Velma Celli: Game for a laugh and a song at York RI Rugby Union Football Club in Acomb on Friday night
YORK drag diva Velma Celli is signing up for a rugby club in her home city.
Velma, the cabaret creation of West End and international musical actor, singer and dancer Ian Stroughair, will play at York RI Rugby Union Football Club, in New Lane, Acomb on Friday night after a spring and summer of lockdown shows live-streamed from Ian’s Bishopthorpe kitchen.
In the wake of such online diva delights from Case de Velma Celli as Large & Lit In Lockdown, Equinox, Me And My Divas and A Night At The Musicals, here comes An Evening Of Song, live in the Acomb open air.
“Bring your bubble, chairs and campness to York RI Club, New Lane for a spectacular outdoor evening of music and laughs beneath the stars,” says the club website. “Joining Velma will be some of Yorks greatest vocal talents!”
Here, Charles Hutchinson asks Ian/Velma to stretch out on the psychiatrist’s sofa for a spot of quick-thinking self-analysis and more besides.
What did you learn about yourself in lockdown?
“That I wasn’t spending enough time at home.”
Were there good things to being back in York, quarantining after your Australian shows in your home city, rather than in the Big Smoke?
“Goodness, yes. It’s just such a beautiful place and people are lovely.”
What were the best aspects of doing shows online?
“Learning how to do it well. A new skill, it was tricky, but we got there.”
What were the worst aspects?
“Learning how to do it well. A new skill, it was tricky, but we got there.”
“Lovely people there and I grew up in Acomb, so it just feels right,” says Velma Celli/Ian Stroughair, looking forward to Friday’s show
Is there long-term potential for online shows, given that not everyone can get down to London…or even to The Basement, at City Screen, your regular York haunt?
“Yes, I think it will continue to bridge the gap well into 2021. Theatre and the like are going to be baby-stepping it for a long time, so online can keep us all entertained: something we have all learned we need so much in our lives.”
How did you feel to be performing to a live audience again in person at Proud Cabaret All Stars in London last Friday and Saturday? What have you missed most?
“It was AWESOME! I will never forget it. The atmosphere was incredible. It was at a stunning venue on Embankment…it’s HUGE! I’ve missed it all but mostly the cast. The energy and, of course, the audience.
You’re playing a rugby club in York on a Friday night…that’s brave! Discuss!
“Someone suggested there and I went down and met the lovely Caroline [Knight] and I was sold. LOVELY people there and I grew up in Acomb, so it just feels right.”
What will feature in An Evening Of Song…the title would suggest a show that can go anywhere, span any genre, climb every musical mountain?
“HA! Yes, it will be a mixed bag of whatever I fancy on the day and of course requests online. Message me on Facebook, peeps!
“Pop, rock, impressions and some musical theatre (obvs).”
Did Lockdown give you a chance to experiment anew with the powder and paint?
“I didn’t. I only wear make-up for the show and I enjoyed the break. It takes forever!”
If anyone is heading down to London on October 8, what can they look forward to in That Drag Show, “an evening of debauched fun and fabulosity at London’s newest drag revue show”, with you, Karla Bear and Portia at the Proud Cabaret City?
“The triple threats, sent from the Gods. The girls are AWESOME! Really talented folks, so the place might explode.”
Triple threats: Velma Celli and That Drag Show co-stars Karla Bear and Portia
Who are Karla Bear and Portia? What do they each specialise in?
“Karla is an Ozzie import and she wasted no time making a stamp on the UK drag scene, appearing in Kinky Boots in the West End within weeks of arriving.
“She was in the Australian cast of Wicked. She won Drag Idol UK, was the closing act at London LGBT Pride in 2019 and is the girl next door you don’t want your daddy to meet!
“Portia is a West End legend and made an infamous splash into Soho when she originated the role of Young Bernadette in Priscilla Queen Of The Desert at The Palace Theatre and also in La Cage Aux Folles. She’s one of London’s most sought-after hosts and has more legz than a bucket of chicken.”
What is the impact on the live drag scene of this sudden burst of TV shows – the latest being Canada’s Drag Race on BBC Three – for drag addicts needing their glamorous fix?
“Drag is hugely popular now, which must be a good thing.”
“Please get your tickets in advance of the day as we need to organise tables cos of good ole Covid,” says Velma. “Get those [song] requests in darlings at https://www.facebook.com/VelmaCelliCabaret/”
Velma Celli, Karla Bear and Portia in That Drag Show, Proud Cabaret City, Mark Lane, London, EC3R 7AH, October 8, 8pm, doors 7pm. Tickets: £20 to £50 at https://www.ticketweb.uk/event/that-drag-show-proud-cabaret-city-tickets/10698715
Velma Celli’s poster for Friday’s show with A Night To Remember favourite Jessica Steel as a special guest
Shed Seven’s artwork to announce their December 4 live album, Another Night, Another Town
SHED Seven are to release a live album on December 4 after a frustrating summer of Covid-cancelled gigs.
Specially curated by the York Britpop luminaries and available exclusively through the Sheds’ store, Another Night, Another Town “captures their dynamic live performances and anthemic songs over 21 tracks”.
As trailed on the shedseven.com website, Shed followers can pick up a limited-edition coloured gatefold vinyl edition, a special double CD set, a 180g heavyweight triple vinyl version and a download, plus a selection of new merchandise.
From this week, you can pre-order a signed copy to download album opener Room In My House and Ocean Pie now.
“A few words” from frontman Rick Witter accompany the announcement: “When it became clear virtually no live events would be taking place this year and with no Shedcember [December tour] to look forward to, we thought it was a good time to go through recordings from our 2019 [Shedcember] tour and 2018 Castlefield Bowl show [in Manchester] to curate the best live album we could.
