Alice Fearn’s Heidi Hansen in Dear Evan Hansen, on tour at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Marc Brenner
THE wait is almost over to Dear Evan Hansen, the Olivier, Tony and Grammy award winner for best musical, to arrive at the letter Y for York.
Tomorrow is going to be a good day, and here’s why, because composers Pasek & Paul and book writer Steven Levenson’s show opens at the Grand Opera House that night for the last English stretch of a debut UK tour that will end in Edinburgh the following week.
In a story built around suicide and mental health issues, Ryan Kopel’s Evan Hansen is a friendless, bullied, 17-year-old American high school senior struggling with a social anxiety disorder and depression, who wants to fit in and befriend Zoe Murphy. Especially with his mother Heidi always being too busy with her work to see him and his father long absent.
Evan’s therapist asks him to write “Today is going to be a good day, and here’s why” letters to himself as a therapeutic exercise to explore his feelings and boost his positivity when courage and words desert him in the presence of others.
When Zoe’s brother Connor dies, Evan entangles himself in a web of lies, but in doing so, he gains everything he wanted: the chance to belong, but at what cost to others, especially Connor’s parents and Zoe, as his false words comfort them.
“It gets you talking,” says Alice Fearn, who plays Evan’s mum, in the wake of such landmark roles as Elphaba in Wicked and Captain Beverley Bass in Come From Away. “You think, ‘of course I wouldn’t lie about that’, but then you think there might be an element of enlightenment why he does. On the one hand, it’s selfish, but on the other, it’s selfless. You come away understanding Evan’s choices; you think of it as a ‘situation error’.”
At the heart of Evan’s deceitful actions is a desire to “belong”. “We all want to belong, to be popular, and for people to like us, which we obviously want as humans,” says Alice. “But also, young people are connecting with who the young characters represent, how they’re all different. That’s what they’re seeing: how they interact with other at school. They feel seen – and when I did Wicked, I found that as well.
“Sometimes people go to the theatre for a complete escape, but what I think people are enjoying now in Dear Evan Hansen is recognising Evan’s dilemma and particularly that personality trait and the decision he makes. People don’t want to feel alone when they’re finding things hard to deal with – those things that happen to all of us – and now it’s happening on stage.”
Another significant factor in Dear Evan Hansen is the rising influence of social media. “It has such an impact. Now the whole world will find out about something in minutes, not just friends or at school. Now, because things are blown up in huge way on social media, Evan feels the gravity of what’s happening so much more.
“That’s something that mums and dads connect with, how young people say ‘that’s what I’m having to deal with’.”
Alice’s character, the ever-harassed Heidi, faces her own dilemma. “The most important thing, when I read the script for the first time, was realising what she is in Evan’s story. She’s trying to make the most of a difficult situation in her life , making sure they have a comfortable life financially, better than she had in her childhood, thinking ‘how can I improve that for my child?’,” she says.
“But also, as a single parent, that commitment to work is taking time away from being with Evan. So, what you have to do when playing Heidi is show how hard working she is, but how distant she becomes because of that workload – where if you’re not there 24/7, there will be a distance between you. I’ve had single mums come up to me after the show to say ‘that’s my story’.”
Alice has not penned her equivalent of Dear Evan Hansen letters “but though I’m not a journal keeper, as you hit your 40s [Bath-born Alice is 41], a big chunk of your life has gone by, and you think, ‘maybe I should appreciate what is happening to me today’,” she says.
“Whereas in your 20s you never feel you’re going to get old, now, if I’m having a downer day, I try to say, ‘aren’t you lucky to be in this show; call your mum and dad; go out to lunch with friends’. It’s like a version of ‘today is going to be a good day, and here’s why’.
“Now, in those moments, you find yourself thinking, ‘wow, I’m lucky to be here today’, and I do that more than I did when I was younger. The tiniest thing can make it a good day, rather than a terrible one.”
Alice has treasured her experiences in Dear Evan Hansen. “What I shall keep is what people get from this show. We’ve had a standing ovation after each show because people are so moved by it,” she says.
“The other thing has been working with Ryan Kopel, one of the brightest young talents I’ve ever worked with. We laugh, we cry, we have fun, we test things out. It’s very enjoyable to play opposite him. That’s something I’m incredibly grateful for: I now have a ‘stage son’ for life.”
Dear Evan Hansen, Grand Opera House, York, June 24 to 28, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Friday and Saturday matinees. Box office: atgticket.com/york.
THE final day of the festival was full of good things. The early afternoon found the female-voice quartet Contre le Temps in the Quire of Beverley Minster, nobly unearthing the role of women in the music of the Middle Ages.
Inevitably, Hildegard von Bingen was the only female composer on display, but there was a wealth of music about women, both sacred and secular, with Dufay the only other named composer.
The quartet took a while to find its feet. There was some odd tuning in the opening Salve Decus, not all of it attributable to the processional presentation or even mediaeval waywardness. Nerves began to calm in a Dufay lament, before we moved into higher gear with two works devoted to the Virgin Mary, including an Ave Maria from the Winchester Troper.
We had travelled briefly into the secular with an angst-ridden lament by Dufay for three voices. However, the fun really began when in a single macaronic piece from the Montpellier Codex, Quant Voi l’erbe Reverdir (When I See The Grass Turning Green), we began with a lilting triplum in French – love in springtime – before a motetus in Latin on love for the Virgin. But the punch-line was that it had all been part of Jacob’s dream, sacred and secular love neatly converging.
That message was neatly reinforced by Dufay in a four-voice rondeau, Ma Belle Dame Souveraine, where the sovereign lady of the title could equally easily be taken either as the Virgin or the object of courtly love.
Hildegard was aptly represented by the antiphon O Tu Illustrata, where the upward-jumping lines symbolised the baby leaping in Mary’s womb, as well as Hildegard’s private ecstasy. In the verse that followed, there were some soaring lines that found the quartet at its most appealing, blending beautifully throughout a wide range. The music showed the composer at her most typically emotional.
That left time for a brief excursion to northern Spain, with a motet from the Codex Las Huelgas, a prayer for sins to be washed away by the Virgin’s ‘river of pardon’. The balance was restored by a return to the more earthly, some might say earthy, delights of human beauty – in French, naturally – from the Cyprus Codex (actually compiled there by French musicians).
Contre le Temps laudably tried to communicate with all their audience by moving around, although some of the choreography was more distracting than meaningful. But there was no mistaking the group’s commitment, breathing new life into some rarefied manuscripts.
* * * * *
York Waits
WITHIN an hour, we had a complete contrast with York Waits at St John’s Church, North Bar Without, two singers and five players on a rumbustious pilgrimage to Walsingham.
At this group’s heart lie shawms and sackbuts, instruments that never pretend to be precious, destined as they were to be played outdoors. Ultimately their music owes more to folk traditions and these singers’ style reflects that too: nasal, straight-toned, lusty.
