Shirt alert: Which bright idea will Milton Jones try out next on tour?
MILTON Jones, the shock-haired master of the one-liner, has been toying with using his latest tour title for a while.
Cue Ha!Milton, heading for the Grand Opera House, York, on September 7 on his September 3 to December 15 itinerary. “To be honest, people have been encouraging me to use my name in a title for a long time. This one’s been around for seven/eight years,” he says.
“This is not a musical,” he clarifies, wanting to “make it clear that it’s not a spoof of Hamilton”, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s multi award-winning Broadway and West End hit. “I am tone deaf and have no sense of rhythm, but at least I don’t make a song and dance about it.”
In his “whole new show of daftness”, the 59-year-old Kew comedian from BBC Radio 4 solo series and TV panel shows has “more important things to discuss. “Like giraffes…and there’s a bit about tomatoes,” he says.
Giraffes and tomatoes, Milton? “You know what it’s like. You don’t want to be painted into corner when you’re asked for a title and some details a year ahead of a tour without making a rod for your back,” he says.
“I have 200 new jokes, but if it has a story, it’s about my life being tone deaf, starting with a Nativity play, with me playing Angel A and everyone else calling me ‘Angela’.
“I’m also including an AI machine, something called an ‘overhead projector’! It’s nice when you uncover it and you release observational gizmo nostalgia.”
Whereas music fans want bands to play the old hits, comedy audiences demand fresh material. “People want similar, but not the same jokes, and as long as you can provide that, that’s OK,” says Milton.
“To some degree I’m fortunate because I travel at such speed in my shows that people don’t always remember the jokes, but for my own sanity I don’t want to go dead behind the eyes by sticking to the same lines throughout the tour.
“Apparently, I go around the house muttering words, constantly looking at words and images and turning them upside down and then coming up with new things. In fact, soon I’ll be going out for a jog because physical exercise is one of the few things that turns my brain off by putting my body under stress.”
The poster for Milton Jones’s Ha!Milton tour, bound for York Barbican on September 7
Putting a show together, built around quickfire gags and puns, is “not just a case of whether a joke is good or bad, but of how you package it so they don’t see it coming,” says Milton.
“What I like doing is putting something in someone’s head, where they think of one punchline but then it veers off into another one.”
What’s more, Milton does not merely rattle off pun after pun. “You have to try to pace the show overall because, after 15 minutes, people can’t take more of the same,” he says.
“So you have to change the angle of attack, whether it’s with the overhead projector, or with a narrative story or a cartoon, to pace the show and find ways to keep it fresh. That’s why you do work-in-progress shows to do that.
“What you don’t want is for the audience to be ahead of you, so you have to keep making the formula different for the next joke.”
Milton tours regularly and favours long itineraries when doing so. Why? “Possibly because I enjoy it! That’s rather a basic answer, but one of things about Covid, when all of us were at home, we were thinking, ‘how are we going to get out of it, if we are going to get out it?’, and I really missed touring,” he says.
“It takes so long to put together a tour that I might as well do as many dates as possible before doing another one.”
What happens when a new idea pops into that punning cranium? “I can hold about three things in my head, and if I think of something and don’t write it down, normally I’ll run into it again,” he says.
“You think you have brilliant ideas in the night, but then when you look at them in the cold light of day, often they’re not so good. Or sometimes you have a bad idea but you improvise something from it, and you wouldn’t have got to that point without coming up with the first thought. The point is to try something out so at least you’re one step up the ladder to something working.”
Come September 7, let’s see what has become of Milton’s first thoughts on discussing giraffes and tomatoes…
Milton Jones: Ha!Milton, Grand Opera House, York, September 7, 7.30pm. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.Also Sheffield City Hall, December 4, sheffieldcityhall.co.uk; King’s Hall, Ilkley, December 8, bradford-theatres.co.uk.
Rebecca Banatvala, back, AK Golding, middle, and Sam Newton, front, in Northanger Abbey at the SJT, Scarborough. Picture: Pamela Raith
GOTHIC Austen, a clowning Bottom, dark pop chat, vintage blues and harmonious folk feature in Charles Hutchinson’s suggestions for a busy diary.
Play of the week outside York: Northanger Abbey, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, until April 13, 7.30pm plus 1.30pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees
ZOE Cooper adapts Jane Austen’s coming-of-age satire of Gothic novels in a co-production by the SJT, Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, Octagon Theatre, Bolton, and Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, starring Rebecca Banatvala (Cath), AK Golding (Iz) and Sam Newton (Hen) under Tessa Walker’s direction.
In a play fizzing with imagination, humour and love, Cath Morland knows little of the world, but who needs real-life experience when you have books to guide you? Cath seizes her chance to escape her claustrophobic family life and join the smart set in Bath. Between balls and parties, she meets worldly, sophisticated Iz, and so Cath’s very own adventure begins. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
Megson: Folk duo Debs and Stu Hanna at Helmsley Arts Centre
Folk concert of the week: Megson, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 7.30pm
BRITISH folk duo Megson combines Debs Hanna’s vocals, whistle and piano accordion with Stu Hanna’s guitar, mandola and banjo on songs filled with perceptive lyrics and exquisite musicianship. An infectious mix of heavenly vocals, lush harmonies and driving rhythmic guitars mark their concerts, topped off with northern humour between numbers.
Chalking up 13 studio albums in 20 years, the four-time BBC Radio 2 Folk Award nominees and two-time Spiral Earth Award winners will be showcasing their latest release, March 2023’s What Are We Trying To Say?. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Red, a dare: Tweedy’s Bottom, clowning around and chancing his luck in love in the Everyman Theatre Company’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, on tour at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Andrew Huggins/Thousand Word Media
York play of the week: Cheltenham Everyman Theatre in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, York Theatre Royal, April 9 to 13, 7pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees
THE Everyman Theatre Company staging of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream puts a new twist on the familiar tale by casting comedy clown Tweedy as Bottom and making him “comedy advisor” on Paul Milton’s production to boot.
The night’s magic, mischief, and mayhem unfold in an enchanted forest in Athens, intertwining the romantic misadventures of four young lovers, the playful meddling of mischievous fairies and the comedic antics of amateur actors, culminating in a tale of love, mistaken identity and reconciliation engineered by Jeremy Stockwell’s meddlesome Puck. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
John Robb: Rock’n’roll tales at Pocklington Arts Centre
Pop chat of the week: John Robb: Do You Believe In The Power Of Rock’n’Roll?, Pocklington Arts Centre, April 11, 8pm
JOHN Robb discusses his life in music; his pop culture book Art Of Darkness: The History Of Goth; being the first person to interview Nirvana; inventing the word Britpop and his adventures on the post-punk frontline.
