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More Things To Do in York and beyond, featuring shows for and about you. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 40, from The Press, York

Making his point: Grayson Perry in A Show All About You at Harrogate Convention Centre

FROM Sir Grayson to Dame Joan, Rambert’s return to Hancock’s re-creation, Lawrence to James, Charles Hutchinson puts the names in the frame for upcoming artistic and cultural adventures.  

A brush with an artist: Grayson Perry: A Show All About You, Harrogate Convention Centre, tomorrow, 7.30pm

ARTIST, iconoclast and television presenter Grayson Perry follows up A Show For Normal People with A Show All About You, wherein the new knight asks, “What makes you, you?”. Is there a part deep inside that no-one understands? Have you found your tribe or are you a unique human being? Or is it more complicated than that?

Perry, “white, male, heterosexual, able bodied, English, southerner, baby boomer and member of the establishment”, takes a mischievous look at the nature of identity, promising to make you laugh, shudder and reassess who you really are. Box office: 01423 502116 or harrogatetheatre.co.uk.

Steve Cassidy: Among friends at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre

York legend of the week: Steve Cassidy Band and Friends, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm

YORK’S Steve Cassidy Band play a varied range of rock, country and ballads and always love performing at his favourite venue, joined as ever by guests this weekend. A three-time winner of New Faces, Cassidy recorded with York composer John Barry and Sixties’ sonic innovator Joe Meek. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Padding up: Dame Joan Collins reveals all in Behind The Shoulder Pads

National treasure of the week: Dame Joan Collins, Behind The Shoulder Pads, Grand Opera House, York, Monday, 7.30pm

TO coincide with the release of her memoir Behind The Shoulder Pads, Hollywood legend, author, producer, humanitarian and entrepreneur Dame Joan Collins, 90, is embarking on a 12-date autumn tour with husband Percy Gibson by her side.

Returning to the Grand Opera House, where they presented Unscripted in February 2019, they will field audience questions and tell seldom-told tales and enchanting anecdotes, accompanied by rare footage from Dame Joan’s seven decades in showbusiness. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Jarred Christmas: Presents a comedy bill in A Night At The Theatre at York Theatre Royal

Comedy gig of the week: Fingers & Fringe in A Night At The Theatre, York Theatre Royal, Thursday, 7.30pm

JARRED Christmas hosts a Thursday bill of Clinton Baptiste, Huge Davies, Jake Lambert, Laura Lexx, Michael Akadiri, Abi Clarke and Jack Gleadow. Eight acts, one night of comedy at the theatre. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

John Hewer, third from left, leads the cast as Tony Hancock in Hancock’s Half Hour at Grand Opera House, York

Nostalgia of the week: Apollo Theatre Company in Galton & Simpson’s Hancock’s Half Hour, Grand Opera House, York, Thursday, 7.30pm

FROM the producers of the Round The Horne and The Goon Show tours comes another radio comedy classic live on stage. Written by young up-and-comers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, pre-Steptoe And Son, Hancock’s Half Hour introduced sitcom to the BBC’s Light Programme in 1954.

Tony Hancock played a less successful version of himself, surrounded by Sid James, Hattie Jacques and Kenneth Williams. Now, Apollo Theatre Company takes a trip back to 23 Railway Cuttings, East Cheam, to join “the lad himself” and his motley crew for three “lost” episodes, whose original recordings no longer exist but were re-created for BBC Radio 4 as The Missing Hancocks. John Hewer (Just Like That: The Tommy Cooper Show) plays Hancock with Ben Craze and Colin Elmer as James and Williams respectively. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Kieran Hodgson: Not big in this towering highland picture but Big In Scotland at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York and Selby Town Hall

Big in York, for one night only: Kieran Hodgson: Big In Scotland, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Thursday, 7.30pm

IN 2020, the world changed forever as Kieran Hodgson – Gordon from the BBC’s Two Doors Down – moved to Scotland. Now he is travelling around the still-just-about United Kingdom to reveal how it is working out. For him and for the Scots. Tickets update: Sold out; for returns only, tickets.41monkgate.co.uk. Also playing Selby Town Hall, Friday, 8pm; box office, 01757 708449 or selbytownhall.co.uk.

Lawrence of Felt, Denim, Go-Kart Mozart and now Mozart Estate at The Crescent, York

Cult gig of the week: Mozart Estate, The Crescent, York, October 7, 7.30pm

MOZART Estate is the new name for Go-Kart Mozart in the further adventures of Birmingham native Lawrence, cult leader of Eighties’ indie guitar band Felt and subject of the re-released 2011 documentary Lawrence Of Belgravia.

Lawrence – Hayward is his neglected surname – later led the pseudo-novelty band Denim, whose biting social commentary was coated in a bubblegum strain of Seventies’ glam rock. After four Go-Kart Mozart albums, he switched to Mozart Estate for January 2023’s Pop-Up! Ker-Ching! And The Possibilities Of Modern Shopping. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.

James: New album and tour in 2024

Looking ahead: James with special guests Razorlight, Leeds First Direct Arena, June 8 2024

JAMES will follow up the April 2024 release of their as-yet-untitled 17th studio album with an eight-date arena tour, taking in Leeds as the only Yorkshire venue. Tickets go on sale on October 6 at 9.30am at wearejames.com, gigsandtours.com and ticketmaster.co.uk.

Mixing the album this week, Clifford-raised frontman Tim Booth, 63, says: “The new songs sound belting and will fit this arena tour. Really looking forward to celebrating with you. Expect a mixture of the expected and unexpected – just like life. Nothing but love.”

