Yes, here seen playing live in 2023, returned to York Barbican last night, having toured there in 2022. Picture: Gottlieb Bros
YES know how to play the long game. In the second half of their fifth decade as a band, this incarnation is led ostensibly by Steve Howe, who first signed on in 1970.
It is Howe’s skilfully selected setlist that lifts this concert, and gives it an appeal beyond the die-hards. Chosen with the same care Howe puts into his guitar playing, over two hours, two sets and 12 songs, they charted many of the interesting points on the Yes musical map.
With any longstanding group, there are line-up changes, and while there have been some negative reviews of their most recent album, May 2023’s Mirror To The Sky, it was clear they remain a potent musical proposition. Cut From The Stars, the sole ‘new’ track in the show, was there by merit, driven by some exuberant bass.
Yes’s long-form music is a byword for difficult, and as Howe observed late in the second set, “Yes members have to put the work in”. It was akin to watching an orchestra where everyone was the soloist – holding the entire set in their heads while playing for and with one another.
The first half showcased Howe, who played between six and seven guitars during the set (I lost count). With the air of a wizened professor at 77, his dexterity was amazing, switching styles without batting an eye. Like Yes, this is music that is hard for a newcomer to love. It takes effort, and Howe’s guitar work is the same, not people pleasing, but always coming at a composition from an expected angle.
The opening Machine Messiah showed off the heavier side to the band, starting with crunching chords before taking off around the ten-minute mark with some wonderfully propulsive ensemble playing.
Arguably the most memorable moments were when Howe’s guitar tech wheeled on a second guitar on a stand. Still with one instrument around his neck, Howe then produced the most lyrical sounds of the evening, and in this way he closed out Turn Of The Century to finish the first set.
The love the band and the audience have for the music is a powerful force, best experienced in person – and from his skips and hops, Howe looked totally absorbed in delivering a great performance.
The poster for The Classic Tales Of Yes Tour 2024. York Barbican was their only Yorkshire location
Jon Davison was game on vocals, taking on Jon Anderson’s lyrics in choral style. He is a wonderful singer, but the lyrics were generally pretty woeful. Don’t Kill The Whale being a good, if well intentioned, example.
Given the imaginative musical leaps in motion around him, the singer often had to sing the same things over and over – but never quite run into the ground.
There were some affecting moments with just Howe and Davison – and there is obvious rapport and affection between the men on stage. Talking of choir boys, it transpires that keyboard player Geoff Downes began his musical apprenticeship at York Minster. He had his hands full too, with eight keyboards to man, plus pedals.
There was too much intricacy to keep up with, but there was no room for noodling or drum solos mercifully. Stage lighting was also deliberately simple.
The second half was perhaps the better of the two, despite starting with the weakest number of the night (South Side Of The Sky). It shone a light on the incredible bass shapes produced by Billy Sherwood, very much a lead instrument.
It’s unlikely Yes get many plaudits for their sonic voyages on Tales From Topographic Oceans. This 1973 album marks an outer limit, even in the expanded prog universe, and now serves more as a warning to others not to take themselves so seriously. It was striking, therefore, that their 20-minute distillation of this 80-minute work was a real highlight (Howe having told CharlesHutchPress this was “a mini-representation…visiting each of the sides” in his interview.)
Not listening too closely to the words, but feeling the emotion, the interplay between the players, and the thoughtful way the sections had been stitched together, was a veritable masterclass.
The audience were on their feet for the rousing encore Roundabout, and by Starship Trooper we were as one in our appreciation of this vibrant, iconic musical institution that is Yes.
Into the woods: George Stagnell as Dennis “Hank” Haydock in In The Footsteps of Hank Haydock, premiered at Helmsley Arts Centre on Saturday
WARTIME memoirs and Catholic women trailblazers, open studios and open-air Status Quo lead off Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations.
Double bill of the week: Everwitch Theatre, Bomb Happy D-Day 80, In The Footsteps Of Hank Haydock (film premiere) and Sleep/Re-live/Wake/Repeat (theatre), Helmsley Arts Centre, June 1, 7.30pm
TO commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day, Bomb Happy playwright Helena Fox has created two poignant, lyrical new works telling the stories of two Yorkshire Normandy veterans from conversations and interviews she held with them in 2016.
Featuring York actor George Stagnell, the short film In the Footsteps of Hank Haydock: A Walk In The Park was shot on location in the Duncombe Park woodland with its lyrical account of Coldstream Guardsman Dennis “Hank” Haydock’s experiences in his own words. In Sleep/Re-Live/Wake/Repeat, playwright Helena Fox and vocalist Natasha Jones bring to life the first-hand experiences of D-Day veteran Ken “Smudger” Smith and the lifelong impact of PTSD and sleep trauma through spoken word and a cappella vocals. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Mary Ward (Augsberg portrait): Foundress of the Bar Convent, as featured in the Trailblazers audio trail
York exhibition of the week; Trailblazers of the Bar Convent, Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre, Blossom Street, York, until September 30, 10am to 5pm; last entry 4pm
AS part of the citywide York Trailblazers sculpture trail, the Trailblazers of the Bar Convent audio trail uncovers tories behind key characters down the years at the oldest surviving Catholic convent in Great Britain.
Using QR codes, visitors will discover more about the trailblazing women whose bravery and determination made history locally, nationally and around the world. Among them are foundress Mary Ward, who believed that girls deserved an equal education to boys; Mother Superior Ann Aspinal, who determined to build a secret chapel totally hidden from the outside world, and Sister Gregory Kirkus, who set up the convent’s first ever museum. Tickets: barconvent.co.uk.
Kathyrn Williams & Withered Hand: Heading to Selby Town Hall tonight
Duo of the week: Kathryn Williams & Withered Hand, Selby Town Hall, tonight, 8pm
KATHRYN Williams is the Liverpool-born, Newcastle-based, Mercury Music Prize-nominated singer-songwriter with 16 albums to her name. Withered Hand is singer-songwriter Dan Willson (CORRECT), from the Scottish underground scene.
They first met in 2019 in an Edinburgh Book Festival spiegeltent, prompting Williams to tweet Willson: “What kind of songs would we write together and what would they sound like?” The results can be heard on the album Willson Williams, released on One Little Independent Records, and in concert in Selby. Box office: selbytownhall.co.uk.
The poster for the three-day Drawsome! 2024 festival in York
York festival of the week: Drawsome! 2024, Young Thugs Studio, May 31; The Crescent, June 1; Arts Barge, Foss Basin, York, June 2
DRAWSOME! combines exhibitions and workshops with live music each evening. Things Found and Made is exhibiting at The Golden Ball, Cromwell Road, from May 31 and Greek-Australian graphic novel artist Con Chrisoulis for one night only at Young Thugs Studio, Ovington Terrace, on May 31 from 7pm, when Ichigo Evil, Plantfood, Mickey Nomimono and Drooligan will be performing.
