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Wharfemede Productions go Marching on together in Little Women – The Broadway Musical at Theatre@41, Monkgate

Connie Howcroft rehearsing her role as Jo March in Little Women – The Broadway Musical. Picture: Matthew Warry

BURGEONING York company Wharfemede Productions will stage their first solo production, Little Women – The Broadway Musical, at Theatre@41, Monkgate, from February 18 to 22.

Based on Louisa May Alcott’s 1868-1869 semi-autobiographical novel, the American musical focuses on the four March sisters – traditional Meg, wild, aspiring writer Jo, timid Beth and romantic Amy – and their beloved Marmee, at home in Concord, Massachusetts, while their father is away serving as a Union Army chaplain during the American Civil War.

Vignettes wherein their lives unfold are intercut with several re-creations of the melodramatic short stories that Jo writes in her attic studio in a musical featuring a book by Allan Knee, lyrics by Mindi Dickstein and music by Jason Howland.

“Rarely produced in the UK since its Broadway debut in 2005, this is a unique opportunity for musical and literary lovers to see this fabulous adaptation,” says director Helen “Bells” Spencer, Wharfemede Productions’ chief artistic director and co-founder.

“Little Women is a character-driven musical with family and friendship at the heart of this beloved story. I fell in love with the musical the first time I listened to it and having never seen it on stage. The score is beautiful, rousing and reflects the traditional setting of the piece, with spectacular group numbers and heartfelt solos.”

Helen continues: “As Wharfemede’s first independent production, it was the perfect size company and we are incredibly lucky to have some of the best performers in York in our ten-strong cast.

Wharfemede Productions director Helen “Bells” Spencer, centre, rehearsing her role as Marmee in Little Women with Connie Howcroft’s Jo, left, Catherine Foster’s Meg, Rachel Higgs’s Beth and Tess Ellis’s Amy. Picture: Matthew Warry

“Leading our cast as the passionate and fiery Jo March will be the incredible Connie Howcroft. I knew that Connie had sung Astonishing, the most famous song from the show, in her graduation ceremony several years ago so, ‘some things are meant to be’.

“Having performed with Connie several times, there was no doubt in my mind that she was perfect for this challenging role, with her incredible vocals and strength as an actor.”

Connie was familiar with the musical from her student days. “I knew quite a lot about it because I explored it when I was studying for my musical theatre degree at Hull College of Arts [from 2014 to 2017],” she says.

“A friend used one of the songs in her singing assessment, and I thought, ‘ooh, that sounds really nice”! I already knew the book, researched the show and then sang Astonishing, in my degree final ceremony performance – which ‘Bells’ saw on YouTube!”

When “Bells” asked Connie if she would be interested in performing in Little Women, “I said ‘yeah, sure, it’s a great musical’, and so me and Jo March were brought together,” she says.

Did she always have her eyes on that particular role? “Absolutely, 100 per cent, because she’s just a great character! I have many similarities with her, which is helpful in playing a character,” she says.

“She’s so self-aware until she’s not; she knows what she wants until she doesn’t. When something in her life throws her off balance, she always strives to do more. She loves her family, but she wants more than that from her life, so she’s always pulled between her family and what she believes her dreams should lead to. Her passions are always being challenged.”

Rachel Higgs’s Beth March, left, and Connie Howcroft’s Jo March rehearsing a scene for Wharfemede Productions’ Little Women. Picture: Matthew Warry

Connie has to accommodate her acting passions while working full-time as an events lead for an education company, teaching leadership skills to teachers in Westminster and Central Hall, London. “I do the preparatory work from York, sometimes working with people remotely on Zoom, then travel to London to do the events,” she says. “For this show, I did have to miss one rehearsal in late-January for a two-day event.”

She needs the balance of work and play. “Without having some form of performance outlet in my life, I don’t feel happy,” says Connie. “I grew up singing in the Q church in York from the age of 16, putting on Christmas productions too.

“I feel I always need to have singing in my life, but I’m careful about how I spread my time, as I’m a mum as well, to Riley, who’s 13 – and he does lead the life of Riley!

“But when I commit to a performance, I’m 1,000 per cent into it to do everyone proud and to make sure the production is the best it can be.”

Like Connie, “Bells” Spencer has found the balance between her love of performance – once her professional career, running a theatre company – and her work as a doctor in York. “I’m very passionate about the work I do for the NHS but I also get to do the thing I love as a hobby, putting in 100 per cent to make a performance of a standard I would want and expect to see,” she says.

Formed by “Bells” and chief operating officer Nick Sephton, Wharefemede Productions made their debut last October, staging Jason Browne’s The Last Five Years in tandem with fellow York company Black Sheep Theatre Productions.

“The aim of Wharfemede Productions is to have a good time with a good work ethic, where it’s all about being supportive of each other and being a team,” she says.

Joining Connie in Little Women will be Catherine Foster as Meg; Rachel Higgs as Beth; Tess Ellis as Amy; Spencer herself as Marmee; Rosy Rowley as Aunt March; Steven Jobson as Laurie; Nick Sephton as Professor Bhaer;  Andrew Roberts as Mr Brooke and Chris Gibson as Mr Lawrence.

“We’ve spent a lot of time working on the rich characters and building a bond in the cast that shines through on stage. I’m so excited for our audiences to see this moving and funny show,” says “Bells”.

Wharfemede Productions present Little Women – The Broadway Musical, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, February 18 to 22, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office:  tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

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Why Joe Orton’s Sixties’ farce still carries a content warning as Katie Leckey directs Settlement’s Loot at Theatre Royal Studio

York Settlement Community Players’ Stuart Green’s inspector, Truscott, left, and Miles John’s thief, Dennis, rehearsing a scene from Joe Orton’s Loot

LOOT, Joe Orton’s scandalous first farce, opened at the Cambridge Arts Theatre on February 1 1965 with Kenneth Williams and Geraldine McEwan in the cast.

