Back together at Leeds First Direct Arena: Michael Ball and Alfie Boe
CHART-TOPPING duo Michael Ball and Alfie Boe will play Leeds First
Direct Arena on February 25 on their Back Together tour.
The singing double act will be on an arena tour from February 22 to
March 7 for ten dates in the wake of the November 2019 release of their third
album, Back Together, on Decca Records.
The album of duets features The Greatest Show; Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again; Sunrise, Sunset; Circle Of Life; Come Fly With Me; Queen Medley; My Way; Something Inside So Strong; I Will Always Believe; Let It Be Me; Somethings Gotten Hold Of My Heart; Army and Brothers In Arms.
Back Together follows the success of Ball and Boe’s debut, Together, Britain’s best-selling album of 2016, and 2017 number one Together Again, the latest addition peaking at number two in the charts en route to achieving gold sales.
After decorated careers in theatre and opera, Ball and Boe have sold more than one million albums in the UK, received two Classic BRIT awards and presented two ITV specials.
Last August Ball and Boe returned to Boublil and Schoenberg’s musical Les
Miserables for a 16-week run at the Gielgud Theatre, London.
For ticket availability for February 25, go to firstdirectarena.com/events/.
Architect’s visualisation of the redeveloped Opera North estate, showing the Howard Assembly Room, new restaurant, box office and atrium on the left and the Howard Opera Centre on the right.
OPERA North’s redeveloped headquarters in Leeds will bear
the name of philanthropist Dr Keith Howard OBE.
The Howard Opera Centre will take on this title in
recognition of the Yorkshire benefactor’s personal gift of £11.25 million
towards the opera company’s redevelopment project, Music Works.
It is thought to be among the largest private donations ever made to a British arts company outside of London.
Dr Howard, a lifelong opera lover and cricket fan, is the founder of Emerald Group Publishing and president of Opera North.
The Howard Opera Centre will house Opera North’s rehearsal studios, costume and wigs workshop and administrative offices.
The redevelopment work on New Briggate and Harrison Street will
create a world-class facility to make opera; a new education studio and
additional rehearsal spaces, including a new rehearsal room for Opera North’s orchestra
and chorus and a suite of music coaching rooms.
The Howard Opera Centre will join another space named ten years earlier in recognition of Dr Howard’s support for the company, the Howard Assembly Room, a 300-seat performance venue offering a diverse calendar of jazz, world music, folk, classical concerts, children’s opera, talks, film and installations.
Originally opened in 2009 after extensive restoration, the
Howard Assembly Room is closed during the Music Works redevelopment project. It
will reopen in 2021 with a new dedicated and fully accessible entrance and
atrium, an increased number of performances and a new restaurant and bar, replacing
a row of previously vacant shop units on New Briggate.
The redevelopment project began on site last summer and is being delivered by Henry Boot Construction, a Sheffield regional construction contractor with a commitment to reducing environment impacts.
The overall target for the Music Works fundraising campaign is £18 million. Opera North has raised £15.6 million to date, including the £11.25 million gift that combines £9 million with £2.25 million in Gift Aid. Leeds City Council has contributed £750,000, together with the lease of the vacant shops on New Briggate, and funding of £499,999 has been awarded by Arts Council England.
The balance of the funds raised so far has come from private
donors, trusts and supporters, including a £1 million donation from the Liz and
Terry Bramall Foundation, as well as a significant contribution from Mrs
Maureen Pettman and major gifts from private individuals.
Councillor Jonathan Pryor, from Leeds City Council, left, Dr Keith Howard, and Opera North’s general director, Richard Mantle, attending the <Leeds company’s 2019/20 season launch at Harewood House. Picture: Justin Slee
In addition, gifts have been pledged by the Wolfson
Foundation, Backstage Trust, the Kirby Laing Foundation, the Foyle Foundation
and the Garfield Weston Foundation.
Although 87 per cent of the target has been raised, there
remains a funding gap of £2.4 million to close. Opera North is looking to patrons, Friends and audiences to
play their part in the success of the redevelopment at many different levels.
Work also continues to attract funding from further charitable trusts and
foundations and the business community in Leeds.
