Strictly Come Dancing: The ten professionals in the tour line-up
TICKETS sold out in 12 hours for the Strictly Come Dancing – The Professionals show at York Barbican on May 12 2023, prompting the addition of a second performance on May 31.
In the line-up of ten of the world’s best professional dancers from the BBC’s hit show will be Strictly pros Dianne Buswell, Vito Coppola, Carlos Gu, Karen Hauer, Neil Jones, Nikita Kuzmin, Gorka Marquez, Luba Mushtuk, Jowita Przystal and Nancy Xu.
“Don’t miss your chance to see these much-loved dancers coming together to perform in a theatrical ensemble that will simply take your breath away,” says the tour blurb. Box office: ticketmaster.co.uk/strictly-come-dancing-the-professionals-2023-york.
Jimmy Carpenter: Saxophone blues and soul at Selby Town Hall. Picture: Marilyn Stringer
SELBY Town Hall welcomes Grammy and Blues Music Award-winning saxophonist Jimmy Carpenter tonight, all the way from Las Vegas.
“Jimmy will be playing with superb UK blues quartet BluesMove as his backing band – it should be a cracking gig in our little space,” says Selby Town Council arts officer Chris Jones.
“One of the most complete and versatile artists on the contemporary blues, soul and rock scene, Jimmy is having a stellar year, winning a Best Instrumentalist gong at the Blues Music Awards for the second year running and becoming a Grammy Award-winning composer for Tomb Tune, a song he contributed to the New Orleans Nightcrawlers’ winning album, Atmosphere.”
Born in Greensboro, North Caroline, electric blues saxophonist, singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer Carpenter has been a working musician for more than 40 years, releasing five solo albums since 2008.
He is touring Great Britain to promote The Louisiana Record, his latest studio recordings for the legendary Gulf Coast Records, his label since 2019. That year’s album, Soul Doctor, was preceded by Plays The Blues in 2017, Walk Away in 2014 and Toiling In Obscurity in 2008.
Carpenter has toured internationally with Tinsley Ellis, Jimmy Thackery, Walter “Wolfman” Washington, Eric Lindell and Mike Zito And The Wheel as well as writing, arranging and recording horns for dozens of artists, gaining a reputation as a master blues, rock’n’roll and R&B saxophonist.
His recording credits include work for Thackery, Washington, Lindell, Zito, Billy Iuso, Tab Benoit, Maria Muldaur and Honey Island Swamp Band.
After many years of playing in the clubs of New Orleans, Carpenter now lives in Las Vegas, where he has become musical director of The Big Blues Bender festival.
“There are few more in-demand blues sax players in the world than Jimmy Carpenter,” says Chris. “He’s been a winner in the biggest international blues awards for two years running, with a hatful of other nominations besides – testament to what a high quality and highly respected performer he is.
“With the brilliant BluesMove playing alongside him, Jimmy’s show in Selby is shaping up to be a really magnificent night of top-drawer music.”
Tickets for tonight’s 8pm gig are on sale on 01757 708449, at selbytownhall.co.uk or on the door from 7.30pm.
“There are bridges that only music can cross,” says American folk songwriter Mary Gauthier. Picture: Alexa Kinigopoulos
AS November’s nights close in on winter’s chill, New Orleans folk singer, songwriter and author Mary Gauthier arrives in York tonight to showcase her new album, Dark Enough To See The Stars.
Released by the 60-year-old Grammy nominee on Thirty Tigers in June, her ninth studio set of truth-telling songs finds Mary mourning the loss of dear musician friends John Prine, Nanci Griffith and David Olney on How Could You Be Gone and ’Til I See You Again, while offering optimism in her celebration of the joy of new love and personal contentment.
The title track, co-written with Beth Nielsen Chapman, acknowledges how loss and darkness can bring a beautiful sense of clarity and an understanding of what truly matters. “I got that line [‘But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars”] from Martin Luther King’s I’ve Been To The Mountaintop speech,” says Mary.
“He was teaching us that through pain and suffering we grow, and there are important things to gain from struggle, where sometimes it is the darkness that brings the light. It’s a beautiful metaphor”.
The combination of Covid’s grip and the loss of friends has been a time of “madness” for Mary, one that had led to her outpourings in song. “I tend to write about what it is I’m going through and what I think the world is going through, and I do that in a personal way, but that could be quite boring and narcissistic,” she says.
