Max Westwell and Holly Saw performing the Divorce Ballet in Opera North’s Love Life. Picture: James Glossop
KURT Weill interrupted Alan Jay Lerner’s partnership with Frederick Loewe in 1948 when he needed book and lyrics for Love Life, which turned out to be his penultimate completed work for the musical theatre.
It was a shrewd move. Their joint decision to create a ‘vaudeville’ on the topic of married life was soundly rooted in their own experience, Weill having divorced and remarried Lotte Lenya, with Lerner at that time enjoying his second marriage (with six more to come).
With Love Life you get two for the price of one. On the one hand,there is a series of sketches, at roughly 30-year intervals from 1791 to 1948, charting the vagaries of a typical American marriage, with a couple and their two children weathering a changing society’s various pressures.
Interwoven with these are essentially music hall acts, which have varying degrees of relevance to the main narrative. This division only breaks down in the finale. Here Sam and Susan the central couple, having realised that their marriage is on the rocks, are lured into an Illusion Minstrel Show where they are encouraged to decide that they are no better apart than together. We leave them at opposite ends of a high wire, about to re-embark on the balancing act of marriage.
Quirijn de Lang’s Sam Cooper in Opera North’s Love Life. Picture: James Glossop
Matthew Eberhardt’s avowed mission as director was to make the distinction between these two strands abundantly clear. He succeeded, with considerable help from Zahra Mansouri’s designs. She kept the ageless family foursome in black – they were immune from changing fashions – while vivid colour was reserved for the variety acts.
In what was technically a semi-staged production, with the orchestra on a raised platform upstage, there were no fixed props, only movable furniture, with one intriguing exception. Overhead was an assemblage of geometrical trusses, the bare bones of lighting rigs, which grew more elaborate as the industrial and technological ages progressed, representing added complications for the couple while distilling the growing New York skyline.
What is absolutely stunning about this piece is Weill’s chameleon ability to adapt to the multiplicity of styles prevalent in America and elsewhere: jazz, blues, soft shoe shuffle, big band, barbershop, madrigal, not to mention standard operetta and operatic procedures.
In all of these James Holmes’s sense of style and command of the orchestra were vital to the success of the whole enterprise. Rhythms were everywhere crisp and alive, the players’ obvious enthusiasm inspiring the singers at every turn.
Quirijn de Lang and Stephanie Corley were well contrasted as the central couple, he more and more focused on bringing home the bacon and hustling for business, while she agonised over fitting her domestic role into the early throes of women’s lib.
His forthright baritone was especially witty in I’m Your Man, attempting to be all things to all men. Her soprano was at its most tender in Is It Him Or Is It Me?’, which summarised the difficulties in their relationship after they had decided on divorce. Louie Stow and Tilly Baker were their impeccable children.
Joshua da Costa, left, Andrew Randall, Masimba Ushe and Will Hopkins as the Quartet in Opera North’s Love Life. Picture: James Glossop
A broad spread of roles once again revealed the versatility of the Opera North chorus, not least as a male octet in Progress and as a taut mixed-voice madrigal group in Ho, Billy O!. Among the invitees, Themba Mvula was a spirited magician at the start and a wily MC in the closing minstrel show.
Justin Hopkins made a warmly avuncular Hobo, and there was sparkling bonhomie from the male quartet in a wry Economics and in Susan’s Dream. The Three Tots earn a mention for the unfettered joy of their song-and-dance routine.
Indeed, the choreographer Will Tuckett and his assistant Daisy West played an outstanding role, given that the cast included only two professional dancers. They were Holly Saw and Max Westwell, who delivered a poignant Divorce Ballet.
Finally, a word for Christine Jane Chibnall, returning as dramaturg here after retiring in the autumn after more than 40 years with the company, mainly as director of planning. Her vision and determination have not often received the appreciation they deserve.
The only disappointment of this show was that it received only two performances. It will surely be revived and soon. No-one should miss it.
Review by Martin Dreyer
Themba Mvula as the Magician/Con Man/Interlocutor in Opera North’s Love Life. Picture: James Glossop
Tricia Paoluccio’s Dolly Parton in Here You Come Again, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York
ON Tuesday, queen of country and philanthropist Dolly Parton announced her new autobiographical stage show, Dolly: An Original Musical, would be opening in Nashville in July, ahead of a Broadway debut in 2026.
Previously, Dolly wrote the music and lyrics for 9 To 5 The Musical, premiered in 2008, having starred as secretary Doralee Rhodes in the 1980 film version.
Here she comes again in Here You Come Again, a musical full of Dolly songs, both familiar and not so familiar (Me And Little Andy), picked with Dolly’s approval for the story of diehard Dolly devotee Kevin, who needs dollops of Dolly advice on life and love in Covid times.
Written by Bruce Vilanch, director Gabriel Barre and Broadway actress Tricia Paoluccio, the show first ran in the United States and is now visiting its 33rd city on its debut British tour, produced by Simon Friend Entertainment and Leeds Playhouse.
The setting is an attic in Halifax in lockdown 2020, not Halifax, Nova Scotia, but now in West Yorkshire, home of the Halifax Courier et al, after Gimme Gimme Gimme writer Jonathan Harvey was entrusted with a British re-write.
Or, as the programme credits put it, “additional material” that brings British humour to the core story, along with Covid references, such as a UK news bulletin, banging a pan for the NHS, singing Happy Birthday twice through when washing hands, and stocking up on loo rolls.
Kevin (Aidan Cutler, understudying very capably for Steven Webb at Wednesday’s matinee) has returned to his parents’ home from London, on furlough from his job at a comedy club. His attic is a chapel of adoration to Dolly Parton, as well housing as the best hi-fi and finest retro turntable, a pink flamingo by his bedside and a pulley system for delivery of meals made by his parents on the floor below.
Only he can enter, by a ladder from the outside. His boyfriend, money-man Jeremy, is keeping more than a six-foot distance. Indeed Jeremy has just sent a message to say the relationship is over.
We need to talk about Aidan Cutler’s Kevin: Impressive understudy for Steven Webb at Wednesday’s matinee
Kevin may play by the Covid rules, but what he needs is an agony aunt angel to lift him out of the doldrums. Who could that possibly be but a fantasy vision of rhinestone splendour. Yes, Miss Dolly Parton, y’all.
Nothing is a barrier to Tennessee’s queen of Dollywood, who enters as if by magic, through a poster turning into a real-life Dolly (Tricia Paoluccio, every inch Dollied up to the max), equipped with quips, bon mots, kind words and a song for every scenario.
They need to talk about Kevin. He does, she does, and only occasionally do we see or hear from the parents (Austin Garrett and Emma Jane Fearnley, popping up on backing vocals too) in a show where the two leads do the heavy lifting, backed by a band of Jordan Li-Smith, keyboards, Luke Adams, guitar, Ben Scott, drums, and Kevin Oliver Jones, bass/harmonica. Sometimes musicians appear in the attic, more often they are behind Paul Wills’s set design.
