Best Director); Mahagonny (Los Angeles Opera, two Grammy Awards); Passion (Drama Desk nomination for Best Director); Road Show, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Kiss Me Kate and Assassins (Lucille Lortel nomination for Best Musical Revival, Best Director).

In addition to numerous credits in London’s West End, John has directed at Grange Park Opera, Sydney Opera House, the Metropolitan Opera, Houston Grand Opera, La Fenice in Venice, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Second Stage Theatre, Princeton McCarter Theatre and Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park.

Taught at Princeton University’s Lewis Centre for the Arts for ten years, specialising in acting and musical theatre courses. Known for his pioneering actor-musician style, he taught courses such as Development of the Multi-skilled Performer and The Nature of Theatrical Reinvention.

                                                                             

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 10, from Gazette & Herald

Elliot Mackenzie and Henry Jenkinson in rehearsal for John Doyle’s actor-musician production of The Secret Garden The Musical at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Mark Brenner

A MAGICAL Yorkshire garden, two cases for Sherlock Holmes, daft Funny Bones and chocolate cookery tips hit the sweet pot for Charles Hutchinson.   

Musical of the week: The Secret Garden The Musical , York Theatre Royal, March 17 to April 4

TONY Award-winning director John Doyle, artistic director of York Theatre Royal from 1991 to 1994, returns to pastures past in more ways than one to present his actor-musician staging of Lucy Simon and Marsha Norman’s Broadway musical account of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s story of love, loss, healing and hope, set on Yorkshire moorland in 1906.

Newly orphaned, Mary Lennox is sent to live with her widowed uncle at the secluded Misselthwaite Manor, a house in habited by memories and spirits from the past. On discovering her Aunt Lily’s neglected garden, she vows to breathe new life into its mysterious stasis as she learns the restorative magic of nature. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Josh Jones: Striving to earn his cat’s respect at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York

Wrestling with humour: Josh Jones, I Haven’t Won The Lottery So Here’s Another Tour Show, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight, 8pm

MANCHESTER comedian Josh Jones follows up Gobsmacked with I Haven’t  Won The Lottery So Here’s Another Tour Show as he finds himself knee deep into his 30s, where nothing thrills him more than a Greggs’ Sausage Roll.

Living a more sedate life is not without its challenges, however, as he is yet to earn his cat’s respect. “I’ll be keeping it light: nothing super-political, nothing controversial, and it’s definitely not going to change your life,” he says of a set brimful of history, felines and his love of wrestling. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Cookery book talk of the week: Kemps Books presents Edd Kimber In Conversation, Milton Rooms, Malton, tomorrow, 7.30pm

EDD Kimber, 2010 winner of the inaugural Great British Bake Off, discusses his new book, Chocolate Baking, The Ultimate Guide To Cakes, Cookies, Desserts & Pastries (Quadrille Publishing, March 5), a celebration of the world’s most-loved ingredient in 100 recipes that showcase chocolate in all its forms, sometimes rich and bold, sometimes subtle and surprising.

Expect delicious insights, behind-the-scenes baking stories and possibly a little tasting and demonstration too from Bradford-raised, London-based Kimber. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Jazz singer Claire Martin: Teaming up with IG4 at NCEM, York

Jazz gig of the week: IG4 with Claire Martin, National Centre for Early Music, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm

VOCALIST Claire Martin joins IG4  pianist and composer Nikki Iles, saxophonist Karen Sharp and rising star bassist Ewan Hastie, 2022 BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year, to perform Iles’s new arrangements of Tom Waits, Burt Bacharach, Anthony Newley and Joni Mitchell songs, complemented by her stylish reworking of the American songbook, including Cole Porter and Johnny Mandel. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

Super-scooper: Rob Rouse going walkies with his skeletal dog in Funny Bones at Pocklington, Helmsley and Scarborough

Comedy gig of the week: Rob Rouse, Funny Bones, Pocklington Arts Centre, tomorrow, 7.30pm; Helmsley Arts Centre, March 20, 8pm; Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, March 21, 7.45pm

FRESH from being picked as the Comics’ Comic Best Act of the Year 2025, Rob Rouse is touring Funny Bones: a daft whirlwind of craftily spun tall tales, a bucketful of manic energy, canny stagecraft, eerily convincing characters and a barrage of one-liners.

“Warning: this show has been meticulously assembled to make you laugh as much as possible,” says Rouse. “However, you will not learn anything from it. You may even come out stupider than when you came in.” Box office: Pocklington, 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk; Helmsley, 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk; Scarborough, 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

The poster for Ready Steady 60’s Show at Helmsley Arts Centre

Tribute gig of the week: Ready Steady 60’s Show, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm

READY Steady 60’s Show celebrates the best of the Mod 1960s and British Beat boom in the four-piece tribute band’s two-hour show, paying homage to The Kinks, The Who, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Small Faces, The Move, The Hollies, and The Animals. Box office:  01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.       

Baron Productions’ cast members at St Mary’s Church, Bishophill Junior, York, where they will perform Friday and Saturday’s Sherlock Holmes double bill

Thriller double bill of the week: Baron Productions in Sherlock Holmes: A Scandal In Bohemia and The Speckled Band, St  Mary’s Church, Bishophill Junior, York, Friday and Saturday, 7.30pm

SHERLOCK Holmes and Dr Watson embark on two of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most captivating cases, presented by York company Baron Productions. London private detective Holmes has always despised love, until the day he pits his wits against mysterious blackmailer Irene Adler, who has a powerful hold over the King of Bohemia, one that could turn Holmes into a changed man if he dares do battle with her.

Then, when a desperate young woman begs Holmes for protection against her cruel stepfather, he and Watson must face a deranged doctor – who can commit horrible murders without entering his victims’ rooms – and a sinister “speckled band”. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk/baron-productions.

The 309s: Bringing together Hank Williams, Bob Wills and Louis Jordan at Milton Rooms, Malton

Swing jive gig of the week: The 309s, Milton Rooms, Malton, Saturday, 8pm

WEST Yorkshire five-piece The 309s have spent 14 years purveying their swing jive repertoire all over the country. Think Hank Williams, Bob Wills and Louis Jordan joining forces to make a classic 20th century sound at the roots of rock’n’roll.