“The answer is to go deeper, and by doing that you strike a universal chord. I have to go underneath the surface to find a thread that links us all. I’ve learned over the writing of this record that The Beatles were right: love is all you need. Love is all there is.
“That love matters is what I cling to, especially in times of grief, and it all started with the death of my friends John Prine and David Olney, who was one of the geniuses of Nashville and had a heart attack on stage.”
Mary continues: There’s been a lot of grief, and what I’ve been made aware of is that people who I loved and loved me were really intensely loved and loved intensely in my life and I get to keep that love. It raises the stakes when you’re aware of how transient life is.
The artwork for Mary Gauthier’s 2022 album, Dark Enough To See The Stars
“Since the age of AIDS, I’ve been so aware of death, especially when it hits young people. In my 20s, working in a gay club, that [AIDS] was my first pandemic, so those feelings are not new to me. Losing all those beautiful young men; now it’s a feeling compounded by age.
“I have lost so many friends. It makes the relationships that remain alive so much more important, always ending messages with love. Relationships and love really matter, especially in times of grief and loss, and at times of such [political] division like now. I have family members that see American politics the other way, and I love them, so we don’t talk about it because we’d end up mad with each other.”
Beliefs lead to divisions, says Mary. “But I’m not trying to change the mind of anyone. That’s not my job. I’m a songwriter, and my job is to work withing the realms of the heart, to connect with the heart.
“Sympathy is to have feelings, but empathy is a very complex form of love; empathy is walking in someone else’s shoe, becoming the other in a song, putting yourself in the body of a female or a soldier, for example. It’s a very powerful medium that bypasses reason because it’s about the heart; it’s a feeling in your body,” she elaborates.
Dark Enough To See The Stare follows Rifles & Rosary Beads, Mary’s award-garlanded 2018 album co-written with U.S. veterans and their families that served to help them cope with the trauma experienced both abroad and at home.
Three years later came her first book, Saved By A Song: The Art and Healing Power of Songwriting, a memoir wherein she shared her life experiences from addiction, abandonment and loss to compassion, empathy, kindness and ultimately triumph, subsequently named in Rolling Stone magazine’s Best Music Books of 2021.
“The way I think songwriting works is that songs can make people feel something and that creates empathy, and through that the heart can have a conversation with the mind,” she says. “There are bridges that only music can cross.”
Mary Gauthier, The Crescent, York, tonight (23/11/2022), 7.30pm. Seated show with all seating unreserved. Support act Jaimee Harris will then perform with Gauthier. Box office: thecrescentyork.seetickets.com/event/mary-gauthier/the-crescent/2378227 or on the door.
Toni Feetenby’s Jennifer Lore in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Nativity! The Musical
PICK Me Up Theatre director Readman never appeared in a Nativity play in his North Yorkshire schooldays.
“My first appearance on stage was as an animal in Snow White,” says Robert, whose production of Nativity! The Musical opens at the Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow (24/11/2022).
“My brother Mark was King Herod in Bubwith Church in 1969! The first time I got close to a Nativity was when I directed the York premiere of Tim Firth’s Flint Street Nativity at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre in 2011.”
How he is at the helm of Debbie Isitt and Nicky Ager’s musical, adapted for the stage by the creator of the British franchise of four family Christmas films released between 2009 and 2018.
Stuart PIper: Making his Pick Me Up Theatre debut as Mr Maddens in Nativity! The Musical
“I was looking for a Christmas show as our Grand Opera House slot falls pre-panto,” says Robert. “Scott Garnham [Malton-born actor, singer and producer] played Mr Maddens in the professional tour and West End run, and I knew that if Scott had loved it, we would too. I also love the film!
“I managed to gain the rights in April 2021. Browsing on the Music Theatre International website, I applied, assuming it would be a ‘No’ because it had been on a professional tour, and so I was very surprised and delighted to get a ‘Yes’!”
The musical is based on the original film. “All the gags are there and the grand finale in the bombed Coventry Cathedral ruins,” says Robert, introducing the story of St Bernadette’s School attempting to mount a musical version of a Nativity play. “The only trouble is, teacher Mr Maddens has promised the children that a Hollywood producer is coming to see the show to turn it into a film.”
Against this backdrop, Mr Maddens, his crazy teaching assistant Mr Poppy and the unruly children struggle to make everyone’s Christmas wish of starring in the Nativity play come true.
