Lara McClure: Atmospheric storytelling at A Feast Of Fools II
YORK collective Navigators Art presents A Feast Of Fools II, a last gasp of mischief to mark the curtain closing on the festive holiday on January 5 at the Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green, York.
“Welcome to our second alternative end-of-season celebration of Twelfth Night and Old Christmas, packed with live folk music, spoken word and a nod to the pagan and the impish,” says artist and co-founder Richard Kitchen.
Henry Parker: York singer and guitarist
“Flushed with Edinburgh Fringe success, Dr Lara McClure will set the scene with some atmospheric storytelling. We’re also delighted to welcome two acclaimed York musicians: Oli Collier, with a walk on the dark side, and singer, guitarist and rising star Henry Parker.”
On the 7pm to 10.30pm bill too will be York alt-folk legends White Sail, who return from last year’s event with new material, and doing likewise will be poet and experimental musician Thomas Pearson.
“Last year’s show sold out, so be sure to grab your tickets before they’re gone,” advises Richard. Booking in advance is recommended at bit.ly/nav-feast2. Doors open at 6.30pm.
Putting the cross into cross-dressing: Richard Galloway’s Wicked Witch of West Yorkshire in Badapple Theatre Company’s Sleeping Beauty And The Beast. Picture: Karl Andre
YES, you read that show title correctly. Sleeping Beauty And The Beast is a panto-mash-up of Sleeping Beauty and Beauty And The Beast from the inquisitive, anarchic mind of Richard Kay. And what a smash of a mash he makes in this madcap marriage.
“Three actors, two pantomimes, one hour, what could possibly go wrong,” read Badapple Theatre Company’s invitation to York writer, director and composer Kay’s delightfully playful show. The answer, on preview night at Stillingfleet Village Institute, turned out to be the absence of a crucial prop, met with a profuse apology from the tech desk!
The intrepid cast of Richard Galloway (in his third Badapple show), Pip Cook (in her second) and Livy Potter (in her company debut) improvised admirably in a show that is fleet of foot and quick of mind throughout.
Potter’s Fairy Naturel and friends must thwart the evil potion plant-poisoning plans of the “Bad to the Bone” Wicked Witch of West Yorkshire (Galloway putting the cross into cross-dressing in roughly applied blue eye-shadow, gash of red lipstick, heavy stubble, rudimentary wig and a mardy mood) as Kay weaves pollution, a dig at water companies and, later, the re-wilding of a country estate into the mix.
Pip Cook’s Belle: One of her eight roles in Sleeping Beauty And The Beast. Picture: Karl Andre
A Donald Trump mask, references to July’s General Election, Brexit, Covid, climate change and Nigel Farage, plus a jibe at how Royal Families “can get away with anything” provide a bit of politics too to please the Ben Eltons of this world, while Kay’s dips into 2024 culture include a pastiche of Claudia Winkleman in Traitors mode, a mention of Taylor Swift and a nod to Brat, Charli XCX’s word of the year.
The two overlapping stories, fused into one with “too much plot”, are set in the neighbouring villages of High Uppington and Lower Netherdale, where Cook’s Belle (in blue) and Potter’s Beauty (in matching pink) must be saved from their fairytale fates with the fairy’s help as the admirably alliterative Wicked Witch vows to “nobble these numpties” when learning of the prophecy that either Belle or Beauty will save the planet.
Those villages are depicted on the front of William Fricker’s proscenium arch set, a wonderfully unpredictable design with a rotating core that facilitates puppets making sporadic entries and Cook somehow squeezing through a seemingly too small space to make a hasty exit.
The highly comedic Cook will be kept busiest of all the cast, eight roles no less, ranging from apprentice villain David the Dimwit to Sir David of Attenborough, from Mother and Father in puppet form to Queen Carmella and King Charlie, requiring her to dash on and off ever more frantically for a costume change to switch from one royal to the other.
Livy Potter’s Lord Hunk in Sleeping Beauty And The Beast. Picture: Karl Andre
Potter, such an impressively diverse actress in past roles in “serious plays” on the York stage, has bags of fun in the lighter froth of pantomime, whether as Beauty, the feisty fairy or Lord Hunk, the nobleman who will become the Beast (represented by a puppet head).
Galloway’s ease with comedy, seen previously in Badapple’s revival of Kate Bramley’s Eddie And The Gold Tops, is given full expression in his rough and ready “dame”, the Wicked Witch, and he also revels in sending up a French accent as Lord Hunk’s gardener, the eco-conscious Bertie.
Three actors, two stories, only one hour, this is a novel pantomime but one steeped in tradition too, or at least playing with tradition. Kay, for example, can never resist putting the pun into panto. What is the child’s name? Belle. “It has a nice ring to it,” we are told. “Our baby Belle. Does it sound too cheesy.” There will be plenty more where those came from, best of all the Luke Littler one.
Kay dips into the fashion for meta-theatre with such self-aware comments as “That’s a slightly unusual tangent for pantomime” and “Hey, fourth character for you in this scene. That’s a record”, while his satire on every pantomime’s obligatory saccharine, soppy ballad turns into a point-making ode to rescuing the planet, Our Love For The Earth.
Writer, director and composer Richard Kay in the rehearsal room for Sleeping Beauty And The Beast
Kay is in a mischievous mood too, his tongue firmly in his cheek when he talks of “the “self-satisfied stench of rural village life” on a tour that will be playing to village audiences. ”.
You will love the clever little touches, such as the use of silhouettes with torches, a puppet speeding across the top of the set to signify “running all the way”, and Fricker’s creation of a “particularly prickly thicket” to spread across the set.
Given just how well this mash-up works in the Green Hammerton company’s match-up with Rural Arts On Tour, Badapple surely will ask Richard Kay to come up with another one for next winter. Any suggestions?