Blackpool-born Robb is an author, musician, journalist, television and radio presenter and pundit, music website boss, publisher, Louder Than Words festival boss, eco-warrior and talking-head singer of The Membranes. His special guest is The Sisters Of Mercy co-founder Gary Marx. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Pianist Robert Gammon: Performing with Maria Marshall and Alison Gmmon at musical tea concert
Dementia Friendly Tea Concert: Maria Marshall, Robert Gammon and Alison Gammon, St Chad’s Church, Campleshon Road, York, April 18, 2.30pm
CELLIST Maria Marshall opens this Dementia Friendly Tea Concert with Faure’s Elegy, accompanied by pianist Robert Gammon, who then plays two short solo Grieg piano pieces. Alison Gammon joins them for Beethoven’s trio Opus 11 for clarinet, piano and cello.
The relaxed 45-minute concert, ideal for people who may not feel comfortable at a formal classical concert, will be followed by tea and homemade cakes in the church hall. Seating is unreserved; no charge applies to attend but donations are welcome for hire costs and Alzheimer’s charities. On-street parking along Campleshon Road complements the church’s small car park.
The Nightcreatures’ Henry Botham and Tom Davies: Blues songs and stories at Milton Rooms, Malton
Blues gig of the week: The Nightcreatures, Farewell To Storyville, Songs and Stories from New Orleans, Milton Rooms, Malton, April 12, 8pm
THE Nightcreatures duo of pianist Henry Botham and guitarist and singer Tom Davies take a journey to old New Orleans for a night of songs and stories, serving up a spicy gumbo of filthy blues, funky grooves and classic tunes.
Old blues, Mardi Gras songs and vintage New Orleans material are explored, drawing on the heritage of Dr John, James Booker, Professor Longhair, Allen Toussaint and the great Louisiana bluesmen. Jenny Wren and Her Borrowed Wings, a trio led by singer and double bassist Jenny Trilsbach, support. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Sam Jewison: Interpreting the Great American Songbook at the SJT
Jazz gig of the month: Sam Jewison, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, April 27, 7.30pm
JAZZ singer and pianist Sam Jewison returns to the SJT after a sold-out show in 2023 to perform his interpretation of the Great American Songbook in a fusion of jazz, classical and popular music.
Expect to hear new treatments of songs from the Broadway stage, Hollywood screen and golden age of American popular music, made famous Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and Oscar Peterson, from the pens of Cole Porter, Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin. Joining Jewison will be Fraser Smith (tenor saxophone), Harry Sankey (guitar), Harry Evans (double bass) and Joe Dessauer (drums). Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
Lucy Worsley: Revelations from the life of Jane Austen at York Barbican
Show announcement of the week: An Audience with Lucy Worsley on Jane Austen, York Barbican, October 14,
FOLLOWING up her Agatha Christie tour, historian Lucy Worsley’s latest illustrated talk steps into the world of Jane Austen, one of English literature’s most cherished figures as the author of Pride And Prejudice, Sense And Sensibility and Persuasion.
Through the houses, places and possessions that mattered to Austen, Worsley looks at what home meant to her and to the women like her who populate her novels. Austen lived a “life without incident”, but with new research and insights Worsley reveals a passionate woman who fought for her freedom. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
The four doormen of the apocalypse: John Godber Company in Bouncers, on tour at York Theatre Royal
THE northern 1980s and Bath society in 1798, French park life and a canny tortoise stir Charles Hutchinson into heading out of the front door.
York play of the week: John Godber Company in Bouncers, York Theatre Royal, April 5, 7.30pm; April 6, 2.30pm and 7.30pm
MEET Lucky Eric, Judd, Les and Ralph, the original men in black, as they tell the torrid tale of one Eighties’ night in a Yorkshire disco in John Godber’s northern parody of Saturday Night Fever. All the gang are out on the town, the lads, the lasses, the cheesy DJ, the late-night kebab man, and the taxi home, under the watchful eyes of the Bouncers (Nick Figgis, George Reid, Frazer Hammill and newcomer Tom Whittaker).
“We’re delighted to be taking Bouncers back to the heyday of disco and the 1980s,” says Goober. “Looking back, there was so much wrong with the decade but also so much to celebrate; this new production dances a balance between what was great and what is cringe-worthy now!” Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Rebecca Banatvala, back, AK Golding, middle, and Sam Newton, front, in Northanger Abbey at the SJT, Scarborough. Picture: Pamela Raith
Play of the week outside York: Northanger Abbey, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, until April 13
ZOE Cooper adapts Jane Austen’s coming-of-age satire of Gothic novels in a co-production by the SJT, Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, Octagon Theatre, Bolton, and Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, starring Rebecca Banatvala (Cath), AK Golding (Iz) and Sam Newton (Hen) under Tessa Walker’s direction.
In a play fizzing with imagination, humour and love, Cath Morland knows little of the world, but who needs real-life experience when you have books to guide you? Cath seizes her chance to escape her claustrophobic family life and join the smart set in Bath. Between balls and parties, she meets worldly, sophisticated Iz, and so Cath’s very own adventure begins. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
Yu Wakizuka’s Hare in Northern Ballet’s Tortoise & The Hare, racing around York Theatre Royal. Picture: Sophie Beth Jones
Children’s show of the week: Northern Ballet in Tortoise & The Hare, York Theatre Royal, Tuesday, 2pm, 4pm; Wednesday, 11am (Relaxed Performance), 2pm, 4pm
CHOREOGRAPHED by former Northern Ballet dancers Dreda Blow and Sebastian Loe, Tortoise & The Hare is an introduction to live ballet, theatre and music for “little ones”. When cheeky Hare can’t stop boasting about his speed, thoughtful Tortoise, so tired of being teased for his slowness, decides to challenge him in a race. No-one thinks Tortoise can win, but once Hare is distracted by games and treats, Tortoise might surprise everyone.
Leeds company Northern Ballet’s 40-minute adaptation of Aesop’s fable features an original score by Bruno Merz, set designs by Ali Allen and live music performed by Northern Ballet Sinfonia members. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Benjamin Francis Leftwich: Opening his spring tour at Leeds Brudenell Social Club
Gig of the week: Benjamin Francis Leftwich, Leeds Brudenell Social Club, Thursday, 7.30pm
YORK singer-songwriter Benjamin Francis Leftwich follows up Dirty Hit Records’ February 9 release of his fifth album, Some Things Break, with a nine-date spring tour that opens in Leeds.
He will perform alongside The 1975’s guitarist and keyboard player Jamie Squire on a tour managed by Bradley Blackwell, former bassist and keyboards player in The York band The Howl & The Hum.
