Not exactly dressed for winter! The Ebor Singers nevertheless will be in the mood for Christmas at the NCEM on December 15
LOOK forward to “a whole
new world of carols” when The Ebor Singers present the British premiere of American
Christmas choral works alongside Benjamin Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols on
December 15.
The York choir’s ever-popular candlelit Christmas concert always features Britten’s festive favourite from 1942, this time complemented by modern compositions from the United States at the National Centre for Early Music, York, at 7.30pm.
“Benjamin Britten
was particularly drawn to Christmas,” says Paul Gameson, the choir’s
director, introducing Britten’s masterpiece, scored for three-part treble
chorus, solo voices and harp.
“Britten spent three
years in North America at the beginning of the Second World War, and he
composed A Ceremony of Carolsduring the long and dangerous transatlantic
crossing back to Britain in 1942.”
How apt, then, to present
Britten’s work alongside Christmas music from the USA. “We’ve had a lot of
enjoyment putting this together”, says Paul. “As well as pieces
now considered popular mainstays of the repertoire, by Lauridsen and Whitacre,
we’ve been exploring sacred pieces by Jake Runestad, Nico Muhly and Stephen
Paulus.
“Runestad’s
writing in Sleep Little Baby, Sleephas an American folk-song
quality, and Paulus’s exploration of the sonority of choir with
accompaniment of oboe and harp is every bit as imaginative as Britten.
“Muhly is one of
today’s most imaginative choral composers, and his Whispered And Revealed,a setting of Longfellow’s poem Snowflakes,is quite breath-taking, within three minutes magically conjuring up
images of snow covering a winter landscape.
“So, we’re delighted to be
giving some of this music its UK premiere. Then throw in some classic seasonal
jingles and some choral ‘mash-ups’ and you have a seasonal concert quite
unlike anything else you will have heard, guaranteed to bring you Christmas
cheer.”
Tickets for Britten, A Ceremony of Carols, By Candlelight cost £15, concessions £12, students £5, at eborsingers.org/currentevents or on the door.
Florence Poskitt: Making her York Stage Musicals debut as Gabriel, the angel who covets the role of Mary in The Flint Street Nativity. Picture: Kirkpatrick Photography
YORK Stage Musicals will bring an alternative
festive offering to York this Christmas for the first time, staging The Flint
Street Nativity at the John Cooper Studio @41Monkgate from December
12 to 22.
Tim Firth’s story was first performed as a television drama on ITV in
1999 with a cast featuring York actor Mark Addy, Frank Skinner, Neil Morrissey
and Jane Horrocks.
Firth, the Frodsham-born writer of Neville’s Island, All Quiet On The
Preston Front, Calendar Girls and the Madness musical Our House, then re-worked
it for the Liverpool Playhouse stage premiere in 2006.
Firth’s show follows “Mizzis Horrocks’s” class of seven year olds as they
prepare to perform their Nativity play at Flint Street Junior School for the
proud mums and dads – and the occasional social worker.
Squabbles arise when Angel Gabriel wants to play Mary; the Star grumbles
he isn’t a proper star like they have at NASA; Herod won’t stop waving to his parents
and the subversive Innkeeper is determined to liven up the traditional script.
Then the class stick insect escapes.
Leading the ensemble company as the ambitious Angel Gabriel will be
blossoming York actress and comedienne Florence Poskitt, making her York Stage
debut alongside Fiona Baistow in the coveted role of Mary. Look out too
for YSM debutant Conor Wilkinson, playing both Herod and Joseph.
The York Stage Musicals’ show poster for The Flint Street Nativity
Here, Charles Hutchinson asks York Stage Musicals artistic
director Nik Briggs to come forth on Firth by answering a Christmas sack-load
of questions.
What made you choose this Tim Firth
piece as your debut Christmas production?
“York is the ultimate Christmas
destination, and many people ask us each year what we’re staging
at Christmas but it hasn’t been something we’ve ventured into before. But then
Jim Welsman [chairman at the time] asked us if we’d be interested in bringing
a Christmas offering to 41 Monkgate, so I jumped at the chance and knew
what show would be the perfect choice.
