Take a seat: Sponsorship opportunity at Pocklington Arts Centre
POCKLINGTON Arts Centre is marking its 25th anniversary by inviting patrons to sponsor a seat of their choosing through a seat plaque scheme.
This special opportunity will allow 150 supporters to leave a lasting legacy while helping to secure the future of the Market Place venue.
For a contribution of £200 for three years, individuals can dedicate a plaque on an auditorium seat, whether to commemorate a loved one, celebrate a special occasion or show support for the arts. A limited number of lifetime and business sponsorship opportunities will be available soon too.
Arts centre director Angela Stone says: “We’re thrilled to offer our supporters the opportunity to be part of Pocklington Arts Centre’s legacy. Sponsoring a seat is a fantastic way to celebrate our 25th anniversary while helping us secure the future of our creative work within the community.”
All proceeds from the scheme will be reinvested into ongoing improvements at the arts centre, including the establishment of a dedicated Community Fund to ensure the financial sustainability of creative engagement activities for young people and older adults.
Portland, Oregon singer-songwriter Laura Veirs: Playing The Crescent, in York, on her six-day visit to British shores. Picture: Paul Rhodes
WE COULDN’T have been in better hands. With Venus apparently sending us all a bit bats in the heavens, Laura Veirs’ fine songs reminded us about what really matters.
Many in the sold-out Crescent had seen her play before, some many times. This is someone who gets into the listener’s bloodstream and stays there. For a first timer, it was a welcome initiation into this smart, emotionally intelligent cult.
Laura Veirs: “Over 75 minutes and 13 songs, she wove her happy spell to great effect.” Picture: Paul Rhodes
This was the second concert in a short six-day UK tour. The absence of other musicians allowed Veirs the chance to improvise and the entire set felt fresh and alive. There was a well-judged mix of old and new material on show, with the last songs in the set all being audience requests.
Veirs is unashamedly in a happy place emotionally (she is touring with her fiancé, a professor receiving a crash course in selling merchandise). Over 75 minutes and 13 songs, she wove her happy spell to great effect. Once she got into her rhythm (somewhere around Where Gravity Is Dead), the performance kept getting better.
Laura Veirs’ beloved nylon string guitar. Picture: Paul Rhodes
Swan Dive was particularly special, and she more than did justice to another one-time Portland native, the late great Elliott Smith’s Between The Bars. What is striking perhaps is how subtly Veirs wears her influences, and how with minimal ingredients she somehow manages to sound unique and authentic. Perhaps this is the real reason she is so beloved.
Opener Lucca Mae has yet to find her own distinctive voice. Also, without her band, Mae’s set felt elegant and stylised, but somehow generic. The focus was on her Winehouse voice, which her songs don’t yet live up to.
YORK Concerts continued its exciting and innovative series of concerts with a piano recital by Leon McCawley. The pianist is well known to concert goers at this series and his invitation to return to perform music by Scarlatti, Beethoven Chopin and Franck was eagerly anticipated, and with good reason.
As we all know, Domenico Scarlatti (1685–1757) was an Italian composer renowned for his prolific output of keyboard sonatas, an impressive 555 pieces, to be exact. As a Baroque composer with a visionary eye, he was noted for his radical, innovative and fresh approach.
However, the opening Sonata in F minor, K.69, appears to be a standalone work and a rather conservative one. Leon McCawley’s performance was incredibly tender and emotionally charged, giving it a haunting quality. To be honest, it sounded (quite) like Bach. The way the pianist delicately caressed the cantabile imitations, enhanced by the subtle ornamentation, was very moving.
By contrast, the performance of his Sonata in C, K.159 positively zipped along without a care in the world. The phrasing was crisp and clear, and the elegant melodic embellishments added to the sense of spontaneity.
The opening galloping rhythms and quasi fanfare-like motifs presumably gave the work its nickname La Caccia (The Hunt). Another striking aspect was McCawley’s embrace of the music’s theatrical quality, as evident in the leaps between registers. However, it was the darker introspection of the F minor work that left a lasting impression, until we bumped into Beethoven, that is.
As far as charm and elegance go, it doesn’t get much better than McCawley’s interpretation of Beethoven’s standalone Andante Favori in F major, WoO 57. It was originally intended as the second movement for the radical Waldstein Sonata but was criticised as being too long and replaced with a short Introduzione. Given that it is about nine-ten minutes long, this was surely a good call.
Leon McCawley possesses a remarkable ability to captivate the listener. The playing was characterised by richness, nuance and warmth. Moreover, like the entire programme, the performance conveyed an expressive depth that left a profound impact.
Beethoven humorously expressed his wish that he had never composed the piece, stating, “I cannot walk down a street without hearing it”. Unfortunately, for me, it evokes the Pemberley soirée from the 1995 BBC TV adaptation of Pride And Prejudice. In this scene, Georgiana Darcy plays the piece in response to Elizabeth Bennet’s rendition of “Voi Che Sapete” from Mozart’s The Marriage Of Figaro. Amidst the romantic atmosphere, love was in the air and here too, the cantabile melody did feel like a love song.
Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53 (Waldstein) is a musical masterpiece that continues to captivate audiences. The opening pianissimo was portrayed as a thing of beauty, but one with a government health warning. However, as the music progressed, the simple crescendo built tension and anticipation, leading to a dramatic and powerful climax.
What truly impressed me about this performance was the controlled elegance and precision of the playing. The dramatic shaping of the music was seamless and well-executed, without resorting to excessive virtuosity or raw power.
While the sonata undoubtedly conveys a sense of grandeur and monumentalism, it does so without the testosterone-fuelled intensity that some pianists find necessary to fully express its emotional impact.
The Introduzione: Adagio molto had a mysterious, even dark quality that created a hypnotic spell that seamlessly blended into the Rondo: Allegretto moderato – Prestissimo finale. McCawley’s playing here was simply impeccable. There was a genuine sense of majesty combined with the driving, flowing lyricism. Of course, the musical fireworks display at the end of the journey eventually erupts like a volcano, but it did so beautifully.
