The City Musick: Twenty, rather than seven, played at York Early Music Festival last Friday in a Renaissance Big Band line-up
York Early Music Festival: The City Musick, The Count and The Duke: A Renaissance Big Band, Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York, July 7
IN the YEMF brochure, director William Lyons said: “With a band of 20 musicians, The City Musick presents a homage to the iconic recordings made by David Munrow in the 1970s, but with a modern twist”. Which is exactly what we got, with a jazzy title too. The Count and The Duke: A Renaissance Big Band.
Praetorius’s opening rustic welcome was indicative of what was to come: gorgeous sounds, ripples of florid decoration, music of such intimacy and balance. Balance, I think, is key here.
The Renaissance Big Band was arranged into groups of soft instruments: strings (the splendid Monteverdi String Band) and woodwind, plus the (not very) loud instruments – brass, keyboard, lute and theorbo, and percussion.
This also gives us a link to the ‘big band’ set-ups of the great Duke Ellington and Count Basie that were also grouped into instrumental sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and rhythm.
The way the instrumental groups engaged with each other throughout the concert was especially rewarding. Firstly, the alternating loud and soft instrumental groups meant that these contrasting exchanges were inherently employed to gentle dramatic effect.
They also reinforced the Renaissance dance music, adding another (gentle) dramatic layering. For example, the second-half collection of Masque arrangements of Robert Johnson, John Adson and William Brade.
Not only did the opening string section pass on the musical baton to the brass section, but there was also role play involved in these courtly dances. The strings asked the brass players to join the courtly dance; the music was seductive and invitational. And readily accepted.
We were also able to enjoy the musical moment as the individual ensembles embellished their own musical offerings before the exchanges and then collectively signing off. We could also savour the timbres, the instrumental tone colour.
Like the delightful intimacy of strings and theorbo in Praetorius’s Courante, the woodwind and percussion in the Suite des Bransles arrangement and the extraordinary wind sound when joined by the uniquely rasping racket in Susato’s Suite des Rondes.
The arrangement of Thoinot Arbeau’s Suite des Branles was arguably the most memorable contribution of the first set, with its ground-bass ushering in other instrumental players, metric (hemiola), syncopated gear changes and infectious foot-tapping music designed to put a smile on your face. Or as Count Basie put it: “If you play a tune and a person don’t tap their feet, don’t play the tune.”
Then there were the John Skene English Country Dances arrangements. They were performed by bagpipes and a hurdy gurdy. Bagpipes, surely not! But music for the original country dances of the (English) villages were indeed played by a bagpipe. Don’t know about the hurdy gurdy. The pastoral, chocolatey tunes were a delight.
And then we had the promised modern twist, notably in William Lyons’s arrangement of Maurizio Cazzati and Tarquinio Merula’s Ciaccona. Here a simple ground-bass is joined by weaving lines of string variations, then by the other players in a sound world reminiscent of Pachelbel’s Canon. Maybe. There also seemed to be echoes of the Penguin Café Orchestra and minimalism: the signing-off with striking woodblock hits and pizzicato strings recalled music by John Adams. Well, it did for me anyway.
Navigators Art’s poster seeking artists for the Punk/Jazz exhibition
YORK community collective Navigators Art & Performance is inviting York artists to submit work for its next show, Punk/Jazz.
“We’ll select the pieces we think work best and they’ll be exhibited in two bar venues in York – one small, the other, average size –from August 16 until October 17, with an official launch night on August 18,” says co-founder Richard Kitchen.
Submissions must be made by 9am on Monday, July 17. Full details can be found on Navigators Art’s Facebook and Instagram pages, @navigatorsart, or send an email to navigatorsart@gmail.com.
Maps, Some Heads, by Nick Walters, from Navigators Art’s newly extended Hidden Treasures exhibition at York Explore
Explaining the exhibition theme, Richard says: “Positive vibes or no future? Are Punk and Jazz at odds or two sides of a coin? Both can be controversial, uncompromising, confrontational. Both can be healing.
“The best of each is groundbreaking, seeking to push the limits of what’s possible. The differences are interesting too! How does the music channel your own feelings? Can your art reflect all or some of this?
“The show will be a creative exploration of the two genres, so be imaginative with your response. Whatever your experience in making art, we encourage submissions from all areas of society. No sculptures, installations or screen-based work this time, sorry.”
York Minster floorscape, by Richard Kitchen, from the Hidden Treasures exhibition
A related themed live event at The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, on October 14 will complement the exhibition. “We’d like to hear from interested musicians, as well as visual artists for the exhibition, with the same deadline for submissions of 9am next Monday,” says Richard.
Updating on Navigators Art & Performance’s projects in 2023, Richard says: “At present we’re stripping down the Navigators engine and doing a bit of retuning. Our Hidden Treasures exhibition, which ran at York Explore library until July 6 as part of the York Festival of Ideas, has now expanded and will extend its run there to early September.
“The Living Treasures performance event, featuring writers, musicians and performers in an evening of original music and words at The Basement on June 10, was a big success, leading to us being offered a regular slot there. We’ll be able to do all kinds of music, spoken word and art events there and we’ll soon have some ideas in place.”