Paoluccio is the perfect Dolly mixture: wholesome, whole-hearted, glamorous yet home-spun, supportive in her philanthropic way. She sings like Dolly, talks like Dolly, moves like Dolly, but this is no mere 2D impersonation. As her Dolly says, she is not only in 3D, but “make that triple D”, and there are plenty more Dolly one-liners where that one came from.
Favourite moment? After Paoluccio’s Dolly sings the tragic, lachrymose tale of Me And Little Andy, Dolly and Kevin discuss why she has written so many sad, sad songs. To make us all feel better about ourselves, she explains.
By this stage, spoiler alert, Kevin, on the wrong side of 40, has lost his boyfriend, his job, his home, but the Dolly hits keep coming (after finding a corny excuse to include Jolene early on) as the matinee audience starts chipping in with encouragement for Dolly and Kevin alike. Two Doors Down, 9 To 5, Islands In The Stream, I Will Always Love You and the climactic Light Of A Clear Blue Morning go down particularly well, aided by Lizzi Gee’s fun choreography.
Understudy Aidan Cutler’s Kevin, camp and lovable, crushed but uplifted by Dolly, more than holds his own in such glittering company, with a sweetness to his singing chops too. As for Paoluccio’s Dolly, you will always love her.
Here You Come Again, Grand Opera House, York, runs until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Mark Reynolds’s tour poster illustration for Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf, playing York Theatre Royal until Saturday
CONTRARIAN comedian Stewart Lee enjoys turning convention on its head.
Swimming like the Canute of comedy against the tide, he likes to heckle his audience, restlessly and constantly throughout his latest acerbic, acid-witted show, especially here in York, where he has never forgotten the flattest night of a previous tour being the Theatre Royal one he happened to be filming for TV and DVD release. “You ruined it,” he says.
Six nights into cutting his lupine teeth on a new tour, he opened a five-night run of Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf at the Theatre Royal on Tuesday, “the worst night of the week for comedy in the dullest town”, as he put it.
It was not so much Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf as Stewart Lee Vs Everything – a false start, a Tuesday night, an “indifferent York audience”, the erratic theatre dry ice machine – but also Everything Vs Stewart Lee.
Everything! Theatre Royal technology; the high-speed turnover of topicality (Gregg Wallace, Toby Young); the dull efficiency of the new Labour Government limiting political content; a button coming off his jacket-coat; the heat emanating from, spoiler alert, his second-half £6,000 werewolf coat.
All that, and his indecision over what this nascent show is about; the purpose, the place, the point of comedy after 36 years on the billboards, now in a world of Trump, Musk and Gervais.
“We’d all love not to care and be off the hook,” he speculates. “To not be accountable.” Like how a werewolf or vampire thinks. Except that Lee holds everything to be accountable.
Stewart Lee: Comic in werewolf’s clothing as he delivers “reactionary material in a reactionary way” in Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf. Picture: Steve Ullathorne
Especially Everything Vs Stewart Lee, and above all, everything about this audience. “It’s not me who’s the problem, it’s you,” he says, berating a lack of sophistication when we should surely be above “entry-level comedy” by this juncture and castigating us for not appreciating his “toppers”, when a run of three of punchlines should each be greeted with a louder laugh, but not so tonight! Not once, not twice, but thrice.
Dear Reader, I should point out that the audience – on first impression, BBC Radio 4-listening, Observer-reading, more men than women – are lapping up his cajoling. They love being worked over by the deadpan grilling of Lee, who makes you work harder than any other comic on the crowded British circuit.
No comedian reflects on comedy in motion and commotion more than Lee, a lover of Sixties’ experimental jazz who brings that avant-garde, deconstructive, unconventional modus operandi to the craft of telling and not telling jokes.
He is constantly thinking on the hoof; you must do so too, amid the rhythmic rat-a-tat-tat of repetition, the teasing and hectoring, to keep up with storytelling that functions like SatNav on the blink, suddenly taking you back to where he’s been before.
Repetition, one of Lee’s trademarks, takes a different form here, where he announces he will play the same material three ways in this age of his bug bear: the comedy of offence perpetrated by Netflix-marketed, 60-million dollar, right-leaning stand-up comedians.
First up, he will tell liberal jokes in a liberal way, then, after a screaming transformation into the Man-Wulf in the first half’s denouement, reactionary jokes in a reactionary way post-interval and, finally, wolf’s head and distracting miniature penile appendage removed, reactionary jokes in a liberal, left-leaning way.
He chides the York audience for not laughing loudest at the American-accented reactionary joker in wolf’s clothing – unlike previous audiences, he says – but he knows only too well he is playing to a liberal crowd who will refract everything through that prism.
Stewart Lee telling “reactionary jokes in a liberal, left-leaning way” against a New York skyline in Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf. Picture: Steve Ullathorne
Along the way, he takes digs at Jimmy Carr, Ricky Gervais, Noel Fielding, Laura Kuenssberg (“if she leans any more to the right, she’ll need scaffolding”), even slyly at erstwhile double-act partner Richard Herring, without naming him.
He gives off a shambling, even shambolic air, and yet a shard-sharp intellect always pierces that front, whether revelling in syntactic pedantry or parading his knowledge of the Ripon curio, the watch-setting Hornblower (although he did say 9.30pm, when 9pm is the precise custom!).
Lee is a cracking mimic too, sending up money-fixated Yorkshiremen and a topical, balladeering Bob Dylan on acoustic guitar, revealing a Dylanesque poetic turn of phrase in his lyrics.
He fires off pot shots aplenty, not only at all around him, but self-deprecatingly at himself too, reeling off a list of Lee lookalikes (from Mark Lamarr and Terry Christian to UB40’s Ali Campbell and Showaddywaddy in 2025) and commenting on how he bores even himself sometimes by knowing exactly what he is going to say next. Yet surprise, unpredictability, is one of his best assets.
Favourite line? “Mark Twain said tragedy plus time equals comedy,” says Lee. “Tragedy plus time equals Morrissey.” Now that’s a topper.
“I’m not a stand-up,” he says. “I’m more of a literary artist. The equivalent of a James Joyce novel.” Only much funnier, if perennially disappointed in humanity at large and York’s Tuesday audience in particular.
Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf, York Theatre Royal, until February 1, 7.30pm. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk. The Shed presents Indeterminacy, featuring Stewart Lee and pianists Tania Caroline Chen and Steve Beresford, National Centre for Early Music, York, February 1, 3.30pm. Tickets update on 31/1/20025: Indeterminacy, SOLD OUT. Box office for returns only: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
Stewart Lee, narrator, Tania Caroline Chen, piano, and and Steve Beresford, piano and objects, in Saturday afternoon’s performance of John Cage’s Indeterminacy at the NCEM, York
Ric Liptrot: Exhibiting in The Other Collective exhibition at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb
FROM dollops of Dolly Parton advice to Stewart Lee’s werewolf encounter, devilish storytelling to a Cinderella prequel, Charles Hutchinson, cherry picks highlights for the days ahead.
Exhibition of the week: The Other Collective, Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, until March 13
CURATED by Bluebird Bakery, The Other Collective brings together the work of Lu Mason, Ric Liptrot, Rob Burton, Liz Foster and Jill Tattersall.