“The play is a disaster,” the iconoclastic Leicester playwright wrote in a letter to his lover, Kenneth Halliwell. “A very bad play,” sniffed the Cambridge News review. Ouch!

Loot would close after 56 performances and three re-writes, the cast declining the chance to transfer to London, but…Orton’s provocatively controversial, free-wheeling and ferocious dark farce about life’s ultimate taboo – death – is very much alive and kicking up a storm 2025, still suited and booted to shock, amuse and entertain in Orton’s signature scabrous style.

…And still carrying a Content Warning, to be found when booking tickets for Katie Leckey’s production for York Settlement Community Players, running at York Theatre Royal Studio from February 18 to 27.

It reads: “The show contains adult themes and offensive language (including sexism and xenophobia). There are also sexual references and references to sexual assault (including rape and necrophilia) and references to smoking on stage.”

Jack Mackay’s Hal, left, Emily Carhart’s Fay and Miles John’s Dennis in the rehearsal room for York Settlement Community Players’ production of Loot

All this, 60 years since Orton premiered his two-act satire on the Roman Catholic Church, social attitudes to death and the integrity of the police force, wrapped in the story of the fortunes of two thieves, Hal and Dennis, as they navigate the ridiculous farce they find themselves in. Cue such props as rolling eyeballs, flying false teeth and a live actor playing a dead body. 

“We made the choice to set the production in the time it was produced, so that audiences can see what has changed about ideas of ‘Britishness’, religion and institutional tyranny since then (if anything) and what still shocks and outrages us today,” says Katie, a Northern Irish actor and director, who completed her Masters degree last year at the University of York, where she set up Griffonage Theatre with co-artistic director Jack Mackay, now cast as Hal in Loot.

“Are we still homophobic, are we less Catholic? The fact that we have to warn people that it’s still a shocking and scandalous play speaks volumes. The thing is this: we do need to give some sort of warning because some of the content is so abhorrent, mostly what Hal says.

“It’s about setting expectations fairly, but I still think the play should be shocking and done as written, so there are insidious lines that I have kept in that I don’t like, but it shows how people were thinking at that time – and still do today, especially men.

Loot director Katie Leckey

“Interestingly, we had 45-50 people auditioning, mostly men wanting to play the inspector, Truscott, although there’s pretty much an equal split of male-female characters in our production.”

 The strongest voice of all in Loot belongs to Orton, suggests Katie. “That’s what fascinates me: the more I do the play, the stronger his voice becomes. He’s the most authorial writer. There’s something vicious in everything that is said, but it punches up,” she says.

“Orton was so angry about so many things and that’s why the viciousness is so poignant. Like how he was treated by the police, especially as a gay man who had to adapt. So the play is performative to an extent, but it is situated in lived experience.

“I can’t not speak to my actors about him, I can’t not contextualise, Hal is essentially Halliwell and Dennis is Joe. The more you read about his life, the more you can’t separate it from what he’s written.

“I try to get some distance as a director, but I don’t think you can with this, because of how Orton’s life ended [he was murdered, aged 34, by Halliwell in 1967] and how he wrote.

Paul French’s Mr McLeavy, left, and Stuart Green’s Truscott in rehearsal for Loot

“If you had interviewed Orton in 1965, he would have said Loot is a serious play, why is everyone finding it funny? But it absolutely is a farce, rigid in its form as a farce, going through the motions of a farce, which is funny in itself.”

Katie continues: “But what makes it one of the funniest plays is the language. If he had written it as a ‘normal farce’, it would instead have been a tragedy, but he has this flamboyant way of writing, partly upper class, partly colloquial. Using obtuse language deliberately too, where the rhythms sound so ridiculous.”

Translating Orton’s assertion of Loot’s seriousness to her actors, “everything has to be done with conviction in my direction,” she says. “It has to be done that way, with believability. I’m not into breaking ‘the fourth wall’. The characters have to come across as desperate.

“The only difference between tragedy and farce, Orton, said was the treatment of themes. If you made a play about police brutality and homophobia, you could do that as a tragedy, but what makes it funny here is how Orton has singed those subjects with his fire.”

Katie is delighted to be directing a Settlement show for the first time, having first performed with the company in Government Inspector in October 2023. “I went to the group audition and I was shocked and excited by how talented everyone was! I wheedled my way in and I’ve stayed because there’s something rewarding about working with a long-established company,” says Katie. “I felt I wanted to work with these guys as much as possible.”

On finishing her Masters degree, Katie “needed to do something or I will go bananas”. “I saw that Settlement had put out a call for directors and I thought, ‘it’s my time to do something similarly wacky and wild as Griffonage do, and luckily they said ‘yes’.”

 York Settlement Community Players in Loot, York Theatre Royal Studio, 7.45pm nightly, February 18 to 27, except February 23; 2pm matinee, February 22. Age guidance: 16 plus. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Who’s in York Settlement Community Players’ cast for Loot?

JACK Mackay, as Hal; Miles John, Dennis; Paul French, Mr McLeavy; Caroline Greenwood, Mrs McLeavy; Stuart Green, Truscott; Emily Hansen, Meadows, and Emily Carhart, Fay.

Helen Clarke, Xandra Logan, James Wood, Chris Meadley, Victoria Delaney and Serefina Coupe will feature too in Orton-inspired vignettes before the show and in the interval, penned by James Lee.

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Drag diva Velma Celli goes bingo agogo with launch of Dragamama Bingo at Wagamama York restaurant tonight

Velma Celli: Eyes down, hoping for a full house at her debut Dragamama Bingo evening at Wagamama, York

YORK international vocal drag diva Velma Celli, alias West End musical star Ian Stroughair, turns bingo caller for an evening of camp comedy drag bingo fun and games in Dragamama Bingo at Wagamama, York, tonight.

Eyes down for a full house and a feast of Velma fun and games, running from 7pm to 9pm at the Japanese restaurant in Goodramgate. “Wagamama wants to do community-based stuff on the first-floor mezzanine,” says Ian. “They said they knew who Velma was and asked what could she do for them. I suggested drag bingo for starters.