“I was looking for one that really
would provide the city with an alternative theatrical offering. It needed to be
a show that suited York Stage and the 41Monkgate venue. Flint Street was
the perfect choice. It’s not saccharine; it’s fun, energetic and a
tad off the wall.
“So, come join us as we alter your perspective on not only the art and
politics of the humble Nativity, but the John Cooper Studio as a whole!”
What makes The Flint Street Nativity so humorous?
“This festive play really is one of the funniest observations I’ve come
across based on the Christmas holidays. Everyone knows the traditions
surrounding the institution of the school Nativity, tea towels tied to the
head and tinsel-clad Angels everywhere, but Tim Firth has created
a brilliant script, set in the build-up to the much-anticipated show
filled with laughs and pathos in an oversized classroom where adults play
the children in Mrs Horrocks’s class.”
What do you most enjoy about Tim
Firth’s writing?
“The detail
in the observation of the people he writes about is just brilliant; it really
is all on the page. Like in Calendar Girls, you can relate to and recognise the
characters. The seven year olds just come to life through the writing.
“I work with children of this age
quite regularly and, as I read the script, I could see the
children he was talking about and describing. It seems far-fetched to some, but
it really isn’t! Then, the twist in the final scenes and his ability to
inject just the right amount of pathos into a riotous comedy is what
clinches it for me.”
What are the particular challenges of
this piece for director and cast?
“The key to
the whole show, for me, comes in getting the final part of the show just right,
when – spoiler alert! – the actors who’ve been playing the
children throughout then turn to play the respective parents and we
see what’s made the children the way they are.
“It’s been fairly easy to work on the
scenes with the brilliant actors where they’re playing around and having
lots of fun playing the seven year olds, but actually getting that to tie in
with the adults is where the magic is, so we started the rehearsals with the
adult scenes and got to know them before we then worked on creating
their children, as it’s the adults who nurture.”
What is Tim Firth’s Christmas
message?
“The final
line in the play is ‘I’m in a Nativity. Yeah, it’s great…really brings it
home’, and I think that sums it up. In the fast-paced world we live in,
the simplest, purest things can really make you slow down and take stock.”
Assistant director Jonny Holbek with Florence Poskitt’s despondent Angel Gabriel
What are your recollections of
Nativity plays when you were nobbut a lad?
“Absolute terror!
Every year, I’d come in from school and tell my mother that I’d been cast
as a lead role in the show. Every year, she’d then have to go in and tell
that year’s teacher that they should be prepared that come the day of the show, I’d
just cry and refuse to go on as I suffered from crippling stage
fright!
“They would assure her I’d been
fine in class rehearsing and that I was doing brilliantly with
it. Then every year she’d turn up and sit in the hall expectantly, to be
hauled out by the teacher and informed I was having a meltdown. This
happened every year until I was ten!”
Why are Nativity plays still
important?
“Purity! It’s
plain and simple to see in any Nativity the purity in the children and the
performances they give. Sadly, it’s not a quality we always see in society and
on stage nowadays. so let’s cling on to it in Nativity plays!
What have been your highlights of the
York Stage Musicals year in 2019?
“2019 really has
been a dream. We had the opportunity to produce a classic musical in
The Sound Of Music; have worked on new writing with Twilight Robbery; created magic
with our acclaimed youth production of Disney’s Aladdin, but I think the
cherry on the top has to be Shrek The Musical at the Grand Opera House
in September.
“The buzz around the production, from
auditions through to the closing night, were just electric. The reviews and
comments were just sensational. It really did raise our bar yet again and will
really be a cherished production for us for a very long time.”
What’s coming next for York Stage
Musicals?
“We have a
bit of a bumper year planned already actually. An Eighties’ classic, a York
premiere, a birthday celebration and what is set to be possibly the biggest and
messiest youth show the city has ever seen!
“We start in February with Robert
Haring’s Steel Magnolias at 41 Monkgate. We then head across town to the Grand
Opera House with a brand-new production of Bugsy Malone in April.
Chris Knight’s perennially enthusiastic Donkey in York Stage Musicals’ “monster hit”, Shrek The Musical, at the Grand Opera House, York, in September
“Then it’s a return to Monkgate in
May to present the York premiere of Sondheim On Sondheim to mark Stephen
Sondheim’s 90th birthday [on March 22 2020].
