Nell Baker’s Eddy, left, Jo Patmore’s Alice and Tom Gallagher’s Connor in the John Godber Company’s premiere of Elizabeth Godber’s Wolf Country at East Riding Theatre
FOR Halloween, the John Godber Company unleashes Elizabeth Godber’s country music-dusted werewolf comedy-drama Wolf Country at the East Riding Theatre, Beverley.
Country music mega-fan Alice (played by Jo Patmore) and no-nonsense nurse Eddy (Nell Baker) are best friends who would be happy for things to stay exactly as they are. Unfortunately, a potential werewolf is running rampant around Beverley, and so nothing looks like it will stay the same for long.
Eddy cares not a jot for all the rumours and conspiracies, but Alice is straight down the rabbit hole, especially after meeting self-proclaimed werewolf expert Connor (Tom Gallagher).
As the hot breath of Halloween looms ever closer, the full moon is out and matters are starting to spiral. Surely they know East Yorkshire is Wolf Country – and don’t you?
From the co-writer of the UK Theatre Award-nominated Stephen Joseph Theatre hit The Comedy of Errors (More Or Less) and writer of the ERT premiere of The Remarkable Tale Of Dorothy Mackaill comes a lupine comedy of friendship, ambition andwhat drives our fears amid the wildness that lurks beneath the surface of modern life in East Yorkshire – all underscored by a Country Western soundtrack.
Nell Baker, left, Jo Patmore and Tom Gallagher in an uplifting scene in Elizabeth Godber’s play about anxiety, East Yorkshire and werewolf folklore
“I first came across the legend of ‘Old Stinker’, Beverley’s very own werewolf, while looking into local folklore and history when studying at the University of Hull,” says Elizabeth.
“I’ve always loved anything a bit whimsical and magical, and the idea really stuck with me. Werewolf legends are very rare in the UK; most come out of Germany, Eastern Europe or the USA, so the concept of a werewolf on Beverley Lock was just too good an idea to put to one side.
“Especially as East Yorkshire was the last place in the UK to have wild wolves, who were said to have died out in the 18th century, so it’s all just a brilliant story that almost wrote itself.”
When Elizabeth looked further into the legend, she was excited to learn there had been a flurry of sightings of the beast in 2015 and 2016. “Even the rock musician Alice Cooper had got involved, posting on social media about it,” she says. “This is where I really started to link the wolf to music and Americana, and I’ve always been a massive country music fan, so including that all made sense to me.”
A real hunt for the beast was conducted by the werewolf hunters of East Yorkshire in 2016. “In researching for this play, I was excited to be able to talk to some of the people who went on it, although they didn’t find anything,” says Elizabeth.
Cue her tale of werewolves, anxiety and growing up in Beverley, accompanied by a country music sound track, whose flavour can be savoured on the East Riding Theatre website with a link to Spotify. Dolly Parton, Tim McGraw, Garth Brooks, Johnny Cash, Shania Twain et al, y’all.
Wolf Country playwright Elizabeth Godber
“From all those East Riding folklores came the idea of this play – though it’s not really about werewolves,” says Elizabeth. “It’s about three friends in their late 20s, living in Beverley, finding themselves at that time in life when they’re discussing adulthood and the move away from being a teenager to that person with a job.
“There’s also romance going on, but all this is happening when there’s a werewolf on the loose in Beverley, creating fear and paranoia, which is reflected in their own lives.
“Learning about the werewolf hunts in 2015 and 2015, I liked the idea of writing about our paranoia that there is something out there in the dark playing on our phobias.”
At 30, “for sure I felt I was ready to write something of my own experience of being a young person growing up in a more rural place,” says Elizabeth. “I live in Beverley, and I see a lot of plays set in London and Manchester, but there are a lot of people like me who grew up and live in the countryside, and I want to tell that story.
“It was really important to me too to have a local cast. Jo Patmore, from The Highwayman last year, and Nell Baker are both from Beverley and Tom Gallagher is from Hull. I wanted to have that authenticity of growing up in East Yorkshire. That’s important when you’re premiering plays to an East Yorkshire audience, who will tell you exactly what they think!”
Mental wellbeing plays its part in Elizabeth’s play. “The lead character that Jo plays, Alice, is overtaken by anxiety about the werewolf legend, to the extent that the hunt takes her over, so it’s also a play about mental health,” she says.
Wolf/Alice: Jo Patmore’s Alice experiences anxiety over the East Yorkshire werewolf stories in Elizabeth Godber’s Wolf Country
“There’s a balance between ‘oh my god, what’s going on?’ and all the laughter, which is reflective of life, so it’s uplifting and positive overall, but there will be highs and lows on the way.
“I hope that the story is both interesting and funny as well – being my father, John Godber’s daughter, I write plays that are comedic too.”
As for the inclusion of country music, “Alice has an obsession with country music. That’s how she deals with her anxiety,” says Elizabeth. “I’ve always been drawn to folklore element of country music, with all that ‘ruralness’ to it, which I wanted to bring from America to East Yorkshire, but also because it has an ‘otherness’ to it that I wanted to bring to the story.”
One final thought from Elizabeth: “Be careful on your travels on your way home as you never know what might be out there!” she says, in the finale to her programme note.
Elizabeth Godber’s Wolf Country, East Riding Theatre, Beverley, until November 1, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Thursday and Saturday matinees. Age recommendation: 16 plus for strong language and sexual references. Box office: eastridingtheatre.co.uk/wolf-country/
The John Godber Company’s poster for the Halloween premiere of Wolf Country
Luxmuralis’s Echoes Of Yorkshire installation on the St Mary’s Abbey ruins in the York Museum Gardens. Picture: Duncan Savage, Ravage Productions, for York Museums Trust
LET light, colour and music surround you at the Echoes Of Yorkshire light and sound installation conjured by Luxmuralis, who bring alive the culturally rich story of the Yorkshire Museum and York Museum Gardens from 1,000 images.
Visitors are invited to “immerse yourself in the story of the historic site with contemporary light and music showcasing its age-defining artefacts and extraordinary exhibits. Join us to celebrate all that the museum and its gardens bring to our city and the wider north of England”.
In the 30-year collaboration of Staffordshire bronze sculptor, fine artist and immersive installation artist Peter Walker and composer David Harper, Luxmuralis travels the world to create stories in light and sound for audiences at locations ranging from the Tower of London and St Paul’s Cathedral, London, to city-wide open-air projections in places such as Oxford and Limburg in the Netherlands.
Through combining fine art, light and sound, Luxmuralis reflects closely on the history and heritage of places by weaving together the contemporary and the ancient.
