Kiki Dee and Carmelo Ruggeri: More than 25 years of performing together
BRADFORD soul singer-songwriter Kiki Dee and guitarist Carmelo Luggeri bring their acoustic live show to All Saints Church, Pocklington, tomorrow night.
“I remember playing Pocklington Arts Centre with Carmelo years ago,” she says. “It’s lovely to be back in Pocklington again.”
Kiki and Carmelo have performed together for more than 25 years, from front rooms to churches, and now on The Long Ride Home tour of stripped-back songs that will visit East Riding Theatre, Beverley, too on October 18, the tour taking its title from their 2022 album, the fourth they have made as a duo.
The “long road home”? “I started trying to make it as a singer when I was 16 – I recorded On A Magic Carpet Ride for the Fontana label that year, which is worth a lot now – and now I’m coming to the end of my professional career and still enjoying it, which most of the time I have,” says Kiki, who was born Pauline Matthews in Little Horton, Bradford on March 6 1947.
Kiki has lived in Hertfordshire for 16 years, preceded by 24 in London, but Bradford will always have its place in her heart. “I grew up there and it formed me,” she says. Will she be returning “home” to perform in Bradford’s year as UK City of Culture 2025?
Kiki Dee and Carmelo Luggeri’s itinerary for The Long Road Home tour
“I haven’t got anything confirmed yet, though I did speak to them at the end of last year, when we played Silsden Town Hall [near Keighley] in November, hoping if anything could be worked out, but I haven’t been asked to do anything yet,” she says. Event organisers, please take note.
Now 78, Kiki has her place in British pop history as the first female singer from British shores to sign with Motown’s Tamla Records label in 1970 “I went to Detroit for 12 weeks to record with Frankie Wilson, doing some recordings in what is now the museum, a little house in the suburbs.
“I was over there initially as a guest, but they did sign me. I only had four tracks written for me, so some of the others picked for me were in keys that I wouldn’t have chosen, but as I was so far away from home, I went with it. You always needed ‘the song’ with Motown because they didn’t become an albums label until the 1970s.”
The Motown association continues. “I’m doing four dates as the special guest on Smokey Robinson’s tour this year, at Glasgow, Birmingham Cardiff and London in July,” says Kiki. “Originally they were going for a young soul singer, but I believe Smokey said, ‘No, Kiki Dee would be a better fit’.” Spot on, Smokey!
Tomorrow’s gig in Pocklington will combine Kiki and Carmelo’s stories with haunting songs from The Long Road Home, eclectic covers and Kiki’s treasured hits, I Got The Music In Me, Loving & Free, Amoureuse, Star and the chart-topping Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.
Kiki Dee and Carmelo Ruggeri taking the long road home
Covers, Kiki? “We do Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill – our version is very different! – and Robert Palmer’s Every Kinda People, Frank Sinatra too, and we’re kicking around some new ideas at the moment,” says Kiki.
“With a semi-acoustic set, we have more flexibility to do what we want than you do in a full band line-up.”
Don’t Go Breaking My Heart will feature, of course: the one that brought Elton John his first UK number one in 1976 in a duet with Kiki. “I was on Elton’s Rocket Record label and Amoureuse had been a hit in the charts. Gus Dudgeon had produced I’ve Got The Music In Me for me, and it was Gus’s idea to try out Don’t Go Breaking My Heart as a duet after originally I was only going to do backing vocals,” she says.
“It came about in a very casual way, and it’s interesting how certain significant events in your life can come out of such relaxed circumstances. Like doing the video in only ten minutes! Who knew it would become so successful. Elton was quite impatient anyway! He was never going to do 16 takes.”
Kiki Dee and Carmelo Luggeri, All Saints Church, Pocklington, Saturday, March 29, 7.30pm. Box office: kikiandcarmelo.com
IN the second of The Beethoven Project concerts for York Late Music, pianist Ian Pace continues his exploration of Beethoven’s nine symphonies (transcribed by Franz Liszt) with his iconic Pastoral Symphony No. 6 on April 5.
The 7.30pm programme at York Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York, also includes Michael Finnissy’s English Country Tunes (1-3), Beethoven’s Six Goethe-Lieder (transcribed by Franz Liszt) and a new work of three musical tributes by Steve Crowther, Rock With Stock, A Study In Glass and Louis’ Angry Blues.
In 2024, Pace and York Late Music administrator and composer Crowther devised The Beethoven Project series of piano recitals based on the Beethoven symphonies transcribed by Liszt.
“The inaugural concert took place on November 4 2024 as part of the York Late Music concert series,” recalls Steve. “The programme included a dazzling performance of my Piano Sonata No.4 and Michael Finnissy’s transcriptions of songs by George Gershwin and Jerome Kern. But what transformed the concert into an event was Ian’s stunning performance of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. The audience was enthralled by the energy and brilliance of the performance.
“CharlesHutchPress music critic Martin Dreyer said: ‘Liszt’s version of Beethoven’s Fifth is masterly, seemingly leaving nothing out and taxing the pianist to the very limit. But Pace was equal to his every demand’.”
Tomorrow, the second Beethoven Project concert will focus on the beloved and highly esteemed Symphony No. 6, known as the Pastoral Symphony. “Franz Liszt transcribed all nine of Beethoven’s symphonies for solo piano,” says Steve. “Published in 1865 and dedicated to Hans von Bülow, these transcriptions stand as an extraordinary feat of both virtuosity and musical insight.
“They are regarded as some of the most monumental and challenging works in the piano repertoire, not only for their technical demands but also for Liszt’s remarkable ability to faithfully capture the essence of Beethoven’s orchestral writing on a single instrument.
“However, Liszt didn’t transcribe the symphonies solely to showcase his impressive skills. At a time when orchestral performances weren’t widely accessible, these piano versions enabled people to experience Beethoven’s symphonies in intimate settings such as salons and homes. Provided the pianist possesses the necessary technical proficiency.”
In an interview in 1988, the great pianist Vladimir Horowitz said: “I deeply regret never having played Liszt’s arrangements of the Beethoven symphonies in public – these are the greatest works for the piano – tremendous works – every note of the symphonies is in the Liszt works.”
Steve continues: “Liszt would not only provide the pianist with a list of the orchestral instruments to imitate but also include pedal marks and fingerings to enhance the pianist’s clarity.
“Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony stands out as his most Romantic symphony. The composer draws inspiration from non-musical sources, using vivid images and descriptions to create a unique and captivating musical narrative.
“Beethoven subtitled it ‘Recollections of Country Life’, and it’s full of nature-inspired imagery — flowing brooks, birdsong, thunderstorms and joyful gatherings.”
I. Allegro ma non troppo – Awakening of cheerful feelings upon arrival in the countryside
II. Andante molto mosso – Scene by the brook
III. Allegro – Merry gathering of country folk
IV. Allegro – Thunderstorm
V. Allegretto – Shepherd’s Song; cheerful and thankful feelings after the storm
“Remarkably, Liszt meticulously preserved all of that in the piano transcription,” highlights Steve:
**Textures** – He faithfully replicates Beethoven’s orchestral textures using layers of arpeggios, tremolos and precise voicing.