Hidden Treasures: Expanded and extended show at York Explore until early September
For this Basement project, Navigators Art & Performance is issuing a call-out to “team-spirited creatives”: musicians (bands, solo, indie, jazz, punk, folk, world, hip-hop, electronica and more), plus poets/spoken-word performers, dancers and comedians.
“We’ll be organising a series of live events between now and December at The Basement,” says Richard. “We often link themed live events to our art exhibitions, but this is an additional showcase for emerging acts as well as for experienced artists who may want to try out some new material. Of course, you may just love an opportunity to play somewhere!”
Richard continues: “We’ve built a friendly, talented, enterprising team, and there’ll be opportunities for creative collaborations and other activities in the future.
Peter Roman Visualises York-born W H Auden’s Poetry, from the Hidden Treasures exhibition
“These events are like an open mic but with a prearranged line-up and costs to cover. Because of the nature of the occasion and our ethos, we try to keep prices down and affordable to all.
“We aren’t funded so we aren’t employers. We have to ticket events to pay for venue hire and a sound engineer’s fee. Anything over gets split between performers and group funds to subsidise future occasions.”
Outlining the performance strategy for these live events, Richard says: “We want to present original music rather than cover versions or tribute acts, plus new poetry, dance, etc. We’d like the audience to feel they’ve discovered something new and exciting.
Gillygate Deconstruction (detail), by Timothy Morrison, on show at York Explore
“If interested in taking part, please give us a follow and message us @navigatorsart (Facebook and Instagram) or email navigatorsart@gmail.com. Tell us what you do and include a link to a performance of some kind, especially if we don’t know you already. And be sure to list your available Saturdays. We aim to kick things off in late-July and we’ve already had some interest, so don’t delay.”
Looking ahead, Richard says: “We’re planning a live show for the Christmas festive season, inspired by ancient traditions and folklore. Then, looking into 2024, we’ll be taking over York Barbican for an all-day festival, expanding on the Living Treasures show we did for York Festival of Ideas.
“This will feature musicians of all kinds, along with spoken-word artists, comedians and York stallholders, all celebrating aspects of York life and culture in fresh and creative ways.”
Navigators Art & Performance’s billboard for the Living Treasures line-upon June 10
Navigators Art & Performance: the back story
THIS York collective of artists, writers and performers engages in community activities.
A three-month residency at the StreetLife hub in Coney Street featured an exhibition and a live event.
This summer, the collective programmed three events – an exhibition, a live performance and a film screening – for the 2023 York Festival of Ideas.
The collective is keen to mentor young and emerging artists and offers a platform to those who are underrepresented for reasons of social and cultural background or health issues.
Crazy Kate, from a series by Navigators Art artist Katie Lewis, at York Explore
What artists need to do to apply to exhibit in the Punk/Jazz exhibition
SEND high-res images or scans of up to three original works to navigatorsart@gmail.com.
Subject heading: your name, then ‘Punk’ or ‘Jazz’ or ‘Both’.
Give details of:
1. The medium and size of each piece plus its title and price (this doesn’t need to be exact).
2. A bit about yourself as a person and your experiences/achievements in making art.
3. How you relate to the exhibition theme and why Punk or why Jazz? If there is a crossover, explain how and why.
If selected, you must:
1. Transport your own work and instal and take down on the specified dates (times TBC) or arrange an alternative.
2. Commit to sharing promotional activities and responsibilities, such as online posts and physical flyer distribution.
3. Agree to share promo costs and necessary expenses: this should not be more than the price of a few pints each.
No submission fee applies. No commission will be charged on sales.
The venue will take 25 per cent commission, so factor that in when deciding prices.
Navigators Art & Performance will decide on selections by August 1. “If you’re in, we’ll tell you which of your submissions we’ve chosen,” says co-founder Richard Kitchen.
Natasha Jones’s Lucy Harris and Joe Gregory’s Dr Jekyll in 1812 Theatre Company’s Jekyll & Hyde The Musical. All pictures: Helmsley Arts Centre, Joe Coughlan Phtography
IN their 30th anniversary year, Helmsley Arts Centre’s resident troupe, the 1812 Theatre Company, staged a musical for the first time.
The Old Meeting House stage is not the biggest, yet still Julie Lomas’s cast could accommodate 22 players in that compact space, with the full company number Murder! Murder! being one of the highpoints for cast and choreographer Michaela Edens alike.
Lomas is an experienced directorial hand from her days at The Grange Theatre, Walsall, where she directed Frank Wildhorn and Leslie Bricusse’s Broadway musical for the Grange Players. Likewise, musical director John Atkin had filled the same role for York Musical Theatre Company in May last year.
Know-how and experience duly combined with fresh ideas to good effect in this musical retelling of Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella of love, betrayal and murder.
Sarah Barker’s brothel madam, Aunt, in Jekyll & Hyde The Musical
Two keyboards, guitar and drums took care of business with panache, Atkin and cohorts Cameron McArthur, Paul McArthur and Joe Brooks being equally at home with big ballads in the Lloyd Webber mode and the sly wickedness shared with Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street.