Christmas quackers: Jack Hooper’s Mr Poppy in Nativity! The Musical
“Nativity! is loaded with British humour, kids being themselves, pathos and daftness, and there’s a romantic happy end,” says Robert.
“The music is very catchy and totally suits the essence of the story. As Debbie Isitt directed the film, she had a natural understanding of what style was required, and the melodies add a whole new element to the script, based very closely to the screenplay. I just love the music.”
Nativity! The Musical features all the sing-a-long favourites from the film series, such as Sparkle And Shine, Nazareth, One Night One Moment and She’s The Brightest Star.
“They’re complemented by a whole host of new songs filled with the spirit of Christmas,” says Robert. “Mr Poppy gets a solo, the ensemble is given songs, and the romance between Mr Maddens and Jennifer Lore is told in music.”
School roll call-cum-role call: All the St Bernadette’s pupils and teachers, as played by Robert Readman’s cast for Pick Me Up Theatre’s Natvity! The Musical
Joined in the production team by musical director Sam Johnson and choreographer Lesley Hill, Robert is directing a cast that combines faces both new and familiar to Pick Me Up audiences.
Making their company debuts will be Stuart Piper as Mr Maddens, Stuart Hutchinson as Gordon Shakespeare and Jack Hooper as Desmond Poppy, while the returnees will include Toni Feetenby as Jennifer Lore, Jonny Holbek as The Critic ( Patrick Burns) and Alison Taylor as Mrs Bevan. Look out too for Rhian Wells’s Miss Rye, Rosy Rowley’s Mr Parker (yes, Mr Parker), Kelly Stocker’s Receptionist and Martin Rowley’s Lord Mayor,
Alongside the principal children’s roles of Ollie (Jonah Haig), Star (Beau Lettin) and the Angel Gabriel (Faatah Sohail) will be Team Shakespeare and Team Poppy, comprising 38 children between them.
“We held open auditions for three shows, September’s Matilda The Musical Jr, Nativity! and next month’s The Sound Of Music all at the same time in June, so we could get to know the children,” says Robert.
Team Maddens at the dress rehearsal for Pick Me Up Theatre’s Nativity! The Musical
“Many of them are in all three shows, and it’s proved a very successful method as the children have become friends, and working with them is a pleasure because they’re relaxed and happy to be in rehearsal. I’ve also been blessed with excellent choreographers, Lesley and her assistants Emily and Lily Walker, and with parents willing to give support.”
Coming next for York company Pick Me Up will be Rodgers & Hammerstein’s The Sound Of Music at Theatre@41, from December 16 to 30. Looking ahead to 2023, “we’ll be celebrating the 60th anniversary of Joan Littlewood’s musical Oh What A Lovely War in April and Agatha Christie’s thriller And Then There Were None in September, both at Theatre@41, Monkgate,” says Robert.
“For Halloween, we’ll be doing a Grand Opera House double bill of Young Frankenstein and The Worst Witch. Christmas will bring Nicholas Nickelby to Monkgate for its York premiere.”
Pick Me Up Theatre in Nativity! The Musical, at Grand Opera House, York,November 24, 25, 26, 29 and 30, December 2, 7.30pm; November 26, 2.30pm; November 27, 3pm; December 1, 2pm, 7pm; December 3, 12pm, 4pm. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/York
Copyright of The Press, York
Pick Me Up Theatre’s poster for the York premiere of Debbie Isitt and Nicky Ager’s Nativity! The Musical
Wind-blown: The English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble members Adrian France, Tom Lees, Gawain Glenton, Conor Hastings, Andy Harwood-White and Emily White
ENTRIES are sought for the NCEM Young Composers Award 2023.
Each year the award is presented by the National Centre for Early Music, York, in association with BBC Radio 3, who welcome the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble as partners for next year.
Young composers are invited to write a new piece for this virtuoso period instrument group based on a popular tune from the Spanish “Golden Age” of the 16th and 17th centuries, creating their composition in the same spirit by using the melody as a starting point for musical ideas.
The award is open to young composers resident in Great Britain up to the age of 25 and is judged in two age categories: 18 and under and 19 to 25.
NCEM director Dr Delma Tomlin says: “The Young Composers Award continues to be one of the highlights on the NCEM’s calendar and is an extremely important part of the organisation’s work.