After a well-deserved 20-minute interval, we were treated to a programme of 19th-century Romantic music, featuring Chopin and Franck. Chopin’s Trois Écossaises, Op. 72, No. 3, were simply delightful.
Each of the three pieces exuded a charm and elegance that we associate with these popular and lively dances. No. 3, written in D-flat major, is perhaps the most well known of the set. The pianist clearly enjoyed the witty and syncopated rhythm, as well as the cheerful character of the piece.
The performance of the composer’s Berceuse, op.57 was the highlight of the second half. For me, obviously. The berceuse is a lullaby, with the left hand gently rocking the cradle while the right hand sings a series of increasingly intricate variations.
The pianist’s control was remarkable; the delicate ebb and flow of the music had a Zen-like quality. In the end, as the lullaby had sung itself to sleep, there was a feeling of absolute relaxation. The performance was simply sublime.
The performance of Chopin’s Barcarolle in F-sharp, op.60 once again projected an assured grasp of all that mattered. The rubato phrasing shaped and caressed the melodies, while the balance between the right-hand song and the left-hand rocking ostinato effectively imitated the rhythmic sway of a gondola.
While there was certainly a dramatic climax, the serene coda concluded the performance on a note of tranquillity, suggesting a sense of harmony and contentment.
The programme concluded with César Franck’s Prelude, Chorale et Fugue. Undoubtedly, this work stands as one of the great Romantic piano compositions. Franck’s ingenious incorporation of Bach-like counterpoint, coupled with the virtuosity of Franz List and his distinct French style, creates a masterful blend of musical elements.
The issue for me is that I don’t really ‘get it’. It is not one of my favourite piano works, even when it is performed as brilliantly as this. The Prelude, with its rich, searching chromaticism, technically brilliant arpeggios, the Chorale, with its rich processional quality and organ-like textures and references to Wagner’s Parsifal, obviously, left me looking inside from the outside.
Ironically, it wasn’t until Leon McCawley’s performance of the Fugue, that most disciplined, abstract of forms, that I actually emotionally engaged with the work. Mind you, it was worth waiting for.
MIXED media artist Jill Tattersall and ceramicist Sylvia Schroer unite for an Artists’ Open House at Jill’s studio, The Wolf At The Door, 11 Mount Parade, York, on April 5 & 6 and April 12 & 13 in an alternative to the York Open Studios on those two weekends.
“All are welcome from 10am to 4pm each day,” says Jill. “It’s not a formal open house/studio, more an informal chance to see friends (and anyone interested), show some new and ongoing work and some of the processes involved, and generally catch up on life after a long and drear winter.
“I’ll be joined by my friend Sylvia Schroer with her innovative and distinctive ceramics. Always good to have excellent company when opening the doors.”
Dr Schroer had been set to take part in York Open Studios at Lady Kell Gardens in Haxby, but instead she will be showing her sensitive figurative sculptures – busts and torsos – as well as hand-built and wheel-thrown functional and decorative pottery at Wolf At The Door after being “deselected” since the 2025 brochure was printed.
“I had done a lot of work preparing for York Open Studios but was sadly unable to take part,” Sylvia posted on Facebook on March 27. “I was absolutely heartbroken and it was costing me a lot of money. So I am very glad to be able to show my work at an independent open house with such a fantastic artist and lovely person as @jilltattersallartist.” More on this subject later.
Jill jumped at the chance to offer Sylvia an exhibition space, in keeping with her long-standing commitment to collaboration. “I have 20 years’ experience of taking part in and helping to run Open Studio schemes in Newark, Lincolnshire and Brighton and try to avoid wearisome and unnecessary politics,” she says.
“An artist’s life has never been an easy one, and current world events don’t help. Mutual support and collaboration are essential to us all. We just need to get on, represent local artists, and create some colour and joy and fun for the local community. So much needed right now!”
Why call the studio Wolf At The Door, Jill? “There is a Wolf, a large one,” she says. “When I spent more than ten years or so in Brighton, sculptor Iaian Tatam made the Wolf from recycled materials and, more than life-size, it became part of our lives.
“This was what set the tone for some truly interesting and offbeat collaborations. Brighton was a good place for this! We held many art-related events, as well as taking part in Brighton and Hove Artists’ Open House.
“We wanted to embrace and celebrate all aspects and varieties of art and to have some fun at the same time! Some of our collaborations and star turns involved: books, paintings and sculptures, recitals, previews and performances, garden art, ceramics, puppetry, science…you name it!”
Reflecting on those south coast days, Jill says: “I do miss the Brighton Wolf At The Door events when we hosted so many inspirational creative people: artists, writers, actors and singers even! Though a propos of that, I shall again be taking part in Brighton and Hove Artists’ Open House all May as part of the wonderful Art In Bloom.”
Jill has brought her brushes and brio to York, setting up her Artists’ Open House days and taking part in The Other Collective exhibition at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, in February and March, featuring five artists not selected for York Open Studios 2025: Jill, Rob Burton, Liz Foster, Ric Liptrot and Lu Mason. Or “the Five Refusés”, as former medieval French university lecturer Jill called them.
Down the years, Jill has taken part in many exhibitions, projects and commissions. “My work’s all over the place, from Peru to Tasmania, even the official residence in Rwanda,” she says.
“My main obsession is with patterns. They’re all around us; we’re made up of them ourselves. Force meets counter-force and patterns emerge: coasts and weather systems, stars and galaxies, trees and blood vessels, maps and mazes. It’s where science and art intersect!
“I constantly experiment with materials and techniques, often using my own hand-made paper and water-based paints, inks, dyes and pigments to build up intense and glowing colour. Throwaway or reclaimed elements often sit side by side with gold and silver leaf. Value, price, worth…who decides.”