Richard Mantle, Opera North’s general director, said: ““Opera
North is delighted to be able to recognise the extraordinary generosity of our
longstanding supporter and friend, Dr Keith Howard, whose contribution to this
project means that we are able to create a new artistic home for the company,
as well as improving the infrastructure, access and visitor experience for the
Howard Assembly Room.
“The Howard Opera Centre will be a true centre of excellence, bringing together rehearsal spaces for world-class opera productions with coaching rooms, where singers can develop their vocal expertise, and specialist costume workshop spaces.
“A new hub for our education work will create an inclusive space
for our work with young people from across the city, bringing children and
young people right to the heart of our creative community.”
Councillor Judith Blake, leader of Leeds City Council,
said: “We are pleased to see this significant redevelopment now taking
shape, creating a vastly improved artistic and educational hub for one of
Leeds’s leading cultural assets.
“Opera North makes a huge contribution to the city, both in
terms of the vitality and diversity of work seen on stage, and also through its
work with children, young people and communities throughout our region.
“Through the revitalisation of a neglected section of New Briggate, the improved facilities for the Howard Assembly Room will work in tandem with our wider aspirations for the area as part of the Heritage Action Zones and Connecting Leeds programmes, creating a vibrant destination and supporting our plans for a better-connected city.”
Opera North employs more than 250 people, such as costume makers,
stage managers, electricians, stage technicians, props makers, sound and
lighting technicians, educators, designers and musicians, in addition to
working with around 370 freelance performers, creatives and artists each year.
Opera North’s opera productions are created and premiered in
Leeds, where the company performs at Leeds Grand Theatre each season before
touring its opera productions to theatres across the country.
The Music Works redevelopment is scheduled to be completed in phases, with the Howard Opera Centre opening in late 2020, and the Howard Assembly Room, restaurant and atrium scheduled for completion in 2021.
Watch a short film about Music Works at https://youtu.be/4xQU4q0xFD4
Work to replace the vacant shop units on New Briggate, Leeds, with a new restaurant and bar, December 2019. Picture: Tom Arber
MUSIC WORKS
“More live music, for everyone”.
More performances in the Howard Assembly Room every year;
A dedicated entrance for the Howard Assembly Room;
An open, welcoming building that is fully accessible at
all levels;
New public spaces and an atrium.
Music Works will enable Opera North to host a full
year-round programme of performances, workshops and small-scale productions in
the Howard Assembly Room, increasing the number of performances given at the
venue.
The best global musicians and artists will be brought to
Leeds each year, creating a
diverse calendar of jazz, world music, folk, classical concerts, children’s opera, talks, film and installations.
A new restaurant and bar, open to everyone all day;
A refurbished Opera North box office and reception for
Leeds Grand Theatre
Restoration of a Grade II listed building
A crane moves steel on to the construction site at the top of the new Howard Opera Centre, looking east towards the Quarry House government offices, January 2020. Picture: Tom Arber
Music Works will regenerate a row of vacant shops directly
beneath the Howard Assembly Room to
create a new restaurant and bar alongside a refurbished box office.
A new dedicated “front door” will be established for Opera North and the Howard
Assembly Room; the building will be open to everyone from morning until late at
night for coffee, lunch, dinner and drinks.
Cutting-edge facilities for making opera: The Howard Opera Centre:
A new purpose-built Music Rehearsal Studio;
Three new music practice rooms;
Refurbished Costume Workshop and Dye Room;
A new artist and Company green room.
A home for Opera North Education:
A new, flexible Education Studio;
A new music coaching room for students;
Break-out spaces and “secret garden” for school groups;
A shared entrance for students, artists and staff, placing young people at the heart of the company.
An environmentally sustainable cultural flagship for Leeds:
An environmentally sustainable and efficient estate;
Photovoltaic panels to generate energy;
A significant contribution to the New Briggate public
realm;
A major capital investment in the run up to 2023 Leeds
cultural celebrations;
Investment in digital infrastructure to increase efficiency and reduce environmental impact.