Sue Elm, Michael Goslin and Peter Ives’s set was built on two levels, both of them busy with human traffic in the ensemble numbers but best suited to the duets and profusion of solo numbers. Dr Henry Jekyll’s laboratory had to be rather squeezed in at the back but thankfully Joe Gregory is whippet slim.
The Gothic colour scheme of red walls and black doors was particularly effective when matched by the attire of the Victorian prostitutes of the Red Rat, and the use of masks was striking too.
This was CharlesHutchPress’s first encounter with Joe Gregory, and what an impressive lead performance he gave as the handsome/devil conflation of the upstanding, urbane but obsessive Jekyll and vengeful, sadistic, deranged alter ego Hyde welled up from within, once the doctor dares to dabble in reckless scientific experimentation in the cause of research for mental illness.
Joe Gregory’s urbane but obsessive Dr Jekyll
No Hammer Horror histrionics to report here on the journey to the dark side and an inner struggle between good and evil, scientific learning and carnal carnage. Instead, Gregory became more forceful of voice and manner, his movements staccato, stealthy and seductive, his actions ruthless, as brisk and lean as a bull fighter beneath a cocked hat.
The contrast was greater in his singing of the largely narrative songs, where notes would be deliberately strained in Hyde’s more urgent, guttural delivery, never more so than in The Confrontation, the Act Two vocal wrestling match for control in this dangerously dual personality.
It cannot be every arts centre where the artistic director (and youth theatre director to boot) happens to be the stand-out singer and actress for the resident company too. Step forward Natasha Jones, who was a knockout as Lucy Harris, the love-struck but self-protective prostitute, at once feisty but fearful and vulnerable.
What a voice; what expressiveness. Each and every one of Lucy’s solo songs was better for her singing it, having first teased and tantalised provocatively among the saucy prostitutes in Bring On The Men.
Natasha Jones’s Lucy Harris: “What a voice. What expressiveness”
Her duets with both Gregory’s Jekyll and Hyde fizzed with electricity and, in between, her duet with Amy Gregory’s Emma Carew, Dr Jekyll’s trusting, unknowing fiancée, was Amy’s peak moment too.
As befits a romanticist scientist, Gregory’s Dr Jekyll had chemistry with both women, one relationship tender if preoccupied, the other tactile and voracious, as the chemically altered Hyde gradually prevails, both possessed and possessive.
John Lister’s John Utterson, Kristian Gregory’s Simon Stride, Richard Noakes’s Sir Danvers Carew, Barry Whitaker’s Bishop of Basingstoke, Sarah Barker’s brothel madam, Aunt, and Esme Schofield’s Newsgirl all had their moments in a show best known for Dr Jekyll’s belter This Is The Moment.
It was enjoyable too to spot Rowntree Players’ riotous pantomime dame, Graham Smith, in a deliciously wicked cameo as Sir Archibald Proops QC, a law unto himself indeed.
Joe Gregory’s Dr Jekyll finds peace at last in the arms of Amy Gregory’s Emma in the finale to Jekyll & Hyde The Musical
The Sixteen: “Perhaps a tad too reverential,” says reviewer Steve Crowther
THIS thoughtful, intelligent and on the whole rewarding concert was part of The Sixteen on tour, or to give the term official dignity, a “Choral Pilgrimage”.
Sunday’s concert marked the 400th anniversary of William Byrd’s death. Harry Christophers’ programme was thoughtfully laid out, focusing not only on the English Renaissance composer himself, but his engagement and connections with the music of his contemporaries.
For example, there were pairings of Byrd’s famous motet Ne Irascaris, Domine with Philip van Wilder’s superb madrigal O Doux Regard and the settings of Tristitia et Anxietas by both Byrdand Clemens non Papa.
These works not only influenced Byrd, but he also “openly borrowed” from them. No such thing as copyright in those days. Throw into the mix two specially commissioned tribute pieces by Dobrinka Tabakova and we have a strong contextual identity.
What struck me throughout was the absolute fluency of the choir, the clarity of line and infectious enthusiasm for this familiar territory. But I also felt that it was perhaps a tad too reverential; I didn’t always feel the real urgency or vitality I would normally be experiencing from this terrific choir.
To be sure, the opening Arise Lord Into Thy Rest was impeccable with excellent balance, the part-singing in Civitas Sancti Tui was sublime and the concluding Vigilate, with its contrapuntal density, was a great way to sign off. But I found the detail of Jacobus Clemens non Papa’s Ego Flos Campi hard to hear, perhaps a little imprecise.
Harry Christophers conducting The Sixteen at Sunday’s concert at York Minster
The Minster acoustic didn’t help. Certainly, it loves vowels: the opening of de Monte’s O Suavitas et Dulcedo was blessed with an other-worldly quality. But consonants, articulated consonants like the Ts and Ss in Byrd’s (smaller forces, choir down to 12 performers) Tristitia et Anxietas were just irritating. So were the hanging cadences that drifted sharp-wards as in the Amen closure of de Monte’s O Savitas.