Badapple Theatre Company and Rural Arts On Tour present Sleeping Beauty And The Beast until January 5 2025. For tour and ticket details, head to ruralarts.org/whats-on/performances/ or email admin@ruralarts.org or phone 01845 526 536.
Performances: December 30, Amotherby, 1pm; Shipton-by Beningbrough, 7pm; December 31, Stillington, 1pm; January 2, Coverdale, 1pm; Green Hammerton, 7pm; January 3, Cononley, 1pm; Clapham, 7pm; January 4, Middleton St George, Darlington, 1pm; January 5, Sharow, Ripon, 1pm.
Dastardly double act: Pip Cook’s David the Dimwit and Richard Galloway’s Wicked Witch of West Yorkshire in Badapple Theatre Company’s pantomime mash-up. Picture: Karl Andre
Sario Solomon’s Aladdin in a scene with Evie Pickerill’s Genie of the Lamp in Aladdin at York Theatre Royal. Picture: SR Taylor Photography
SARIO Solomon is starring in the title role in Aladdin, this winter’s pantomime at York Theatre Royal, and is no stranger to the role.
“I played the part in Telford a few years ago. He’s full of energy and youthful exuberance, and he’s jokey and fun too,” he says.
“I had a really good time there, so I thought, ‘let’s give it another go, this time in York’. But I’m surprised I got it because I’m hopeless at the ‘self-tapes’ you have to send in and I’m not really tech savvy. It’s always hard to come across on camera as you want to be perceived, but luckily Juliet [creative director Juliet Forster] said ‘yes’.”
He had to miss the official pantomime launch on account of his acting commitments elsewhere that day but he did make a Sario solo trip to meet the media.
“I was playing the American-Italian Sonny, one of the Burger Palace Boys, on tour. I first played the part in London at the Dominion Theatre and then on the long UK tour – 18 months altogether, but I liked playing him. He’s funny, stupid and silly, so you can get away with things you can’t in other shows.
“It was wonderful to work with choreographer Arlene Phillips and director Nikolai Foster, who I’d done West Side Story with at the National Youth Music Theatre. That’s how he remembered me when he was casting for Grease.
“I was still on the Grease tour in the first week of rehearsals for Aladdin when I was able to commute from Sheffield each day and so we worked schedules around that.”
Does Sario prefer singing and dancing in musicals or acting in plays? “I just love musicals,” he says. “I knew I wanted to do musical theatre. I’m quite a silly, stupid person so straight acting is less appealing.
“It’s the same with panto. I like to have fun. It’s not meant to be serious! It’s meant to be funny. I like going over the top and having fun. It’s a very English institution, so trying to describe it to my German friends is always difficult!”
Like so many, Sario first attended a pantomime in his childhood. “Jack And The Beanstalk, probably with my grandmother, at a theatre in North London, where I grew up,” he recalls. “I was intrigued.
“Straightaway I just loved anything on stage. I knew it was something I wanted to be in and be part of, partly because I remember how much joy it gave me as a child. I was told the importance of A levels and exams, but I went to the National Youth Music Theatre in the summer holidays.”
Among his career highlights, Sario has worked with Take That’s Gary Barlow. “After A-levels I entered the BBC talent contest Let It Shine to find four young men to form a boy band for a musical called The Band featuring Take That’s music. I was one of the winners, which got me into the industry and an agent.
Sario Solomon outside York Theatre Royal when promoting his role as Aladdin. Picture: Ant Robling
“My mother loves Take That very much, so I knew a lot of their 90s’ classics and really enjoyed their music. It was cool to meet Take That and have them as mentors, giving notes and their wisdom in rehearsals. Gary was often there.
“That show basically got me into performing, having done a few things as a kid. I realised I loved performing more than anything else, so Mum let me pursue that after GCSEs and A-levels.”
Sario did not attend drama school. “Sometimes I wish I had because there’s a certain level of dance I can’t do straight off to West End-trained standards. It takes me longer to learn, whereas there’s repetition built into drama school training, but once I’ve nailed it, I’m fine,” he says.
Sario’s mother is from Tokyo, his father, from Newcastle – they met in London – and he is as fluent in Japanese as he is in English. “I write in Japanese too,” he says. “I grew up in North London and went to Japanese school on Saturdays. I love Japan and Newcastle too.”
He is breaking new ground in his career by performing in York. “I’ve never been to York before, even though I’ve toured in theatre shows for four or five years, but I have seen photos and it looks very pretty,” he said at his June press day.
“It will be especially lovely to be here at Christmas. I hear York has a fantastic Christmas market and I do love a German Christmas market!”
Sario lives on a 54ft-long narrowboat in London, moored at Stamford Hill. “I have always loved streams and rivers, it’s very much in the Japanese culture,” he says. “Living on a boat appealed to me. You wake up seeing swans on the river and the wood burner alight. It’s also nice to live on my own rather than flat-sharing.
“I’ve always wanted to buy a place, but in London it’s nigh on impossible to do that, so the narrowboat was the best bet. I’ve been living on it for three or four years but I’m always so busy touring that in reality I’ve only been on it for about a year – though it was lovely to be there during the Covid lockdown.”
Home is where he will be headed once Aladdin and his magic carpet have come to rest one final time on January 5. “The carpet does acrobatics! You feel quite queasy after a while,” he reveals.
Post Aladdin, Sario promises himself: “I’ll eat, rest and prepare audition pieces if necessary. I need a bit of a holiday after being on the road for 18 months. I’m not 21 any more, I’m 27 and need a holiday.”
Sario Solomon plays Aladdin in Aladdin, York Theatre Royal, until January 5 2025. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk
Samuel Wyn-Morris: Playing the Beast for the second year running, in York this winter after the Sunderland Empire last year. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
ENOUNTERING the tornado power and might of his voice in the role of The Beast in Beauty And The Beast at the Grand Opera House, York, Samuel Wyn-Morris had a surprising admission to make.