**Bird Calls** – In the second movement, Liszt retains the flute, oboe and clarinet imitations of nightingale, quail, and cuckoo, employing delicate articulation and clear spacing.
**Storm Scene** – The fourth movement transforms into a dramatic tour-de-force for the pianist, featuring thundering left-hand tremolos, chromatic runs, and intricate rhythmic complexity.
**Pedalling and Voicing** – Liszt frequently employs meticulously marked pedal suggestions to help evoke the orchestral sonorities and blend harmonies in a manner reminiscent of strings or winds.
York Late Music presents The Beethoven Project: Ian Pace, York Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York, April 5, 7.30pm. Jakob Fichert will give a pre-concert talk with a complimentary glass of wine or juice at 6.45pm. Box office: latemusic.org/product/ian-pace-concert-tickets/ or on the door.
Twinnie: New single and June tour, playing Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds, and The Crescent, York
YORK’S Nashville country queen Twinnie will head home to play The Crescent on June 8 on her 11-date UK & Ireland tour, preceded by an earlier Yorkshire gig at Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds, on June 7.
The tour announcement coincides with the release of her new single, Woah Man. Opening with a sassy R&B strut, Twinnie launches into anthemic pop-country territory in a rousing call to women everywhere, typified by the lyric “Close a business deal with a baby on my hip”.
Woah Man is the product of Twinnie’snon-profit initiative I Know A Woman, whose aim is to support female creatives with funding, opportunities and community. She wrote the song at an I Know A Woman writing camp in collaboration with John Davidson and Abby Anderson, before co-producing the track alongside KK Johnson(Dasha) and Brandon Paddock (Dan + Shay).
Twinnie, who cut her teenage teeth on the York musical theatre scene as Twinnie-Lee Moore, says: “This song is a global statement to highlight the incredible women around the world in all industries, whether it be our nurses, doctors, creatives, politicians, teachers or your stay-at-home mums. It signifies the resilience and power of what it is to be a woman and celebrates all those that have come before us. “The person I think of when I sing this is a woman that raised three children as a single mother working four jobs with the help of her mum. She has dedicated her life to taking care of her children. To others she may not be a Nobel Prize winner or hold a world record, but to me she embodies what it is to be a woman and the best mum in the world.
“Heavily inspired by Aretha Franklin’s Respect, Whoa Man commands a man to listen in a way that is not above each other but equal.”
Twinnie, 37, will play the Red Rooster Festival in Norfolk before heading out on her headline Happy Hour Tour ’25 that takes in Komedia, Brighton, on June 2; Oslo, London, June 3; Hare & Hounds, Birmingham, June 4; Deaf Institute, Manchester, June 6; Hyde Park Book Club, June 7; The Crescent, York, June 8; The Voodoo Room, Edinburgh, June 10; The Stereo, Glasgow, June 11; Oh Yeah Centre, Belfast, June 13, and The Working Men’s Club, Dublin, June 15. Tickets are on sale via https://twinnie.komi.io/. Summer festival performances will follow at Country Road, Keep It Country and Hoe Down Show Down.
Twinnie’s artwork for new single Woah Man. Listen at https://sl.cmdshft.com/woahman; watch the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpTPzdekjw0
Twinnie made her Grand Ole Opry debut in Nashville, alongside her American radio and TV debuts on the back of her BBC Radio 2 Album of The Week release Hollywood Gypsy and her inaugural American label EP Welcome To The Club, which drew 24 million streams.
Her 2023 single Bad Man charted on US Country Radio, followed by her EPs Blue Hour (After Dark) and Blue Christmas and her ambitious 2024 double album Something We Used To Say.
As a songwriter, Twinnie has writing credits for Kylie Minogue, Bryan Adams, The Shires and Lvndscape and she has performed alongside Sheryl Crow, Chris Stapleton, Alexander Kay, Jack Savoretti, Lainey Wilson and Chase Rice. She is an accomplished creative director too, having won Best Short Film at the British Short Film Awards.
Her work as a philanthropist has been recognised by Forbes. Passionate about mental health within the music industry, her non-profit I Know A Woman contributed to standardisation for therapy for artists in the pandemic within label and publishing deals.
In 2024, Twinnie became one of Country Music Television’s (CMT) Next Women of Country, premiered her Lonely Long video on a Times Square billboard, in New York, and became the first British artist to perform the USA national anthem at GEODIS Park, in Nashville, on October 2.
Last October too, she joined the cast of Yorkshire soap Emmerdale in the role of Jade Garrick, having earlier played Porsche McQueen in Hollyoaks in 2014-2015.
JOY. & Brudenell Presents present Twinnie and Bonner Black at Hyde Park Club, Leeds, June 7, 7.30pm, and The Crescent, York, June 8, 7.30pm. Box office: Leeds, hydeparkbookclub.co.uk; York, https://thecrescentyork.seetickets.com/event/twinnie/the-crescent/3297836.
“Woah Man is a global statement to highlight the incredible women around the world in all industries, whether it be our nurses, doctors, creatives, politicians, teachers or your stay-at-home mums,” says Twinnie
Paul Keating’s Hector MacQueen, left, Bob Barrett’s Monsieur Bouc and Michael Maloney’s Hercule Poirot in discussion in Lucy Bailey’s production of Agatha Christie’s Murder On The Orient Express
FIERY Angel first brought a Lucy Bailey production of an Agatha Christie murder mystery to the Grand Opera House in November 2023.
And Then There Were None is now followed by Murder On The Orient Express, and then there will be three, at some point, when the already confirmed Death On The Nile goes on the road.
Production values are high once more, not least a cast of 15, complemented Mike Britton’s revolve set design, Oliver Fenwick’s light design (where dark is as important as light), Mic Pool’s ever-excellent sound design and in particular Ian William Galloway’s video design of train wheels in motion, plumes of steam, sparks on the tracks and a towering image of the gleaming, immaculate, noble Orient Express: the pedigree racehorse of engines.
Leah Hausman’s movement direction sets the tone. Bailey’s cast gathers, seen side on, at first moving in tandem like dancers, but then juddering and shuddering too, ill at ease, commotion in motion, rather than graceful.
Suddenly, a scream, whereupon they part like the Red Sea, and who should walk through but esteemed Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre actor Michael Maloney’s Hercule Poirot, face on, instantly establishing his separate path from the rest.
Interestingly, he appears to be the voice completing the scream, the first indication that this will be a more harrowing interpretation of Poirot, where he will raise his voice to anger and anguish in a manner not seen in the revered, unflustered performances of Poirot forebears such as Peter Ustinov and David Suchet.
The little grey cells seem more frazzled than usual, still troubled by his handling of his previous case in Syria, shown in flashback here, and by his sense of foreboding of what hell is soon to be unleashed on Europe (to which he makes reference at the denouement of this 1934 case).