“These wonderful artists were all missed off the billing for York Open Studios 2025 and we felt that was a real shame,” says Bluebird boss Nicky Kippax. “So The Other Collective was born and we hope the work will get a lot of interest from our customers.”
Mark Reynolds’ tour poster illustration for Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf, playing York Theatre Royal until Saturday
Comedy gigs of the week: Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf, York Theatre Royal, until Saturday, 7.30pm
IN Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf, Lee shares the stage with a tough-talking werewolf comedian from the dark forests of the subconscious who hates humanity. The Man-Wulf lays down a ferocious comedy challenge to the “culturally irrelevant and physically enfeebled Lee”: can the beast inside us all be silenced by the silver bullet of Lee’s deadpan stand-up? Tickets advice: Hurry, hurry as all shows are closing in on selling out; 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Tricia Paoluccio’s Dolly Parton and Stevie Webb’s Kevin in Here You Come Again at Grand Opera House, York
Musical of the week: Here You Come Again, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees
SIMON Friend Entertainment and Leeds Playhouse team up for the tour of Here You Come Again, starring and co-written by Broadway actress Tricia Paoluccio, who visits York for the first time in the guise of a fantasy vision of country icon Dolly Parton.
Gimme Gimme Gimme writer Jonathan Harvey has put a British spin on Bruce Vilanch, director Gabriel Barre and Paoluccio’s story of diehard Dolly devotee Kevin (Steven Webb) needing dollops of Dolly advice on life and love in trying times. Parton hits galore help too! Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Hayden Thorpe: Performing Ness with Propellor Ensemble members at the NCEM, York, tonight
Arthouse gig of the week: Hayden Thorpe & Propellor Ensemble, National Centre for Early Music, York, tonight, doors 7pm for 7.30pm start
PLEASE Please You and Brudenell Presents bring Hayden Thorpe & Propellor Ensemble to the NCEM to perform Ness, with the promise of a “sonically spectacular and transformational live show”.
Thorpe, former frontman and chief songwriter of Kendal band Wild Beasts, promotes his September 2024 album. Using a process of redaction, Thorpe brought songs to life from nature writer Robert Macfarlane’s book Ness, inspired by Suffolk’s Orford Ness, the former Ministry of Defence weapons development site during both World Wars and the Cold War. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
Sylvie (Aileen Hall), centre, demonstrates her skills to friends Amelie (Perri Ann Barley), left, and Helene (Devon Wells), right, in rehearsal for Blue Light Theatre Company’s Where The Magic Begins!
Premiere of the week: Blue Light Theatre Company in Where The Magic Begins!, Acomb Working Men’s Club, York, tonight to Friday, 7.30pm; Saturday, 2pm matinee
BLUE Light Theatre Company stage York playwright and actress Perri Ann Barley’s new play Where The Magic Begins!, a prequel to Cinderella based on characters from the original Charles Perrault version.
“We meet many beloved characters in their younger days, such as a young Fairy Godmother, who is about to discover her ‘gift’. We follow her journey as she struggles with a secret that could put her life, and that of her family, in grave danger,” says director Craig Barley. Box office: 07933 329654, at bluelight-theatre.co.uk or on the door.
Hannah Rowe: Performing in the cabaret setting of The Old Paint Shop at York Theatre Royal Studio
Cabaret night of the week: CPWM Presents An Evening With Hannah Rowe, The Old Paint Shop, York Theatre Royal Studio, tomorrow, 8pm
YORK promoters Come Play With Me (CPWM) welcome Hannah Rowe to The Old Paint Shop’s winter season. This young singer writes of experiences and shifts in life, offering a sense of reflection within her rich, authentic, jazz-infused sound. Friday’s 8pm show by upstanding York pianist Karl Mullen has sold out. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Adderstone’s Cath Heinemeyer and Gemma McDermott
Devilish delight of the week: Tim Ralphs and Adderstone, Infernal Delights, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, Friday, doors 7.30pm
TIM Ralphs and York alt-folk storytellers Adderstone serve up a winter night’s double bill of dark delights. Let Adderstone’s Cath Heinemeyer and Gemma McDermott lead you down the steps to the underworld with story-songs from wild places in their Songs To Meet The Darkness set.
In Beelzebub Rebranded, Tim Ralphs’s stand-up storytelling exhumes the bones of ancient Devil stories and stitches them into new skins for fresh consumption in his wild reimagining of folktale, fairytale and urban legend. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk/adderstone/infernal-delights/e-xjjber.
Saxophonist Snake Davis, right, double bassist Don Richardson, left, and concertina player Alistair Anderson: Playing together at Helmsley Arts Centre on Sunday
Trio of the week: Snake Davis, saxophones, Don Richardson, double bass, and Alistair Anderson, concertina and Northumbrian pipes, Helmsley Arts Centre, Sunday, 7.30pm
ADD an old mucker to a new pal, whereupon saxophonist to the stars Snake Davis sounds excited. Snake and Don Richardson go back decades, too many gigs and shows to remember. Lulu and Paul Carrack were particularly memorable. Snake and Alistair Anderson met at a wonderfully quirky Northumberland venue in late 2023 and decided to make music together. Here comes folk, jazz, world, pop and more. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Craig David: Combining his singing, master of ceremonies and DJ skills at Scarborough Open Air Theatre this summer
Gig announcement of the week: Craig David Presents TS5, TK Maxx Presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, July 19
SOUTHAMPTON rhythm & blues musician Craig David parades his triple threat as singer, MC and DJ at his TS5 party night – patented at his Miami penthouse – on the East Coast this summer. Expect a set combining old skool anthems from R&B to Swing Beat, Garage to Bashment, while merging chart-topping House hits too.
“I cannot wait to bring my TS5 show to Scarborough and the beautiful Yorkshire coast in July,” enthuses David, 43. “2025 is a massive year for me as it’s the 25th anniversary of my debut album [Born To Do It] and my debut number one single (Fill Me In]. What better way to celebrate than bringing the party to Scarborough this summer.” Tickets go on sale at 10am on Friday at scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
PLEASE Please You and Brudenell Presents bring Hayden Thorpe & Propellor Ensemble to the NCEM to perform Ness tonight, with the promise of a “sonically spectacular and transformational live show”.
Thorpe, 39-year-old former frontman and chief songwriter of Kendal and Leeds band Wild Beasts, promotes his September 2024 album, Ness, released on Domino Records.
Using a process of redaction, Thorpe brought songs to life from nature writer Robert Macfarlane’s book Ness, inspired by Orford Ness, a ten-mile long shingle spit on the coast of Suffolk that housed the former Ministry of Defence weapons development site during both World Wars and the Cold War.
Acquired by the National Trustin 1993 and left to re-wild, to this day it remains a place of paradox, mystery and constant evolution.
Thorpe’s ode to Orford Ness, the physical place and the book, features Macfarlane’s words and illustrations by Stanley Donwood. He premiered Ness with fellow Cumbrian musicians from Propellor Ensemble at Orford Ness on September 28 and 29 last year.