The Viking Helmet on the Yorkshire Museum frontage in Luxmuralis’s Echoes Of Yorkshire. Picture: Duncan Savage, Ravage Productions, for York Museums Trust
Now, for the first time, Luxmuralis is transforming the walls of York in Echoes Of Yorkshire in York Museum Gardens for ten evenings filled with six looping art installations and landscape lighting by Steve Rainsford.
Ticketed entry time slots are given every 20 minutes, but once in the gardens visitors can journey through the experience at their own pace with a recommended walking time of one hour. Refreshments will be available to buy on the night, including from Thor’s tipi.
Echoes Of Yorkshire is suitable for all ages. Audiences will experience the gardens’ history from the Roman period to its time as an abbey (St Mary’s Abbey) in tandem with Luxmuralis’s showcase of the Yorkshire Museum’s collections that span 200 million years from the Jurassic and the Mesolithic, through to the Romans, Viking, Anglo Saxon and Medieval.
Welcoming Luxmuralis to York Museum Gardens, Siona Mackelworth, head of audience and programme for York Museums Trust, says: “We are delighted that Luxmuralis agreed to produce a very special and bespoke show for us here in York.
Luxmuralis’s arch installation in York Museum Gardens. Picture: Duncan Savage, Ravage Productions, for York Museums Trust
“This is a celebration of all that the Yorkshire Museum brings to the city, its history and the location as the repository of great discoveries and stories. With this amount of content, the Luxmuralis light and sound show looks amazing.”
Luxmuralis artistic director Peter Walker says: “We’re thrilled to be collaborating with the team at Yorkshire Museum to deliver a truly distinctive experience set within the stunning and historically rich Museum Gardens.
“By drawing inspiration from the museum’s collections, this light installation re-imagines the architecture and landscape in an entirely new and transformative way.”
Peter drew on myriad resources in the York Museum Trust’s collection: the Roman occupation; the Vikings; the Medieval; geology; paleontology; fine art et al. “My job was then to create a ‘portrait’ of the city of York from that collection,” he says.
St Mary’s Abbey ruins bathed in the art and light of Luxmuralis’s Echoes Of Yorkshire. Picture: Duncan Savage, Ravage Productions, for York Museums Trust
“Where we are quite different from illumination shows is that my fine art background means we use projection in a different way. It can be done in many ways, but we’re unique in that it’s not the projection that drives what we do but the other way round; the art drives it.
“To me, as a fine artist, the excitement lies in the gardens and what you bring into the public realm: the excitement of the audience seeing the installations and taking what they want from them, because it’s not prescriptive.
“In fact we tell our audiences to forget the technology because it’s the least important part. We use it as a medium to celebrate moments, so the technology is like a canvas to paint pictures.”
As part of his research, Peter visited the Museum Gardens several times. “Just by walking through them, it allows you to understand the gardens’ character and the visitor experience, and these gardens are such a fitting place to be doing Echoes Of Yorkshire. The audience can really enjoy the experiential moments we have created.”
The writing is on the wall for Luxmuralis’s Echoes Of Yorkshire in the York Museum Gardens. Picture: Created by Luxmuralis
Tickets cost £13.50 per adult; £9.50 for children aged five to 16; free admission for under-fives. Box office: yorkshiremuseum.org.uk. Echoes Of Yorkshire is on a constant loop from 6pm to 8.20pm each night. Please note, only assistance dogs will be allowed into the gardens during the event.
Luxmuralis: back story
LUXMURALIS is the name given to the artistic collaboration of sculptor and fine artist Peter Walker and composer David Harper, who specialise in immersive fine art, light and sound installations around the UK and abroad, creating works across multiple media and presentation formats.
Core to their work is the exploration and development of the fine art tradition through new media, placing contemporary fine art, light and sound production in an art historical context.
Luxmuralis takes art onto the streets and provides access to visual artworks in public as well as unexpected places.
Luxmuralis’s Echoes Of Yorkshire: Art, light and sound in harmony in York Museum Gardens. Picture: Duncan Savage, Ravage Productions, for York Museums Trust
GARDEN art & light installations, wartime memories and Dracula and Cinderella retellings spark Charles Hutchinson’s interest.
Installation of the week: Echoes Of Yorkshire, York Museum Gardens, until Sunday, 6pm to 8.20pm
LET light, colour and music surround you at Luxmuralis’s light and sound installation as artist Peter Walker, composer David Harper and lighting designer Steve Rainsford bring the story alive of the Yorkshire Museum and York Museum Gardens from 1,000 images.
Immerse yourself in the story of the historic site with contemporary light and music showcasing York Museum Trust’s age-defining artefacts and extraordinary exhibits. Tickets: yorkshiremuseum.org.uk.
David Barrott, Catherine Edge and Adam Marsdin in rehearsal for Settlement Players’ production of Party Piece
Calamitous comedy misadventure of the week: York Settlement Community Players in Party Piece, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee
AMERICAN director, writer, producer, historian and stuntman Martin T Brooks directs Settlement Players for the first time in Richard Harris’s calamitous 1992 comedy Party Piece.
Michael and Roma Smethurst are preparing meticulously for their fancy-dress housewarming party as Mrs Hinson, not the biggest fan of her upper-class new neighbours, keeps a criticising eye on the attendees. Then disasters strike: an embarrassing lack of guests, a burning barbeque, a marauding Zimmer frame and a corpse showing up at the front door. Cue chaos. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Cassie Vallance, left, and Jane Bruce in Story Craft Theatre’s Bat, Cackle And Pop! at York Theatre Royal
Children’s Halloween show of the week: Story Craft Theatre in Bat, Cackle And Pop!, York Theatre Royal Studio, today until Friday, 10.30am and 1pm
WINIFRED the Witch thinks everyone has forgotten her birthday. Not so. There will be a big surprise party, but first, a special birthday cake must be made.
“We just need the last three rather spooky ingredients,” say York company Story Craft Theatre’s Cassie Vallance and Jane Bruce. “Our show is bubbling with all sorts of ghosts and ghouls – more silly than scary – and there’s plenty of opportunities to dabble in some spell making, as well as flying with luxury BAT Airways.” Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Jimmy Regal & The Royals: Playing Ryedale Blues Club at Milton Rooms, Malton
Blues gig of the week: Ryedale Blues Club presents Jimmy Regal & The Royals, Milton Rooms, Malton, tomorrow, 8pm
JIMMY Regal & The Royals are a tough and howlin’ harmonica-led three piece from South London, brandishing a sound from Mississippi to New Orleans, Mali to Canvey Island. Signed to Lunaria Records, they are touring to promote latest album Well Boss, a live set recorded at the Temperance in Leamington Spa. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Stage Hammer: Revamping Bram Stoker’s Dracula
High stakes of the week: Stage Hammer in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tomorrow and Friday, 7.30pm; Kirk Theatre, Pickering, Saturday, 7.30pm
WOLVES howl in the forests of Transylvania. Waves crash violently against the cliffs below Whitby Abbey. The infection is spreading. Count Dracula (Stuart Sellens) walks among us. Yorkshire solicitor Jonathan Harker (Callum Mathers) travels to a castle in the Carpathian Mountains to finalise the sale of property for a reclusive nobleman.