Benjamin has released a 15-minute film of Some Things Break, directed by Harvey Pearson, that combines documentary footage of the recording process with interviews and four live videos of album tracks featuring Squire on keyboards and backing vocals. You can watch the film at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqAUE3jrp6w
Now based in Tottenham, London, Benjamin will be returning to York on July 18 to open the bill for Jack Savoretti’s open-air concert in York Museum Gardens on July 18. Box office: Leeds, brudenellsocialclub.seetickets.com; York, jacksavoretti.com/events.
Jessica Fostekew: On her mettle at Pocklington Arts Centre
Comedy gag of the week: Jessica Fostekew, Mettle, Pocklington Arts Centre, Thursday, 8pm
IN her new stand-up show of passion, pace and purpose, Jessica Fostekew’s son has joined a cult and her cat has learnt to talk. Nevertheless, she feels fine. In fact she is hurtling faster and hustling harder than ever for the things that she wants and needs.
Fostekew appeared in the sitcom Motherland and Sundance Festival Grand Jury prize-winning film Scrapper and is a regular co-host of The Guilty Feminist podcast, host and creator of her own podcast about eating, Hoovering, and the star and writer of BBC Radio 4’s Sturdy Girl Club. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Savva Zverev: Russian-born violinist, playing York Late Music concert on April 6. Picture: Mixei & TunaPutting themselves in the picture: Pick Me Up Theatre cast members James Willstrop (as Jules), left, Neil Foster (as Soldier), Natalie Walker (as Dot) amd Sanna Jeppsson (as Yvonne), front, set the scene for Sunday In The Park With George
York musical of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Sunday In The Park With George, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, April 5 to 13, 7.30pm except April 8; 2.30pm, April 6, 7 and 13
STEPHEN Sondheim and James Lapine’s musical follows painter Georges Seurat (played by Adam Price) in the months leading up to the completion of his most famous painting, A Sunday Afternoon On The Island Of La Grande Jatte.
Consumed by his need to “finish the hat”, Seurat alienates the French bourgeoisie, spurns his fellow artists and neglects his lover Dot (Natalie Walker), not realising that his actions will reverberate through the next 100 years. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Fairground Attraction: Mark Nevin, left, Roy Dodds, Eddi Reader and Simon Edwards reunite after 35 years for a York-bound tour and new album
Gig announcement of the week: Fairground Attraction, York Barbican, October 1
AFTER an absence of nigh on 35 years, all four original members of short-lived late-Eighties’ band Fairground Attraction are reuniting for a 14-date British tour and an as-yet-untitled new studio album, preceded by first single What’s Wrong With The World?, out now.
Best known for their chart-topping debut, Perfect, winner of the Best Single prize at the 1988 Brit Awards, Fairground Attraction return with their country-pop line-up of singer Eddi Reader, guitarist Mark Nevin, guitarrón bassist Simon Edwards and drummer Roy Dodds. Box office: axs.com/York.
In Focus: A triple bill of York Late Music concerts, Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York, April 5 and 6
Violinist Savva Zverev. Picture: York Late Music
THREE York Late Music concerts promise compositions by Bach, Bartok, Brahms, Bryars, Webern, Pärt, Farrenc and Debussy, new works and old works, York composers and even a York Suite, Richard Stoker’s Eboracum.
First up, on April 5 at 1pm, pianist David Hammond plays William Baines’s Pictures Of Light, Drift-light, Bursting Flames and Pool-lights, Steve Crowther’s Michael Dances, Ruth Karn’s The Loneliness Of Now and Gavin Bryars’ Ramble On Cortona.
Richard Stoker’s aforemtioned work A York Suite, Eboracum comprises Vale Of York, chorale prelude; Micklegate, interlude 1; Minster and the Five Sisters, lullaby; River Ouse, scherzo; Bootham Bar, interlude 2; Station and Railway Museum Castleand Clifford’s Tower, nocturne.
Hammond’s programme is completed by Matt Dibble’s Prelude in B minor, Hammond’s own work Variations On A Scottish Jig and William Baines’s Tides, The Lone Wreck and Goodnight To Flamboro’.
At 1pm on April 6, Amabile’s trio of Lesley Schatzberger, Nicola Tait Baxter and Paul Nicholson bring the distinctive blend of clarinet, cello and piano to life with a combination of trios by Brahms and performer, composer and equality campaigner Louise Farrenc, complemented by a new Steve Crowther work.
In the evening, at 7.30pm, Russian-born violinst Savva Zverev and pianist Sid Ramachander combine Bach’s Violin Concerto No 1 in G minor and Preludes by Debussy with works by Webern, Lutoslawski, Bartok, Pärt and Franz Waxmann. Tickets: latemusic.org or on the door.
Four sigils or “spell tokens” from the Believe It Or Not? exhibition at Ryedale Folk Museum, Hutton-le-Hole. Picture: Olivia Brabbs
MAGICAL thinking and life 11,000 years ago, Shakespeare mischief making and nightclub trouble-spotters, a comedian’s needs and a painterly musical outweigh the delights of chocolate at Easter for Charles Hutchinson.
Ryedale exhibition launch of the week: Believe It Or Not?, Ryedale Folk Museum, Hutton-le-Hole, until November 17, from 10am daily except Fridays
RYEDALE Folk Museum’s new exhibition turns the spotlight on folk beliefs through a selection of more than 200 objects. Believe It Or Not?’ explores the traditions and rituals of our ancestors, pondering whether whether we are still “magical thinkers” today.
Featuring heavily are stories of those accused of witchcraft, represented through their own objects, such as a crystal ball passed down by those seeking to foretell the future and four sigils or “spell tokens”, likely created as a form of “love magic” by a magical practitioner or service magician. Tickets: ryedalefolkmuseum.co.uk.
Curators Andrew Woods, left, Adam Parker and Emily North with Mesolithic remains of a wooden platform and materials used for fire-making in the Yorkshire Museum’s Star Carr exhibition. Picture: Anthony Chappel-Ross
York exhibition opening of the week: Star Carr: Life After The Ice, Yorkshire Museum, Museum Gardens, York; open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm
EXCAVATED in the Vale of Pickering, the Star Carr archaeological site provides the first evidence in Britain of the beginnings of home, a place where people settled and built places to live.
The Yorkshire Museum’s interactive exhibition brings together artefacts from “the Mesolithic equivalent of Stonehenge” to give an insight into human life 11,000 years ago, a few hundred years after the last Ice Age. On display are objects from the Yorkshire Museum collection, from antler headdresses and a decorated stone pendant to the world’s oldest complete hunting bow and the earliest evidence of carpentry from Europe. To book tickets, go to: yorkshiremuseum.org.uk.