The new works were not particularly standout pieces, but pieces with standout moments. There was a richly melismatic soprano solo (an excellent Julie Cooper) in Arise Lord Into Thy Rest. The opening of Ms Tabakova’s Turn Our Captivity, O Lord, the stronger of the two works, was both distinct and beautiful.
The high unison soprano line decorated with ornamental, quite eastern-influenced decoration was simply gorgeous and persuasively delivered. I did think that composer’s decision to go for a “distinctly homophonic texture, to contrast with the layered polyphony of Byrd’s exquisite settings” was the correct one. The juicy chordal dissonances not only delivered contrast, but also distance.
Also gorgeous was the visual: The Sixteen gathered in front of the magnificent Great East Window. The glow was illuminating. Which brings me to conductor Harry Christophers. Not only is he a joy to watch, being so obviously immersed in the music he clearly loves, but also he seems to physically blend into the musical performance itself.
Review by Steve Crowther
York Early Music Festival runs until July 14 with the theme of Smoke & Mirrors. Full details and tickets at: ncem.co.uk/whats-on/yemf. Box office: 01904 658338.
York countertenor Iestyn Davies: “Inhabiting this repertoire so completely”
York Early Music Festival 2023: Iestyn Davies & Ensemble Jupiter, Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York, 8/7/2023
ENSEMBLE Jupiter’s seven instrumentalists teamed up with leading countertenor Iestyn Davies to immerse themselves in the music of Handel, mainly arias from his late secular oratorios.
From the mellifluous opening of Eternal Source Of Light Divine, everything sounded perfectly natural, and Davies and Ensemble Jupiter seemed in tune throughout, in every sense.
Some brilliant violin virtuosity from Louise Ayrton and Magdalena Sypniewski was underpinned by classy continuo playing from lutenist Thomas Dunford and harpsichordist Benoît Hartoin, which provided percussive vitality at just the right moments; Hartoin shifted to chamber organ for music requiring less bite. Instrumental numbers were rhythmically pointed and sharply characterised.
Davies inhabits this repertoire so completely, with such dedication and beauty of voice, that the audience was willingly drawn into his musical world. His tone in Yet, Can I Hear That Dulcet Lay was as sweet as the honeydew the text alludes to.
In Despair No More Shall Wound Me, such vocal virtuosity is called for that his further decorations on its reprise were a marvel. On the surface, the lyrics of Mortals Think That Time Is Sleeping appear commonplace, but here they were invested with mortifying meaning.
The ovation demanded two encores, the second being the song We Are The Ocean by Thomas Dunford, Ensemble Jupiter’s director. Its jazzy, improvisatory episode was a jammy middle to a delicious confection and showed further evidence of these musicians’ enjoyment of each other’s company.
This year’s York Early Music Festival is already in full swing!
Jamie Walton: North York Moors Chamber Music Festival artistic director and cellist, performing at the 2022 event. Picture: Matthew Johnson
EXPECT the unexpected when the North York Moors Chamber Music Festival invites next month’s audiences to peer into the looking glass.
Now in its 15th year, the summer festival will combine daring programming with an inclusive atmosphere in its fortnight run from August 13 to 26.
This year’s theme, Into The Looking Glass, takes inspiration from Lewis Carroll’s 1872 novel to “explore the psychology of the mind through the prism of music, conveying its various chapters with carefully curated music that takes the audience on an adventurous journey through many twists and turns”.
Having forged ahead to play to live audiences through the height of the Covid pandemic by hiring an open-sided, 5,000 sq.ft marquee, the festival retains the format this year in the grounds of Welburn Manor, near Kirkbymoorside.
Violinist Alena Baeva: Making her North York Moors Chamber Music Festival debut. Picture: Andrej Grilc
In addition, a series of lunchtime concerts will be presented in North York Moors National Park churches at St Michael’s, Coxwold; St Hilda’s, Danby; St Hedda’s, Egton Bridge, and St Mary’s, Lastingham.
From his North York Moors home, the festival’s artistic director, cellist Jamie Walton, has gathered around 30 international artists, such as pianist Katya Apekisheva, French horn virtuoso Ben Goldscheider and violinists Charlotte Scott and Benjamin Baker.
Award-winning Ukrainian pianist Vadym Kholodenko and Russian-born, Luxembourg-based violinist Alena Baeva will make their festival debuts.
Works by Bach, Schubert, Strauss, Schumann, Debussy and Mendelssohn, among others, will be performed.
Walton says: “Although the festival is primarily chamber music in the classic sense, the success of last year’s appearance by folk singer Sam Lee and his band opened up our audiences to new styles and acts, while attracting Sam’s own fanbase to the world of classic music.
Jazz pianist and singer Alice Zawadzki : Undertaking Adventures Through Song at her Wonderland concert on August 19 at 6pm in the Festival Marquee at Welburn Manor
“This year, we’re delighted to welcome eclectic singer/violinist Alice Zawadzki and her jazz-infused trio for a concert entitled Wonderland, specially developed for the festival.
“Throughout this festival, audiences can expect the unexpected in a fantastical fortnight that showcases great talent, sublime music and spectacular locations. There’ll be loads of vitality and we’ll be pushing some boundaries.”