The Sandy Denny Project: rare treat at Selby Town Hall. Picture: Paul Michael Hughes
SELBY Town Hall’s spring season opens on February 1 with an 8pm performance
by folk-rock supergroup The Sandy Denny Project, paying homage to the late
Fairport Convention folk-rock singer.
“Featuring, among others, Sally Barker, a former finalist on BBC One’s The
Voice, they don’t play a great many gigs together,” says Selby Town Council
arts officer Chris Jones. “This is one of only a couple of shows announced for
2020 – a rare treat.”
In a tragically short career – she died at the age of 31 – Sandy Denny
sealed her place among the most influential and best-loved singer-songwriters of
the past 50 years.
Britain’s pre-eminent folk-rock singer, she began her performing career
with The Strawbs, then joined Fairport Convention, formed Fotheringay and released
four solo albums.
Her song Who Knows Where The Time Goes? has been recorded by Judy
Collins, Eva Cassidy, Nina Simone and Cat Power, while her wider work has been
the subject of numerous reissues, documentaries and high-profile tribute
concerts.
Sally Barker, from The Poozies, and fellow former Fotheringay MkII member
PJ Wright, from The Dylan Project, are joined in The Sandy Denny Project by frequent
Fairport Convention guest Anna Ryder, fast-rising singer, fiddler and guitarist
Marion Fleetwood and a rhythm section of bassist Mat Davies and drummer Mark
Stevens, from the now-defunct folk-rock group Little Johnny England.
Sandy Denny’s writing is approached not in the manner of a tribute band slavishly
copying the records, but as an interpretation of her work by six musicians who
share a folk-rock pedigree.
“Although Sandy died in 1978, her songs remain as fresh, poignant and as
beautiful today as the time that they were penned, and with every year her
reputation as a songwriter and interpreter of traditional material continues to
grow,” says Chris.
“The repertoire of The Sandy Denny Project reflects the amazing legacy
left behind by Sandy, through her work with the early incarnations of Fairport
Convention, the sublime Fotheringay and her incredible solo songs.
“February 1 is a rare chance to see these six fantastic musicians
perform their pitch-perfect tribute. The band really are of the highest
folk-rock calibre and this is an opportunity no folk fan will want to miss.”
Tickets cost £19 on 01757 708449 or at selbytownhall.co.uk or £21 on the door from 7.30pm.
“It just felt like it was time,” says Damien Jurado of recording a solo acoustic album last year
SEATTLE singer-songwriter Damien Jurado will showcase his acoustic album In The Shape Of A Storm in a solo show at Leeds City Varieties Music Hall on February 25.
The 47-year-old American will be playing ten dates on his
European February and March tour after releasing his 14th studio
album on April 12 last year.
Jurado always likes to work fast, but In the Shape Of A Storm
came together with unprecedented speed, even by his standards, being recorded
over the course of two hours one California afternoon.
On his sparsest album to date, gone are the thundering drums and
psychedelic arrangements that defined the trilogy of concept albums he made
with his long-time collaborator and close friend Richard Swift.
Gone too is the atmospheric air that hovered above his early
albums for Sub Pop. Here, instead, there is only Jurado’s voice, acoustic
guitar, and occasional accompaniment from Josh Gordon, playing a high-strung
guitar tuned Nashville style, rendering its sound spooky and celestial.
Although his fans have long requested a solo acoustic album, the
prospect never made sense to Jurado, until one day it simply did. “It just felt
like it was time,” Jurado says.
“There is nothing left to hide,” Jurado sings on the opening Lincoln,
where everything is clear and laid bare, two tone, like the drawing he crafted
for the record’s cover.
Originally written for 2000’s The Ghost Of David, Lincoln was
shelved and forgotten until Jurado rediscovered it on an old cassette tape,
inspiring him to gather up compositions that had never found proper homes. As a
result, In The Shape Of A Storm became an archive of previously abandoned
songs.
Jurado’s discography is filled with songs written as miniature
movies, cinematic vignettes that capture people, the places they are from, and
where they are going. By contrast, In The Shape Of A Storm is his first black
and white picture, both a snapshot of two hours in a California recording
studio and a document spanning 19 years and a life of music.