When he seemingly vanishes, fiancée Mina (Jennifer Jones) and her closest friend Lucy (Kathryn Lay) fall into the grip of a sinister force. Their only hope for survival is the mysterious vampire slayer Professor Van Helsing (Christopher C Corbett) in East Yorkshire troupe Stage Hammer’s new account of Bram Stoker’s vampire story, adapted by Corbett and directed by Lydia Baldwin. Box office: York, 01904 658338 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk; Pickering, 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk.
Fizzy with the singers in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Bugsy Malone: Theo Rae, Isla Lightfoot, Olivia Swales and Beau Lettin
Musical of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Bugsy Malone, Grand Opera House, York, October 31 to November 8, 7.30pm, except Sunday and Monday; 2.30pm, both Saturdays and Sunday
LESLEY Hill directs and choreographs York company Pick Me Up Theatre’s cast of 40 young performers in Alan Parker and Paul Williams’s musical, replete with the film songs You Give A Little Love, My Name Is Tallulah, So You Wanna Be A Boxer?, Fat Sam’s Grand SlamandBugsy Malone.
In Prohibition-era New York, rival gangsters Fat Sam and Dandy Dan are at loggerheads. As custard pies fly and Dan’s splurge guns wreak havoc, penniless ex-boxer and all-round nice guy Bugsy Malone falls for aspiring singer Blousey Brown. Can Bugsy resist seductive songstress Tallulah, Fat Sam’s moll and Bugsy’s old flame, and stay out of trouble while helping Fat Sam to defend his business? Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Little Seeds Music: Refreshing the fairytale world in Cinderella Ice Cream Seller
Fairytale retelling of the week: Little Seeds Music in Cinderella Ice Cream Seller, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 2.30pm
OVER the past four decades, Cinderella’s has become the kingdom’s most beloved ice cream company, with a parlour on every street corner, but how did this humble maker become a multimillionaire business woman with her own empire?
Prepare your dessert spoons for a tale of perseverance, princes, palace balls, glass slippers and, yes, ice cream in writer-composer David Gibb’s hour-long family musical, wherein loyal Cinderella’s employees Talvi and Caldwell share her rags-to-riches tale and confront their own desires, hopes and the magic that lies within each scoop. Suitable for age five upwards. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Bomb Happy: Film and live performance double bill for VE Day at Milton Rooms, Malton
Theatre memorial of the week: Everwitch Theatre in Bomb Happy VE Day double bill, Milton Rooms, Malton, Sunday, 3pm
PRESENTED in the lead-up to Remembrance Sunday, whose focus this year falls on 80th anniversary of VE Day, Bomb Happy has been created by writer-performer Helena Fox and actor-vocalist Natasha Jones, of Everwitch Theatre.
From D-Day to VE Day, this powerful one-hour double bill of live performance (30 minutes) and short film (30 minutes) brings to life the verbatim accounts of two working-class Yorkshire Normandy veterans, highlighting the lifelong impact of post-traumatic stress disorder and sleep trauma, not only on war veterans but on their families too. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Chris Smither: Playing All Saints Church, Pocklington tonight
In Focus: Chris Smither, All Saints Church, Pocklington, tonight, 7.30pm
CHRIS Smither, truly an American original, returns to the UK to perform songs from his vast catalogue on his 2025 UK and Irish tour as he approaches his 81st birthday on November 11.
Honing his synthesis of folk and blues for more than 50 years, this profound songwriter and captivating performer, from Miamai, Florida, melds the styles of his two major influences, Lightnin’ Hopkins and Mississippi John Hurt, into his own signature guitar sound.
His music draws deeply from the blues, American folk music, modern poets and humanist philosophers. His songs have featured in films and TV shows and been covered by John Mayall, Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt and Diana Krall, among others.
Smither continues to tour festivals, music clubs and concerts halls all over the world. Now he showcases his 20th studio album, 2024’s All About The Bones, produced by long-time friend and producer David Goodrich, which complements eight new compositions with Smither’s renditions of Eliza Gilkyson’s Calm Before The Storm and Tom Petty’s Time To Move On.
The recording sessions took place at Sonelab Studios in Easthampton, Massachusetts, where Smither was joined by Goodrich, Zak Trojano, BettySoo and Chris Cheek.
The New York Times said of All About The Bones: “With a weary, well-travelled voice and a serenely intricate finger-picking style, Mr Smither turns the blues into songs that accept hard-won lessons and try to make peace with fate.”
Singer-songwriter BettySoo is Smither’s guest on the tour. Tickets for tonight cost £21.50 at www.smither.com.
Adrian Cook’s Peachum and Cathy Atkin’s Mrs Peachum in York Opera’s The Beggar’s Opera. All pictures: David Kessel
YORK Opera is back with a spring in its step. John Gay’s ballad opera of 1728, now nearing its 300th anniversary, was given lively and sometimes sparkling treatment by its director, Chris Charlton-Matthews, offering the company an opportunity to show its strength in depth.
The choice of venue, The Citadel in Gillygate, York was not an easy option. With the audience seated on three sides, mostly at tables in cabaret style, the performance was virtually in the round. This meant that much of the dialogue came and went, depending on where the performers were facing and, as so often with singers of all shades, words were clearer in song than in speech.
The production firmly reminded us of the wealth of our musical heritage, thanks to the composer Johann Pepusch – Berlin-born but London-based for more than 50 years – who gathered together its 69 songs mainly from British ballads, alongside several by living composers including Purcell.
This production gained immensely from its string quartet, oboe (Alex Nightingale) and harpsichord (Tim Tozer), conducted by John Atkin, who delivered a consistently vivid underlay.
Mark Simmonds’s Macheath: “Every inch the dashing womaniser” in York Opera’s The Beggar’s Opera
At the head of proceedings was Adrian Cook’s determined, ruthless Peachum, who was the undoubted mayor of this unruly parish, gamely supported by Cathy Atkin’s Mrs Peachum and Hamish Brown’s Filch.
Alexandra Mather as their faux-naive daughter Polly and Sophie Horrocks as the more streetwise Lucy Lockit – rivals for the love of highwayman Macheath – were well contrasted, while Mark Simmonds was every inch the dashing womaniser they pursued.