The 309s pick songs mostly from the southern States of America from 1925 and 1955, from Western Swing, created by Wills in Texas, through to rock’n’roll’s early days in Memphis, Tennessee, while taking in country boogie and jump blues too. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Scouting For Girls: Marking 15th anniversary of platinum-selling Everybody Wants To Be On TV album at York Barbican

Anniversary gig  of the week: Scouting For Girls, Everybody (Still) Wants To Be On TV Tour 2026, York Barbican, March 17, doors 7pm

AS Scouting For Girls’ vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Roy Stride puts it: “I can’t believe we’re already celebrating the 15th anniversary of our second album [Everybody Wants To Be On TV], and I’m beyond excited to get back on the road in 2026! The shows are going to be immense: a massive nostalgic Scouting singalong every night.” Expect further hits to feature too. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

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Sharon McDonagh and DJ Sola launch RARE Collective art shows for SASH charity at WET wine bar. First up: Nicolas Dixon

Leeds abstract surrealist Nicolas Dixon, outside WET, in Micklegate, York, where his exhibition launches the RARE v WET venture tomorrow

RARE, York artist and event organiser Sharon McDonagh’s new venture, will hold its launch party tomorrow at WET, the independent wine bar and restaurant in Micklegate, York.

Known as a key organiser of 2023 to 2025’s groundbreaking Educated Vandals, Rise Of The Vandals and VandalFest charity street art events in the disused office block on Low Ousegate, Sharon has teamed up with friend and fellow artist/DJ Sola as RARE Collective to continue their mission to champion the overlooked, the creatives, the independents and the underdogs while supporting York charities.

Opening tomorrow at 6pm, the first project is the debut RARE v WET art exhibition in support of SASH (Safe and Sound Homes), featuring Leeds abstract surrealist Nicolas Dixon, on show until April 22. Further solo exhibitions by artists from Yorkshire and beyond will be held there, from which a percentage of sales will go to the charity.

WET proprietors James Wall and Ella Williams

“RARE Collective will be collaborating with other creatives and businesses that rewrite the rules of events, art and community culture in York and are looking forward to working with Art of Protest, who are curating the forthcoming Acomb Fest in July,” says Sharon.

“I’m incredibly excited to launch this new venture and to have the freedom to collaborate with other creatives, curate exhibitions and street art events and organise collaborations and workshops through RARE Collective in support of SASH and other local charities. It carries the same ethos, passion and hard graft as before, just with a new crew and fresh energy.

“What drives me is the opportunity to use creativity and experience to bring people together: organising events, working with artists and creatives, and supporting young people and adults from all backgrounds to have a voice, share their work and raise funds that can genuinely make a difference.”

DJ/artist Sola: Linking up with Sharon McDonagh to launch RARE Collective

Sharon continues: “After working with SASH on our last two events, it’s a real pleasure to collaborate with their fantastic team again. Over the past three years, we’ve been humbled by the incredible artists, DJs, volunteers and businesses who have supported what we do, and we’re excited to continue building on that momentum.

“We’re also grateful to our sponsors, Mack and Lawler Ltd and York Digital Image, whose continued financial support makes these events possible.”

Looking forward to tomorrow’s launch, artist, DJ and RARE member Sola says: “It’s great to team up with Sharon and be part of RARE Collective. We’ve been friends for several years and I’m humbled to be able to present such an amazing array of local music talents, from DJs to producers, and help connect the dots between music and visual arts.

Nicolas Dixon at work on a mural

“As Sola, I combine all these elements when producing my own artworks and am excited for what lies ahead.”

WET was opened by Ella Williams and James Wall on October 15 last year. “At WET, we’re a tiny team – we’ve just taken on our first employee – running a wine bar/restaurant in the centre of York on Micklegate,” say Ella and James.

“We prioritise seasonal cooking in our small plates, with lots of offal and North Yorkshire produce. Our wine list focuses on smaller growers, lower intervention bottles and changes once a week. There’s a popular roast every Sunday, and regular vinyl nights keep things exciting.

RARE Collective artist and co-organiser Sharon McDonagh, left, with Pam Anthony and Aimee Harding from SASH

“We met working in hospitality and have always championed independents. We’re happy to be a part of an ever-changing and growing York food, drink and cultural scene. We are therefore really happy to be able to collaborate with RARE Collective to host art exhibitions in support of local youth homeless charity SASH.”

The first artist in the RARE v WET spotlight is Leeds-born, internationally acclaimed abstract surrealist Nicolas Dixon, whose murals and artworks are known all over the world.

Closer to home, his large-scale murals have become landmarks in Leeds, including at Kirkgate Market, Trinity Shopping Centre and the University of Leeds, as well as several Leeds United tributes, such as the 1972 FA Cup Winners mural at Elland Road and the iconic Bielsa the Redeemer mural at the Pet Lodge Superstore, on Oldfield Lane, Wortley, featuring former Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa in the style of Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer statue.

Nicolas Dixon’s 2020 mural Bielsa the Redeemer on Oldfield Lane, Wortley, Leeds

“It’s an absolute pleasure to be teaming up with RARE Collective and WET in support of SASH for the first in a series of exhibitions at WET hosted by RARE,” says Nicolas. “Having worked with Sharon at last year’s charity street art event Vandalfest in York, it was a no-brainer when she asked if I’d like to be the first artist to exhibit for her exciting new collective.

“The show will feature a mixture of new and older work – prints and originals. It should look pretty special in this cool space on Micklegate. It’s great to be supporting SASH and hopefully raise some funds to contribute to the amazing work they do for the youth homeless community in York. Really looking forward to it. See you there.”

SASH says: “We are really excited to be able to work with Sharon again; she always goes above and beyond to ensure her projects come together and is an absolute pleasure to work with. She feels like an extension of the SASH team!