Hoglets Theatre’s Gemma Curry, left, Claire Morley and Becky Lennon in A Midsummer Night’s Mischief, visiting Helmsley Arts Centre on Saturday
Children’s show of the week: Hoglets Theatre in A Midsummer Night’s Mischief, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 2.30pm
THE forest fairies are starting a fight, but which side are you on? Team Titania or Team Oberon? York company Hoglets Theatre presents founder Gemma Curry’s interactive, fun and larger-than-life show for children aged five to 11 based on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Expect wild characters, raucous singalong songs, puppets, stunts and some frankly ridiculous disco dancing in the company of Curry, Claire Morley and Becky Lennon. At 3.30pm, Gemma will be running a children’s workshop, showing how to make a paper boogie-woogie puppet of Shakespeare’s donkey-headed character Bottom. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Jessica Fostekew: On her Mettle at Pocklington Arts Centre
Comedy gig of the week: Jessica Fostekew, Mettle, Pocklington Arts Centre, April 4, 8pm
IN her new stand-up show of passion, pace and purpose, Jessica Fostekew’s son has joined a cult and her cat has learnt to talk. Nevertheless, she feels fine. In fact she is hurtling faster and hustling harder than ever for the things that she wants and needs.
Fostekew appeared in the sitcom Motherland and Sundance Festival Grand Jury prize-winning film Scrapper and is a regular co-host of The Guilty Feminist podcast, host and creator of her own podcast about eating, Hoovering, and the star and writer of BBC Radio 4’s Sturdy Girl Club. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
The four doormen of the apocalypse: John Godber Company in Bouncers, on tour at York Theatre Royal
York play of the week: John Godber Company in Bouncers, York Theatre Royal, April 5, 7.30pm; April 6, 2.30pm and 7.30pm
MEET Lucky Eric, Judd, Les and Ralph, the original men in black, as they tell the torrid tale of one Eighties’ night in a Yorkshire disco in John Godber’s northern parody of Saturday Night Fever. All the gang are out on the town, the lads, the lasses, the cheesy DJ, the late-night kebab man, and the taxi home, all under the watchful eyes of the Bouncers (Nick Figgis, George Reid, Frazer Hammill and newcomer Tom Whittaker).
“We’re delighted to be taking Bouncers back to the heyday of disco and the 1980s,” says Goober. “Looking back, there was so much wrong with the decade but also so much to celebrate; this new production dances a balance between what was great and what is cringe-worthy now!” Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Putting themselves in the picture: Pick Me Up Theatre cast members James Willstrop (as Jules), left, Neil Foster (as Soldier), Natalie Walker (as Dot) amd Sanna Jeppsson (as Yvonne), front, set the scene for Sunday In The Park With George
York musical of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Sunday In The Park With George, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, April 5 to 13, 7.30pm except April 8; 2.30pm, April 6, 7 and 13
STEPHEN Sondheim and James Lapine’s musical follows painter Georges Seurat (played by Adam Price) in the months leading up to the completion of his most fanous painting, A Sunday Afternoon On The Island Of La Grande Jatte.
Consumed by his need to “finish the hat”, Seurat alienates the French bourgeoisie, spurns his fellow artists and neglects his lover Dot (Natalie Walker), not realising that his actions will reverberate through the next 100 years. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
The Moondogs: Paying tribute to Fifties and Sixties favourites at Milton Rooms, Malton
Tribute show of the Easter break: The Moondogs, Milton Rooms, Malton, April 6, 8pm
PREPARE to be transported back in time to the late-1950s and Swinging Sixties as The Moondogs bring their raw energy to the hits of Chuck Berry, The Everly Brothers, Cliff Richard, The Searchers, The Swinging Blue Jeans, The Beatles, The Who, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones and more. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Fairground Attraction: Mark Nevin, left, Roy Dodds, Eddi Reader and Simon Edwards reunite after 35 years for a York-bound tour and new album
Gig announcement of the week: Fairground Attraction, York Barbican, October 1
AFTER an absence of 35 years, all four original members of short-lived late-Eighties’ band Fairground Attraction are reuniting for a 14-date British tour and an as-yet-untitled new studio album, preceded by first single What’s Wrong With The World?, out now.
Best known for their chart-topping debut, Perfect, winner of the Best Single prize at the 1988 Brit Awards, Fairground Attraction return with their country-pop line-up of singer Eddi Reader, guitarist Mark Nevin, guitarrón bassist Simon Edwards and drummer Roy Dodds. Tickets go on sale on Friday at 10am at axs.com/York.
Adam Kay: If laughter is the best medicine, head to the Grand Opera House
SHORT plays, doctor’s tales, pop memories, life 11,000 years ago, women in word and song, egg hunts and a Sondheim celebration put the spring into Charles Hutchinson’s step as a new season arrives.
Doctor in the House: Adam Kay: Undoctored, Grand Opera House, York, March 23, 7.30pm
BILLING himself as “the nation’s twelfth-favourite doctor”, This Is Going To Hurt author Adam Kay follows a record-breaking Edinburgh Fringe run and West End season with a tour of tales from his life on and off the wards.
Expect Kay’s ‘degloving’ story to feature “because people ask for refunds if they don’t hear it”. Post-show, he will be signing books. Last few tickets: atgtickets.com/york.
Navigators Art & Performance’s poster for GUNA: Views and Voices of Women at The Basement
Navigators Art & Performance presents: GUNA: Live!, Views and Voices of Women, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, March 23, 7pm
TO complement Navigators Art & Performance’s City Screen exhibition for International Women’s Week, the York arts collective hosts an inspiring evening of music, spoken word and comedy that explores, celebrates and promotes the creativity of women and non-binary artists.
The line-up of mostly York-based performers features poets Danae, Olivia Mulligan and Rose Drew; performance artist Carrieanne Vivianette; global songs and percussion from Soundsphere; original music from Suzy Bradley; comedy from Aimee Moon and a rousing appearance by multi-faceted York musician and artist Heather Findlay. Box office: bit.ly/nav-guna.
Lush stories: Miki Berenyi’s book, Fingers Crossed, under discussion at York Literature Festival
Book of the week: Miki Berenyi In Conversation: Fingers Crossed, York Literature Festival, The Crescent, York, March 24, 3pm
MIKI Berenyi, former lead singer, rhythm guitarist and founder member of London shoegaze/dream pop band Lush discusses her memoir, Fingers Crossed, and her career, recounting her experiences as a trailblazing woman fronting a seminal late-1980s group. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Livy Potter: Performing in Paul Birch’s Running Up That Hill in Yorkshire Trios at York Theatre Royal
York theatre event of the week: Yorkshire Trios, York Theatre Royal Studio, Tuesday and Wednesday, 7.45pm, both sold out
YORK company Next Door But One brings together York actors, writers and directors to produce original, short pieces of theatre, five to 15 minutes in length, on the theme of Top Of The Hill. Cue tales of motherhood, grief, love, war and even Kate Bush.