“I never sang until I was 17,” says the Welshman from Llanelli. “There was a lad who was a tenor at my school and one day I heard him singing. I was more a rugby boy at the time. Until then I thought, ‘I’m not into music’, but when he didn’t hit his big note, I sang it and hit it!”
In that transformative moment, a career was born, but not without bumps in the road. “I horrified by mum and dad by applying to only one drama school, Guildford [School of Music and Drama], but I got in.
“Then after I graduated, I suffered an incredible loss of confidence. Two years of not working in theatre. Instead I was selling wine and I worked as a butcher too, but kept cutting myself. I gave myself an ultimatum: if I don’t get into Les Miserables, that’s it, it’s all over.”
Glory be, he did, landing three separate contracts with Cameron Mackintosh’s company over the next, Covid-interrupted five years, starting as the 2nd Cover for the role of Enjolras.
When the actor playing Enjolras caught Covid and the 1st Cover suffered a sinus infection, Samuel’s big moment came. “The cover hadn’t missed a show for something like seven years. As chance would have it, Cameron Mackintosh, Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil [the writers] were all in the audience that night! “ Samuel would soon go on to play the role in his own right.
Welsh actor and teacher Samuel Wyn-Morris
Now that wonderful voice can be heard in York in a five-star performance in Beauty And The Beast. “It’s been a fantastic show to do,” he says. “My only previous experience of York was an unsuccessful date. She was from Scotland, I was from Wales, so we thought, ‘let’s meet in the middle’: York!
“We stayed at Grays Court. Lovely hotel. Very good bar, which is important to a Welshman! But it just didn’t work out.”
This time, romance in York is confined to the Grand Opera House stage as The Beast falls for pantomime debutante Jennifer Caldwell’s Belle. “I played The Beast last year at the Sunderland Empire in my first ever pantomime. Same show, different songs, different director too, Paul Boyd, and the theatre was huge: 2.000 seats!
“I got the call for York in July and I thought ‘why not’?! Theatre work had been quite dry for me this year, with producers being tentative about putting on shows.”
Samuel works as a supply teacher in London, teaching History and Religious Education to Key Stage 3 pupils in Years 7 to 9 when not performing in musical theatre.
Now it has been his turn to learn once more: lines for his role as The Prince/The Beast. “It’s different from Les Miserables, where you have four weeks in the rehearsal room and then go on stage,” he says. “For this pantomime, to get to grips with it was a challenge. It’s so, so quick in the rehearsals and so easy to get lost!”
Samuel Wyn-Morris’s The Beast and Jennifer Caldwell’s Belle in Beauty And The Beast at the Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
Director George Ure had his cast running the full show by the end of the first week in the rehearsal room. “Know your lines on day one,” advises Samuel. “And you have to put so much energy into it from the word go.
“That’s not to say that’s not the case with Les Miserables or Titanic [the musical that Samuel toured to China], but from the start in panto it’s go-go-go. Twelve shows in a week is the maximum. You have to deal with the tiredness and exhaustion from all the energy you spend.”
Not that he is complaining. He loves pantomime. “There are elements of stand-up comedy, romance, drag with the dame, big songs and wonderful choreography. I’ve got a more classical voice, Jennifer has more of a pop voice, so it’s a pick’n’mix that works really well.”
Before taking on the role of The Beast for the first time, Samuel had a conversation with his director for Titanic. “I said, ‘what do I do in the show? I’m not funny’. He said, ‘you’re not meant to be’! All UK Productions pantomimes are story driven, and this show [written by Jon Monie] is a good example of that.
“I like the freedom that panto brings, as opposed to the demands of Les Miserables, which hammers your voice. Playing Enjolras is one of the hardest roles you can do. With pantomime, you can bring more physicality to it, you can play around with the pace – and working with Jennifer has been a joy.”
UK Productions present Beauty And The Beast, Grand Opera House, York, until January 5 2025. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Born to pun: Robin Simpson’s Dame Dolly in Aladdin at York Theatre Royal. Picture: S R Taylor Photography
PANTOMIMES, theatrical family adventures and a Wonderland experience are still delighting in 2024 as Charles Hutchinson also looks ahead to 2025.
Still time for pantomime: Aladdin, York Theatre Royal, until January 5 2025
LOOK out for CBeebies’ Evie Pickerill at the double, dashing between the Spirit of the Ring and the Genie of the Lamp in the fifth collaboration between Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster and Evolution Productions script writer Paul Hendy.
Paul Hawkyard’s villain returns to York after a winter away doing panto in Dubai to renew his Theatre Royal double act with Robin Simpson’s dame, playing bad-lad Ivan Tobebooed to Simpson’s Dolly (not Widow Twankey, note). Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
In the frame: Phil Atkinson’s bodacious baddie, Hugo Pompidou, in UK Productions’ Beauty And The Beast at the Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
Still time for pantomime part two: Beauty And The Beast, Grand Opera House, York, until January 5 2025
THE jokes are as cheesy as the French setting of the village of Camembert, brassier and fruitier too in Jon Monie’s script, as George Ure directs the Grand Opera House pantomime for the first time.
Tracy Beaker star Dani Harmer is a magically bouncy Fairy Bon Bon; Jennifer Caldwell delights as Belle; Samuel Wyn-Morris is a stentorian-voiced Beast/Prince; comedian Phil Reid’s Louis La Plonk and Leon Craig’s towering dame, Polly La Plonk lead the comic japes with gusto and Phil Atkinson sends up his French-accented dastardly hunk, Hugo Pompidou, to the max. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Bea Clancy’s Harrietty Clock and Marc Akinfolarin’s Pod Clock in The Borrowers at Hull Truck Theatre
“Perfect alternative to pantomime”: The Borrowers, Hull Truck Theatre, until January 4 2025
SET against a backdrop of Christmas in the East Riding of Yorkshire during the 1940s’ Blitz, artistic director Mark Babych’s enchanting production explores themes of adventure, friendship and the joy of love and togetherness in the tale of adventurous, spritely Borrower Arrietty Clock, who lives secretly under the floorboards of a country house.