“So this time it’s bingo and comedy, £8 to join, with a top prize of £100, and Scott Robert will be on the piano to add to the atmosphere. The idea is that I’ll do a Dragamama night either once a month or once every other month with a different theme each time, whether bingo, or a game, or a quiz night.”

How would he rate Velma’s bingo-calling skills? “My mum was the accountant for Holgate Working Men’s Club, so we used to go to the bingo there. I loved it. ‘Thatcher’s House, number 10’. That’s one of mine.”

Velma Celli turns bingo caller at Wagamama, Goodramagate, York, tonight

Looking ahead, Velma’s diary for 2025 is taking shape for nights – and days – of cabaret music, risqué comedy and generally fabulous entertainment. Velma Celli’s Drag Brunch returns to the Impossible York Wonderbar, in St Helen’s Square, from March 8 with further shows booked for April 5, May 3, June 7 (York Pride Bottomless Brunch), July 5 and August 2. Doors open at 3pm. Book by emailing reservations@impossibleyork.com and copy in stroughair2@hotmail.com.

God Save The Queens – Velma’s celebration of British music icons, from Julie Andrews, Cilla Black, Shirley Bassey and Dusty Springfield and Kate Bush to The Spice Girls, Adele, Florence Welsh, Amy Winehouse, Jessie J and Dua Lipa, with room for George Michael and Sinead O’Connor too – will play the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, on March 13 at  7.45pm. For tickets, go to: https://tinyurl.com/4z6bvwsy, 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

Velma will head to Skipton Town Hall on March 15 at 7.30pm with Show Queen, where she harks back to Ian’s stellar turns in Cats, Chicago, Fame and Rent in a parade of the best of London’s West End and Broadway musical theatre hits.

“Velma takes you to every corner of the fabulous genre, from Kander & Ebb and Lloyd Webber to Stephen Schwartz’s Wicked and Schönberg’s Les Miserables and many more,” says Ian. “Like, more than Six!” Box office: https://shorturl.at/MJVaO.

Velma Celli’s Show Queen: Heading for Skipton Town Hall, Cardiff, Millom, Southampton, Cowes, London and Dudley

Last year, Velma’s global travels with A Brief History Of Drag took in Australia, where she won the Best Cabaret prize at Perth Fringeworld 2024, 54 Below  in New York City and  a sell-out UK tour that culminated in a hit run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Now she brings the show to The Playhouse, Sheffield, on April 4 (7pm) and Hull Truck Theatre on June 13 (7.30pm) for a diva dive into the most iconic drag moments in music, theatre, movies and popular culture.

“From Hedwig to Kinky Boots, Rent to Priscilla Queen Of The Desert, Boy George to Freddie Mercury, no stone is left unturned in this electrifying beast of a performance,” says Ian. Box office: Sheffield,  https://shorturl.at/hDDiv; Hull, https://shorturl.at/2saW5.

Farther afield, Velma’s Show Queen plays Welsh Millennium Centre, Cardiff, March 29; The Beggar’s Theatre, Millom, Cumbria, April 18; The Stage Door, Southampton, May 23; Cowes Fringe, Cowes,  Isle of Wight, May 24; The Duchess Theatre, West End, London, June 2, and Dudley Town Hall, June 20.

“The idea is that I’ll do a Dragamama night either once a month or once every other month with a different theme each time,” says Velma Celli

Before then, her  new show, Rock Queen, will be making its debut at Crazy Coqs, the Art Deco cabaret, jazz, theatre and comedy space at Brasserie  Zedel, in Soho, London, on March 20 at  9.15pm (tickets: https://tinyurl.com/yc2wur77).

“It  will be all the rock classics, like Cher, Bon Jovi and Nirvana, but with a twist, so Velma  will do  rock songs in a musical theatre style and vice versa,” says Ian. “From Queen to Heart and every Gun N’ Rose in between, she will, she will, rock you!” Watch this space for news of a York performance in 2025.

One more York show definitely in the diary is Velma’s Pride Cabaret  at  Impossible York on June 6 from 7pm to 11pm (doors 6pm) in a special event to herald  York Pride on June 7. Tickets: https://tinyurl.com/ucky9emr

 Velma Celli’s Dragamama Bingo, Wagamama, Goodramgate, York, February 13, doors 6.30pm. Tickets: https://tinyurl.com/4hmukk69.

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What’s On in Ryedale, York & beyond, under dark skies where wildlife roams. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 6 from Gazette & Herald

Colour & Light: Illuminating York Minster’s South Transept with wildlife imagery

FROM wildlife illuminations to characterful faces, dog origin tales to dark sky wonders, Charles Hutchinson finds February fulfilment.

Illumination of the week: Colour & Light, York Minster South Transept, today to March 2

THIS free outdoor event promises a “mesmerising projection” of famous and lesser-known stories of York’s animal world, from the Minster’s peregrine falcons and the urban foxes that roam the streets after dark, to the Romans’ horses for their ride into Eboracum and the legendary dragons carved into the city’s history.

Colour & Light runs nightly from 6pm to 9pm with projections on a ten-minute loop. The final hour each evening is a designated quiet hour with reduced noise and crowd levels. No tickets are required.

A detail from one of Holly Capstick’s portraits in her We Are Layers exhibition at Pocklington Arts Centre

Exhibition of the week: Holly Capstick, We Are Layers, Pocklington Arts Centre, until February 28

HOLLY Capstick explores the layers of our beauty and character in her textile and mixed-media portraits that capture expressions and snapshots of moments in everyday life. “Faces have always amazed me,” she says. “The subtleties of the changes within a face can show so much of how we feel and how we connect to others.”

Thread and Press CIC tutor Holly will run portrait-themed workshops this month for children aged 7 to 16 (Learn To Draw A Face, February 19) and for adults (Textile Portraits, Free-motion Machine Embroidery, February 28). Find out more at hollycapstickart.co.uk.  