“From 10,000 people singing along to Chasing Rainbows at Leeds Arena to playing the classic outro of I Am The Resurrection in the home of the Stone Roses, this 21-track album features the best from our live shows over the last couple of years.”
The live album has been mixed by Chris Sheldon, who produced the Sheds’ 1996 album A Maximum High and 1999 single Disco Down (whose lyrics have been raided for the ‘Another Night, Another Town’ title).
Taking it sitting down: Shed Seven have been left with a blank summer gig diary in Covid-19 2020
“We’re delighted with the results, which we think are as close as we can get to capturing the Shed Seven live experience on record,” continues Rick, 47. “We haven’t released a live album since we returned as a five-piece in 2007 and we certainly haven’t released one as good as this!
“We hope this album provides just a little bit of the live experience we’re all missing before we return in 2021.”
Another Night, Another Town will be Shed Seven’s fifth “live” album after Where Have You Been Tonight? Live, in 2003; Live At The BBC, in 2007; See Youse At The Barras: Live In Concert, 2009, and Live At Leeds 2007, digital download only, in 2009.
The track listing will be: Room In My House; Mark; Where Have You Been Tonight?; People Will Talk; Devil In Your Shoes; Butterfly On A Wheel; She Left Me On Friday/I Am The Resurrection; Better Days; On Standby; It’s Not Easy; Getting Better; Enemies And Friends; Ocean Pie; Dolphin; High Hopes; Disco Down; Bully Boy; Going For Gold; Parallel Lines; Invincible and Chasing Rainbows.
The Sheds should have been playing in the open air at The Piece Hall, Halifax, on September 19, but as with this summer’s post-racing concert at Doncaster Racecourse on August 15, preceded by Witter and guitarist Paul Banks’s acoustic set at Pocklington Arts Centre’s Platform Festival at The Old Station on July 11, Covid-19 intervened.
However, Shed Seven’s diary for outdoor engagements in 2021 is taking shape: Don 21 Music Live, Doncaster Racecourse, May 15; Neighbourhood Festival, London, May 29; Isle of Wight Festival, Newport, June 18; The Piece Hall, Halifax, June 26; Corbridge Festival, July 3; Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival, Beaufort, July 31, and Watchet Music Festival, Somerset, August 29.
Meanwhile, The Piece Hall has added Nile Rodgers & Chic to next summer’s concert list, booked in for June 18 with Liverpool soul singer Rebecca Ferguson as the support act. Tickets will go on sale at 10am on Friday at www.seetickets.com and www.lunatickets.co.uk
Chairing the event: Richard Upton in a moment of high drama in York Stage Musicals At Rowntree Park in August. Picture: Jess Main
SHOULD theatre companies be more adventurous, like you, and crack on with finding ways of getting out there and performing, despite Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden’s caution over when theatres can reopen fully, Nik?
“AS long as people are being sensible, following the guidelines and keeping safe, then, yes, of course people should be pushing forward! It’s not easy, there is a hell of a lot of risk, but it’s certainly worth it.
“People can go sit in restaurants and bars, so I really dont see why, with social distancing and if it’s financially viable, we shouldn’t be producing?
“If any city can produce work in these weird times, it’s York, where we have a strong history of successfully mixing professional and community casts. Damien Cruden really led the way with this in the city, when he was artistic director at York Theatre Royal, and in fact was the inspiration for the way I have ran York Stage over the past seven years.
“There really is enough professional talent locally to make it work in some way, as shown by our Rowntree Park concerts, York Theatre Royal’s Pop-Up On The Patio series and Engine House Theatre’s Park Bench Theatre shows!
“My biggest fear for the future, though, is that we are going to be sat with our larger venues sitting empty and artists all around the city desperate to work.”
York Stage Musicals present Jukebox Divas at Rowntree Park Amphitheatre, York, September 18 to 20, 7pm. Box office: www.yorkstagemusicals.com
THE 2020 York Chamber Music Festival is going online to live-stream three concerts from the National Centre for Early Music, Walmgate, from September 18 to 20.
Festival artistic director Tim Lowe says: “This year, we can’t have an audience because of the Covid-19 virus, but we were determined to put on some wonderful concerts anyway.
“We’ll be able to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth as first planned, and the only change is that we’ve decided it’s not possible to stream the lunchtime recitals”
Cellist Lowe will be performing with Simon Blendis and Charlotte Scott, violins; Matthew Jones, violin and viola; Jon Thorne, viola, and Katya Apekisheva, piano.
On September 18, their programme will be: Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 11 in F minor, Op. 95, Serioso; Herbert Howells’ Fantasy String Quartet, Op. 25 and Robert Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E Flat major, Op. 44.
On September 19, they will play: Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 1 in F major, Op.18, No. 1; Josef Suk’s Piano Quartet in A minor, Op.1 and César Franck’s Piano Quintet in F minor.
September 20’s festival climax will open with Beethoven’s String Quintet in C major, Op. 29, followed by Antonín Dvořak’s String Quintet in E Flat major, Op. 97.
“In each of the three online concerts, I’ve selected one work to represent or point to key moments in Beethoven’s artistic evolution and spiritual journey,” says Tim. “It was Beethoven’s great tragedy that for much of his adult life he became progressively deaf until there was nothing left. It would seem that as his outer-ear faded, so his inner-ear quickened.”
Assessing each Beethoven piece, Tim says: “In the String Quartet No. 1 in F major, Op.18, No. 1, we catch Beethoven thinking hard about his entry to this genre and already changing convention, poetic and assured.
“The String Quintet in C major, Op. 29 is a pivotal work that is the harbinger of his middle-period chamber music, a bubbling attractive piece that belies Beethoven’s realisation of impending deafness.
“The enigmatic, experimental F minor String Quartet, Op. 95 is the forerunner of his last series of ‘late’ quartets, already reaching for the stars but with a new sort of music never heard before, light years ahead.”