Jill, whose latest works take the theme of sunshine, will be holding a solo show at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, from May 5 to the end of June and will make her North Yorkshire Open Studios debut on June 7 & 8 and June 14 & 15, from 10am to 5pm, followed by a further NYOS weekend on November 1 & 2, from 11am to 4pm. More than 200 artists will be taking part” in an event that she describes as “friendly and collaborative”.
Now, let’s return to Sylvia Schroer’s frustrations with York Open Studios. In an earlier Facebook post on March 13, she wrote: “I did not withdraw from York Open Studios. I would not have withdrawn after the directory was printed unless I was ill. This would have been letting down visitors – who in my case would be travelling to an out-of-town venue. It would have been letting down artists with whom I was sharing a venue & working with.
“I had been making and preparing work for months for Open Studios and was greatly looking forward to taking part. So, I was upset when I missed the email/ deadline for the Taster [at the Hospitium, York Museum Gardens, on March 22 and 23] – by one working day – along with others and told I couldn’t take part.”
She went on: “Although I had already made all due apologies I was informed of my deselection on 3/3/25 & informed I had upset others & broken the Terms & Conditions by speaking out.
“We are trying our best here as artists and Open Studios is important financially, so deselection can feel like losing a job. It’s sad for us and hard for us and I don’t think it has to be like this. Other cities don’t run their Open Studios like this. It’s hard when an artist isn’t selected or is deselected & I see artists being very upset indeed & hard hit financially. Why not print a bigger directory? We pay to be part of Open Studios and pay £hundreds in commission. £thousands in some instances.”
Her post concluded: “Speaking out here [on Facebook] will probably result in my being refused the right to apply ever again. But I do not want to be part of something that humiliates artists, punishes them and makes them feel their work isn’t good enough. I am looking forward to a more joyful experience showing my work at an independent artist’s house/studio.”
In a further statement, Sylvia said: “Unfortunately I had a disagreement with the chair/committee and there was no way to resolve it. It was never my intention to cause offense (sic) and hurt. I just wanted my work and that of other artists who had missed an email about the Hospitium Taster event (and just missed the deadline of Feb 14th) to be included. I apologise, once again, for any offense (sic) I may have caused.”
An interview with York Open Studios 2025 chair Christine Storrs will appear in The York Press and at charleshutchpress.co.uk on Thursday.
Jonathan Wells’s Christopher Boone – and his pet rat – with Beryl Nairn’s Siobhan in Pick Me Up Theatre’s The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time
PICK Me Up Theatre take on the challenge of bringing Simon Stephens’ stage adaptation of Mark Haddon’s multi-million-selling novel The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time to the York stage from today.
The York company is following in the esteemed footsteps of the National Theatre, winner of seven Olivier awards for its remarkable production that played the Grand Opera House, York, on its first tour in January 2015.
Director Andrew Isherwood is at the helm for Haddon’s story of fearful yet fearless 15-year-old Christopher Boone, who can work out A-level Maths but is ill-equipped to work out everyday life, distrusting strangers deeply, never venturing alone beyond the end of his road.
Everything changes when Christopher falls under suspicion for killing his neighbour’s dog, propelling him on a journey of self-discovery that upturns his world.
“When I spoke to Pick Me Up producer Robert Readman in January last year, when we did Young Frankenstein, I put down a list of a range of shows I would love to be part of, and Curious Incident was one of them,” recalls Andrew. “I also said I didn’t understand any reluctance to do productions related to children’s stories.”
To Andrew’s delight, Curious Incident now forms Pick Me Up’s first show of 2025, with no fewer than three matinees in the hope of attracting school audiences to assist with their GCSE studies of Haddon’s book.
Andrew has seen the National Theatre show on its NT At Home streaming service but will be putting his own mark on the play. “I’m certainly trying to do my own version with projection and contemporary classical music,” he says.
“Over the years, even when I was studying film and television at York St John, I’ve always had an affinity with Hans Zimmer, Howard Shore and John Williams and how films used their music, and we’ll be using music as part of the stream of consciousness in the play, to complement the scene, setting the mood and tone.”
Andrew brings his background in television and film and 12 years of acting on stage into his directorial role. “I like to set the scene to get it on its feet straightaway in rehearsals, where I’ll say, ‘show me what you’ve got’ and then we’ll adapt it from there. I’ll always listen to an idea and if it’s good, I’ll look to use it,” he says.
Evocative lighting by Will Nicholson, on the back of his designs for Wharfemede Productions’ Little Women and Black Sheep Theatre’s The Tempest, will play its part in his third Theatre@41 show of 2025.
“We’re doing the show pretty much in the round, or more like a horseshoe, but with projection at the far end and we’ll be using a raised stage, like Pick Me Up did for Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None and before that Shakespeare In Love,” says Andrew.
“There’ll be very little set, but lots of light boxes and lots of props, and lots of playing with levels, on the balcony as well as the stage, and plenty of sound effects too as we create illusions through sound and light.
“We’ll have strip lights around the stage and lights under the raised stage to serve a story purpose and thematic purpose, but I don’t want to overuse these effects in the first half hour because people can become desensitised.
“We want the audience to keep being surprised, so we’re doing it in a way where we don’t do things all the time. It’s not about throwing things at the wall and bombarding people with sound and noise, but it has to be evocative and emotional in its impact.”
The balance of visual and verbal is the key. “The play lends itself to strong visual representation but the actors shouldn’t be overpowered by that side of it, although they are always in shapes, whether standing in squares of triangles, because it’s always playing to how Christopher thinks mathematically,” says Andrew.
He has enjoyed bringing so many components together under his direction. “I like the opportunity to be more abstract as it’s non-linear. We can be more out there but hopefully be evocative too, as well as somewhat esoteric and abstract, all for the purpose of storytelling to put across what’s going on in Christopher’s mind, if we can pull it off.” he says.