On June 1, Bonneville, Lou Terry, Captain Starlet and Leafcutter John play at The Crescent community venue, where workshops run from 1 to 4pm, featuring Bits and Bots Recycled Robot, with Tom Brader, and Creative Visible Mending, with Anna Pownall, complemented by Zine Stalls hosted by Things Found and Made, Adam Keay and Teresa Stenson.
On June 2, the Arts Barge presents Dana Gavanski, Kindelan, Moongate and We Are Hannah, after three 11am to 2pm workshops: Poem Fishing with Becca Drake and Jessie Summerhayes, Adana Letterpress and lino printing, and Screenprinting with Kai West.
Sarah Sharpe: Opening her studio at Viriditas Nook, Mill Beck House, 2 Pinewood, Norton, Malton, for North Yorkshire Open Studios
North Yorkshire Open Studios 2024, June 1 and 2, 8 and 9, 10am to 5pm
STRETCHING from the coast to the moors, dales and beyond, 169 artists and makers from North Yorkshire’s artistic community invite you to look inside their studios over the next two weekends.
The event is organised by the artist-run collective North Yorkshire Open Studios, which supports painters, sculptors, printmakers, jewellers, ceramicists and photographers. Taking part in the Malton area will be Angela Cole (Westow), Catriona Stewart (Norton), Sandra Oakins (Norton), Jo Naden (Scagglethorpe), Sarah Sharpe (Norton) and Jonathan Moss (Malton). For full details, go to: nyos.org.uk. A full brochure is available.
Status Quo: Francis Rossi, left, leads his legendary band at Scarborough Open Air Theatre
Coastal gig of the week: Status Quo, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, June 2, gates 6pm
DENIM rock legends Status Quo open the 2024 season at Scarborough Open Air Theatre, where they played previously in 2013, 2014 and 2016. Led as ever by founder Francis Rossi, who turns 75 today, they must pick their set from 64 British hit singles, more than an any other band. The support act will be The Alarm. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com/statusquo.
Georgia Lennon as Paula Pokrifki and Luke Baker as Zack Mayo in An Officer And A Gentleman The Musical. Picture: Marc Brenner
Musical of the week: An Officer And A Gentleman The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, June 4 to 8, 8pm, Tuesday, 7.30pm, Wednesday to Saturday, plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees
NORTH Yorkshireman Nikolai Foster directs Leeds-born actor Luke Baker as fearless young officer candidate Zack Mayor in the Curve, Leicester touring production of An Officer And A Gentleman.
Once an award-winning 1982 Taylor Hackford film, now Douglas Day Stewart’s story of love, courage and redemption comes re-booted with George Dyer’s musical theatre arrangements and orchestrations of pop bangers by Bon Jovi, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Blondie and the signature song (Love Lift Us) Up Where We Belong. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Graffiti Classics!: “Making classical music wickedly funny and fantastically exhilarating” at Milton Rooms, Malton
Breaking boundaries: Graffiti Classics!, Milton Rooms, Malton, June 14, 8pm
GRAFFITI Classics! is not only a classical concert but also a gypsy-folk romp, an opera, a stand-up comedy set and dance show rolled into one uplifting, virtuosic experience.
Bursting the “elitist boundaries of the traditional string quartet”, Graffiti Classics! embraces Beethoven to bluegrass, baroque to pop, Mozart to Elvis, Strauss to Saturday Night Fever, as 16 strings, eight dancing feet and four voices combine with one aim: “to make classical music wickedly funny and fantastically exhilarating for everyone, young and old”. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Kathryn Williams and Withered Hand’s Dan Willson: Playing Selby Town hall tonight and Otley Courthouse tomorrow
KATHRYN Williams is a prolific solo singer-songwriter but she loves a creative partnership too.
Her latest collaboration, with Scottish indie folk troubadour Dan Willson, alias Withered Hand, brings the duo to Selby Town Hall tonight and Otley Courthouse on Thursday to showcase their album Willson Williams, released on One Little Independent Records on April 26.
Already, Liverpool-born, Newcastle-based Kathryn has recorded 2008 album Two with Neil MacColl; teamed up with Anna Spencer, from the punk band Delicate Vomit, for The Crayonettes’ 2010 children’s record Playing Out: Songs For Children & Robots and made the 2012 album Pond with Fairground Attraction’s Simon Edwards and singer-songwriter Ginny Clee.
Add to that list her 2016 release Resonator, a set of jazz standards crafted over six years with jazz musician and vibraphone player Anthony Kerr; 2017’s Songs From The Novel Greatest Hits, to complement Laura Barnett’s novel about a fictional singer-songwriter, Greatest Hits, and her 2021 Christmas album, Midnight Chorus, recorded remotely in Zoom sessions with playwright and former Poet Laureate Dame Carol Ann Duffy.
“I’m a serial collaborator! Overall, it’s been 25 years of putting out albums, and I want to be someone who’s always learning, always happy sharing a creative process, always travelling on different roads,” says Kathryn, who turned 50 in February.
The partnership with Willson has its roots in a chance meeting in a spiegeltent at the 2019 Edinburgh International Book Festival, curated by Hollie McNish and Michael Pedersen.
“I thought we’d first met at Fence Collective festival in Fife, but Dan doesn’t remember that, so we say it was the spiegeltent,” says Kathryn. “It’s strange; we have loads of the same friends in the music business, like James Yorkston, Rachel Sermanni and Kathryn Joseph, so when he came up to say hello, I gave him a big hug because I felt I knew him already!
“I’d read that he hadn’t written or released anything for a while, so I got in touch afterwards, tweeting him: ‘What kind of songs would we write together and what would they sound like?’.”
Dan thought she must have sent it to the wrong person. Not so. Whereupon Kathryn travelled up to his Edinburgh house, with curiosity to find an answer to her questions but with no plans to write an album together.
“I just thought we could do a song for his new album or for someone else, but slowly we built this friendship over our writing, and then last year Dan put out his first record for nine years, How To Love [his first since News Gods in 2014]. It was our writing that got Dan back into doing his own album,” she says.
Kathryn and Dan continued travelling to each other’s homes for writing sessions, as he recalls. “We talk and spend time together, and then it’s almost like the next time we sit down to write, a synthesis of late-night kitchen conversations become distilled into the songs,” says Dan. “It’s hard to separate who’s done what and where the songs sprang from. The writing and the friendship with Kath rejuvenated my own songwriting process enough to be able to do this.”