Here Hayden discusses working with Robert Macfarlane and Propellor Ensemble, the Cold War, nature and past York experiences with CharlesHutchPress.
Do you have any past experiences of York, whether on a school visit or whatever, Hayden?
“My parents used to take us to the Jorvik Viking Museum when me and my siblings were young. I was always amazed by the fake open sewer smell they would pump into the space.”
The album cover artwork for Hayden Thorpe’s Ness
When did you last play in York, either solo or with Wild Beasts?
“I believe it was in 2006 or 2007. A rather long time ago. In any case, it’s been too long. It was somewhere quite familiar to me when Wild Beasts were coming up in Leeds. We’d make a regular dash across.”
How did the Ness project come about with Robert Macfarlane?
“In a really old fashioned manner. I fan-mailed Rob and he wrote back with all the generosity and open heartedness of his books. He’s as good as his word in the truest sense.
“Rob and I decided to perform some improvised music to his reading of Ness. It was a Eureka moment. The atmosphere and drama of the sound we made demanded that we commit to expanding it.”
Did you visit Orford Ness, now the Orford Ness National Nature Reserve, for research purposes?
“Yes. Orford Ness is an astonishing place. It’s a monument to rejuvenation and a monument to destruction. The very best and the very worst of us.”
By the way, Hayden, York has a Cold War Bunker Museum, in Monument Close, Holgate: a two-storey, semi-subterranean bunker built in 1961 to monitor nuclear explosions and fallout in Yorkshire, in the event of nuclear war.
“I had no idea that a Cold War museum existed in York. That’s fabulous. Bizarrely, I’ve developed a Cold War romance. I guess the conflicts and hostilities we face today have brought these conversations back into our everyday consciousness.”
The Black Beacon at Orford Ness. Picture: Arnhel de Serra, National Trust Images
How have you turned the album into a concert performance?
“The album is very much made of sounds we’ve made with our hands and lungs, so with enough pairs of those it actually translates in a very true way. The unusual instrumentation, with orchestral percussion and clarinet foregrounded alongside me, creates a very distinct ‘Ness’ sound. The shows have been really emotional as a result.”
Were you tempted to feature strings in the Ness project for their emotional heft?
“We deliberately did not use strings. We opted to use the elemental forces at my play at Orford Ness: wind and resistant materials like metal and wood. It creates a haunted, volatile soundscape.”
Which Propellor Ensemble members will play in York?
“Jack McNeill plays clarinet and Delia Stevens plays orchestral percussion. Molly Gromadzki performs the spoken-word parts and sings in the choir. Brigitte Hart and Helen Ganya make up the choral section. It’s been a joy to work with such expressive and capable performers.”
What does a “sonically spectacular and transformational live show” entail?
“Something which is sonically ambitious and immersive. Once we start the show we don’t stop, it’s the album in full back to front. We want to take the audience to Ness, have them come face to face with the monster.”
The full Propellor Ensemble line-up. Percussionist Delia Stevens, right, and clarinet and bass clarinet player Jack McNeill, third from right, will be among the performers at the NCEM tonight. Picture: Propellor Ensemble
Why was the National Centre for Early Music, in the former St Margaret’s Church in Walmgate, chosen for the York gig rather than The Crescent community venue, a classic working men’s club design?
“We’ve heard such great things about NCEM. Much of the story of Ness takes place ‘In The Green Chapel’, so the work lends itself to a space of worship.”
What is your own relationship with nature? Wild Beasts hailed originally from Kendal, with all that Lake District beauty around you…
“Nature has become increasingly important to my life and work. As artists we’re forced to ask what side of the conversation we sit on, one which acknowledges the existential crisis facing us or one which excuses it. Music can carry non-human voices really effectively. Ness is very much a meditation on that.”
What will be your next project?
“Good question. Ness has certainly expanded my palette. I’ve come to feel maybe my strength is in making strange and ambitious works which would otherwise not get made. It’s crucial to keep the flame burning on works of exploration and oddity in an industry which increasingly incentivises conformity.”
Hayden Thorpe & Propellor Ensemble, National Centre for Early Music, York, tonight (29/1/2025), doors 7pm, start 7.30pm. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
After playing Forest Live at Dalby Forest last June, Nile Rodgers will return to the great Yorkshire outdoors to headline Live At York Museum Gardens in July
NILE Rodgers & CHIC is the second headliner to be confirmed for Futuresound’s summer concert series Live At York Museum Gardens.
The trail-blazing New York-born disco musician, songwriter, guitarist and record producer, 72, will be joined on the July 4 bill by special guest Jalen Ngonda, the American soul, hip hop and jazz singer and songwriter who found his voice in Liverpool.
As a founding member of CHIC, Rodgers is responsible for such hits as Everybody Dance, I Want Your Love and Good Times and as a producer he has collaborated with David Bowie, Madonna, Coldplay, Beyoncé and Daft Punk.
Elbow: Live At York Museum Gardens concert on July 3 has sold out
Futuresound Group’s first show confirmed for 2025, featuring Mercury Prize winners Elbow on July 3, has sold out already and further shows are set to be announced imminently for July 5 and 6.
Presented in tandem with York Museums Trust, the Leeds-based promoter’s inaugural July 2024 weekend drew 12,000 music fans to a brace of 30th anniversary home-city gigs by Shed Seven, with special guest Peter Doherty, preceded by Anglo-Italian singer-songwriter Jack Savoretti the previous night.
Rachel Hill, Futuresound Group’s project manager, says: “We’re incredibly excited to be working with York Museums Trust for our second year on Live at York Museums Gardens. Announcing the one and only Nile Rodgers and CHIC performing in the gardens is just surreal, especially off the back of Elbow selling out! 2025’s Live at York Museum Gardens series is shaping up to be an unmissable addition to the city’s summer calendar.”
Richard Saward, head of operations at York Museums Trust, says: “We are beyond delighted to welcome Nile Rogers and CHIC to York Museum Gardens this summer. With the band’s unbelievable repertoire and legendary live reputation, we’re already looking forward to a fantastic evening with everyone in full boogie mode.”
Founded in the 1830s, York Museum Gardens comprise ten acres of botanic gardens set against the backdrop of the ruins of St Mary’s Abbey and are the home to the Yorkshire Museum too. The gardens welcome around 1.3 million visitors a year.
Shed Seven’s Paul Banks, left, and Rick Witter performing at Live At York Museum Gardens last July. Picture: David Harrison
Jools Holland: Heading for York Barbican once more in December
JOOLS Holland and His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra will be joined by Irish singer Imelda May at York Barbican on December 17 as part of their 30-date autumn and winter tour.
Tickets go on sale on Friday at 10am via yorkbarbican.co.ukfor boogie-woogie pianist Holland’s annual visit to York, where he was joined by Soft Cell vocalist Marc Almond and blues guitar prodigy Toby Lee on December 11 last year.
Dublin singer-songwriter and poet Imelda May has chalked up a hat-trick of headline shows at York Barbican in November 2011, May 2017 and April 2022 with her dynamic blend of blues, rock, soul, gospel and jazz .