For the full festival programme, head to: www.northyorkmoorsfestival.com. Tickets for each main festival concert cost £15, free for under-30s. A season ticket for all 14 concerts is £150.
Who will be playing at the 2023 North York Moors Chamber Music Festival?
Daniel Lebhardt on the piano at the 2022 North York Moors Chamber Music Festival. He returns for this summer’s Into The Looking Glass programme. Picture: Matthew Johnson
Violin: Alena Baeva; Benjamin Baker; Rachel Kolly; Emma Parker; Victoria Sayles; Charlotte Scott.
Viola: Sascha Bota; Meghan Cassidy; Scott Dickinson; Simone van der Giessen.
Cello: Rebecca Gilliver; Jack Moyer; Alice Neary; Tim Posner; Jamie Walton.
Double bass: Siret Lust; Frances Preston.
Piano: Katya Apekisheva; Christian Chamorel; Vadym Kholodenko; Daniel Lebhardt; Nikita Lukinov.
Clarinet: Matthew Hunt.
French horn: Ben Goldscheider.
Plus. . .
Alice Zawadski, singer/violinist; Misha Mullov-Abbado, bass, and Bruno Heinen, piano.
Sovereign actors Fergus Rattigan, left, and Sam Thorpe-Spinks, right, with playwright Mike Kenny
HENRY VIII and the murder of a York glazier take top spot in Charles Hutchinson’s pick of July highlights with outdoor cinema on its way too.
Community event of the month: York Theatre Royal in Sovereign, King’s Manor, Exhibition Square, York, July 15 to 30
YORK Theatre Royal’s large-scale community production, York playwright Mike Kenny’s adaptation of C J Sansom’s Tudor-set murder mystery Sovereign, will be staged outdoors at King’s Manor, where part of the story takes place. Henry VIII even makes an appearance.
Two professional actors, Fergus Rattigan’s disabled lawyer Matthew Shardlake and Sam Thorpe-Spinks’ assistant Jack Barak, lead the 120-strong community company of actors, singers, musicians and backstage workers. Tickets update: sold out.
York artist Tom Wilson stands by his artworks in the City Screen Picturehouse cafe bar
Exhibition of the week: Tom Wilson, City Screen Picturehouse café bar, Coney Street, York, until July 29
YORK punk expressionist artist, designer, playwright, theatre director and tutor Tom Wilson is exhibiting his riots of colour at City Screen Picturehouse for the first time with sale proceeds going to MAP (Medical Aid for Palestinians). Thirty-five works are on display, priced at £175 to £700.
“My art looks like an explosion,” says Wilson, whose dynamic abstract artwork is influenced by Kandinsky, Max Earnst, Otto Dix, Outsider art, German Expressionism and Rayonism (Russian Expressionism).
Industrial Revolution, one of Tom Wilson’s works on show at City Screen Picturehouse
Tribute show of the week: Steve Steinman’s Anything For Love, The Meat Loaf Story, York Barbican, tonight, 7.30pm
FOR more than 30 years, Nottingham’s Steve Steinman has toured the world with his tribute to the songs of Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf (real name Marvin Lee Aday). Now he presents his new production, showcasing 25 chunks of Meat Loaf and Steinman’s prime cuts.
Anything For Love combines Steve’s humour and a ten-piece band with such rock-operatic favourites as Bat Out Of Hell, Paradise By The Dashboard Light, Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth, Dead Ringer For Love and Total Eclipse Of The Heart. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
The Sixteen: Marking 400th anniversary of the death of composer William Byrd in Sunday’s York Early Music Festival concert at York Minster
Don’t miss atYork Early Music Festival: The Sixteen, York Minster, Sunday, 8pm
THE Sixteen’s 2023 Choral Pilgrimage is inspired by the influence of Renaissance composer William Byrd in an exploration of his life, works and pervading Roman Catholic faith. His legacy is marked by two new compositions by Dobrinka Tabakova, bringing his musical heritage into the modern day.
The premieres, Arise Lord Into Thy Rest and Turn Our Captivity, highlight Byrd’s influence of modern polyphony and showcase The Sixteen choir in a new light. Director Harry Christophers’ programme also features works by Van Wilder, de Monte, Clemens Non Papa and Byrd himself. Box office: 01904 658338 or tickets.ncem.co.uk.
Emily Belcher’s Emily Webb and Frankie Bounds’ George Gibbs in rehearsal for Amerrycan Theatre’s Our Town
American play of the week: Amerrycan Theatre in Our Town, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Tuesday to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
FOUNDER Bryan Bounds directs Yorkshire’s American company, Amerrycan Theatre, in the York premiere of “America’s greatest play”, Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1938 study of mindfulness, mortality and brevity of life, Our Town.
“Wilder’s portrait of life, love and death set in Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire, a fictional New England town at the start of the 20th century, could happen just as easily in Pocklington,” says Bounds. Tracing the romance and marriage of Emily Webb (Emily Belcher) and George Gibbs (Frankie Bounds), Our Town reveals the hidden mysteries behind the smallest details of everyday life. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Amerrycan Theatre’s poster for the York premiere of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town
Outdoor film event of the week: City Screen Picturehouse presents Movies In The Moonlight, Museum Gardens, York, July 14 to 16, doors, 7.30pm; screenings at sundown, 9.15pm approx
CITY Screen Picturehouse heads outdoors for three films in three nights, kicking off on Friday with The Super Mario Bros Movie, wherein Brooklyn plumbers Mario (Chris Pratt) and brother Luigi (Charlie Day) are transported down a mysterious pipe and wander into a magical new world.