Summing up the accompanying works, he says: “Almost everything else in the programme can be thought of as a legacy of this one man [Beethoven]. A feature of the 2020 event is that we’re playing piano quintets, which was more or less invented as an ensemble by Robert Schumann – having immersed himself in a study of Beethoven’s trios and quartets – Mozart and Haydn too – while his wife, international pianist Clara, was away on tour.”
A Yorkshireman’s favourite price will apply. “To maximise our outreach, we’ve decided that the concerts will be free to listen to and we hope you will join us this month to enjoy them,” says Tim. “But we ask that you make a donation if you possibly can, in lieu of buying tickets.
“Putting on these concerts and recording them is very costly. York Chamber Music Festival is a non-profit charity that depends on support from donors and sponsors. Please help if you possibly can: there is a ‘Donate’ button on our website, ycmf.co.uk, should you wish to help.”
Over the past seven years, York Chamber Music Festival has presented more than 40 concerts and recitals. “We’ve brought to the city some of the country’s best, internationally renowned players,” says Tim.
“Feedback and press reviews both refer to the freshness and vitality that the festival artists bring to core and less familiar chamber music repertoire. Steven Isserlis, Anthony Marwood, Ian Brown, Adrian Brendel, Charles Owen, Emma Johnson, to name but a few, have joined us for great music-making.”
For full details on the 2020 festival programme and participating musicians and on how to watch the concerts, go to www.ycmf.co.uk.
“We hope you can join us for some wonderful live concerts from York. Stay safe and well,” concludes Tim.
The Bev Jones Music Company cast in rehearsal at York Maze for Strictly Live In The Park
THE Bev Jones Music Company will stage a full-sized musical theatre concert with more than 20 socially distanced singers and a five-piece band at the Rowntree Park Amphitheatre, York, on September 13.
Strictly Live In The Park promises a “spectacular show for all the family, with popular show music, pop music, dance and comedy” from 3pm to 5m.
“York deserves this fun Sunday afternoon,” says producer Lesley Jones, Bev’s widow. “We just want to give the public, mainly families, the chance to enjoy entertainment once more.
Bev Jones Music Company cast members maintaining social-distancing at the Rowntree Park Amphitheatre
“The cast are so happy to be performing once again, especially when our big spring production, Calamity Jane, was cancelled by the lockdown in March, just four days before the curtain would have gone up.”
The first York community theatre company to stage a musical theatre concert on this scale since the easing of lockdown, the Bev Jones Music Company will perform “typical Bev Jones spectacular music”.
“All the music was arranged by Bev, the company mentor, so we’ll have a huge variety with numbers from Adele to Robbie Williams, Cabaret to Hairspray, Mack & Mabel to South Pacific, The Full Monty to Chess, Miss Saigon to the finale, Les Miserables,” says Lesley.
The Strictly Live In The Park poster for the September 13 concert
“Every number has been changed to suit the current guidelines regarding singing and live music. The huge dance numbers are limited but we’re adapting what we can.”
The company rehearsed at York Maze for the first time last week. “We only get three rehearsals to put this show together, because we cannot rehearse indoors yet, and thankfully the Maze allowed us those three rehearsals,” says a grateful Lesley.
“We have directed the show ourselves; John Atkin is the musical director with his five-piece band; Claire Pulpher is the choreographer and all our usual cast members are performing.”
Taking shape: First day of rehearsals for Strictly Live In The Park at York Maze
Among the company for this Not For Profit production will be Chris Hagyard, Sally Lewis, Larry Gibson, Terry Ford, Kelly Bolland and two returning members, who had moved on to become full-time professional performers, Nathan Lodge and Jordan Langford.
“Our concert has been risk assessed thoroughly and all audience members will have hand sanitisers and temperature checks, plus all seating will be in socially distanced, marked-out bubbles. All the cast will be checked too,” says Lesley.
“Picnic blankets, rugs and chairs are welcome, as are picnics as there’ll be no public refreshments on sale, in line with Government guidelines. We’ll have a large number of stewards to offer assistance and all safeguards will be in place to ensure that people feel happy and safe in every way.”
Strictly Live In The Park is strictly an all-ticket event, with tickets on sale on 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk. Seats will be sold in bubbles for two (£15) or up to six people (£30).
In a rush like Jennifer Clark’s Gretel in Opera North’s Whistle Stop Opera: Hansel And Gretel? You should be if you want tickets for tomorrow’s shows at the NCEM, York. Picture: Tom Arber
NEWSFLASH! More tickets are being released for Opera North’s three sold-out performances of Whistle Stop Opera: Hansel And Gretel in the National Centre for Early Music garden, in Walmgate, York.
Tickets are suddenly available for tomorrow’s three performances at 11.30am, 1pm and 3pm. The urgent advice is: “Get in quickly. Only a few pods remain. Buy online from ncem.co.uk.”
They’ll say owt to entertain you: Stu Freestone, Henry Raby, Hannah Davies and Dave Jarman
DO you want an assortment of noisy, slam-winning York performance poets, word-weavers and gobheads to perform at a social distance near you?
If so, the Say Owt Showcase luminaries Henry Raby, Stu Freestone, Hannah Davies and Dave Jarman are the quartet to entertain you, being “ideal for socially distanced spaces and audiences”.
“We’re York’s lovable and raucous poetry gang and we’re available to programme and present high-energy, 60-minute showcases of the sharp, relevant, hilarious and engaging spoken word,” says Henry, director of the Say Owt’s “war of the words” slam nights.
Stu Freestone: “Cheekiest of rogues”
“Say Owt’s word-warriors have delighted in ripping up stages at the Great Yorkshire Fringe and the Arts Barge in York, the Edinburgh Fringe and the Ilkley Literature Festival, and last month we performed as part of York Theatre Royal’s Pop-Up On The Patio festival, a bubbled and socially distanced event.