In the pink: Emma Swainston’s Elle Woods in York Light Opera Company’s Legally Blonde The Musical. Picture: Matthew Kitchen Photography

Musical of the week: York Light Opera Company in Legally Blonde The Musical, York Theatre Royal, tomorrow to February 22, 7.30pm nightly (except February 16) plus 2.30pm matinees on February 15, 20 and 22

JOIN Elle Woods, a seemingly ditzy sorority girl with a heart of gold, as she tackles Harvard Law School to win back her man. Along the way, Elle discovers her own strength and intelligence, “proving that you can be both a beautiful blonde and brilliant”.

Emma Swainston’s Elle Woods leads Martyn Knight’s 35-strong cast in this feel-good, sassy and stylish show with its powerful message of staying true to yourself, booted with music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin and book by Heather Hach. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

The Tannahill Weavers: Fire-driven instrumentals, topical songs, Celtic ballads and humorous tales of Scottish life at Helmsley Arts Centre

Folk gig of the week: The Tannahill Weavers 2025, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm

THE Tannahill Weavers, from Paisley, Scotland, play a diverse repertoire that spans the centuries, taking in fire-driven instrumentals, topical songs, ballads and humorous tales of life north of the border.

Roy Gullane, on guitar and lead vocals, Phil Smillie, on flute, whistles, bodhrán and harmony vocals, Scotland’s youngest clan leader,  Iain MacGillivray, on Highland bagpipes, fiddle and whistles, and Malcolm Bushby, on fiddle, bouzouki and harmony vocals, demonstrate the rich Celtic musical heritage in their exuberant concert combination of traditional melodies, rhythmic accompaniment, and evocative vocals. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.  

Paul Metcalfe in his Rod Stewart tribute act, Some Guys Have All The Luck

Tribute show of the week: Some Guys Have All The Luck – The Rod Stewart Story, Grand Opera House, York, Friday, 7.30pm

CELEBRATING Sir Rod Stewart’s 80th birthday in a West End tribute show endorsed by his family, Paul Metcalfe takes a live concert journey through six Stewart decades from humble beginnings in rhythm & blues clubs through to swaggering rock showman.

“Rod’s music brings back a lot of memories for people, and everyone can remember the first time they heard Maggie May,” says Metcalfe. “Rod has such an amazing back catalogue of songs and such variety as well. Wonderful ballads, joyful upbeat songs and some great rockers.”

Metcalfe feels like the guy with all the luck in performing this tribute. “When I’m on stage I go into another world and do things I wouldn’t normally dream of doing,” he says. “The show has come on massively since we started. The music, the lighting, the set and the video backdrops have all come on a lot. Fortunately, the audience seems to agree.” Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Festival of the week: National Parks Dark Skies Festival, North York Moors, from Friday to March 2

THIS year is the tenth anniversary of the Dark Skies Festival and where better to celebrate than on the North York Moors, one of only 21 global locations to be recognised for pristine dark skies as an International Dark Sky Reserve.

Look out for Stargazing Experiences in Dalby Forest; Stargazing at Ampleforth Abbey; the Robin Hood’s Bay Dark Skies Ghost Walks; Evening Adventure Walks with River Mountain Rescue; a Night Navigation Experience with Large Outdoors; Dancing with The Long Dead Stars and plenty more. For full details, visit: darkskiesnationalparks.org.uk/north-york-moors-events.

David O’Doherty: Tiny Piano Man’s pageant of Irish humour and song at Grand Opera House, York

Comedy show of the week: David O’Doherty, Tiny Piano Man, Grand Opera House, York, Saturday, 8pm

THE dishevelled prince of €10 eBay keyboards tries to make you feel alive with a pageant of Irish humour, song and occasionally getting up from a chair. “It’s gonna be a big one,” says Dublin comedian, author, musician, actor and playwright David O’Doherty, star of The Great Celebrity Bake Off 2024 and Along For The Ride With David O’Doherty. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Gareth Gates: A Valentine Special brimful of movie love songs at York Barbican

Romantic concert of the week: Gareth Gates Sings Love Songs From The Movies – A Valentine Special, York Barbican, Sunday, 7.30pm

EXTENDING the St Valentine ‘s Day vibes to the weekend, Bradford singer Gareth Gates combines  beloved ballads from classic films with the electrifying energy of up-tempo hits, from Unchained Melody to Dirty Dancing, in a celebration of love stories that have graced the silver screen.

Joining the 2002 Pop Idol alumnus and musical star will be Wicked actress Maggie Lynne, Dutch singer Britt Lenting, Performers College graduate Dan Herrington and a four-piece band. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Ugg’n’Ogg: Telling the story of The World’s First Dogg at the Milton Rooms, Malton

Children’s play of the week: Rural Arts presents Fideri Fidera in Ugg’n’Ogg & The World’s First Dogg, Milton Rooms, Malton, February 20, 2pm

IN the fresh sparkling world just after the last Ice Age, there were no dogs. How, then, did we attain our best friend and the world’s number one pet? Luckily for us, along came young hunter gatherers Ugg‘n’Ogg to pal up with the wolves, Tooth’n’Claw, to defy flying meat bones, raging forest infernos and even a time-travelling stick to invent the dog.

This original play for families and pooch lovers aged three upwards highlights the evolutionary transition from lupine to canine in a show full of physical comedy, puppets, music and song. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

James Iha, left, Jimmy Chamberlin and Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins: Off to the Yorkshire coast in the summer

Gig announcement of the week: The Smashing Pumpkins, TK Maxx Presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, August 13

AMERICAN alternative rockers The Smashing Pumpkins will play Scarborough on their Aghori Tour. Billy Corgan, James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin’s multi-platinum-selling band will be supported on the Yorkshire coast by London post-punk revival band White Lies.