In Mamma Mia! The Movie, next Saturday, Greek island bride-to-be Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is set on finding out who her father is. In next Sunday’s film, Jaws, Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss star as a police chief, marine scientist and grizzled fisherman set out to stop a gigantic great shark that has been menacing the island community of Amity. Box office: picturehouses.com/outdoor-cinema.
The Counterfeit Seventies: Heading to Joseph Rowntree Theatre
Pop nostalgia of the week: The Counterfeit Seventies, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, July 16, 7.30pm
IN the wake of The Counterfeit Sixties, here comes, you guessed it, The Counterfeit Seventies, the decade of glam rock, punk, new wave and everything in between. Revisit Slade, Sweet, T Rex, the Bay City Rollers and plenty more, aided by a light show, costumes of the period and archival footage of bands and events from the era. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Sarah-Louise Young in The Silent Treatment. Picture: Steve Ullathorne
Solo show of the week: Sarah-Louise Young in The Silent Treatment, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, July 16, 7pm
AFTER her celebrations of Kate Bush (An Evening Without…) and Julie Andrews (Julie Madly Deeply), writer-performer Sarah-Louise Young returns to Theatre@41 with the highly personal true story of a singer who loses her voice and embarks on an unexpected journey of self-revelation.
Warning: The show includes themes of trauma and sexual violence. As The Stage review put it, The Silent Treatment is a “a war cry and a message of resilience and hope to anyone who has faced abuse and been made to feel guilty about it”. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Heading to the Grand Opera House: Amber Davies (Vivian Ward), Oliver Savile (Edward Savile) and Ore Oduba (Barnard Thompson/Happy Man) in Pretty Woman: The Musical. Picture: Dan Kennedy
AMBER Davies will play Hollywood hooker Vivian Ward opposite Oliver Savile’s businessman Edward Lewis when Pretty Woman; The Musical tours the Grand Opera House, York, next February 20 to 24.
2016 Strictly Come Dancing champion Ore Oduba, last seen at the Cumberland Street theatre in fishnets in March 2022 as nerdy, preppy American student Brad Majors in The Rocky Horror Show, will return to York two years later in the role of hotel manager Barnard Thompson/Happy Man. Natalie Paris will be Vivian’s wisecracking roommate Kit De Luca.
On tour in Pretty Woman from October 2023, Davies is starring at present in the West End as Lorraine Baines in Back To The Future: The Musical at the Adelphi Theatre. Previous theatre roles include Judy in the original West End cast of 9 To 5 The Musical at the Savoy Theatre and on tour and Campbell in Bring It On at London’s Southbank Centre.
In the West End, Savile’s credits include Fiyero in Wicked, Whizzer in Falsettos, The Phantom Of the Opera and Les Misérables, complemented by the UK tour of Cats and Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. He performed alongside alongside Sting in the American tour of erstwhile The Police frontman’s North East shipyard musical The Last Ship.
Oduba, a 2021 finalist in Channel 4’s Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, starred in the 50th anniversary tour and West End production of Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show, and further roles since taking to the musical theatre stage in 2019 include Aaron Fox in Curtains on tour and in the West End and Teen Angel in a UK tour of Grease.
Paris is best known as the Olivier Award-nominated original Jane Seymour in the West End production of SIX The Musical and is now on tour in North America in the role, having played her on the UK tour too.
Among her previous London stage credits are Sunday In The Park With George at the Menier Chocolate Factory and Wyndham’s Theatre, Billy Elliot at the Victoria Palace and Les Misérables at the Palace Theatre and Queen’s Theatre.
In the UK and Ireland tour cast too will be: Becky Anderson; Rebekah Bryant; Josh Damer-Jennings; Ben Darcy; Andrew Davison; Lila Falce-Bass; Noah Harrison; Sydnie Hocknell; Elly Jay; Rachael Kendall Brown; Michael Kholwadia; Joshua Lear; Stuart Maciver; Victoria Rachael McCabe; Eleanor Morrison-Halliday; LJ Neilson; Annell Odartey, Curtis Patrick and Chomba Taulo.
Billed as Hollywood’s ultimate rom-com, live on stage, Pretty Woman: The Musical is set once upon a time in the late 1980s, when prostitute Vivian meets entrepreneur Edward and her life changes forever.
“Be swept up in their romance in this dazzlingly theatrical take on a love story for the ages – and get to know these iconic characters in a whole new way – in a sensational show guaranteed to lift your spirits and light up your heart,” say the producers.
Pretty Woman: The Musicalfeatures original music and lyrics by Grammy Award winner Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance, a book by Garry Marshall and the 1990 film’s screenwriter J.F. Lawton. Direction and choreography is by two-time Tony Award winner Jerry Mitchell.