After a quick nod to religion with Gregorian chant, we were into Byrd’s Walsingham variations, a keyboard piece cleverly arranged here for violin and four recorders by Tim Bayley. Three raucous dances arranged by another group member, Elizabeth Gutteridge, from Arbeau’s Orchésographie (1589) brought all the main noise-makers into play, but they were less suited to Byrd’s penitential O Lord, How Vain, which was intended for four viols and a singer.
Gutteridge’s version of Byrd’s The Queen’s Almain showcased William Marshall’s virtuoso skills on the sackbut. There were particularly pleasing recorder contributions in Richard Nicholson’s Bergamasca – variations on a ground – and in Campion’s Never Weather-beaten Sail, where the voices of Deborah Catterall and Gareth Glyn Roberts served the poetry well.
At this point, two bagpipes joined the fray, courtesy of Michael Praetorius. A brief return to the sacred side of the mission via Tallis and Guerrero soon yielded to a reminder of Kemp’s famous jig on this route, which brought plenty of percussion into action.
After a repeat of the title song, As I Went To Walsingham, which faded out tastefully with three voices alone, we had as encore a rousing French chanson about a pretty young nun. Its text was hardly biblical but it certainly produced a joyful noise from the whole group.
* * * * *
Ensemble Augelletti
THE festival ended on a high with the quintet Ensemble Augelletti (‘little birds’) in Toll Gavel United Church. The group, now nearing the end of its tenure as New Generation Baroque Ensemble, had appeared at the York Early Music Christmas Festival but, for some reason, without a cellist. This time they had one: it transformed them from highly competent to seriously exciting.
She was Carina Drury, always vivid and so totally attuned to her colleagues that she became in effect the engine-room of the entire programme, to everyone’s advantage.
The evening reflected the tastes of John Courtney, an 18th-century music lover and bon vivant who divided his time between Beverley and London. Handel’s name recurs most frequently in Courtney’s diaries, which accounted for two trio sonatas from his Op 5.
The latter, No 3 in E minor, was the most bravura piece of the evening, its complex counterpoint drawing particular virtuosity from Drury and from the harpsichord of Benedict Williams.
Corelli’s trio sonatas were more or less the archetype of the genre and recurred often in Baroque programmes. Here, in D minor, we had two frisky allegros, of which the second was especially balletic.
English composers were represented by Purcell, with dances culled from three of his semi-operas, where Olwen Foulkes’s recorder delivered some tasty descants, and by William Boyce, with a minuet that fluctuated teasingly between major and minor, again with recorder to the fore.
Not quite English, but often called the ‘London Bach’, Johann Christian, who spent the latter part of his career there, was heard in a delightful trio that brought Ellen Bundy’s fluent violin alongside recorder and cello. But it was the Italian style that dominated Courtney’s musical experiences.
Sammartini’s concerto, Op 2 No 1, found running semiquavers being tossed nonchalantly between the parts, before a spirited finale of stop-start rhythms.
In similar style, although also anticipating the Classical period, was a D major sonata by Johann Friedrich Fasch, a contemporary of Bach who deserves more attention than he tends to receive. All five players combined tellingly in its furioso final Allegro, which brought down the curtain on a stimulating event.
Ensemble Augelletti are no longer the fledglings their title suggests: they have taken wing in commanding fashion. This programme was recorded by BBC Radio 3 and may be accessed on BBC Sounds.
YORK Musical Society has lately developed a love affair with Verdi’s Messa da Requiem. After giving a mere three performances in the 20th century, it has now chalked up four since 2000. Saturday evening showed why.
David Pipe was clearly enjoying his third outing here in this work with a choir numbering 140 voices. He has grown as a conductor with each performance. I cannot remember when this choir has been so riveted to his every gesture.
He also had the orchestra watching him very carefully, with Nicola Rainger as his leader for the last time after 18 notable years in that position. So much for statistics. He also had a first-rate solo quartet at his disposal. Pipe aligned all these talents superbly.
Any choir can sing loudly, but a choral pianissimo can be much more telling: the whispered opening here was just what was needed for atmosphere and the a cappella Te Decet built upon it reverently.
At the other end of the spectrum was the quartet’s strongly pleading Christe, Eleison. Similarly, the Dies Irae began powerfully enough, with truly heraldic trumpets and thunderous off-beat percussion, but much more terrifying was Trevor Eliot Dawes’s bass Mors…Mors, subtly spaced and sotto voce.
Alison Kettlewell declaimed the wide mezzo-soprano span of Liber Scriptus comfortably. After the choral basses had dug into Rex Tremendae with gusto, there was a restrained delicacy to Recordare, involving Kettlewell and the fluent soprano Elinor Rolfe Johnson. They later conjured a nicely controlled Agnus Dei with the chorus in respectful attendance. Peter Davoren’s tenor had opened a touch effortfully, but he trod carefully though the Ingemisco, sustaining a pleasing line.
The soloists blended beautifully in a touching Lacrymosa, with the orchestra rounding off the entire Dies Irae tenderly. The double-choir Sanctus, surely an evocation of heaven, was taken at a brisk pace, which the chorus thoroughly relished.
But they had enough left in the tank for a truly impassioned Libera Me, in which Rolfe Johnson came into her own with marvellous control and yet enough power to gleam at the top. We could only marvel at the majestic grandeur of it all. This was York Musical Society – both choir and orchestra – at the peak of its powers.
Out of the woods and into The Basement for Navigators Art’s Making Waves Live!, Sounds Of The Solstice today
BEST Musical multiple award winner Dear Evan Hansen and a Eurovision spoof light Charles Hutchinson’s fire as the June heat rises.
Midsummer festival of the weekend: Navigators Art presents Making Waves Live! Sounds Of The Solstice, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, today, 4pm to 10pm
FAVOURITE Navigators Art poets, comedians, singers and bands from the past two years will be complemented new friends in sessions from 4pm to 6.30pm, then 7.30pm to 10pm.
Taking part will be folk song duo Adderstone, poet Becca Drake, comedian Cooper Robson, storyteller Lara McClure, punk/jazz trio Borgia, psychedelic band Soma Crew; Will Martin; Jessica Van Smith; Cai Moriarty & Mason Chetnik, Mike Amber and more. Box office: bit.ly/nav-events.
The Wild Murphys: Performing One Night In Dublin for one night in York
Irish craic of the week: One Night In Dublin, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm
THE Wild Murphys revel in sing-along Irish classics Galway Girl, I’ll Tell Me Ma, The Irish Rover, Dirty Old Town, Whiskey In The Jar, The Wild Rover, Black Velvet Band and many more in two hours of song and humour.