There was a notable contribution, too, from Anthony Gardner’s gaoler Lockit – a David Jason look-alike – whose dialogues with Peachum were outstanding. The chorus was full-throated rather than subtle, but cameos from chorus members added considerable colour and kept up momentum.
Alexandra Mather’s faux-naive Polly Peachum
Even so, the performance lasted three hours and would have been punchier with half an hour excised.
The props by Teresa Carr and Jane Carr – a bar for the tavern, a desk for Peachum’s ‘office’ and a high trellis for the bars of Newgate prison – were more than enough to set the scenes, and Jane Woolgar’s choreography was consistently appealing.
The decision to dress the cast in costumes of every era (by the ever-imaginative Maggie Soper), to illustrate the maxim that the poor are always with us, was understandable but confusing.
The jollity of the proceedings was anyway inevitably at odds with the poverty-riddled story. The prologue and epilogue by the Beggar himself, Ian Thomson Smith, ensured a firm start and a happy ending.
ELECTRONIC new wave trailblazers Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark are the first headliners to be confirmed for Futuresound’s third summer of Live At York Museum Gardens concerts.
The Wirral synth-pop duo of Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys will be joined on OMD’s Summer Of Hits bill on July 9 bill by two fellow Eighties’ synth-pop luminaries, Sheffield’s Heaven 17 and Kirkby’s China Crisis.
Rising Newcastle-upon-Tyne singer-songwriter Andrew Cushin will open the show, on the back of supporting such acts as Noel Gallagher and Louis Tomlinson.
The York exclusive postcode presale (for postcode prefixes starting with YO1, YO10, YO19, YO23, YO24, YO26, YO30, YO31 and YO32) will go on sale from 10am tomorrow (29/10/2025). General sales will open at 10am on Friday (31/10/2025).
Formed in Meols, Merseyside in 1978 by McCluskey (vocals, bass guitar) and Humphreys (keyboards, vocals), Orchestra Manoeuvres in The Dark (aka OMD) combined chart success with electronic experimentation on albums such as February 1980 debut Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, October 1980’s Organisation, 1981’s Architecture & Morality, 1983’s Dazzle Ships and 1984’s Junk Culture.
China Crisis in concert at The Crescent, York, in 2024
OMD have since released 1985’s Crush; 1986’s The Pacific Age; 1991’s Sugar Tax; 1993’s Liberator; 1996’s Universal; 2010’s History Of Modern; 2013’s English Electronic; 2017’s The Punishment Of Luxury and 2023’s Bauhaus Staircase.
Pioneering 1979 singles Electricity and Red Frame/White Light paved the way for 1980 chart breakthrough Messages, triggering a flow of synth-pop hits with Enola Gay; Souvenir; Joan Of Arc; Maid Of Orleans (The Waltz Of Joan Of Arc); Genetic Engineering; Locomotion; Talking Loud And Clear; Tesla Girls; So In Love; (Forever) Live And Die; Sailing On The Seven Seas; Pandora’s Box; Stand Above Me and Walking On The Milky Way, their last Top 20 entry in 1996.
In 1986, OMD conquered the United States when If You Leave led off the soundtrack to the hit rom-com film Pretty In Pink.
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark last played York on October 27 2019 at York Barbican on their extended 40th anniversary world tour. That anniversary was marked by the reissue of their first four albums on 180g vinyl, housed in their original sleeve designs by Peter Saville.
Summing up five decades of OMD, McCluskey says: “Electronic music is our language. It’s how we talk.”
The poster for Becky Hill’s Summer Music Saturday concert at York Racecourse next summer
BECKY Hill will perform at York Racecourse on Summer Music Saturday, June 27, in the second musical signing for the 2026 racing season. Tickets go on sale from today at www.yorkracecourse.co.uk.
The two-time BRIT Award winner for Best Dance Act, from Bewdley in the Severn Valley, rose to fame after reaching the semi-finals in the first series of The Voice UK in 2012.
Singer and songwriter Hill, 31, topped the UK charts with debut single Gecko (Overdrive, with Oliver Heldens) and has since posted Top 20 hits with Back & Forth (with MK and Jonas Blue); Wish You Well (with Sigala); Lose Control (with Meduza and Goodboys); Better Off Without You (featuring Shift K3Y); Heaven On My Mind (with Sigala).
The hits continued with Remember (with David Guetta); My Heart Goes (La Di Da, featuring Topic); Run (with Galantis); Crazy What Love Can Do (with David Guetta and Ella Henderson); History (with Joe Corry) and Disconnect (featuring Chase & Status).
Hill has released two studio albums, 2021’s Only Honest On The Weekend (peaking at number seven) and 2024’s Believe Me Now? (reaching number three), preceded by her 2019 compilation Get To Know.
Racegoers can expect a high-energy performance on the “Glastonbury-style stage”, after seven races earlier in the afternoon, as part of Hill’s busy tour schedule for 2026.
James Brennan, head of marketing and sponsorship, says: “It is great news that Becky Hill is debuting on the Knavesmire: a performer who knows how to entertain. It will herald a month for music and racing fans to remember.”
Racing and music fans can take advantage of a price freeze on adult general admission on the racecourse website, meaning that entrance to the main Grandstand and Paddock enclosure starts at £40 per person for a group of six. As well as free car parking, no booking fees apply on this route to purchase.
The racing action will feature seven thoroughbred contests with combined prize money approaching £300,000. The Group Three feature race over seven furlongs will be the Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Criterion Stakes.
Tom Grennan is confirmed already for the York Racecourse Music Showcase Saturday on July 25, performing after that Saturday’s race card. Tickets are on sale.
For the announcement of July 24’s Music Showcase act, keep checking the racecourse website and CharlesHutchPress.
York Stage’s poster to announce next October’s production of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie at the Grand Opera House, York
YORK Stage will present a “bold and gritty” new production of Sheffield-forged musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie at the Grand Opera House, York, from October 16 to 24 2026.
Hold on. Didn’t York Stage perform Dan Gillespie Sells and Tom MacRae’s award-winning show at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, in June 2023? Yes indeed, but that was the York premiere of the Teen Version, starring Ryan Addyman, from Knaresborough, in the title role in his York Stage debut.
Now, director Nik Briggs has decided to re-imagine the award-winning musical with a “raw, authentic edge, capturing the electricity, humour and heart that has made Jamie a modern British classic”. How? By diving deeper into Jamie’s world.
Ryan Addyman as Jamie New in York Stage’s June 2023 York premiere of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Teen Edition. Picture: Matthew Kitchen
Inspired by the Firecracker documentary Jamie: Drag Queen At 16, composer Dan Gillespie Sells (from Horsham’s finest pop practitioners The Feeling) and writer/lyricist Tom MacRae worked their magic from an original idea by director and co-writer Jonathan Butterell for the 2017 Sheffield Crucible Theatre premiere.