“Sharon always brings such a positive attitude and energy to make things happen, getting results and making a real difference to the lives of those around her and the communities she works with. Her new venture with Sola is a fresh take on what they have already built over the past few years and we are looking forward to working with RARE Collective.”

Artist Nicolas Dixon

Nicolas Dixon: Back story

ABSTRACT surrealist, born in Leeds, whose work spans continents, with murals and artworks on display in Ibiza, Melbourne, New York, Barcelona, Antwerp, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Goa.

His large-scale murals have become landmarks in Leeds, from Kirkgate Market to Trinity Leeds, University of York to Bielsa the Redeemer in Wortley, hailed by Goal magazine as one of the most famous murals in world football.

Alongside his international work, Nicolas has completed high-profile commissions, most notably being selected by Universal Studios as one of six artists to transform Brick Lane, London, into “Yellow Brick Lane” for the global launch of the film Wicked: For Good.

A surrealist mural by Nicolas Dixon

Deeply bonded to the underground house music scene, Nicolas has collaborated with clubs in the UK and Ibiza, including Pacha and Octan, where his 50m mural was created atop the entire club, as well as working with DJ/producers such as Nightmares On Wax and Eats Everything.

He has partnered with Rhodes Music, inventors of the electric piano associated with Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Ray Manzarek and Ray Charles, creating a hand-painted edition of their MK8 model, along with a run of 40 limited-edition versions. He has collaborated with Technics too, hand-painting their iconic 1210 turntables.

The poster for Nicolas Dixon’s exhibition on one wall at WET, Micklegate, York

Noted for his biomorphic shapes, bold colour schemes and instantly recognisable style, Nicolas has worked with major brands such as Adidas, Ribble Bikes, Disney/Star Wars, Jägermeister, BBC, Team GB and the NHS.

Last July, his first-floor collaboration with Bristol graffiti and street art pioneer Inkie was a highlight of VandalFest at Low Ousegate, York.

As an ambassador for the charity Last Night A DJ Saved My Life, he leads art workshops and mural projects with street-affected youth in Africa.

“We are the greatest in the land”: Nicolas Dixon’s mural of Leeds United’s 1972 FA Cup winners at Elland Road

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Midge Ure’s sonic bridges will be instrumental to immersive A Man Of Two Worlds show at York Barbican on Nov 20

Midge Ure: A Man Of Two Worlds but in one place, York Barbican, on November 20

MIDGE Ure will deliver an “immersive live experience” at York Barbican on November 20 on his visionary A Man Of Two Worlds Tour.

Tickets for this “bold new chapter from one of the UK’s most pioneering musical forces” will go on sale on Friday at 9.:30am at https://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/midge-ure/.

Scottish musician, producer and songwriter Ure, 72, promises a “rare and deeply personal concert experience on a tour that will “blend classic album tracks and fan favourites with cinematic instrumentals in a seamless, emotionally resonant journey through his expansive career”.

He last played York in April 2023, joined by Band Electronica on his  Voice & Visions Tour at the Grand Opera House to mark the 40th anniversary of Ultravox albums Rage In Eden and Quartet, released in September 1981 and October 1982 respectively, backed up by landmark songs from Ure’s back catalogue.

Ure & Band Electronica first performed there in November 2017 when headlining a 1980s’ triple bill with The Christians and Altered Images, returning in October 2019 on The 1980 Tour, when Ultravox’s 1980 album, Vienna, was performed in its entirety for the first time in four decades, complemented by highlights from Visage’s self-titled debut album, .

Having celebrated his 70th birthday with a sold-out Royal Albert Hall show in 2023, followed up with a major UK tour in 2024, Ure now challenge musical expectations with a new live concept for 2026.

“This is my two worlds coming together,” explains the Slik, Rich Kids, Ultravox and Visage musician.  “Almost every album I have made over the last 40-plus years has featured at least one instrumental track. Instrumental music is one of my main loves.”

For the first time, these often-overlooked instrumental pieces will share the stage with the songs generations know and love. Interspersed throughout the performance, they will act as sonic bridges.

“I realised most of these have never been performed live,” reflects Ure. “So my intention on this tour is to seamlessly insert some of these atmospheric, cinematic instrumentals between a selection of hits and favourite album tracks.”

The result is a curated show designed not only as a set list of songs, but also as a multi-sensory narrative “to take the audience on a journey rather than just play a list of individual songs,” adds Ure. “This will be an immersive experience for the audience both visually and sonically.”

From his glam rock days with Slik, through the punk-tinged energy of The Rich Kids (also featuring Glen Matlock, later of the Sex Pistols), to encapsulating the electronic sound of the 1980s with Ultravox and Visage, Ure has been at the forefront of innovation.

His role in co-writing and producing the 1984 global anthem Do They Know It’s Christmas? and helping to orchestrate Live Aid at Wembley Stadium remains among the most significant moments in modern music history.

After a career crowned with Ivor Novello, Grammy, and BASCAP awards and a legacy of gold and platinum-selling records, Ure now brings fans something completely new.

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Why 300 years of Japanese woodblock prints are Making Waves at York Art Gallery

Waves in motion: Making Waves at York Art Gallery. Picture: Lee McLean

MAKING Waves: The Art of Japanese Woodblock Print has taken a year of preparation at York Art Gallery.

On show until August 30, the display of Japanese art and culture brings together more than 100 striking and iconic works from renowned artists such as Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Hiroshige and Kitagawa Utamaro, amongst many others, complemented by armoury from the Royal Armoury In Leeds and kimonos from Durham Oriental Museum at Durham University.

To provide an insight into the history and development of Japanese woodblock printing, the exhibition brings together exhibits from York Art Gallery’s extensive collection of Japanese prints, some never exhibited previously, together with prints loaned from Maidstone Museum, Ashmolean Museum and the British Museum and early printed books from the British Library.

Covering more than 300 years of printing history, from the 17th to 21st centuries, Making Waves places particular emphasis on the heyday of Japanese woodblock printing in the 18th and 19th centuries.