Songs by The Pogues, The Saw Doctors, The Dubliners, The Fureys, Flogging Molly and The Dropkick Murphys receive the fiddle and accordion treatment. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Flowers And Friendship Bracelets: Celebrating Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Miley Cyrus, Chappell Roan and Olivia Rodrigo’s pop power at Grand Opera House
Pop party of the week: Flowers And Friendship Bracelets, Grand Opera House, York, Sunday
FLOWERS And Friendship Bracelets combines music, dance and excitement in “the ultimate pop concert in celebration of the biggest hits from the hottest artistes of the moment”. The songs of Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Miley Cyrus, Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter will climax with a huge pop party finale. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Kamaljeet Ahluwalia and Jas Ahluwalia: Absolute Focus programme on santoor and tabla at the NCEMon Sunday evening
Indian classical concert of the week: Kamaljeet Ahluwalia and Jas Ahluwalia, Absolute Focus, National Centre for Early Music, York, Sunday, 6.30pm
HUSBAND and wife duo Kamaljeet Ahluwalia, on santoor, and Jax Ahluwalia, on tabla, perform their Absolute Focus programme at the NCEM. These former students of the late Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and Ustaad Tari work on diverse projects, from Netflix, Apple TV+, Amazon and Disney series to live theatre, while introducing Indian classical music to audiences around the world in concerts of meditative introspection and energy-filled heights. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
Looking to fit in: Ryan Kopel’s Evan Hansen in Dear Evan Hansen, on tour at Grand Opera House, York
Last chance to see: Dear Evan Hansen, Grand Opera House, York, June 24 to 28, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Friday and Saturday matinees
THE Grand Opera House will be the last English port of call on the UK tour of Benj Pasek, Justin Paul and Steven Levinson’s Olivier, Tony and Grammy Best Musical award winner.
Dear Evan Hansen tells the story of a teenager with a social anxiety disorder that inhibits his ability to connect with his peers. After the death of fellow student Connor Murphy, Evan (played by Ryan Kopel) entangles himself in an unwieldy fib, claiming he was Connor’s secret best friend. Thrust ever deeper into a web of lies, he gains everything he has ever wanted: a chance to belong. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Ione Cummings’ Antonia in York Opera’s The Tales Of Hoffmann. Picture: John Saunders
Opera of the week: York Opera in The Tales Of Hoffmann, York Theatre Royal, June 25 to 28, 7.15pm plus 4pm Saturday matinee
ELIZABETH Watson and John Soper direct York Opera in Jacques Offenbach’s The Tales Of Hoffmann, based on three short stories by German romantic writer E.T.A. Hoffmann.
Tenors Karl Reiff and Hamish Brown perform the title role on alternate nights; Hoffmann’s evil enemies will be played by Ian Thomson- Smith and Mark Simmonds and his love interests will be sung by Stephanie Wong (Olympia), Ione Cummings (Antonia) and Katie Cole (Giulietta). Alexandra Mather takes the role of Hoffmann’s loyal friend, Nicklaus. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
York Light Opera Company cast members in rehearsal for Neil Wood’s production of Eurobeat: Pride Of Europe
Eurovision celebration of the week: York Light Opera Company in Eurobeat – Pride Of Europe, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, 7.30pm, June 25 to 27 and July 1 to 4; 3pm, June 28 and 29 and July 5
AUSTRALIAN composer, writer and lyricist Craig Christie’s high-octane, electrifying musical Eurobeat: The Pride Of Europe celebrates the vibrant energy and spirit of the continent. Expect non-stop, infectious Eurobeat rhythms, dazzling visuals and a show to leave audiences breathless.
Prepare to dance and soak up the fun of an annual European song contest where audience participation decides the winner. Neil Wood directs a cast led by Annabel van Griethuysen as hostess Marlene Cabana and Zander Fick as master of protocols Bjorn Bjornson. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Just like hat: Be Amazing Arts Youth Theatre’s guys rehearsing Guys And Dolls for next week’s Joseph Rowntree Theatre run
Burgeoning talent of the week: Be Amazing Arts Youth Theatre in Guys And Dolls, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, June 26 to 28, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
MALTON company Be Amazing Arts Youth Theatre heads to York to present Frank Loesser, Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows’ musical fable of Broadway, Guys And Dolls.
Set in Damon Runyon’s mythical New York City, this oddball romantic comedy finds gambler Nathan Detroit seeking the cash to set up the biggest craps game in town while the authorities breathe down his neck. Into the story venture his girlfriend, nightclub performer Adelaide, fellow gambler Sky Masterson and straight-laced missionary Sarah Brown. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Snow Patrol: More likely sun than snow on return to Yorkshire coastline on Friday
Coastal gig of the week: Snow Patrol, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, June 27; gates open at 6pm
SNOW Patrol visit Scarborough Open Air Theatre on Friday for the first time since July 2021. The Northern Irish-Scottish indie rock band will be led as ever by Gary Lightbody, accompanied by long-time members Nathan Connolly, lead guitar, and Johnny McDaid, piano. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Danny Lee Grew: Mind-boggling magic at Friargate Theatre, York
Magic show of the week: Danny Lee Grew, 24K Magic, Friargate Theatre, York, June 27, 7.30pm
CLACTON-ON-SEA magician Danny Lee Grew presents his new mind-boggling one-man show of magic, illusion, laughs, gasps and sleight of hand sorcery. 24K Magic showcases the kind of magic usually seen on television, but now live, in the flesh and under the most impossible conditions. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk/ridinglights.
Christopher Simon Sykes’s photograph of Mick Jagger from his On Tour With The Rolling Stones 1975 exhibition at Sledmere House
IN June 1975, Christopher Simon Sykes, of 18th century Sledmere House, near Driffield, joined the Rolling Stones Tour of the Americas: his rock’n’roll baptism of fire as a snapper after specialising in photographing stately home interiors.
“You’ve never been on tour have you, Chrissy. It’s not like country life, you know,” said Mick Jagger, on the Yorkshire aristocrat’s arrival in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to accompany the Stones on their three-month tour of North America and Canada, playing 40 shows in 27 cities: the biggest tour ever staged at that time. Fifty trucks, 100 staff erecting one version of the lotus flower set design at the next location while the Stones played on the same design in another city.
Fifty years later, for the first time, Christopher has picked 34 photographs from the 1,600-1,700 he took for an exhibition on home soil in the Courtyard Room at Sledmere House, with all works on sale at £650 (printed, mounted, signed, framed) or £500 (printed, mounted, signed). Or you could acquire six postcards for a bargain £5 or £2 each.
Christopher, the third son of Sir Richard Tatton-Sykes, 7th Baronet of Sledmere, was 27, (Jagger was 31) when taking on his one and only rock’n’roll commission before he would go on to write 14 books.
“The reason I went on the tour was to do the photographs for a book as the Stones wanted to do a tour diary,” Christopher recalls, over a cup of tea in the early evening sun outside Castle Farm, in Sledmere, his venerable dog at his feet.
“It came out a year later, but it was a terrible, cheap paperback edition, where all the pages fell out after a month. The text was written by Terry Southern [the satirical American novelist, essayist screenwriter and university lecturer], after I sent Mick what I’d written about what it’s like to go on tour, but he’d said it was so ‘boring’ that he’d asked Terry to write the book instead, even though he wasn’t even on the tour!”