“It’s abstract, it’s out there, but it’s got heart too, and a cast of 11 who I’ve encouraged to really go for it. I think they’re having a lot of fun with it – and they tell me they are!”
Jonathan Wells’s Christopher Boone and fellow cast members in a scene from The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time
Taking the role of Christopher will be 34-year-old Jonathan Wells. “I was about 15 when I first read it, Christopher’s age, and it was probably the first book I read from that teenage perspective, which was a new method of fiction for me,” he says. “It’s the way he sees and interprets the world that jumps out at you because it’s written in his words, seeing things the way he does, but with a back story too.
“I went back to the book after I got the part and it struck me how literal the play script is, how direct the transfer is from page to stage.”
Almost 20 years on, Jonathan notes how “there’s much more awareness now of neurodivergence and the different range of ‘normal’”. In turn he will bring both sympathy and empathy to playing Christopher. Sympthy first: “There are times when he is very vulnerable, not just when being hit by his dad, but also in thinking about his mother, who he thinks is dead, and it’s open to your interpretation how you present that sadness,” he says.
And empathy? “I think back to myself as a teenager, doing an A-level in computing at 15,” says Jonathan, finding common ground with Christopher’s gift for Maths. “My dad was a computer teacher and my brother was a teacher too, giving me some of his A-level Maths books.”
Jonathan went on to study medicine and is now in his fifth year as a GP in Elvington. “I’m also teaching medical students in the practice on Thursday mornings at the moment,” he says, keeping teaching in the family.
On the York stage scene, Jonathan has focused on musical theatre shows until now. “The last ‘straight’ play I did was at university in Sheffield, when I did Steven Berkoff’s The Trial and also did August Strindberg’s A Dream Play, another ensemble play, like ‘Curious Incident’, so it’s been nice to get back to that,” he says.
“Depending on the musical, depending on the show, you have more straightforward characters in musicals, where you can create as much depth as you like, but with a play like this you can really get into the depth of the character to spend a couple of hours on stage as Christopher.”
Jonathan reveals he did not apply initially for the role of Christopher. “I auditioned for one of the voice parts as I thought I’d be too old for Christopher, but at the audition Andrew had a thought: could I play Christopher?”
Further audition calls ensued, and Andrew had found his Christopher. “I’m playing him with that vulnerability you associate with young people, dressing in a tracksuit and T-shirts, as I would have done at that age, for the rehearsals as I don’t like rehearsing in my work clothes,” says Jonathan.
He is drawing not only on Simon Stephens’ script and Mark Haddon’s book for his portrayal of Christopher but also on Atypical, the Netflix series about Sam, an American high school teenager on the autism spectrum. “It’s a coming-of-age story and family drama, which has a lot of parallels with Haddon’s book, and I’ve taken a lot from Sam’s character,” says Jonathan.
His medical training has played its part too. “As part of our mandatory training, we have to do autism training, which has come a lot into the NHS with online training developed by a mother whose son has autism. That’s been really useful to learn more about the way it affects behaviour,” says Jonathan.
“I am very much aware I’m not an autism expert, and I’m probably at the other end of the spectrum, so I’m playing him very much as a character [rather than from personal experience], drawing inspiration from what I’ve seen and read about it, taking that information, experimenting with different ways of moving and different ways of expressing the words, to keep the performance interesting.”
Pick Me Up Theatre in The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, today (1/4/2025) to Saturday, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
The poster for Dianne Buswell & Vito Coppola’s Red Hot And Ready, presented by Burn The Floor at York Barbican and Leeds Grand Theatre in July
STRICTLY Come Dancing’s stellar professional dancers, 2024 winner Dianne Buswell and 2024 runner-up Vito Coppola, will head to York Barbican on July 6 on their Red Hot And Ready tour.
Created by Jason Gilkison, the new show will dance its way round the UK in June and July, visiting 30 venues including Leeds Grand Theatre on July 18 and 19.
The tour will be presented by Burn The Floor in the international company’s return to the UK as part of its 25th anniversary celebrations.
Billed as “a dynamic new dance show with a difference”, Red Hot And Ready brings together Buswell, Coppola and a cast of multi-disciplined Burn The Floor dancers from around the world, accompanied by vocalists and a band.
Red Hot And Ready will be “the ultimate high-voltage dance extravaganza, exploding with jaw-dropping choreography, heart-pounding music and breathtaking moves, from seriously sexy to irresistibly charming, and celebrating the pure joy of dance”.
Buswell has been a two-time finalist during her seven Strictly years, winning the 2024 Glitter Ball trophy with comedian Chris McCausland and is noted for her fun, quirky personality, dynamic dance style and flaming red locks.
Coppola, the 2023 winner with actress Ellie Leach and 2024 runner-up with actress Sarah Hadland, has become a favourite with audiences in his two Strictly years, marked by both his terpsichorean flair and cheeky humour.
Buswell says: “I am truly excited to be going on tour with our magnificent new show with the most phenomenal partner, Vito, and to sharing the love and the energy as we dance for you.”
Coppola says: “I can’t wait to be on tour with the amazing, beautiful, vibrant Dianne Buswell. It’s going to be Red, it’s going to be Hot, and we are going to be super Ready to bring to you so much joy and smiles and happiness.”
Show creator and choreographer Jason Gilkison says: “I am feeling blessed to be coming home to Burn The Floor and creating a new show for the first time in ten years. To have Dianne and Vito leading this dynamic cast really guarantees an unforgettable experience for our audience.”
Burn The Floor is credited widely with kick-starting the modern ballroom dance revolution following its 1999 world premiere in Bournemouth. The explosive show was ahead of its time in combining the art and tradition of ballroom with rock’n’roll technology.
Heading into its in 26th year, Burn The Floor has revolutionised ballroom style on stages around the world with its mesmerising choreography, ground-breaking moves, dazzling costumes and sets and infectious, rebellious energy.