“We’re still firming up plans for our
big autumn show, but things are looking exciting, and we’ll again end the year
back at 41 Monkgate with another Christmas alternative!”
And finally, Nik, what would be your Christmas
Day message to the nation?
“People of
the United Kingdom, it seems that the country truly is in the… No, in all
seriousness, we are in a transition, whether we want to be or not.
“In times of transition and change,
we have to really look out for each other as not everyone will move at the same
pace or be able to keep up. Stay genuine and be kind to those around us
and trust that love will always win.
“Sadly
nowadays, there are too many people in the world who like to over-promise and
oversell themselves for personal gain. This can only lead
to disappointment as we can see everywhere. “Know yourself, know your
limits, don’t compare yourself to others and work hard to run your
own race. Celebrate successes briefly, remain humble and learn from your
mistakes.”
York Stage Musicals present The Flint
Street Nativity, John Cooper Studio @41 Monkgate, York, December 12 to 22,
7.30pm except Sundays at 6pm. Box office: 01904 623568, at
yorkstagemusicals.com or in person from the York Theatre Royal box office.
YORK Musical Society’s Christmas Concert will be held at St Lawrence
Parish Church, Lawrence Street, York, on
December 14.
In a family-friendly programme ranging from the fun to the serious, the YMS
chorus of 100-plus singers will perform choruses from Handel’s Messiah, joined
by soprano soloist Kasia Slawski, from Leeds.
She has many York connections, having gained a BSc in accounting and an MA in music from the University of York, where she sang in the University Choir and Chamber Choir, performing as a soloist in Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Handel’s Israel In Egypt and Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers.
Kasia also sang with the Yorkshire Bach Choir and was a choral scholar at
St Wilfrid’s, York, as well as at Leeds Cathedral from 2002 to 2012. She
continues to sing in and around York while working as an accountant, proving
she is good with notes all round.
The audience can join in with the choir and brass quintet for some
carols, along with enjoying the choir’s rendition of several carols, both more
and less familiar.
In a first for YMS, Richard Shephard’s Mass for the Nativitywill
be performed by a solo quartet drawn from the choir. The piece has strong York
links: until earlier this year, Richard Shephard was YMS’s associate conductor and
he is a former headmaster of the Minster School.
YMS will be conducted by John Bradbury, while David Pipe will accompany
the choir on the organ and play solo pieces too.
York Brass Quintet will add to the 4pm festivities, playing seasonal
favourites with an ensemble of two trumpets, horn, trombone and tuba.
St Lawrence Parish Church, by the way, is York’s largest parish church,
a fully heated Victorian building whose spire can be seen for miles around. Any
profits from the concert, plus the retiring collection, will be donated to
church funds. Tea and cake will be available in the parish room afterwards,
again in aid of church funds.
Tickets are on sale on 01904 623568, at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk, in person from the Theatre Royal box office or on the door, priced at £10 for adults; £5, students and children over 12; free, children under 12, when accompanied by a paying adult. All seats are unreserved.
The Bee Gees’ hits are Stayin’ Alive in the tribute show You Win Again
YOU Win Again
celebrates the music of the Bee Gees in tonight’s tribute concert at the Grand
Opera House, York.
Direct from
London’s West End, the 7.30pm show takes a journey through Maurice, Barry
and Robin Gibb’s music from the Sixties, through the Seventies and Eighties, including
hits they wrote for Celine Dion, Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross and Dolly Parton.
This “fabulous authentic production” takes in such Bee Gees’ highs as Night Fever; Stayin’ Alive; More Than A Woman; You Should Be Dancing; How Deep Is Your Love?; Jive Talkin’;Tragedy; Massachusetts; Words; I’ve Got To Get A Message To You; Too Much Heaven; Islands In The Stream; Grease; If I Can’t Have You and many more. Not least the chart-topping 1987 title song, You Win Again.
Tickets are on sale from £25.15 on 0844 871 3024, at atgtickets.com/york or on the door.
Alasdair Jamieson: conducting York Opera in two performances of their Christmas concert
YORK Opera’s Christmas concert, Joy To The World, will be presented at two York churches this Yuletide season.