Rambert’s Death Trap: Ballet theatre of bereavement and loss in Ben Duke’s Goat and Cerberus at York Theatre Royal

In Focus: Dance show of the week: Rambert’s Death Trap, York Theatre Royal, Tuesday and Wednesday, 7.30pm

RAMBERT first toured to York Theatre Royal in 1951 and for almost 40 years were regular visitors to the city, performing there 17 times. Their last visit was in February 1990, and they return 33 years later with Death Trap, a “meta dance comedy, full of the turbulence of life and death” with themes of bereavement and loss, partial nudity, strong language and strobe and haze effects. 

Rambert’s last show, Peaky Blinders: The Redemption Of Thomas Shelby, drew audiences in excess of 100,000, Now comes Death Trap, devised by Ben Duke, of Lost Dog, in a darkly humorous programme of stylish, inspiring, story-telling, character-driven dance theatre that combines two short, savage, absir, funny works: 2017’s Goat and 2022’s Cerberus.

Inspired by the music and spirit of Nina Simone, Goat is danced to a band on stage performing such iconic songs as Feelings, Feeling Good and Ain’t Got No/ I Got Life. Cerberus enters a world where dance is a matter of life or death in a bittersweet musing on myth and mortality, complete with funeral couture. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

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Michele Stodart offers Invitation to Pocklington Arts Centre gig on November 2 in double bill with Hannah White

The artwork for Michele Stodart’s first solo album in seven years, Invitation

THE Magic Numbers’ Michele Stodart is touring this autumn in support of her first solo album in seven years, Invitation.

The 19-date itinerary takes in Yorkshire dates at Pocklington Arts Centre on November 2, in a double bill with Hannah White, and Café #9, Sheffield, on November 23.

Born in Trinidad and long based in London, multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter Michele spent her early years surrounded by Caribbean music and culture, until she and her family fled a military coup attempt, leading them to Queens, New York, where she spent a large part of her childhood.

She is best known as bassist, vocalist and co-songwriter of the Mercury-nominated, double platinum-selling Magic Numbers, who have released five studio albums, played multiple headline tours and supported Neil Young, Radiohead, Brian Wilson, U2, Flaming Lips and Bright Eyes. She continues to play with the band, touring worldwide.

Alongside this, Michele has pursued her own writing and nurtured a love for folk/Americana artists such as Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Emmylou Harris, Lucinda Williams and Gillian Welch.

She started writing songs in her early teens as a way to process and tell stories from her experiences. She would hide away to write songs, rarely playing them in public.

After Michele gave birth to her daughter, older brother, Romeo (frontman of The Magic Numbers), encouraged her to record and release an album of her own songs. This resulted in her first solo outing, 2012’s Wide-Eyed Crossing, a Southern-drenched journey into Americana country blues. 

“I never thought I’d release a solo album, but I needed closure from those songs, so recording them was the only way to truly move on”, she said at the time.

From this point, Michele began playing solo shows and tours. She soon became known for her intimate, passionate and heart-wrenching live performances, helping to establish her as a singer-songwriter in her own right.

Signed by One Little Independent, Michele’s second solo set, Pieces, emerged in 2016: a confessional, melodic country/roots album with an orchestral, cinematic feel.

Over recent years, she has divided her time between her work with The Magic Numbers and her solo projects. In between recording and touring, she has been building a name for herself as a musical director, collaborator and producer too.

She has been invited to curate stages at festivals and events, as well as promoting regular nights at Camden’s legendary Green Note. She continues to champion women in music and gender equality within the industry and combines curating, directing and performing in an annual series of multi-artist shows celebrating International Women’s Day.

Hannah White: Sharing a double bill with Michele Stodart at Pocklington Arts Centre

Her skills as a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist have led to collaborative projects on stage and in the studio with Kathryn Williams, Billy Bragg, David Ford, Bernard Butler, Natalie Imbruglia, Ren Harvieu, Julian Taylor, Charlie Dore, David Kitt, Hannah White, Rachel Sermanni, Emily Barker, Diana Jones and O’Hooley & Tidow, among others. 

In 2019, Michele graced the silver screen in the Danny Boyle/Richard Curtis film Yesterday, chosen to appear on account of her melodic bass playing and electric, enigmatic stage presence.

Working alongside Boyle, Curtis and musical composer Daniel Pemberton, Michele’s bass and vocals are featured on the Abbey Road Studios movie soundtrack, reinterpreting The Beatles’ most beloved hits. 

In 2022, she was awarded the UK Americana Awards’ Instrumentalist of the Year Award. In January 2023, she was invited back as musical director at the awards,  where she led the all-female house band and played with The Waterboys’ Mike Scott, Allison Russell and Lifetime Achievement Award winner Judy Collins, who took a moment on stage to compliment Michele on her “incredible” talent. 

Invitation, her third studio album, arrived on September 15 on the Keepsake Recordings label, written, arranged and produced by Michele, with additional production from long-standing collaborator Dave Izumi Lynch.

The album was recorded at Echo Zoo Studios and features Michele on vocals, guitars, bass and percussion, as well as contributions from brother Romeo on piano, Andy Bruce on piano, Alice Phelps on harp, Will Harvey on violin and viola, CJ Jones on drums, Nick Pini on double bass, Joe Harvey-Whyte on pedal steel and Izumi Lynch on synths.

“Invitation is an intimate, personal record, with songs that touch on themes of motherhood, relationships, mental health, transformation, endings and new beginnings,” says Michele.

“It comes from a place of inviting in the darkness, the hard times, the sadness, anger, loss, love and grief… all of the unknown feelings that get woken up inside you. To practise staying with them, no matter how uncomfortable. To understand that they are there to guide you.