Catching Up With The News: Christopher Simon Sykes’s photograph of Mick Jagger reading a newspaper on the 1975 tour
Christopher recalls Southern’s words being “nonsenscical stuff” and the book also featuring American photographer Annie Leibovitz’s photographs from the same T.O.T.A ’75 tour. “I was the official diarist; she was the official tour photographer,” he explains.
“I’ve still got a copy in London. I picked it up the other day, and there’s no glue holding it together now! It was published in Holland by a company called Dragon’s Dream, which tells you everything.”
Not until 2001 did a book do full justice to Christopher’s photographs or make use of his copious diary notes. Step forward Genesis Publications, subscription publishers of gorgeously packaged and embossed books, to print 500 luxury editions at £500 and 2,500 standard editions at £300.
“They all sold out, so you can’t get a copy now, apart from trying to get one online,” he says. Maybe, just, maybe, Genesis Publications might look to do a 50th anniversary re-print. Watch this space.
Until then, Christopher’s photographs, transparencies and negatives had been consigned to a filing cabinet in his London cellar. “I was having dinner one night with Mark Getty, who’d just started Getty Images in 1999, and I was telling him the story of my Rolling Stones photographs when he said he’d love to exhibit them.”
Christopher Simon Sykes’s photograph of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards on the Rolling Stones’ Tour of the Americas in 1975
That Getty Images show – the only comprehensive exhibition of Christopher’s iconic T.O.T.A ’75 tour images until now – was seen by Genesis Publications and the book ensued.
Now Leeds photographer and documentary filmmaker Paul Berriff MBE has mounted and framed the 34 photographs that Christopher whittled down from 90 for the Sledmere show. “All the negatives are still in good conditions,” says Christopher.
“Let Christopher have what he wants,” Jagger informed the band’s lawyers, as the Stones retain the copyright. “I’ve chosen what I thought were the most striking images, all unique, as I had a special access that nowadays, if you’re going on a rock’n’roll tour as a photographer, you wouldn’t get,” says Christopher.
“But when I did it, I was like an extra member of the band. With all the accreditation, I had complete freedom to be wherever I wanted to be, which could be Mick’s hotel room, the dressing rooms, on stage, on the bus, on the plane called the Starship, a wonderful Boeing 737 converted for rock bands going on tour!”
Yet how did Christopher ever land such a gig in the first place? “I was working for Hesketh Racing, taking photographs for Lord Hesketh, a rich young chap, who wanted to prove he could finance a team to win a Grand Prix,” he recalls.
Christopher Simon Sykes’s tour pass as photographer on The Rolling Stones’ Tour of the Americas in 1975, aged 27
The memorial album he made for Lord Hesketh came to the attention of the Rolling Stones’ financial manager, Prince Rupert Loewenstein, who told him of the tour diary project.
Christopher met the band in America, applied for the photographer’s post, but when Prince Rupert told him he ‘couldn’t get Mick to make up his mind’, Christopher phoned Mick once more. “For once he picked up the phone.”
“What, Rupert told you I didn’t want you on the tour?” said Jagger, always the decision maker. “Well, you call Rupert now and tell him I do want you to come!”
The first night, Christopher had no security pass, forcing him to film from the back of the stage. As chance would have it, it produced the opening picture of this exhibition, the one occasion Jagger faced him, as the sweat-drenched frontman took deep breaths in preparation for the encore.
After those three extraordinary months, Christopher would never photograph a rock band again. “After a while, it was just too monotonous,” he reasons. This would be last time, as well as the first time, but what photographic memories he produced.
On Tour With The Rolling Stones 1975, A 50th Anniversary Exhibition of Photographs by Christopher Simon Sykes, Sledmere House, Sledmere, near Driffield, June 13 to July 6, except Mondays and Tuesdays, 10am to 5pm. Tickets: sledmerehouse.com.
Christopher Simon Sykes’s photograph of bass player Bill Wyman on The Rolling Stones’ Tour of the Americas
Waving the flag: Contestants on parade in the rehearsal room for York Light Opera Company’s Eurobeat: Pride Of Europe
ABBACADABRA! York Light Opera Company will celebrate the magical spirit and vibrant energy and Eurovision in Eurobeat: Pride Of Europe at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, from June 25 to July 5.
Expect non-stop, infectious Eurobeat rhythms and dazzling visuals in Australian composer, writer and lyricist Craig Christie’s high-octane, electrifying musical, presented in its York debut under the direction of Neil Wood and musical direction of Martin Lay.
“I didn’t know of the show until the company approached me and said, ‘this is what we want to do for the summer show’, and I thought, ‘absolutely’! It’s such fun,” says Neil.
“It seems to have taken various guises. The first one I found, from 2008, starred Les Dennis and Mel Giedroyc and was called Eurobeat…Almost European. Then, in 2016, it was revamped by the same writer as Eurobeat Moldova, starring Rula Lenska and Lee Latchford-Evans. Then MTI [Music Theatre International] released this one, Eurobeat: Pride Of Europe.
“It’s very much a re-write but with some of the same songs. Craig Christie updates it each time, freshening it up with more Eastern bloc countries, like Lithuania, this time.
York Light Opera Company in rehearsal for Eurobeat: Pride Of Europe
“The challenge for us is to present it as an event to take part in. For anyone who loves Eurovision, if it’s on your bucket list, then this is your opportunity to get involved.”
What happens? “The audience can not only dance and revel in the fun of the European song contest, but also they will decide the winner, with the chance to vote on an app or good old pen and paper,” says Neil.
“The cast won’t know who’s won until it’s announced, but there’ll be a nod to it ten minutes out from the end because of the costume changes needed.”
The Eurobeat show will be hosted in Lichtenstein – winner of the right to do so by default, apparently – by Annabel van Griethuysen’s Marlene Cabana and overseen by Zander Fick’s master of protocols, Bjorn Bjornson, while Fanny Feuberger, Joy Warner, Kevin Kupferblum and Simon Kelly will take on the roles of Cultural Ambassadors.
Representing Sweden will be Astrid Lungstomberg (played by Emma Swainston); for Poland, Obwody Wirujące (Kit Stroud, Sophie Cunningham and Chloe Branton); Romania, Earnestasia (Emily Rockliff); United Kingdom, Nigel and Nadine (Stephen Wilson and Pascha Turnbull) and Lithuania, Idomus (Pierre-Alain van Griethuysen and Megan Taaffe).
York Light Opera Company cast members working on a routine in rehearsal for Eurobeat: Pride Of Europe
On song for Greece will be Persephone (Chloë Chapman); Portugal , Mateus Villela (Cain Branton); Vatican City, Mother Morag and the Sisters of Perpetual Harmony (Evie Latham and Lizzie Kearton); France, Estelle LaCroix (Amy Greene) and Norway, Hammer Of Thor (Daniel Wood and Matt Tapp).
“Each of the ten songs has an individual character in keeping with the familiar style of each country, but not too many ballads. So the French entry is very sultry; the Swedish entry has Loreen-esque vibes; the Norwegians have entered a heavy metal song – again!,” says Neil.
“The British act, Nigel and Nadine, are on the comeback trail. They were actors in what might have been 1970s’ sitcom and now they’re back, representing the UK.”