A 7.30pm performance on December 13 at the Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, will be followed two days later by a 2.30pm performance at Lidgett Methodist Church, off Beckfield Lane, Acomb.
Proceeds from the first one will be donated to York Against Cancer, in memory of Ros Jackson and Ian Small, two much loved and valued members of York Opera, who died of cancer just over a year ago.
Ros was a member of York Opera from 1980 until her death. Although never appearing on stage, she was vital to the running of the company, serving on the social committee, as head of properties and head of publicity.
Ian was involved for more than 20 years, as stage director, soloist and chorus member and, for a few years, as chairman.
“As they would have wished, the concert will be full of joy and Christmas spirit, taking the form of a musical journey through the Christmas story in the first half, then a general rejoicing and looking towards the New Year in the second,” says Alasdair Jamieson will conduct the choir, with Tim Tozer at the piano.
“We’ll perform a mixture of well-known carols, such as Rocking, Ding Dong Merrily On High and The Sussex Carol, and newer works like Phillip Moore’s Our Lady And Child and Harold Fraser-Simson’s Joy Shall Be Yours In The Morning, with words from Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind In The Willows. There’ll also be York Opera’s famous rendition of The Holly And The Ivy.
“So, start your festive season off right by joining York Opera for a concert of Christmas music; some you’ll know by heart and some you’ll discover with us.”
Tickets for December 13 are available from the York Against Cancer shop, at 31 North Moor Road, York, and for both concerts on 01904 630658. Proceeds from December 15 will go to Lidgett Methodist Church.
Bolton wanderer: Michael Bolton to play 13 dates on 2020 British tour. Hull and Harrogate await
MICHAEL
Bolton will play Hull Bonus Arena on October 3 and Harrogate Convention Centre
on October 13 next autumn.
The American
singer, songwriter and social activist, from New Haven, Connecticut, will perform
13 shows on his Love Songs Greatest Hits Tour 2020.
Tour tickets will
go on sale at 10am on Friday (December 6) at gigsandtours.com and ticketmaster.co.uk;
for Hull, on 0844 858 5025 or bonusarenahull.com; Harrogate, 01423 502116 or
harrogatetheatre.co.uk.
Bolton has
notched up 75 million album and single sales from such hits as How Am I
Supposed To Live Without You, How Can We Be Lovers, When A Man Loves A Woman
and Time, Love And Tenderness.
He tours every
year, along with writing, recording and taping for projects spanning music,
film and television and operating his foundation, the Michael Bolton Charities,
now in its 27th year.
Bolton has won
two Grammys for Best Pop Male Vocal Performance, six American Music Awards and
a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
This year’s
album, A Symphony Of Hits, celebrates Bolton’s 50 years in the entertainment
industry in a collection of his biggest hits, recorded with a symphony
orchestra at All Saints College Performing Arts Centre in Perth,
Australia.
In his autobiography,
The Soul Of It All, Bolton states he is ”just teeing off on the back nine of my
career”. Now 66, so far that career has taken in writing with Bob Dylan, Kiss’s
Paul Stanley, Lady Gaga, Diane Warren, and David Foster, while his songs have
been recorded by Kiss, Kanye West, Jay Z, Barbra Streisand and Cher, and over
the years he has performed with Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Jose
Carreras, Renee Fleming and BB King.
Bolton’s past
three British tours all sold out, so prompt booking is advised.
Yorkshire folk punks Shanghai Treason: playing December gigs in aid of Crisis homeless charity
YORKSHIRE folk punk five-piece Shanghai Treason will play the Fulford
Arms, York, on December 28 on a five-date Christmas tour to raise money for the
homeless charity Crisis.
Joining them will be Lyon Estates and Sisters & Brothers for a gig presented
in partnership with Musicians Against Homelessness (MAH), whose #MAH2019
campaign has seen former Oasis guru Alan McGee team up with local bands in
York, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Sheffield and Bristol.
“I am delightedthat bands of this
calibre want to be part of this campaign,” says McGee, who launched that
campaign in 2016, since when more than 1,000 bands have played 500 MAH benefit
gigs around Britain.