Since emerging from Chicago, Illinois, in 1988 with their iconoclastic sound, Smashing Pumpkins have sold more than 30 million albums worldwide and collected two Grammy Awards, seven MTV VMAs and an American Music Award. Tickets go on sale at 10am on Friday at ticketmaster.co.uk

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Why Emma Swainston is in the pink as she takes on dream role of Elle Woods in York Light Opera Company’s Legally Blonde

Emma Swainston’s Elle Woods in York Light Opera Company’s Legally Blonde The Musical, opening at York Theatre Royal on Thursday. Picture: Matthew Kitchen Photography

OMIGOD You Guys! Emma Swainston will be playing her “dream role” of Elle Woods in York Light Opera Company’s staging of Legally Blonde The Musical from Thursday at York Theatre Royal.

“I’m thrilled,” she says. “Growing up, I watched Reese Witherspoon, who was so incredible as Elle in the original film [made by Australian director Robert Luketic in 2001]. Elle is such an icon and her story is so empowering that I used to watch the film on video, on repeat, in my room.

 “I then followed the stage show’s progress ever since it was brought to Broadway with Laura Bell Bundy as Elle about 12 years ago, when I was 18.  I’d listen to the music through headphones when the soundtrack first came out – and I got obsessed with it because it’s so inspiring.

“The music and the lyrics are just brilliant, true to the story, but with extra details put into the lyrics, so you have to listen quite hard. You really feel the message of self-discovery and female empowerment.”

Quick refresher course: Elle Woods is a “seemingly ditzy sorority girl with a heart of gold, who tackles Harvard Law School to win back her man” in this sassy and stylish award-winning musical comedy with music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin and book by Heather Hach.

Along the way, Elle discovers her own strength and intelligence, “proving that you can be both a beautiful blonde and brilliant”.

“Although times have moved on, there is still that stereotypical blonde image, and she does wear that pink suit [like Leanne Quigley, the British Army veteran, pointedly did when winning the third BBC series of The Traitors].

“But Elle’s determination to break through the barrier of expectations is so empowering. Just be yourself, she says.”

Directing his third production of Legally Blonde after Bournemouth and Newcastle a decade ago, Martyn Knight says of his choice of Emma for his lead: “You could judge by the cover, and the book looked perfect…she was perfect for the role, blonde with the look of a wonderful vamp, but it was more than that.

“Emma and her sister Sarah [Craggs] have played leads for me before, and when Emma came in, I thought, ‘this is it’. We are spoilt for choice in York, but Emma has, dare I say, star quality – and she works so hard in rehearsal.”

Martyn shares Emma’s passion for the show’s message. “As I grow older – I’m nearly 70 – I think, ‘people should be whatever they want to be’. A lot of people see it as a frothy musical, but it’s not. It’s as powerful as Fiddler On The Roof, but obviously in a lighter form, and the message is something we should not let up on.”

Emma had singing lessons in York with Margaret Berg from the age of 14 to 18 and dancing lessons with Rebecca Davies as a teenager at Huntington Dance School before graduating with a First in musical theatre at the University of Central Lancashire, Preston, nine years ago.

Later, when she felt “something wasn’t quite right” about her voice, a camera inspection revealed a nodule in her throat. “Luckily, it didn’t grown any further but it sort of knocked my confidence, thinking I couldn’t do it professionally,” she recalls.

“So I did a Masters in creative producing at Mountview Academy [of Theatre Arts] and I lived and worked in London while I was studying but decided London was not right for me.”

Emma now balances creativity in her professional career in Leeds with performing in York. By day, “I work full time as a senior project manager for The Brand Nursery, a design consultancy in Hunslet,” she says.

By night, she can be found singing with sister Sarah at private functions as The Bella Belles, as well as appearing in such shows as Doctor Doolittle, The Railway Children, Fiddler On The Roof and as Sister Mary Leo in York Light’s Nunsense: The Mega Musical at Theatre@41, Monkgate, last summer. Sarah, by the way, will be performing in Legally Blonde too, playing Margot.

Roll on tomorrow.’s opening night. “Elle is a really inspiring character and I can’t wait to share her journey with the audience,” says Emma. “She goes through such an emotional rollercoaster, with moments of humour versus vulnerability throughout, and I love how she breaks through ‘the fourth wall’ by singing directly to the audience.”

You can sense Emma’s exhilaration in performing when she says: “Especially in a production like Legally Blonde, that moment of breaking free from societal expectation, I love it! It’s so intoxicating. It’s a feeling you don’t get anywhere else but on stage. That’s why we do it.”

You will note the change of stage name from Emma Craggs to Emma Swainston (and indeed from Emma Craggs-Swainston, briefly, for Nunsense: The Mega Musical). “I got married 18 months ago,” she explains.

Husband Brad Swainston is not involved in musical theatre. “It’s sport for him,” she says. “He plays padel and tennis.”

Talking of physical exertion, Emma will, of course, be doing “The Bend And Snap” in Legally Blonde. How is Elle’s trademark move coming along? “It’s good,” she says. “I think I’ve mastered it!”   

York Light Opera Company presents Legally Blonde The Musical, York Theatre Royal, February 13 to 22, 7.30pm nightly except February 16; 2.30pm, February 15, 20 and 22. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

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REVIEW: Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company in Disney’s Beauty And The Beast, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York ***

Jennifer Jones’s Belle

AFTER a winter of Beauty And The Beast pantomimes, from the Grand Opera House, York, to Harrogate Theatre, here is Disney’s Broadway Musical, American accents et al despite being set in a small provincial town in France.

Alan Menken, Howard Ashman and Tim Rice’s Broadway show premiered in 1994 but what sticks in the mind is the animated adventure that arrived on screen three years earlier, and it is those oh-so Disney characters  that come to stage life anew in the Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company’s fundraising production for the JoRo theatre, whose 90th anniversary falls this year

The show is directed by Kathryn Lay, now the Haxby Road theatre’s creative director, whose programme note recalls how she danced around the house in her first Belle dress as a child, when the idea of directing the musical tale was ‘beyond her wildest dreams’.

“Big challenge,” she said in her programme note. “Important to preserve the magic of the classic film and for you, the audience, to see on stage the characters you know and love.”