Italian-born Coppola began dancing at seven and is a three-time World Championship finalist and a European Cup winner. Buswell, former Australian Open champion and four-time Amateur Australian Open finalist, joined Burn The Floor in 2007.
Choreographer and BAFTA award recipient Gilkison’s involvement with Burn The Floor began as lead dancer in 1999. He took up the role of choreographer and artistic director in 2001, leading the show on several world tours and visiting more than 40 countries, including a box office-smashing season on Broadway in 2009/2010, followed by a West End season in London.
He became creative director for Strictly Come Dancing (BBC One) and is a judge and choreographer on So You Think You Can Dance in Australia and the USA.
Over the years, Gilkison has choreographed for Cher, Celine Dion, Robbie Williams, Andrea Bocelli, Kylie Minogue, Take That, Lady Gaga & Tony Bennett and many more.
Dianne Buswell & Vito Coppola in Red Hot And Ready, York Barbican, July 6, 7.30pm; Leeds Grand Theatre, July 18, 7.30pm, and July 19, 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Box office: York, yorkbarbican.co.uk; Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.
Vivienne Carlyle’s Mrs Johnstone in Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers, on tour at Grand Opera House, York, from next Tuesday
THE Grand Opera House in York holds special memories for Scottish actress Vivienne Carlyle ahead of her appearance there as Mrs Johnstone in Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers.
“I’m so delighted to be going back to York as I made my debut there as the Narrator in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in 1999 with Richard Swerrun – who’s sadly since passed away – as Joseph,” she recalls,
“I remember messing up the brothers’ names, saying ‘Zebedee’ instead of ‘Zebulun’, and do you know why? It’s because one of the ‘brothers’ said to me just before going on, ‘make sure you don’t say ‘Zebedee’…and of course I then said it! Oh, the humiliation!”
Vivienne went on to play adoptive mother Mrs Lyons, the rich, barren businessman’s wife up the hill for whom Mrs Johnstone cleans, in Blood Brothers on tour at the York theatre in 2008 and now takes top billing as Russell’s emotionally turbulent musical makes its tenth visit – yes, tenth – from April 1 .
“I’m originally from Glasgow, so I grew up at the King’s Theatre, where you couldn’t keep me off the stage from being a wee tot. I remember going to see Blood Brothers when I was eight years old with my mum and dad, sitting there, riveted, in silence,” says Vivienne, who “had the lovely honour of going back there in October to play Mrs Johnstone”.
Blood Brothers carries a minimum age recommendation of 12, but Vivienne was mesmerised by the musical all of four years younger. “Because you have adults playing kids in it, that captures your imagination,” she says.
Vivienne Carlyle’s Mrs Johnstone and Seán Keany’s Narrator in Blood Brothers. Picture: Jack Merriman
Vivienne saw the show a couple more times before joining the London cast in 2006, playing Mrs Lyons at the Phoenix and understudying Mrs Johnstone too. “Every so often, I would play Mrs Johnstone on tour,” she says. “One time, when Linda Nolan’s husband Brian had passed away, I was in Joseph at the time and they asked me if I could do a Saturday matinee of Blood Brothers, in Linda’s place, in Dunstable and then put me in a taxi back to High Wycombe for the evening performance as the Narrator in Joseph, which I played in the West End as well.”
Blood Brothers, a musical as powerful in impact as a Greek tragedy or an opera, tells the heartrending tale of twins separated at birth, who grow up on the opposite sides of the tracks in Liverpool, only to meet again with tragic consequences.
At its heart is Mrs Johnstone, a young mother deserted by her wastrel husband. Left to her own devices to provide for seven hungry children, she takes a job as a housekeeper to make ends meet, but discovers she is pregnant yet again, this time with twins. In a moment of weakness and desperation, she enters a secret pact with her employer, Mrs Lyons, with shattering consequences.
Note Mrs J is described as a ‘young mother’, and yet she has been played by actresses of myriad ages, Lyn Paul, for example, still playing her into her 70s. “The script direction says Mrs J ‘is 30 but looks 50,” says Vivienne, who gives her own age as “in the 40 to 50 bracket”. “It works, whatever age, because she starts the story at the end, in the boys’ adult years.
“I started playing her in my 30s, considered very young for the role, and after playing her for nine months just before it closed in the West End in 2012, I’m now coming back to it from a 12-year gap, after all the curve balls that life throws at you.”
“It always has to be as raw and authentic as possible to make it believable,” says Vivienne Carlyle. “You feel those emotions every time you do it, and that’s a testimony to Willy Russell’s writing.”Picture: Jack Merriman
Vivienne believes she benefited from playing Mrs Lyons first. “Very much so. Even from the perspective of working with all the other great Mrs Johnstones, seeing their creative processes,” she says.
“It gives you the perspective of both these women, both trying to do the best they can in their different ways. I’ve had so many mothers come up to me to say that when Mrs Johnstone gives her child Mickey away to Mrs Lyons, they can feel their heart turn.”
Blood Brothers remains as potent as ever, as much a fixture on the GCSE English Literature syllabus as on the theatre calendar. “We have a really wonderful director in Bob Tomson, who instills in us that it always has to be as raw and authentic as possible to make it believable. You feel those emotions every time you do it, or every time you see it, and that’s a testimony to Willy’s writing.
“The songs are iconic too, Tell Me It’s Not , Easy Terms, and it amazes me still when young people come to the stage door to tell me how much they love the show, buying into the 1950s to 1990s story; the culture and the politics; whether it’s fate or not fate. But no matter what age you are, you will connect with it.”
On tour since January, Vivienne is into the final three weeks of the spring itinerary. “We don’t yet know the casting for the rest of the year but of course I’d like to continue in it,” she concludes.