Her small but perfectly formed family borrows from the humans above, but Arrietty longs for freedom and fresh air. However, the Borrowers have one simple rule: to remain hidden from the “human-beans”, especially bad-tempered housekeeper Mrs Driver and rebellious gardener Crampfurl. When an evacuee, a human boy from neighbouring Hull, arrives in the main house, Arrietty becomes curious… and starts making mistakes. Box office: 01482 323638 or hulltruck.co.uk.
Checks and stripes: Alice’s Christmas Wonderland at Castle Howard. Picture: Charlotte Graham
Madder than the Mad Hatter if you don’t see: Alice’s Christmas Wonderland, Castle Howard, near Malton, until January 5 2025
FALL down the rabbit hall into “an experience like no other”: Lewis Carroll’s Alice in her Christmas Wonderland at Castle Howard, where the CLW Event Design creative team, headed by Charlotte Lloyd Webber and Adrian Lillie, has worked on the spectacular project since January.
The stately home has been transformed into an immersive Christmas experience, dressed in set pieces, decorations and floristry, coupled with projections, lighting and sound by Leeds theatre company imitating the dog. Box office: castlehoward.co.uk.
Casting a shadow: James Willstrop’s villainous bruiser, Bill Sikes, in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Oliver Twist at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York
Dickens of a good show: Pick Me Up Theatre in Oliver Twist, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, 7.30pm on December 28 and 30, plus 2.30pm, December 28 and 29
HELEN Spencer takes the director’s reins and plays Fagin in York company Pick Me Up Theatre’s staging of Deborah McAndrew’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’s 1838 novel, described as a “a new version of Oliver with a festive twist”.
Not to be confused with Lionel Bart’s musical Oliver!, it does feature John Biddle’s musical arrangements to complement Dickens’s fable of Oliver Twist being born in a workhouse, sold into an apprenticeship and recruited by Fagin’s band of pickpockets and thieves as he sinks into London’s grimy underworld on his search for a home, a family and love. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Party invitation: The poster for Irie Vibes Sound System’s New Year’s Eve Party at The Crescent, York
New Year’s Eve Party: Irie Vibes Sound System, The Crescent, York, December 31, 8pm to 2am
IRIE Vibes Sound System bring the full rig and crew for a joyous night of reggae, roots, dancehall, dub and jungle to the closing hours of 2024 and beyond midnight. MC Sherlock Art will be on hosting duties, bringing the fire, while Lines Of Duty will be delivering their brand of dance music in Room 2, “manipulating long- playing micro-grooves for a full frequency audio experience”. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Music talk to note: The Arts Society, Helmsley presents Christmas In Bach’s Leipzig: The Christmas Oratorio of 1734/5, Helmsley Arts Centre, January 6 2025, 7.30pm
IN his illustrated talk, commentator, broadcaster, performer and lecturer Sandy Burnett explores how Johann Sebastian Bach brings the Christmas story alive in his Weihnachtsoratorium or Christmas Oratorio, written for Lutheran congregations in 1730s Leipzig.
An overview of Bach’s life and achievement precedes a close look at this magnificent work, where the German composer draws on various forms, ranging from recitative, arioso, aria, chorale and instrumental sinfonia through to full-blown choruses infused with the joyous spirit of the dance. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Malton & Norton Musical Theatre’s poster for January’s production of Jack And The Beanstalk
First big show of the New Year at Milton Rooms, Malton: Malton & Norton Musical Theatre in Jack & The Beanstalk, January 18 to 25. Performances: January 18, 1pm and 5.15pm; January 19, 2pm; January 21 to 24, 7.15pm; January 25, 1pm and 5.15pm
MALTON & Norton Musical Theatre pantomime stars promise a family-friendly giant adventure packed with laughs, toe-tapping songs and plenty of audience participation.
Jack, his brave mother and their quirky friends will face off against the towering giant in a magical world full of comedy and surprises in an enchanting tale of bravery and beanstalks. Box office: 07833 759263 or yourboxoffice.co.uk.
Paul Hawkyard’s villain Ivan Tobebooed and Robin Simpson’s Dame Dolly in York Theatre Royal’s Aladdin. Picture: S R Taylor Photography
OUT with the old, in with the new, as the pantomimes season concludes and Charles Hutchinson’s 2025 diary starts to take shape.
Still time for pantomime: Aladdin, York Theatre Royal, until January 5 2025
LOOK out for CBeebies’ Evie Pickerill at the double, dashing between the Spirit of the Ring and the Genie of the Lamp in the fifth collaboration between Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster and Evolution Productions script writer Paul Hendy.
Paul Hawkyard’s villain returns to York after a winter away doing panto in Dubai to renew his Theatre Royal double act with Robin Simpson’s dame, playing bad-lad Ivan Tobebooed to Simpson’s Dolly (not Widow Twankey, note). Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Samuel Wyn-Morris’s Beast and Jennifer Caldwell’s Belle in Beauty And The Beast at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
Still time for pantomime part two: Beauty And The Beast, Grand Opera House, York, until January 5 2025
THE jokes are as cheesy as the French setting of the village of Camembert, brassier and fruitier too, in Jon Monie’s script, as George Ure directs the Grand Opera House pantomime for the first time.