“I believe songs have their own time and place,” Jurado says.
For these ten, that time has finally come on album number 14.
Tickets for Jurado’s 8pm Leeds gig, when he will be supported by
Dana Gavanski, are on sale on 0113 243 0808 or at cityvarieties.co.uk.
Jam packed: Hyde Family Jam cram in the hits in their Burns Night Bonanza
YORK busking kings Hyde Family Jam present a Burns Night Bonanza at the John Cooper Studio, Theatre @41 Monkgate, York, on Saturday at 7.30pm.
“Huzzah!” says frontman and guitarist John Holt-Roberts. “We’re back, playing a gig in York to celebrate Burns Night and help you shake off the January blues. Come and stomp, dance and sing along with us.”
Hyde Family Jam, winners of the Outstanding Busker prize in the 2018 York Culture Awards, are likely to sell out. “So, get your tickets early to avoid disappointment,” urges John. Box office: eventbrite.co.uk.
THE Grand Opera House, York, plays host to two tribute shows this week, first hitting the high notes with The Best Of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons on Friday.
The Simon & Garfunkel Story follows on Saturday in a return visit to the Cumberland Street theatre.
From the creators of The Barricade Boys comes the Frankie Valli show, a high-pitched celebration of the career of four New Jersey boys, who started singing under a streetlamp.
Sherry, My Eyes Adored You, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, Walk Like A Man and December 1963 (Oh, What A Night) all feature in a show performed by cast members from Jersey Boys and other West End shows.
The Simon & Garfunkel Story
After a run at London’s Vaudeville Theatre and a worldwide tour, the tribute show to Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel is back on the road with Adam Dickinson’s Simon and Cameron Potts’s Garfunkel.
Using projection
photos and original film footage, the 50th anniversary celebration features a
full band performing Cecilia, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Mrs Robinson et al.
Tickets for the two 7.30pm performances are on sale on 0844 871 3024 or at atgtickets.com/york.
Annie Donaghy, Big Ian Donaghy, Beth McCarthy, Heather Findlay and Jess Steel at A Night To Remember in 2019 at York Barbican. Picture: Karen Boyes
AS New Year’s resolutions wane and gym memberships become a direct debit, a group of York musicians start their boot camp of rehearsals for A Night To Remember.
Now in its eighth year, the annual fundraising event helps good causes in the city to make a difference.
Organiser and host Big Ian Donaghy brings together “the finest musicians and singers for a gang show like no other” at York Barbican.
“This year’s show is so jam packed with quality that we’ve had to create another day to fit it in: Saturday, February 29, in the leap year of 2020!” says Big Ian.
Heather Findlay performing at last year’s A Night To Remember fundraiser. Picture: David Harrison
Unlike other shows, A Night To Remember has all the singers performing as an ensemble exceeding all of its constituent parts.
“When you have a dream team on the stage, it seems a shame to not use them, so everybody sings on everybody else’s songs,” says Big Ian.
“It’s become a big musical family – and there’s some range on stage! For example, festival superstar Kieran O’Malley, on fiddle, could power the entire night with his energetic performance leading the crowd like a pied piper,” says Big Ian.
A Night To Remember lets singers take on their favourite songs. “In previous years, no song has been off limits. Last year saw the cast rise to the challenge of Bohemian Rhapsody in its entirety, something not even Queen tackled!
Jess Steel: taking on “near-impossible demanding songs” at York Barbican. Picture: David Harrison
“Soulful Jess Steel will take on a Dusty Springfield classic, as well as other near-impossible demanding songs that she’ll deliver in the manner she’s now well known for.
“Heather Findlay, fresh back from a sell-out UK tour, brings her class into the mix, performing two of her favourite songs.
“Overall, you should expect showbiz, expect boundless energy, expect the unexpected.”
The gig’s house band will be led by York music stalwart George Hall, joined by powerhouse duo Rob Wilson and Simon Snaize on guitar duty.
The poster for A Night To Remember 2020
Look out for Beth McCarthy, who made her debut at the Mount School when Big Ian ran a School of Rock concert there. “I still call him ‘Mr D’ as he was my teacher,” says Beth, who will be stepping out of her comfort zone to rock the Barbican foundations.