Williams and Willson were boosted by receiving funding from Creative Scotland, enabling them to enlist prime Scottish musicians for the recording, made with producer Rod Jones – Idlewild’s guitarist – at Post Electric Studio, the site of a former brothel incidentally, in Leith.
Step forward Louis Abbott, from Admiral Fallow, Graeme Smillie, from Arab Strap and The Delgados, Kris Drever, from Lau, Chris ‘Beans’ Geddes, of Belle & Sebastian, Pete Harvey, of Modern Studies and Kenny Anderson, alias King Creosote.
“When we got the funding, we were like, ‘what is our dream team of Scottish musicians who could be on the record?’, so it was a beautiful thing to be able to do it with them all. We were just grinning from ear to ear,” says Kathryn, who gives an example of the participants’ enthusiasm.
“We were so lucky that Dan and I had just done a BBC 6Music live session for Marc Riley’s show with Louis Abbott, Admiral Fallow’s lead singer. He ended up playing drums on the album because he’s one of those people who can play everything.
“It was beautiful that everyone was really excited to be there, and we just couldn’t feel any happier.”
Kathryn and Dan share common ground in their creativity: “As we’ve got to know each other as friends, we’ve found we’ve had the same issues of imposter syndrome, not feeling we’re good enough or that people won’t like us,” she says.
The cover artwork for Kathryn Williams and Withered Hand’s album Willson Williams
“We call it the skeletal voice, and we get to voice those fears or worries to each other. We both understand it – and I’m actually a really big fan of his albums because he’s so witty and funny and open.”
One overarching theme emerged in their writing process, Kathryn and Dan being mutually in the grip of grief, mourning for loved ones. “The initial premise and starting point for us was discussions and open conversations on bereavement,” they recall. “We’d both lost friends who were also in the public eye, and we talked about the strange place between personal loss and the communal grieving of a public figure we knew.”
Kathryn elaborates: “Dan had lost his brother Karl and then his friend Scott Hutchison [frontman of Scottish band Frightened Rabbit], and I’d lost my dear friend Jeremy Hardy [the Aldershot-born stand-up comedian and BBC Radio 4 regular panellist],” she says.
“As we got to know each other as we were writing songs, the things we’d been going through came to the fore in the theme of grief. But when you say ‘it’s an album about grief or loss’, people would assume it would be morose, but I think it has a sunshine feel. It’s uplifting, inspiring, comforting, and the whole thing was a joy to create and then go into the studio with these amazing musicians to record.”
Typical of Kathryn’s assertion is Our Best, the first song that the duo wrote together. “Kath arrived in Edinburgh with a refrain that we worked up into the chorus of this song,” says Dan. “Together we built a delicate structure around it, tentatively letting our voices harmonise and support each other, embodying the idea of doing what we can do in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds and changes”.
Or, as Kathryn puts it, in the face of loss, “having to do our best without you…and remembering advice from those who have gone to ‘not waste your life’.”
The track Elvis takes its title from Costello, not Presley. “That was the last show we went to in Edinburgh before lockdown. My friend Steve Nieve [Costello’s regular keyboard player] was playing with him at Usher Hall and offered us tickets,” says Kathryn.
“The song was a reaction to that gig, and as with a lot of the songs, it came from our experiences together, talking about touring, being on the tour bus. After the gig, we chatted with them backstage, and when Dan and I came out by the stage door, elation quickly turned to deflation when the crowd realised it was only us!”
Kathryn and Dan are playing their 17-date May tour as a duo, combining acoustic and electric guitar and Kathryn’s mellotron. “It’s just me and Dan because, one, we couldn’t afford anyone else and, two, no-one else was available,” she says.
“We’re our own support act too. I’ll do a 20-minute solo set, so will Dan, then after a break, we’ll do the complete album. That’s three gigs for the price of one!”
Away from making and touring her music, Kathryn has hosted three series of her podcast Before The Light Goes Out, with a fourth “under wraps”. “It involves me interviewing artists, poets, novelists, musicians and songwriters about sleep, with me asking each of them the same questions,” she says.
Why ‘Sleep’? “The whole point of it is that I love going to sleep listening to podcasts, ones that keep the voice calm,” reasons Kathryn, whose guests have included Steve Nieve, Scottish writer Kirsty Logan, The Magic Numbers’ Romeo and Michele Stodart, Neil MacColl, Kate St John, Rachel Unthank, David Ford, Chris Difford, Marry Waterson, The Anchoress, mystery novelist Ann Cleeves, poet Clare Shaw and, yes, Withered Hand.”
Looking ahead, Kathryn’s next album will be a solo work. “It’s already written and recorded, and it’ll come out early next year,” she says. “I think it’ll be called Mystery Park. That’s the current title. It’s quite a personal album, quite minimal too, going back to my roots.”
Kathryn Williams & Withered Hand, Selby Town Hall, tonight, 8pm, and Otley Courthouse, Thursday, 8pm. Box office: Selby, 01757 708449 or selbytownhall.co.uk; Otley, 01943 467466 or otleycourthouse.org.uk.
Willson Williams track listing:
Arrow; Grace; R U 4 Real?; Our Best; Shelf; Wish; Sweetest Wine; Weekend; Sing Out; Elvis; Big Nothing.
All songs written by Kathryn Williams and Dan Willson except Sing Out, written by Cat Stevens.
Musicianson the album:
Kathryn Williams, vocals, guitar and mellotron; Dan Willson,vocals and guitar; Louis Abbott, drums, percussion and backing vocals; Graeme Smillie, bass; Chris ‘Beans’ Geddes, pianos, organ, mellotron and synth; Kris Drever, guitar; Pete Harvey, cello; King Creosote (Kenny Anderson), accordion and backing vocals; Jacqueline Irvine, backing vocals and mellotron; Rod Jones, producer and engineer at Post Electric Studios, Leith; Miles Showell: mastering at Abbey Road, London.
Yes, seen here playing live in 2023, return to York Barbican tonight. Picture: Gottlieb Bros
PROG-ROCK legends Yes bring their Classic Tales of Yes Tour to York Barbican tomorrow night (28/5/2024) in the only Yorkshire show of May’s nine-date itinerary.
In the line-up will be Steve Howe, on guitar and vocals, Geoff Downes, on keyboards, Billy Sherwood, on bass guitar and vocals, Jon Davison, on vocals and acoustic guitar, and Jay Schellen on drums.
“We’re putting together a great setlist covering the length and breadth of Yes’s career,” says Howe, whose band last played York Barbican on their Close To The Edge 50th Anniversary Tour in June 2022.
Divided into two sets, the Classic Tales of Yes Tour show comprises myriad songs from Yes’s back catalogue covering 50-plus years.