Tracy Beaker star Dani Harmer is a magically bouncy Fairy Bon Bon; Jennifer Caldwell delights as Belle; Samuel Wyn-Morris is a stentorian-voiced Beast/Prince; comedian Phil Reid’s Louis La Plonk and Leon Craig’s towering dame, Polly La Plonk lead the comic japes with gusto and Phil Atkinson sends up his French-accented dastardly hunk, Hugo Pompidou, to the max. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Marc Akinfolarin’s Pod Clock in The Borrowers at Hull Truck Theatre
“Perfect alternative to pantomime”: The Borrowers, Hull Truck Theatre, until January 4 2025
SET against a backdrop of Christmas in the East Riding of Yorkshire during the 1940s’ Blitz, artistic director Mark Babych’s enchanting production explores themes of adventure, friendship and the joy of love and togetherness in the tale of adventurous, spritely Borrower Arrietty Clock, who lives secretly under the floorboards of a country house.
Her small but perfectly formed family borrows from the humans above, but Arrietty longs for freedom and fresh air. However, the Borrowers have one simple rule: to remain hidden from the “human-beans”, especially bad-tempered housekeeper Mrs Driver and rebellious gardener Crampfurl. When an evacuee, a human boy from neighbouring Hull, arrives in the main house, Arrietty becomes curious… and starts making mistakes. Box office: 01482 323638 or hulltruck.co.uk.
The poster for Irie Vibes Sound System’s New Year’s Eve Party at The Crescent, York
New Year’s Eve Party: Irie Vibes Sound System, The Crescent, York, December 31, 8pm to 2am
IRIE Vibes Sound System bring the full rig and crew for a joyous night of reggae, roots, dancehall, dub and jungle to the closing hours of 2024 and beyond midnight. MC Sherlock Art will be on hosting duties, bringing the fire, while Lines Of Duty will be delivering their brand of dance music in Room 2, “manipulating long- playing micro-grooves for a full frequency audio experience”. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Professor Kettlestring: Launching a new attraction in York next month
First grand opening of the New Year: The Puzzling World Of Professor Kettlestring, Merchantgate, York, from January 10 2025
WELCOME to Matthew and Marianne Tritton-Hughes’s new attraction, The Puzzling World Of Professor Kettlestring, an immersive, educational world of more than 20 optical illusions, interactive exhibits and brain-bending challenges designed for curious minds of all ages.
Visitors can walk into the Professor’s sideways living room, disappear into his incognito chamber and discover a kitchen parlour where heads appear severed on platters. Box office: puzzlingworldyork.co.uk.
Jessica Steel: Performing at The Crescent in aid of Millie Wright’s Children’s Charity
Fundraiser of the month ahead: Lindow Man and Jessica Steel & Stuart Allan, The Crescent, York, January 11 2025, 7.30pm
ELECTRIFYING York soul, blues and rock’n’roll trio Lindow Man and York blues and soul singer Jessica Steel and guitarist Stuart Allan will play in aid of Millie Wright’s Children’s Charity.
Based at Leeds General Infirmary, the charity is committed to addressing inequalities in hands-on charitable support for families looking after children with life-threatening conditions by working towards providing practical and emotional help to parents and carers via Family Support Workers. Pizzas from Curious Pizza Company will be available on the night. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Chris McCausland: Playing the Grand Opera House in 2025 and 2026
Comedy gig announcement of the week: Chris McCausland, Yonks!, Grand Opera House, York, February 3 2025 and May 17 2026
AFTER lifting the glitterball trophy as the ground-breaking first blind contestant on Strictly Come Dancing, Liverpool comedian Chris McCausland will return to his “day job” on his Yonks! tour, now to be extended into 2026.
Appearing on Sky Max over Christmas with fellow comic Lee Mack as sparring neighbours who must take on a gang of thieves in the festive film Bad Tidings, McCausland has added a second York date after selling out the first. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Public Service Broadcasting: Heading to York Barbican in March
Belated York debut announced: Public Service Broadcasting, York Barbican, March 27 2025, doors 7pm
AFTER 15 years of “teaching the lessons of the past through the music of the future”, London archivist art rock pioneers Public Service Broadcasting will make their York Barbican debut next spring with a line-up of corduroy-clad J Willgoose Esq., drummer companion Wrigglesworth, flugelhorn player J F Abraham and Mr B, specialist in visuals and set design for live performances.
Last October’s fifth studio album, The Last Flight, was built around the ill-fated final flight of American aviator Amelia Earhart on July 2 1937, when she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to become the first woman to fly around the world. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Winter gruel charges: The Pick Me Up Theatre ensemble in Oliver Twist
BILLED as “a new version of Oliver with a festive twist”, Deborah McAndrew’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’s turbulent tale of courage in adversity was first staged in Yorkshire as Hull Truck Theatre’s Christmas show in 2018.
Yes, ‘Christmas show’, as it comes booted with snippets of Victorian carols, folk tunes and John Biddle compositions. It is not a musical, and definitely not to be confused with Lionel Bart’s Oliver!, instead being a storytelling piece of theatre with music as an Greek chorus-style ensemble commentary and complement to the unfolding drama.
Producer Robert Readman’s set is dominated by a huge bridge, on a diagonal across the stage that divides the audience into a traverse configuration, used traditionally to heighten a sense of combat or conflict.
Helen Spencer’s Fagin in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Oliver Twist
There would be no taking sides here, however, as everyone will be rooting for young Oliver Twist (Logan Willstrop, sharing performances with Frankie Whitford).
Born in a workhouse to a mother who loses her life, Oliver takes a 70-mile journey to London and is sold into an apprenticeship before being recruited by Fagin’s band of pickpockets and thieves as he sinks into London’s grimy underworld in his search for a home, a family and love.
Readman encloses Theatre@41’s black box Studio in wooden frames with a series of cloth “windows”, making the Victorian milieu all the more claustrophobic and imposing – and be warmed, look out for what will emerge through the cloth, even a Punch & Judy show.
The man in black: James Willstrop’s Bill Sikes casts his shadow over Oliver Twist
As ever with McAndrew, she combines well-sketched characterisation with detailed, evocative, fast-moving storytelling.