“The homeless situation in the UK is sickening and shocking but there is
a growing awareness of the desperation people at the bottom have to endure,
thanks to the musicians who back us,” adds the 59-year-old maverick Scottish
businessman, music industry executive and co-founder of the Creation Records
label, who managed Oasis and continues to oversee The Jesus And Mary Chain,
Happy Mondays, Black Grape, Cast and .
Happy Mondays’ Shaun Ryder, Cast, James, Dodgy and many more have supported
the cause, while Brian McFadden and Keith Duffy’s Boyzlife, Scouting For Girls,
The Hoosiers and the Neville Staple Band are among the acts who will be taking
to MAH stages in support.
“The response has been incredible and the campaign has gone from
strength to strength,” says McGee. “The support has been inspiring and it’s fantastic
that so many quality bands have come forward.”
Shaun Ryder says: “To see so many people in this day and age homeless
and hungry is unbelievable. This is not Victorian Britain. As usual, it’s the
people who are not in a position to speak for themselves or be heard who get
left behind and ignored.
“It’s become so common to see homeless people on the streets that maybe
it’s not a shock when you walk past. Or maybe it’s so shocking that you have to
look away, and try not to think about it?”
Ryder continues: “The sad thing is, it’s not the public’s problem, but
they’re the ones most likely to actually help the homeless than anyone in
government.
“I’ve been through some difficult times in my life, but fortunately I’ve
always had a roof over my head. If I found myself in a desperate and vulnerable
position, where I’d have to trust the decisions being made in Parliament, I’d
be seriously worried.”
“The homeless situation in the UK is sickening and shocking but there is a growing awareness of the desperation people at the bottom have to endure, thanks to the musicians who back us,” says Alan McGee
Cast frontman John Power says: “It’s great to be asked to be
involved with the Musicians Against Homelessness campaign again. With so many
ongoing problems in the world today, it’s sometimes easy to forget the ones in
which you come face to face with every day in the towns and cities up and down
the UK.
“Homelessness is a massive problem and one we can’t just step over and
ignore. Let’s help bring awareness to the ever-increasing problem of
homelessness on our streets today.”
Musicians Against Homelessness concerts have been running throughout the
year, from local venues to festival main stages. Jon Sparkes,chief executive
of Crisis, says: “I’m delighted that Musicians Against Homelessness are
supporting Crisis again this year. Homelessness remains an unsolved problem
across the UK, so your help and support is much needed and greatly
appreciated.”
McGee, meanwhile, believes the MAH campaign gives new bands a platform in
the way that Rock Against Racism did in the 1970s. “Music brings us together
regardless of politics or social standing,” he says. “It’s a great leveller and
a vital tool for change.
“Although our primary concern is to combat the scourge of homelessness,
it’s vital that the MAH gigs also give up–and-coming combos a chance to
play to larger audiences.”
Shanghai Treason are grateful for that platform, playing five MAH gigs
this month in breakneck folk-punk style, complete with banjo and accordion.
“It’s fantastic to have the support of the
Musicians Against Homelessness team for this tour,” says lead singer Sam
Christie. “We’ve been lucky to have so many sensational local bands come
forward to be part of the shows in each territory and we’re looking forward to
sharing the stage with them, while hosting some fantastic concerts raising
money for a good cause this Christmas.”
Shanghai Treason’s music will more than likely
appeal to fans of The Roughneck Riot, The Walker Roaders,
Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys, The Rumjacks, Levellers and The Wildhearts.
The Yorkshire band will be promoting their first
single Devil’s Basement, released on November 22 on Kycker Records. “It’s a
fierce firecracker of a debut, marking our intent early on,” says Christie.
“We’ve been working on this project for the best part of a year, so to finally
have it come into the light is a total joy.
“Lyrically,
the song is about those nights out which get a bit out of hand, where it feels
like anything is possible. We hope to have a few of those while on tour for
Musicians Against Homelessness this December. Join us!”
Tickets are on sale at tickets.partyforthepeople.org or thefulfordarms.com/
Headliner: York poet Carole Bromley will perform at Scarborough’s Rotunda Muaeum this Christmas. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
YORK poet Carole Bromley is the headline act for the Christmas Rotunda
Night at Scarborough’s Rotunda Museum on December 21.