Nevertheless, Maloney’s Poirot remains immaculate in couture, his moustache trim (rather than the absurdist facial topiary favoured by Kenneth Branagh’s cinematic reinvention), his accent distinctly Belgian, rather than French, his manner and method meticulous.
One by one, American playwright Ken Ludwig’s witty stage adaptation of Christie’s novel – premiered in New Jersey in 2017 and now touring the UK for the first time – introduces everyone on board, staff and passengers alike.
Poirot is the guest of his Belgian friend in Istanbul, train company director Monsieur Bouc (Bob Barrett, accent prone to meander back to Blighty from the European mainland), a jolly soul who will play Watson to his Sherlock as they journey to London.
A journey that will be halted by an avalanche that stops the Orient Express in its track. Cue a murder, exit Samuel Ratchett (later to be revealed as a murderous gangster, Cassetti). But whodunit? The killer must still be on board, and Poirot has a train load of suspects to work through. Some of the acting is a tad suspect too, it must be said, nothing criminal, but sometimes guilty of over-acting, although deliberately so in the case of Christine Kavanagh’s thoroughly thespian American actress Helen Hubbard.
Mila Carter, early in her professional career, impresses as Countess Elena; Debbie Chazen has fun as the waspish, grand Princess Dragmiroff; French actor Jean-Baptiste Fillon conducts himself well as French conductor Michel.
You will enjoy – almost as much as Monsieur Bouc does – the running joke of Poirot being assumed to be French by all and sundry, but maybe less so the more tortured interpretation of Poirot and the uneven performances around him, faced with the challenge of a tale of vengeance that swings from farcical comedy to “profound darkness”.
Bailey’s reading of Poirot explains Maloney’s potentially Marmite performance. “I don’t think you’re always meant to like him, at least not in the way Christie writes him,” she writes in her programme note. “There’s a sort of otherness to him in that he’s Belgian and very polite and very petite!
“He’s full of neuroses and is obsessed with order, cleanliness and personal presentation. He lives by all these rules but paradoxically he’s tremendously eccentric and bursting with energy, charm and enthusiasm.” Maloney ticks boxes aplenty, but less so the charm here.
The other central character is the train itself, the Orient Express, which gives a five-star performance in Mike Britton’s design, revolving to reveal both interior and exterior, corridors and compartments: the star turn in fact.
Fiery Angel presents Agatha Christie’s Murder On The Orient Express, Grand Opera House, York, keeping on track until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
The hen party heading for Menorca: Jo Patmore, left, Alyce Liburd, Annie Kirkman and Alice Imelda in Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less). Picture: Patch Dolan
A STAG do in Ibiza. A hen do in Menorca. What could go wrong?Everything…in Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less) at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough.
The stags have made a solemn promise to each other: this is a boys’ weekend. Don’t talk to any girls, don’t even think about any girls, and most importantly, do not contact the hens.
The hens are ready for fun in the sun when the resort calls to say they’ve had to relocate them…to a hotel in Ibiza. Both groups of revellers are stuck on the same Mediterranean island. Cue shoddy disguises, mislaid love letters and theatrical chaos.
Repeating the Hutch Award-winning formula of 2023’s co-production of The Comedy Of Errors (More Or Less) with Precot’s Shakespeare North Playhouse, set in the heat of a 1980s’ clash of Yorkshire and Lancashire, Shakespeare’s riotous comedy is brought to life anew in the 1990s with belting musical numbers from the era of boy bands and Girl Power.
The same creative team reunites for Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less): co-writers Nick Lane and Elizabeth Godber (daughter of playwright John Godber), director Paul Robinson and composer and sound designer Simon Slater. In the production team too are designer Jess Curtis, lighting designer Jane Lalljee, musical director Alex Weatherhill and choreographer Stephanie Dattani.
Co-writer Elizabeth Godber says: “I’m so excited to be back working with Nick, the SJT and Shakespeare North on another hilarious Shakespeare adaptation.
Unmasked: Alyce Liburd and Annie Kirkman in Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less). Picture: Patch Dolan
“Love’s Labour’s Lost is one of my favourite Shakespeare plays, and to get the chance to play around with the language, develop the (already great) female characters, and add in plenty of 1990s’ pop classics, has been an absolute joy!
“I can’t wait for audiences to come and see the show. It’s funny, irreverent, and I’m sure Shakespeare would approve – he would have definitely been a Britpop fan!”
SJT artistic director Paul Robinson says: “We had the most enormous fun making The Comedy Of Errors (More Or Less) in the spring of 2023, and our audiences did too! We couldn’t resist following it up with another of the Bard’s early comedies, this time set a decade later in the midst of the party era that was the 1990s.
“We’ll again be including some great music from the period, and just wait until you see those 90s fashions again!”
Shakespeare North Playhouse creative director Laura Collier says: “After the success of our 2023 co-production – a show so entertaining that people kept coming back for more – we knew we had to join forces again.
“We’re absolutely thrilled to be working with the Stephen Joseph Theatre again, alongside talented writers Nick Lane and Elizabeth Godber. We all share a deep love for Shakespeare and his timeless tales, and a passion for exploring and presenting fresh, exciting perspectives and reworkings – a perfect foundation for an outrageously fun Love’s Labour’s Lost. We can’t wait to see what lies in store when we’re all transported back to the ’90s.”
Co-writer Elizabeth Godber: “I don’t think of it as a rewriting of Shakespeare; I think we’re twisting it, we’re putting a northern spin on it,” she says
Here co-writers Nick Lane and Elizabeth Godber discuss everything (more or less) about Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less).
How were you first brought together for The Comedy Of Errors (More Or Less)?
Nick: “I was asked by Paul [SJT artistic director Paul Robinson, the show’s commissioning director] if I’d be interested in teaming up with a writer to do a modern version of Shakespeare.
“He had this idea about making Shakespeare accessible, demystifying it, making it relevant and funny, and playing around with titles that people know but aren’t necessarily plays that people know.
“Independently of each other, we came up with Liz. I wanted to work with Liz because I’ve known her all her life, and I got my wish!”
Elizabeth: “I’d done some writing development work at Scarborough before, so Paul was aware of my work, so when they were looking for someone to team up with Nick, he called me.”
Co-writer Nick Lane: “If Shakespeare was writing now, he’d want to reflect the time and the politics,” he says. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Do you have any qualms about rewriting Shakespeare?
Nick: “For me, initially, yes, but knowing that Liz knows lots more than I do about Shakespeare, I did feel like I was in safe hands, and it was a good partnership – we share a similar sense of humour. But we were both making it up as we went along.”
Elizabeth: “Yes, I had reservations, of course – it’s a big thing to do! But at the same time we both had this thought in our heads that we wanted to do something different, that was accessible and fresh. I don’t think of it as a rewriting of Shakespeare; I think we’re twisting it, we’re putting a northern spin on it.”