Definitely it will include a 20-minute medley from 1973’s Tales From Topographic Oceans and “possibly” music from latest album Mirror To The Sky, released on InsideOutMusic/Sony Music in May 2023.
“As always, we are committed to pushing new boundaries and are very excited to be performing another chapter in the rich legacy of the band,” says Downes.
“This tour format does open up a few corridors,” says Howe. “Choosing the running order, I’ve dreamed up the set list, put it to the guys and said ‘what do you think?’, and thankfully they’ve liked it.
“I don’t pre-set it until I’m fairly sure it’s watertight, making sure we pick songs that reach out broadly across our catalogue. Like playing It Will Be A Good Day (The River) from [1999 album] The Ladder, which is something we’ve not played since maybe The Ladder Tour, and Time And A Word [from the 1970 album of that title], a song that is so warm and beautiful to play.”
Central to the Classic Tales of Yes Tour will be the Tales From Topographic Oceans section in the second set. “I got into the idea of visiting each side, drawing the lines together to form a mini-representation,” says Howe.
The poster for The Classic Tales Of Yes Tour 2024. York Barbican is the only Yorkshire date
This tour finds drummer Jay Schellen becoming a permanent member of the band, with the blessing of long-serving Alan White, who died in 2022. Schellen had begun performing with Yes in 2016, when White was beset with health problems.
“Alan would not give up but he was getting a bit weaker, so we bought in Jay as a standby. For the bigger sets, Alan would come on and do the encore, as his general strength wasn’t capable of doing two and a half hours.
“When Alan couldn’t do the next tour, and later passed away, it was logical to pass on the baton to Jay, who was there already. He’s been very excited to take on the drummer’s role and be constantly involved. It’s a very complicated job but he makes it look easy.”
Will latest album Mirror To The Sky feature in the setlist? “We just do one song from it, Cut From The Stars, the opening track,” confirms Howe. “We’re happier with one, having earlier done two from it.”
As with 2021’s The Quest, Yes began work on their 23rd studio album gradually. “We started in our own studios and then a centralised studio, building the songs. [Vocalist and acoustic guitarist] Jon Davison started to reside in the UK, in Wales, so we could get some of it done physically together, but with a great deal of file sharing first and then maybe rearranging it with greater dynamics,” says Howe.
“We then went on tour, but fortunately we didn’t do any touring in 2023 bar America in September and October, so we had time to finish earlier in the year.”
Howe has embraced the role of new technology in extending the possibilities of recording remotely as well as together, on The Quest and Mirror To The Sky, but also revels in the pleasures of performing each show. “When you’re playing live, you’re doing it differently, presenting it in an immediate way. That’s a beautiful thing; in between the start and the last chord, anything can happen, anything can become exciting. That drive to give a great performance.”
Performance is a combination of “a lot of structure” and the here and now, the difference maker from night to night. “There are parts that really come alive every night, and we put so much into tunes like America [an instrumental cover of the Simon & Garfunkel song]. It’s a challenge to play but bringing it to life is a joy.”
North Londoner Howe, now 77, says his greatest pleasure is playing solo guitar. “It’s the Chet Atkins in me that wants to play acoustic guitar,” he says. “I’ll be demonstrating that I have the will and determination to do that on my new solo album. It’s got me, lock, stock and barrel, me and the guitar, so I hope to do shows like that in the future.” As well as still saying yes to playing with Yes after 54 years, of course.
Yes, The Classic Tales Of Yes Tour 2024, York Barbican, May 28, 8pm. Rearranged from 2023; tickets remain valid. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk
National Centre for Early Music Young Composers Award winners Ryan Collis, left, and Charlotte Robertson, seated, at the NCEM
RYAN Collis and Charlotte Robertson are the winners of the 2024 National Centre for Early Music Young Composers Awards.
Ryan won the age 19 to 25 years category with Lux Divinae; Charlotte, the 18 years and under category with A Wonderous Mystery.
Presented in partnership with BBC Radio 3, the final of the 17th NCEM Young Composers Awards took place at the NCEM, St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, York, on May 16.
This year, the NCEM and BBC Radio 3 invited aspiring young composers to create a new work for The Tallis Scholars. Composers were asked to write for unaccompanied voices, setting the 16th century text Mirabile Mysterium (A Wondrous Mystery) either in the original Latin or the English translation.
Composers were encouraged to create music that responds to the imagery of the words and, like the polyphonic vocal music of the European Renaissance, has a sense of melodic direction.
Compositions by the eight young finalists were workshopped during the day by composer Professor Christopher Fox, professional singers from York ensemble Ex Corde and their director Paul Gameson, in the presence of Peter Phillips, director of The Tallis Scholars.
In the evening, Ex Corde and Paul Gameson gave a public performance, live streamed to ensure that friends and families from across the United Kingdom were able to join in.
Thomas Shorthouse, Mirabile Mysterium;Tingshuo Yang, Mirabile Mysterium; Ryan Collis, Lux Divinae; Reese Carly Manglicmot, Mirabile Mysterium.
18 and under
Matty Oxtoby, Mirabile Mysterium; Charlotte Robertson, A Wondrous Mystery; Jamaal Kashim, Mutationem ac Stabilitatem; Selina Cetin, Nativitas Salvatoris Nostri.
“It was wonderful to welcome these talented young people to York for a day sharing music and ideas,” said NCEM director Delma Tomlin
The 2024 panel of judges were BBC Radio 3 producer Les Pratt, NCEM director Delma Tomlin and Tallis Scholars director Peter Phillips.
Ryan Collis and Charlotte Robertson’s winning works will be premiered by The Tallis Scholars in a public concert at Saffron Hall, Saffron Walden, on Sunday, October 20, when the performance will be recorded for later broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s Early Music Show.
Delma Tomlin said: “We are delighted to welcome back the internationally acclaimed vocal ensemble The Tallis Scholars, directed by our good friend Peter Phillips, as the partners for 2024.
“An annual event on the NCEM’s busy calendar, the Young Composers Award is becoming increasingly popular with aspiring young composers and recognised as an important landmark in their careers.
“It was wonderful to welcome these talented young people to York for a day sharing music and ideas at the NCEM’s home, St Margaret’s Church. I’d like to say a special thank-you to Dr Christopher Fox, Peter Phillips, Paul Gameson and Ex Corde, for their inspiration, hard work and invaluable support, and of course to my fellow judges.
“We’re looking forward to hearing the winning compositions performed by The Tallis Scholars in Saffron Walden in the autumn and broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s Early Music Show.”
Les Pratt said: “Radio 3 prides itself on being the home of classical music that is known to many, as well as a place where audiences can discover the latest trends and creations.