“Our Say Owt Showcase on August 28 sold out and played to a drizzly, but happy, audience.”
Performance poet in residence at the Deer Shed Festival, author, playwright and event organiser Raby is noted for his punk poetry being anarchic and raw, with a sharp political edge, much like his regular Tweets.
Taking the mic: Henry Raby in action
He has performed at Latitude Festival, Boomtown Fair and the Intentional Youth Arts Festival and toured with Creative Arts East and Apples and Snakes’ Public Address Tour.
His latest solo show, Apps And Austerity, looks back over the past decade of technology and stultifying, stringent political policies, as aired at the Pop-Up festival last Friday.
Freestone, Raby’s fellow co-founder of Say Owt, is the cheekiest of rogues with his devilish facial hair and a penchant for Hip-Hop. His work is blissful, engrossing and, above all, unflinchingly honest.
Hannah Davies: Addresses themes of young love, female identity and the small moments that makes us smile
An actor too, he has worked with various York companies and in 2015 was nominated for Best Spoken Word Artist at the Saboteur Awards. The only thing remotely cheesy about him is when he may have served you from behind the counter at The Cheese Trader in Grape Lane.
When playwright, actor, poet, writing course tutor and stage director Hannah Davies “isn’t trying to smash the patriarchy”, she is busy with her York theatre company Common Ground.
Hannah has won slams across the UK and was a finalist in the BBC Fringe Slam 2017, and her work encapsulates themes of young love, female identity and the small moments that make us smile.
Dave Jarman: Plucking words out of the air like the ripest of fruit
Say Owt associate artist Dave Jarman describes himself as a “word-gobbing, ukulele-strumming, bodhran-abusing poet from t’North”.
Resident poet for the Great Yorkshire Fringe in 2017, playwright, actor and occasional Elf, he reflects on community, people, places and our national identity in his poetry and performances.
For more information on how to send for the four wordsmen of the apocalypse to do a show for you, email info@sayowt.co.uk.
From Caribbean cruise-ship crooning in spring to York igloo in late-summertime: Conor Mellor performing at the August 23 performance of York Stage Musicals at Rowntree Park. Picture: Jess Main
YORK Stage are heading back to the Rowntree Park Amphitheatre from September 18 to 20, building on the sold-out success of last month’s debut open-air concerts by staging Jukebox Divas.
York Stage Musicals at Rowntree Park marked the company’s first ever outdoor venture, when six professional performers with YSM history, Joanne Theaker, Ashley Standland, May Tether, Richard Upton, Emily Ramsden and Conor Mellor, performed with Jessica Douglas’s band from August 23 to 25.
Conor, back in York from singing on the international cruise-ship circuit, returns for YSM show number two, joined by Dan Conway, Sophie Hammond, Grace Lancaster and Eleanor Leaper.
York Stage Musicals performers aglow with the joy of performing to an audience at last, after the lockdown hiatus, at the Rowntree Park Amphitheatre. Picture: Kirkpatrick Photography
Producer and director Nik Briggs says: “We really were blown away by the reaction to our York Stage Musicals at Rowntree Park concerts last month. To bring live musical theatre back to the city really was an honour and to sell out so quickly and feel the buzz that surrounded the concerts was just crazy!
“I knew, stood there watching the show, that we had to keep going, we had to do more…especially as we’d joked originally that we’d been compelled to do a thing, something, anything. This time we feel the need to do another thing.”
Jukebox Divas will celebrate the art of the Jukebox musical. “With music from shows such as We Will Rock You, Mamma Mia! and more modern releases like & Juliet and Moulin Rouge, audiences will be entertained with vocal tributes to artists such as Elvis Presley, Queen, Meat Loaf, Katy Perry, Carole King and many more,” says Nik.
York Stage director and producer Nik Briggs and musical director Jessica Douglas
York Stage musical director Jessica Douglas again will lead a live band on stage from her keyboards, backing the latest line-up of professional performers. “One of my hardest things to do last time was to decide who to choose to perform from all the professional talent that has worked with York Stage over the past few years; there are so many brilliant performers who I wanted to bring back!” says Nik.
“I had hoped to do two shows originally but only having three nights at first, this wasn’t possible, so when we were able to secure a second slot I knew straight away who to ask.”
Step forward Dan Conway (York Stage: Ghost; UK tour: Kinky Boots, where he understudied and played the male lead); Sophie Hammond (York Stage: Footloose; now back from training in musical theatre in New York), Grace Lancaster (York Stage: Footloose and Whistle Down The Wind; UK tour: Footloose; Watermill: Assassins; Eastbourne: Return To The Forbidden Planet); Eleanor Leaper (York Stage: Joseph; BBC’s Pitch Battle finalist) and Conor Mellor (York Stage: Rock Of Ages; international cruise vocalist).
“I knew, stood there watching the show, that we had to keep going, we had to do more,” says producer Nik Briggs, explaining why York Stage Musicals will perform in Rowntree Park again this month. Picture: Kirkpatrick Photography
Delighted with how well the first show went after three fast-moving weeks of preparation and rehearsal, followed by stage assembly in only two hours on a Sunday afternoon, Nik says: “Audiences can again expect to be wowed by brilliant sound and lighting from Adam Moore and his Tech247 team. The giant igloo stage covering will be back to glow like a Technicolor beacon in the heart of the park once more.
“We’re again working to ensure the safety of our performers, staff and of course audience in the planning of this event. We’re remaining up to date and working to ensure everything we do is guided and informed by City of York Council and the current Government guidance as the event approaches.
“We’ve had so many compliments about the brilliant front-of-house team and a lot of audience members messaged to say how safe they felt watching the show. This was one of the biggest compliments of all. We know for lots of people it was their first outing in months, so for them to feel safe and comfortable was great.”