Her production does exactly that, putting the emphasis on characterisation and storytelling, song and dance, rather than technical flourishes or a bells-and-whistles set. Better that money is raised to the max, going towards £100,000 target for the JoRo’s new Garden Room project.

That said, Julie Fisher and Lichfield Costume Hire pull out all the stops with the costumes, especially for the big ensemble numbers, where assistant director Lorna Newby’s choreography is at its best for the likes of Be Our Guest and especially Human Again.

Anthony Gardner’s old-school punctualist, Cogsworth, with a clock-winding key protruding from his clothing,  and Jennifer Dommeck’s Mrs Potts, dressed as a teapot to a T, bring personality aplenty  to their amusing performances, while Helen Barugh’s Madame de la Grande Bouche springs into life from a standing starting position as a piece of furniture. Novel!

After appearing in every JRTC production since Made In Dagenham in 2020, Jennifer Jones takes the  female lead role of the plucky, resourceful Belle with aplomb, equally adept in song (Home and A Change In Me) and dialogue,  and clicking well with Adam Gill’s Beast as love gradually blossoms. Gill, in turn, captures the Beast’s desire to be “human again”, at his peak in Act I’s closing number, If I Can’t Love Her.

Paul Blenkiron’s Maurice and Kit Stroud’s daft Lefou are as reliable as ever, while Spotlight Dance Academy teacher Heather Stead revels in her first JRTC principal role as the fluffy, showy Babette and Stan Richardson has his moments as teacup Chip. Jim Paterson’s Gaston has to defy a bird’s nest of a wig that undermines his villainous authority.

Aptly, no-one shines more brightly than Stagecoach York singing teacher Tom Menarry in his JRTC debut as Lumiere, his stand-out performance as flamboyant as his French accent. His rendition of Be Our Guest with Dommeck’s Mrs Potts is the show’s musical highlight.

Musical director Martin Lay steers the 11-piece orchestra through a score full of variety and contrast with attention to detail and drama in ballads and big numbers alike.

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REVIEW: Steve Crowther’s verdict on Flutes & Frets Duo, York BMS Concerts, Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York, Feb 7

Flutes & Frets Duo’s Beth Stone and Daniel Murphy

THIS rather enchanting concert by Beth Stone (flutes) and Daniel Murphy (plucked strings) could be likened to a historical musical journey from the 15th Century to the present day.

The first stop was the 15th Century and the musical station entitled Renaissance Flute & Lute. Rabanus Maurus’s haunting Veni Creator Spiritus was paired with Guillaume Dufay’s setting (originally for three voices). Beth Stone’s chocolatey flute tone was simply gorgeous.

Of the next pairing, I particularly enjoyed Guglielmo Ebreo da Pesaro’s courtly dance Falla Con Misuras, as did lutenist Daniel Murphy, whose crisp syncopated rhythms added to the music’s delicate vitality.

The performances of the Thomas Campion and Robert Johnson pieces were also rhythmically engaging and it is no surprise that both composers were professional lutenists.

This set closed with a touching duet by French composer Balthazar de Beaujoyeulx, Overture from Balet Comique de la Royne. The ballet was inspired, evidently, by the escape of Ulysses from the clutches of the enchantress Circe (from Homer’s Odyssey). And yes, the performance was indeed enchanting.

Now it wasn’t until I disembarked at the platform marked Baroque Flute &Theorbo that, despite the excellent performances and refreshing informative communication by players, I realised that the musical journey hadn’t been a particularly gripping one.

This all changed with the set of arias by Claudio Monteverdi. Take the performance of Quel Sguardo Sdegnosetto, the last one of the set, for example. Ms Stone’s flute playing really captured the pretty radical, virtuosic vocal melody, which itself responds to the emotionally descriptive poetic text. But it was the hypnotic ground bass, the closing Chaconne that sealed the deal.

Before we arrived at our final destination, Modern Flute & Guitar, we stopped off for refreshments at Eight-Keyed Classical Flute & Nineteenth Century Guitar. Diabelli’s arrangement of Louis-Luc Loiseau de Persuis’ Six Favourite Airs from Nina Ou La Folle Par Amour was brimming with wit and energy, and clearly enjoyed by both performers and ourselves.

Diabelli’s arrangement of Gioachino Rossini’s The Thieving Magpie Overture was even better and even more rewarding. Well, it is Rossini. Ps Diabelli’s transcription is simply inspired.

For me, the final set of pieces was mixed. The best of the musical bunch was undoubtedly Jacques Ibert’s Entr’acte. This popular, flamenco-inspired work had a quirky, gently bonkers quality. The opening breathless toccata was followed by an Iberian serenade before returning to a vibrant recapitulation or return. I loved it.

François Borne’s Fantasie Brillante Sur Carmen was really well transcribed, brilliant, in fact. But it soon outstayed its welcome. It was just too long. For me, the Broadway hits simply don’t work.

The earlier vocal transcriptions worked because they were creatively transformed. Here we simply had songs without words. Stephen Sondheim’s gem, Send In The Clowns, was played beautifully. But in my head I added the words; I heard Judy Collins’ 1975 version – it was originally written for Glynis Johns. So too with Gershwin’s I Got Rhythm and Hurwitz’s City of Stars.

With this in mind, the duo says that  “future project plans include commissioning new works for both the modern flute and guitar combination and also the historical flutes and lute/theorbo instrumentation”. And this has to be a good thing.

As for Edvard Grieg’s Morgenstemming (from Peer Gynt), for flute and guitar? Well, this shouldn’t have worked but, because of the utterly musical playing by both Beth Stone and, particularly,  Daniel Murphy on guitar, it did; beautifully.

Review by Steve Crowther

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Two Pints podcasters Will Mellor and Ralf Little team up for November Nonsense tour. York Barbican awaits on November 2

Ralf Little and Will Mellor: Two Pints with Will & Ralf podcasters

PODCASTING actors Will Mellor and Ralf Little will play York Barbican on November 2 as one of 12 dates on the Greater Manchester duo’s November Nonsense: Two Pints Podcast Live tour. Tickets go on sale on Friday at 10am at ticketmaster.co.uk. 