Graham Hodge will “venture into very different areas as he celebrates his 70th birthday”. Gravel-voiced Boss Caine, alias Dan Lucas, will tackle a country favourite that nobody would ever guess.
Hope & Social’s Gary Stewart will play the congas, as well as singing a Paul Simon rouser.
York singer Jessa Liversidge will bring her fully inclusive Singing For All choir, a group with members aged up to 98.
Beth McCarthy: “Stepping out of her comfort zone to rock the Barbican foundations”
“This choir is all about bringing people together to combat loneliness and celebrate a love of music with rehearsals that are very tea and cake heavy,” says Jessa.
“I love Jessa’s passionate, positive approach to bringing the community together, so it was an obvious fit to raise the choir’s profile and show the city just how fantastic they are,” says Big Ian.
“So much, so we’ll have them singing The New Seekers’ I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing.”
Annie Donaghy will put her spin on a George Michael classic on a night when the set list will feature covers of Dusty Springfield, Shania Twain, Simple Minds, Paul Simon, Michael Buble, Guns N’ Roses, Barbra Streisand, Peter Gabriel, Elton John and Marvin Gaye classics, as well as a few surprises.
Oh, what A Night To Remember as singers and musicians gather at the finale of last year’s fund-raising concert at York Barbican. Picture: Ravage
“This year, the show has a bigger, brassier feel with a 12-piece brass section, made up of Kempy, Pete, Stu and Chalky from my band Huge, being joined by funk horns and brass players from York Music Forum, ranging in age from 13 to 18, led by Ian Chalk,” says Big Ian.
“We’re celebrating the young talent in the city within the brass section and putting them alongside singers up to 98 years old. Music has no age limit. It is for all of us!”
Possibly the most important man on the night will be sound engineer Craig Rothery, who has the unenviable task of mixing this leviathan of a line-up.
“Craigy is a phenomenal sound engineer, who mixed the launch event for the Tour de France at Leeds First Direct Arena that was viewed by millions. Craig is so much more than a safe pair of hands; he’s the cement that holds us together,” says Big Ian.
Graham Hodge in action at last year’s A Night To Remember concert
He also promises “ground-breaking, heart-warming and heart-breaking films” to raise dementia awareness. “Watch out for surprise appearances, as previous years have included messages from Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, The Hairy Bikers, Rick Astley, Nick Knowles, Anton du Beke and Kaiser Chiefs’ Ricky Wilson,” he says.
“But the real reason these musicians come together is to help St Leonard’s Hospice, Dementia Projects in York, Bereaved Children Support York and Accessible Arts & Media.”
Jo Cole, of Bereaved Children Support, says: “As well as helping us fund one-to-one counselling, A Night To Remember has raised our profile, so families who desperately needed us to help now know where we are.”
Working the crowd: A Night To Remember host Ian Donaghy
Emma Johnson, of St Leonard’s Hospice, says: “Big Ian and the team have provided invaluable help for years, making such a difference in the city.”
Big Ian, who speaks all over Europe about dementia care, concludes: “Dementia awareness and the difference we can make by bringing community together is the envy of many cities around the UK.
“We throw everything into this evening. It takes months of hard work and phenomenally talented people working tirelessly. I’m so proud to be part of this team.”
Tickets are available at £17.55 and £15 on 0203 356 5441, at yorkbarbican.co.uk or in person from the Barbican box office.
The 7.30pm show is being sponsored by Haxby Group and Care Shop.
Singers, musicians and the York Barbican audience pose for a group selfie after last year’s concert
Standing up against a huge corporation: Jennie Wogan as Rita O’Grady in Made In Dagenham. All pictures: Simon Charles
THE
Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company will present the York premiere of Made In
Dagenham from February 5 to 8 to raise funds for the community theatre in Haxby
Road, York.
Directed
by Kayleigh Oliver, this will be the third such musical production after Mel
Brooks’s The Producers in 2018 and Cole Porter and Bella and Samuel Spewack’s Kiss Me,
Kate in 2019.