“I believe that it’s in the learning and listening that we can transform, grow, stay conscious and wholeheartedly true, open, honest with ourselves and others. Words are a powerful resource and we can choose to use them to connect deeply with one another. Songwriting has always been my way of trying to do just that, and I hope this album ‘invites’ us to reach out together.”

The album artwork and illustrations of the crow, drawn by Joni Belaruski, symbolise key themes: the crow represents transformation, change and freedom.

First single Tell Me touches on themes of cheating, heartbreak and yearning, with the song retaining a sense of rawness and immediacy both musically and lyrically. “I wanted to write a song set in the heat of a moment,” says Michele. “A brave, one-sided conversation between the truth and lies in a relationship. This is a song about a love affair in denial, hiding behind a sense of control and composure”.

In her double bill at Pocklington – where she has played on more than one occasion with The Magic Numbers – both Michele and Hannah White will be promoting new albums. Co-produced by Michele, Hannah’s Sweet Revolution will be released via The Last Music Company on November 3 in the wake of the south Londoner’s autobiographical song Car Crash winning UK Song of the Year at the 2023 UK Americana Awards.

Tickets for their 8pm gig are on sale on 01759 301547 and at pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk; for Michele’s Sheffield show, cafe9sheffield.co.uk or wegottickets.com/Cafe9.

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Northumbrian piper Kathryn Tickell & The Darkening to showcase Cloud Horizons at Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall on October 18

Kathryn Tickell & The Darkening: York concert

NORTHUMBRIAN piper, fiddle player, composer, educator and broadcaster Kathryn Tickell will play the University of York on October 18.

The award-winning roots musician, 56, will be showcasing Cloud Horizons, her second album recorded with The Darkening, released on September 1 on Resilient Records on CD and digital download. 

Based in the shadow of Hadrian’s Wall yet reaching out to the wider world, Kathryn Tickell & The Darkening explore the connecting threads of music, landscape and people over a period of almost 2,000 years.

The Darkening draw inspiration from the wild, dramatic and weather-bitten countryside along Hadrian’s Wall: a landscape that seems so quintessentially Northumbrian and yet was once inhabited by people from the furthest reaches of the Roman Empire, worshipping different gods and following different customs.

Songs range from themes of freedom, nature and venturing out into the world after times of darkness, to a Roman inscription with links to Libya and Syria magnetically pulled into the 21st century by Amen-inspired breakbeats, ominous vocals and the wildest of piping.

The artwork for Kathryn Tickell & The Darkening’s second album, Cloud Horizons

Cloud Horizons, the follow-up to 2019’s Hollowbone, is an album of extremes, one where Northumbrian traditions meet global influences. Dark, edgy soundscapes flare into euphoria with the precision of the pipes and accordion, bombastic effects-drenched octave mandolin, haunting harmony vocals, programmed beats, evocative slow airs and heart-pounding dance tunes. Lyres, clàrsach, sistrum, bone-flute and traditional Galician percussion add potency to the ambience.

Named after the old Northumbrian word for twilight, The Darkening feature four North East-based musicians, Kathryn Tickell (Northumbrian smallpipes, fiddle, vocals), AmyThatcher (accordion, synth, clogs, vocals), Kieran Szifris (octave mandolin), Joe Truswell (drums, percussion, programming), plus Stef Conner, from Cambridge, (vocals, lyres, sistrum), and Josie Duncan, from the Isle of Lewis, (vocals, clarsach). Together they create “Ancient Northumbrian Futurism”.

Cloud Horizons is Kathryn’s 16th release and the first in a career spanning 39 years to feature completely new material. The track listing is: High Way To Hermitage; Long For Light; Caelestis/Sheep InThe Temple; Quilley Reel; Freedom Bird; Just Stop & Eat The Roses; Bone Music; Clogstravaganza; Gods Of War; One Night In Moaña and Back To The Rede.

Tickets for Kathryn’s 7.30pm concert in the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York, are on sale at yorkconcerts.co.uk/whats-on/2023-24/kathryn-tickell-the-darkening/ and via kathryntickell.com. 

Did you know?

KATHRYN Tickell released her first album, On Kielder Side, recorded at her parents’ house, at the age of 17 in 1984.

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James Willstrop to serve up Frederick Frankenstein in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Hallowe’en show Young Frankenstein

Squashbuckling: World champ James Willstrop swaps from court to stage to perform for Pick Me Up Theatre

PICK Me Up Theatre artistic director Robert Readman will direct the northern premiere of Mel Brooks’s stage conversion of Young Frankenstein at the Grand Opera House, York, over Hallowe’en.

The York company’s rehearsals are progressing well for the all-singing, all-dancing horror-movie spoof musical that will run from October 31 to November 4.

“From the creators of the record-breaking Broadway sensation The Producers comes this monster new musical comedy,” says Robert. “The comedy genius, Mel Brooks, has adapted his legendarily funny 1974 film into a brilliant stage creation of Young Frankenstein. I saw the West End production and loved it.”

Grandson of the infamous Victor Frankenstein, Dr Frederick Frankenstein (pronounced “Fronk-en-steen”) inherits his family’s castle estate in Transylvania.

Sanna Jeppsson: Playing lab assistant Inga in Young Frankenstein

Aided yet hindered by hunchbacked sidekick Igor (pronounced “Eye-gore”), leggy lab assistant Inga (pronounced normally), devilishly sexy Frau Blucher (Neigh!) and needy fianceeElizabeth, Frederick finds himself filling the mad scientist shoes of his ancestors, striving to fulfil his grandfather’s legacy by bringing a corpse back to life.