Eurobeat takes the form of the song contest in Act One, followed by the voting and extra songs in Act Two, climaxing with the result and the reprise of the winning number. “But rather than five hours on TV, it takes two hours on stage,” says Neil, who also provides the choreography in tandem with Sarah Craggs.
“Our job has been not just to create the songs as Eurovision moments but to find the humour, and if you know my style, if I can see a joke, I’ll use it. Having directed I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change and Nunsense for this company, this one goes in a completely different direction.
“It ends up as more of an event, thought it’s still a theatre show,” says Eurobeat: Pride Of Europe director Neil Wood
“It ends up as more of an event, though it’s still a theatre show, and from the audience point of view, it’s a blast! If you want to come in costume, you’re more than welcome to do so. We’ll have slash curtains, glitter and haze, everything you’d expect from Eurovision, but without the big budget.”
Praising Christie’s writing, Neil says: “It’s very cleverly written because the contestants and other characters have to talk directly to the audience or to speak in their second language, so the jokes deliberately don’t always land.”
He admits to being a Eurovision devotee. “I love it!” says Neil. “I grew up in the era where the UK still used to win. My earliest memories were Abba, Brotherhood Of Man and Milk And Honey, from Israel.
“It was the thing to watch it as a family, as I have with my kids as they’ve grown up, watching with the packets of Haribo in front of us. It’s so huge now; really in vogue.”
York Light Opera Company in Eurobeat: Pride Of Europe, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, June 25 to July 5.Performances: 7.30pm, June 25 to 27 and July 1 to 4, plus 3pm, June 28 and 29 and July 5. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
ARGENTINEAN bandoneon master musician and composer Marcelo Nisinman will perform Martin Palmeri’s Misatango in a fusion of Latin Mass and Latin American Tango for one night only at York Guildhall on June 28.
This will be the finale to Eve Lorian’s Sacred Rhythms – From Chant To Tango concert with Prima Choral Artists, pianist Greg Birch, Yorkshire mezzo-soprano soloist Lucy Jubb and the New World String Quintet, who will be travelling to York from various parts of the UK expressly for this 7.30pm concert (doors 7pm).
“Marcelo has worked with outstanding musicians across Europe and the Americas, and it’s a genuine pleasure and honour to have him here with us in York for this event,” says Eve.
“His talents are in high demand across Europe and his constant performance and recording schedule has seen him collaborate with the likes of Gary Burton, The Philadelphia Orchestra and Britten Sinfonia, among many, many others.”
Growing up in Buenos Aires, the young Nisinman met the legendary composer and bandoneon virtuoso Astor Piazzolla, who would rehearse at his parents’ home.
Prima Choral Artists’ directorEve Lorian with Misatango composer Martin Palmeri in New York in 2019
Invited by the great man to stand behind him to learn the secrets of his interpretations, Nisinman’s experience fuelled the raw emotion, tenderness and fiery passion of his bandoneon playing.
“It is no coincidence that Marcelo finds himself in our city this summer as our special international guest: this engagement is more a meeting of musical minds,” says Eve, who led Prima formerly under her professional Polish name of Ewa Salecka.
For more than 15 years, York producer, conductor and choral director Eve has been presenting choral and orchestral events, backed by the very best musicians and guest soloists, courtesy of her enviable network of international contemporary performers stretching back to her dedicated academic classical training as a pianist and composer.
Eve, who moved to Britain 20 years ago and to York four years later, has prepared and directed choirs of every size and form in concert programmes at home and abroad across Europe and in the United States, leading Prima Choral Artists to the technical levels they enjoy today.
“It was on one of my Carnegie Hall visits with Prima that I had the pleasure of working directly with Misatango composer Martín Palmeri, so his most celebrated work is very close to my heart and that of the choir,” she says.
Prima Choral Artists in concert
Both Eve and Marcelo are committed to presenting “accessible, intelligent music that breaks the mould and offers an exciting new experience to their audiences”. Hence this collaboration between these driven musicians promises a night of thrilling and passionate music.
“There’s no better vehicle for this than Palmeri’s Misa A Buenos Aires, fondly known as ‘Misatango’,” says Eve. “A unique Mass setting, it is infused with the passion and syncopation of tango. Featuring intense rhythmic drive, lush harmonies, and moments of spiritual depth, this modern mass is a showcase of Latin American sacred innovation.”
Prima will begin the concert by demonstrating their sweeping range of styles in Echoes of Faith & Rhythms of Life. The York choir will present pieces by Mozart, Randall Thompson, Astor Piazzola and Prima favourite Ola Gjeilo, all specifically chosen by Eve to showcase their diversity.
Instrumental accompaniment and stand-alone pieces will be performed by the New World String Quintet, formed by leading musicians from Opera North, in tandem with Nisinman.
Eve is delighted to welcome back mezzo-soprano soloist Lucy Jubb for her second performance of Misatango with Prima as the highlight after the interval. “As an experienced opera soloist, Lucy’s talent and warm vocal timbre form the perfect bridge between the emotion of Misatango and its sacred content,” she says.
Eve Lorian: Conductor, producer and performance coach
This celebration of sacred, sublime and sensual music, conceived, produced and conducted by Eve, will mark the 15th year of Prima Choral Artists events. “It is only fitting that this milestone anniversary is accompanied by our hand-selected programme accompanied by world-class musicians,” she says.
“Although the programme may be perceived as a little ‘unknown’ or ‘niche’ to some, it is thoroughly accessible and absolutely guaranteed to delight all tastes.”
Tickets are on sale at primachoral.com. “Due to the limited seating available in the historical venue of York Guildhall, early booking is highly recommended,” says Eve.
Did you know?
EVE Lorian’s choir has resumed the name of Prima Choral Artists. “Prima Vocal Ensemble is no more in use,” she says. “Same choir, new (old) name.”
The cover artwork for Van Morrison’s Remembering Now, his 47th studio album, if you include New Arrangements And Duets, his September 2024 archive collection of unreleased material, big band arrangements from 2014 and duets recorded between 2018 and 2019 with Willie Nelson, Kurt Elling, Curtis Stigers and Joss Stone
REMEMERING Now is veteran Belfast mystic musician Van Morrison’s first collection of original compositions since 2022’s What’s It Gonna Take?
Whereas that contrarian album addressed themes of crisis and uncertainty, Covid and governmental mind control, this time love, youthful recollections and Belfast are at the core: “the landscape, the earth, the whole thing – not just the city” – in a “full connection to the land and people”.
The full track listing is: Down To Joy (first single); If It Wasn’t For Ray; Haven’t Lost My Sense Of Wonder; Love, Lover And Beloved; Cutting Corners (second single); Back To Writing Love Songs; The Only Love I Ever Need Is Yours; Once In A Lifetime Feelings; Stomping Ground; Memories And Visions; When The Rains Came; Colourblind; Remembering Now and Stretching Out.