At its epicentre is the chance to see Katsushika Hokusai’s The Great Wave off Kanagawa, one of the most recognisable and celebrated artworks in the world. This original print has been lent to York Art Gallery by Maidstone Museum, and like encountering Leonardo da Vinci’s 16th century portrait of the Mona Lisa at the Musée u de Louvre, the work is smaller than you might expect but just as impactful.

Spread across three rooms, Making Waves invites visitors on a journey that begins with a guide to the origins and techniques of early printmaking, before looking at major themes, including the “floating world” of urban entertainments, the beauty of Japanese landscapes, legendary heroes and adventurers from fantastical tales and historical epics, actors and Samurai warriors (representing martial prowess, courage, loyalty and honour). Festivals and seasonal celebrations feature too.

Finally, the exhibition explores how print artists responded to major changes in Japanese society, from Japan’s development into a modern industrial nation in the late 19th century through to the present day.

Utagawa Hiroshige’s Asakusa Rice-fields and Torinomachi Festival, from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, part 4 Winter, 1857, York Art Gallery collection. Picture courtesy of York Museums Trust

Contemporary Japanese woodblock prints feature too in the third room, including several works by Royal Academy of Arts president Rebecca Salter, created in collaboration with Sato Woodblock Workshop, Kyoto, plus Japanese woodblock prints depicting the North York Moors by Scottish artist Laura Boswell, such as Rhubarb Sky.

Look out too for works by London-based artist Nana Shiomi, whose 2001 print, Hokusai’s Wave – Happy Carp is displayed alongside the very woodblocks Shiomi used to produce it, enabling visitors to gain an understanding of the technical process of printing.

Entertainment and festivals, folklore and seasons and travel and adventure all play a major role in these vibrant images, whose dynamic designs remain popular centuries later.

 Making Waves marks the debut of Eleanor Jackson as curator of fine art at York Art Gallery. “I started here in January last year and was given this exhibition to curate straight away. To hit the ground running and to turn it round in a year has been challenging but it’s worked out well,” she says.

“Arranging the loans is by far the most time-consuming part of organising the exhibition, so that was the first task I did, researching potential loans and contacting leading institutions.”

Eleanor continues: “Ever since Japan was opened to Western trade in the 1850s, Japanese art has become increasingly popular in the West and Europe, causing a sensation when first exhibited in Paris, introducing audiences to the woodblock print, and now there are so many fantastic collections in the UK.”

One key curatorial decision was to address the need to add contrast to “the prints being mostly 2D and small”. “It was important to bring in bigger items, such as the armour and kimonos, to provide dramatic sightlines, and to give a fuller flavour of Japanese culture in that period,” says Eleanor. “We also asked our exhibition designers, Journal, from Leeds, to provide a sense of scale.”

The Great Wave off Kanagawa, by Katsushika Hokusai, circa 1829-32. Image courtesy of Maidstone Museum, on loan at York Art Gallery

In addition, the exhibition focus on woodblock print techniques is intended to be of interest to artists, while visitors can “have a go” at woodblock printing”. “It’s important to understand the art of woodblock and the huge amount of work and skill that goes into each one. Even though they are prints, they are unique because they all have imperfections,” says Eleanor.

Summing up the significance of Making Waves, she enthuses: “To bring these works together in this way has been a privilege, and we are so excited to unveil the exhibition.

“The support of national and regional museums, as well as contemporary artists, has been instrumental in allowing us to tell the story of this gorgeous art form. We are grateful to them for lending their precious works to York Art Gallery for this exhibition.”

Making Waves will extend into York Museum Gardens, where a new Japanese- style garden is being installed, ready for the spring and summer months. A Japanese dry garden, or “karesansui”, created in the space behind the gallery, takes inspiration from traditional Japanese gardens with a contemporary interpretation linked to the history of the site.

Often called a “zen”’ garden, the Japanese dry garden is constructed simply using wood, stone and bamboo to create a space for calm contemplation and meditation, inviting people to take time out from their day.

Steve Williams, garden manager at York Museums Trust, says: “Four blossom trees will be a key feature in the garden as we head into spring 2026:  three cherry trees and an apricot tree. Blossom trees hold a cultural significance in Japan, symbolising beauty, impermanence and renewal, which reflect the transient nature of life.

“All the materials included in the Japanese-style garden have been sourced with the intention of longer-term use, and they will be repurposed elsewhere in Museum Gardens following the exhibition.”

Japanese woodblock prints depicting the North York Moors by Scottish-based artist Laura Boswell from Making waves at York Art Gallery. Picture: Lee McLean

Making Waves is accompanied by interactive programme of activities and events, including specialist talks from artists, makers and curators throughout the exhibition run. Interactive guided workshops for over-16s will enable participants to “get to grips” with printing techniques, bookbinding and Ikebana flower arranging throughout the summer months and to create bespoke art to take home.

Siona Mackelworth, head of audience and programme at York Museums Trust, says: “The associated programme and events are designed for all ages to make connections to Japanese art and get involved with the gallery.

“We’re delighted to play host to more internationally important art, building on the success of our Claude Monet and William Morris exhibitions last year, and to share the stories and processes behind Japanese printing by showcasing technically complex and visually impactful artworks.”

Making Waves: The Art of Japanese Woodblock Print, York Arts Gallery, on show until August 30. Entry is included in general admission to York Art Gallery. Tickets: yorkartgallery.co.uk.

Did you know?

THE Japanese art aesthetic of Making Waves extends into York Art Gallery’s two shops, where prints, souvenirs and kimono jackets are on sale. For the creative,  Kintsugi kits and sketchbooks are stocked, as well as themed gifts such as fun socks, chopsticks and lucky welcome soaps.

Many products  display art from the gallery collection or are sourced directly from Japan. In addition, a new print inspired by Japan and York Art Gallery has been created by York artist Lincoln Lightfoot. 

The balcony ceramics shop offers tea bowls and other handcrafted ceramics inspired by Japanese Pottery.  

Exhibition designers Journal bringing “a sense of scale” to Making Waves at York Art Gallery. Picture: Lee McLean

Did you know too?