Inspired by a true story, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie follows 16-year-old Jamie New, who doesn’t quite fit in. Supported by his loving mum and his friends, Jamie overcomes prejudice, beats the bullies and steps into the spotlight to become the star he was born to be.
York Stage’s 2026 production promises a fresh take on the hit West End show, blending Gillespie Sells’s infectious pop score and MacRae’s fearless, humorous book with York Stage’s trademark theatrical grit and emotional honesty.
Nik Briggs: Directing York Stage’s 2026 production of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie
“This is a story about identity, courage and the power of self-expression,” says Nik. “Our new production will dive deeper into Jamie’s world – its highs, its heartache and its hope – and celebrate the beautiful mess of growing up different in a northern city. We can’t wait to share this version with York audiences.”
Next October’s full-scale production will feature a vibrant cast and professional creative team, marking another landmark moment for York Stage at the Grand Opera House. Tickets will go on sale soon at atgtickets.com/york.
Did you know?
EVERYBODY’S Talking About Jamie was last staged in York by Pick Me Up Theatre at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre in July 2025, when 15-year-old York schoolboy Harvey Stevens took the lead role of Jamie New.
Principal dancers, dance captains and siblings Anna Mai Fitzpatrick and Fergus Fitzpatrick in Riverdance’s 30th anniversary show, The New Generation
LEFT-FIELD Halloween entertainment, garden art and light installations, Normal comedy and a splurge gun musical spark Charles Hutchinson’s interest.
Dance show of the week: Riverdance, 30th Anniversary Tour, York Barbican, today and tomorrow, 2.30pm and 7.30pm
VISITING 30 UK venues – one for each year of its history – from August to December 2025, the Irish dance extravaganza Riverdance rejuvenates the much-loved original show with new innovative choreography and costumes, plus state-of-the-art lighting, projection and motion graphics, in this 30th anniversary celebration.
For the first time, John McColgan directs “the New Generation” of Riverdance performers, none of them born when the show began. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Blair Bitch Project: Playing on Navigators Art’s bill at YO Underworld 6 at The Basement
Live, left-field, local new music, comedy and words for Halloween: Navigators Art presents YO Underworld 6, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, tonight, 7.30pm
IN this special Halloween edition, York arts collective Navigators Art plays host to riot grrrl punk and grunge-inspired York quartet Blair Bitch Project and improvising cellist and sound artist Gaia Blandina, performing collaborative, open-form pieces with Ish, featuring Iris Casling, double bass, Des Clarke, oboe, and Nika Ticciati, voice.
Joshua Arnold & Therine: Welcoming the coming of Samhainat YO Underworld 6
Taking part too are dark hurdy-gurdy and vocal-led trad and experimental drone folk combo Joshua Arnold & Therine, welcoming the coming of Samhain; Kane Bruce, delivering his outrageously dark yet cheeky take on “taboo” topics, and Hull poet Melissa Shode, who explores identity in the socio-political climate and writes for release, justice and the voiceless. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk/navigators-art-performance or on the door.
Steve Gunn: Showcasing his two 2025 albums at The Band Room, Low Mill, tonight. Picture: Paul Rhodes
Moorland gig of the week: Steve Gunn, The Band Room, Low Mill, Farndale, North York Moors, tonight, 7.30pm
STEVE Gunn, the ambient psychedelic American singer-songwriter based in Brooklyn, New York, made his name as a guitarist in Kurt Vile’s backing band, The Violators. His myriad magical influences include Michael Chapman, Michael Hurley and John Fahey.
This weekend he will be showcasing his second album of 2025, Daylight Daylight, out on November 7 on No Quarter, as well as his first fully instrumental album, August’s Music For Writers. Box office: 01751 432900 or thebandroom.co.uk.
Hands and Voices: York choir singing at Laughs, Lyrics & You! at the Gateway Centre on Sunday
Inclusive open mic event of the week: Accessible Arts & Media presents Laughs, Lyrics & You!, Gateway Centre, York, Sunday, 2.30pm to 5pm
WHAT is Laughs, Lyrics & You!? “The idea is to have an open mic-type event, in a relaxed and friendly environment that’s accessible and fun, with tea and cake too,” says Accessible Arts & Media (AAM) chief executive officer Chris Farrell. “Our projects, IMPs, Movers and Shakers and Hands and Voices, will start the show with their wonderful music, dances and stories.
“Then it’s over to whoever would like to perform. Any talent is welcome, a duet, a solo instrument, a poetry reading, a recording of some original music, jokes…whatever you can think of would be great!” To take part, performers must contact projects@aamedia.org.uk or ring Hannah on 07762 428818. Admission is free; donations welcome.
Artist Ric Liptrot: Taking part in That Acomb Arty Thing
Art event of the week: That Acomb Arty Thing, Art Trail, until November 2; Open Studios, November 1 and 2
DISCOVER York artists’ work in venues around Acomb on the autumn Art Trail featuring Carla Ballantine, Linda Braham, Ric Liptrot, Jelena Lunge, Rae Merriman, Isaac Savage, Ginette Speed, Donna Taylor and Dianne Turner.
North Yorkshire Open Studios participants are hosting open studios next Saturday and Sunday: Paul Mathieson & Peter Mathieson, 49 Jute Road, 10am to 4pm; Peijun Cao, 60 Jute Road, 10.30am to 5pm; Fran Brammer, 81 Jute Road, 10am to 4pm; Charlotte Lister & Charley Hellier, 7 Chestnut Grove, 10am to 2pm; Robin Grover-Jacques, 35 Chestnut Grove, 11am to 4pm, and Mo Nisbet, 116 Acomb Road, 11am to 4pm.
Blue sigh thinking? Henry Normal reflects on himself, his mistakes, his Z celebrity status, in The Slideshow
Normal service resumed: Henry Normal, The Slideshow, Helmsley Arts Centre, Sunday, 8pm
THE Slideshow, as poet, film and TV producer/writer Henry Normal explains, is a multi-MEdia spectacular with the emphasis on the “me” in his celebration of his “meteoric rise to Z celebrity status”, followed by his joyous and inevitable slide into physical and mental decline.
Expect poetry, photos, jokes, music, dance, song, circus skills, costume changes, props and stories, exploring where Normal went wrong in life, plus lessons you can learn from his mistakes, in this memoir with cautionary verse. Box office: helmsleyarts.co.uk.