“For the 2023 awards, we are delighted to be working with the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble, an award-winning group with a host of distinguished recordings to its name.
“The winning compositions will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s Early Music Show, a wonderful way to launch the careers of aspiring young composers.”
NCEM direcor Dr Delma Tomlin: “The Young Composers Award continues to be one of the highlights on the NCEM’s calendar”
BBC Radio 3 controller Alan Davey says: “Here at Radio 3, we believe that it is vital to encourage and support creative exploration, as this is the only way to keep classical music alive with the idea of an ever-growing canon, attracting new audiences with a sense of exploration and discovery.
“That is why we are so proud to partner with the National Centre for Early Music once more for its 2023 Young Composers Award. This collaboration enables us to expose our audiences at home to some of the brightest talents in Early Music practice, broadcasting their works on our Early Music Show.”
Gawain Glenton, the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble’s co-director, says: “A key part of our mission as an ensemble is to expand the horizons of our beautiful instruments.
“We’re therefore thrilled to return as the ensemble-in-residence and can’t wait to see what the young composers write for us. Pieces from our last appearance in 2018 have since become part of our core repertoire. We’re looking forward to once again showcasing the work of the UK’s wonderful young artistic voices.”
Composers must register their interest by 12 noon on February 17 and scores should be submitted by March 17 2023. Full details, including the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble’s guide on how to write for their instruments, can be found at: https://www.youngcomposersaward.co.uk/
The shortlisted composers will be invited to a collaborative workshop at the NCEM, at St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, York, led by composer Christopher Fox and the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble. In the evening, the shortlisted pieces will be performed with the judges present, when the two winning compositions will be announced. The NCEM will meet all travel and accommodation costs for those selected to attend.
The winning works will be premiered in a public performance at the Stoller Hall in Manchester on November 9 2023, when the concert will be recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s Early Music Show.
Carducci String Quartet: “Nothing if not adventurous”
THE Carduccis, who are celebrating their 25th anniversary, are nothing if not adventurous.
Although they played Beethoven’s mighty Op 127 at the end of their programme for the British Music Society of York, they opened with Fanny Mendelssohn and Simon Rowland-Jones.
Felix Mendelssohn’s older sister was discouraged from composing even by members of her own family; it was not a “ladylike” activity. She was not to be deterred. But it took until the late 20th century for the quality of her works to receive proper recognition.
Fanny’s String Quartet in E flat, although written in 1834, was first published more than 150 years later, in 1988. Unusually, it opens with an enchanting slow movement of lyrical meanderings, which set the tone for the succeeding Allegretto. The Carduccis made one of their few false moves of the evening by opening this too fast for the fugal activity it contains, which had to be reined back.
A minor-key Romance, which moved briefly into the major, was unexpectedly edgy. The finale, Allegro molto vivace, was best suited to the Carduccis’ mood and enjoyed impeccable ensemble despite its furious tempo.
Simon Rowland-Jones’s Quartet No 7 was written for this group five years ago. It is subtitled Flock Of Knot (a knot is a small shore bird of the sandpiper family, should you be wondering). Its three inter-linked movements chart the sudden arrival, feeding procedures and equally startling departure of birds encountered during a winter stroll on Holkham Beach, Norfolk.
A babel of high-lying birdcalls, in rapid, tightly woven counterpoint, suddenly swoops low. The resultant calm is deceptive, growing ever more intense, although at a much slower pace; after a forceful climax, it fades into a cello solo that leads into the final, lively scherzo, which recalls elements of the opening. As the tessitura rises, it starts to fade into a concluding viola solo.
It can hardly be coincidental that Rowland-Jones is a viola player himself, having been a founder member of the Chilingirian Quartet. Autobiography aside, the piece is beautifully structured and constantly intriguing; it earned the Carduccis’ keenest attention.
We must be forever indebted to Prince Nikolai Golitzïn for commissioning the first three of Beethoven’s five late quartets. The first of these – and the only one to be published during the composer’s lifetime – was Op 127 in E flat major, and was given by the Carduccis as if their lives depended on it.
The opening chordal motif, twice repeated, was bold and rich and led into an Allegro of intoxicating momentum. The second variation in the Adagio was almost jaunty, but elsewhere its atmosphere was reverential, including wonderful dialogue between leader and cello and a pianissimo coda that evoked the former’s sweetest tone.