Badapple Theatre’s Kate Bramley and Connie Peel direct Nicola Holliday in Sarah Rumfitt’s Toast; Livy Potter performs Paul Birch’s Running Up That Hill under Harri Marshall’s direction; Jacob Ward directs Claire Morley in Yixia Jiang’s Outliving and Bailey Dowler appears in Jules Risingham’s Anorak, directed by Tempest Wisdom. Box office for returns only: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Curators Andrew Woods, left, Adam Parker and Emily North with Mesolithic remains of a wooden platform and materials used for fire-making in the Yorkshire Museum’s Star Carr exhibition. Picture: Anthony Chappel-Ross
Exhibition opening of the week: Star Carr: Life After The Ice, Yorkshire Museum, York; open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm
EXCAVATED in the Vale of Pickering, the Star Carr archaeological site provides the first evidence in Great Britain of the beginnings of home, a place where people settled and built places to live.
The Yorkshire Museum’s interactive exhibition brings together artefacts from “the Mesolithic equivalent of Stonehenge” to give an insight into human life 11,000 years ago, a few hundred years after the last Ice Age, such as how they made fires. On display are objects from the Yorkshire Museum Collection, from antler headdresses and a decorated stone pendant to the world’s oldest complete hunting bow and the earliest evidence of carpentry from Europe. To book tickets, go to: yorkshiremuseum.org.uk.
Sam Hird: Singing Sondheim with Pick Me Up Theatre
Musical revue of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Sondheim We Remember, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, March 27 to 30, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
ROYAL College of Music student Sam Hird returns home to York to join his father Mark Hird in the Pick Me Up Theatre company for Sondheim We Remember’s selection of music from Stephen Sondheim’s Broadway shows, film scores and television specials.
Taking part too in this celebration of the New York composer and lyricist will be show director Helen ‘Bells’ Spencer, Susannah Baines, Emma Louise Dickinson, Alexandra Mather, Florence Poskitt, Andrew Roberts, Nick Sephton, Catherine Foster and Matthew Warry. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
The National Trust’s guide to Easter activties, egg hunts et al, at Nunnington Hall
Easter Egg Hunt of the fortnight: Nunnington Hall, Nunnington, near Helmsley, today until April 7, 10.30am to 5pm; last entry, 4.15pm.
FAMILIES can enjoy a fun-packed visit to the National Trust property of Nunnington Hall throughout the Easter school holiday, when children can take part in an Easter egg hunt trail around the freshly mown garden, with activities to be completed such as an egg and spoon race, archery and boules, before receiving their egg.
Children can enjoy drawing and painting in the creative hub; take part in seed planting in the cutting garden; explore the Lion’s Den play area, with its obstacle course, rope bridge and climbing frame; learn about composting and spend time in the bird-watching area. On March 31 and April 1, additional garden activities include races on the main lawn and bird-feeder making. Tickets: nationaltrust.org.uk/nunnington-hall.
Wet Wet Wet and special guest Heather Small: Teaming up at York Barbican in 2025
York gig announcement of the week: Wet Wet Wet & Heather Small, York Barbican, October 13 2025
WHEN Wet Wet Wet headlined a festival in Dubai, who should they bump into but Heather Small, the big voice of M People. She duly accepted their invitation to be the special guest at all dates on their 2025 tour.
Wet Wet Wet will be returning to York Barbican after their January 31 2024 double bill with Go West on the Best Of Both Worlds Tour. In the line-up will be founding member and bassist Graeme Clark, long-standing guitarist Graeme Duffin and singer Kevin Simm, The Voice UK winner and former Liberty X member, who joined the Scottish group in 2018. Tickets: axs.com.york.
In Focus: Children’s show, Millennium Entertainment International in There’s A Monster In Your Show, York Theatre Royal, March 26 to 28, 1.30pm and 4pm
There’s A Monster In Your Show composerTom Fletcher with his children, Buzz, Buddy and Max, and a monster puppet
THE Easter holiday festivities at York Theatre Royal kick off with Tom Fletcher’s new family musical There’s A Monster In Your Show.
Based on Fletcher and Greg Abbot’s Who’s In Your Book? picture-book series for Puffin, the 50-minute performance for three-year-olds and upwards is billed as an “interactive, high-energy adventure for big imaginations” that leaps from page to stage with the aid of lively original music
Adapted for the stage by Zoe Bourn and directed by Miranda Larson, the show features new music by McFly band member Fletcher and Barry Bignold. Expect playful fun aplenty for your littlest ones as their favourite characters come to life in a performance packed with interactive moments to enjoy together.
In the story, performers are preparing to start their show but quickly discover they are not alone on stage. Little Monster wants to be part of the fun too, promptly extending an invitation to his friends Dragon, Alien and Unicorn to join him. Cue comedy and chaos as they help to create a magical show, learning about the joy of books and friendship along the way.
Fletcher says: “I’m so excited to see There’s A Monster In Your Book come to life on stage. The whole journey is incredibly exciting. Theatre is such an important way to introduce children to the arts and There’s A Monster In Your Show is the perfect first theatre trip for pre-schoolers and their families. I’m so looking forward to seeing their reactions first hand.”
The 1.30pm show on March 28 will be a Relaxed Performance that aims to reduce anxiety around theatre visits to help everyone have an enjoyable time. All are welcome, but especially people with sensory or communication difficulties or a learning disability. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Ben Murrell and Gil Sidaway in There’s A Monster In Your Show. Picture: Pamela Raith
Fast talking: An Evening With The Fast Show at the Grand Opera House, York
CONVENTION has it that audiences complain when bands leave out big hits but equally do so when comedians repeat gags from a previous tour show.
Where does that leave a sketch show, transplanted from screen to stage, in this case for a 30th anniversary tour, 22 years after The Fast Show played York Barbican on their debut UK tour?
Much to the sold-out audience’s delight, a multitude of beloved characters strut rather than fret their allotted time upon the stage on Tuesday, some with little more than a catchphrase, others given new material to complement those phrases. Phrases gathered on T-shirts selling like hot cakes at the foyer bar merch stall. Scorchio.
Such a show is not without precedence. Monty Python and The Secret Policeman’s Ball reprised greatest bits from TV shows on stage, the Four Yorkshireman sketch a recurring favourite (first performed by co-writers Tim Brooke-Taylor, John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Marty Feldman on At Last The 1948 Show in 1967).
Now, six of the originals have gathered for The Fast Show’s nights of nostalgia: writing partners Charlie Higson and Paul Whitehouse, who first performed together in a punk band in smudged eyeliner days at the University of East Anglia; actors Mark Williams and Simon Day, actress Arabella Weir and, last to join the party, John Thomson, the man of many voices.
Higson and Whitehouse take on the role of narrators and chat-show hosts, opening the show with recollections of how The Fast Show came into being, from writing for Harry Enfield to being entrusted with their own editorial control by the BBC.