Bill Kenwright Ltd presents Blood Brothers, Grand Opera House, York, April 1 to 5, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees. Box office: atgtickets.com/York. Age recommendation: 12 plus.
Vivienne Carlyle: the back story
Vivienne Carlyle: First appeared at Grand Opera House, York, in 1999 as the Narrator in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
SCOTTISH Scottish actor, singer and voiceover artist, who works in the UK and internationally.
Theatre credits include: Mrs Lyons and Mrs Johnstone in Blood Brothers (Phoenix Theatre, London and UK Tour); Songbird in Cirque du Soleil’s Saltimbanco (South American tour); Narrator in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (West End debut at New London Theatre and on tour); The Drowsy Chaperone (Novello Theatre, Original London Cast); Grizabella in Cats (Royal Caribbean); Usha in Lightseeker (Resort World Theatre, Singapore); Mrs Walker in The Who’s Tommy (UK tour); Queen Cackle in Geronimo Stilton Live On Stage (Singapore, Hong Kong); Mother Gothel in Tangled The Musical and Lady Tremaine in Twice Charmed (Broadway guest artist, Disney Cruise Line); Songs For Everafter, one-woman show of Disney classics (also co-writer, Disney Cruise Line).
TV credits include: Country singer Mindy McCready in Autopsy: The Last Hours Of Mindy McCready (ITV); Narrator in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat for Blue Peter (BBC).
Recording credits include: ALBA, 1719, Sands Of Time and Showtime for Scottish Opera, Shehallion and Lightseeker (Original Cast Recording).
Performed backing vocals for Barry Manilow, Michael Bolton and Dina Carroll.
Simon Oskarsson, left, Ewan Wardrop, Katy Owen, Patrycja Kujawska and Mirabelle Gremaud in Emma Rice’s production of Alfred Hitchcock’s North By Northwest for Wise Children. Picture: Steve Tanner
FOUR huge wooden moveable revolving doors dominate Emma Rice’s set for Alfred Hitchcock’s North By North West. Cocktail glasses and glinting bottles line each panel. Put the two together and heads will spin, and that is very much the feel of the world right now, spinning ever more out of control as Trump plays his hand.
The setting is still 1959, but come one last erudite turn of narration by Katy Owen’s remarkably adroit Professor, and the snap, crackle and pop of Rice’s psychodrama hits the gut as her best work does with a darkness that may some may crave for earlier but gives it a resonance amid the bloody mess of today. It may be the United Nations in Hitchcock’s plot, but it is no less NATO, Trump, Putin, Israel, Gaza and the “Coalition of the Willing”.
On the case: Narrator Katy Owen. “Words dance from her lips, her voice mellifluous, her wit drought-dry, her manner as impish as Puck”. Picture: Steve Tanner
Rice and her cast have bags of fun on the way, especially in Act One, but not for the first time, the show becomes more mechanical, more methodical, over its second act, until that knockout final blow has you feeling as despairing and as angry as Rice.
Our guide is the nimble, balletic Owen’s Professor, in oversized coat and trilby, hectoring the audience to participate as if at a pantomime while equally badgering the cast to crack on too. Words dance from her lips, her voice mellifluous, her wit drought-dry, her manner as impish as Puck.
Through those revolving doors spins advertising executive Roger Thornhill (Ewan Wardrop), all too soon to be mistaken for George Caplan, who doesn’t really exist, yet is the fulcrum of Hitchcock’s Cold War conspiracy thriller.
Wise Children writer-director Emma Rice
You may think of Mischief’s mischievous mishaps or more likely, Patrick Barlow’s four-hander take on The 39 Steps (right down to actors making their coats billow in the wind), but Rice has her own style, a feminist perspective too, a desire too to bring more depth to character and motive, especially for Patrycja Kujawska’s femme fatale, Eve Kendall, with more than a bit of politics too. There is even meta-theatre here, a knowing nod to being in a theatre.
Rice, in her own whimsically witty way, is as stylish as Hitchcock: gorgeous clothes; cocktails agogo; dark glasses and Fifties’ panache; hat after hat, and a long, long row of suits behind those doors,as Mad Men meets bad men.
Rice conducts her six players with an elegant sleight of hand, aided by Etta Murfitt’s fabulous movement, Wardrop’s Thornhill drawing on his Matthew Bourne dancing days, all topped off by cast members miming deliciously to Fifties’ blues and jazz and novelty hits. Being fussy, at least one could be cut for a tighter focus post-interval.
Constantly on the move: Mirabelle Gremaud, left, Simon Oskarsson, Ewan Wardrop, Patrycja Kujawska and Karl Queensborough in Alfred Hitchcock’s North By Northwest. Picture: Steve Tanner
Her use of newspaper print, with messages in large, bold type, is a regular joy, so too the running joke where tiny writing on a card is immediately accompanied by a larger version held above it. Throughout, suitcases, 75 of them at the last count, act as props, or bear labels to denote a location, or even act as scenery (most memorably Mount Rushmore).
Above all, Rice is at her most inventive and imaginative in re-creating Hitchcock’s cinematic setpieces, especially, the crop duster plane with the flourish of a magician that brings the house down. Glamour, romance, tender truths are promised and delivered, less so the Hitchcockian jeopardy, but the finale makes it all worthwhile.
Wise Children, York Theatre Royal, HOME Manchester and Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse present Alfred Hitchcock’s North By North West, York Theatre Royal, until April 5. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Katy Owen’s Professor and Ewan Wardrop’s Roger Thornhill in Wise Children’s take on the iconic cornfield scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s North By Northwest. Picture: Steve Tanner
Kiki Dee & Carmelo Ruggeri: Heading to All Saints Church, Pocklington on The Long Ride Home tour
FOUR nights of Greg Davies and tenth visit of Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers are the headline acts in Charles Hutchinson’s bill for cultural satisfaction.