She will be joined at this 6.30pm to 9pm festive celebration by the Scarborough-told Tales storytellers and Whitby a cappella group The Windmill Girls.
Carole’s work has appeared in many journals and compilations and she has
three collections to her name: A Guide Tour Of The Ice House,The
Stonegate Devil and Blast Off!, a book for children. She
has won such prizes as the Bridport Prize for Poetry, Brontë Society Literary
Award and 2019 Hamish Canham Award from the Poetry Society.
The Windmill Girls: a cappella carols
Scarborough-told Tales brings together storytellers who have graduated
from a Rotunda workshop course, now making a return visit after their performance
in July.
The all-female choir The Windmill Girls sing acapella carols, many drawn
from the rich tradition of “village” carols, some dating from the18th century
and boasting exuberant choruses.
Scarborough-told Tales: stories for Christmas. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Simon Hedges, head of curation, collections and exhibitions at
Scarborough Museums Trust, which runs the Rotunda Museum and Scarborough Art
Gallery, says: “This promises to be a brilliant festive treat, with poetry,
great stories and seasonal music – just right for getting into the Christmas
spirit.”
Tickets for this Rotunda Night cost £7.50 including a glass of wine, beer, Christmas punch or soft drink. Places are limited, so advance booking is recommended on 01723 353665.
Conflux: “a lyrical audio collage bursting with voice and music “. Image: Katie Allen
COMMON Ground Theatre and Hannah Bruce and Company present
Conflux, a lyrical audio collage bursting with voice and music in the heart of
York this weekend.
It will be launched by private invitation only to previews at 4pm, 4.30pm and 5pm today and tomorrow at Piccadilly Bridge, on the Foss, next to Tesco Express, before being made available to the public as a download from Monday, December 2, for one year.
The Conflux audio walk is an hour of stories, imaginings and musings inspired by the Castle Gateway area. Accessed via an app on personal devices, the rich sound world guides listeners on a journey through York’s oldest site of stronghold, power and resistance.
“It’s part podcast, part poem, part accidental car park,” says
Conflux host Hannah Davies, the York writer, poet, performer and Common Ground
artistic director, who has worked with sound designer and composer Jonathan
Eato and director Hannah Bruce.
“Conflux takes listeners on a trip to find the often forgotten and
mostly ignored, the stories that lurk on street corners and under the tarmac.
Starting by the river Foss on Piccadilly, listeners follow the in-audio
instructions to explore one of the city’s most fascinating and iconic sites in
a captivating and irreverent blend of past and present, with contributions from
36 York residents.”
Using art to reference the past while looking to the future of the iconic city-centre site, this free outdoor audio experience is the second of a trio of art commissions to be presented as part of City of York Council’s consultation on Castle Gateway.
Conflux is funded through Leeds City Region Business Rates Pool,
which allows local authorities to retain growth in business rates for local
investment. It is supported with public funding by the National Lottery through
Arts Council England, as well as supported by City of York Council and York
Mediale, York’s digital media arts enterprise. The University of York Music
Department has provided support for this project too.
Writer Hannah says: “As someone who lives
and works in this city, it was great to spend time in a part of town that I
usually only use as a short cut. Our city is full of history but that’s not
everything that’s important about it.
“We wanted to capture a sense of now, brushing up against the
past. The fragmented messy layers of it all. History is not neat. Nor is
everyday life.
“We spent a lot of time on the site at different times of day and
met and spoke to some really interesting people whose voices appear in Conflux.
I know so much about the site now, I’ll never see it in the same light again.
And I’ve definitely developed a thing for Clifford’s Tower, such an iconic part
of York I used to take for granted. Now I do a little inner wave to it every
time I pass.”
Those attending this weekend’s previews will need a smartphone,
earbuds or headphones and details of the event code for the app. “Please dress for the
weather and be prepared for an outdoor walk,” advises Hannah.
Details regarding the app and the event code for specific time slots have been sent in advance to the audio walkers, who will start out from Piccadilly Bridge, having met at Spark York for information and support.