“Through our support for young composers, thanks to our partnership with NCEM, we are making sure that the art form is kept alive, and always looks to the future. That’s why we can’t wait to share these wonderful new compositions with listeners at home on the Early Music Show and on BBC Sounds.”
The Tallis Scholars said: “Commissioning and performing the works of living composers has been an important part of the long life of The Tallis Scholars, alongside our performances of Renaissance sacred polyphony. To be able to work with young composers is a great privilege and to see how they respond to ancient texts and renaissance settings of those texts is endlessly fascinating.”
Malton Spring Food Lovers Festival: Look out for the festival guide and map on site
FOOD for thought on the arts and culture front, from street cookery to dance, trailblazing women to Drawsome! artists and musicians, prog-rock and folk greats to coastal Dexys, as Charles Hutchinson reports.
Flavour of the week: Malton Spring Food Lovers Festival, today, from 9am; tomorrow and Bank Holiday Monday, from 10am
ON the streets of “Yorkshire’s Food Capital”, Malton Food Lovers Festival celebrates Yorkshire’s supreme produce and cooking over three days of 120 artisan stalls and street food vendors, talks, tastings, chef demonstrations, brass bands and buskers, festival bar, food shops, sculpture trail, entertainment, blacksmith workshops, vintage funfair and family fun with Be Amazing Arts’ Creativitent, Environmental Art’s Creative Chaos and Magical Quests North.
The live musicians will be: today, Malton White Star Band, 11am to 1pm, The Rackateers, 1pm to 3pm, and Oz Ward, 6pm to 8pm; tomorrow, White Star Training Band, 11.30am to 12.30pm, and The Rackateers, 1pm to 3pm, and Monday, The Acoustic Buddies, 11am to 12pm and 2pm to 3pm. Festival entry is free.
Mary Ward (Augsberg portrait): Foundress of the Bar Convent, featuring in the Trailblazers audio trail
Exhibition launch of the week; Trailblazers of the Bar Convent, Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre, Blossom Street, York, opening today
THE Trailblazers of the Bar Convent audio trail focuses on uncovering the stories of key characters from the history of the oldest surviving Catholic convent in Great Britain.
Among them are foundress Mary Ward, who believed that girls deserved an equal education to boys; Mother Superior Ann Aspinal, who determined to build a secret chapel totally hidden from the outside world, and Sister Gregory Kirkus, who set up the convent’s first ever museum. Tickets: barconvent.co.uk.
What a hoot: Gemma Curry and her owl puppet in Hoglets Theatre’s Wood Owl And The Box Of Wonders
Pre-festival show of the week: Hoglets Theatre in Wood Owl And The Box Of Wonders, Fountains Mill, Fountains Abbey, near Ripon, tomorrow, 11am and 2pm
IN an Early Bird event for the 2024 Ripon Theatre Festival, York company Hoglets Theatre presents director Gemma Curry’s solo show Wood Owl And The Box Of Wonders for age three upwards.
A lonely little owl wants nothing more than to fly into the night and join his friends, but how can he when he is made from wood in Gemma’s magical half-term journey of singing owls, fantasy worlds, friendship and an age-old message about love? The 40-minute show featuring beautiful handmade puppets and original music will be complemented by an optional puppet-making activity. Box office: ripontheatrefestival.org.
Lesley Ann Eden and her York School of Dance and Drama pupils: Presenting Pinocchio And Ponchetta at Joseph Rowntree Theatre. Picture: Nigel Holland
Dance show of the week: York School of Dance and Drama in Pinocchio And Ponchetta, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tomorrow, 6.30pm
YORK choreographer and dance teacher Lesley Anne Eden presents her 50th anniversary York School of Dance and Drama show with a company ranging in age from six to 70.
Pinocchio And Ponchetta is Lesley’s take on the old story of Pinocchio and his sister, “full of fabulous dancing and great fun for all the family”, with the promise of her trademark quirky props. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
The cover artwork for York Barbican-bound Richard Thompson’s new album, Ship To Shore
Folk luminary of the week: Richard Thompson, York Barbican, May 27,doors 7pm
GUITARIST, singer and songwriter Richard Thompson showcases his 20th solo album – and first since 2018’s 13 Rivers – ahead of the May 31 release of Ship To Shore on New West Records.
Notting Hill-born Thompson, 75, who made his name with folk rock pioneers Fairport Convention before forming his Seventies’ duo with Linda Thompson, will be performing with a full band. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Yes: Playing York Barbican on Tuesday
Rock gig of the week: Yes, The Classic Tales Of Yes Tour 2024, York Barbican, May 28, 8pm
PROG-ROCK legends Yes perform iconic songs from more than 50 years of groundbreaking music-making, definitely including a 20-minute medley from their 1973 album Tales From Topographic Oceans and “possibly” from latest album Mirror To The Sky too.
In the line-up will be Steve Howe, guitars and vocals, Geoff Downes, keyboards, Billy Sherwood, bass guitar and vocals, Jon Davison, vocals and acoustic guitar, and Jay Schellen, drums. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Kathryn Williams and Withered Hand: Teaming up at Selby Town Hall
Duo of the week: Kathryn Williams & Withered Hand, Selby Town Hall, May 29, 8pm
KATHRYN Williams is the Liverpool-born, Newcastle-based, Mercury Music Prize-nominated singer-songwriter with 16 albums to her name. Withered Hand is singer-songwriter Dan Willson, from the Scottish underground scene.
They first met in 2019 in an Edinburgh Book Festival spiegeltent, prompting Williams to tweet Willson: “What kind of songs would we write together and what would they sound like?” The results can be heard on the album Willson Williams, released on One Little Independent Records on April 26, and in concert in Selby (and Otley Courthouse on May 30). Box office: selbytownhall.co.uk.
Dexys: Heading to the Yorkshire coast on May 30
Coastal trip of the week: Dexys, Scarborough Spa Grand Hall, May 30, doors 7pm
AFTER playing York for the first time in their 45-year career last September, Dexys return to North Yorkshire on the latest leg of The Feminine Divine Live!
Led as ever by Kevin Rowland, Dexys open with a theatrical presentation of last year’s album, The Feminine Divine, to be followed by a second soulful set of beloved hits, from Come On Eileen and Jackie Wilson Said to The Celtic Soul Brothers and Geno. Box office: 01723 376774 or scarboroughspa.co.uk.
Bonneville (York singer-songwriter Bonnie Milnes) promotes her debut album New Lady at Drawsome! 2024 gig at The Crescent
York festival of the week: Drawsome! 2024, Young Thugs Studio, May 31; The Crescent, June 1; Arts Barge, Foss Basin, York, June 2
DRAWSOME! combines exhibitions and workshops with live music each evening. York multi-disciplinary artist Rowan Jackson will be exhibiting at Angel on the Green, Bishopthorpe Road, from 7pm on May 27; Things Found and Made at The Golden Ball, Cromwell Road, from May 31 and Greek-Australian graphic novel artist Con Chrisoulis for one night only at Young Thugs Studio, Ovington Terrace, on May 31 from 7pm, when Ichigo Evil, Plantfood, Mickey Nomimono and Drooligan will be performing.