What is your process for writing – together or separately?
Elizabeth: “This time, for Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less), it’s been much more together than on Comedy Of Errors – we’ve learned and grown from that. We write some things separately, and we send emails and share, and we’ve got about a thousand voice memos on WhatsApp. Then we meet up multiple times, and we’ll spend a day going through everything we’ve written, tweaking and changing each other’s stuff.
Nick: “And enjoying some very nice meals…
Elizabeth: “And eating lots of biscuits!”
Annie Kirkman and Jo Patmore in Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less). Picture: Patch Dolan
What different qualities do you both bring to the writing?
Nick: “The fun thing for me is – well, the read-through is a perfect example. I sat through the read-through and laughed heartily at all the stuff Liz put in, and sort of smiled at my own bits and thought, ‘yes, that kind of works’. But I think we both find each other’s stuff funny.”
Elizabeth: “I would say that Nick brings a font of knowledge of random facts! He can pinpoint something exactly: ‘In August 1989, people weren’t doing that’.”
Nick “I do have a silly memory for things, it’s true. And Liz is cracking on all things Shakespeare – and when you have a silent third partner, that’s really, really useful.”
Why have you set Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less) in 1990s’ Ibiza?
Elizabeth: “We knew we wanted to do Love’s Labour’s Lost, and we also had this idea for a stag-and- hen thing, which, if anyone’s read the original, it does kind of fit: there’s this kind of boys versus girls thing. That, and the club scene, and the ’90s, just felt like a good fit for the story.”
David Kirkbride punching the air in Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less). Picture: Patch Dolan
Nick: “It helps that you’re in an era before mobile phones. It’s fascinating how quickly we’ve adopted these things – they’re so intrinsically linked with our everyday lives now, and only 25 years ago, they existed, of course, but they weren’t the all-encompassing tools that they are now.
“I guess if we’d set it a bit later, it would have been erroneous text messages instead of the misdirected letters, but there’s no romance in texts, is there?”
How difficult was it making the song choices? Any particular favourites?
Elizabeth: “I loved making the song choices! The ’90s are my childhood; it’s very, very nostalgic and takes me back to school discos and primary school and brings me great joy. My favourite is probably the Spice Girls.”
Nick: “The opening number is Girls & Boys by Blur. If the Spice Girls were the ’90s for Liz, then Blur was kind of my thing – I was in my 20s.”
Where were you in the 1990s?
Elizabeth: “I was in Hull – being born and growing up!”
Nick: “Predominantly Doncaster, but I toured a lot – with Hull Truck, for Liz’s dad [playwright John Godber]!”
Jo Patmore in Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less)
Have you ever acted in Shakespeare?
Nick: “No, I never have. I’ve done verse – I was in Tony Harrison’s Passion and Doomsday, but never a Shakespeare.”
Elizabeth: “I was in a school production, a 20-minute version of Romeo and Juliet – and in that production, I met my now husband!”
Nick: “I can even quote you your one line in that. It was ‘No’.”
Elizabeth: “It was! I think I’m better on Shakespeare when I’m not acting in it.”
Will Shakespeare be spinning in his grave at the prospect of Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less) or giving it a five-star review (more or less)?
Thomas Cotran in Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less). Picture: Patch Dolan
Nick: “I would hope that if he is spinning, it’s to a 120 bpm dance track. He was a modernist in his day; he was satirical; he referenced things that were very of the time, and I think if he was writing now, he’d want to reflect the time and the politics. I think he’d be all right with it.”
Elizabeth: “We want to make a show that people come to see and have a great time, and I think that Shakespeare wouldn’t be against that – I think that’s what he wanted to do, too.”
Which Shakespeare play would you like to rewrite (more or less) next?
Nick: “One for Liz. I don’t know enough of them!”
Elizabeth: “I think I’d quite like to do A Winter’s Tale, because I really like the Shakespeare plays that are a little less done, that people don’t know as much about. I think that’s interesting. Love’s Labour’s Lost is one that people don’t know as well, and you can bring it to more people – that’s exciting. But my favourite is As You Like It, so…”
Stephen Joseph Theatre and Shakespeare North Playhouse present Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less) at Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, until April 19, Monday to Saturday, 7.30pm, plus 1.30pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
An ensemble scene from the Stephen Joseph Theatre and Shakespeare North Playhouse co-production of Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less). Picture: Patch Dolan
Who’s in the cast for Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less)?
Thomas Cotran; Alice Imelda; Linford Johnson; David Kirkbride; Annie Kirkman; Alyce Liburd; Timothy Adam Lucas and Jo Patmore.
Four of the company have appeared at the SJT already: Linford Johnson was in Alan Ayckbourn’s The Girl Next Door in 2021, and Annie Kirkman appeared in 2023’s UK Theatre Award-winning Beauty And The Beast, returning in summer 2024 to play the title role in Dracula: The Bloody Truth. She also starred in John Godber’s Perfect Pitch, on tour.
David Kirkbride and Alyce Liburd were in the SJT’s first co-production with Shakespeare North Playhouse, the UK Theatre Award-nominated The Comedy Of Errors (More Or Less) in Spring 2023. Alice appeared in in Dracula: The Bloody Truth too.
Movin’ and groovin’ in Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less). Picture: Patch Dolan
What’s on the playlist in Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less)
1. Blur: Girls & Boys
2. Britney Spears: …Baby One More Time
3. Shania Twain: Man! I Feel Like A Woman!
4. Meat Loaf: I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)
Mark Simmonds in rehearsal for his role as Prospero in Black Sheep Theatre’s production of The Tempest
YORK company Black Sheep Theatre are promising to bring magic, music and mayhem to The Tempest from tonight at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York.
William Shakespeare’s timeless tale of power, love and redemption is directed by company founder and composer Matthew Peter Clare in an innovative adaptation that “blends traditional Shakespearean drama with a dynamic theatrical approach”. “The First Encounters production that the RSC brought to York Theatre Royal in February was for children; ours is definitely not!” he says.
Known for bold and impactful storytelling in their musical theatre shows, Black Sheep are applying an exciting new vision to Shakespeare’s melting pot of mistaken identity, magic, intrigue, murderous schemes, comedy and romance.
“The Tempest is famously Shakespeare’s last play, focusing on family and love, subjugation and bloody plots, reconciliation and forgiveness, euphoria and despair,” says Matthew.
“It’s a play that has been performed numerous times in as many ways. You can do anything with it, and we have! With Black Sheep’s version, we aim to marry a more Brechtian theatre style for some of our more absurd characters with a grounded, naturalistic approach for the more plot-driven characters.
Matthew continues: “It’s an incredibly musical play, so we’ve utilised my musical background, alongside the incredible talent of Gregory Harper, to create a musical score for a live eight-piece band, featuring two violins, viola, cello, contrabass, guitar, harp and percussion, that will accompany the show and highlight the characters and their choices throughout.