Roy Orbison and Bill Dee’s hit song Oh, Pretty Woman, the inspiration for Garry Marshall’s film, features in the show too.
The show has scenic design by David Rockwell; costumes by Tom Rogers, from the original Broadway designs by Gregg Barnes; lighting design by Kenneth Posner and Philip S. Rosenberg; sound design by John Shivers; hair design by Josh Marquette and music supervision, arrangements and orchestrations by Will Van Dyke. 101
Pretty Woman: The Musical had its world premiere at Chicago’s Oriental Theatre in March 2018 before transferring to Broadway, where it ran at the Nederlander Theatre. The German production opened in Hamburg at the Stage Theater an der Elbe in September 2019 and an American tour opened in October 2021.
Pretty Woman: The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, February 20 to 24 2024, 7.30pm, plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees. Box office: atgtickets.com/york
All you need is Love: The Love Band’s Johnny Echols at The Crescent, York
LOVE inspire something close to religious fervour. Seeing how The Crescent’s full house of all ages responded to the closing track of Forever Changes, You Set The Scene, is now an indelible memory: music, message and audience marching as one.
Love has become the story of Arthur Lee, a protean, iconic figure who fell far before enjoying a belated blast of recognition before leukaemia cruelly stole him away. Bryan Maclean, also now dead, is less feted, but his contrasting songs are essential to Love’s ensuring appeal. One listen to Andmoreagain reveals Maclean as every bit as much of a rule breaker as Lee.
“The Love Band” as they are now known were originally called Baby Lemonade, and they toured with Lee as Love before he died. Taking up the mantle of keeping the music alive, since 2005, four have become five thanks to guitarist Johnny Echols, the other key original member coming back into the fold.
You can debate at what point a group becomes a tribute act, but this concert was about far more than nostalgia. Echols provided a key focal point for the concert, providing occasional between-song stories
Forever Changes has, decades after its release, climbed in regard to nestle among the very best albums of all time. Deservedly so. It captures a glorious burst of creativity that neither Lee and Love, nor arguably anyone else, has matched.
The tension and disharmony that surrounded its recording provided a prescient, apocalyptic but ultimately life-affirming set of songs. However transported by visions Lee may have been, the musicianship keeps pace, full of variety, twists, turns and hooks, psychedelic but still retaining the band’s LA garage roots and a disregard of the rulebook that would become the spirit of punk.
The Love Band is very familiar with the music’s twists and turns, and second guitarist Mike Randell is able to fill some of the key spaces left by the absence of strings and brass. Singer Rusty Squeezebox (born David Ramsey) was a gracious host and carried Lee’s words with skill.
The audience knew in advance this would be good – this band had previously blown the roof off the same venue in 2019. Their Sunday setlist centred on Forever Changes but also included some lesser-sung parts of Love’s catalogue. Tunes like Softly To Me weren’t as strong, but Singin’ Cowboy from Four Sail was a glorious first encore, before bowing to 7 And 7 Is (from De Capo), a powerful song about nuclear war that sounds like nothing else.
There was no way to follow that, but the crowd could certainly face the coming days with a smile after this wonderful show.
Julie Lomas directing a rehearsal for 1812 Theatre Company’s production of Jeklly & Hyde The Musical
JULIE Lomas directs Helmsley Arts Centre’s resident troupe, the 1812 Theatre Company, in their first ever musical production, Frank Wildhorn and Leslie Bricusse’s Jekyll & Hyde, from tomorrow.
In Robert Louis Stevenson’s story, a devoted man of science, Dr Henry Jekyll, is driven to find a chemical breakthrough that can solve some of mankind’s most challenging medical dilemmas. Indeed, he is trying to discover cures for what now would be recognised as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Rebuffed by the powers that be, he decides to make himself the subject of his own experimental treatments, accidentally unleashing his inner demons along with the man the world would come to know as Mr Hyde.
1812’s cast features husband and wife Joe and Amy Gregory in the lead roles of Jekyll/Hyde and Emma Carew. John Atkin is the musical director; Michaela Edens, the choreographer.
Here Julie discusses 1812 Theatre Company’s 30th anniversary production with CharlesHutchPress.
How did you land this directing gig? Were you head-hunted or did you pitch for it?
“An 1812 Theatre Company member suggested that the company should do a musical at the annual general meeting. Apparently, others had been talking about wanting to do it for some time.
“The committee discussed this and I said that if they would like to go ahead, I had experience as a director in musical theatre and would love to do it.”
What attracted you to directing Jekyll & Hyde The Musical?
“I love musicals that dramatic enough to ‘move’ an audience emotionally. There are not many of these that are available for amateurs to perform. I feel that there are several opportunities for this in Jekyll and Hyde.
“With its dramatic strengths and less choreographic content, it is a suitable choice as a first musical for this company.
“Plus, I’ve directed it before for the Grange Players in Walsall. This actually made me think very carefully as I prefer not to repeat anything, but this was a musical that I was driven to do again. My concept this time is different, a contemporary treatment but still in a Victorian setting.”
What is your directing background?
“Having performed in several plays for The Grange Theatre, Walsall, I was asked if I would like to direct. My first play was Kindertransport by Diane Samuels, and after that I never looked back.