PRUSSIAN Blue, the world’s first synthetic pigment, was available widely in Japan from 1

Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1864): back story

THE most prolific, popular and commercially successful print artist of his time, Kunisada designed at least 20,00 prints during his 50-year career, where he was assisted by dozens of students employed in his studio.

While Kunisada tried his hand at a wide range of genres, theatre prints made up around 60 per cent of his output. Usually published to coincide with particular performances, theatre prints became outdated quickly. Kunisada’s rapid production and commercial acumen, however, enabled him to keep up with public demand for up-to-the-minute prints.

Kunisada excelled at conveying drama, expressions and gorgeous costumes of the theatre. His prints are typically beautifully detailed, busy in composition and intense in emotion.

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Tommy Carmichael to complete hat-trick of “silly-billy” roles in York Theatre Royal pantomime as Muddles in Snow White

Tommy Carmichael in the poster announcing his return to the York Theatre Royal pantomime in Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs

THE funny fixtures are in place for both the 2026-27 York Theatre Royal and Grand Opera House pantomimes.

After Jimmy Bryant was confirmed for a second season in UK Productions’ The Further Adventures Of Peter Pan: The Return Of Captain Hook, playing Smee from December 5 to January 3 at the Cumberland Street theatre, now Tommy Carmichael has signed up for a third winter of daft-lad tomfoolery in Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs at the Theatre Royal.

After starring as ever-cheerful Charlie in Aladdin in 2024 and Jangles in Sleeping Beauty last Christmas, Doncaster-born Carmichael will play Muddles, reuniting once more with regular panto dame  Robin Simpson. 

Tommy Carmichael’s Jangles with panto dame Robin Simpson’s Nurse Nellie in York Theatre Royal’s 2025-26 pantomime Aladdin. Picture: S R Taylor Photography

Now based in Livingston, near Edinburgh, Carmichael has played Timternet in Big Strong Man (national tour), Silly Willy in Robin Hood (The Maltings, Ely), Chief Weasel in The Wind In The Willows (national tour), “Himself” in Big Strong Man (CAST, Doncaster), Buttons in Cinderella (The Maltings, Ely), Queen Of Hearts in Alice In Wonderland (national tour) and Bagheera in The Jungle Book (national tour).

Written by Paul Hendy and directed by Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster, Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs will be co-produced with award-winning Evolution Productions, the team behind such York pantomimes as Jack And The Beanstalk, Aladdin and Sleeping Beauty.

Juliet says: “We are delighted to have Tommy back with us for Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs this year! Robin [Simpson] and Tommy have such a fabulous energy and comedic rapport when they’re on stage together and we know audiences will love having them back to bring all the laughs once again.

Tommy Carmichael: Actor and children’s theatre tutor

“Feedback from last year was just so brilliant and we already have performances which are closing to selling out, so it’s never too early to get your tickets.”

Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs will run from December 4 to January 3,  with the promise of “lavish costumes, stunning sets, hilarious jokes and dazzling special effects”.

Family tickets are available for all performances with savings of up to £61 on bookings for four tickets. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond, whether clay for today or early Elvis era. Hutch’s List No. 9, from The York Press

Ben Arnup: York ceramicist taking part in York Ceramics Fair

THE cream of ceramics, the dancing Gentleman Jack, Harry Enfield’s comedy characters and two cases for Sherlock Holmes make for a cracking week ahead, reckons Charles Hutchinson.   

Top of the pots: York Ceramics Fair 2026, York Racecourse, Knavesmire, York, today, 10am to 5pm; tomorrow, 10am to 4pm

EXPLORE work by more than 70 of the UK’s finest makers in a balanced mix of established artists and emerging talent, complemented by inspiring talks and demonstrations, in this Craft Potters Association event run by the makers.

Among those taking part will be Ben Arnup, Hannah Billingham, Cosmin Ciofirdel, Ben Davies, Sharon Griffin, Jaroslav Hrustalenko, Jin Eui Kim, Ruth King, Francis Lloyd-Jones, Emily Stubbs, Asia Szwej-Hawkin, Shirley Vauvelle and Jo Walker. Tickets: yorkceramicsfair.com.

Heather Lehan, left, and Julie Nunès in rehearsal for Northern Ballet’s Gentleman Jack at Leeds Grand Theatre. Picture: Colleen Mair

Dance premiere of the week: Northern Ballet in Gentleman Jack, Leeds Grand Theatre, today, then March 10  to 14, 7.30pm, plus 2.30pm matinees on March 12 and 14

THIS groundbreaking new ballet marks a trio of ‘firsts’: the first time the story of Anne Lister has been told through ballet, the first large-scale commission for Northern Ballet since 2021 and the first under artistic director Federico Bonelli.

Yorkshirewoman Anne, the “first modern lesbian”, lived, dressed and loved as she desired, not as 19th century society expected of her. Northern Ballet’s interpretation of her life is choreographed by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa. Box office: 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.

Candie Payne: Singer-turned-artist taking part in pop-up art fair at RedHouse Gallery, Harrogate. Picture: Chris Morrison

Pop-up art event of the week ART at RedHouse Gallery, Cheltenham Mount, Harrogate, today, 10am to 6pm

REDHOUSE Gallery, in Cheltenham Mount, Harrogate, introduces ART, its inaugural pop-up fair dedicated to contemporary art, prints, archive editions and sculpture, showcasing young and emerging artists from Harrogate and beyond.

Many of the artists will be attending the event. Among those taking part are Schoph, Christopher Kelly, Candie Payne, Thomas James Butler, Florence Blanchard, Alfie Kungu, Gareth Griffiths, David Rusbatch and Siena Barnes.

Harry Enfield: No Chums but a cornucopia of comedy characters on his return to York, where he cut his comedy teeth in his university days

Comedy legend of the week: Harry Enfield And No Chums, Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

FROM the meteoric rise of Thatcherite visionary Loadsamoney to the fury of Kevin the Teenager, satirical comedian and self-styled “stupid idiot” Harry Enfield  reflects on 40 years in comedy, bringing favourite characters back to life on stage.