Seats are in place, as are clothes rails to facilitate quick changes of character/caricature, each one greeted with a cheer of recognition, especially so for Ralph and Ted, lord of the manor and his taciturn but profound Irish groundsman.
Williams is the first to join them in the guise of “Today I’ll be mostly” Jesse, the country bumpkin. They chat, affably, with room for teasing and affectionate digs at Steve Coogan, recalling the old days as if at a school reunion.
The rhythm is established immediately: fast for The Fast Show sketches and monologues, slower for the comfy banter when seated.
Ever charming, avuncular too, Higson has to battle against misbehaving facial fuzz, from flyaway moustaches to non-stick sideburns; Whitehouse is a bundle of unruly energy, prone to interject and seek the spotlight.
Day plays the puckish mischief maker, full of surprises; Weir, outnumbered five to one, is the most reflective; Thomson, a constant delight with all manner of impressions.
Characters and catchphrases galore come and go, another one always just around the corner, like a taster menu’s next nibble. Day’s Tommy Cockles goes down particularly well, as do Whitehouse’s drunken Rowley Birkin QC and Thomson’s Jazz Club host Louis Balfour, now smoking a vape to bring him up to date.
Nice! Especially, his story of giving band members the names of London tube stations. Take a bow Tooting Bec on trumpet.
But does a compendium of sketches add up to a satisfying full picture, especially when bolstered by memories of all their yesterdays, topped off with a video clip tribute to the late seventh team member, Caroline Aherne, reminding all of her special comedy chops?
In truth, for all the surge of joy at the “band getting back together”, Tuesday left your reviewer wanting more of some, less of the others, as sketches always do.
Neil Warnock: Football chat at York Barbican on May 31
FOOTBALL gaffer Neil Warnock will give a donation from every ticket sold for his Are You With Me? show at York Barbican to the York City FC Foundation.
Warnock, who left his latest post at Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiere League after only 33 days as interim manager on March 9, will be in York on May 31 for a show rearranged from June 15 2023.
The record-breaking boss – a specialist in promotion chasing and relegation fire-fighting alike – has committed to supporting the community projects of each professional club in the towns and cities he will be visiting for six shows in May and June.
“I love going around the country talking about my career and football in general, trying to make people smile along the way,” says Warnock, 75, who lives in Cornwall.
“To now also be raising funds for the very important community projects York City foundation undertake makes the night extra special. It’s a fabulous club and city, and I can’t wait to be there with a few very special guests too, including some legends of the club.”
Warnock made four appearances as a winger for York City in 1978. He worked as a chiropodist for eight years and went on to be the official Guinness World Records holder for achieving the most promotions in football – eight in total – including taking Scarborough FC into the old fourth division of the Football League as GM Vauxhall Conference champions in 1986-87. He has managed 17 different clubs over 44 years, including Sheffield United and Leeds United, overseeing more than 2,000 games.
Darren Kelly, York City’s general manager, says: “We are delighted and very grateful to Neil for this generous gesture to donate ten per cent of every ticket sold for his show in York.
“Neil is a real legend of football, and I am sure York City fans will turn out in numbers to see the show and in the process support the very important work the York City foundation does in the community.”
Bass player Kai West’s poster for Bull’s two-day album launch for Engines Of Honey at The Crescent
COMEDY legends and Arthurian tales, Welsh rock firebrands and a bullish album launch, an Italian dance champion and spa town illuminations have Charles Hutchinson reaching for his diary.
York album launch of the week: Bull at The Crescent, March 22 and 23, 7.30pm
BULL, York’s “finest purveyors of jangling indie joy”, launch second album Engines Of Honey with a brace of home-city shows, supported by FEET and Vehicle on Friday, then Fat Spatula and Eugene Gorgeous on Saturday.
Vocalist/songwriter Tom Beer, guitarist Dan Lucas, drummer Tom Gabbatiss, keyboard player Holly Beer and bassist Kai West promise entirely different sets for each night with no repeats. What’s more, they are making a day of it on the Saturday with a free daytime jamboree from 2pm, featuring an art fair, Ben Crosthwaite’s music quiz, bingo with Jade Blood, Bull’s homemade curry and a memoraBullia exhibition, plus post-gig DJs. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Rolling out a barrel of laughs: Al Murray at Grand Opera House, York
Comedy at the treble at Grand Opera House, York: Al Murray, Guv Island, Sunday, 7.30pm; An Evening With The Fast Show, Tuesday, 7.30pm; Frank Skinner, 30 Years Of Dirt, Thursday, 7.30pm.
STANDING up so you don’t have to take it lying it down anymore, Al Murray, the Pub Landlord, is back “to make sense of the questions you probably already had the answers to” in Guv Island.
An Evening With The Fast Show sold out suitably fast. Original cast members Simon Day, Charlie Higson, John Thomson, Paul Whitehouse, Mark Williams and Arabella Weir mark their 30th anniversary with behind-the-scenes insights into their television characters and catchphrases, recreating favourite moments too. Two nights later, Brummie comedian and TV and radio presenter Frank Skinner reflects on his own 30-year landmark. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Fast talking: An Evening With The Fast Show at Grand Opera House, York, on Tuesday
Please Please You presents: C Duncan, Rise at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, Wednesday, 7.30pm
THE son of two classical musicians, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland-trained multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter C Duncan – ‘C’ stands for Christopher – plays solo at Rise.
The Glaswegian musician will be performing songs from his four albums: 2015’s Mercury Prize-nominated Architect, 2016’s The Midnight Sun, 2019’s Health and 2022’s Alluvium, recorded at his home studio at Helensburgh. He is an artist too, painting all the artwork for his Bella Union releases. Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.
Feeder’s poster for their Black/Red tour, visiting York Barbican on Tuesday
Welsh invaders of the week: Feeder, supported by Girlband!, York Barbican, Tuesday, 8pm
ANTHEMIC Newport rock band Feeder mark their 30th anniversary with a spring tour and the April 5 release of a new studio double album, Black/Red, on Big Teeth Music.
Accruing seven million record sales, Grant Nicholas and Take Hirose’s group chalked up 20 Top 40 hits from 1997’s High to 2008’s We Are The People, and the likes of Just The Way I’m Feeling, Buck Rogers, Feeling A Moment, Tumble And Fall, Just A Day, Fear Of Flying and Lost And Found surely will feature in their set. Leeds Brudenell Social Club awaits on April 7 at 8pm. Box office: York, yorkbarbican.co.uk; Leeds, brudenellsocialclub.co.uk.
Leigh Francis: Leeds comedian heads to York on My First Time tour
Yorkshire comedian of the week: Leigh Francis, My First Time, York Barbican, Wednesday, 7.45pm
LEEDS comedian, radio presenter and Bo’ Selecta! sketch show regular Leigh Francis is the scabrous, scatological, sometimes rubber-faced humorist behind the characters Keith Lemon, The Bear, Avid Merrion and Amanda Holden’s ‘gran’, Myrtle, along with celebrity impressions of David Dickinson, Ant and Dec and Louis Theroux.