Hull Truck’s Fagin, my dears, was a woman, played by Flo Wilson. In Pick Me Up’s version, the thief chief is still performed by a woman, the show’s director Helen Spencer, but her Fagin is still referred to as “he”.
Spencer, who has had another splendid year astride the York stage, deepens her mezzo-soprano a tad, takes on a heavier physicality within a rags-and-riches coat and has something of the night about her. Having had to miss the first two performances with a “lost voice” she has certainly found it a terrific lead performance.
Playwright Deborah McAndrew
Jennie Wogan-Wells’s abused Nancy is striving against the odds to make her way in a male-dominated world, her light snuffed out by the brutal darkness around her.
Logan Willstrop’s Oliver is full of expression, resilience and enquiry, while the ever-reliable Tracey Rea and Nick Sephton are amusing company as the besotted Widow Corney and Mr Bumble, albeit that Sephton’s towering Bumble has his darker side too, as he slams his cane against the floor with a thunderous thud.
Neil Foster is on contrasting double duty, as the exploitative Mr Sowerberry and the kindly Mr Brownlow, and likewise Rhian Wells makes her mark as Mrs Sowerberry and Mrs Bedwin.
Matthew Warry, one of York’s best developing young talents, is in typically fine form as the cocky Noah Claypole, while Rich Musk’s cuts the mustard as Dr Grimwig.
Neil Foster’s Mr Brownlow in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Oliver Twist
As with Hull Truck’s production, the Artful Dodger is still called “Jack” but is played here by both a lass, Libby Greenhill, and a lad, Reuben Baines, splitting performances. Your reviewer saw Greenhill: a Chaplinesque figure with comic timing and plenty of pluck.
Young Logan is not the only Willstrop in Pick Me Up’s cast. His father James is a tall, gaunt, black of heart, black of coat, pock-marked Bill Sikes: darker still than his Frederick Frankenstein in Readman’s production of Young Frankenstein in September last year.
Matthew Peter Clare leads the musical forces with typical dash and Spencer directs with drive and focus with excellent use of ensemble as well as individual expression in her principals. All in all, a Dickens of a good show.
Pick Me Up Theatre in Oliver Twist, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York. Performances at 7.30pm, December 27, 28 and 30, plus Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2.30pm. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Tracey Rea’s Widow Corney and Nick Sephton’s Mr Bumble in Oliver Twist
Grace Hussey-Burd’s Ebenezer Sneezer, left, and Claire Morley with Cracker the dog at Saturday morning’s performance of Riding Lights Theatre Company’s A Christmas Cracker
AFTER a winter tour of schools, writer and artistic director Paul Birch’s first play since taking the reins of Riding Lights Theatre Company heads home to Friargate Theatre for its finale.
Billed as “an alternative, unusual way into the Nativity story”, this one-hour play for family audiences is rooted in the transformative power of storytelling, delivered with Birch’s trademark comedy plus puppetry aplenty.
CharlesHutchPress attended Saturday morning’s show, when understudy Claire Morley took the role of Cracker the dog’s puppeteer and grouchy farmer Mrs McGinty opposite Grace Hussey-Burd’s “world-famous” storyteller Ebenezer Sneezer.
For the 1pm performance, York actress Morley would be switching to Ebenezer, accompanied by Holly Cassidy in the other roles. “My head is full of words,” she said of the task ahead.
And “full of words” aptly sums up Birch’s playful play, where description and detailed plot progression play a stronger hand than visual, magical wonder under Erin Burbridge’s direction, although a somewhat incongruous climactic bout of fisticuffs with accompanying sound effects hits a physically comical note, as do the sporadic interjections of a “turbulent turkey”.
Hussey-Burd’s Ebenezer, in top hat, tails and multi-coloured waistcoat, is lost at the start, snow in her silver boots, and motley-looking mutt Cracker, her chatterbox canine companion, by her side, head bursting with strange ideas about Christmas, always offering an unpredictable, often cheeky word in the ear like Basil Brush.
Holly Cassidy with Cracker the dog and Ebenezer Sneezer’s story basket. Picture: Tom Jackson
Without permission, as the shed doors open out like the inside of Dr Who’s Tardis, they take shelter in Mrs McGinty’s barn. On the wall is a No Singing sign, last seen in York in Shaun Collinge’s long reign as landlord at The Maltings, in Tanner’s Moat, (newly transformed into the Irish pub The Dubliner, replete with live music, by the way).
Mrs McGinty is as grumpy as that other Ebenezer on a winter’s night, Scrooge, but gradually we learn why in a Birch story that champions “the importance of love, the importance of perseverance”, while highlighting the dangers of misinformation, disinformation and misunderstanding.
In doing so, as Birch seeks to “make sense of the world, not by providing answers, but by seeing new opportunities through new ideas”, he passes topical comment on a pernicious planet quick to judge and misjudge, especially on social media. One that puts the extreme into X streams of abuse, for example.
Ebenezer and Cracker will be allowed to stay if the nimble story-spinner can warm flinty Mrs McGinty’s frozen heart with the glad tidings of a tremendous tale. If not, they will be booted back out into the storm.
Mrs McGinty has an even more crotchety fellow villain of the piece in Deadly the dastardly donkey, who puts the unstable in the stable, with a pronounced aversion to festive comfort and joy. Again, do not judge a book by its cover, however, as Mrs McGinty turns storyteller with revelations of her past and Deadly’s too.
Wrapped inside is the story of the Nativity – Riding Lights is a Christian theatre company – and Birch has certainly found an alternative way to tell it, perhaps a tad too complex to sustain the full concentration of the four-year-olds in the audience, but engagingly, entertainingly and energetically told by Hussey-Burd and Morley.
Riding Lights Theatre Company in A Christmas Cracker, Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate, York, at 11am, 1.30pm and 6pm, today; 11am, 1.30pm and 4pm, tomorrow. Box office: 01904 655317 or ridinglights.org/achristmascracker.