On June 1, Bonneville, Lou Terry, Captain Starlet and Leafcutter John play at The Crescent community venue, where workshops run from 1 to 4pm, featuring Bits and Bots Recycled Robot, with Tom Brader, and Creative Visible Mending, with Anna Pownall, complemented by Zine Stalls hosted by Things Found and Made, Adam Keay and Teresa Stenson.
On June 2, the Arts Barge presents Dana Gavanski, Kindelan, Moongate and We Are Hannah, after three 11am to 2pm workshops: Poem Fishing with Becca Drake and Jessie Summerhayes, Adana Letterpress and lino printing, and Screenprinting with Kai West. Drawsome! is run in aid of Bowel Cancer UK.
The poster for Drawsome! 2024
In Focus: Showstopper! The Improvised Musical, York Theatre Royal, May 29 and 30, 7,30pm; The Showstopper Kids Show, May 30, 2pm
SHOWSTOPPER! The Improvised Musical heads back to York Theatre Royal in an expanded format with a children’s version of the spontaneous musical comedy for half-term week.
The Showstoppers have 14 years behind them at the Edinburgh Fringe, to go with a BBC Radio 4 series, a West End run and an 2016 Olivier Award for their blend of comedy, musical theatre and, wait for it, spontaneity.
Each Showstopper show is created live on the spot from audience suggestions, resulting in a new musical comedy at each performance, which is then named by the audience.
The cast takes suggestions for the setting, genre and style to transform them into an all-singing, all-dancing production with humorous results. Anything can be expected at a Showstopper show, so if the audience fancies Hamilton in a hospital or Sondheim in the Sahara, The Showstoppers will sing it.
Thursday’s Showstopper Kids Show is for children of all ages, who will see their own ideas being turned into a fully improvised musical right in front of them.
The children will decide where the story is set, what happens next and who the characters are. The Showstoppers will create whatever is suggested, so the characters could be anyone, such as the children’s favourite TV show characters, and the show could be set under the sea or in a doll’s house. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Lesley Ann Eden celebrates 50 years of teaching dance in York with her York School of Dance and Drama pupils. Picture: Nigel Holland
YORK choreographer Lesley Ann Eden stages her 50th anniversary York School of Dance and Drama show at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, on Sunday (25/5/2024) evening.
Pupils ranging in age from six to 70 at her Park Grove School dance classes will perform Pinocchio And Ponchetta, Lesley’s take on the old story of Pinocchio and his sister, “full of fabulous dancing and great fun for all the family”.
“We’re well known for using all kinds of quirky things, such as skateboards and Chinese costumes, or ropes and ribbons,” she says. “That will be the case again, with a cross-section of dancers as usual.
“We’ve been serving York for 50 years now. I can’t believe it! We’ve had thousands of children and adults pass through our doors; some have gone on to set up their own dance schools or teach in higher education, others to further their career in stage, television and film work.”
Loughborough-born Lesley recalls how her York dance school began. “I’m just really humble that it all started with three little girls knocking on my door, saying, ‘you are the actress and dancer from London…would you teach us to dance and act?’. I couldn’t refuse!” she says.
A cellist plays at a York School of Dance and Drama performance. Picture: Nigel Holland
“It wasn’t what I had envisaged or planned, having just returned from India with my new, tiny baby and a stage career pending, but their fresh, expectant faces, full of excitement and wonder, made me accept their unexpected challenge – and I’m still doing it! That’s fate! Without that knock on the door, I would never have opened a school.”
Her school teaches everything from “American tap to lyrical, contemporary works to circus skills”. “And I teach it all myself,” says Lesley, who studied at the University of London. “I’m so proud to have been awarded the National Kidscape Award for the work I’ve done with children.
“When I first got the letter, I thought it was junk mail, but it didn’t quite look like junk mail, and I’m so glad I opened it! I was asked to go to the [Millennium] Dome for the ceremony, and there were so many famous faces there!”
Lesley, who first taught dance at a school run by Irish nuns in West Bengal, India, enjoys teaching as much as ever. “Just recently, one of my ladies said, ‘can I ask the children why they come and what’s so different about coming here’, and one child said, ‘because it makes you feel special’.
“I do it because it gives me the utmost pleasure and satisfaction seeing someone express themselves from their inner core, pouring out their soul through dance. I just stand back and watch in awe.
A trio of York School of Dance and Drama dancers. Picture: Nigel Holland
“I also take in many children with difficulties, giving scholarships to those who can’t afford it. I’ve done that all my teaching life and I really believe in it.”
The dance school’s motto is “Nullos Limos” (No Limits). “It echoes my own philosophy that in our dreams our skills and performance talents are limitless, and if we can make our dreams reality, our own joy will be limitless, as will that of others who share our dreams,” says Lesley.
“Dance is a blending of mind, body and spirit, and it’s total therapy too, making people forget their problems for an hour. I’ve found this to be the case time and again. When you’re blending dancing with music, it’s just a wonderful feeling of completion. I’m so grateful to be able to teach it.”
Lesley, whose teaching has taken her all over the world, once brought her trademark positivity to both Lesley’s Challenge and her health tips in The York Press. “Some people still remember those tips, and they still put porridge left over from breakfast on their face, as I suggested!” she says.
Look out for her new series of books to be published by White Magic Studios in June and July: Lucky and Lucky 2 Love. “They’re about my travels across the world as a single woman, having psychic paranormal experiences,” says Lesley, who has three books out in the United States of America too.
Her thoughts return to Sunday’s 50th anniversary show and the benefits of dancing. “It’s not just the individual physical and mental process. It’s also the fact that you are unified with others when you perform – and that’s what missing from so many lives now, whether it’s families not seeing each other very often or just surviving in your own little box.
York School of Dance and Drama soloist Esme Frere. Picture: Nigel Holland
“When people come together to dance, they embrace that unity. That’s what classes and performances give them – and the performances also give parents the chance to perform on stage with their children, which isn’t common and is a wonderful joy, giving them a memory for a lifetime.”
In dance teacher tradition, Lesley will never retire. “My children say that I will still be dancing the Funky Chicken on my Zimmer frame,” she says.
Will she dance in Sunday’s show? “I won’t this time, but simply because I’ve had two hip replacements, which does make it more difficult, but not impossible – and I’ll still go on for many more years,” promises Lesley.