Mellor, from Bredbury, Greater Manchester, and Little, from Oldham, shared their comedic adventures in the TV bromance Will And Ralf Should Know Better on U&Dave in 2024, and they continue to present their antics and bantering wit on the weekly Two Pints podcast. 

Looking forward to their third tour, Little says: “We absolutely love going on tour. Being on stage is such a buzz and with the crowd we have a right laugh. November can’t come soon enough.” 

Mellor says: “Me and Ralf live on stage again, what could possibly go wrong? We absolutely love doing our live show and we just want everyone to come along, get involved and hopefully have a great time. Bring on November!” 

For almost all “the Noughties”, Mellor and Little defined the voice of a generation in the BBC show Two Pints Of Lager & A Packet Of Crisps. A decade later, they reunited to launch the Two Pints podcast in May 2020, now into its fifth series of the duo chewing the fat with each other, fellow celebs and guests with fascinating stories to tell…all over two pints or sometimes a cup of tea. 

November Nonsense is presented by Formidable and Live Nation promoters Cuffe and Taylor. Further Yorkshire gigs will be at the Victoria Theatre, Halifax, on November 19 (victoriatheatre.co.uk) and Sheffield City Hall on November 20 (sheffieldcityhall.co.uk).

“Me and Ralf live on stage again, what could possibly go wrong?” asks Will Mellor, right
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The Smashing Pumpkins confirm August 13 concert at Scarborough Open Air Theatre. When do tickets go on sale?

James Iha, left, Jimmy Chamberlin and Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins: Playing Scarborough Open Air Theatre on August 13

AMERICAN alt. rockers The Smashing Pumpkins will play TK Maxx Presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre on August 13 on their Aghori Tour. Tickets will go on sale at 10am on Friday at  ticketmaster.co.uk.

Billy Corgan, James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin’s multi-platinum-selling band will be supported on the Yorkshire coast by Ealing post-punk revival band White Lies.

Since emerging from Chicago, Illinois, in 1988 with their iconoclastic sound, Smashing Pumpkins have sold more than 30 million albums worldwide and collected two Grammy Awards, seven MTV VMAs and an American Music Award.

Corgan, Iha and Chamberlin continue to fuse rock, pop, shoegaze, metal, goth, psychedelia and electronia into a kaleidoscope of melancholic melodies, fuzzy distortion, bombastic orchestration, incendiary fretwork, eloquent songcraft, and unshakable hooks.

Their back catalogue is highlighted by 1991’s platinum-selling Gish, 1993’s quadruple-platinum  Siamese Dream, 1995’s diamond-certified Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness, 1996’s platinum Adore (1998) and 2000’s gold-selling Machina/The Machines Of God.

In 2023, The Smashing Pumpkins released ATUM, a rock opera presented in three acts, alongside a sold out North American tour. Only nine months later came Aghori Mhori Mei, their 13th studio album.

London guitar band White Lies topped the charts with their 2009 debut album To Lose My Life, leading to a  BRIT Award nomination, a stadium tour with Coldplay, appearances on David Letterman and Later…With Jools Holland, and five further studio albums.

Julian Murray, venue programmer for promoters Cuffe and Taylor, says: “The Smashing Pumpkins have been at the forefront of alternative rock for more than 30 years and remain true standard bearers.

“We have had so many requests down the years from fans to bring them here, so we are delighted to announce this show. It’s going to be another incredible night here, which we know The Smashing Pumpkins’ legions of fans will absolutely love.”

Corgan and co also will perform at TK Maxx presents Live at The Piece Hall, Halifax, on August 12.

The Scarborough Open Air Theatre diary for 2025 now comprises: June 11, The Corrs and Natalie Imbruglia; June 13, Gary Barlow; June 14, Shed Seven plus Jake Bugg and Cast; June 20; Pendulum and their newly confirmed support act, Swedish rockers Normandie, June 21, Basement Jaxx and June 27, Snow Patrol.

Into July, when July 5 features The Script plus Tom Walker; July 6, UB40 featuring Ali Campbell plus Bitty McLean, July 10, Blossoms plus Inhaler and Apollo Junction; July 11, Rag’n’Bone Man plus Elles Bailey and Kerr Mercer; July 12, McFly plus Twin Atlantic and Devon; July 19, Craig David presents TS5; July 23, Judas Priest plus Phil Campbell & The Bastard Sons and July 26, Texas.

Faithless and Orbital are booked in for August 2, with further August additions expected from Cuffe and Taylor. Watch this space. To book tickets for the 2025 season, head to ticketmaster.co.uk.

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New company Old York Theatre to stage Charlie Blanshard’s debut play at Jorvik Viking Festival and on northern mini-tour

Charlie Blanshard: Actor, Old York Theatre co-producer and writer of Jorvik. Picture: YellowBelly, London

EAST Yorkshire writer and actor Charlie Blanshard will present his debut full-length play, Jorvik, at Barley Hall, Coffee Yard, York, on February 17 as part of the 2025 Jorvik Viking Festival.

How pleasing to see a  theatre show in  a festival noted for its living history encampments, workshops, tours, traditional crafts, feasts, family events, boat burning, evening entertainment and dramatic combat performances.

“That’s why I’ve made the show,” says Old York Theatre co-producer Charlie, whose imposing 6ft 2 frame and long hair would have befitted Viking times.

“When I was studying at Rose Bruford College, I made a short Viking film called Snake-In-The-Eye, which we shot in the Allfather Hall in Valhalla, as my final work on my MA in Actor Performer Training course.

“Dr Chris Tuckley [Jorvik’s head of interpretation and learning] gave me historical advice for that project, and I reached out to him again with this play. He put me in touch with Abi at Jorvik; I presented the script and asked if there was any way I could do it at Barley Hall.”