All feature in Francis’s debut venture into the live environment in a tour show that combines sketches with buckets of audience interaction. “Come see me being other people live for the first time!” he says. Also playing Hull City Hall, March 22; Leeds Grand Theatre, April 6. Box office: York, yorkbarbican.co.uk; Hull, hulltheatres.co.uk; Leeds, leedsheritagetheatres.com.
Giovanni Pernice: Let him entertain you at York Barbican
Dance show of the week: Giovanni Pernice, Let Me Entertain You, York Barbican, Thursday 7.30pm
GIOVANNI Pernice, the Sicilian dancer from Strictly Come Dancing and BAFTA winner, returns to York Barbican on his 2024 tour, Let Me Entertain You.
Pernice, dancer, performer, showman and Guinness World Record holder for jive kicks and flick to boot, will be joined by fellow professional dancers and West End performers in a show of non-stop action. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Le Navet Bete: History in the re-making in King Arthur at York Theatre Royal
Legend of the week: Le Navet Bete in King Arthur, York Theatre Royal, Thursday to Saturday, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee
AFTER Treasure Island and Dracula: The Bloody Truth, Le Navet Bete head back to York Theatre Royal for a retelling of the Arthurian legend, King Arthur, in their inimitable comedic style. Camelot is in trouble, and Arthur knows that if he fails to turn things around, this civilisation will be forgotten and be known as nothing more than a rather dull time in British history.
When three hapless squires approach him about changing that legacy, however, a legend is born in a new comedy for the ages, suitable for the whole family. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Jamie Cullum: All that jazz at York Barbican in November. Picture: Charles Gall
Yorkgig announcement of the week: Jamie Cullum, York Barbican, November 12
DID you know that Jamie Cullum failed his Grade 4 piano exam and can barely read music? Nevertheless, the Rochford-born pianist, now 44, became the biggest-selling British jazz musician of all time. This autumn he will play 14 British dates, visiting York as his only Yorkshire destination. Tickets will go on sale on March 22 at 10am at axs.com/york.
In Focus: BEAM Light Festival, Harrogate, today, dusk (6.30pm) to 10pm
James Bawn’s light installation at the Cenotaph war memorial in Harrogate for the BEAM Light Festival. Picture: Charlotte Graham
COMMISSIONED by Harrogate International Festivals, Element 3 Design is illuminating Harrogate town centre with a light installation trail of spa-town locations, landmarks and green spaces, some iconic, others unexpected, ten in total.
Visitors and locals alike will see Harrogate in a completely different light in this new festival, as James Bawn follows up his 2019 light show by using lighting beams, projections and soundscapes to animate the likes of the Cenotaph and Crescent Gardens, while Valley Gardens trees will be lit with dancing twinkling lights. No need to book, just show up!
Supported by Future 50, North Yorkshire Council, Visit North Yorkshire and Harrogate Business Improvement District (BID), the Beam Light Festival festival is free: no need to book, just show up!
Business owners and the Harrogate community are encouraged to create their own lights for display in their windows to enhance the trail.
Beam follows on from such Harrogate large-scale outdoor events as the Fire Garden and the post-pandemicFire & Light Festival. Matthew Chapman, Harrogate BID manager, says: “Harrogate BID are thrilled to continue our close partnership with Harrogate International Festivals and Beam will be another fantastic occasion to celebrate this further.
“With anticipated increased footfall and spend for our members, a new and unique Harrogate experience delivering our objective of a ‘Vibrant Town’, we cannot wait to see Beam come to fruition and really put Harrogate on the map.”
Councillor Simon Myers, North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for culture, arts and housing, says: “Beam demonstrates the importance of free-to-attend events to animate our communities and ensure access to the arts for the widest possible audiences.
“Large events like this are an opportunity to celebrate the spaces which we live and work in and enjoy, and Beam is sure to present the town in a brand new light.”
Fiona Movley, chair of the Future 50 Appeal, says: “Harrogate International Festivals’ Future 50 Appeal was created to ensure the widest possible access to the arts for our community, and to develop artists of the future. We are excited to light up our town and shine a light on the creative talent we have in our region.”
The ten locations for the BEAM Light Fesival
1. Valley Gardens
WORKING with sound artist Dan Fox, the Elgar Walk within the Valley Gardens will be transformed with a Glittering Grove. Thousands of specks of light dance across trees and paths creating a sparkling path as you head towards the sculpture that will have a single light beam hitting the clouds above.
2. Crescent Gardens
USING searchlights to cast patterns across the sky, the lights and soundscape will create a magical spectacle. At the heart of the installation is the iconic Cupid and Psyche statue from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, which brings the timeless tale of love and transformation to life.
3. Picture Frame/Montpellier Hill
SEE yourself in a different light as the Picture Frame is picked out in different colours to accentuate the design. Strike a pose!
4. Cenotaph & Field of Light
THE Cenotaph war memorial will be illuminated with narrow beams of light to make a solemn and dignified artwork paying tribute to the sacrifices of those who served.
A field of light created by solar jars will glow in the darkness. As the sun sets and the jars come to life, the area will be transformed into a magical sea of twinkling lights.
5. St Peter’s Church
SUBTLE lighting to highlight the beautiful architecture will provide a serene and contemplative atmosphere for visitors to reflect and find solace in this tranquil space among the illuminated surroundings.
6. Jubilee Memorial
SEE Queen Victoria bathed in colour to accentuate the architecture of this memorial commemorating the 1887 Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria.
7. Victoria Shopping Centre
A DYNAMIC lighting design, complemented by a carefully curated soundscape, will elevate the architecture of this building inspired by the work of Palladio in Italy 450 years ago.
8. The Exchange Building
THE central stairwell of The Exchange will be illuminated to be seen from miles around. Searchlights on the roof will cast beams of light into the night sky, further accentuating the impact the building has had on the townscape.
9. Library Gardens & Library
THE Library Gardens will be lit carefully, playing with light and shadow, whilst the Carnegie Library will tell stories through light projection on the front of the building.
10. Cedar Court Hotel
A COLOURFUL animated light will wash the building in colour, illuminating the beautiful architecture.
Lit up in words: James Bawn’s Harrogate 1571 sculpture, created in 2019 and now part of the BEAM festival. Picture: Celestine Dubruel
History with a comical twist: Le Navet Bete in King Arthur at York Theatre Royal
COMEDY legends and Arthurian tales, Welsh rock firebrands and an Italian dance champion, a Scottish folk queen and a school talent troop have Charles Hutchinson reaching for his diary.