“It’s alive!” he exclaims as his experiment yields a creature to rival his grandfather’s monster. Eventually, and inevitably, this new monster escapes. “Hilarity abounds,” promises Robert, in Young Frankenstein’s combination of madcap success and monstrous consequences.

Working in tandem with Thomas Meehan, Brooks gleefully reanimates his horror-movie send-up of Mary Shelley’s novel with even more jokes, set-pieces and barnstorming parody songs that stick a pitchfork into good taste. Among those songs will be Puttin’ On The Ritz, Please Don’t Touch Me, He Vas My Boyfriend, The Transylvanian Mania, There Is Nothing Like A Brain! and many more Transylvanian smash hits.

Leading Readman’s cast will be erstwhile world squash champion James Willstrop, continuing his transfer from court to stage after playing Captain Von Trapp in Pick Me Up’s The Sound Of Music last Christmas.

Helen Spencer: From Hello, Dolly! to hello, Frau Blucher

Starring opposite him again will be Swedish-born Sanna Jeppsson (Maria in The Sound Of Music), here cast as Inga. Jack Hooper, Mr Poppy in last year’s Nativity!, will be Igor; Helen Spencer, seen latterly as the Mother Abbess and Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly!, will play Frau Blucher; Jennie Wogan-Wells, the Narrator in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, will be Elizabeth Benning.

Craig Kirby, Mr Tom in Goodnight Mr Tom, will be in Monster mode and further roles will go to Tom Riddolls as Sgt Kemp, Sam Steel as Bertram Bartam and Andrew Isherwood, fresh from directing Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, as The Hermit.  A supporting ensemble will play Transylvanians, students and more besides.   

“Every bit as relevant to audience members who will remember the original as it will be to newcomers, Young Frankenstein has all the of panache of the screen sensation with a little extra theatrical flair added,” says Robert. “Young Frankenstein is scientifically proven, monstrously good entertainment.”

Pick Me Up Theatre in Young Frankenstein, Grand Opera House, York, October 31 to November 4, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Thursday and Saturday matinees. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

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Ian Donaghy launches Never Stop Drawing book for ‘just different’ children of all ages

Drawing a crowd: Author Ian Donaghy, centre, and illustrator Alfie Joey with All Saints RC School Year Seven students Molly, left, Sophia, Gabriel, Ava and Florence at Tuesday’s York launch of Never Stop Drawing at the Explore York Hungate Reading Cafe. Already Ian has led the children in a session on the book at All Saints. Picture: David Harrison

YORK author Ian Donaghy will launch his latest book, Never Stop Drawing, in his native North East this evening (27/9/2023) at Seven Stories, the National Centre for Children’s Books, in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, at 6pm.

Illustrated by Alfie Joey, the book champions never letting the flame of creativity die in a story full of colour, hope and inspiration for children aged eight to 108.

Drawn in: A young reader enjoying Never Stop Drawing

Billed as “the children’s book every grown-up needs to read before it’s too late”, Never Stop Drawing encourages readers to “find what you love and never stop”.

Former Maths teacher turned conference speaker, author, dementia charity champion and long-standing frontman of York party band Huge to boot, Ian says: “The world needs to stop asking how clever you are and instead ask how are you clever?”

This sporting life… but Albie, left, is more interested in pens than penalties in this Alfie Joey illustration from Never Stop Drawing

Yesterday evening, over tea and cakes baked by Sue Stewart, he launched two editions of the book – one with Joey’s illustrations, the other with spaces left blank for readers to draw their own pictures – at Explore York’s Hungate Reading Café, where he had spent many an hour crafting the text.

In the tradition of Bob Dylan’s Subterranean Homesick Blues, he held up placards, one saying: Different NOT Worse. Different NOT Less. Just Different. #NeverStopDrawing.

Colourful character meets colourful character: Author Ian Donaghy presents a copy of Never Stop Drawing to Eurovision pop star Sam Ryder at August’s Yorkshire Balloon Fiesta at Castle Howard

From the Tow Law-born author of wellbeing books Dear Dementia, The Missing Peace and A Pocketful Of Kindness, Never Stop Drawing is dedicated to Ian’s daughter, the singer and musical theatre student Annie Donaghy, “who views the world in a beautiful, different way, often seeing things that many of us miss”.

Ian hopes the book will make its way into schools and children’s wards in hospitals and already that is happening. Tomorrow, he will give a talk to the British Library at Malmaison, Rougier Street, York.

Muddled thinking: Why give dyslexia such a difficult label to spell, ponder author Ian Donaghy and lead character Albie in Never Stop Drawing. Illustration: Alfie Joey

“It’s a book about a little lad called Albie, who’s different. Different, not worse. Different, not less. He’s just different – and that’s fine. Socks don’t know they’re odd,” says Ian. “Let’s embrace the differences and make the world fit around people instead of us hammering the same round pegs into the same square holes.

“We’re all different and that’s a good thing, Imagine how dull the world would be if we were all the same.”

Booking up their ideas: Author Ian Donaghy and illustrator Alfie Joey at the York launch of Never Stop Drawing at the Explore York Hungate Reading Cafe. Picture: David Harrison

Published by ID Publications and printed by YPS Printing Services in Elvington, both versions of Never Stop Drawing are available from neverstopdrawing.co.uk and bigian.co.uk.

Did you know?

NEVER Stop Drawing illustrator Alfie Joey is a writer, comic, actor, impressionist, singer, presenter and artist/cartoonist. He hosted the flagship breakfast show on BBC Radio Newcastle from 2009 until his last broadcast on October 28 2022.