“This will perfectly complement the singing of the island spirits, as well as our featured leading singers, such as Gemma-Louise Keane as Ariel and Josh Woodgate as Caliban.”
Both are well-known figures in York’s theatre and music scene, with Gemma-Louise being the lead singer in fellow cast member Mickey Moran’s band KissKissKill and Josh regularly performing with Inspired By Theatre, starring in Green Day’s American Idiot last year and now rehearsing for Rent.
“Greg and I have created the score, working on it since December 26 and finishing it on Tuesday, for example deciding what parts of Ariel’s speeches we would turn into songs, such as Full Fathom Five, and what we needed to keep as speech, finding the happy medium for that and using underscore too,” says Matthew.
“We’re delighted to have Gemma, who used to do Shakespeare plays when she was younger and is now working with me for the first time.”
The band will be putting in a double shift, says Matthew, by not only supporting the actors with their playing but also “playing the character of the band”.
Look out too for the play within the play. “We always wanted to do that as a musical number,” says Matthew.
As for magic and mayhem, as embodied by the actions of Simmonds’s Prospero, “He’s really interesting among Shakespeare characters as the magic he uses is not intrinsically evil and there’s ultimately no cost to that magic, unlike in Macbeth, where Lady Macbeth goes mad and Macbeth dies,” says Matthew.
“But Prospero’s magic is cruel, how he treats Caliban and Ariel, his slaves. There is a lot of torture, with his power to control and subjugate them.”
Josh Woodgate reflects on his role as Caliban: “Prospero is forcing Caliban and Ariel to do his bidding through his magic. Caliban has no choice but to submit to his will because Prospero took over the island when Caliban believes it should be his. Prospero has power over everyone and everything.”
Expect a cracking pace. “We’re using a heavily abridged script that Peter Gould did for Get Thee To The Funnery in Craftsbury, Vermont, in 2010. It’s about half the length of the original, now just over two hours, and though it moves so briskly, you never feel you’re forgetting about any characters,” says Matthew.
“The strength of this production lies in the juxtaposition of absurd comedy and serious drama,” Matthew says of a play with three narrative strands running in parallel on one island.
“There’s a mixture of the comedy of Much Ado About Nothing or A Midsummer Night’s Dream; the love story of Romeo And Juliet and also the tragedy of death plots and the treatment of Caliban. The tempest itself is a tragedy.
“In our production, the comedic energy of Charlie Clarke as Trincula, Molly Whitehouse as Stephana, Dan Poppitt as Alonso and Rocks Smith as Francisca is sharply contrasted against the more sinister and thought-provoking portrayal of Mark Simmonds’s Prospero.
“We had several auditions for Prospero, and Mark really brought an energy to the dialogue that shone out above everyone else that felt like a deeper character; why Prospero is doing the things he’s doing.”
Matthew is joined in the production team by Mikhail Lim, as he was for Black Sheep’s production of Jason Robert Brown’s Songs For A New World at the National Centre for Early Music, York, last October.
“Our adaptation of The Tempest is set to be an unmissable experience, blending Shakespeare’s genius, innovative staging and an evocative live musical score to bring the story to life in a bold, fresh, and deeply engaging way,” concludes Matthew.
Black Sheep Theatre Productions in The Tempest, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, March 26 to 29, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Who is in Black Sheep Theatre’s cast for The Tempest?
Mark Simmonds as Propsero; Freya McIntosh, Miranda; Gemma-Louise Keane, Ariel; Dan Poppitt, Alonso, Spirit; Megan Conway, Antonia; Chloe Pearson, Ferdinanda; Isaac McAndrews, Gonzalo; Rosie Stirling, Sebastian: Josh Woodgate, Caliban; Charlie Clarke, Trinculo; Molly Whitehouse, Stephana: Mickey Moran, Adrian, Spirit; Ellie Carrier, Francisco, Juno, Spirit; Rocks Smith, Boatswain, Ceres, Spirit, and Justine Hughes, Master of Ship, Iris and Spirit.
Punch Porteous writer Robert Powell and creative practitioner Ben Pugh
WRITER Robert Powell and creative practitioner Ben Pugh are reviving Punch Porteous – Lost In Time! at Friargate Theatre, York, from tomorrow to Saturday as part of York Literature Festival.
Originally commissioned by All Saints North Street for its October 2023 premiere with support from York Theatre Royal, Powell’s poetic multi-media experience depicts Punch Porteous, a mysterious and ordinary man with an extraordinary predicament, lost in time in York, where he is catapulted unpredictably into different eras from c.70 to c.2025 while the city shape-shifts around him.
“He keeps waking up at various points of the city’s past, dazed and confused, but also with a disturbing knowledge that he’s been there before,” says Canadian-born Robert.
Punch seems to remember Romans, Vikings, Saxons, seeing Henry VIII and meeting Dick Turpin. Now a prophecy says he is to appear at the site of an ancient Friary to find his lost wife Eve – and tell all in Powell and Pugh’s imaginative journey in words, music, film and sound featuring the recorded, “disembodied” voice of York poet Kitty Greenbrown, as well as Powell as Narrator, Nicholas Naidu as Alistair and Imogen Wood as Beatrice.
Nicholas Naidu, as Alistair, and Imogen Wood, as Beatrice, in Punch Porteous – Lost In Time! Picture: Ben Pugh
Inspired by the history of York, Robert first recounted a story of Punch in his poem Punch Porteous Goes To York Races, with further poetic stories in his 2023 commission for York Civic Trust, Time Town, Some Poems Of York.
“We’re totally delighted to be bringing Punch back,” says Robert. “I thought Punch had some more breath left in him after All Saints and we had the sense that there was more of an audience to see it.
“Friargate Theatre is an artistic asset to York with new management, and what better place could we find to stage it: a theatre space, rather than a church, though it was the church [All Saints North Street] that commissioned it, and the church provided a rich, deeply resonant space.
Kitty Greenbrown: Lending her voice to this week’s performances of Punch Porteous – Lost In Time!
“We’re also delighted to be taking part in York Literature Festival, which I was part of for a long time. We talked to Friargate Theatre first, absolutely the right place for it, and then approached the festival about featuring a piece based on poetry, and they responded very positively, especially when you consider they don’t usually have plays.”
Robert has re-written his drama to take in the history of the Friargate Theatre site as a friary. “We now have Punch ‘predicting’ that it was friarage from the tenth century up until Henry VIII’s boys tore it apart, leaving only the wall along the river. We will now be reopening the Friarage, with Punch determined to get there from Baile Hill.”
How will the audience experience differ from the All Saints premiere? “I think that being in a theatre space, rather than a church, the audience will need to use their imagination more, and we will need to work their imagination more to imagine the historic buildings of York, whereas previously we had the incredible prop of the church building,” says Robert.
Robert Powell in his role as Narrator for Punch Porteous – Lost In Time! Picture: Ben Pugh
“Now we have to use our ‘prop’ box to bring to life this semi-visible everyman who had bumped into some famous people but mainly lived among the ordinary people of York, creating that sense of Punch being grounded and having a working man’s sensibilities.”