Legend of the week: Le Navet Bete in King Arthur, York Theatre Royal, March 21 to 23, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee
AFTER Treasure Island and Dracula: The Bloody Truth, Le Navet Bete head back to York Theatre Royal for a retelling of the Arthurian legend, King Arthur, in their inimitable comedic style. Camelot is in trouble, and Arthur knows that if he fails to turn things around, this civilisation will be forgotten and be known as nothing more than a rather dull time in British history.
When three hapless squires approach him about changing that legacy, however, a legend is born in a new comedy for the ages, suitable for the whole family. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
The poster for Feeder’s Black/Red Tour 2024, playing York and Leeds
York gig of the week: Feeder, supported by Girlband!, York Barbican, March 19, 8pm
ANTHEMIC Newport rock band Feeder mark their 30th anniversary with a spring tour and the April 5 release of a new studio double album, Black/Red, on Big Teeth Music.
Accruing seven million record sales, Grant Nicholas and Take Hirose’s group chalked up 20 Top 40 hits from 1997’s High to 2008’s We Are The People, and the likes of Just The Way I’m Feeling, Buck Rogers, Feeling A Moment, Tumble And Fall, Just A Day, Fear Of Flying and Lost And Found will surely feature in their set. Leeds Brudenell Social Club awaits on April 7 at 8pm. Box office: York, yorkbarbican.co.uk; Leeds, brudenellsocialclub.co.uk.
The Talent Troop from Welburn Hall School, performing at Helmsley Arts Centre tomorrow
Community show of the week: Welburn Hall presents The Talent Troop, Helmsley Arts Centre, tomorrow (14/3/2024), 7pm
A SELECTION of students from Welburn Hall School, near York, takes to the stage once more for a variety performance. Prepare to be amazed by The Talent Troop in a fun-filled evening of music and dancing guaranteed to bring out the smiles. Look out for a fund-raising raffle and cake stall too. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
The Pink’un: Vicky Jackson’s tribute show to an American pop icon at the Milton Rooms, Malton
Tribute show of the week: Vicky Jackson: Pink!, Milton Rooms, Malton, Friday, 8pm
VICKY Jackson has been wowing audiences with her energetic portrayal of Pink, the Grammy-winning singer and songwriter from Doylestown, Pennsylvania, for more than a decade.
In bespoke costumes and accompanied by her five-piece touring band, Jackson presents all of Pink’s major hits from her 24-year career. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Roll out the barrel of laughs: Al Murray, the Pub Landlord, at Grand Opera House, York
Comedy at the treble at the Grand Opera House, York: Al Murray, Guv Island, Sunday, 7.30pm; An Evening With The Fast Show, March 19, 7.30pm; Frank Skinner, 30 Years Of Dirt, March 21, 7.30pm.
STANDING up so you don’t have to take it lying it down anymore, Al Murray, the Pub Landlord, is back “to make sense of the questions you probably already had the answers to” in Guv Island.
An Evening With The Fast Show sold out suitably fast. Original cast members Simon Day, Charlie Higson, John Thomson, Paul Whitehouse, Mark Williams and Arabella Weir mark their 30th anniversary with behind-the-scenes insights into their television characters and catchphrases, recreating favourite moments too. Two nights later, Brummie comedian and TV and radio presenter Frank Skinner reflects on his own 30-year landmark. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Beneath The Layers: A work by Anne-Marie Magson from her Helmsley Arts Centre exhibition
Exhibition of the week: Anna-Marie Magson, Beneath The Layers, Helmsley Arts Centre, until May 3
FROM her home studio in York, Anna-Marie Magson creates ceramics and artworks. Trained in fine art painting at Liverpool College of Art, she worked initially with clay, exploring surface decoration and textured pattern on tiles and panels.
Latterly, she has returned her focus to two-dimensional work, expanding her practice to encompass abstract collages, printmaking and painting to reflect her long-standing love of printed textiles and quilt designs and mid-20th century art.
The poster for Leigh Francis’s debut tour, My First Time
Yorkshire comedian of the week: Leigh Francis, My First Time, York Barbican, March 20, 7.45pm
LEEDS comedian, radio presenter and Bo’ Selecta! sketch show regular Leigh Francis is the scabrous, scatological, sometimes rubber-faced humorist behind the characters Keith Lemon, The Bear, Avid Merrion and Amanda Holden’s ‘gran’, Myrtle, along with celebrity impressions of David Dickinson, Ant and Dec and Louis Theroux.
All feature in Francis’s debut venture into the live environment in a tour show that combines sketches with buckets of audience interaction. “Come see me being other people live for the first time!” he says. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Giovanni Pernice: Let him entertain you at York Barbican
Dance show of the week: Giovanni Pernice, Let Me Entertain You, York Barbican, March 21, 7.30pm
GIOVANNI Pernice, the Sicilian dancer from Strictly Come Dancing and BAFTA winner, returns to York Barbican on his 2024 tour, Let Me Entertain You.
Pernice, dancer, performer, showman and Guinness World Record holder for jive kicks and flick to boot, will be joined by fellow professional dancers and West End performers in a show of non-stop action. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Barbara Dickson: All Saints Church autumn concert with Nick Holland in Pocklington
Gig announcement of the week: Barbara Dickson & Nick Holland, All Saints Church, Pocklington, October 4, 7.30pm
IN this special acoustic performance, Scottish folk singer Barbara Dickson and her pianist Nick Holland will explore her catalogue of songs in the intimate and historic setting of All Saints Church.
The pair let the words and melodies take centre stage as they perform material drawing on Dickson’s folk roots, contemporary greats and her classic hits, Answer Me, Another Suitcase In Another Hall, Caravan and I Know Him So Well. Box office: barbaradickson.net.
AAAYYY! Happy Days legend Henry Winkler will mark his 50th anniversary in Hollywood by sharing stories of his life in The Fonz And Beyond at the Grand Opera House, York, on June 23.
Told he would never achieve, the Emmy award-winning actor, author, director and producer is treading the boards with his heartwarming story of success to celebrate his memoir, Being Henry.
Launched into stardom as The Fonz in the American sitcom Happy Days, Winkler has transcended the role that defined a generation of cool. In the enduring glow of that fame, he has endeared himself to new generations of fans with roles in shows such as Arrested Development, Parks And Recreation and Barry.
In a show billed as “dynamic, vivid, hilarious and emotional”, Henry will travel from the achingly vulnerable lows to the stratospheres of global acclaim (chiefly his appearance at the 1976 Logie Awards); from the disheartening truth of an upbringing with undiagnosed dyslexia, to the pressures of a role that takes on a life of its own – and the path forward once your wildest dream seems behind you.
In store too will be a story about his dogs and a live question-and-answer session with the audience. Tickets for the 7.30pm show are on sale at atgtickets.com/york.