Hitting the heights: Richard Upton leaps onto a chair in a high spot of the York Stage Musicals at Rowntree Park concert last month. Picture: Jess Main
As with last month’s shows, to ensure they can seat everyone and maintain suitable social distancing of two metres between groups, York Stage have taken the decision to sell spaces for a “Bubble Blanket” for families or support bubbles to sit in, rather than sell individual tickets.
“These spaces are positioned to make sure there’s a two-metre gap minimum between the spaces in every direction while keeping the audience three metres away from the performers,” says Nik. “We’ve created two sizes of ‘Bubble Blanket’ spaces: one holds up to three people and a larger one holds four to six people. Please note, no physical blanket is provided, but you can bring your own or a camping chair.”
Performances will start at 7pm and run for 90 minutes without an interval. Tickets: available only online at www.yorkstagemusicals.com; Bubble Blanket Space for 1-3 people, £40; for 4-6 people, £65.
Emily Ramsden performing at last month’s York Stage Musicals at Rowntree Park. Picture: Jess Main
Five questions for producer and director Nik Briggs
What did you learn from mounting your first outdoor venture last month?
“Working outside was a daunting prospect, having not done it before. Doing it , while also ensuring we were working within the ever-changing Covid guidelines, was a whole other ball to juggle.
“One thing we were certain about was we knew we wanted to give audiences the same high-quality production and performance standards that they have come to expect from a York Stage show.
“But with that comes a lot of wires, lights, instruments and of course electricity…in an outdoor area, where we can’t stop weather!
“When we arrived at our outdoor rehearsal venue in Leeds to tech the show, the weather was nothing short of torrential. Driving across the A64, my heart was sinking but, with the brilliant team of theatre professionals we work with, we came away from that day knowing that our planning and preparation had left us ready to succeed: ,we could do this in (nearly) all weathers!
Ashley Standland in the solo spotlight at last month’s open-air concert. Picture: Jess Main
“We were lucky to have great weather up to the final show when it was raining all day through to ten minutes into the show, but the audience were brilliant! They all showed up with waterproofs and wellies and really got into what we renamed our festival version of the concert! So the biggest lesson was to not be scared of rain!”
Are you doing anything differently this time?
“It’s a whole new set of songs, nearly a full set of new singers – Conor [Mellor] managed to wangle his way back in again – and a new band. We really wanted to reach out and help as many people as possible with the concerts when those who work in our industry have had such a tough time. There may be a few extra surprises this time around but we’re still working on those at the moment!”
How are you conducting rehearsals? On Zoom? In a room, socially distanced?
“Like last time, rehearsals are happening in a range of ways. There is lots of independent learning of harmonies etc, where we have sent out recordings to the performers, so we only have to come together to piece all the parts together and keep contact to a minimum.
“When we are together social distancing, temperature checks and hand sanitiser are all aplenty! We keep at least two metres apart and never sing face to face to also mitigate any risk.”
Joanne Theaker centre stage at York Stage Musicals’ first outdoor performance. Picture: Jess Main
Should other theatre companies be more adventurous, like you, and crack on with finding ways of getting out there and performing, despite Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden’s caution over when theatres can re-open fully?
“As long as people are being sensible, following the guidelines and keeping safe, then, yes, of course people should be pushing forward! It’s not easy, there is a hell of a lot of risk, but it’s certainly worth it.
“People can go sit in restaurants and bars so I really don’t see why, with social distancing and if it’s financially viable, we shouldn’t be producing?
“If any city can produce work in these weird times, it is York, where we have a strong history of successfully mixing professional and community casts. Damien Cruden really led the way with this in the city – when he was artistic director of York Theatre Royal – and in fact was the inspiration for the way I have ran York Stage over the past seven years.
Emily Ramsden, left, Joanne Theaker and May Tether keep their distance in the Rowntree Park igloo
“There really is enough professional talent locally to make it work in some way, as shown by our Rowntree Park concerts, York Theatre Royal’s Pop-Up Patio On The Patio series and Engine House Theatre’s Park Bench Theatre shows.
“My biggest fear for the future, though, is that we are going to be sat with our larger venues sitting empty and artists all around the city desperate to work.”
The definition of ‘Diva’ is: noun: ‘a famous female singer of popular music’…or ‘a self-important person who is temperamental and difficult to please (typically used of a woman)...but your Jukebox Divas show brazenly has a cast of three women and three men. Outrageous! Explain!
“Charles, it’s 2020, you can be whatever you want to be…and looking back, the men I’ve worked with are often way bigger divas! And no, I’m not naming any names!”
“We want to explore how we connect with loved ones, with our community, with nature and with our culture,” says Tom Higham, York Mediale’s creative director
YORK Mediale returns next month to deliver ambitious and cutting-edge digital arts projects inspired by and reacting to 2020.
For its second iteration, the international new media arts organisation has lined up six new commissions, five being world premieres, the other, a UK premiere.
Running from October 21 into the New Year, the programme of events will take place in York neighbourhoods, online and at two cultural landmarks, York Minster and York Art Gallery.
The first York Mediale in 2018 was the largest media arts festival in Britain, drawing an audience of 65,000 to diverse digital-rooted events over ten days, celebrating York as the UK’s first and only UNESCO Creative City of Media Arts.
The Coronavirus pandemic has led York Mediale to forego the original 2020 festival dates of October 21 to 25, instead “pivoting from a biennial festival to a charity creating and delivering a year-round programme of exceptional digital arts events, embedded in and enriching the creative life of the city of York and beyond”.
In a progression from the 2018 debut, this will involve working closely with York artists, young people and neighbourhoods.
Themes of love, nature and community – particularly poignant at this time following months of lockdown and isolation – will run through artists’ installations and interactive performance, engaging audiences both in person and digitally.