Morrison’s voice, guitar and saxophone are accompanied by key band members Richard Dunn, on Hammond organ, Stuart McIlroy, piano, Dave Keary, guitar, Pete Hurley, bass, Colin Griffin, drums and percussion, and Alan ‘Sticky’ Wicket, percussion.
Released on June 13, Remembering Now also features an array of accomplished collaborators. The strings were arranged and directed by Fiachra Trench,whose association with Morrisonstretches back to 1989’s Avalon Sunset, while working with Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello too.
Those strings were played by the Fews Ensemble,led by Joanne Quigley. Other contributions come from Michael Beckwith, founder of the Agape International Spiritual Centre, lyricist Don Black and Dartmoor folk artist Seth Lakeman.
Equal parts blue-eyed soul shouter and wild-eyed poet-sorcerer, Morrison remains a restless seeker at 79 (he will turn 80 on August 31), noted for his incantatory vocals and alchemical fusion of R&B, jazz, blues, and Celtic folk in his spiritually uplifting songs.
Look out for Morrison sharing the bill with fellow 79-year-old headliner Neil Young at this year’s British Summer Time concert in London’s Hyde Park on July 11. His summer plans will culminate with 80th birthday celebration concerts at Waterfront Hall, Belfast, on August 30 (sold out), August 31 (sold out) and September 14.
Is there more music coming? “Always…There’s always more music,” promises Van Morrison.Picture: Lewis McClay
Here Van Morrison gives a rare interview to Dylan Jones. Long-time Morrison devotee CharlesHutchPress is delighted to share it with you.
Jones:It really does feel like it’s up there with the very best of things that you’ve done. It feels like a very special record. It’s all new material. It feels like a classic Van Morrison record, but it also sounds very contemporary. Can you explain your thought processes behind the creation ofRemembering Now?
Morrison: “Well, there really isn’t a thought process. It’s more like, for want of a better word, a psychic process or the-other-side-of-the-brain process. The thought process comes in when putting it together later on. In the beginning, it’s just instinct, intuition, sometimes randomness. It’s more like being a receiver – you’re receiving info, ideas, and concepts.
Jones:For the past couple of years you’ve been making records that perhaps celebrate the past – maybe genre records – but because this is all new material (apart from Down To Joy), that’s what makes it special, I think. So why did you want to do an album of new material now?
Morrison: “Well, it was going on in parallel. The recording process isn’t completely exclusive. The songs were running parallel to other projects, and a lot of them were recorded during the same time period.
“The last few projects I put out, it wasn’t a matter of the past – it was my nostalgia. People have their own nostalgia, and so do I. It was going back to the beginning, what gave me the impulse to do this.”
Jones:What was the inspiration behind thinking you could actually do it?
Morrison: “I was getting quite a lot of negative feedback during this period, so myself and the musicians just wanted to do something that was going to be fun.
“We weren’t trying to make any statement. We were just going to have fun and go back to the beginning – this is why we got into this in the first place. But the other songs were being written and recorded during the same period.”
Jones: There are 14 great songs on the album, very varied. What’s your favourite?
Morrison: “I don’t really have a favourite. I guess Stretching Out would probably be my favourite at this point.”
Jones:Down To Joy was first heard in Kenneth Branagh’s film Belfast [released in the UK in January 2022]. Was it always your intention to put it on an album?
Morrison: “Oh yeah, of course. But it’s more complicated than that. There’s a backlog of material, and it’s finding a way to get the material out. Distribution can only deal with so much at a time. It’d be difficult to get out two records a year. One is manageable.
“There are new arrangements and projects that have just been sitting there gathering dust that were supposed to come out a long time ago – it’s just priorities and timing. Recently we were involved in skiffle and rock’n’roll and wanted to put that out at the time [Moving On Skiffle, March 2023, and Accentuate The Positive, November 2023, his 44th and 45th studio albums]. So it’s complicated.”
Jones:Talking about that particular song – how did it work? Did you get to watch the film before writing it?
Morrison: “Yeah. I watched the first draft of the film. During lockdown I did an interview with Nile Rodgers and Paul Williams. I was explaining to Nile that Kenneth came from North Belfast. I drove over there and remembered visiting in the sixties. I had friends there. We played music together.
“I had this vision of walking down the road in North Belfast, and that’s how the song started; ‘coming down to joy’. I had an image of these young guys coming down the street, having fun, laughing. That’s how it started.”
Jones: What’s the process of making a record? Is it always the same when you’re recording original material? Is it always finished when you get into the studio?
Morrison: “No, it’s not always finished. It’s a work in progress until you get the right take or the right arrangement. The song stays the same, but arrangements can change. Usually, I do a demo with myself – mainly on guitar, some on piano.
“Then I go in the studio, start with the drummer, play him the song. We run the song with guitar and drums to find the tempo, beat and approach. Then I bring in the bass player, run it with bass and drums, get the bass part together. Then I bring in keyboard, figure out what he’s going to play, then guitar. Once everyone’s learned the song, we’re ready to do a take.”
Jones:Where do you like to record these days?
Morrison: “Doesn’t matter. The engineer [Ben McAuley] is really good – he can record anywhere. Most of the rhythm section was in Cardiff, so we recorded there. Two keyboards, bass, drums were there. I brought in a guitar player from Limerick [Dave Keary] and myself – so basically, it was based in Cardiff. Sometimes we recorded in Bath, either at Real World or at a hotel there.”
“Part of me has never really left the street corner. I’m still that guy hanging out there,” says Van Morrison. Picture: Bradley Quinn
Jones: Do you like recording in America?
Morrison: “It depends. I liked Studio D in Sausalito. I did a lot of stuff at the Record Plant. But it’s not really about the place – it’s about mixing up the musicians.”
Jones:Why did you want to work with Don Black again?
Morrison: “Don Black was a bit of a wild card. I wasn’t looking for a co-writer. I used to listen to his radio show on songwriting. I met him at the BMI Awards – we were both up for Icon Awards.
“Later I got a CD with his song Days Like These on it. I thought, ‘I could have written this’. So I asked him to send me lyrics if he had anything that might suit me. He sent Every Time I See A River. I put music to it, recorded it – it worked.
“So he keeps sending me lyrics, and most of the time it works. It wasn’t really a choice. It just happened. The universe kind of set it up.”
Jones:Similarly, why collaborate with Michael Beckwith, founder of the Agape Centre?
Morrison: “We’d talked for years about writing a song together. Every time we met, we’d say we would but never got around to it. So I ended up taking words from one of his books and putting music to them. I sent it to him – he liked it. So it worked.”
Jones:So, when you do those collaborations, you’re not actually working together in person?
Morrison: “No. They just send me lyrics, and I do the rest. Don [Black] doesn’t write music. I was going through my library and found Science Of Mind by Ernest Holmes. I used to be into it years ago and wanted to get back into it.
“I looked for local centres – found an interview with Michael Beckwith instead – it resonated. Later, at a party in Malibu, someone mentioned Agape. I asked Roma Downey about it – she knew Michael and set up a meeting. I met him and visited Agape. It just went from there.”