David Arnold, Richard Thomas and Hull playwright Richard Bean’s Made In Dagenham is
inspired by the remarkable true story of a group of women, working in Ford’s
Dagenham car plant, that stood tall against a huge corporation and won the
fight for equal pay, a battle still raging all over the world.
Jenny Jones as Sandra in Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company’s Made In Dagenham
Rita
O’Grady, a working wife and mother, has her life changed forever when the girls
in Ford’s stitching room are told their pay is to be dropped to an “unskilled”
grade. It falls to Rita to lead her friends in the fight against Ford and the
corruption of the union.
Along the
way in their inspiring journey, they learn the value of friendship, solidarity and
the importance of fighting for what’s right, as told in a funny, touching and
timeless musical that remains as relevant today as ever.
Jennie Wogan, latterly seen in Scrooge, King Lear
and Kiss Me, Kate, takes the role of Rita, joined by talent from the York
amateur theatre scene, such as Helen Singhateh, from Little Shop Of Horrorsand the UK/European tour of I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change!, as Beryl; Nick Sephton, from Patience and Pirates
Of Penzance, as Eddie O’Grady, and
Martyn Hunter, from Brassed Off and Calendar Girls, as Prime Minister Harold
Wilson.
Jennie Wogan in rehearsal for her lead role as Rita O;Grady
Malton
actor, singer and now producer Scott Garnham starred in the original West End
production. “It’s a great show and I’m delighted that someone is presenting it
in York, where I started my career,” he says.
“The York
premiere really is an event,” says lead actress Jennie Wogan. “It’s a story
about love, family and doing what’s right, all told with humour, honesty and
some wonderfully written songs.”
Oliver is joined in the
production team by assistant director Alex Schofield, producer Tom Diar
Davey=Rogerson, musical director Tim Selman, choreographer Lorna Newby and
costume designer Karen Brunyee.
Tickets for the 7.30pm evening performances and 2.30pm Saturday matinee
are on sale on 01904 501935, at
josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk or in person from the JoRo box office. Please note,
Made In Dagenham features some very strong language and may be unsuitable for
children.
The Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company’s poster for next month’s Made In Dagenham
Cast List
Rita O’Grady – Jennie Wogan
Beryl – Helen Singhateh
Sandra – Jennifer Jones
Clare – Izzy Betts
Cass – Riffat Rizvi
Rachel/Club Singer – Clare Meadley
MC – Hannah Ainscough
Connie Riley – Rosy Rowley
Lisa Hopkins – Karen Brunyee
Barbara Castle – Kayleigh Oliver
Sharon O’Grady – Ella Meadley
Helen Singhateh as Beryl in Made In Dagenham
Eddie
O’Grady – Nick Sephton
Graham O’Grady – Ben Wood
Sid/Stan – Tom Diar Davey-Rogerson
Bill/Stan – Cam O’Byrne
Monty – Richard Goodall
Barry – Joe Hesketh
Mr Hopkins – Mark Simmonds
Chubby Chuff – Ben Huntley
Tooley – Chris Gibson
Mr Hubble – Nick Jackson
Mr Macer – Gary Bateson
Wilson’s Aide 1 – Alastair Bush
Wilson’s
Aide 2 – Cam O’Byrne
Wilson’s Aide 3 – Ben Huntley
Harold Wilson – Martyn Hunter
Mr Buckton – Gary Bateson
Buddy Cortina – Ben Huntley
Chris Gibson as Tooley in rehearsal for Made In Dagenham
Gillene Butterfield as Rose Maurrant and Alex Banfield as Sam Kaplan in Opera North’s Street Scene. All pictures: Clive Barda
Opera North in Street Scene; LeedsGrand Theatre. Box office: 0844 848 2700 or at leedsgrandtheatre.com
KURT Weill’s “American opera” is actually a hotchpotch of styles from both sides of the pond. Opera, both serious and light, musicals, jazz, and dance all jostle in song, speech and melodrama to reflect a cosmopolitan tenement in Manhattan.