The answer was yes, and now February 17’s 6pm and 7.30pm performances will lead off a northern tour that will take in The Brain Jar cocktail bar in Hull on February 19 and the Monks Walk Inn, where Charlie once   worked, in Beverley on February 20, as well as crossing the Pennines to play a Manchester cabaret bar on February 18.

Jorvik, an immersive play set directly in the aftermath of the fall of Eoforwic to the Great Viking Army and its rebirth as Jorvik, will be staged in the Tudor Throne Room, the great hall at Barley Hall.

The company logo for Old York Theatre

What will “immersive” involve, Charlie? “Every audience member will be cast as a member of the Viking Army with plenty of opportunities to get involved if you want to,” he says. “Everyone is part of the moment. It’s not a play to be sat at the back with popcorn!”

Directed by co-producer Jack Chamberlain, Charlie takes the role of Ubbe, son of Ragnar and leader of the Viking army, playing opposite Oliver Strong’s Odin in the two-hander.

 “The play leans heavily on the Viking mythos, rejoices in the fantastical and is delivered with the spirit of larger-than-life storytelling. We follow our protagonist, Ubbe, soaked in the blood of battle as he finds himself at a great banquet in his honour,” says Charlie.

“But in this mysterious throne room, not all is as it seems! Jorvik is a play about loss, faith, glory, family, love and celebrating life while we are still around to enjoy it. Expect big characters, song, fights and plenty of table banging.”

Defining Old York Theatre’s theatre style, Charlie says: “It’s theatre of myths and legends, legacy and mortality. We’re not focused on history; it’s storytelling about larger-than-life heroes and gods and focusing on their stories. Ultimately, we want people to come and have a good time and leave with a smile on their face.

“We tell the story in a mixture of styles, with moments of mythological verse and also modern language. It’s a mash-up to match the clash of two worlds, and every show will be different because each audience will add a unique element with their own story.

Oliver Strong: Welsh-born actor/co-producer and fight choreographer. Picture: YellowBelly, London

“It’s a performance that’s rooted in history and myth but lives and breathes today – and York is the perfect place for its debut because this is a city where history does live and breathe and you  can experience the legends of times before.”

Born in Londesborough, in the Yorkshire Wolds, and raised in Hull, Charlie has been drawn to York since regular weekend family trips in his childhood. “It really does feel like home every time I come to the city,” he says.

“Even as a young child, it captured my imagination. From the city walls to historic pubs, you think, ‘who has walked these streets before me?’. ‘Who has sat before in these pubs?’ ‘If the walls had ears, what would they have heard? What victories were toasted here? What losses were mourned?” It’s a city that cannot deny its history.”

Old York Theatre’s motto is “Theatre company rooted in Yorkshire, for the world. Anywhere, anytime, any place”. Hence this month’s mini-tour heading to a great hall, a cabaret bar, a cocktail bar and a pub. “We hope to expand on that,” says Charlie.

“We also want to appeal both to people who’ve been to a theatre a thousand times and those who’ve never been. So we want to break down barriers for people to go to a theatre show, as well as those who go to see Chekhov and Shakespeare, which is why we’re doing the play in cocktail and cabaret bars.”

Living in Hull on his return from London, Charlie has worked with Middle Child theatre company, based in Hull Old Town,  and now with Old York Theatre. “I want to make work for the North,” he says. “The northern theatre scene called me back to make new theatre, bringing northern stories to northern audiences and breaking down that barrier of theatre being London-centric.”

Old York Theatre in Jorvik, Barley Hall, Coffee Yard, York, Jorvik Viking Festival, February 17, 6pm and 7.30pm. Box office: https://jorvikvikingfestival.co.uk/events/jorvik-immersive-theatre/

Charlie Blanshard: the back story

Charlie Blanshard in his film Snake-In-The-Eye, shot in the Allfather Hall in Valhalla. Picture: Oli Towse

EAST Riding-born actor and writer, loud and proud of his Yorkshire roots. His passion for performance is lit by his desire to tell northern stories on screen and stage and shine a light on the many talented artists that call the North home.

Graduated from Rose Bruford College with MA in Actor Performer Training. Has since toured Europe with English Theatre Company, performed Shakespeare in Dubai on the QE2 and worked with many companies and individuals on his door step in Hull, including Middle Child.

His childhood visits to York awoke his love of history, with a particular fondness for the Vikings, Romans and Greeks, fuelling his drive to one day tell those stories. 

“I could see the influence – the legacy – that these histories have left on this city. From street names to days of the week – undeniable heritage that has stood the test of time,” he says.

The myths and legends that still survive today captured his imagination. “The stories of epic quests and heroes spoke to the storyteller in me,” he says. “Over many years, I realised there was something deeper, beyond the stories. Really, at the root of it all is human connection and human struggle.

“We aren’t as different as we think to our ancestors. For example, our desires, while modern at a glance, are deeply rooted in that same human condition: The need to be remembered.

The tour itinerary for Old York Theatre’s Jorvik

” Instead of pursuing fame, success or social media status, the Vikings wanted infamy, songs, sagas and poems. A totally different era, but a comparable obsession with legacy. Jorvik is an exploration of this idea, a celebration of life, of family and the love we leave behind.” 

He relishes the challenge presents for him as a writer, producer and actor by this project. Pushing himself into multiple different disciplines. Expanding his tool box to allow him to champion working in the arts in a northern city.

Training at a London drama school opened his eyes to the “disparity between the theatre industry in the North and the South”. “It is my firmly held belief that new, exciting and dynamic theatre should have a greater representation and be produced in the North,” he says. “Why must people have to travel far to see new, innovative and great theatre? Why don’t we bring it to them?” 

Especially excited to be exploring the use of non-traditional theatre spaces. From Tudor halls to pubs. Anywhere, anytime. “I believe bringing live performance and theatre to these venues is really important,” he says.

“It opens up the world of performance to people not from a theatre background. It breaks boundaries and perceptions of what people think theatre is and removes barriers that prevent them seeing it.”

Did you know?

CHARLIE Blanshard is the narrator for Channel 5’s four-part documentary Bomb Squad: Trigger Point.

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