Then comes your chance to ask the former University of York politics student (Derwent College, 1979 to 1982) how comedy works, what makes him most proud and what would he say to those who suggest “You wouldn’t be allowed to do your stuff today, would you?”. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Aisling Bea: Tales of travel, home, history, music, lovers and enemies at York Barbican

Big life answers of the week: Aisling Bea, Older Than Jesus, York Barbican, Sunday, 7.30pm

BAFTA and British Comedy Award-winning Irish stand-up, actor and writer Aisling Bea presents  tales of travel, home, immigration, history, sex, babies, music, lovers and enemies and will even answer your big life questions.

“It’s not about the destination, babes, it’s about the journey, but also the destinations are very important,” says Kildare-born Bea, creator, writer and star of Channel 4 and Hulu series This Way Up. Older than Jesus? Yes, Bea is 41. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Josh Jones: Still trying to earn his cat’s respect on tour at Theatre@41, Monkgate

Wrestling with humour: Josh Jones, I Haven’t  Won The Lottery So Here’s Another Tour Show, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, March 11, 8pm

MANCHESTER comedian Josh Jones follows up Gobsmacked with I Haven’t  Won The Lottery So Here’s Another Tour Show as he finds himself knee deep into his 30s, where nothing thrills him more than a Greggs’ Sausage Roll and an M&S food shop.

Living a more sedate life is not without its challenges, however, as he is still trying to earn his cat’s respect. “I’ll be keeping it light: nothing super-political, nothing controversial, and it’s definitely not going to change your life,” he says of a set brimful of history, cats and his love of wrestling. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Jordan Gray: Asking if the cost of success is worth it at Theatre@41, Monkgate

Gray matter of the week: Jordan Gray, Is That A C*ck In Your Pocket , Or Are You Just Here To Kill Me?, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, March 12, 8pm

JORDAN Gray, creator of ITV’s Transaction, hits the road with a guitar on her back and some very poorly written death threats in her DMs after she stripped off live on Channel 4, and won a BAFTA in the process, but bigots went ballistic.

Is the cost of success worth it, she asks in her new show. How do you live up to your own sky-high expectations? Join Gray as she explores all this and more in her “rootinest, tootinest, shootinest” hour of musical comedy yet. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Claire Martin: Joining jazz forces with IG4 at NCEM, York. Picture: Kenny McCracken

Jazz gig of the week: IG4 with Claire Martin, National Centre for Early Music, York, March 12, 7.30pm

VOCALIST Claire Martin joins IG4  pianist and composer Nikki Iles, saxophonist Karen Sharp and rising star bassist Ewan Hastie, 2022 BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year, to perform Iles’s new arrangements of  Tom Waits, Burt Bacharach, Anthony Newley and Joni Mitchell songs, complemented by her stylish reworking of the American songbook, including Cole Porter and Johnny Mandel. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

Baron Productions’ cast for Sherlock Holmes: A Scandal In Bohemia and The Speckled Band at St Mary’s Church, Bishophill Junior

Thriller double bill of the week: Baron Productions in Sherlock Holmes: A Scandal In Bohemia and The Speckled Band, St  Mary’s Church, Bishophill Junior, York, March 13 and 14, 7.30pm

SHERLOCK  Holmes and Dr Watson embark on two of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most captivating cases, presented by York company Baron Productions. London private detective Holmes has always despised love, until the day he pits his wits against mysterious blackmailer Irene Adler, who has a powerful hold over the King of Bohemia, one that could turn Holmes into a changed man if he dares do battle with her.

Then, when a desperate young woman begs Holmes for protection against her cruel stepfather, he and Watson must face a deranged doctor – who can commit horrible murders without entering his victims’ rooms – and a sinister “speckled band”. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk/baron-productions.

Elvis Costello: Revisiting his 1977-1986 back catalogue in Radio Soul! at York Barbican in June. Picture: Ray Di Pietro

Gig announcement of the week: Elvis Costello & The Imposters with Charlie Sexton, Radio Soul!: The Early Songs Of Elvis Costello, York Barbican, June 17

ELVIS Costello will return to York Barbican for the first time since May 2012’s Spectacular Singing Book tour, joined by The Imposters’ Steve Nieve, Pete Thomas and Davey Faragher and Texan guitarist Charlie Sexton.

Costello, 71, will focus on songs drawn from 1977’s My Aim Is True to 1986’s Blood & Chocolate in 1986, complemented by “other surprises”. Tickets: yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/elvis-costello/.

In Focus: Northern Ballet’s world premiere of Gentleman Jack, Q & A with principal dancers Gemma Coutts, Saeka Shirai & Rachael Gillespie

The woman in black: Gemma Coutts’s Anne Lister in Northern Ballet’s Gentleman Jack. Picture: Guy Farrow

Gemma Coutts on playing playing Anne Lister, 19th century icon and Yorkshirewoman, described by some as the “first modern lesbian”

What steps brought you to Northern Ballet?

“I grew up in Thailand, where I attended my first ballet school. At the age of 16, I joined the English National Ballet School and graduated in 2021. After this, I joined Northern Ballet where I am now in my fifth season with the company.”

Were you aware of Anne Lister/Gentleman Jack before being invited to create the ballet? What stuck you most about her story? 

“No, I was not aware of Anne Lister or her story prior to the ballet. Having learned more, Anne’s confidence and the social impact of her actions really stood out to me.”

How have you found the process of working with choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa to create the ballet and originate this role? 

“I have really enjoyed working with Annabelle. She is a passionate woman who knows what she wants. This means that we work quickly and with purpose, which suits my style and has allowed us to really dive into the roles.” 

How would you describe this ballet in three words? 

“Challenging. Evocative. Powerful.”  

What are you most looking forward to about performing Gentleman Jack?

“I am looking forward to performing in London as my family are coming to watch all the way from Indonesia. I always enjoy my time in London as I get to see many friends from my English National Ballet School days.”