The last word: Albie “went to sleep after a life of reams and dreams” in Never Stop Drawing’s closing chapter. Illustration: Alfie Joey
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REVIEW: Paul Rhodes’s verdict on Those Pretty Wrongs and Ned Roberts, The Crescent, York, September 19

Jody Stephens and Luther Russell performing as a duo at The Crescent, York. Picture: Paul Rhodes

THE Crescent proved itself once again to be the venue to beat for live music in York. On a Tuesday too.

Those Pretty Wrongs are led by Jody Stephens, drummer, songwriter and singer in cult band Big Star, and Luther Russell. Russell is better known as a producer but is a serial collaborator and solo performer too. 

To look the elephant in the room in the eye, this was not a Big Star tribute show. The two Big Star songs played, the timeless 13 and Way Out West, were by some distance the best of the evening. Those two encores were performed without mics, almost in the audience, surrounded by the love that people have for these songs.

The newer material can’t begin to match those that blew out of that combustible, short-lived collision of Alex Chilton, Chris Bell, Jody Stephens and Andy Hummel, then given a lustrous shimmer by Ardent Studios’ John Fry.

Those Pretty Wrongs: “Not really in the nostalgia market, they make no qualms about playing new album Holiday Camp in full” at The Crescent. Picture: Paul Rhodes

With the benefit of time, the story of Big Star reads like an ironic screenplay. They made three unmistakable records that are synonymous with their Memphis hometown. Each is up there with anything from the 1960s and ’70s, before misfortune and mismanagement stopped them in their tracks and cult status slowly grew out from the ashes of all those might haves.

Chilton then beat a perverse, wilful path while Bell died broken in a car crash. The survivors at least received the late acclaim they deserved in the 1990s – one concertgoer was proudly wearing a T-shirt bought at their Leeds Duchess show in 1993.

Stephens, a youthful 71, has emerged from that tale intact and shows no signs of letting up. He is now the last surviving member of the original, classic line-up. More stories from that time would have been welcome, but Those Pretty Things aren’t really in the nostalgia market and make no qualms about playing their new album, Holiday Camp, in order and in full.

Performing as a duo rather than a four-piece, Stephens and Russell were in good spirits and voice. They were full of warm words for opening act Ned Roberts (incidentally once the lead conspirator at open-mic nights at the Waggon and Horses when he studied at the University of York).

Support act Ned Roberts: “Light, versatile voice recalled James Taylor”. Picture: Paul Rhodes

Not coincidentally, Russell has produced each of Roberts’s four albums. Roberts’s set made a strong case for seeking out those records out – and his new album, due next year, in particular. His light, versatile voice recalled James Taylor, or Jeff Cowell’s buried treasure Lucky Strikes and Liquid Gold. Roberts’s set contained a well-rounded clutch of good songs, with Halfway To Reason and Song Of Spring making most impact.

Without a drum kit, out front and seated, Stephens’ hands couldn’t resist keeping time. As a front man, he has no problems keeping an audience’s attention. His evocative voice feels familiar from Big Star of course and has aged well.

Russell, the more outgoing of the two, knew when to step in with a quip or anecdote. Much more than a foil, his guitar playing and particularly his harmonies were wonderful. Not all of the original Those Pretty Wrongs songs were keepers but the strike rate was pretty high. Paper Cup and Scream were easily the equal of their recorded versions and it was good to hear their (seemingly) impromptu take on Lucky Guy in memory of John Fry.

After 75 minutes, Leicester then Memphis were calling, but it was good while it lasted.

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Julia Elliott and Peter Harrison to present Branwell Brontë’s Flute Book in Dementia Friendly Tea Concert at St Chad’s Church

Peter Harrison and Julia Elliott

THE next Dementia Friendly Tea Concert will be on October 19 at St Chad’s Church, on Campleshon Road, near ork Racecourse.

“We have something a bit different to enjoy next month as Julia Elliott and Peter Harrison will be presenting Branwell Brontë’s Flute Book,” says co-programmer Alison Gammon.

The 2.30pm concert will be an exploration in words and music of the fascinating musical world of Branwell Brontë (1817-1848).

“He was keenly interested in and influenced by music and kept a notebook of his favourite tunes arranged for the instrument, including popular songs such as Home Sweet Home and All Through The Night,” says Alison.

“Branwell played the flute and his sisters Emily and Anne played the piano. Peter will be playing an historic flute, which will give us a flavour of the sound world of the Brontë Parsonage in Haworth.”

As usual, 45 minutes of music will be followed by tea and homemade cakes in the church hall. “The event is a relaxed concert, ideal for people who may not feel comfortable at a formal classical concert, so we do not mind if the audience wants to talk or move about,” says Alison.

“Seating is unreserved and there is no charge, although donations are welcome. We give the hire cost to the church and the rest goes to Alzheimer’s charities.”

The church has a small car park and on-street parking is available along Campleshon Road, but it can be busy, so do allow plenty of time. “If you are more mobile it would really help if you could park on the street to allow for disabled parking in the car park,” requests Alison. “There is wheelchair access via the church hall.”

The remaining concerts in 2023 will feature Giocoso Wind Ensemble on November 16 and Ripon Resound Choir in a Christmas programme on December 7.

The monthly concert series will continue on Thursdays at 2.30pm. “Many of our musicians will be returning to play for us, so there is plenty to look forward to,” says Alison. “Sanitiser is always available in the church and church hall if you need to use it.”   

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More Things To Do in York and beyond, from a remote island murder trail to science lessons. Hutch’s List No. 39, from The Press

Mark Simmonds, left, Martyn Hunter and Ian Giles rehearsing Pick Me Up Theatre’s And Then There Were None at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York

AND then there were ten as Charles Hutchinson picks his cultural highlights, from Christie mystery to prints aplenty,  Wax words to science explosions, extinction fears to singers’ farewells.  