In the Scherzando, rhythms were incredibly crisp, reaching a peak of nervous electricity in its Presto section. Similarly, accents were supremely resolute in the finale, which reached a spellbinding vision of heavenly bliss in the coda before a dazzling finish. This was Beethoven playing of world class.
What is success, ponders Sara Pascoe, comedian, presenter, actress, writer and mum, at York Barbican
A COMEDIAN’S quest, a musical Nativity, winter storytelling, open studios, folk luminaries and supreme songwriters put a spring in Charles Hutchinson’s step as the season for scarves arrives
Comedy gig of the week: Sara Pascoe: Success Story, York Barbican, Thursday, 7.30pm
EXPECT “name-dropping, personal stories and anecdotes” from comedian Sara Pascoe, who will be mulling over status, celebrities, her new fancy lifestyle versus infertility, her multiple therapists and career failures in Success Story.
“What I want to explore is how do we define success and when do we define it,” she says. “Does it change with age? Do we only want things we can’t have? When we attain our goals, do we move the goal posts and become unsatisfied with what we’ve got and want something else instead?” Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Mayhem incoming: Pick Me Up Theatre’s cast for Nativity The Musical
Christmas musical of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Nativity! The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, November 24 to 26, 29 and 30, December 2, 7.30pm; November 26, 2.30pm; November 27, 3pm; December 1, 2pm, 7pm; December 3, 12pm, 4pm
ROBERT Readman directs York company Pick Me Up Theatre in Debbie Isitt and Nicky Ager’s humorous musical, built around St Bernadette’s School’s calamitous attempt to mountain a musical Nativity play.
Unfortunately, teacher Mr Maddens has promised that a Hollywood producer will attend the show to turn it into a film.
Join him, his crazy teaching assistant Mr Poppy and the unruly children as they struggle to make everyone’s Christmas wish come true to the songsheet of Sparkle And Shine, Nazareth, One Night One Moment, She’s The Brightest Star and a heap of new Yuletide songs. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or atgtickts.com/york.
Ye Wretched Strangers Storybook: Tales from North America and Britain at York Mansion House
Promenade theatre event of the week: Ye Wretched Strangers Storybook, York Mansion House, St Helen’s Square, York, tonight, 7.30pm
YE Company of Wretched Strangers, a transatlantic community theatre troupe of performers and storytellers from Yorkshire and Wisconsin, present sometimes comic, sometimes serious, always intimate and often poignant tales from Britain and North America, spanning 1799 to 1942, in the refurbished home to the Lord Mayor of York.
Laughter, smiles and a tear or two will be elicited by A Christmas Eve Ghost Story, the Creation Myth of the Ojibwe Tribe of Native Americans, A York World War Two Tale and other stories of ordinary people often forgotten by history on both sides of the Atlantic. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/show/ye-wretched-strangers-storybook/
Wizard, photographic collage, by Claire Morris, on show at the Winter Artists Open House
Christmas shopportunity of the week: Winter Artists Open House, South Bank, York, today, 11am to 4pm
FIVE York artists are opening studios today in South Bank with an eye to the Christmas market. At Kay Dower’s Corner Gallery, at 2 Telford Terrace, her acrylic paintings and prints of corners of York, the Yorkshire coast and quirky still-life objects will be complemented by photographic collages by Claire Morris, inspired by vintage books.
Kate Buckley’s “origami meets porcelain” sculptural ceramics and Marie Murphy’s modern, geometric paintings, prints and illustrations of urban landscapes can be found at 31 Wentworth Road. Mixed-media artist Jill Tattersall’s vivid, dreamlike artworks in paints, inks and dyes on handmade paper await at the Wolf At The Door studio, 15 Cygnet Street.
Saxon: Seize a ticket for their Seize The Day date at York Barbican
Heavy metal gig of the week: Saxon, Seize The Day World Tour, Hull City Hall, Tuesday; York Barbican, Wednesday, 7.30pm
BARNSLEY heavy metal veterans Saxon bring their 23rd studio album, February’s Carpe Diem, to stage life, led as ever by Biff Byford. “Can’t wait to get out on a real tour again, it’s gonna be monumental!” he says. “See you all out there. Seize the day!” Special guests will be Diamond Head. Box office: Hull, hulltheatres.co.uk; York, yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Jane Weaver: Purveyor of an eco-friendly hum and pop for post-new-normal times
Songwriters of the week: Mary Gauthier & Jaimee Harris, Wednesday; Jane Weaver & Jake Mehew, Thursday, both at The Crescent, York, 7.30pm
NEW Orleans roots singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier is backing up June’s release of Dark Enough To See The Stars with a rare UK tour this month. The album mourns the loss of dear friends John Prine, Nanci Griffith and David Olney, but the optimistic side to Gauthier bursts through songs of new love and personal contentment.