Saeka Shirai, right, in rehearsal with Gemma Coutts for Northern Ballet’s Gentleman Jack. Picture: Colleen Mair

Saeka Shirai on playing the part of Marianna Lawton, friend and lover of Anne Lister,who breaks Anne’s heart by marrying Charles Lawton.

What steps brought you to Northern Ballet?

“I’m from Osaka, Japan and trained with the Yuki Ballet Studio and Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet School. I danced with Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet for four years and then with Poznan Opera Ballet for two. This is my fourth season with Northern Ballet.

Were you aware of Anne Lister/Gentleman Jack before being invited to create the ballet? What stuck you most about her story? 

“I had some awareness of Anne Lister before working on the ballet, and what struck me most was her courage.”

How have you found the process of working with choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa to create the ballet and originate this role? 

“It’s been an inspiring and collaborative process. She knows very clearly what she wants, which I found very similar to Anne Lister herself. That clarity made the creative process focused and exciting, especially when originating a new role.”

What are the defining characteristics of your part and how are you embodying those on stage? 

“I think Marianna is graceful, elegant and emotionally expressive. On stage, I try to bring her character to life with smooth movements and a mature presence.”

Are you excited to be premiering in Leeds, portraying a real person and story rooted here in Yorkshire? 

“Yes, of course we are very excited!”

How would you describe this ballet in three words? 

“Brave, bold and confident.”

What are you most looking forward to about performing Gentleman Jack? Do you have a favourite place to visit?

“Wherever we go, the audience is always so warm and welcoming. It really means everything to us. I hope the ballet brings them as much joy as they give us.”

Rachael Gillespie (Ann Walker), right, rehearsing for Northern Ballet’s Gentleman Jack with Gemma Coutts (Anne Lister). Picture: Colleen Mair

Rachael Gillespie on playing Ann Walker, Anne Lister’s long-term partner and eventual wife, who sets Ann on a path to being a different type of woman.

What has been your dance journey?

“I have been dancing with Northern Ballet for 18 years.” 

Were you aware of Anne Lister/Gentleman Jack before being invited to create the ballet? What stuck you most about her story? 

“Her strength, courage and intelligence really stood out for me. To step out of social expectations to be her true self is so brave and empowering.” 

Are you excited to be premiering in Leeds, portraying a real person and story rooted here in Yorkshire? 

“It’s always so special for us to tour and share our stories across the UK. We have an incredible amount of loyalty from our audiences, old and new, so it’s so important to keep them involved with our performances.”

How would you describe this ballet in three words? 

“Empowering, innovative, enriching.” 

Gentleman Jack choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa. Picture: Colleen Mair

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REVIEW: Black Treacle Theatre in Anne Boleyn, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, off with her head until Saturday ****

The plot thickens: Paul Osborne’s Thomas Cromwell, left, and Ian Giles’s Cardinal Wolsey in Black Treacle Theatre’s Anne Boleyn

ANNE Boleyn (c.1501-1536) had an extra finger and one head too few after her execution by a French swordsman in the Tower of London.

One of these statements is fiction, the other is fact, but both persist down the years as how we know Anne best, such is the way myth and history overlap.

The sixth finger story was a 16th century fabrication spun by Roman Catholic polemicist Nicholas Sander in 1585 to suggest Anne was a witch in a smear campaign against her daughter, Queen Elizabeth I.

Yet acts of besmirching her as a whore were rife in Anne’s lifetime too, led by those at the very top, leading to her beheading, as Howard Brenton explores in his witty political drama.

Nick Patrick Jones’s Henry VIII in a tender moment with Lara Stafford’s Anne Boleyn. Picture: John Saunders

Premiered at Shakespeare’s Globe in 2010, Anne Boleyn now breaks its York duck under the direction of Black Treacle Theatre founder Jim Paterson, whose experience of watching a friend in the Globe cast had left an indelible impression.

“This year marks 500 years since Henry’s courtship of Anne began in earnest – in 1526. So it felt like serendipity to stage this play, which makes us reconsider who Anne was, and what an important figure she is in our history,” says Paterson, explaining the timing of his production.

Here’s the history bit: Anne Boleyn was the second wife of King Henry VIII, whose desire to marry her forced the break from the Roman Catholic Church and the dawn of the English Reformation. She was well read, intelligent, queen for only 1,000 days – and by common agreement, the best of the six, so sassy and saucy, in the ultra-competitive Six The Musical.

Brenton puts her front and centre of his historical yet modern epic, both as a ghost in the court of James I and in charting her courtship with Henry VIII, presenting a more rounded and nuanced portrait of Anne as lover, heretic, revolutionary, queen, at once brilliant and bright but reckless too, hot-headed and then not-headed. Was she prey or predator? You decide, maybe for the first time

In need of a stiff drink: Cameron O’Byrne’s George Villiers and Katie Leckey’s James I. Picture: John Saunders

The play opens with Lara Stafford’s Anne Boleyn in monologue mode, as she enters the checkboard stage in her bloodstained execution dress, carrying a large embroidered bag. Brenton’s opening stage instruction reads “Aside. Working the audience”, immediately establishing that this play will be on her own terms, like a comedian’s opening gambit or a Fool’s mission statement in Shakespeare, as she teases the audience over the bag’s potential content.

“And why should I want you to love me?” she asks us. “Did anyone around me ever love me, but for the King?” And there’s the rub. Who was on her side? Brenton, as it turns out, Jesus, as she declares, and a curious James I (Katie Leckey), keen to use her information to aid his unconventional attempts to bring warring religious factions together decades later.

Anne pulls out the Bible, or more precisely William Tyndale’s banned version that would sew the seeds of her execution, with a flourish worthy of Tommy Cooper, but with a heavy heart, before making light of her execution when finally producing the severed head. “Funny, a head’s smaller than you think. Heavy little cabbage, that’s all.”

This sets Brenton’s tone, one where his comic irreverence rubs up against reverence, or more precisely the mirage of reverence in a world where Henry’s England waives the rules, where the intrigue and political machinations of Henry’s court undermine and belie the intersection of crown and church.