Thriller of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, running until September 30, 7.30pm (except tomorrow and Monday); 2.30pm, today, tomorrow and next Saturday

TEN strangers are summoned to a remote island. All that the guests have in common is a wicked past they are unwilling to reveal and a secret that will seal their fate. For each has been marked for murder.

As the weather turns and the group is cut off from the mainland, the bloodbath begins and one by one they are brutally murdered in accordance with the lines of a sinister nursery rhyme in Agatha Christie’s murder mystery, directed for York company Pick Me Up Theatre by Andrew Isherwood, who will play retired Inspector William Blore too. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Michelle Hughes’s Kilburn White Horse, on show at York Printmakers Autumn Fair

Print deadline: York Printmakers Autumn Fair, York Cemetery Chapel and Harriet Room, today and tomorrow, 10am to 5pm

IN its sixth year, the York Printmakers Autumn Fair features work by 26 members exhibiting and selling hand-printed original prints, including Russell Hughes, Rachel Holborow, Michelle Hughes, Harriette Rymer and Jo Rodwell.

On display will be a variety of printmaking techniques, such as linocut, collagraphs, woodcut, screen printing, stencilling and etching. Artists will be on hand to discuss their working methods and to show the blocks, plates and tools they use.

Pulling a face: Comedian Phil Wang returns to York on his Wang In There, Baby! tour

Seriously silly: Phil Wang, Wang In There, Baby!, York Barbican, tonight, 7.30pm

AFTER his Netflix special, David Letterman appearance, role in Life & Beth with Amy Schumer and debut book Sidesplitter, Phil Wang discusses race, family, nipples and everything else going on in his Philly little life in his latest stand-up show, Wang In There, Baby! Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Cinder Well: Songs of mystery at The Band Room, Low Mill. Picture: Georgia Zeavin

Gig of the week outside York: Cinder Well, The Band Room, Low Mill, Farndale, North York Moors, tonight, 7.30pm

CINDER Well, multi-instrumentalist Amelia Baker’s experimental American roots project, showcases her mysterious April 2023 album, Cadence.

The title refers to the cycles of our turbulent lives, to the uncertain tides that push us forward and back, as Cadence drifts between two far-flung seas: the hazy California coast where Baker grew up and the wind-torn swells of County Clare, western Ireland, that she has come to love. Box office: thebandroom.co.uk.

Ministry of Science Live: Lighting the flame for experiments in Science Saved The World at Grand Opera House, York

Explosive children’s show of the week: Ministry of Science Live in Science Saved The World, Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow, 12.30pm and 4pm

MINISTRY of Science take an anarchic approach to science communication, looking at the scientists, engineers and inventors who have shaped the modern world, while proving that each and every one of us has the ability to change our world for the better.

Expect 20ft liquid nitrogen clouds, exploding oxygen and hydrogen balloons, fire tornados, hydrogen bottle rockets, ignited methane and even a self-built Hovercraft. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Confronting ecological disaster: Stephanie Hutchinson in A Play For The Living In A Time Of Extinction at York Theatre Royal. Picture: James Drury

Play of the week: A Play For The Living In A Time Of Extinction, York Theatre Royal, Wednesday to Saturday, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee

DIRECTED for York Theatre Royal by Mingyu Lin, Miranda Rose Hall’s play heads out on a life-changing journey to confront the urgent ecological disaster unfolding around us. Part ritual, part battle cry, this “fiercely feminist off-grid” one-woman show offers a moving evaluation of what it means to be human in an era of man-made extinction.

Leeds actress Stephanie Hutchinson will be joined at each performance by eight cyclists, who will ride specially adapted bicycles to power the electricity required for lighting and sound. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Ruby Wax: A search to find meaning on a series of life-changing journeys

Waxing lyrical: Ruby Wax: I’m Not As Well As I Thought, York Alive festival, Grand Opera House, York, Thursday, 7.30pm

IN 2022, American-British actress, comedian, writer, television personality and mental health campaigner Ruby Wax, 70, began a search to find meaning, booking a series of potentially life-changing journeys. Even greater change marked her inner journey, as charted in her book I’m Not As Well As I Thought and now in her “rawest, darkest, funniest show yet”. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

The Manfreds: Last tour together for singers Paul Jones and Mike D’Abo on 60th anniversary itinerary

Nostalgia of the week…for the last time: Maximum Rhythm’n’Blues with The Manfreds, Grand Opera House, York, Friday

JOIN legendary pioneers of Sixties’ British rhythm & blues The Manfreds as they celebrate 60 years in the business. Vocalists Paul Jones, 81, and Mike D’Abo, 79, are touring together for the final time, alongside long-standing members Tom McGuinness, Rob Townsend, Marcus Cliffe and Simon Currie, to rejoice in Do Wah Diddy Diddy, If You Gotta Go, Go Now, Pretty Flamingo, My Name Is Jack and Mighty Quinn. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Daniel Martinez Flamenco Company: Three performances in one day at the NCEM

Dance at the treble: Daniel Martinez Flamenco Company, Art Of Believing Special Edition, National Centre for Early Music, York, October 1, 3.30pm, 6pm and 8.30pm

LAST at the NCEM in November 2022, the Daniel Martinez Flamenco Company returns to York for three performances in one day of Art Of Believing, a 90-minute show suffused with emotion, passion and grit.

Works from Martinez’s Herald Angel Award-winning production Art Of Believing will be complemented by previously unseen pieces performed by musicians, singers and dancer Gabriela Pouso. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

Kenny Thomas: Rediscovered songs and big hits on the Him Tour 2024 at Grand Opera House, York

Looking ahead: Kenny Thomas, Him 2024 Tour, Grand Opera House, York, May 19 2024

ISLINGTON soul singer-songwriter Kenny Thomas will front his all-star band in York on his nine-leg British tour next spring, showcasing songs from his “lost” third album, the never-commercially-released Him, alongside his greatest hits.