Her seated show is followed the next night by Jane Weaver’s standing gig. An unshakable leading light of Britain’s experimental pop music landscape, this Manchester musician released her latest album, Flock, last year with its eco-friendly hum and pop for post-new-normal times. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Oysterband: Bound for Pocklington Arts Centre
Rare sighting of the week: Oysterband, Pocklington Arts Centre, Thursday, 8pm
OYSTERBAND play Pocklington as the only northern gig in their 2022 autumn diary. Formed in Canterbury in 1976, the veteran six-piece still perform with the spirit a punk ceilidh band but with depth and sensitivity to their songwriting, coupled with the strength of John Jones’s voice.
Songs from the five-time BBC Folk Award winners’ March album, Read The Sky, are sure to feature. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Bellowhead: Reuniting for first tour in six years
Folk event of the year: Bellowhead’s Broadside Tenth Anniversary Tour, Harrogate Convention Centre, Friday, doors 7pm for 8pm start
FOLK big band Bellowhead are reuniting for a “special one-off” tenth anniversary tour of their fourth album, 2012’s Broadside, their first Top 20 entry in the UK Official Album Charts, fuelled by such favourites as Roll The Woodpile Down and 10,000 Miles Away.
Support comes from Stroud fiddler Sam Sweeney, who served in Bellowhead from 2008 to their last tour in 2016 and is now back on the front line alongside Jon Boden and John Spiers. Tickets update: Sold out; for returns only, contact 01423 502116 or harrogatetheatre.co.uk.
Zachary Pickersgill as orphan Oliver: “Could not give more to his role”
NE in Oliver!, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, 7.30pm tonight (last few tickets), then next Tuesday to Saturday; 2.30pm matinees, tonight and next Saturday, both sold out. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk
CREATIVE director and producer Steve Tearle is playing Fagin for the fourth time in Lionel Bart’s beloved musical account of Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist.
He knows both part and musical inside out – he has appeared in six productions since the late-1970s – but he was determined to freshen it up anew, not so much new twists as more Twist.
NE Musicals York may have stripped back its name temporarily to NE but Tearle has embellished Oliver! with short extra scenes, a “fruitier” frisson to Chris Hagyard’s Mr Bumble and a cast of thousands (well, almost), divided into two teams, Dawkins and Twist, for alternate performances.
Steve Tearle’s Fagin: Arch, devious, but humorous too
Tearle reckons this production is the darkest of NE’s three versions in the past decade – 2015, 2018 and 2022 – signified by the thunder and dark Victorian attire of the opening and wholly encapsulated in the menacing performance of Eric Jensen’s jemmy-wielding Bill Sikes.
Last spotted on stage pushing Priscilla the bus and being a bigoted bar-room rowdy in the Aussie outback in Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical, Jensen graduates to a principal role – after the original Sikes had to withdraw for health reasons – with aplomb.
If your reviewer says he even murdered My Name – his big, brutal song in the spotlight – it is meant in the most positive way. By his side, unlike Bill, Bonnie behaves impeccably in the canine spotlight as his English bull terrier, Bullseye.
Anyway, we digress. The opening number sets out Tearle’s stall as 45 children explode from everywhere in a burst of stamping feet to fill the stage for the workhouse number Food, Glorious Food. Tearle has adapted Robert Readman’s My Fair Lady set, utilising its framework for a walkway and to present scenes on a mezzanine level, and he is not averse to his cast frequenting the aisles too in a blur of mischief-making.
Maia Beatrice’s Nancy, right, with Erin Greenley
His Fagin and Zachary Pickersgill’s Oliver even make use of the orchestra pit, when seeking cover from being found. (You will note too the decking out of the pit apron in dockside wood in a striking designer’s flourish.)