Jones: There’s obviously such a strong sense of – if you’ll forgive the word – spirituality in this record. There often seems to be in your work. How have your personal beliefs changed over the years?
Morrison: “Well, it’s not a belief. It’s an energy. It’s a frequency. That’s how I see it – a frequency.”
Jones:And is that frequency a creative frequency?
Morrison: “Yeah, it is.”
Jones: And do you feel that you are channelling that?
Morrison: “Absolutely.”
Jones:Do you have to wait for that, or can you summon it?
Morrison: “Most of the time, yeah. Sometimes you wait, but most of the time, you have to summon it. Other people meditate or use other methods. I have to actively summon it.”
“It’s a jazz approach — not trying to be popular for a set time. Not being manipulated by the system,” says Van Morrison
Jones: As a creative person, having done this for a long time, does that make the process shorter?
Morrison: “It depends on the individual. I had to work my way through this. You have to deal with the energy. Back in the ’70s, I didn’t know how to deal with it — it was burning me out. People around me were burning out on drugs. One of them almost died.
“So I was given this book by Carl Jung, Man And His Symbols. I started to discover what it was about — projection. When you’re famous, people constantly project on you. This happens to everyone, but with famous people it’s amplified. It can destroy you if you don’t understand what’s happening. Or you can work your way through it.
“So I had to learn to deal with the energy and the negativity. The media constantly projects negativity – they think that sells. So they create what I call a ‘third party’. There’s you, and there’s the audience – that’s a two-way street. But the media creates a third thing that people start relating to instead of you. That took a long time to work through and come out the other end, learning to handle it.”
Jones: Where you are different – maybe like Bob Dylan – is that most artists have an “imperial period,” seven to nine years of great music and creativity, then they fall off. But you’re still making records as good as 50 or 60 years ago. You must be aware of that.
Morrison: “Yeah. Basically, I’m coming from jazz. Not pop, not rock, not what’s commercial. That’s where I started, and that’s still where I am. I feel the same as I did when I was listening to Louis Armstrong, Lead Belly, Jelly Roll Morton. And the blues. And then the skiffle scene – Ken Colyer, Chris Barber, Lonnie Donegan.
“So it’s a jazz approach — not trying to be popular for a set time. Not being manipulated by the system. If your system is empty to start with, you can avoid getting sucked in.”
Jones: You have this ability to keep moving forward musically yet always make records that are quintessentially Van Morrison. How good an editor are you?
Morrison: “I’m very bad.”
Jones:Of your songs?
Morrison: “Oh, very good. Very good. See, that’s when the thought process comes in.”
Jones: You must have a vast amount of material you’ve recorded but haven’t released.
Morrison: “That’s right. Yeah. It’s just massive.”
Jones: Out of interest, Bob Dylan has a parallel career of releasing unreleased material and many think it’s better than what came out at the time. Would you consider doing that?
Morrison: “Yeah, I would – I just don’t have a system together to do it yet. Everyone talks about it – ‘Are you gonna put your money where your mouth is?’. But nobody’s come up with a plan.
“It’s just too huge. There’s so much good stuff. Distribution can only realistically handle one record a year. I don’t have a team. I’d need a team of people to figure it out. And we don’t have that yet.”
Jones: With Remembering Now, there’s a big emphasis on string arrangements. You’ve used strings throughout your career, but they seem particularly prominent here. Was that a conscious decision? They work beautifully on the record.
Morrison: “It was just that I wanted to work with the arranger [Fiachra Trench] again. I hadn’t worked with him in a while, so I got in touch, sent him some of the songs, and we went from there. I wanted to reconnect. He’s very good. We’ve worked together a lot, so I don’t have to explain much.”
“It’s about staying connected to that original energy, that original impulse that got you into it in the first place,” says Van Morrison
Jones:Almost from your first records, you’ve referenced your childhood, your adolescence and the important role of place in your life. That’s true of this album too. How has your relationship with Belfast changed?
Morrison: “Everybody’s has changed – even those who stayed and didn’t go anywhere. The sense of place has changed. I made a documentary in the 1980s – I think it was called A Sense Of Place. It featured poets like Michael Longley, Gerald Dawe, Seamus Deane, Derek Mahon. It was about that theme: place.
“My old English teacher, Davy Hammond, was a folk singer, broadcaster and documentarian. He may have coined the phrase ‘sense of place’. The documentary subject matter ties into Remembering Now.
“It’s about the landscape, the earth, the whole thing – not just the city. That’s what Kenneth Branagh was getting at with his film Belfast. It’s a full connection to the land and people.”
Jones:The album does seem to have a strong theme around Belfast. Was that intentional?
Morrison: “It’s just the way the songs came about. Part of me has never really left the street corner. I’m still that guy hanging out there. I still see some of those guys around. Part of me is still there.”
Jones: Well, it sounds like it. Many artists who’ve had careers as long as yours don’t have that kind of rootedness.
Morrison: “Yeah, well, you see, it’s about staying connected to that original energy, that original impulse that got you into it in the first place. And if you can do that, then you’re always drawing from the same well. It’s the same creative source.”
Jones: So, for you, it’s not nostalgia – it’s a living connection.
Morrison: “Exactly. It’s not about trying to recreate the past. It’s about being in the present with that energy still flowing. So you can still create new things that are just as vital.”
Jones: How do you maintain that sense of integrity over such a long period?
Morrison: “I just try to stay true to the music. That’s the bottom line. I don’t care about trends or charts. I don’t care about what people think is cool. I care about the music – what feels right to me.”
Jones:And that’s what’s sustained you?
Morrison: “Yeah, that’s what keeps it alive for me. That’s why I’m still doing it.”
Jones:Are you still as passionate about making music as you ever were?
Morrison: “More so, maybe, because I know what I’m doing now. Back then, I didn’t always know – I was figuring it out. Now I know what works, what doesn’t. I have the freedom to just do it.”
Jones: Do you still get nervous before releasing something new?
Morrison: “Not nervous, but curious. I wonder how it will land – what people will hear in it? But I don’t worry. That’s not my job. My job is to make the music.”
Hannah Davies and Jack Woods: Performing The Ballad Of Blea Wyke at Shakespeare Gallery, Scarborough, on Friday and Saturday. Picture: Matt Jopling
ELECTRONIC music by the sea, best musical award winner Dear Evan Hansen and a Eurovision spoof light Charles Hutchinson’s fire.
Scarborough Fringe show of the week: Next Door But One and Say Owt present The Ballad Of Blea Wyke, Shakespeare Gallery, St Helen’s Square, Scarborough, Friday and Saturday, 7.30pm
STORYTELLING, poetry and music show The Ballad Of Blea Wyke re-tells the traditional Selkie myth, re-imagined for a not-far-into-the-future dystopian Yorkshire coast by North Yorkshire theatre-maker Hannah Davies and Pascallion musician Jack Woods.