Her career has taken in collaborations with Jeff Beck and performing with Lou Reed, Bono, Tom Jones, Noel Gallagher, Robert Plant and now Jools.
Imelda May: Playing York Barbican for a fourth time on December 17
“From the moment I first heard and saw Imelda, I realised that she is one of the true greats of music who understands old and new music,” he enthuses. “Her ravishing voice can illuminate both ballads and boogie-woogie like no-one else.”’
Ed Richardson settled into the drummer’s seat on the 2024 tour, following the retirement of the legendary Gilson Lavis. After starting out together in Squeeze, Gilson became a cornerstone of Jools’s Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, keeping the beat over a span of several decades.
Reflecting on his new role, Ed says: “I’ve been a fan of Gilson since my dad first sat me down in front of the Hootenanny. His iconic style left an indelible mark on me. To now step into his shoes is both a challenge and an honour. I’ll do my utmost to continue his legacy and keep the drum chair as exciting as he made it!”
Once again, the 2025 tour will feature the vocal talents of Queen of Boogie-Woogie Ruby Turner, Louise Marshall and Sumudu Jayatilaka as Later… With Jools Holland host Jools performs songs and instrumentals from throughout his career.
And then there were five: the full line-up for the SatchVai Band’s summer tour
GUITAR legends Joe Satriani and Steve Vai have confirmed the full band line-up for the SatchVai Band’s Surfing With The Hydra Tour, whose European travels open at York Barbican on June 13.
Powerhouse drummer Kenny Aronoff, bassist Marco Mendoza and virtuoso guitarist Pete Thorn will complete the stellar quintet.
“Finding the right musicians for the SatchVai Band was at first a daunting task, then an exciting one,” says Satriani. “There are so many great musicians to choose from.
“It’s no secret that the chemistry between players will always be the thing that makes them a magical live band, and we’ve found that chemistry with Kenny, Marco and Pete.
“The upcoming shows will focus on not only our respective solo works, but also the music from our new album. We are so excited to get this show on the road and celebrate it with all of our fans!”
As Vai explains, “When considering forming one band around myself and Joe, we talked about the qualities needed for each position, bass, drums, rhythm guitar. It was a surprising challenge to find the right fits.”
Drummer Kenny Aronoff is no stranger to Satriani fans. He has toured alongside Joe as part of the Chickenfoot band, joined Satriani solo tours since 2019, played on The Elephant Of Mars album and stepped in for Jason Bonham on the Best Of All Worlds tour with Satriani, Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony.
“What can I say about the legendary Kenny Aronoff that I haven’t said before?” asks Satriani. “No other drummer has the sound, feel, time, groove and swagger like Kenny. He’s an exceptional human being too. He’s supernatural!”
Vai adds: “Kenny is the quintessential rock drummer. His time is bullet-proof, his tone is fat and clean, and his ability to respond in an improvisational setting is instant. Besides that, he’s one of the easiest and most fun guys to tour with – an essential quality on the road.”
Aronoff says: “I’ve been performing and recording music with Joe Satriani since 2012 (Chickenfoot, Sammy Hagar, G3 and Joe’s band) and have performed live with Steve Vai, but the next level is right now because I am joining the SatchVaiband for a two-month tour this summer in Europe. I am pumped, excited and ready to kick ass!”
When it came to adding a rhythm guitarist and bass player, Satriani and Vai were challenged to find the right combo. Vai had been aware of Pete Thorn for a while and knew he was perfect for their band.
“Pete’s playing is rock solid with a huge tone in his fingers,” says Vai. “His rhythm playing is tight and in tune in a way that’s rare, and his intonation is stunning. He’s the perfect musician for this band and we couldn’t be happier to have him.”
Satriani agrees: “Pete is an all-around monster guitarist. He has that rare ability to shine on rhythm and lead guitar, switching back and forth with finesse,” he says. “He’s got the technical abilities and the rock’n’roll attitude Steve and I were hoping to find for our band.”
Thorn says: “It sounds like something out of a mad fantastical dream that the 14-year-old guitar-obsessed me would have had…. ‘Joe Satriani and Steve Vai called, they want you to join their new band’!
“And then I’d wake up and go to 9th grade math class! But it’s real! It’s a mind-blowing opportunity, and yet I also feel like I’ve arrived exactly where I’ve always wanted to be. I’m beyond excited to be of musical service to these legends and to rock out!”
Then came the choice for bassist, Marco Mendoza. “Marco is a bass phenomenon,” says Vai. “With his six-string fretless, his bass sings with perfect intonation and swooning vibrato. His wide, rich tone and masterful control of dynamics will bring a new dimension to our songs.”
Satriani adds: “Marco’s musicianship is boundless. He’s got a special magic to his bass playing; it’s both foundational and out front at the same time. Together with his exceptional singing voice and stage presence, he will be a driving force in our band.”
Mendoza says: “I have to say that getting invited to be part of a great project like this is monumental for me personally. I know it’s going to be something very special and I can’t wait to get it started.”
The York Barbican show will open a tour that will take in such cities as London, Paris, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Istanbul and Athens, along with European summer festivals at Hellfest, Umbria Jazz Festival and Guitares en Scene Fest.
Celebrating nearly five decades of musical friendship, Satriani and Vai made their musical collaboration debut in March 2024. The Sea Of Emotion, Pt. 1 showcases their synergy as they trade solo sections throughout the nearly six-minute opus.
Their second collaboration is set to be released just before the European tour, adding even more anticipation.
The last few tickets for June 13 are on sale at yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Ric Liptrot: Exhibiting in The Other Collective exhibition at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb
FROM dollops of Dolly Parton advice to Stewart Lee’s werewolf encounter, devilish storytelling to a Cinderella prequel, Charles Hutchinson, cherry picks highlights for the days ahead.
Exhibition of the week: The Other Collective, Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, until March 13
CURATED by Bluebird Bakery, The Other Collective brings together the work of Lu Mason, Ric Liptrot, Rob Burton, Liz Foster and Jill Tattersall.
“These wonderful artists were all missed off the billing for York Open Studios 2025 and we felt that was a real shame,” says Bluebird boss Nicky Kippax. “So The Other Collective was born and we hope the work will get a lot of interest from our customers.”
The poster for South Bank Singers’ Of All The Birds concert
Nature concert of the week: South Bank Singers, Of All The Birds, A Winter Chorus, St Clement’s Church, Scarcroft Road, York, today, 3pm
SOUTH Bank Singers present Of All The Birds, A Winter Chrous, a Saturday afternoon concert of choral music inspired by the enchanting beauty and song of birds. Directed by Carlos Zamora, the choral programme spans six centuries, taking in Mendelssohn, Stanford, Ravel, Gibbons, Janequin, Vautor, Guastavino and Bartlet. Admission is free with a retiring collection for the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.