“Over three decades on from when I first started out, this tour demonstrates that soul music is here to stay,” says Thomas, 55, whose Best Of compilation will be out on November 3. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

In Focus: Stephanie Hutchinson on starring in a one-woman show for the first time in A Play For The Living In A Time Of Extinction

Stephanie Hutchinson: Starring in one-woman, whole-world drama A Play For The Living In A Time Of Extinction at York Theatre Royal

STEPHANIE Hutchinson had never imagined she would do a one-woman show.

Come Wednesday, however, the Leeds actress will be giving her solo turn for five performances in “a bold experiment in eco theatre-making” and a “fiercely feminist off-grid production” at York Theatre Royal.

The title, A Play For The Living In A Time Of Extinction, is an indication that this Headlong, London Barbican and York Theatre Royal co-production will be unlike anything you have seen before.

Hands up anyone who has witnessed a stage production powered by bicycles. Only The HandleBards on their open-air Shakespeare travels come to mind.

Strictly speaking, Stephanie will not be on her own. Eight cyclists per performance will be pedalling away to power lights and microphones, while the York Theatre Royal Choir will be participating too.

After a Barbican run, Miranda Rose Hall’s play is on a zero-travel tour using an eco-friendly blueprint. The rest of the production, from local actor to cyclists, is provided by the theatre hosting the show, culminating in York next week.

“I don’t want the audience to feel they’re just being talked at,” says Stephanie. Picture: James Drury

Stephanie sees it as a co-operative production, not only a one-woman show. “I’ve not seen A Play For The Living but heard a lot about it,” she says.

Her character, a dramaturg called Naomi, pressed into impromptu service as an actress, is fearful of death but is determined to confront fears about an impending ecological disaster.

“What caught my eye was just how sustainable the production is,” she says. “Naomi is described as a woman in her 20s who is scared of dying. She’s already had to go on stage and act in front of people. She’s confronted that fear. Now she’s facing her fear of dying and wants to have a conversation about it.

“I like how interactive it is. It’s not just me, not just a verbal splurge. She wants to know what others are thinking. I don’t want the audience to feel they’re just being talked at.”

Despite the subject, A Play For The Living is not all gloom and doom, emphasies Stephanie. There are funny moments. Gloomy and funny is her hope for the experience.

Stephanie Hutchinson in Badapple Theatre’s production of Elephant Rock, part of the TakeOver festival at York Theatre Royal in May last year

“I don’t think it’s just a message play,” she says. “Naomi’s having a conversation, making the audience aware of what she’s found during her research. It’s also like an ode to the Earth as well because the Earth has given us so much but in return we’re not treating it back very well. It’s almost like she’s blessing the Earth and thanking it. But we do need to be careful – if we keep going the way we’re going, future generations might not have it.”

Stephanie was last seen on York Theatre Royal’s main stage in Green Hammerton company Badapple Theatre’s Elephant Rock during the TakeOver season in May 2022. Her other credits include Shake The City, based around the clothworkers’ strike in Leeds in 1970, staged at both Leeds Playhouse and Jermyn Street Theatre in London.

All this is something of a surprise for Stephanie who did not nurse acting ambitions from a young age. “I’ll be honest, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do when I was a teenager. Then when I was 15, 16, I was going to theatre classes where you’d do singing, dancing, acting and I was like, ‘I quite actually like this – can I do it at uni or go to a drama school?’.

“So, at 18, I went to Salford University and graduated with a BA (Hons) Performing Arts. I’ve managed to carry it on, although I’m not quite sure how I’ve done that. My ambition is just to keep on going because I can’t really see myself doing anything else. Even in my day job, I do role play and that’s acting on the side. Acting is getting paid for doing what I love.

“I thought I would never do a one-person show. I am feeling very happy where I am at the moment. Very happy.”

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REVIEW: York Stage in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Grand Opera House, York, moving the earth until Saturday ****

Grace Lancaster at the piano in her role as Carole King in York Stage’s York premiere of Beautiful. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick

BEAUTIFUL is “filled with the songs you remember – and a story you’ll never forget”, says Nik Briggs, director and producer of York Stage’s York premiere of The Carole King Musical.

Put another way, there are songs you know but may not know they are by Brooklyn-born Carole, whose story stayed in the background, much like Carole herself did until moving centre stage with Tapestry, before Douglas McGrath wrote the book for the musical. Tony and Grammy awards have ensued.

Leeds Grand Theatre played host to the first British tour in June 2018, and now Briggs delivers a sparkling York production every note as enjoyable, as lushly musical and, typical of Briggs, visually impactful too, with a wonderful lead performance by Grace Lancaster, a York-raised triple threat of singer, musician and actress.

McGrath’s book does not reveal the full tapestry – King’s flop 1970 debut album, Writer,  is as absent as James Taylor – but it wholly captures the spirit, courage and resilience of her constant creativity that blossomed as a teenager, told here with warmth, wit and charm, pathos too, and bursts of frank Jewish humour in her exchanges with her wise, if cautious mother, Genie Klein (Sandy Nicholson, perfect casting), a Manhattan teacher who would prefer her daughter to follow that career path too.

Teenagers in love: Grace Lancaster’s Carole King and Frankie Bounds’ Gerry Goffin in Beautiful. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick

Bookended by Carole’s celebrated performance at Carnegie Hall, with Lancaster at the grand piano, Beautiful’s storyline opens with ordinary schoolgirl Carole Klein writing incessantly at 16, landing her first songwriting deal with Donnie Kirshner (an urbane Bryan Bounds) as Carole King.