Leading artists in their field from across the world have created work for York, such as Marshmallow Laser Feast, fresh from their show at the Saatchi Gallery in London; composer, musician and producer Elizabeth Bernholz, otherwise known as the artist Gazelle Twin, and arts collective KMA, whose installations have transformed numerous public spaces, from London’s Trafalgar Square to Shanghai’s Bund.
The York community is being encouraged to take part, so today the Mediale team is launching two calls for participation. Firstly, Mediale is calling out for 50 members of the public to feature in a piece that will serve as a memento for the times we live in.
Secondly, in collaboration with York’s Guild of Media Arts and nine other UNESCO Creative Cities of Media Arts, Mediale is launching a call-out to York artists, worth £2,500.
Tom Higham, York Mediale’s creative director for the 2018 festival and now the 2020 one too, says: “York Mediale is a place where, through digital arts, we can explore, challenge and reflect on our lives.
“Plans for this year’s Mediale were well underway as the pandemic took hold. That we’re able to work with artists and producers to create an event at all is something we’re really proud of.”
Mediale planned “as best it could” for what it knew would be a different type of event. “We looked closely at the works already submitted and worked to develop the pieces that would most closely examine these extraordinary times,” says Tom.
“We wanted to explore how we connect with loved ones, with our community, with nature and with our culture. We have been developing projects around those themes, and we’re excited to now present a series of works.
“All of these projects resonated with us at the start of 2020 but we could never have imagined how they could develop to so beautifully reflect our worries, hopes and relationships to our communities.”
York artist and filmmaker Kit Monkman: Collaborating with Gazelle Twin and University of York Music Department for Absent Sitters, an online event at York Mediale 2020
York Mediale audiences will discover how the human body is hardwired, synchronised and inextricably linked to nature; experiment with a new form of performance, and explore the invisible transaction between a person and a piece of art and how WhatsApp has shaped communities for the COVID generation at this year’s “diverse, digitally engaged and mentally stimulating event”.
What digital delights are upcoming in York Mediale 2020-2021?
People We Love, November 2 to 29 at York MInster
THIS commission from creative collective KMA will be positioned in the Minster nave, where a new temporary “congregation” will be made up of a collection of five large high-definition screens, showing a series of video portraits focused on people that have been filmed looking at a photograph of someone they love.
The viewer will not know who is being looked at but will experience the emotion on the face projected on screen before them, interpreting each unspoken story.
Visitors can add their story to the installation as a pop-up booth will be on-site, ready to capture the love stories of the city without the need for words.
Human Nature, October 21 to January 24 2021 at York Art Gallery
A TRIPTYCH of installations under the banner of Human Nature, curated by York Mediale and York Museums Trust, comes together as a centrepiece of York Mediale 2020 in a “hugely ambitious show”.
Embers And The Giants, a short film by Canadian media artist Kelly Richardson, makes its UK premiere, exploring human intervention through thousands of tiny drones mimicking a natural spectacle, suggesting a time when we will need to amplify nature in order to convince the public of its worth.
The Tides Within Us, a commission from immersive art collective Marshmallow Laser East, looks at the journey of oxygen from lungs to the heart and body in a series of installations that echoes the ecosystem within nature.
Fine artist Rachel Goodyear presents Limina, a series of animations supported by her intricate drawings, in response to an untitled sculpture from York Art Gallery’s collection; all offering a glimpse into the psyche and fragments of the unconscious.
Absent Sitters, October 21 to 25, online
GAZELLE Twin, billed as “one of the UK’s most vital contemporary voices in electronic music”, collaborates with York artist and filmmaker Kit Monkman and the University of York Music Department to experiment with a new form of performance.
In this intimate, shared event, you will be guided by a “performer medium” to investigate what is live performance in 2020? The audience, contributing via video call, will become part of an online audio-visual experience that examines the power of “collective imagination” and the importance of “presence/absence” in a live event. Are we live? Can we connect? Who are you? Questions, questions, questions.
Good Neighbours, October 21 to 25, The Groves, York
GOOD Neighbours, from Amsterdam’s affect lab – interactive artist Klasien van de Zandschulp and researcher Natalie Dixon – is based on research into the micro-politics of communities and the increase in WhatsApp neighbourhood watch groups through lockdown.
Individual audience members will use their own mobile devices as they immerse themselves in a weirdly familiar fictional documentary walk alongside live performance, taking place in The Groves area of York.
What exactly is York Mediale?
York Mediale is an international media arts organisation that celebrates York as the UK’s first and only UNESCO Creative City of Media Arts. The independent arts charity was founded in 2014 to mark that designation.
As well as bringing new commissions from leading artists to the city for each festival, Mediale provides opportunities for the best emerging talents to showcase their art. Through incorporating technologies into their works, artists of all kinds will challenge, provoke, interrogate and celebrate our cities, our landscapes, our lives.
UPDATE 15/10/2021
THE RETURN OF PEOPLE WE LOVE, YORK MINSTER, OCTOBER 16 to NOVEMBER 12 2021
KMA creative collective artist Kit Monkman stands beside one of the faces in the People We Love installation, commissioned by York Mediale, at York Monster on October 14 2021. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
YORK has the chance to love People We Love all over again after the KMA creative collective’s installation for York Mediale had to close only three days into its York Minster residency in November 2020.
The Covid pandemic’s second national lockdown forced the sudden shutdown, but now Kit Monkman’s commission from the festival of digital media arts has a second run from October 16 to November 12.
People We Love returns refreshed for 2021 with 25 new subjects added, filmed at Spark:York, to combine with those recorded last year for the evocative installation sited in the Minster nave, just below the Great West Window with its Heart of Yorkshire.
This temporary ‘congregation’ is made up of a collection of five large high-definition screens, each showing video portraits of York residents looking at an unseen, unnamed picture of someone they love.