Describing Punch’s character, Robert says: “He’s comic but serious; he gets drunk but is very philosophical. He’s seen a lot and suffered a lot, as the people of York have.
“With Dick Turpin, for example, what happens is that he becomes like a fairytale figure, but in Punch Porteous, Punch remembers attending Turpin’s public execution, seeing the horror of his feet turning in the air, so I’ve tried to bring the harsh reality to folk tales. Turpin’s death would have been horrendous.
“In Punch Porteous, I’m conveying the friction between the heritage myth and the darker reality that people have had to live with in York over the centuries.
The poster for Punch Porteous – Lost In Time at Friargate Theatre, York
“It’s a story told in a somewhat different way from the historical, heritage way that the story of the city is so often told. So, in a sense, without being too heavy about it, I wanted to disrupt that norm, to think about history from the ‘ordinary’ perspective that most of us experience it from.
“Writers can bring an understanding of history where I think there’s a role for the imagination that runs parallel with the facts. It’s not enough to have the testimonies and the photographs. You need your imagination to bear witness. Hilary Mantel thought a lot about this, about the role of fiction to engage with people, as opposed to documentary evidence. Where documentary leaves off, the imagination takes over, but rooted in experience.”
Robert loves the experience of walking through York, “passing through veils, where one minute you are in the 21st century, and then in the past”. “As a Canadian boy, from an early age, I had a hunger for what York offered,” he says. “Here I am, this little kid in Ottawa, digging in the fields next door, hoping to find Roman remains, so I had to come to York to do that. It’s been a very personal journey for me, and York gives you that in a very intense way.
“What is a Canadian doing fooling around with York’s precious history? To me, from that perspective, as a writer, it’s a heavenly place to be, and as a writer, I’m fascinated by time. Punch Porteous is a great opportunity to have someone who slips and slides through York and time, and so though I’m not originally from York, I hope it has resonance for true Yorkists.”
The cover to Robert Powell’s latest poetry collection, Time Town, Some Poems of York
Punch Porteous may have further life beyond this week’s performances. “I’ve had this niggling thought that might bring a further bit of spark to the exercise,” says Robert. “Was Punch Porteous a real person?
“Since my tales of Punch were inspired by a story told to me about an actual York man called Punch Porteous in the 1920s, who won a small fortune at York Races, it would be fun to ask The Press readers if they’ve ever heard of such a person. I would love to hear from you and I can be reached at https://www.rjpowell.org/.
“I would love Punch Porteous to become one of the urban myths of York and hopefully we are moving in that direction.”
York Literature Festival presents Punch Porteous – Lost In Time!, Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate, York, tomorrow until Saturday, 7pm plus 2pm Saturday matinee. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk.
Robert Powell: Writer, curator and cultural consultant with background in the arts, place-making, photography and journalism. Picture: Owen Powell
Robert Powell: the back story
WRITER, curator, and cultural consultant with more than 40 years’ experience in the arts, built environment, community engagement and media in England, Scotland and his native Canada.
Director of Stills Gallery of Photography in Edinburgh from 1986 to 1989. Worked for Canada Council for the Arts from 1989 to 1997.
Director of Beam, arts, architecture and education charity in Wakefield, from 1997 to 2015, working with many leading artists, architects, and urban designers.
Established Wakefield Lit Fest, festival of reading & writing, in 2012. Made Honorary Fellow of RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) in 2017.
Robert’s creative writing has been published widely in Canada and UK. Since 2007, produced five poetry collections, plus performances and film-poems inspired by buildings, rivers and other places.
In 2018, artist in residence with Kone Foundation at Saari, Finland. In 2019, undertook community-based artistic project on Irish border during Brexit negotiations.
In 2023-24, writer in residence with York Civic Trust. Wrote and performed in Punch Porteous – Lost In Time!, poetic drama inspired by history of York, at All Saints North Street.
Resident in York for ten years, based in South Bank. Latest publication, Time Town, Some Poems of York, features poetry about a Georgian museum and a man lost in time from his York Civic Trust residency.
The first knock-out Punch poem by Robert Powell: Punch Porteous Goes to York Races
ONE Saturday afternoon, in summer 1930, at York Races, Punch won a fortune, £17, tramped back into town, bought a tin hip bath and took it to the Red Lion, where Uncle John’s wife Rose was publican and the boatmen-gypsies supped; required of John to fill it full with drink, then helped him and two others lurch it, slopping on cobbles in the early evening light, to the tram stop, calling on all and sundry Come take wine with me! though in truth it was ale; and cupping its contents for free to drivers, passengers, passers-by; and the bath, once emptied, by a drunken Punch tossed into the Foss. Gaze down from the bridge, they say, in certain light, on certain days, in the shallows, in the depths, you can still see it, among the vagrant shopping carts, the swans.
Laura Veirs: Portland singer, songwriter, children’s author, Midnight Lightning podcaster, visual artist , songwriting workshop leader, teacher and mother
LAURA Veirs’ diary for 2025 is filling up. Not only is the Portland, Oregon singer-songwriter working on an instrumental guitar album, new paintings and a book on creativity, but she is tying the knot and doing up her house too.
All that on top of playing her latest British tour, heading to The Crescent in York on Thursday in her 22nd year of visiting these shores. She last released an album, Found Light, her first without long-time producer and ex-husband Tucker Martine, in July 2022, so what brings her here this time?
“I just need the money,” she says frankly, on her morning phonecall from the USA. “That’s how a lot of musicians make their living these days. This year I’m getting married in the summer, going on honeymoon, and we’re remodelling the house.
“I’ll be trying out new material in the shows, going on this trip with my fiancé (Morgan Luker], my first with just the two of us. He’ll be selling the ‘merch’, as he likes talking to the locals! He’s a music professor, an ethnomusicologist, at Reed College, who I met when I taught a songwriting workshop in his class.
“Back home, we’ll be adding two bedrooms and a bathroom to the house as we’re blending two families. There’ll be four teenagers and two adults: we’re very outnumbered!”
By way of contrast, 51-year-old Laura will be playing solo on tour, performing songs drawn from 14 albums spanning 25 years on her trusty nylon string guitar. “I like to keep my materials limited, my paints, my palettes, the tools at my disposal, so I have only three guitars,” she says.
“One is the nylon string guitar that used to lie around in the house, which my dad had bought from a thrift shop in Chicago. It dates from the Fifties or Sixties; it’s my family guitar, my favourite guitar, that’s been on all my records, except for the first one.
“I also have a Martin steel string guitar and an electric Les Paul, and they’re kind of equal on the albums. I just don’t have the urge to get more instruments as I feel I haven’t explored these ones deeply enough – and I do have a piano too.”