David Barrott, left, Catherine Edge and Adam Marsdin in rehearsal for Settlement Players’ production of Party Piece
Calamitous comedy misadventure of the week: York Settlement Community Players in Party Piece, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, October 28 to November 1, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee
AMERICAN director, writer, producer, historian and stuntman Martin T Brooks directs Settlement Players for the first time in Richard Harris’s calamitous 1992 comedy Party Piece.
Michael and Roma Smethurst are preparing meticulously for their fancy-dress housewarming party. Mrs Hinson, not the biggest fan of her upper-class new neighbours, is keeping a criticising eye on the attendees. Then disasters strike: an embarrassing lack of guests, a burning barbeque, a marauding Zimmer frame and a corpse showing up at the front door. Cue chaos. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Cassie Vallance, left, and Jane Bruce in Story Craft Theatre’s Bat, Cackle And Pop! at York Theatre Royal
Children’s Halloween show of the week: Story Craft Theatre in Bat, Cackle And Pop!, York Theatre Royal Studio, October 29 to 31, 10.30am and 1pm
WINIFRED the Witch thinks everyone has forgotten her birthday. Not so. There will be a big surprise party, but first, a special birthday cake must be made.
“We just need the last three rather spooky ingredients,” say York company Story Craft Theatre’s Cassie Vallance and Jane Bruce. “Our show is bubbling with all sorts of ghosts and ghouls – more silly than scary – and there’s plenty of opportunities to dabble in some spell making, as well as flying with luxury BAT Airways.” Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Rory Stewart: Discussing his new book, Middleland, at York Barbican
Book event of the week: Toppings presents Rory Stewart, Middleland, York Barbican, October 30, 7pm
NOW Professor of the Practice of Grand Strategy at Yale University’s Jackson School of Global Affairs and Alastair Campbell’s co-podcaster on The Rest Is Politics, Rory Stewart spent nearly a decade as Conservative MP of Britain’s most rural constituency, Penrith and the Border.
Living in the Eden Valley, he found inspiration in the beauty of Cumbrian landscape, its rugged history as a frontierland, and the spirit of its people, prompting him to write Middleland: Dispatches From The Borders, a portrait of rural Britain today: a place caught in tensions between farming and the natural world, between the need to preserve and to grow, between local and national politics. Over to you, Rory. Tickets: toppingbooks.co.uk/events/york/rory-stewart-middleland/.
Fizzy with the singers in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Bugsy Malone: Theo Rae, Isla Lightfoot, Olivia Swales and Beau Lettin
Musical of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Bugsy Malone, Grand Opera House, York, October 31 to November 8, 7.30pm, except Sunday and Monday ; 2.30pm, both Saturdays and Sunday
LESLEY Hill directs and choreographs York company Pick Me Up Theatre’s cast of 40 young performers in Alan Parker and Paul Williams’s musical, replete with the movie songs You Give A Little Love, My Name Is Tallulah, So You Wanna Be A Boxer?, Fat Sam’s Grand SlamandBugsy Malone.
In Prohibition-era New York, rival gangsters Fat Sam and Dandy Dan are at loggerheads. As custard pies fly and Dan’s splurge guns wreak havoc, penniless ex-boxer and all-round nice guy Bugsy Malone falls for aspiring singer Blousey Brown. Can Bugsy resist seductive songstress Tallulah, Fat Sam’s moll and Bugsy’s old flame, and stay out of trouble while helping Fat Sam to defend his business? Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
In Focus: Tom Grennan, York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend, July 25 2026
BEDFORD singer-songwriter Tom Grennan is the first act to be confirmed for the Music Showcase Weekend at the 2026 York Racecourse flat racing season.
Grennan, 30, has achieved three UK number one albums, 2021’s Evering Road, 2023’s What Ifs & Maybes and 2025’s Everywhere I Went Led Me To Where I Didn’t Want To Be, preceded by his top five-charting 2018 debut Lighting Matches.
He has chalked up hit singles too with Little Bit Of Love, Let’s Go Home Together (with Ella Henderson), Remind Me, Lionheart (Fearless, with Joel Corry), Here, How Does It Feel, It Can’t Be Christmas, By Your Side (Calvin Harris, featuring Tom Grennan) and Not Over Yet (KSI, featuring Tom Grennan).
Next summer’s Knavesmire gig will form part of a busy touring schedule for Grennan, who also co-hosts the You About? podcast with TV and radio presenter Roman Kemp.
Racing and music fans can take advantage of a price freeze on adult general admission on the track’s website, meaning entrance to the main Grandstand and Paddock enclosure, starts at just £40 per person for a group of six. As well as free car parking, no booking fees apply on this route to purchase. To book, visit www.yorkracecourse.co.uk.
On the racecourse, the racing action will see seven thoroughbred contests with combined prize money of £380,000. The Group Two feature race will be the Sky Bet York Stakes.
The Summer Music Saturday meeting will be held on June 27; the Friday evening Music Showcase Weekend meeting on July 24. Music acts for both those days are yet to be confirmed; keep checking www.yorkracecourse.co.uk for further announcements, expected soon.
James Brennan, head of marketing and sponsorship says: “It is great news that Tom Grennan is joining the artists to have performed on the Knavesmire; a performer who has gone from strength to strength. It will herald a month for music and racing fans to remember.”
In Focus too: Luxmuralis presents Echoes Of Yorkshire, York Museum Gardens, until November 2, 6pm to 8.20pm
Luxmuralis’s Echoes Of Yorkshire transforming the St Mary’s Abbey ruins in York Museum Gardens. Picture: Duncan Savage, Ravage Productions, for York Museums Trust
LET light, colour and music surround you at the Echoes Of Yorkshire light and sound installation conjured by the internationally acclaimed Luxmuralis, who bring alive the culturally rich story of the Yorkshire Museum and York Museum Gardens.
Visitors are invited to “immerse yourself in the story of the historic site with contemporary light and music showcasing its age-defining artefacts and extraordinary exhibits. Join us to celebrate all that the museum and its gardens bring to our city and the wider north of England.”
In the 30-year collaboration of sculptor and artist Peter Walker and composer David Harper, Luxmuralis travels the world to create stories in light and sound for audiences at locations ranging from the Tower of London and St Paul’s Cathedral, London, to city-wide open-air projections in places such as Oxford and Limburg in the Netherlands.
Through combining fine art, light and sound, Luxmuralis reflects closely on the history and heritage of places by weaves together the contemporary and the ancient.
Now, for the first time, Luxmuralis is transforming the walls of York in Echoes Of Yorkshire in York Museum Gardens for ten evenings filled with six looping art installations and landscape lighting by Steve Rainsford.
Ticketed entry time slots are given every 20 minutes, but once in the gardens visitors can journey through the experience at their own pace with a recommended walking time of one hour. Refreshments will be available to buy on the night, including from Thor’s tipi.