Viewers watch them reflect, remember and be reminded of a loved one, filmed as they respond silently but expressively to a series of questions in a Scottish accent, unheard by the audience.
Willow Bowen, York Mediale assistant producer and People We Love participant, at the 2021 installation launch at York Minster. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
After multiple months of Government restrictions keeping people at a distance from family and friends, People We Love has become an even more poignant reminder of how precious love and those loved are. Then add the church season of All Souls Day and Armistice Day, and the exhibition could not be better timed nor better placed.
People We Love was inspired by The Life And Opinions Of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Coxwold parson and author Laurence Sterne. First published in York in 1759, the book contains a blank page for the reader to imagine, draw or write about a person they love.
KMA’s Kit Monkman, artist and creator of People We Love, says: “In Tristram Shandy, the reader becomes an active participant in the book. We wanted to take that idea and incorporate it into People We Love, making the audience member an active participant in the creative process as they engage with the film.
“There is a private communion between the person filmed and the viewer, and each draws their own meaning from it, the viewer never knowing anything about the story between the person on screen and their photograph.”
Each unspoken story has its own tale to tell, but one that will never be discovered by the viewer, who will instead have their own understanding of what they are watching, creating a different narrative.
“You don’t have to emote with words; it can be all in the face,” says KMA’s Kit Monkman. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
In a time where it has become more commonplace to interact with those we love via a screen, this quiet artwork offers a chance for contemplation and consideration in a sacred building.
Neil Sanderson, director of the York Minster Fund, says: “We’re delighted to have People We Love return to the Minster after its early closure in 2020 due to the national lockdown. The installation forms part of a wider season of remembering at the cathedral that we hope will give visitors time to pause, reflect and think about their own loved ones during what has been an extraordinarily difficult time for so many.
“This installation kicks off our season of memorial, with All Saints’ Day, All Souls Day and Remembrance Sunday to come, and it’s such an important thing to do, remembering people who have died, especially at this time.
“This is a model we would like to build on as it fits in so well with the vast window and the Heart of Yorkshire. One of the great challenges is finding things that work well here as the Minster is such a monumental building, but People We Love does exactly that. But you also don’t need to explain it to people: they will each get something out of it, just as people get a lot out of the Minster in different ways.”
Among the new faces in the installation for 2021 is York Mediale assistant producer Willow Bowen. Explaining her choice of photograph, she says. “In choosing someone who was dead, I didn’t necessarily want to make myself cry. I’d heard the recording with the questions before, because of working on the project, and one person came to mind when I first heard them, so that was the only choice for me. Being filmed was a very cathartic experience for me and transportive too.”
“Being filmed was a very cathartic experience for me,” says Willow Bowen. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Looking at herself on screen, Willow says: “I remembered being really emotional when I was filmed, but now, when I see myself, I look really stoic, so maybe I had constrained my feelings inside, rather than bubbling over, and yet I’d felt very emotional – I’m just not showing it.”
KMA’s Kit Monkman loves the interaction between the installation and the Minster. “Just being in this space, even if you’re not religious, it’s an awe-inspiring building that makes you reflect and contemplate. You look around and you find yourself contemplating, and so it’s nice to make that connection, with People We Love being here, as we approach All Souls Day and Remembrance Sunday.”
Coming face to face with the human face on screen at a time when we have had to wear masks adds to the installation’s impact. “During the pandemic, we’ve talked about how people have been masked, when so much of the face and emotional expression is hidden, but all these faces in People We Love are without masks and that makes them all the more powerful,” says Kit.
Silence is important to the installation: “We could have had the sitters talking, but that’s not what this work is about. It’s about human connection, and a desire to have that connection, without the need for conversation,” says Kit.
“You can just look into their eyes and empathise with them. It’s not about knowing about what someone is feeling, but being supportive and understanding.
CharlesHutchPress editor Charles Hutchinson with Kit Monkman at the press launch of People We Love on October 14. Picture: Tony Batholomew
“You don’t have to emote with words; it can be all in the face. Besides, if you ask the people you’re filming to tell you about the person in the photograph and what they’re thinking, they probably wouldn’t be anywhere near as forthcoming.”
Developing this point further, Kit says: “What always strikes me is that it’s just so rare to see an ‘uncurated’ face, faces that are stripped of self-consciousness. In People We Love, they are genuinely being themselves in that moment. It’s a privilege to hold them in our gaze as they do that.
“We have just filmed them; we have not ‘curated’ the videos in any way; we are just showing people as they are. That’s where it differs from advertising or portraits.”
The power of imagination is important to People We Love. “If you are just showing a human face, it is still fascinating, but when you know they are looking at someone they love, that sparks the imagination,” says Kit.
“Our culture in the modern world has robbed us of the space for our inner imagination because instead it’s been commodified amid the rise of binge-watching. Our inner space has been bought, but this installation is unapologetically about imagination. Empathy and imagination are two bedfellows here.”
People We Love is testament to “the invisible thread that binds us all” – love – as we seek to understand each silent story. “Because that’s what we do every day, isn’t it, as we try to reach out and understand what’s going on behind the eyes of another.”
UPDATE 7/11/2021
John Mateer looks at his sister Penny Mateer, on screen, on Pittsburgh Day at York Mediale’s People We Love installation on November 5. Picture: Esme Mai
YORK Mediale’s People We Love installation has now been commissioned by the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership in the United States, where it will open next April in its first international showing.
In keeping with KMA’s York template, the team there has filmed Pittsburgh people looking at photos of someone they love, and on November 5, the York Minster installation replaced the videos of York residents with around 70 people from the Pennsylvanian city.
Participation in the project was especially meaningful for siblings John and Penny Mateer. John lives in York and his sister Penny is an artist in Pittsburgh; they have not seen each other since the start of the pandemic . Penny took part in the project and her face was among those shown on the screen in the Minster for one day only.