She is not drawn to the infinite possibilities of multiple tracks on recording studio equipment. “I’m getting a four-track,” she says. “I did an album of demos recorded on my phone [November 2023’s Phone Orphans], so they were one-track recordings! You can become overwhelmed by all the tracking, when it should be,’what is the song?’. ‘Can you write the lyrics?’. That’s why I like to keep my tools minimal.
“I just feel like it’s so easy to get lost in overdubs, when you can lose the core of what matters, which is to write a compelling song, and that’s the hardest part. Then you can add other stuff. It requires focus, discipline.”
Constructing a set list from 25 years of songwriting, “at this point it’s a combination of my choices and giving people what they want. I always take requests as that adds an element of surprise for me and it makes them happy too,” says Laura.
“It means I stay engaged with my material, bringing in songs I haven’t played for years, modifying them, harmonising with them, improvising new guitar stuff and vocal stuff while playing, improvising my set list and my banter, all of this to keep me from feeling that I am ‘puppeting’.”
Artist Laura will be selling new paintings on her tour. “I can bring paintings on the road as I make works on paper, so they’re easy to transport. I’ve been doing that for the last couple of years, and I bring prints too, and I can personalise them by signing them,” she says.
“I want to keep exploring myself as a multi-faceted artist. I’m not sure where that’s taking me next, but I’m remodelling the house, I’m painting, I’m working on the instrumental album, I’m being the mother to four teenagers in the house now.
“I’m not an artist whoever sees myself retiring, and I feel grateful for that, though I do sometimes feel confused about my direction but that’s all part of being an artist, Like, what is my next big project with all these irons in the fire?”
Laura continues: “I’ve been in this business long enough to know that sometimes I’ll be in a dabbling phase, and I’m more than comfortable now to allow projects to percolate. I realise that sometimes you need to pause and collect thoughts and move on to do the next thing.”
She is collating such thoughts for her book on creativity, now 18,000 words into its own creation. “It’s both about learning about myself and helping others: how I’ve done things and how I would recommend people to do things; how I write songs; how I schedule what I do,” says Laura, who is also a children’s author and host of the Midnight Lightning podcast. “It’s a book about how to do it, how I’ve done it, and how you feel less dead, more alive, more fulfilled, by doing it.
“I like to see how other people do things, learning better methods, reading about how to write – Stephen King has written a cool book on writing – and I think it’s always interesting to read about creative processes.
“I don’t know when the book will come out. It’s still a pretty young project, but I’m a persistent person, so it will happen.”
Over the years, Laura has collaborated with such musicians as kd lang, Neko Case, Sufjan Stevens, Bill Frisell, Jim James, Colin Meloy, This Is The Kit’s Kate Stables, Sam Amidon, Karl Blau and Shahzad Ismaily: experiences she can bring to providing her Stanford University songwriting workshops and teaching her weekly lessons too.
“They can sign up on Zoom. I’m teaching a woman in her 70s how to make her first album, a guy in Boston, who’s doing his first record, and a woman in Australia, who’s writing a book,” says Laura, who also has an ongoing workshop residency at Rancho Loa Puerta in Tecate, Mexico.
Inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame in October 2024, in her songs Laura draws on her childhood in Colorado Springs, Colorado, spending summers camping with her family, as much as her fascination with the intersection of art and science from days of studying geology (and Mandarin Chinese) at Carleton College in rural Minnesota.
“Nature is a huge part of my work, from my background in science and going to perfect places in Oregon. Whether you want it or not, nature is everywhere, and I’ve found it a fruitful place lyrically, so it’s a full-on regular inspiration.”
In turn, her songs have been an inspiration for a French children’s choir, run by an old friend of hers, Patrice, in Angeloume, where she will travel to perform with the choir on May 25. “They’re a choir of around 30 children, almost all of them girls. Patrice has chosen 18 songs and arranged them for the choir, I’ll be on guitar, Patrice on keyboards,” says Laura.
“He’s sent me a video of them singing one of the songs, Black Butterfly, and it’s beautiful. We first did a concert of my songs with the choir 17 years ago, before I had kids, which we put out on CD – it’s sold out now – and we’re going to record this one too. If it sounds good, I’ll release it.”
Laura is in good company. Patrice has presented choral concerts of grunge iconoclasts Nirvana and Modesto, California indie rock band Grandaddy songs too.
Please Please You & Brudenell Presents present Laura Veirs at The Crescent, York, supported by London soul/rock’n’roll singer Lucca Mae, on March 27, 7.30pm. Box office thecrescentyork.com/events/laura-veirs-2/. Also playing Upper Chapel, Sheffield, March 26, 8pm; doors 7.30pm; wegottickets.com/event/638480.
The Wizard of York, Dan Wood: Founder, host and programmer of York’s inaugural WizardFest. Picture: The Story Of You
YORK’S first festival of wizardry, WizardFest, will fizz with fun from May 24 to 26.
The magical new festival is the spellbinding idea of Phoenix the Red, the award-winning host of the Wizard Walk of York, who will co-host the city-wide event with Little Vikings, the guide to York for families.
“Although it isn’t until May half-term, I’m promoting it now, so that families visiting York can plan their magical trip in advance!” reasons the Wizard of York, alias Dan Wood, fresh from winning Experience of the Year 2025 at the Visit York Awards.
A magical myriad of attractions, both paid and free, will be on offer with the promise of “more magical fun than you can shake a wand at”.
“Since announcing WizardFest, I’ve had lots of exciting companies come forward for an event that will appeal to wizard fans of all ages,” says Dan. “We’re flying the flag for all things magical in this enchanting city, and of course we’ll be running plenty of extra Wizard Walks to meet demand.”
York company Story Craft Theatre’s Cassie Vallance, left, and Janet Bruce: Hosting A Kind Of Magic sessions
Working closely with independent businesses, the festival is supported by Visit York and sponsored by Loopy Scoops Ice-Cream Parlour, Totally Awesome Toys, The Cat Gallery and The Society of Alchemists.
Little Vikings will help to promote the attractions on offer. ““This magical event is the perfect opportunity for families to explore the enchanting experiences York has to offer,” says Little Vikings’ Polly Bennett. “We’re thrilled to be supporting it.”
Some events are yet to be confirmed, but confirmed so far are extra Wizard Walks; Harry Potter films at City Screen Picturehouse; Lego workshops with The Brick Box; A Kind Of Magic sessions with Story Craft Theatre’s Janet Bruce and Cassie Vallance; Witch and Wizard crafts with Avocado Events; bird of prey experiences, dragon meet-and-greets and more.
A purr-fect partnership with The Cat Gallery, in Low Petergate, will see families searching for cats around shop windows and spelling a magic word to receive their own mini magical cat. A permanent Wizard of York cat will be added to their regular Cat Trail, complemented by a competition to name the magical moggy.
From Visit York and Make it York, visitors can peruse a Magical Night Market in Shambles Market on the Monday evening, with interested traders invited to email York-markets@makeityork.com to book a stall.