Anne Boleyn director Jim Paterson

Somehow, Stafford’s Anne must show her mettle to find her way through that ever-tightening thicket, and likewise Leckey’s James I, the Scottish king (here with a fellow Celtic/Northern Irish accent), must negate all the vipers’ poison when assuming the English throne.

In an outstanding return to a lead role, Stafford’s risk-taking Anne exudes intelligence, pluck, conviction, sometimes with humour, like when she mocks Ian Giles’s West Country Cardinal Wolsey for being woolly; sometimes with grave sadness, in the abject despair at failed pregnancies; or at the close, with sincerity, as she champions the power of love (uncannily just as Hercule Poirot does in the finale to Death On The Nile, on tour at the Grand Opera House this week).

Leckey, one of the volcanic forces of the 2020s’ York theatre scene with her Griffonage Theatre exploits, is tremendous here too. Surely James I should not be so much fun, but he is, whether flaunting his relationship with Cameron O’Byrne’s George Villiers, reaching for a glass, mocking the martinet dourness of Paul Stonehouse’s Robert Cecil or being as capricious as President Trump in making decisions.

Bible matters: Maurice Crichton’s William Tyndale in discussion with Lara Stafford’s Ann Boleyn. Picture: John Saunders

Stafford’s Anne aside, the women have to play second fiddle, treading on glass to survive in the court, whether Lady Rochford (Abi Baxter), Lady Celia (Isabel Azar) or next-in-Henry’s- roving- eye-line Lady Jane (Rebecca Jackson).

Heavyweights of the York stage assemble for the juiciest male roles. Nick Patrick Jones brings Shakespearean heft (rather than physical bulk) to Henry, already entitled and erratic, demanding and wilful, boastful of his writing powers, but still allowed shards of humour by Brenton (albeit at Henry’s expense) in this clash of the legal and the regal.

Paul Osborne’s Thomas Cromwell, statesman, lawyer and Henry’s chief minister, emerges as the villain of the piece, misogynistic, devious, manipulative, his language industrial, his actions self-serving behind the veneer of duty, with “something of the night about him”. Osborne makes for a complex character rather the two-dimensional baddie of pantomime.

Giles’s Catholic cardinal Thomas Wolsey is the stuffed shirt of Brenton’s piece, righteous, exasperated, as forlorn as Canute when standing against the winds of change.  

Drafting the Reformation Act: Paul Miles’s Sloop, left, Harry Summers’ Simpkin and Paul Osborne’s Thomas Cromwell. Picture: John Saunders

Never averse to scene-stealing impact, Maurice Crichton brings a twinkle and bravado to William Tyndale, writer of the outlawed Bible that would later form the basis of the King James version. His scenes with Stafford’s Anne are an especial joy.

Harry Summers’ Simpkin/Parrot, Paul Miles’s Sloop, Sally Mitcham’s  Dean Lancelot Andrewes and Martina Meyer’s John Reynolds further stir the murky waters, while Richard Hampton’s open-plan set and Julie Fisher and Costume Crew’s costumes evoke the Tudor and Stuart periods.

All in all, Howard Brenton’s Anne Boleyn is far funnier than living in those turbulent times must have been.

Anne Boleyn, Black Treacle Theatre, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight, 7.30pm; tomorrow, 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Box office: https://tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

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REVIEW: Paul Rhodes’s verdict on Eliza Carthy and special guests: The Songs of Martin Carthy, National Centre for Early Music, York, February 28

Eliza Carthy: “Energetic, forthright presence, taking charge and fully taking on the family matriarch role”

TURNING sadness into celebration is life affirming. It was with sadness that Eliza Carthy announced that her father, Martin Carthy, would not be able to perform. His sudden retirement, aged 84, threw this tour into doubt, but friends and admirers soon stepped in.

Carthy senior has had a wonderful 60-odd year career, including trailblazing folk partnerships with Steeleye Span, Dave Swarbrick, wife Norma Waterson and latterly with his daughter Eliza, who is a key part of the Robin Hood’s Bay family firm, fiddle player and songwriter of note.

On Friday night, Eliza took her father’s songs to the sold-out NCEM. Travelling is exhausting for Martin, who has late-onset Alzheimer’s, but he was well enough to attend, sitting with friends in the back row and talking to well-wishers.

Eliza is an energetic, forthright presence, taking charge and fully taking on the family matriarch role. Alongside her was the attentive Nick Hart, with his sympathetic guitar playing and rich traditional voice. To see how closely he watched the others was a masterclass in accompaniment.

Also on stage was Jon Wilks, who, like the others, was gracious in sharing how much of a debt he owed Martin. (He is in good company; at a celebration last year, Bob Dylan was among those saying thank you).

The two guitarists joined up masterfully for Scarborough Fair. Later they were joined by Eliza’s son, Finn Curran-Carthy, who is also a talented guitar player (“Urgh, I’m surrounded by all these guitars,” Eliza joked).

The two-hour show took a couple of songs to get going but then never let up. There were numerous highlights, made more so by the Eliza’s introductions. When First I Came To Caledonia was lovely and Bold Doherty was doughty.

Hart’s solo Famous Flower Of Serving Men was a joy: long  – some 32 verses – but  apparently not the longest song in Carthy’s repertoire.

The special guest for the evening was York’s own Olivia Chaney, enjoying plenty of attention for her song Dark Eyed Sailor in Emerald Fennell’s film adaptation of Wuthering Heights. Chaney was more emotional than the others appeared, but her Queen Of Hearts was imperious.

Above all, it was the songs that shone, shining a light on the care with which Carthy senior chose and arranged the material. As Hart said, “Martin’s versions are the best versions”.

Eliza was a natural bandleader and the set list ranged freely over Martin’s long career (with particular emphasis on his 1965 debut, which influenced so many). He has continued to write new verses to one tune on that self-titled record, A-Begging We Will Go. The most recent verse was completed only a month ago, taking aim at billionaires.

In Eliza’s hands (and Finn’s if he chooses), the Carthy folk dynasty will endure, hopefully staying Robin Hood’s Bay most beloved export.

Review by Paul Rhodes