Acoustic duo of the week: Kiki Dee & Carmelo Luggeri, All Saints Church, Pocklington, tonight, 7.30pm
JOIN Bradford-born singer Kiki Dee and guitarist Carmelo Luggeri for an acoustic journey through their songs and stories, taking in songs from 2022 album The Long Ride Home, Kate Bush and Frank Sinatra covers and hits from Kiki’s 55 years and more in the music business, Don’t Go Breaking My Heart, Star, I Got The Music In Me, Loving & Free and Amoureuse. Box office: kikiandcarmelo.com.
Brighouse & Rastrick Band: A blast of brass on Sunday afternoon at Pocklington Arts Centre
Brass concert of the week: Brighouse & Rastrick Band, Pocklington Arts Centre, tomorrow, 2pm
FOREVER associated with 1977 number two hit and “unofficial encore” The Floral Dance, West Yorkshire’s Brighouse & Rastrick Band presents a concert suitable for casual listener and connoisseur alike.
The majority of premier band championships have been held by ‘Briggus’, most recently becoming the 2022 British Open and Brass in Concert champions. ‘Briggus’ are noted too for collaborations outside the brass band tradition, from the late Terry Wogan to Kate Rusby, classical actor Simon Callow to The Unthanks at York Minster in 2012. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Tom Holland: Hailing Caesars at Grand Opera House, York
History lesson of the week: Tom Holland, The Lives Of The Caesars, Grand Opera House, York, Sunday, 7.30pm
THE Rest Is History podcaster and storyteller Tom Holland journeys back to the Roman empire to “get up close and personal” with Caesar, Augustus, Caligula and Nero as he spotlights the lives of the first 12 Roman emperors in conversation with Martha Kearney.
In this supreme arena, emperors had no choice but to fight, to thrill, to dazzle, as highlighted in Holland’s new Penguin Classics translation of Suetonius’s Lives Of The Twelve Caesars. Expect revelations of the emperors’ shortfalls, sex scandals, tastes, foibles and eccentricities. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Vivienne Carlyle’s Mrs Johnstone and Sean Jones’s Mickey in Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers, on tour at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Jack Merriman
Musical of the week: Blood Brothers, Grand Opera House, York, April 1 to 5, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees
WILLY Russell’s Liverpool musical makes its tenth visit to the Grand Opera House, and despite Sean Jones’s appearance in the 2022 tour being billed as his “last ever” after 23 years on and off as Mrs Johnstone’s son Mickey, here he is once more, still “running around as a seven-year-old in a baggy green jumper and short trousers” at 54.
Scottish actress Vivienne Carlyle, who played Mrs Lyons on her previous Blood Brothers visit to York, takes the role of Mrs J in Russell’s moving tale of twins separated at birth, who grow up on the opposite sides of the tracks, only to meet again with tragic consequences. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Curiouser and curiouser: Pick Me Up Theatre in The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York
Play of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, April 1 to 5,7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday
ANDREW Isherwood directs York company Pick Me Up Theatre in Simon Stephens’s stage adaptation of Mark Haddon’s story of Christopher Boone (Jonathan Wells), a 15-year-old boy with an extraordinary brain Exceptionally gifted at Maths, he finds everyday life and interaction with other people very confusing.
Christopher has never ventured alone beyond the end of his road, hates being touched and deeply distrusts strangers, but everything changes when he falls under suspicion for killing his neighbour’s dog, propelling him on a journey of self-discovery that upturns his world. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Greg Davies: Milking it in his Full Fat Legend stand-up show
Comedy gigs of the week: Greg Davies: Full Fat Legend, York Barbican, April 2 to 5,
TOWERING comedian Greg Davies plays York Barbican for a full-fat four nights on his Full Fat Legend Tour, his first on British soil for seven years.
The 6ft 8 inch star of Taskmaster, The Inbetweeners, The Cleaner, Never Mind The Buzzcocks, Man Down and Cuckoo is undertaking his biggest stand-up tour to date. He last played York Barbican on November 1 and 2 2017 on his You Magnificent Beast tour, his first travels for four years. Tickets update: Sold out; for returns only, go to yorkbarbican.co.uk. Davies’s Hull Connexin Live shows on June 3 and 4 and at Leeds First Direct Arena on June 20 are sold out too.
Daniel Wilmot’s Count Dracula in Baron Productions’ Dracula at St Mary’s Church, Bishophill Junior, York
High stakes of the week: Baron Productions in Dracula, St Mary’s Church, Bishophill Junior, York, April 3 to 5, 7.30pm
FOUNDER and director Daniel Wilmot makes it Count when starring as the mysterious Dracula in York company Baron Productions’ account of Bram Stoker’s Gothic masterpiece in one of York’s most atmospheric churches.
When Jonathan Harker (Jack McAdam) embarks on a business trip to Count Dracula’s Transylvanian castle, little does he know the terror that awaits him. Guided by the wise Professor Van Helsing (Lee Gemmell), a courageous group must gamble their lives, even their very souls, to stop Dracula’s evil plans to enslave the world. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk/baron-productions.
Pianist Ian Pace
Classical concert of the week: York Late Music presents The Beethoven Project: Ian Pace, Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, April 5, 7.30pm
IN the second of The Beethoven Project concerts for York Late Music, pianist Ian Pace continues his exploration of Beethoven’s nine symphonies (transcribed by Franz Liszt) with his iconic Pastoral Symphony No. 6.
The programme also includes Michael Finnissy’s English Country Tunes (1-3), Beethoven’s Six Goethe-Lieder (transcribed by Liszt) and a new work of three musical tributes by Steve Crowther, Rock With Stock, A Study In Glass and Louis’ Angry Blues. Box office: latemusic.org/product/ian-pace-concert-tickets/ or on the door.