Lesley Ann Eden’s York School of Dance and Drama in Pinocchio And Ponchetta, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, May 26, 6.30pm. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Did you know?
LESLEY Ann Eden was the first of five people to obtain an M.A. in choreography, producing her own style of dance, Junction Jazz. She also has invented a style of performance: the “choreo-drama”.
One last question: What is your best piece of advice to a young dancer, Lesley?
“My advice is to learn the technique, then throw it away and dance with your heart.”
York School of Dance and Drama’s publicity image for Pinocchio And Ponchetta on the Joseph Rowntree Theatre website
Katie Smith: Directing The Creation Of Man at St Columba’s, Priory Street
YORK Mystery Plays Supporters Trust will stage A Creation For York on June 1 in a promenade production around Micklegate in runs at 2pm and 3.30pm.
Three aspiring directors mentored by Dr Tom Straszewski, a past director of the York Wagon Play cycle, will be presenting their visions of a trilogy of 20-minute plays from the Creation cycle with a community cast and production team.
The promenade procession will start with The Creation Of Man at St Columba’s, Priory Street, at 2pm and 3.30pm, and progress to Holy Trinity, Micklegate, for The Fall Of Man at 3pm and 4.30pm, then onwards to St Martin’s Stained Glass Centre, Micklegate, for Cain And Abel at 4pm and 5.30pm. On each run, the weary traveller can enjoy refreshments before the third play begins at St Martin’s.
Katie Smith, director of The Creation Of Man, studied acting at Plymouth Conservatoire and is undertaking a Masters in English Literary Studies in York.
“The essence of any piece of theatre is a vision made a reality through the work of a group of artists,” says Katie. “My own vision for The Creation was inspired by workshops of the Italian Renaissance and the artists and polymaths of that time, and so God became a master artist, an inventor, architect, scientist.
“Lucifer was a talented, arrogant apprentice, the other angels hard-working assistants, and the performance space became a bustling art studio, bringing God’s vision to life.
“In turning these ideas into a reality, I have had the privilege of working with an incredibly talented group of artists, from the actors you see on stage, to our composer, set designers, costume makers, and countless others.
“For a performance so centred on the concept of ‘creation’, their work is not just vital in bringing the piece to life, but a reflection of the imagination, creativity, and artistry at the heart of the play.”
In Katie’s cast will be: Daniel Wilmot as Deus; Harry Summers, Lucifer; Colin Lea, Diabolus; Tess Wingard, Seraphyn/Clarinet; Julie Speedie, Cherabyn; Samuel Jackson, Adam, and Joy Warner, Eve.
Dan Norman: Director of The Fall Of Man at Holy Trinity, Micklegate
Dan Norman, directing The Fall Of Man, is a writer who has directed short films and is venturing into directing theatre for the first time.
“Reading through the three Mystery Plays that make up The Fall Of Man, it is striking how separate Adam and Eve are,” says Dan. “Adam speaks with the Angel, and Eve speaks with Satan, but there’s no interaction between them until Eve persuades Adam to eat the apple. Their most prolonged conversation is the climactic argument.
“Adam and Eve’s relationship is uniquely strange. Eve was custom-made for Adam – but from the same material has become someone very different to him. Shared humanity must be an odd concept when you are the first humans, and being a partner holds extra significance when you are the only two people.
“At the start of the play, the Angel instructs Adam and Eve that ‘from this hour ye never twin’. The commandment not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge sticks with them, but this one they seem to forget. Maybe it was just as important.”
Dan’s cast comprises David Lancaster as the Angel; Val Burgess, Satan; Nicola Peard, Eve; Oliver Howard, Adam, and David Denbigh, God/Violin.
Isobel Staton, in charge of Cain And Abel, has completed her PhD in Medieval History and has worked with the Lords of Misrule at the University of York.
“In The Sacrifice Of Cain And Abel, humanity reaps the harvest that was sown during The Fall Of Man,” she says. “The children of Adam and Eve – Cain and Abel – must toil to grow and raise their food by ‘the sweat of [their] brow’. Following his father, Cain takes uparable farming, struggling to grow a crop which is not overtaken by thorns and briars while his harvest gets smaller year on year.
“Abel, on the other hand, takes up sheep-farming and is blessed with bounty and relaxation (although outside a play I would never suggest that sheep-farming was easy work!).
“From Cain and Abel’s differing experiences of farming grows resentment, jealousy, deeply different relationships to God, and a conflicting attitude to tithing and sacrifice. What began as a rift between Adam and Eve ends in murder with their sons.
Isobel Staton: Directing Cain And Abel at St Martin’s Stained Glass Centre, Micklegate
“The script of York’s Cain And Abel has been partially lost. In this performance, that lost portion has been filled with an extract from The Murder Of Abel from the Towneley cycle (a related mystery play tradition thought to have been performed in Wakefield), which shares many of the same preoccupations and tensions.”
Isabel’s cast will feature James Tyler as Cain, Allyson Butler as Abel and Charlotte Turner as the Angel, along with musician Jonathan Brockbank and singer Evie Hartley-Rapson.
Music for the production has been composed by musical director Desmond Clarke, who is joined in the production team by producers Emily Hansen and Janice Newton, wardrobe trio Trisha Campbell, Beverley Foster and Claire Little and set and prop designers Richard Hampton, Linda Lockett and Jon Mills.
Looking forward to next weekend, trust chair Linda Terry says: “We are thrilled to offer the opportunity to new directors to take part in York’s heritage tradition and to offer them the benefit of Dr Tom Straszewski’s support.
“We decided to make this a promenade production with the audience moving between three venues: St Columba’s, Priory Street, Holy Trinity, Micklegate, and St Martin’s Stained Glass Centre, Micklegate. They will be guided on the short walking distance between the venues by cast members.
“Micklegate was the historical start for performance of the Mystery Plays in the medieval period, so it seems appropriate to bring them back to their home ground. We’ve had terrific support from the venues themselves in staging the event.”
Tickets are on sale at ympst.co.uk/creation. One ticket gives access to all three plays.
In addition, the trio of plays will be performed for the residents of Hartrigg Oaks, in New Earswick, on June 15 as part of the care home’s 25th anniversary celebrations.
Coming next
YORK Mystery Plays Supporters Trust’s next production will be A Nativity For York, touring to The Tithe Barn, Nether Poppleton, St James the Deacon Church Hall, Acomb, and St Oswald’s Church Hall, Fulford, between November 29 and December 7; seven performances in all.