It is also an ensemble piece, with a multiplicity of small roles that offer an ideal opportunity to showcase in depth the talents of Opera North’s chorus. It requires a director with wide-reaching experience, prepared for painstaking attention to detail. Though set in stifling heat, Matthew Eberhardt’s production is so far only luke-warm; it may yet come to the boil.
Francis O’Connor’s network of metal stairs and walkways in the midst of a beehive of apartments augments the bustle of life, allowing just enough space for dance. There is only a single exit from this ghetto on ground level, compounding the claustrophobia. So far, so good.
Giselle Allen as Anna Maurrant in Street Scene
His costumes are more debatable. Most of the cast are wearing far too much for the alleged heat – T-shirts, anyone? – nor is it likely that pantsuits would have been common currency in a down-at-heel 1940s neighbourhood.
There are two main story-lines to Elmer Price’s book, which is based on his 1929 play of the same name: the adultery and eventual death of Anna Maurrant, and the ultimately doomed, cross-faith puppy love between her daughter Rose and studious Sam Kaplan. Everything else is atmosphere.
Eberhardt does little to elucidate Anna’s dalliances with the milkman – admittedly Weill is not much help here – so that when her husband shoots them both, we are left relatively unmoved. Similarly, so little electricity illuminates the friendship between Rose and Sam that it seems bound to remain platonic from the word go.
Claire Pascoe as Emma Jones, Byron Jackson as Henry Davis, Amy J Payne as Olga Olsen, Richard Mosley-Evans as George Jones, Miranda Bevin as Greta Fiorentino, John Savournin as Carl Olsen, Christopher Turner as Lippo Fiorentino and Robert Hayward as Frank Maurrant, with children in Opera North’s Street Scene
The evening has plenty of compensations, however. There are several self-contained numbers that show Weill at his best. The Ice-Cream Sextet joyously led by Italian airman Lippo (Christopher Turner); a song-and-dance jitterbug by Rodney Vubya and Michelle Andrews; the raucous children’s game to open Act 2, superbly danced (choreography by Gary Clarke); the trenchant wit of the Nursemaids’ Lullaby (Lorna James and Hazel Croft, pushing prams) – all these are beacons of humour and entertainment.
The orchestra under James Holmes is especially alive to jazz styles and the rhythm section has a field-day. Act 2 has its longueurs after the children’s game and some of his tempos here are on the sluggish side. But colour anyway seems temporarily to drain out of the action, as if Eberhardt’s inspiration is flagging.
Giselle Allan as Anna makes the most of the work’s biggest aria, Somehow I Could Never Believe, a vivid picture of marital frustration. Less three-dimensional is Robert Hayward as her abusive husband Frank, who rarely takes leave of drink and anger, though forceful enough in Let Things Be Like They Always Was.
Michelle Andrews as Mae Jones and Rodney Vubya as Dick McGann in Street Scene
Gillene Butterfield is an engaging Rose, ploughing a difficult furrow between distance and engagement with Sam, and fending off the unwanted attentions of her Lothario boss (Quirijn de Lang). Sam is persuasively drawn by Alex Banfield: we feel his pangs for Rose in We’ll Go Away Together.
Among any number of good cameos, two stand out: Claire Pascoe’s Bronx-accented Mrs Jones, the ghetto gossip, and Byron Jackson as the janitor. Both are vivid and distinctive. American accents come and go, mirroring the way the action fades in and out of focus. There is much potential here. Things may well settle down as the run progresses.
Further performances on January 25, February 12, 20 and 28, then on tour.
Daniel Healy, left, as Guy, Emma Lucia, as Girl, and Samuel Martin, as the Bank Manager, in Once The Musical, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York, next month. Pictures: Mark Senior
ONCE seen, never forgotten, but you won’t have seen Once like this before, except in…Ipswich or Hornchurch.
First a cult, micro-budget Irish film written and directed by John Carney in 2007, then a Broadway, West End and Dublin show, Once The Musical embarks on its first British tour in January, playing the Grand Opera House, in York, from February 3 to 8.
Telling the uplifting yet yearning story of the hopes and dreams of two lost souls, a Dublin street busker and a Czech musician, who unexpectedly fall in love, Once is being directed by Peter Rowe with musical supervision by his regular cohort Ben Goddard.