Wizard Of York ice creams at Loopy Scoops
The free Owl Trail will return to Shambles Market and a Wizard Activity Area will appear on Parliament Street. Expect majestic birds of prey to meet, face painting, wizard props and more.
Hungry witches and wizards are in for a treat too at themed specials across the city. Wizard Afternoon Teas will be available at Plush Café, in Stonegate, and monstrously good Beastly Burgers from Baby Boys Burgers at Spark:York. Wanderers can be all ‘fired up’ about Phoenix cocktails and mocktails at Ate O’ Clock, in High Ousegate, too.
Wizards with a sweet tooth can enjoy a chocolate Magic Minster or Mystic Macaron from Florian Poirot, in Shambles, chocolate shots at Monk Bar Chocolatiers or the Wizard of York ice-creams at Loopy Scoops. New to this Church Street ice-cream parlour will be the Wizard’s Butter Brew Soda Float, an ice-cream twist on a drink that wizard fans go Potty for.
Elsewhere, many shops will offer discounts to visitors dressed as wizards and The Puzzling World of Professor Kettlestring, in Merchantgate, will have a new quest to lift the curse of dark wizard Mortius Darktrix. York surrealist artist and illustrator Lincoln Lightfoot will create an exclusive Wizard of York print.
Bird of Prey experiences with York Bird Of Prey Centre, being held in Parliament Street
The festival will culminate in a fancy-dress parade on May 26 at 3pm from St Helen’s Square, with a contest for Best Dressed Witch or Wizard. Prizes include a Phoenix Lego set and family Wizard Walk tickets, dragon hatchlings from The Society of Alchemists and magical goody bags from The Shop That Must Not Be Named.
A dedicated web page is being made for the wizardwalkofyork.com site. Wizard fans are advised to check in closer to the event, as the festival programme is subject to change. In the meantime, you can follow facebook.com/wizardwalkofyork for WizardFest updates and booking links.
“Many activities are already bookable, so locals are advised tobook early as tickets are expected to vanish…as if by magic,” advises Dan.
2024 was a busy year for The Wizard Walk, winning Best Tour of York for the third time alongside myriad further accolades. At the Visit York Awards, the team won both Best of York and New Tourism Business Award, followed by winning gold at the VisitEngland Awards in Liverpool.
Lego workshops with The Brick Box at York Medical Society
The Wizard Walk also scooped TripAdvisor’s Best of the Best for the second year running as one of only a handful of UK attractions making the cut.
Dan says: “It’s been absolutely spellbinding to win so many awards, and we’re thrilled to have so much support locally too. We love working with business who are doing great things in the city, and we’ve already waved a wand over some magical partnerships, with many more to come.”
In response to tours continuing to sell out, Dan cast a duplication spell last May to conjure up a second guide, Viridian the Green, and he is now looking for a third.
“We have big plans for 2025 and beyond, and WizardFest is an event that I aim to build on year after year,” says Dan. “If you’re interested in being involved, you can send an owl of enquiry to info@wizardwalkofyork.com or contact us via www.wizardwalkofyork.com.”
The logo for WizardFest
Summary of events at Wizard Fest, May 24 to 26
The Wizard Walk of York. Booking at www.wizardwalkofyork.com.
Brick Magic Lego workshops with The Brick Box – York Medical Society. Booking at brickboxyorkshire.com/brick-magic-york.
Harry Potter film screenings – City Screen Picturehouse. Booking at www.picturehouses.com/cinema/city-screen-picturehouse.
Say Hello, wave goodbye: Pickering Musical Society’s poster for its final musical in June. Pantomimes and music from the shows productions will continue
PICKERING Musical Society will stage its final musical after 106 years in a spectacular farewell production of Hello, Dolly!, at the Kirk Theatre, Pickering, from June 10 to 14.
However, the society’s annual pantomime will continue to thrive, after a growth in popularity in recent years, and the October concert of music from the shows – a staple of the Ryedale theatre calendar – will move into the June slot from next year.
The society has made the difficult decision to terminate its musical productions in response to rising production costs and a decline in membership.
Theatre manager and director Luke Arnold says: “It is with a heavy heart that we’ve made this choice, but production costs have now exceeded those of the pantomime, despite only running for six performances compared to the panto’s 15.
“This, combined with a dwindling membership, has made it harder to cast these productions in recent years. However, we must look to the future. We have a fantastic venue in the Kirk Theatre, which is going from strength to strength, as we continue to introduce new genres of musical entertainment, as well as a full programme of speakers and a vibrant pantomime tradition that will continue to flourish.
“We have much to look forward to, and I’m particularly excited about the development and build phase of our Sylvia Allanson Studio project.”
Joined in the production team by musical director Clive Wass, Arnold is at the directorial helm for Jeremy Harman’s Broadway musical Hello, Dolly!, set in New York City at the turn of the 20th century, when irrepressible Dolly Gallagher Levi, widow, matchmaker and professional meddler, decides to find a match for herself.
Packed with charm, humour and show-stopping numbers such as Before The Parade Passes By, It Only Takes A Moment, Put On Your Sunday Clothes and Hello, Dolly!, Arnold’s production will feature Rachel Anderson as the charismatic Dolly Levi; Michael O’Brien as Horace Vandergelder; Pickering stage favourites Marcus Burnside and Stephen Temple as comedic duo Cornelius Hackl and Barnaby Tucker; Paula Cook as Irene Molloy; Danielle Long as Minnie Fay; Courtney Brown as Ermengarde and John Brooks as Rudolph Reisenweber.
June 10 to 14’s 7.30pm performances will be complemented by a 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Ticket demand is expected to be high for this grand and emotional send-off for Pickering Musical Society’s rich tradition of musical theatre. Box office: 01751 474833, at kirktheatre.co.uk or in person from the Kirk Theatre on Tuesdays from 11am to 1pm.
Pickering Musical Society: the back story
Courtney Brown in Pickering Musical Society’s production of Oklahoma!
PICKERING Musical Society can trace its origins back to the beginning of the First World War.
During the early Edwardian period, Pickering’s inaugural amateur musical groups were formed by like-minded individuals who fuelled their interest in music by meeting at each other’s homes and performing in drawing rooms.
In response to the outbreak of the Great War, groups and charities nationwide raised funds for the war effort at home and abroad. Many of the smaller groups in Pickering gathered together to put on larger “glee” performances in church halls.
In 1919, members of this larger group decided to create a musical society in the town for all ages that had an interest in music and performance.
Pickering Musical Society continued throughout the first half of the 20th century. By the early 1970s, the society had grown, prompting a need to seek a move from the War Memorial Hall to a permanent home.
In the late 1970s, the society purchased the old Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, on Hungate, and set about converting the derelict building into a fully operational theatre. By 1982, the conversion from chapel to theatre was complete and the inaugural performance was staged there that year.
Until now, the society has presented three productions each year: a pantomime in January, a musical in May and a Music From The Shows production in October.
Membership is drawn Whitby, Scarborough, Malton and beyond, as well as Pickering.