The poster for A Million Dreams, presented by Steve Coates Productions, at the Grand Opera House, York
Fundraiser of the week: A Million Dreams, A Charity Broadway Spectacular, Grand Opera House, York, tonight, 7.30pm
STEVE Coates Productions present an evening of musical magic, song, dance and laughter by York talent in aid of The Snappy Trust, a charity “dedicated to maximising the personal development of children and young people with wide- ranging disabilities”.
Bev Jones Music Company, Flying Ducks Youth Theatre and a ten-piece band perform songs from Broadway and West End shows such as Wicked, Hamilton, Frozen, The Phantom Of The Opera, Les Miserables and The Greatest Showman. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Mark Reynolds’ tour poster illustration for Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf, playing York Theatre Royal from January 28 to February 1
Comedy gigs of the week: Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf, York Theatre Royal, January 28 to February 1, 7.30pm
IN Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf, Lee shares the stage with a tough-talking werewolf comedian from the dark forests of the subconscious who hates humanity. The Man-Wulf lays down a ferocious comedy challenge to the “culturally irrelevant and physically enfeebled Lee”: can the beast inside us all be silenced by the silver bullet of Lee’s deadpan stand-up? Tickets advice: Hurry, hurry as all shows are closing in on selling out; 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Tricia Paoluccio’s Dolly Parton and Steven Webb’s Kevin in Here You Come Again at Grand Opera House, York
Musical of the week: Here You Come Again, Grand Opera House, York, January 28 to February 1, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees
SIMON Friend Entertainment and Leeds Playhouse team up for the tour of Here You Come Again, starring and co-written by Broadway actress Tricia Paoluccio, who visits York for the first time in the guise of a fantasy vision of country icon Dolly Parton.
Gimme Gimme Gimme writer Jonathan Harvey has put a British spin on Bruce Vilanch, director Gabriel Barre and Paoluccio’s story of diehard Dolly devotee Kevin (Steven Webb) needing dollops of Dolly advice on life and love in trying times. Parton hits galore help too! Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Sylvie (Aileen Hall), centre, demonstrates her skills to friends Amelie (Perri Ann Barley), left, and Helene (Devon Wells), right, in rehearsal for Blue Light Theatre Company’s Where The Magic Begins!
Premiere of the week: Blue Light Theatre Company in Where The Magic Begins!, Acomb Working Men’s Club, York, January 29, 30 and 31, 7.30pm; February 1, 2pm matinee
BLUE Light Theatre Company will forego their annual panto in favour of staging York playwright and actress Perri Ann Barley’s new play Where The Magic Begins!, a prequel to Cinderella based on characters from the original Charles Perrault version of “everyone’s favourite fairytale”.
“We meet many beloved characters in their younger days, such as a young Fairy Godmother, who is about to discover her ‘gift’. We follow her journey as she struggles with a secret that could put her life, and that of her family, in grave danger,” says director Craig Barley. Box office: 07933 329654, at bluelight-theatre.co.uk or on the door.
Hannah Rowe: Performing in the cabaret set-up of The Old Paint Shop at York Theatre Royal Studio
Cabaret night of the week: CPWM Presents An Evening With Hannah Rowe, The Old Paint Shop, York Theatre Royal Studio, January 30, 8pm
YORK promoters Come Play With Me (CPWM) welcome Hannah Rowe to The Old Paint Shop’s winter season. This young singer writes of experiences and shifts in life, offering a sense of reflection within her rich, authentic, jazz-infused sound.
The Old Paint Shop shows by irreverent York covers combo Hyde Family Jam (today, 2pm and 8pm) and Karl Mullen, upstanding York pianist Karl Mullen (January 31, 8pm) have sold out. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Tim Ralphs: Wild reimagining of folktale, fairytale and urban legend at Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb
Devilish delight of the week: Tim Ralphs and Adderstone, Infernal Delights, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, January 31, doors 7.30pm
TIM Ralphs and York alt-folk storytellers Adderstone serve up a winter night’s double bill of dark delights. Let Adderstone’s Cath Heinemeyer and Gemma McDermott lead you down the steps to the underworld with story-songs from wild places in their Songs To Meet The Darkness set.
In Beelzebub Rebranded, Tim Ralphs’s stand-up storytelling exhumes the bones of ancient Devil stories and stitches them into new skins for fresh consumption in his wild reimagining of folktale, fairytale and urban legend. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk/adderstone/infernal-delights/e-xjjber.
York Ice Trail: Taking the theme of Origins next weekend
Whatever the weather, here comes the new ice age: York Ice Trail 2025, February 1 and 2
YORK’S “free weekend of frosty fun” returns with a 2025 theme of Origins as York’s streets are turned into an icy wonderland of frozen tableau in this annual event run by Make It York. Among the 30 ice sculptures showcasing 2,000 years of city history will be a Roman shield, a Viking helmet, a chocolate bar, a drifting ghost, a majestic train and a Yorkshire rose, all captured in the language of ice by Icebox. Full details can be found at visityork.org/york-ice-trail.
Before all that ice, windswept York has another free event on the city streets and beyond this weekend: York Residents’ Festival today and tomorrow. For the full list of offers, head to: visityork.org/offers/category/york-residents-festival.
Snow Patrol: Returning to Scarborough Open Air Theatre this summer
Gig announcement of the week: Snow Patrol, TK Maxx Presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, June 27
THE Northern Irish-Scottish indie rock band Snow Patrol are to return to the Scarborough coast for the first time since July 2021, led as ever by Gary Lightbody, accompanied by long-time lead guitarist Nathan Connolly and pianist Johnny McDaid.
Emotionally charged anthems such as Chasing Cars, Run and Open Your Eyes will be complemented by selections from 2024’s The Forest Is The Path, their first chart topper in 18 years. Box office: ticketmaster.co.uk and scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
In Focus: Hayden Thorpe & Propellor Ensemble, National Centre for Early Music, York, January 29, doors 7pm, start 7.30pm
Hayden Thorpe: Performing Ness with Propellor Ensemble at the NCEM
PLEASE Please You and Brudenell Presents bring Hayden Thorpe & Propellor Ensemble to the NCEM to perform Ness on Wednesday, with the promise of a “sonically spectacular and transformational live show”.
Thorpe, 39-year-old former frontman and chief songwriter of Kendal and Leeds band Wild Beasts, promotes his September 2024 album, Ness, released on Domino Records.
Using a process of redaction, Cumbrian musician Thorpe brought songs to life from nature writer Robert Macfarlane’s book Ness, inspired by Orford Ness, a ten-mile long shingle spit on the coast of Suffolk that housed the former Ministry of Defence weapons development site during both World Wars and the Cold War.
Acquired by the National Trustin 1993 and left to re-wild, to this day it remains a place of paradox, mystery and constant evolution.
Thorpe’s ode to Orford Ness, the physical place and the book, features Macfarlane’s words and illustrations by Stanley Donwood. He premiered Ness with Propellor Ensemble at Orford Ness on September 28 and 29 last year.
Here Hayden discusses working with Robert Macfarlane and Propellor Ensemble, the Cold War, nature and past York experiences with CharlesHutchPress.
Do you have any past experiences of York, whether on a school visit or whatever, Hayden?