Micro-commissioned by York Theatre Royal as part of the Green Shoots project in May 2022, the show has grown into a 60-minute performance by writer, performer, director and Say Owt associate artist Davies and guitar, mandolin and violin player Woods. Box office: scarboroughfair.uk/events/the-ballad-of-blea-wyke/
Pendulum: Electronic rock at Scarborough Open Air Theatre
Coastal gigs of the week: Pendulum, supported by Normandie, Friday; Basement Jaxx, Saturday, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, gates open at 6pm
FORMED in Perth, Western Australia, in 2002, electronic rock act Pendulum have returned from a self-imposed hiatus with the EPs Elemental and Anima, festival headline shows and now Scarborough. Rob Swire, Gareth McGrillen and Paul Harding’s drum & bass group released such albums as 2005’s Hold Your Colour, 2008’s In Silico and 2010’s UK chart topper, Immersion, before shifting their focus to their Knife Party project in 2012.
Fellow electronic combo Basement Jaxx play Scarborough this weekend as part of their resumption of live shows after ten years of “DJing around the globe”. “It’ll be great to return to the live stage: to connect to people with life-affirming energy and give people a great time,” says Felix Buxton. Cue house and garage with a punk attitude. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Raul Kohli: Exploring what it means to be British at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York
York comedy gig of the week: Raul Kohli: Raul Britannia, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Saturday, 8pm
COMEDIAN and proud Brit Raul Kohli is the son of a Hindu Indian and Sikh Singaporean, raised in Newcastle upon Tyne, where his best friend was a Pakistani Muslim.
Kohli has lived in every corner of this glorious nation and is fascinated by the diversity of these small isles. Imagine his surprise to hear from politicians and the media that “multiculturalism has failed”: the spark that lit the flame for his exploration of what it means to be British. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Qween UK: They will rock you at Helmsley Arts Centre
Tribute show of the week: Qween UK, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 7.30pm
QWEEN UK celebrate the works of Freddie Mercury, Brian May, John Deacon and Roger Taylor in a tribute show that encompasses all the “classic” Queen songs, complemented by subtle acoustic arrangements. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Ryan Kopel’s Evan Hansen in Dear Evan Hansen: Thrust ever deeper into a web of lies at Grand Opera House, York
Last chance to see: Dear Evan Hansen, Grand Opera House, York, June 24 to 28, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Wednesday, Friday and Saturday matinees
THE Grand Opera House will be the last English port of call on the UK tour of Benj Pasek, Justin Paul and Steven Levinson’s Olivier, Tony and Grammy Best Musical award winner.
Dear Evan Hansen tells the story of a teenager with a social anxiety disorder that inhibits his ability to connect with his peers. After the death of fellow student Connor Murphy, Evan (played by Ryan Kopel) entangles himself in an unwieldy fib, claiming he was Connor’s secret best friend. Thrust ever deeper into a web of lies, he gains everything he has ever wanted: a chance to belong. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Alexandra Mather’s Nicklaus in York Opera’s The Tales Of Hoffmann. Picture: John Saunders
Opera of the week: York Opera in The Tales Of Hoffmann, York Theatre Royal, June 25 to 28, 7.15pm plus 4pm Saturday matinee
ELIZABETH Watson and John Soper direct York Opera in Jacques Offenbach’s The Tales Of Hoffmann, based on three short stories by German romantic writer E.T.A Hoffmann.
Tenors Karl Reiff and Hamish Brown perform the title role on alternate nights; Hoffmann’s evil enemies will be played by Ian Thomson- Smith and Mark Simmonds and his love interests will be sung by Stephanie Wong (Olympia), Ione Cummings (Antonia) and Katie Cole (Giulietta). Hoffmann’s loyal friend, Nicklaus, will be performed by Alexandra Mather. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
York Light Opera Company in rehearsal for Neil Wood’s production of Eurobeat – Pride Of Europe
Eurovision celebration of the week: York Light Opera Company in Eurobeat – Pride Of Europe, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, 7.30pm, June 25 to 27 and July 1 to 4; 3pm, June 28 and 29 and July 5
COMPOSER, writer and lyricist Craig Christie’s high-octane, electrifying musical Eurobeat: The Pride Of Europe celebrates the vibrant energy and spirit of the continent.
Expect non-stop, infectious Eurobeat rhythms, dazzling visuals and a show to leave audiences breathless. Prepare to dance and revel in the fun of an annual European song contest where audience participation decides the winner. Neil Wood directs a cast led by Annabel van Griethuysen as hostess Marlene Cabana and Zander Fick as master of protocols Bjorn Bjornson. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Guitarist James Oliver: Playing Ryedale Blues Club gig on June 26
Blues gig of the week: Ryedale Blues Club, The James Oliver Band, Milton Rooms, Malton, June 26, 8pm
THE ever busy James Oliver Band play upwards of 300 gigs a year all over Great Britain, Europe and the USA, chalking up 3,000 so far.
Guitarist Oliver, UK Blues Awards Emerging Artist of the Year winner in 2020, has released two studio and three live albums and is working on a new record with legendary producer John Leckie. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com
Aaron Simmonds: Headlining the Hilarity Bites Comedy Club bill on June 27
Ryedale comedy gig of the week: Hilarity Bites Comedy Club presents Aaron Simmonds, Alex Mitchell and Chris Lumb, Milton Rooms, Malton, June 27, 8pm
AARON Simmonds has been failing to stand up for 32 years. Luckily he is far better at comedy than standing up, offering sharp observations grounded in his disability, but by no means limited by it.
2024 Britain’s Got Talent finalist Alex Mitchell is an autistic comic with functional neurological disorder (FND), In his Tics Towards Puffection show, he laughs at himself, his neurodivergence, disability and sexuality to reflect on difficult subjects within his own life and wider society. Host Chris Lumb manages and performs in The Discount Comedy Checkout improv group. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Ione Cummings’ Antonia at the pianoin The Tales Of Offenbach
ELIZABETH Watson and John Soper direct York Opera in Jacques Offenbach’s The Tales Of Hoffmann at York Theatre Royal from June 25 to 28.
Based on three short stories by German romantic writer E T A Hoffmann, the opera comprises a prologue, three scenes and an epilogue and features the outstanding aria The Doll Song.
“This production has fantastical tales combined with glorious music to create an unforgettable evening,” say the directors.
Alexandra Mather’s Nicklaus with Karl Reiff, left, and Hamish Brown’s Hoffmann in York Opera’s The Tales Of Hoffmann. Picture: John Saunders
Tenors Karl Reiff and Hamish Brown will perform the lead role of Hoffmann on alternate nights. His evil enemies will be played by Ian Thomson-Smith and Mark Simmonds; his love interests will be sung by Stephanie Wong (Olympia), Ione Cummings (Antonia) and Katie Cole (Giulietta), and the role of his loyal friend, Nicklaus, goes to Alexandra Mather.
Musical direction is by Alasdair Jamieson, who will conduct the full cast and orchestra.
York Opera in The Tales Of Hoffmann, York Theatre Royal, June 25 to 28, 7.15pm, plus 4pm Saturday matinee.Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