Casting a shadow: James Willstrop’s bullying bruiser Bill Sikes in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Oliver Twist at Theatre@41, Monkgate
THE myriad delights of Christmas entertainment shine through Charles Hutchinson’s tips to vacate the festive fireside.
Dickens at Christmas, but not A Christmas Carol: Pick Me Up Theatre in Oliver Twist, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, until December 30. 7.30pm performances on December 21, 27, 28 and 30, plus 2.30pm Saturday and Sunday matinees. No performances on December 23 to 26
HELEN Spencer takes the director’s reins and plays Fagin in York company Pick Me Up Theatre’s staging of Deborah McAndrew’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’s 1838 novel, described as a “a new version of Oliver with a festive twist”.
Not to be confused with Lionel Bart’s musical Oliver!, it does feature musical arrangements by John Biddle to to complement Dickens’s tale of Oliver Twist being brought up in a workhouse, sold into an apprenticeship and recruited by Fagin’s band of pickpockets and thieves as he sinks into London’s grimy underworld in his search for a home, a family and love. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Harris Beattie andJonathan Hanks in Northern Ballet’s revival of A Christmas Carol at Leeds Grand Theatre. Picture: Tristram Kenton
Christmas ballet of the week: Northern Ballet in A Christmas Carol, Leeds Grand Theatre, until January 4 2025
FIRST choreographed by Massimo Morricone and directed by Christopher Gable in 1992, Northern Ballet’s retired landmark production of A Christmas Carol is being revisited by director Federico Bonelli to the glee of longtime supporters and new audiences alike.
“Charles Dickens’s classic Victorian tale of redemption, with its message of human kindness and compassion, is something that resonates with us all, especially at this time of year,” says Bonelli. “Its iconic characters lend themselves so well to ballet”, complemented by Lez Brotherston’s colourful sets and costumes and Carl Davis’s festive score. Box office: 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.
Holly Cassidy and Grace Hussey-Burd in a scene from Riding Lights Theatre Company’s winter show A Christmas Cracker. Picture: Tom Jackson
Alternative Nativity play of the week: Riding Lights Theatre Company in A Christmas Cracker, Friargate Theatre, York, today to Christmas Eve, 11am and 1.30pm each day; 6pm, first three days; 4pm, last day
IN Paul Birch’s first play as artistic director of Riding Lights, world-famous storyteller Ebenezer Sneezer is lost, with snow in her wellies and faithful canine companion Cracker full of strange ideas about Christmas.
When caught taking shelter in Mrs McGinty’s barn, she allows them to stay on the condition that Ebenezer brings her glad tidings with her stories. If so, a hot supper awaits. If not, exit pronto. Ebenezer must triumph over not only Mrs McGinty’s frozen heart but also Deadly, a dastardly donkey ready to kick comfort and joy out of his stable. Box office: 01904 613000 or ticketsource.co.uk/ridinglights.
The poster for The Snowman screenings with live orchestra at York Barbican
Christmas film & music event of the week: The Snowman with Live Orchestra, York Barbican, Sunday, 1pm and 4pm
CARROT Productions presents two screenings of Dianne Jackson and Jimmy T Murakami’s animated 1982 film with the accompaniment of a live orchestra of professional musicians.
Raymond Briggs’s story of a young boy’s Christmas snowman magically coming to life for a journey to meet Santa Claus will be shown with The Snowman And The Snowdog at 1pm and The Bear, The Piano, The Dog And The Fiddle at 4pm. Each show includes a fun introduction to the orchestra and a visit from the Snowman himself. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Shed Seven’s Paul Banks and Rick Witter: Performing as an acoustic duo at Huntington Working Men’s Club in the last gigs of their 30th anniversary celebrations this weekend. Picture: David Harrison
Recommended but sold out already: Shed Seven’s Rick Witter and Paul Banks, Huntington Working Men’s Club, York, tonight and Sunday, doors 7pm
AFTER two number one albums in a year, summer shows in York Museum Gardens and their biggest ever tour, Shed Seven end their 30th anniversary celebrations back home in York, where lead singer Rick Witter and guitarist Paul Banks play a weekend of acoustic sets in the intimate setting of a working men’s club.
“We’re finishing the year in the village where Rick and I first met back in 1984, and where all of this began,” says Banks. “What a journey we’ve been on.” Sheds’ bassist Tom Gladwin serves up a DJ set too. Box office for returns only: store.shedseven.com.
Nun better: Freida Nipples hosts her Baps & Buns burlesque Christmas cabaret at Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb
Feast your eyes on: Freida Nipples’ Baps & Buns Burlesque Christmas Cabaret, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, tonight, 8pm; doors open at 7pm
YORK’S queen of burlesque, Freida Nipples, presents drag, comedy and showgirls in her Baps & Buns Christmas Cabaret with festive good cheer after a joyous year of shows at Rise, Acomb’s answer to Paris’s Folies Bergère.
“Prepare yourself for an evening of debauchery and glamour in Acomb,” says Freida. “The big question is: are you ready for it?!” Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.
Central Methodist Church: Hosting City Screen Picturehouse’s pop-up Christmas Cinema at Saint Saviourgate, York
Pop-up film event of the festive season: City Screen Picturehouse presents Christmas Cinema at Saint Saviourgate, The Great Hall, Central Methodist Church, St Saviourgate, York, until December 23
CITY Screen Picturehouse, York, has set up a pop-up screen at Central Methodist Church for the Christmas season. Dougal Wilson’s Paddington In Peru (PG) will be shown at 4pm on Sunday, followed by Jon Favreau’s Elf (PG) at 7pm and Monday screenings of Robert Zemeckis’s The Polar Express (U) at 4pm and Frank Capra’s season-closing 1946 chestnut It’s A Wonderful Life (U) at 7pm. Box office: picturehouses.com/YorkXmas.