“My parents used to take us to the Jorvik Viking Museum when me and my siblings were young. I was always amazed by the fake open sewer smell they would pump into the space.”
When did you last play in York, either solo or with Wild Beasts?
“I believe it was in 2006 or 2007. A rather long time ago. In any case, it’s been too long. It was somewhere quite familiar to me when Wild Beasts were coming up in Leeds. We’d make a regular dash across.”
How did the Ness project come about with Robert Macfarlane?
“In a really old fashioned manner. I fan-mailed Rob and he wrote back with all the generosity and open heartedness of his books. He’s as good as his word in the truest sense.
“Rob and I decided to perform some improvised music to his reading of Ness. It was a Eureka moment. The atmosphere and drama of the sound we made demanded that we commit to expanding it.”
Did you visit Orford Ness, now the Orford Ness National Nature Reserve, for research purposes?
“Yes. Orford Ness is an astonishing place. It’s a monument to rejuvenation and a monument to destruction. The very best and the very worst of us.”
By the way, Hayden, York has a Cold War Bunker Museum, in Monument Close, Holgate: a two-storey, semi-subterranean bunker built in 1961 to monitor nuclear explosions and fallout in Yorkshire, in the event of nuclear war.
“I had no idea that a Cold War museum existed in York. That’s fabulous. Bizarrely, I’ve developed a Cold War romance. I guess the conflicts and hostilities we face today have brought these conversations back into our everyday consciousness.”
The album cover artwork for Hayden Thorpe’s Ness
How have you turned the album into a concert performance?
“The album is very much made of sounds we’ve made with our hands and lungs, so with enough pairs of those it actually translates in a very true way. The unusual instrumentation, with orchestral percussion and clarinet foregrounded alongside me, creates a very distinct ‘Ness’ sound. The shows have been really emotional as a result.”
Were you tempted to feature strings in the Ness project for their emotional heft?
“We deliberately did not use strings. We opted to use the elemental forces at my play at Orford Ness: wind and resistant materials like metal and wood. It creates a haunted, volatile soundscape.”
Which Propellor Ensemble members will play in York?
“Jack McNeill plays clarinet and Delia Stevens plays orchestral percussion. Molly Gromadzki performs the spoken-word parts and sings in the choir. Brigitte Hart and Helen Ganya make up the choral section. It’s been a joy to work with such expressive and capable performers.”
What does a “sonically spectacular and transformational live show” entail?
“Something which is sonically ambitious and immersive. Once we start the show we don’t stop, it’s the album in full back to front. We want to take the audience to Ness, have them come face to face with the monster.”
Why was the National Centre for Early Music, in the former St Margaret’s Church in Walmgate, chosen for the York gig rather than The Crescent community venue, a classic working men’s club design?
“We’ve heard such great things about NCEM. Much of the story of Ness takes place ‘In The Green Chapel’, so the work lends itself to a space of worship.”
What is your own relationship with nature? Wild Beasts hailed originally from Kendal, with all that Lake District beauty around you…
“Nature has become increasingly important to my life and work. As artists we’re forced to ask what side of the conversation we sit on, one which acknowledges the existential crisis facing us or one which excuses it. Music can carry non-human voices really effectively. Ness is very much a meditation on that.”
What will be the next project you work on?“
Good question. Ness has certainly expanded my palette. I’ve come to feel maybe my strength is in making strange and ambitious works which would otherwise not get made. It’s crucial to keep the flame burning on works of exploration and oddity in an industry which increasingly incentivises conformity.”
Tricia Paoluccio as Dolly Parton in the musical Here You Come Again, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York, next week
BROADWAY actress Tricia Paoluccio has never met Dolly Parton but inhabits the Tennessee country music icon to the max in the musical Here You Come Again.
Headed for York’s Grand Opera House next week after a London season at Riverside Studios, Hammersmith, she says: “I met her sister Rachel, who saw our show in Tennessee, but unfortunately Dolly was away shooting music videos for her rock album [November 2023’s Rockstar], so she wasn’t able to come along herself.
“I don’t know what I’d do if I ever met her. I’d die! I would ask her first, ‘Can I borrow some of your wigs for our show?’ But if I was having a real heart-to-heart with Dolly, I’d want to know, ‘How have you been able to navigate your life and career the way that you have?’ She really has never had a misstep.”
Navigating a path through life in Covid-troubled times with dollops of home-spun advice from an imagined version of Dolly is the story of Here You Come Again, wherein diehard Dolly devotee Kevin (played by West End actor Steven Webb) is taught “a whole lot about life, love and how to pull yourself up by your bootstraps…even if your bootstraps don’t have rhinestones”.
“I’ve always loved Dolly and been able to sing like her,” says Tricia. “It was my dream to someday be able to use this ability in a theatrical way and thought the best way to do it was to have it be another person’s journey.
“I wanted to sing my favourite Dolly songs but put her in a situation where we could see her in action in a real-life way, in a fantasy friendship where everything is done with lots of humour and tough love too, instead of it being a bio musical about her life.”
Fully authorised by Dolly herself, a plethora of Parton hits feature in the show: Jolene, 9 To 5, Islands In The Stream, I Will Always Love You, Here You Come Again et al. “But if people are expecting a tribute show, it’s not. It’s a proper theatre show; a play with music, with the side benefit of sometimes feeling like a Dolly Parton concert,”says Tricia.
“I think every audience member will find the show to be really funny, with lots of laughs, but they’ll also be surprised by how deep and emotional it is. It’s not about Covid, but the pandemic provides a universal backdrop experience as a time when we needed to let go of our plans, our job routines, our sense of identity. If you were defined by your career, you had a crisis over your identity – and Covid was even more of a worldwide experience than World War Two.”
Tricia co-created the original American script in collaboration with director Gabriel Barre and Emmy Award-winning comedy and song writer Bruce Vilanch in “one of the most harmonious, joyous experiences” of her creative career.
“We each brought something unique to the journey,” she says. “Gabriel is an expert in creating the theatrical framework and keeping us on track. He’s such a diplomat and truly a great director.
“I helped conceive of the basic story and I’d share how I think Dolly would say something or how I think she would behave in a situation.”
Vilanch is a “comedy genius,” she says. “He fleshed out the dialogue based on all of our brainstorming sessions with personal insights to Dolly as he wrote for her and the world of stand-up comics since he’s also from that world.”.
Tricia then worked with Gimme Gimme Gimme writer Jonathan Harvey to give the story a British revamp for the UK tour that began last April in her first ever visit to these isles. “Our producer, Simon Friend, thought Jonathan would be perfect, and he’s been a lovely collaborator, so easy to work with, understanding how things will hit a British audience,” she says.
“What’s wonderful about our show is that you could adapt it to any culture of a person in trouble, who needs Dolly’s help. It could be anywhere, but for this tour we needed the humour to be specific to the UK, changing all of the cultural references to fit.
“We’ve done 32 cities already and they’ve absolutely loved it. They are so on board with it not being a concert but a comedy with a deep heart.”
Summing up Dolly Parton’s appeal, Tricia says: “When it comes to her songwriting, she is a true artist. Like any great songwriter, she knows how to tell a story and connect with the heart, and she’s just blessed with that gift to write so many songs that do that.