Echoes Of Yorkshire is suitable for all ages. Audiences will experience the gardens’ history from the Roman period to its time as an abbey (St Mary’s Abbey) in tandem with Luxmuralis’s showcase of the Yorkshire Museum’s collections that span 60 million years from the Jurassic and the Mesolithic, through to the Romans, Viking, Anglo Saxon and Medieval.
Welcoming Luxmuralis to York Museum Gardens, Siona Mackelworth, head of audience and programme for York Museums Trust, says: “We are delighted that Luxmuralis agreed to produce a very special and bespoke show for us here in York.
“This is a celebration of all that the Yorkshire Museum brings to the city, its history and the location as the repository of great discoveries and stories. With this amount of content, the Luxmuralis light and sound show looks amazing.”
Luxmuralis artistic director Peter Walker says: “We’re thrilled to be collaborating with the team at Yorkshire Museum to deliver a truly distinctive experience set within the stunning and historically rich Museum Gardens.
“By drawing inspiration from the museum’s collections, this light installation re-imagines the architecture and landscape in an entirely new and transformative way.”
Tickets cost £13.50 per adult; £9.50 for children aged five to 16; free admission for under-fives. Box office: yorkshiremuseum.org.uk. Echoes Of Yorkshire is on a constant loop from 6pm to 8.20pm each night. Please note, only assistance dogs will be allowed into the gardens during the event.
Principal dancers Fergus Fitzpatrick and Anna Mai Fitzpatrick with the New Generation dancers in Riverdance’s 30th anniversary show, on tour at York Barbican from tomorrow to Sunday
RIVERDANCE is celebrating its 30th anniversary with its New Generation of pounding Irish dancers, on the beat at York Barbican from tomorrow (24/10/2025) to Sunday.
Not one of them was born when Irish composer Bill Whelan originated Riverdance as an interval act at the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin, featuring Irish dancing champions Michael Flatley and Jean Butler and the vocal ensemble Anúna.
Husband-and-wife production team John McColgan and Moya Doherty soon converted it into a stage show that opened in Dublin on February 9 1995.
Whelan, McColgan and Doherty remain at the helm for Riverdance: The New Generation as composer, director and producer respectively on the 30-venue UK tour – one for each year – that runs from August 12 to December 14.
The New Generation production of this Grammy award-winning show rejuvenates the format with innovative choreography and costumes and state-of-the art lighting, projection and motion graphics.
Riverdance principal dancer Anna Mai Fitzpatrick: Dancing since the age of four
Director John McColgan says: “It is both a privilege and a delight to celebrate 30 years of Riverdance and the unique journey it has taken us on. In those 30 years, the show has transformed from a spectacle into a global cultural phenomenon, continuously evolving yet remaining true to its Irish roots.
“On this tour we welcoming ‘the New Generation’ of artists while paying tribute to the talented performers, creators, dedicated crew, and the millions of fans who have made Riverdance a worldwide celebration of music and dance.”
Among the principal dancers in a show that blends the traditional and the contemporary in a showcase of dancers, singers and musicians will be brother-and-sister dance captains Fergus Fitzpatrick and Anna Mai Fitzpatrick.
“Fergus and I both joined the company about eight years ago,” says Anna Mai. “So we saw Riverdance through its 25th anniversary, just before Covid, when the score had been recomposed by Bill Whelan.”
“We started Irish dancing at a young age, at eight in my case, and Anna Mai was four,” says Fergus. “We started by going to after-school dance classes at the local primary school, at Navan in County Meath, and I first saw the Riverdance show a couple of years later on TV.
Fergus Fitzpatrick: World champion-turned-Riverdance principal dancer
“It looked like they were having so much fun with their friends on stage, and after that show, I remember trying to do the moves around the coffee table in the living toom!”
Anna Mai rejoins: “Yeah, it looked like they were having the best time of their lives on stage, and even at that age, I was up on my feet trying to replicate it.”
Both becoming dance champions, they caught the Riverdance bug and love being part of the New Generation show. “We train our whole life to be on stage, and we wouldn’t know what to do if we weren’t performers,” says Anna Mai. “Like anything, you have to put everything into it, all your willpower.”
Fergus says: “Once we’re on tour, we’re together for almost 24 hours a day: eating together, dancing together, staying together in the hotel – and there are plenty of siblings in the show, so it’s good to have that camaraderie off stage as well as on.”
Everyone is pulling in the same direction: the production team, the dancers, the singers, the musicians. “Absolutely,” says Fergus. “The team that you see are very like-minded, and the audience can feel it: they see the beautiful harmony between us and the team behind the scenes, making us look good. It’s a really talented team with a shared vision.
“Fergus and I are very lucky to have each other there on tour, and we can always reach out to each other,” says sister Anna Mai
“The New Generation brings a great energy to this version of the show. We’ve only known life in Riverdance, and we feel the responsibility of the legacy.”
Anna Mai is full of admiration for the work of Whelan and McColgan. “They always do such an incredible job of taking care of the show for now and for future generations as ambassadors for the culture of Ireland,” she says. “We are always so grateful to them for keeping the magic that we all know and love.”
Injuries are part and parcel of a dancer’s life, but Anna Mai says: “A lot of it goes back to preparation. The risk of injury goes with any sport or physical activity, but in those activities, there also can be ‘mental injury’, where you’re not in a good place.”
She, however, is very much in a good place. To keep in top condition, “we work with physiotherapists and massage therapists who travel with us on tour,” she says.
“As much as it’s a dream to be doing Riverdance, it’s also a job, and it’s up to us to be able to prepare to do our job. Fergus and I are very lucky to have each other there on tour, and we can always reach out to each other.”
“We approach a set of live dates in a scientific way now,” says Fergus
Fergus adds: “We approach a set of live dates in a scientific way now. We think about how many shows there will be, what we will need in the way of recovery, how we will sustain being at the top of our game for so many shows.
“And of course the team helps us; Riverdance knows that we need a masseur on the road with us, a company physio, that kind of thing, to keep our bodies conditioned”.
Anna Mai comments: “Because we and the show have been to many of these places and cities before, we have connections that we can tap into. And we love to use our time off and get to know an area even better, do some touristy things, catch up with old friends.
“With Riverdance, many things are constantly changing; you will never be on the road with exactly the same people, on exactly the same tour routing. There is always a new energy, a new buzz, and that’s really fun to feed off. We’re making memories together.”
Fergus is looking forward to this week’s performances at York Barbican. “We’ve performed in York before and we absolutely loved it. It’s such a beautiful city and the audiences are incredible,” he says.