Penny said: “Even though I am camera shy, I had to participate in this project because of its theme. I also had to participate because my brother John, a video-effect producer, lives in York. I was surprised to feel such emotion and love through focusing only on a photograph during the guided meditation. It was truly cathartic.
“Those feelings of community, connection and love, which we’ve all missed because of the pandemic, are needed now more than ever.”
KMA artist Kit Monkman on Pittsburgh Day at the People We Love installation at York Minster. Picture: Esme Mai
John said: “It was a great surprise when my sister Penny told me that she was participating in People We Love and I couldn’t wait to see her contribution.
“As she’s an artist, I’m used to seeing her on the ‘other side of the frame’, so to speak, not as part of the work itself. Having known Kit Monkman for nearly 20 years, I knew it would be something special. How serendipitous that he chose to use my hometown for the installation’s US debut and how wonderful that I could see it in my current home of York.”
Artist Monkman said: “People We Love is a work with global appeal; the ability to read a loving human face is universal. Every face tells its own unique story, and each and every edition of People We Love speaks of and to its own community. That’s why I was so excited to bring the varied and poignantly beautiful faces of Pittsburgh to one of the world’s most contemplative spaces.”
Tom Higham, York Mediale’s creative director of York Mediale, concluded: “It’s so exciting that a project that started out at York Mediale is travelling over to the US next year. People We Love is such a profoundly moving installation. It feels very personal to be looking at a person as they contemplate the face of someone they love, and I know that audiences in Pittsburgh will feel the same connection.”
Keep on running: Jennifer Clark as Gretel, with Claire Pascoe as Mother behind her, in the opening performance of Whistle Stop Opera: Hansel And Gretel at Slung Low, The Holbeck, Leeds. Picture: Tom Arber
ALL three Saturday performances of Whistle Stop Opera: Hansel And Gretel at the National Centre for Early Music, York, have sold out, but now the bewitching open-air show will pop up on York Theatre Royal’s Pop-Up Patio tomorrow too.
Touring from August 18 to September 5 as part of Opera North’s Switch ON autumn programme of outdoor events and digital projects, the 40-minute production is devised and directed by John Savournin for four singers and accordion and provides an introduction to opera for families, as well as being suitable for adults.
The Whistle Stop mini-opera uses excerpts from Engelbert Humperdinck’s magical 1893 opera to retell the fairy tale of two hungry children, lost in the woods, and a gingerbread cottage that hides a scary secret.
Every witch way: Claire Pascoe’s Witch in shocking pink in Hansel And Gretel
“Journey through the woods and gorge yourself on the exciting twists and turns of the plot as you meet the characters along the way,” says Opera North. “Just beware of the evil witch and don’t stray too far from your tour guide – you never know what trickery you may encounter along the way.”
Whistle Stop Opera: Hansel And Gretel has been performed in outdoor settings across the North in August and September, with social distancing in place for audience members and performers and limited numbers of tickets available, in accordance with Covid-19 guidelines, for “pods” of up to five people, although exact seating arrangements have varied from venue to venue.
In the Hansel And Gretel company are Laura Kelly-McInroy (Jennie Hildebrand in Street Scene, 2020) as Hansel; Jennifer Clark (Flora, The Turn Of The Screw, 2020) as Gretel; Claire Pascoe (Emma Jones, Street Scene, 2020; Witch, Into the Woods, 2016) as Mother/Witch, and director John Savournin (Carl Olsen, Street Scene, 2020; Priest Fotis, The Greek Passion, 2019) as Narrator/Sandman. Miloš Milivojević will play accordion.
Clasped hands at the double: Jennifer Clark’s Gretel and Laura Kelly-McInroy’s Hansel in Whistle Stop Opera: Hansel And Gretel
In the initial announcement, Hansel And Gretel was to have played Pontefract Castle, Pontefract, tomorrow at 4.30pm, but that performance no longer appears on the Opera North listings.
Instead, York Theatre Royal’s patio will play host to shows at 1pm and 3pm with a maximum audience of 35 at each one. Given the speedy uptake of tickets for Saturday’s 11.30am, 1pm and 3pm performances in the NCEM garden, do not delay a moment longer in booking for tomorrow at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk, tickets costing a fiver. Please note, access to Pop-Up On The Patio events is restricted to paid ticket holders only.
The Theatre Royal also advises: “As we all know, the weather in England can be unpredictable, so we recommend dressing for the weather and bringing waterproofs just in case.”
The Pop-Up On The Patio stage at York Theatre Royal with deck-chair seating
This short-notice addition to the Pop-Up programme comes on the back of the Pop-Up On The Patio festival that ran on three Fridays and Saturdays from August 14 to 29, co-ordinated by Theatre Royal producer Thom Freeth.
Taking part in a Covid-secure summer season of outdoor performances, on a terrace stage designed by Yorkshire theatre designer Hannah Sibai, were “Yorkshire’s finest theatre and dance makers”.
Step forward York Dance Space; Mud Pie Arts; Crafty Tales; Fool(ish) Improv; The Flanagan Collective and Gobbledigook Theatre; puppeteer Freddie Hayes; Cosmic Collective Theatre; performance poet Henry Raby; Say Owt Showcase, the York outlet for slam poets, word-weavers and “gobheads”; magician, juggler and children’s entertainer Josh Benson and singer Jess Gardham.
York Theatre Royal’s artwork for the inaugural Pop-Up On The Patio festival
Looking back on the weather-defying patio parade of shows, executive director Tom Bird says: “It’s been brilliant to do a patio season; we’re totally over the moon with how it went. It’s just been terrific to give local artists the chance to perform, even if it’s only to 35 people each show.
“Now we’re announcing the Whistle Stop Opera performances and we’re looking to do more outdoor shows.”