Dr Tom Straszewski: Mentoring three young directors for A Creation For York
Katherine Priddy at The Crescent: “You simply believe her and that’s a key part of the magic,” says revewer Paul Rhodes. Picture: Paul Rhodes
CERTAIN artists have ‘it’, an intangible something that allows their music to escape whatever genre they inhabit and reach a wider audience. Katherine Priddy is ostensibly a folk musician but her winning voice and modern takes on timeless themes of love, kin and connection see her poised for much greater success.
Performing as a trio, Priddy benefited from having two very talented performers on her side: George Boomsma on guitars (from Northallerton, by way of Holland and Birmingham) and Harry Fausing Smith on violin and guitar.
Boomsma teed her set up perfectly with his winning opening set. Precise in appearance, style and delivery, his mostly melancholy songs were capped off with a dry sense of humour that we readily embraced. He’d already sold his stash of Promise Of Spring albums, so his warm reception was clearly not a one-off. Something of a whistling wizard it turns out too.
Northallerton musician George Boomsma performing his solo set. Picture: Paul Rhodes
They have all known each other and played together for years, and this rapport was obvious. Boomsma was alongside Priddy when she last played in York at the National Centre for Early Music in 2022.
All three sang, between them creating an excellent version of the soundscapes crafted on Priddy’s sophomore album, The Pendulum Swing. While note perfect (as the tour nears its end), it never felt slick or rote.
The Pendulum Swing leaves behind the classical interests of her debut, rooting itself in home and family. First House On The Left memorialises a normal home while A Boat On The River takes her dream of living on a houseboat to elegiac heights. With her travelling lifestyle, you wonder if that boat is probably always around the next bend.
Katherine Priddy: “Winning voice and modern takes on timeless themes of love, kin and connection”
Priddy is careful not to get too sentimental. A highlight was her ode to tipsy 3AM calls to an ex- partner, Anyway, Always. Played as though leaving an answerphone message, her poise was as impeccable as ever, with no hint whatsoever of any slurring!
There was enough variation to keep us on our toes. Does She Hold You Like I Did and Letters From A Travelling Man kicked up the tempo, with lovely melodies to carry them.
The beating heart of the set was of course Priddy herself, a Warwickshire native with age-old preoccupations. Like Kate Rusby, she can connect with an audience, not so much with humour but with openness and sharing just enough to draw you in. You simply believe her and that’s a key part of the magic.
Harry Fausing Smith on violin, performing in Katherine Priddy’s trio at The Crescent. Picture: Paul Rhodes
The seated, sold-out Crescent audience were in her thrall from the beginning, each song met with loud applause and more polite exhales of “lovely”and “wonderful”.
As the trio left the stage, following the well-chosen Ready To Go, like the May blossom she was gone. Fortunately, there is no need for a 12-month wait, as Priddy is playing at July’s Deer Shed Festival where she should go down a storm (probably in a storm).
Review by Paul Rhodes, 15/5/2024
Katherine Priddy plays Deer Shed Festival, Baldersby Park, Topcliffe, near Thirsk, on July 26. Box office: deershedfestival.com
Until next time: Katherine Priddy, George Boomsma and Harry Fausing Smith take a bow at the close of their gig at The Crescent, York. Deer Shed Festival awaits in July. Picture: Paul Rhodes
News just in….
KATHERINE Priddy will play Pocklington Arts Centre on Wednesday, February 26 2025 on her final run of The Pendulum Swing Tour. Tickets for the 8pm show are on sale at pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk or on 01759 301 547.
Toto puppeteer Adam Gill, left, Rachel Higgs’s Scarecrow, Zander Fick’s Tin Man, Sadie Sorensen’s Dorothy and Daan Janssen’s Lion in York Musical Theatre Company’s The Wizard Of Oz. Picture: Lucy Baines, Joy Photography
BY day, Sadie Sorensen teaches A-level Biology. By night and weekend matinee this week, she is “very excited to take on the bucket list role” of Dorothy in only her second show for York Musical Theatre Company (YMTC).
She is relatively new to the York am-dram scene, having relocated here two years ago, but brings bags of experience, having performed in many shows in her Hull past.
What a good talent spot by director and choreographer Kathryn Addison, who is rewarded with a super lead performance by Sorensen.
At 26, she is ten years older than Judy Garland’s iconic Dorothy Gale in Victor Fleming’s 1939 film – much older too than Eleanor Leaper’s Dorothy, aged 13, in YMTC’s 2010 production at York Theatre Royal – but she utterly evokes the tearaway teenager. Pitch of Kansas voice, spot on. Her singing, both powerful and emotive, especially in Over The Rainbow.
Addison’s cast has plenty more hits too, not least casting York stage stalwart Jeanette Hunter into the dark side for the first time as the mean-spirited Miss Gulch and the grouchy villain, the Wicked Witch of the West. Hunter is as entertaining as ever, such a good sport as the baddie.
Fellow “veteran” Martyn Hunter is on good form too, both as the kindly Professor Marvel and the “humbug” Wizard of Oz; Ben Caswell’s Emerald City Guard is full of comic panache; Elizabeth Gardner glitters as Glinda and Marlena Kellie’s Aunty Em is suitably homely.
Full of green energy: Ben Caswell’s Emerald City Guard. Picture: Lucy Baines, Joy Photography
Addison’s cast has an international flavour too. Zander Fick, classically trained in opera and jazz singing, moved to York from South Africa in April 2023 and now follows his scene-stealing Chef Louis in York Light Opera Company’s The Little Mermaid with a Tin Man replete with squeaky, robotic movement and, ironically, plenty of heart.
Better still is Dutch-born Daan Janssen, who honed his musical theatre-inspired drag performing skills while studying for his PhD in Germany and now turns in a terrific Lion. From his arch American accent to his timid yet proud demeanour and supreme singing voice, so deep and playful, he is a roaring success.
JoRo regular Rachel Higgs is an appealing Scarecrow and the Yellow Brick Road travelling troupe is completed by canine puppeteer Adam Gill’s ever attentive Toto in a show with two Totos for the price of one. Cast member Helen Barugh’s dog Daisy takes the role in the opening and closing Kansas farmhouse scenes; Elanor Kitchen’s puppet in Oz.
Addison’s choreography makes splendid use of both the adult ensemble and young Munchkins, while Helen Barugh, Katie Crossley and Kirsty Farrow’s Trees and Rob Davies and Caswell’s Crows have their moments too.
Musical director John Atkin’s ten-piece orchestra feels at home in all those familiar Harold Arlen and E Y Harburg songs, the playing light on its feet, the energy infectious. Julie Fisher’s costumes are a delight, for principals, ensemble and children alike, combining with UK Productions’ set design, Ollie Nash’s sound and Nick Lay’s lighting to complete a high- quality production in the merry old land of Oz. Time to follow the Yellow Brick Road to the box office.
York Musical Theatre Company in The Wiard Of Oz,Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