Space aplenty is necessary for the ensemble scenes, whether in the pub, the streets, the workhouse, or Fagin’s den of young pickpockets. Tearle’s passion for community theatre is emblazoned across these scenes, so full of life, filling the stage at every opportunity, whether with Fagin’s Gang, Tearle’s young charges relishing taking their early steps on the boards, or with the ever-enthusiastic adult chorus.
Ellie Roberts’s choreography revels in having to accommodate so many limbs, typified by the outstanding Oom-Pah-Pah, while bringing personality to the oh-so-familiar set-piece numbers. Who Will Buy? is a particular delight.
Tearle’s scheming yet lily-livered crook Fagin, Jensen’s bruiser Sikes and Hagyard’s amusingly slimy, meddlesome beadle Mr Bumble will be appearing in all the performances, as will Kelvin Grant’s upstanding Mr Brownlow and Tom Henshaw’s antagonistic undertaker Mr Sowerberry.
What a scream! Chris Hagyard’s Mr Bumble and Fiona Cameron’s Widow Corney make a comically crotchety couple
CharlesHutchPress saw Thursday’s company, so please forgive no mention of the alternate cast when praising Maia Beatrice’s heartbreaking Nancy (As Long As He Needs Me); Fiona Cameron’s heartless, on-the-make Widow Corney (I Shall Scream); Melissa Boyd’s gothic Mrs Sowerberry (That’s Your Funeral) and Scott Kendrew’s smug bully, Noah Claypole.
Zachary Pickersgill is fearless in the title role, as mobile as a dancer in moving around the stage, and not fazed by that most difficult of songs for a young voice, Where Is Love?. Whether cheeky, defiant, angry, or searching for love amid constant change and adversity, he could not give more to his orphan Oliver.
Toby Jensen hits his groove as a suitably artful Dodger, leading Consider Yourself with swagger, but one tip: keep the head up to look the audience in the eye, projection being so vital to giving off the all-important air of self-confidence that will carry through to the finale with its foretelling of the post-Fagin era.
Rather than cor-blimey, apples-and-pears Cockernee accents, Tearle and his cast are not so specific about placing Oliver! in London’s East End. That ensures clarity throughout, save for the occasional line that needs more volume or those moments when the band overpowers the singing in the sound balance.
Menacing: Eric Jensen’s Bill Sikes
Tearle’s Fagin is arch, devious, but he finds the humour in the old rogue too, whether in improvised asides (such as when struggling to put on his coat), or in his signature song, Reviewing The Situation, where he reviews the song in progress and banters with violinist Olivia Virgo.
He excels in his costume designs too, while Scott Phillips’s orchestra is a joy, flowing between strings and brass, equally adept at the uptempo and the contemplative grand ballad.
All in all, this is an Oliver! with more: more detail, more cast members, more humour, more drama, more shows, spread over two weeks. What more encouragement do you need to join Fagin’s gang and co? If you don’t go, well, that’s your funeral.
Review by Charles Hutchinsion
Oliver, Oliver: Zachary Pickersgill, left, and Fin Walker are alternating performances in the lead role in NE’s Oliver!
Jack Storey-Hunter’s Ralph Rackstraw, Polina Bielova’s Hebe, centre, and Alexandra Mather’s Josephine in York Opera’s HMS Pinafore. All pictures: Ben Lindley
Gilbert & Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore, York Opera, at York Theatre Royal, 7.30pm tonight; 2.30pm and 7.30pm tomorrow. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk
THREE members of York Opera make important debuts in the company’s latest foray into Gilbert & Sullivan. They contributed significantly to the triumphant success of opening night.
Annabel van Griethuysen’s ingenious production mines a good deal more humour than is usually found in HMS Pinafore. Jack Storey-Hunter gives an extremely assured performance in the role of Ralph Rackstraw. Tim Selman steps up to the rostrum to conduct his first opera with the company.
But there is so much strength in depth in this company that you can virtually guarantee a really satisfying evening, whatever they do. So it is here. Good G & S relies on a sturdy chorus. The ladies – the First Lord of the Admiralty’s ‘sisters and his cousins and his aunts’ – seem to have welcomed some new blood and sing with immense conviction and presence. They are clearly enjoying themselves.
John Soper’s Sir Joseph Porter KCB surrounded by ‘his sisters and his cousins and his aunts’
The men are equally lusty, slightly older hands maybe, but none the worse for wear and all the more credible as hard-bitten tars. An innovation here is a semi-chorus of eight, four ladies, four men, who deliver three sea shanties, including an especially offbeat version of What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor?.