Ronan Keating: Playing at York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend next summer. Picture: Supplied by York Racecourse
Outdoor gig announcement of the week: Ronan Keating, York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend, July 26
IRISH singer, charity campaigner and breakfast show host Ronan Keating will perform after the Saturday race card as the first act to be confirmed for next summer’s Music Showcase Weekend on Knavesmire. A further act will be announced for the evening meeting on July 25.
Keating, 47, has three decades of hits to call on, from Boyzone boy band days to his solo career, from Love Me For A Reason and When You Say Nothing At All to Life Is A Rollercoaster and If Tomorrow Never Comes. Olly Murs is confirmed already for the new 2025 race day of June 28. For race day tickets, go to: yorkracecourse.co.uk.
Heart-warming Christmas classics with Karen and Richard Carpenter, revisited in 2024
Carpenters, Christmas Once More (A&M/Ume) ****
Wrapping: A nice new sleeve packages a compilation of much-loved classics. Search for the Gold Vinyl limited edition pressing.
Gifts inside: Carpenters fans already will be familiar with their Christmas Portrait album from 1978 and Karen’s posthumous collection, An Old Fashioned Christmas, from 1984. The best of these songs and the inclusion of Merry Christmas Darling, featuring the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, are given a remix from Richard Carpenter.
Style: Karen and Richard Carpenter’s music is a timeless, classy staple.
’Tis the reason to be jolly: Christmas with the Carpenters is as traditional and as heart-warming as watching It’s A Wonderful Life.
Scrooge moan: Isn’t it tragic that we lost Karen so early.
White Christmas? Oh, there are lots of wintry references: Sleigh Ride, The First Snowfall and Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!
Blue Christmas? Of course there are sad songs on here! Far too many to list.
Stocking or shocking? Every home should have a Christmas Carpenters album. It’s the law!
Reviewed byIan Sime
Jennifer Hudson: She comes bearing gifts of Gospel power
Jennifer Hudson, The Gift Of Love (Interscope) *****
Wrapping: Lucky ones will opt for the red vinyl version of Ms Hudson’s fourth studio LP. However, the bland, uninspiring artwork does not do justice to a superlative collection of Old School Gospel.
Gifts inside: Four brand-new songs and ten standard covers or traditional carols all given JHUD’s unique Gospel twist.
Style: The roots of this deep Gospel collection come from the Church. Slight deviations into Big Band (Winter Wonderland) and jazz (Almost Christmas, featuring The Common) showcase a most spiritual Yuletide collection.
’Tis the reason to be jolly: Although Jennifer Hudson has proved to be an incredibly versatile vocal talen,t adept at covering many a genre, this album visits the foundations of her talent. Few can carry off Go Tell It On The Mountain like this diva.
Scrooge moan: The download version includes tracks missing from the physical collection.
White Christmas? Winter Wonderland and Jingle Bells receive a make-over. However, mostly this collection is deeply Spiritual, without a flake of snow or glitter.
Blue Christmas? There is a time and a place for The Gift Of Love, which features Carol Of The Bells, O Holy Night, Christmas Song and a Deep Southern take on Auld Lang Syne. Although a deeper shade of blue than Wham or Shakin’ Stevens, this is an album to savour in many a future Christmas.
Stocking or shocking? This is my Christmas album of choice in 2025. However, not everyone likes their Christmas fare so raw or unsweetened. Choose the recipient wisely.
Reviewed by Ian Sime
Ben Folds: Heading home for Christmas
Ben Folds, Sleigher (New West Records) ****
Wrapping: Bespectacled Ben walking his dog through a moon-lit, snow-dusted cityscape at midnight on Christmas Eve. Same skyline and houses, but no sign of Ben, as the sun rises on Christmas Day morning on the back sleeve. Inside, all the credits, including Amanda Stephan for “Laughing” on track #8. No lyrics or writer’s notes, however.
Gifts inside: Seven originals, including a brace of instrumentals, by North Carolina-born, piano-playing, indie pop songwriter Ben Folds, 58, on his first holiday album and sixth studio set, complemented by titivated covers of Robert Wells and Mel Tormé’s 1945 chestnut The Christmas Song (slow and whisky warm), Burt Bacharach’s chocolate-rich 1962 easy-listener The Bell That Couldn’t Jingle and jazz pianist Seger Ellis’s 1955 novelty number You Don’t Have To Be A Santa Claus, the playful album closer.
Style: Imagine the vintage crooning Christmas chops of Andy Williams crossed with Vince Guaraldi Trio’s 1965 masterpiece A Charlie Brown Christmas, replete with jingling bells, twinkling piano, swelling strings and Bacharach flourishes. Romantic too on the duet We Could Have This, sung with Christmas Eve anticipation with co-writer Lindsey Kraft.
’Tis the reason to be jolly: Christmas Time Rhyme could have been penned by The Beach Boys, harmonies et al.
Scrooge moan: At 2.36am, on Sunday, May 26 2024, Folds decided he needed one more song to complete the album, calling on ChatGPT to write Christmas lyrics in “the parlance of today”. The robotic nonsense of Xmas Aye Aye suggests he should have gone to bed instead.
White Christmas? No sign of that weather forecast of a festive favourite, but instant classic Sleepwalking Through Christmas demands the Michael Bublé cover treatment.
Blue Christmas? Folds’ opening instrumental, Little Drummer Bolero, could not be bluer. Likewise the sanguine reflections of Maurice And Me, songwriting on a par with Neil Sedaka or Randy Newman, on an album that adroitly balances festive cheer and cheese with the season’s melancholia as Folds charts the passing years, the hopes and fears, the mounting memories and losses, of Christmas past, present and AI future.
Stocking or shocking? Shocking album title but Ben Folds stocks Sleigher with four new Christmas corkers that suggest he is a gift to festive songwriting.