The cast will be led by Scotsman Daniel Healy as Guy and Emma Lucia, from Durham, as Girl, reprising their roles from 2018’s premiere at the New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich, and Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch.
The company invited press and media to meet them three weeks into rehearsal at Toynbee Hall in London’s East End: a question-and-answer session introduced with rousing performances of Irish ceilidh songs and the show’s opening scene, leading to Healy and Lucia’s performance of the Oscar-winning signature song Falling Slowly, with all the actor-musicians playing their part around them, “leaning into the story” in the pub setting.
“This production is very different to the West End,” says Ben. “We very much started, as we would do with any story, any musical, by taking it off the page and then basically trying to get as many people as possible into the story we present on stage.”
Peter says: “What’s particular about this production is that everyone on stage is telling the story and that gives it a real charge. We have skilled actor-musicians trying to re-create the acoustic sound of Irish pub songs, and rather than trying to make it a bigger razzmatazz production, we want to draw people in.”
Emma Lucia as Girl in Once The Musical
This reflects the song-writing of Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová that frames Irish playwright and screenwriter Enda Walsh’s story of the Guy and the Girl’s relationship across five short Dublin days.
“Glen is a singer-songwriter who writes thoughtful songs from the heart, and so our production is an extension of that,” says Ben. “That’s the difference from other musicals: the music really does the job for you.”
Peter says: “You can feel that the band are impressed by this man, his voice and his music, and they become part of the flowering of his songs.”
He and Ben have worked regularly in the actor-musician world of theatrical performance. “That’s pretty much what we done with all the work we’ve done together, but putting the band together for this show has been very challenging, bringing together the right collection of people,” says Ben.
“Not just how they each play, but how they play together and work together, so that we have a combination of people to make the story work.”
Peter concurs: “Seeing an ensemble of 16 with all that skill, swapping instruments, will be a pleasure for the audience.” Ben rejoins: “I think we’ve found a combination where the levels of performance are pretty much at a peak, which is hard to find, with everyone showing their powers of musicianship and their acting chops.”
Peter’s research took him to Dublin for the “terrible task” – said with his tongue in his cheek – of visiting as many pubs as possible, combining the pleasures of an Irish pint with taking photographs of the pub interiors and the musicians playing there, and now bringing that atmosphere to the stage.
“It’s an unrequited love story, the most painful of all love stories, and that’s why Once really gets to people,” says director Peter Rowe of Guy’s plight in the Irish musical
At its heart, Once is a love story. “But it’s also an unrequited love story, the most painful of all love stories, and that’s why Once really gets to people,” says Peter.
“It’s the lives that you don’t live that you think about: if only you had turned left rather than right, and everyone recognises that story in the songs. And these are not musical theatre songs where people get to the point where they can’t say anything more without bursting into song.
“Here it’s a different convention. The songs in Once stand alone; they’re mostly solo songs or duets that are being sung in the street or Billy’s music store, so they have a naturalistic place in the story.”
Ben adds: “The story in Once came from an already written collection of songs, and with those songs being strong, a very strong story followed. At the start, the Guy seems quite repressed when he talks to the Girl, but then all the passion he felt in his failed relationship comes pouring out in his songs.”
Working in tandem with their regular choreographer, Fran Jaynes, Peter and Ben have made a point of changing the way musicians were used in past productions of Once The Musical. “When we saw it in London, they were on stage, to the left and to the right, watching what was going on, but, for me, they never really felt part of it,” says Ben. “But we’ve been involved in actor-musician work for a long time, and we’ve found it really potent to take their involvement further.”
Peter adds: “We could see the show’s potential as an actor-musician piece, and we just felt we could do more with it, making the most of the ensemble.”
In what way? “Using everybody on stage at all times, it’s like a European troupe of actors, where they all tell the story,” says Ben.
“But we also spent a long time trying to get the right chemistry in the whole cast, though the two leads, Daniel and Emma, had to come first.”
Once The Musical runs at Grand Opera House, York, from February 3 to 8 2020. Box office: 0844 871 3024, at atgtickets.com/York or in person from the Cumberland Street theatre.