The other two shanties are not quite so effective and, for the sake of continuity, one in each of the two acts would be enough. But the idea is excellent. It was typical of a production that goes out of its way not to rely on the traditional ‘business’ that so often dogs Savoy operas. Who has ever seen a sailor chased by a mouse here? Or Rackstraw having soothing cream applied to his wrists after being released from irons? There were countless such instances, most of them witty.
There are many old friends among the principals, none more so than John Soper as Sir Porter. Believe it or not, he has been with this company for more than 50 years, yet his baritone is as firm as ever. He struts his stuff superbly but is not above laughing at himself. When I Was A Lad was hilarious. He catches the eye whenever he appears.
Ian Thomson-Smith is another old hand with the company and his Captain Corcoran – albeit wearing commander’s stripes – does not disappoint. I Am The Captain Of The Pinafore goes with tremendous verve and he is a cheery soul throughout, even when he has to play straight man to Porter.
Ian Thomson-Smith’s Captain Corcoran with Anthony Gardner’s piratical Dick Deadeye
Jack Storey-Hunter’s Rackstraw announces himself in a firm, confident tenor, declaring his love for Josephine. He is not above re-joining his mates but maintains an admirable manner even when seemingly spurned by his intended. This was a most promising start.
First-night nerves can kick in unexpectedly and Rebecca Smith at first made a restrained Buttercup, but she sustained a perfect West Country brogue – emulated to a degree by the chorus men – and relaxed as the evening progressed.
Alexandra Mather’s Josephine followed a similar course. As the top of her soprano opened out in Act 2, so too did her personality. Both will progress over the five shows.
There are more than useful contributions from Anthony Gardner’s piratical Dick Deadeye and Polina Bielova’s effervescent Hebe, who ends up as Sir Joseph’s bride. Hers is a voice that we shall undoubtedly hear again. Fine cameos from Alex Holland’s bo’sun and Mark Simmonds’ carpenter round out the principals.
Alexandra Mather’s Josephine, the Captain’s daughter
Joseph Soper’s permanent set, with poop deck above and behind the quarterdeck, emblazoned with VR insignia, more than serves the purpose. It is backed up in similarly authentic style by Maggie Soper’s costume team.
Amy Carter’s carefully conceived choreography does not always earn the discipline it deserves. Doubtless it will improve with time, but better to cut the numbers and keep it tight than throw everyone into the ring for every dance.
Last, but certainly not least, is Tim Selman’s sizeable orchestra, which includes several established figures including leader Claire Jowett. They have rhythmic zest to burn. Occasionally Selman follows his soloists rather than lead them and tempos sag slightly. Otherwise, he keeps a firm hand on the tiller.
As the nights draw in and temperatures dip, I can think of no better way to warm your spirits than this rousing show. You dare not miss it.
Review by Martin Dreyer
The lusty-voiced Men’s Chorus in York Opera’s HMS Pinafore
The poster for next summer’s Shed Seven invasion of Leeds Millennium Square
YORK heroes Shed Seven will take over Leeds Millennium Square on July 15 in an exclusive open-air Yorkshire show next summer.
Joining them on Sounds Of The City 2023’s 6pm to 10.30pm bill will be Britpop cohorts Cast, John Power’s Liverpool indie rock combo, and fellow terrace-anthem York group Skylights.
“This is a HUGE show for us, and we hope the Shed Seven family will make the pilgrimage to Leeds and join us on what’s sure to be a special night,” say The Sheds, who played to a 10,000 crowd at Leeds First Direct Arena in December 2019.
All tickets for this standing-only outdoor triple bill with a 6,000 capacity are priced at £35 (£38.50 with booking fee) and go on sale tomorrow (18/11/2022) at 9am at millsqleeds.com/whatson-event/shed-seven-sounds-of-the-city/
Shed Seven’s Paul Banks and Rick Witter
UPDATE 19/11/2022
GONE in a flash. All tickets have been snapped up within a day for Shed Seven’s Leeds Millennium Square gig.
The Sheds took to Twitter today to say: “SOLD OUT. A massive heartfelt thank you to everyone who bought tickets for our Leeds Millennium Square show yesterday. We can’t wait for this show, 6,000 people singing along with us in the sunshineeeeee …. Old and new tunes… maybe some special guests too! Love the Sheds x”