For full download instructions, visit the Common Ground website, cgtheatre.co.uk/portfolio/conflux, from Monday, December 2.
Meet the new Whitney with the powerful voice: John Whitney as Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar, York Musical Theatre Company, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, 7.30pm tonight; 2.30pm and 7.30pm, tomorrow. Box office: 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
REJECTED as a
theatre show, Jesus Christ Superstar began life as that very 1970s’ thing, a
rock concept album, or double album to be precise.
The year was 1970;
Tim Rice was 25, Andrew Lloyd Webber, 21. By 1972, it had resurrected miraculously
as a rock opera, so successfully that it played the West End for eight years
initially.
Paul Laidlaw’s glorious
new revival in York could not be more Seventies in spirit: hippie hair;
kaftans; flared jeans; Bjorn Borg headbands; big beards; cop-show moustaches.
Only the patchouli oil and stinky Afghan coats are missing, and no-one misses
them.
The dawn of Advent
might seem the wrong time to tell the story of the last seven days of Jesus
Christ’s life, as seen through Judas’s burning eyes, but in fact its impact is
all the greater before thoughts turn towards celebrating the innocent child’s arrival.
John Whitney has long
cherished his dream role of Jesus, through his days of studying musical theatre
at York St John University and growing a tribute beard. Now, at 28, the
Middlesbrough-born actor realises that dream, with York Musical Theatre Company
as his “new source to get his awesome musicals fix,” he says in the programme,
coming over all retro Seventies.
Through a mutual
connection, your reviewer had been hearing of what a powerhouse voice Whitney had.
He was right. Wow! The new Whitney sings with a stunning range, sensitivity, emotion,
drama, soul, and did he hit that famous Everest-high top note in I Only Want To
Say (Gethsemane)? Of course, he did.
At his lowest ebb: Chris Mooney’s Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar
He was but one of
many superb casting decisions by Laidlaw. Liverpudlian Chris Mooney is making
his YMTC debut as the traitorous Judas, the narrator’s role, standing out from his
fellow disciples with cropped hair and autumnal, military colours, his manner
as intense and deceiving as Shakespeare’s Iago. His singing voice is full of fire
and angst, but sometimes tender too, although he needs to work on the clarity
of his diction in moments of heightened vocal stress.
Marlena Kellie, a
jazz singer with appearances at Ronnie Scott’s and Pride to her name, makes I
Don’t Know How To Love Him sound freshly minted, heartbreaking anew.
More than a decade after
his appearance in York Light’s chorus line for this musical, Peter Wookie has
his YMTC bow as an austere Pilate, and he is another to make a heavyweight
impact, both with his voice and imposing physicality.
Jesus Christ
Superstar, like Lloyd Webber and Rice’s fellow fledgling work Joseph And The
Technicolor Dreamcoat, loves to show off myriad song styles, whether a rock
anthem, a ballad, or a slice of Weimar cabaret in King Herod’s Song (a
twinkling, camp John Haigh and his dancing ladies in red, contrasting with the
men in black representing authority around him).
For this well paced sung-through musical, musical director John Atkin has a superb band under his command, wherein Paul McArthur and Neil Morgan’s guitars particularly shine out, while Laidlaw’s ensemble more than play their part too. Simon Spencer’s set and especially his lighting hit the mark too.
There is something
of a Nativity play, Elvis Vegas show or even Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert
about Jesus Christ Superstar, with its hip “Hey JC” lingo, but at the same time
Laidlaw’s production wholly captures its deeper, darker aspects, played out on
a bare scaffolding set provided by Brian Farrell Scaffolding. Namely, that it
is a psychological study of a man alone, or rather two men alone: Jesus, on his
pre-ordained journey to the cross, and Judas Iscariot, his betrayer, whose name
has been dirt ever since.
This makes both
their death scenes – spoiler alert! – devastating, albeit in their different
ways. The solemn finale, no song, no music, only Jesus’s final words on the
cross, reduces one and all to tears as the curtain falls. Oh, and that’s why it
is apt to stage this musical now, when eyes are on a mendacious General
Election, full of ill will and false prophets, and the Christmas tat commercials
are starting to irritate already. Jesus Christ Superstar, Jesus Christ Supershow.