Anna Mai Fitzpatrick dancing in Riverdance Perform at Jubilee Stage, Expo 2020 Dubai in November 2021. Picture: Steve Holland/Expo 2020 Dubai
“It was late 2021 when we last came, when the venues opened up again, and we can’t wait to get back there. There’s definitely an energy there. That magic. A feeling you get, that energy, that crescendo, the moments of emotion, when the audience jump to their feet. That’s a great feeling.”
Traditional Irish dancing may be done with “arms down by your side”, but Riverdance’s combination of the traditional and the contemporary, the Irish and the international, means that “in our professional dancing, we do use the arms more,” says Anna Mai.
“It’s really good fun to get to explore that in the shows. If you look back to the synchronicity of the dancing at the Eurovision show, it was all arms by the side, but we will hold hands at times in our show and support the lead dancer with our hands, and that’s an exciting development.”
Summing up the abiding popularity of Riverdance, Anna Mai concludes: “There is always something new in the way the show resonates. I have seen the show many times and it always hits me differently, on a certain night, one particular number might really affect you; there is so much to experience, the phenomenal music as well as the dancers, all the different styles.
“It is never the same. It’s hard to describe the magic of Riverdance to someone who hasn’t seen it. It’s the human emotion that keeps the fans coming back. They come for the feeling that they leave the show with.”
Riverdance, 30th Anniversary Tour, The New Generation, York Barbican, October 24 to 26, 7.30pm, Friday to Sunday, plus 2.30pm Saturday and Sunday matinees. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Sibling synchronicity: Anna Mai Fitzpatrick and Fergus Fitzpatrick are principal dancers and dance captains in Riverdance’s 30th anniversary show
Fergus Fitzpatrick and Anna Mai Fitzpatrick: back story
FERGUS, from County Meath, Ireland, discovered his passion for dance at the age of eight. With his sister Anna Mai, he grew up competing internationally in Irish dancing competitions.
Under the tutelage of Holly and Kavanagh Academy of Irish Dance, Fergus achieved his dream of becoming a world champion in 2017.
Joined Riverdance, performing in Gaiety Theatre, Dublin. As principal dancer, he has performed in prestigious venues such as Radio City Music Hall, New York, and Hammersmith Apollo, London.
Other productions include Heartbeat Of Home at Piccadilly Theatre, London, and London Palladium.
“Only the best dancers will make it to Riverdance,” says Fergus. “It takes a lot of hard work for a lot of years, a lot of drive. In the back of our minds when we started dancing, the end goal was always Riverdance.
“However, before you get there, there is a whole competition scene. Now though, as principal dancer I also feel that I need to outwork the younger guys who are coming through! They are so good, and of course they want my job, so I need to work hard and work smart.”
“As principal dancer I feel that I need to outwork the younger guys who are coming through!” says Fergus
ANNA Mai began her dance journey at the age of four and danced competitively for 16 years alongside brother Fergus. From a young age, Irish Dance was her passion.
Won many major championships includingAll-Ireland Championships, Great Britain Championships and British Nationals.
Joined Riverdance in 2017, touring China with Fergus, then performed with Riverdance at Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, for two summer seasons.
Moved into principal role in 2020, touring with the show on UK national tour, at Expo Dubai in North American, Europe, and China, Australia and Japan tour.
Toured with Heartbeat O Home, making debut as principal dancer at Piccadilly Theatre in London’s West End.
“A love for the dancing and the show is crucial,” says Anna Mai. “That’s the dream I suppose, for any job, and we do wholeheartedly love what we do. That is what pushes me to be that one per cent better every day, keep the fire burning.
“The show takes a lot of work. When the audience sees the cast on stage, they see the glamorous end to what has been the work of an entire team helping each other to get to that point. We love the entire process.”
Big Ian Donaghy leading HUGE in Halloween action. Picture: David Harrison
HUGE news! Here comes York party band HUGE’s fancy-dress spooktacular at Huntington WMC, North Moor Road, Huntington, York on October 31.
Looking forward to next Friday’s event, frontman Big Ian Donaghy says: “Halloween has come a long way since the days of carving out turnips and sticking a candle in it. Now pumpkin sales are through the roof as everyone buys into the fancy-dress festival each October.
“So, to get all generations out having fun together in a safe environment without needing babysitters will be a welcome change as HUGE put on our family-friendly Halloween Bash. Fancy dress is optional but will be the popular choice of many”
What a blast: HUGE trombonist Stu Wilkinson. Picture: David Harrison
Among those in the HUGE line-up as ever will be Rob Wilson on guitar, Stu Wilkinson on trombone, Ian Chalk on trumpet and Dave Kemp on saxophone.
“This will be nine-piece Huge’s last live outing before hitting the stage our big charity show, A Night To Remember at York Barbican on Wednesday, November 12 for a night of York helping York,” says Big Ian.
“We’ll be joined by 12-year-old Lacey Hart, who won the chance to perform at the sold-out Barbican. Lacey has performed at three events at Stamford Bridge, Sandburn Hall and Harrogate Candlelighters Ball in the lead-up to the Barbican show and has been exceptional. What a talent she is. Completely fearless.”
Pumpkin up the volume: HUGE Halloween Bash poster for October 31
There also will be prizes for adults and children for best costume as well as a dance off and on the spot Halloween themed tricks and treats.
Adult tickets for the Halloween Bash cost £16 from Huntington WMC or from https://events.liveit.io/white-house-creative/huge-halloween-bash/. Children can attend for free with an accompanying adult but no unaccompanied under-16s will be admitted. Doors open at 7pm; the event finishes at 11pm.
Adult and children’s prizes will be given for best costume; further attractions will be a dance-off and on-the-spot Halloween-themed tricks and treats.
Big Ian’s A Night To Remember will be celebrating its 12th anniversary with a huge production on November 12. “The event started back in 2013 and sold out Leeds City Varieties, York Theatre Royal and the Grand Opera House before finding its home nine years ago at York Barbican,” says master of ceremonies Big Ian.
Halloween beckons for HUGE saxophonist Dave Kemp. Picture: David Harrison
Taking part will be a 30-piece house band, led by George Hall, featuring event regulars Huge, Jess Steel, Heather Findlay, Beth McCarthy, Simon Snaize, Graham Hodge, The Y Street Band, Las Vegas Ken, Annie Donaghy, fiddle dynamo Kieran O’Malley and soprano Samantha Holden.
“Our concert raises much-needed funds for St Leonard’s Hospice, Bereaved Children Support York and Accessible Arts and Media to get people with learning difficulties into performing,” says Big Ian. To check late ticket availability, keep an eye on yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Did you know?
IAN Donaghy, affectionately known as Big Ian, took the top honour at The York Press Community Pride Awards in September, scooping the Outstanding Contribution Award in recognition of his work over many years to make York and the wider community a kinder place.