“She can tap into human experience, and when you hear one of her sad songs about someone else’s experience, it can make you feel better about yourself, making you think ‘I have so much to be grateful for’.”
Like Dolly, Tricia comes from farming stock. “Even though there are many things where Dolly and I are so different – I’m a plain Jane, who doesn’t care about jewels and clothes; Dolly would be very disappointed at how I look off stage – but I do connect with her in many ways.
“I grew up on a small farm in Modesta, California, a 40-acre almond farm, where my parents taught me that happiness came from small things, growing up surrounded by nature. I do align with Dolly in seeing beauty all around, and like Dolly, I have many interests and I’m an entrepreneur with two businesses as a teacher and an artist with a pressed flower brand.”
Looking forward to visiting York for the first time, Tricia says: “One of my best friends will be flying in from Virginia because we’d heard York is one of the best places in England. We’re planning walking tours and spending Monday sight-seeing.”
Tricia will be on the road in Here You Come Again until February 22. “I cannot believe what an honour this has been, having the chance as an American to learn about British culture and hear all these different accents,” she says.
“I’m just crazy about it, and our audiences have been so warm and responsive. It’s been a real pleasure.”
Simon Friend Entertainment and Leeds Playhouse present Here You Come Again, Grand Opera House, York, January 28 to February 1, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
More questions for Tricia Paoluccio from her official tour Q&A
Tricia Paoluccio: Grew up on a farm, like Dolly Parton
What does Jonathan Harvey, who has worked with you on the UK version of the show, bring to the table?
“He is so funny. He’s a great writer, with fine-tuned taste, and the main thing he’s contributed is helping us set it in England because we had to change all of our cultural references. He’s also helped us to understand how things will hit a British audience because British audiences are different than American audiences and your experience during 2020 was a little different than ours.”
How did you set about becoming Dolly for the show?
“I like to say that I began rehearsing for this role when I was five years old, when I first heard Here You Come Again on the radio. I remember that moment vividly. I begged for the record and I memorised every song on it.
“I’ve always been able to tune my vocal cords to hit her vibrato and to find that cry in her voice and the musicality of her styling. When it came time to doing our show, though, I did not have her speaking voice down.
“I worked with a very celebrated dialect coach named Erik Singer, who helped Austin Butler prepare to play Elvis. We worked together on cracking her speaking voice and that took a bit more effort.
“I’ve watched tons of Dolly videos and early interviews to absorb how she does and says things, her mannerisms and everything. I just love to study her.”
How important to you is it not to simply do a Parton impersonation?
“Very important. There are wonderful tribute artists out there doing great things to spread the love of Dolly. But in terms of a play or a musical, I don’t think that would be a very satisfying evening in the theatre.
“I do not think about impersonating her. I’m only thinking about what my objective is in the story and I trust that Dolly’s presence is strong enough in me to let it go.”
What was important to get right about her as a person as well as a singer?
“Dolly is a very practical person. She’s no-nonsense and wise. I wanted to make sure that she stayed grounded and real. While we have very performative moments to the audience, I wanted to show her in a very truthful and down-to-earth way.
“I also wanted to show Dolly doing very humble things. I envisioned her as the kind of friend who if you’re going through a hard time would help clean up your kitchen and eat a meal with you. She’s not so rich and famous that she’s above doing those little things.
How did you and the team decide which Dolly songs to include?
“I love the late-70s/early 80s Dolly, so I came up with a kind of hit list. But I have to give credit to our lawyer, Thomas Distler, who’s responsible for making this all happen because he knew Dolly
Parton’s lawyer and got the material to her. That’s how we got permission to be able to do the show and the rights to all her music. Tom also said, ‘You’ve got to find a way to put Jolene in there’. At first we didn’t have it in the show because it didn’t really fit our storyline, but we found a wonderful way to put it in and I’m really glad that we did.”
Steven Webb’s Kevin and Tricia Paoluccio’s Dolly Parton in a scene in Here You Come Again
Do you have a favourite song to perform in the show?
“It’s like picking a favourite child and I love them all for different reasons. But I think my favourite one to perform is Me And Little Andy. It’s just so sad and strange, where Dolly does a little girl voice and it takes this painfully tragic turn. I love performing it and I love the reaction it gets from the audience.
“If you don’t know the song already, don’t listen to it before you come to see the show! Let yourself be surprised because I want you to have the same reaction that Kevin does.”
Like Dolly, you grew up on a farm, albeit an almond farm. Do you have other things in common with her?
“Like her, I’m very lucky to have had a happy childhood. I’m from a loving family and now, as an adult, I recognise how rare that is. My parents gave my brother and I a very wholesome childhood and I think this greatly shaped my outlook on life and helped me to be a positive, optimistic person.
“I’m also grateful for an understanding of God that brings me a lot of comfort and joy. I credit God with all good things, just as Dolly’s faith is the backbone of her creativity and art. So many of her songs reflect that in a way that’s very universal and easy for people to accept – even people who might not have a belief in God themselves. She’s able to share her faith in a very simple way that people can understand.”
How would you describe your relationship with Dolly’s music?
“As a child I spent hours and hours walking around our almond orchard in Modesto, California, singing her songs, imagining how life might be as a grown-up. Singing along to her made me want to become an actress, because I loved how she told stories and how emotional her songs could be.
“I can’t express enough how deeply her artistry has influenced my entire life: a love of beauty and a love of storytelling, culminating in what I consider the greatest achievement of my career – creating and being in this show. It’s the honour of a lifetime.”
Why do you think Dolly Parton is so beloved?
“She grew up very poor, made it big and has handled herself with dignity and grace her whole career. Watching interviews with her from the ’70s, they’re just crazy. She gets asked the most insulting and sexist questions and she never takes offence. But she never backs down either. She sticks up for herself with great humility and humour.
“What I also admire is how she uses her wealth and influence to donate to and bring attention to worthy causes, and she has managed to stay true to herself and her beliefs without ever taking sides.
“She fights for the little guy, uses her power for good and basically is one of the kindest, sweetest human beings ever to walk the earth. I’m just in awe of the life she’s created for herself and all she has given to the world.”
As well as a performer, you are an artist and designer. How do you juggle that with your theatre work?
“When you love to do something, you always find the energy and time for it. I’m really passionate about flower pressing and I’ve been doing it my whole life.
“A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to be discovered by some luminaries in the fashion and music industries. I started doing these collaborations that became very successful, such as the Óscar de la Renta collaboration, which led to Taylor Swift wearing that pressed flower dress at the Grammys.
“Then Anna Wintour [editor-in-chief of Vogue] wore one of ODLR’s designs, which used my art as the pattern, at the Met Gala. It gave me the confidence to create a whole brand using pressed flower imagery in high design and now I’ve created a business.
“I really hope to make connections in the UK because I have a little following here of passionate flower pressers, which I hope to nurture. I also hope to pick and press flowers in the UK and make a body of work inspired by the flowers of this beautiful part of the world.”