Utilising cast members for scenery moves, Beautiful cracks on in a whirl, much like Carole’s songwriting success. She meets lyricist and putative playwright Gerry Goffin (Frankie Bounds), her fellow teen, and is pregnant and married at 17. What a productive partnership!

The hits keep piling up from their Kirshner-administered songwriting factory for the likes of The Drifters (Faisal Khodabukus, Christopher Knight, Munya Mswaka and Baz Zakeri) and The Shirelles( Cyanne Unamba Oparah, Maria Ghurbal, Nicole Kilama and Lauren Charlton-Matthews, who also plays Janelle Woods). Delightful performances all round.

Even their babysitter (Kilama’s Little Eva) hits the chart peak with The Loco-Motion – and everyone’s doing The Loco-Motion in black and white in the show’s best ensemble choreography by Danielle Mullan-Hill.

Frankie Bounds’ Gerry Goffin, centre, performing Pleasant Valley Sunday in an ensemble number in Beautiful. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick

Unlike too many jukebox musicals, McGrath’s script does more than link the songs, telling the story behind them with breezy dialogue, yet giving due space to life-changing events, as the story moves between recording studio, record company offices, the home and the concert hall.

If Beautiful underplays the ugly side of the story, the restless, unfaithful Goffin’s straying from the happy-at-home Carole, Frankie Bounds (in his Marlon Brando white vest) seeks to invest the role with more darkness of the soul. He is no pantomime villain, even though one stage entry is greeted with a boo from one voice in the dress circle at Saturday’s matinee.

For contrast with the brooding Bounds’s increasingly troubled Goffin and the downward spiral of the Goffin-King marriage, the friendly rivalry at Kirshner’s 1650 Broadway building with fellow songwriting partners Barry Mann (Alex Hogg) and Cynthia Weil (Harriet Yorke) is depicted with lightness and plenty of laughter, as they progress, step by slower-than-Gerry and-Carole step to a number one hit (You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling) and wedding bells. Hogg’s somewhat hangdog, anxious Mann is ever humorous; Yorke’s Weil more spiky.

Canny operator: Bryan Bounds as recording company boss Donny Kirshner. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick

Throughout, Lancaster conquers York. What a talent! Leeds Conservatoire tutor by day, New York Brass Band saxophonist and clarinet player by night, she has polished up her piano playing too to complement her delightful singing voice, as uplifting and moving as King’s, especially on Tapestry’s songs from the broken heart.

From precociously gifted yet demure teenager, to diligent young mother, to solo singer-songwriter, embracing the spotlight at last after such hurt, Lancaster evokes all facets of the King character. Her renditions of It’s Too Late and (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman are the crowning glory for King and Lancaster alike.

You will feel the earth move, thanks not only to Lancaster, but also to Briggs’s potent direction, full of drama, emotion and humour, to go with his snappy, snazzy costumes and Phoebe Kilvington’s hair and make-up, propelled by the fabulous playing of Stephen Hackshaw’s band, always in view at the back.

Tickets for Tuesday to Saturday’s 7.30pm evening performances and Saturday’s 2.30pm matinee are on sale at atgtickets.com/york.

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Soul singer Kenny Thomas to play rediscovered songs on Him Tour 2024 at Grand Opera House, York, next May

Kenny Thomas: Playing Grand Opera House, York, as the only Yorkshire date on next spring’s Him Tour, preceded by Leeds gig in October

ISLINGTON soul singer-songwriter Kenny Thomas will front his all-star band at the Grand Opera House, York, on May 19 on his nine-leg Him Tour 2024.

He will showcase songs from his “lost” third album, Him, for the first time alongside his greatest hits, soon to feature on a Best Of compilation, out on November 3.

By then Thomas, 55, will have opened this autumn’s Brit Soul Ascending Tour at Leeds City Varieties Music Hall on October 31 at 7.30pm, his first Leeds show in more than 20 years.

“Live gigs are one of the most enjoyable aspects of being a musician and it’s where my fans come together for a night of soul music and serious partying. So, to announce the Him 2024 Tour is really exciting for me and the band, and it’s an opportunity for us to play songs from my third album Him, which was never commercially released,” says Londoner Thomas.

“Over three decades on from when I first started out, this tour demonstrates that soul music is here to stay.”

Kenny Thomas’s poster for his Him Tour 2024 date at the Grand Opera House

Thomas’s Best Of, released on vinyl and CD, will feature all his hits, such as Thinking About Your Love, Best Of You, Outstanding and Trippin’ On Your Love, plus fan favourites and thought-to-be lost masters from the rediscovered Him.

He sold 600,000 copies of his platinum debut album for Chrysalis Records, 1991’s number three-charting Voices, and his 1993 follow-up, the gold-selling Wait For Me, peaked at number ten en route to Thomas notching eight Top 40 singles and receiving two Brit Award nominations for Best Male Vocalist and Best Newcomer. He later released Crazy World in 2006 and Breathe in 2011.

In lockdown, Gary Barlow invited Thomas to sing Thinking About Your Love on his Crooner Sessions, which became a viral hit. In 2021, Thomas’s autobiography, Baring My Soul, was published, leading to a feature on the BBC’s Top Of The Pops documentary after performing on the show nine times.

In April 2022, he headed out on a club tour. Now come two theatre tours, Brit Soul Ascending in November and December, then the Him 2024 next spring. Box office: Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com, on sale now; York, atgtickets.com/york, on sale from Friday morning.