The poster for the new additions to Lightning Seeds’ Tomorrow’s Here Today 35 Years Greatest Hits Tour
Gig announcement of the week: Lightning Seeds, Tomorrow’s Here Today 35 Years Greatest Hits Tour, York Barbican, October 9, doors 7pm
LIVERPOOL singer, songwriter and producer Ian Broudie is extending Lightning Seeds’ 35th anniversary tour with 11 more dates this autumn. Here come Pure, The Life Of Riley, Change, Lucky You, Sense, All I Want, Sugar Coated Iceberg, You Showed Me, Emily Smiles, Three Lions and many more from his 20-track Tomorrow’s Here Today: 35 Years Of Lightning Seeds compilation album. This summer, Lightning Seeds will support York band Shed Seven at Millennium Square, Leeds, on July 11. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Our Star Theatre Company’s tour poster for Hannay Stands Fast
In Focus: Our Star Theatre Company in Hannay Stands Fast, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York
OUR Star Theatre Company cut a dash at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, on Thursday and Friday in Hannay Stands Fast, the sequel to The 39 Steps.
Adapted by David Edgar from John Buchan’s novel, this rip-roaring comedy finds dashing hero Richard Hannay back in the fray on a mission to thwart a new and deadly threat to his beloved England.
Engaged on this top-secret case by MI5, Hannay makes his way down to Cornwall to infiltrate a secretive organisation and learn their dastardly plans. Can he save the day to keep the nation safe for another day? Cue derring-do, utter chaos and laughs aplenty in a show replete with a train, motorbike, ambulance, car, police vehicle, even a horse.
“Like for our production of The 39 Steps, Hannay Stands Fast is taken on by four actors playing dozens of characters – 53 to be precise! – set in various locations created through quick and innovative uses of trunks, crates, suitcases, ladders, you name it!” says director Ben Mowbray, who founded the Ledbury, Herefordshire company in 2016.
Our Star Theatre Company are visiting York on the debut UK tour of the British professional premiere of Hannay Stands Fast with a cast of George Cooper as Hannay and Angharad Mortimer in her company debut as Mary Lambington (and others), joined by the multi-role-playing Daniel Davies and Mowbray as First and Second Clown.
Our Star Theatre Company in Hannay Stands Fast, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, April 3 and 4, 7.30pm. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Kiki Dee and Carmelo Ruggeri: More than 25 years of performing together
BRADFORD soul singer-songwriter Kiki Dee and guitarist Carmelo Luggeri bring their acoustic live show to All Saints Church, Pocklington, tomorrow night.
“I remember playing Pocklington Arts Centre with Carmelo years ago,” she says. “It’s lovely to be back in Pocklington again.”
Kiki and Carmelo have performed together for more than 25 years, from front rooms to churches, and now on The Long Ride Home tour of stripped-back songs that will visit East Riding Theatre, Beverley, too on October 18, the tour taking its title from their 2022 album, the fourth they have made as a duo.
The “long road home”? “I started trying to make it as a singer when I was 16 – I recorded On A Magic Carpet Ride for the Fontana label that year, which is worth a lot now – and now I’m coming to the end of my professional career and still enjoying it, which most of the time I have,” says Kiki, who was born Pauline Matthews in Little Horton, Bradford on March 6 1947.
Kiki has lived in Hertfordshire for 16 years, preceded by 24 in London, but Bradford will always have its place in her heart. “I grew up there and it formed me,” she says. Will she be returning “home” to perform in Bradford’s year as UK City of Culture 2025?
Kiki Dee and Carmelo Luggeri’s itinerary for The Long Road Home tour
“I haven’t got anything confirmed yet, though I did speak to them at the end of last year, when we played Silsden Town Hall [near Keighley] in November, hoping if anything could be worked out, but I haven’t been asked to do anything yet,” she says. Event organisers, please take note.
Now 78, Kiki has her place in British pop history as the first female singer from British shores to sign with Motown’s Tamla Records label in 1970 “I went to Detroit for 12 weeks to record with Frankie Wilson, doing some recordings in what is now the museum, a little house in the suburbs.
“I was over there initially as a guest, but they did sign me. I only had four tracks written for me, so some of the others picked for me were in keys that I wouldn’t have chosen, but as I was so far away from home, I went with it. You always needed ‘the song’ with Motown because they didn’t become an albums label until the 1970s.”
The Motown association continues. “I’m doing four dates as the special guest on Smokey Robinson’s tour this year, at Glasgow, Birmingham Cardiff and London in July,” says Kiki. “Originally they were going for a young soul singer, but I believe Smokey said, ‘No, Kiki Dee would be a better fit’.” Spot on, Smokey!
Tomorrow’s gig in Pocklington will combine Kiki and Carmelo’s stories with haunting songs from The Long Road Home, eclectic covers and Kiki’s treasured hits, I Got The Music In Me, Loving & Free, Amoureuse, Star and the chart-topping Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.
Kiki Dee and Carmelo Ruggeri taking the long road home
Covers, Kiki? “We do Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill – our version is very different! – and Robert Palmer’s Every Kinda People, Frank Sinatra too, and we’re kicking around some new ideas at the moment,” says Kiki.
“With a semi-acoustic set, we have more flexibility to do what we want than you do in a full band line-up.”
Don’t Go Breaking My Heart will feature, of course: the one that brought Elton John his first UK number one in 1976 in a duet with Kiki. “I was on Elton’s Rocket Record label and Amoureuse had been a hit in the charts. Gus Dudgeon had produced I’ve Got The Music In Me for me, and it was Gus’s idea to try out Don’t Go Breaking My Heart as a duet after originally I was only going to do backing vocals,” she says.
“It came about in a very casual way, and it’s interesting how certain significant events in your life can come out of such relaxed circumstances. Like doing the video in only ten minutes! Who knew it would become so successful. Elton was quite impatient anyway! He was never going to do 16 takes.”
Kiki Dee and Carmelo Luggeri, All Saints Church, Pocklington, Saturday, March 29, 7.30pm. Box office: kikiandcarmelo.com