“I directed several plays there, including Rebecca, Accrington Pals and The End Of The Affair but my favourite by a long way was Peter Schaffer’s Amadeus.
“I think it was being able to bring together my love of music, fabulous period costume, make-up and wigs plus the wonderful tragic plot line and enigmatic characters. I was fortunate enough to win a regional NODA (National Operatic and Dramatic Association) award for that production, which I treasure.
“I moved into directing a musical there and then directed one professionally for Brownhills Musical Theatre Company, Sweet Charity.”
Do you now specialise in musical theatre?
“I’m keento embrace many types of theatrical productions. I’ve been a soloist singer since the age of eight and have been lucky enough to have had many fantastic principal roles in musical theatre. My favourites were Mrs Lovett in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street, Dorothy Brock in 42nd Street and Sally Bowles in Cabaret.
“So, although I cannot say that I specialise in musical theatre, there’s absolutely nothing that compares with the feeling of being part of a musical, as a performer, director or crew member.”
What brought you to Helmsley?
“I moved to North Yorkshire to be geographically close to my son and his wife and see more of my grandchildren. My eldest son and his family live in Sheffield, so I can commute there too.
“However, it’s a great place to live in its own right, the peaceful countryside around here is a sheer delight and Helmsley is the prettiest town in which to rehearse and perform! I was looking for a theatre company that would feel like ‘home’ to me and I felt welcomed from the start. The theatre itself is lovely, providing an intimate theatre space, modern studio bar and leafy courtyard.
“I live in Westow, a village just outside the Howardian Hills area. I now consider the Helmsley Arts Centre to be my base. In a few years, even with the lockdown, I have already performed there, worked backstage for a production and I’m also a member of the management committee.”
Any thoughts on why 1812 Theatre Company has not staged a musical in its 30 years until now?
“I would imagine it’s because when the company was set up, the idea was for members to perform plays. However, it’s so much more diverse now. In the past 12 months alone we’ve performed plays, a rehearsed reading, an indoor/outdoor production in Helmsley Walled Garden, a hugely successful pantomime and now a musical!
“We’re hoping that this variety will both entice new members, who are always welcome, and encourage retention of existing members.
“The other more sombre answer is that to produce a musical is expensive and we’re hoping to have good audiences, not only to see the amazing performances, but also from a financial perspective.”
What are the strengths of Bricusse and Wildhorn’s songs?
“As we’re repeatedly told by our musical director, John Atkin, this is not an easy musical score. However, it’s such a beautiful one with melodies that linger long after the show is over.
“It allows performers to do just that: perform the music, rather than just sing it, and we have worked hard to bring that to the stage. It provides a tour de force for the eponymous actor, Jekyll, which climaxes with him singing a duet with himself, as Hyde. Joe [Gregory] has excelled in the role and I’m sure audiences will appreciate his performance.”
Is this the first time you have worked with musical director John Atkin?
“It is, and I’m hoping it will not be the last. As soon as I met him, I knew the production was in safe hands. He’s an extremely talented musician and wonderful to work with.”
A husband and wife, Joe and Amy Gregory, will lead your cast as Jekyll/Hyde and Emma Carew. What does their personal relationship bring to their stage partnership?
“It’s rare for there to be such chemistry between the two romantic leads – even if they do happen to be married! Joe and Amy have such a special relationship, and in their case, this comes across immediately.
“They’re also both lovely people and in all my time directing, I have genuinely never met anyone more joyous to work with. They are committed, passionate performers who will work hard to deliver what you’re aiming for as a director yet also contribute actively to the creative process.”
What is the message of Jekyll & Hyde in our 21st century world, where tampering with science may well have led to Covid?
“Good question. I suppose the message is that research does not always deliver the desired results. Sometimes though, even the unexpected results can turn out to be beneficial. There are many drugs that are used for things for which they were not intended in development.
“As a hospital pharmacist by profession, I was interested in this angle of drug research in psychiatry with Dr Jekyll. Even today, we still know comparatively little about the causes of mental illness and effective drug therapy is limited.
“Also, if you consider the possible effects of hallucinogenic drugs, the concept of a ‘Dr Jekyll’ and ‘Mr Hyde’ characterisation after injection is not so far-fetched.”
What will be your next theatrical project?
“My next project for 1812 Theatre Company is to mentor a first-time director, Sarah Barker, as she directs ’The Kitchen Sink [Hull playwright Tom Wells’s tender comedy of big dreams and small changes in a Withernsea, East Yorkshire family].
“We like to encourage members to consider directing and have a few people that are interested, but it’s important that they have someone to support them through the process.
“I think the big question is, will I ever direct another musical for 1812. Who knows? This production has consumed every moment of my life for the past six months, and a fair few moments in the months before that.
“I’d like to think so. What I do know, though, is that my passion for musicals will never die, unlike a number of Jekyll’s victims!”
1812 Theatre Company in Jekyll & Hyde The Musical, Helmsley Arts Centre, July 5 to 9, 7.30pm. Tickets: £15, under 18s, £7.50, from the arts centre, on 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk. Age guidance: Suitable for 13 plus.
