Invitation to the ball: Grand Opera House announces Cinderella for next winter
TICKETS will go on sale at noon on Friday for next year’s Grand Opera House pantomime in York. The Cumberland Street theatre will present Cinderella from December 6 2025 to January 4 2026 in its fourth collaboration with UK Productions.
As with this winter’s panto, Beauty And The Beast, the show will feature a script by Jon Monie, winner of Best Script at the 2019 Great British Pantomime Awards.
Promising side-splitting comedy, lavish settings and adorable miniature ponies, Cinderella will be “more fun than you can shake a pumpkin at”. Star casting is to be announced but “expect stars from the West End and screen”.
Laura McMillan, the Grand Opera House theatre director, says: “As we open the spectacular Beauty And The Beast, we’re delighted that UK Productions will be returning next year with the most beloved of pantomimes of all time, Cinderella. I’m sure adults and children alike will be spellbound by this magical new show.”
UK Productions producer Martin Dodd says: “Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without pantomime, and pantomime wouldn’t be pantomime without Cinderella. We are delighted to be presenting this fabulous story at York’s beautiful Grand Opera House, building on the success of this year’s musical pantomime, Beauty And The Beast.”
To take advantage of early bird ticket savings, book by Saturday, February 1 2025 to save £8 per ticket on select performances and seats.
Beauty And The Beast will run until January 5 2025 with a West End cast featuring CBBC’s BAFTA award-winning Dani Harmer, from Tracy Beaker and Strictly ComeDancing, as Fairy Bon Bon; dameLeon Craig, fromEverybody’s Talking About Jamie, as Polly La Plonk,Jennifer Caldwell, from SIX The Musical, as Belle, andSamuel Wyn-Morris, fromLes Misérables, as The Prince. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
York Theatre Royal’s promotional poster for dame Robin Simpson’s return in Sleeping Beauty in 2025
ROBIN Simpson will return for his sixth season as the dame in York Theatre Royal’s pantomime for 2025-26, Sleeping Beauty, billed as “an enchanting tale of adventure, fun and spellbinding magic for the whole family”.
Co-produced with regular partners Evolution Productions, the show will run from December 2 2025 to January 4 2026, with “stunning costumes, gorgeous sets, dazzling special effects and all the spectacular magic of a York Theatre Royal pantomime”.
The show will be written by Evolution producer Paul Hendy and directed by Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster, the team behind Aladdin this winter, Jack And The Beanstalk in 2023, All New Adventures Of Peter Pan in 2022, Cinderella in 2021 and the community-touring Travelling Pantomime in Covid-shadowed 2020.
Forster says: “We’ve been delighted to see so many people returning year after year to enjoy the magic of a York Theatre Royal pantomime. We are so proud of the quality of the pantos we make and can’t wait to continue our panto adventures with Sleeping Beauty. It’s so brilliant to have Robin on board again too to bring the hilarity and fun as our dame!”
Hendy says: “We’re absolutely thrilled to be working with the fabulous team at York Theatre Royal again for our spectacular production of Sleeping Beauty. We are delighted Robin will be returning as our wonderful dame, and we can’t wait to share with you more exciting casting news in the New Year!”
Simpson enthuses: “I am overjoyed to be playing the dame in next year’s Sleeping Beauty. I love the York audiences and it’s such a special place to perform every year at Christmas time. I’m looking forward to all the high jinks the dame will get up to in Sleeping Beauty!”
Tickets are on sale on 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk. Early birds who book before the end of March 2025 can benefit from a price freeze on ticket prices, with options ranging from £15 to £43.50.
Family ticket discounts can be booked for £90 (for three including at least one child) and £120 (for four including at least one child.) Schools discounts are available when booking via the St Leonard’s Place box office.
YTR Members receive an extra ten per cent off up to four tickets. For details of how to join YTR Membership, visit yorktheatreroyal.co.uk or contact the box office.
Jools Holland: Boogie woogie pianist returns to York Barbican tonight
SEAGULLS, a rabbit, a winter sprite and The Animals, plus another solo version of A Christmas Carol, are among the highlights of the festive week ahead, recommends Charles Hutchinson.
No year would be complete without…Jools Holland and His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, York Barbican, tonight, 7.30pm
BOOGIE woogie pianist supreme Jools Holland makes his obligatory winter outing to York in the company of his top-notch rhythm & blues players and vocalists Ruby Turner, Louise Marshall and Sumudu Jayatilaka.
His special guests will be Soft Cell singer Marc Almond, who previously toured with Holland in 2018, and blues guitar prodigy Toby Lee, his guest on last year’s tour too. Holland will be performing songs from the former Squeeze keyboardist and television presenter’s long-running solo career. Box office for returns only: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
The Animals: 60 years of rhythm & blues celebrated at Selby Town Hall
60th anniversary concert of the week: The Animals & Friends, Selby Town Hall, tomorrow, 7.30pm
THIS year marks the 60th anniversary of Newcastle rhythm & blues icons The Animals’ self-titled debut album and their seminal crossover hit The House Of The Rising Sun. Still in the line-up is drummer, founding member and Rock And Roll Hall of Fame inductee John Steel, who will be joined by Danny Handley on guitar and lead vocals, Milltown Brothers’ Barney Williams on keys and Norman Helm on bass.
The set list can draw on such favourites as We Gotta Get Out of This Place, Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, Baby Let Me Take You Home, Boom Boom, Around And Around and The Right Time. Box office: 01757 708449 or selbytownhall.co.uk.
Pocklington Arts Centre cast members Levi Payne, left, Caitlin Townend and Dylan Allcock in Jack Frost’s Christmas Wish
Ryedale Christmas play of the week: Jack Frost’s Christmas Wish, Pocklington Arts Centre, tomorrow to December 24
ELIZABETH Godber’s second Christmas show for Pocklington Arts Centre invites everyone aged three to 103 to join Jack Frost (Levi Payne) and his friends Oslo the Rabbit (Dylan Allcock) and Blue the Winter Sprite (Caitlin Townend) as they race across the world to make his one wish come true: to be home for Christmas. Could that home be in East Yorkshire?
Wrap up warm for a frosty adventure from the team who delivered The Elves And The Shoemaker: Save Christmas last winter, steered by director Jane Thornton. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Stephen Brailsford: Playing Captain Cliff in the CU Scarborough cast for Captain Cliff & The Seagull Squad at Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough
Coastal children’s play of the week: Captain Cliff & The Seagull Squad, The McCarthy, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, tomorrow to December 21
ON a busy day at Scarborough’s South Bay, judges from Britain’s Best Beach are soon to arrive, but after a big rush of tourists, the bins are overflowing with rubbish in a play for children aged up to six, written and directed by Rob Salmon for the SJT and CU (Coventry University), Scarborough.
Faced by litter everywhere and a pile of something sticky by the rock shop, who can save Scarborough? Step forward Captain Cliff and the Seagull Squad, but can they clear up all the mess in time as they seek to complete four missions, one for each season? Cue a rescue adventure full of songs, silliness and festive fun. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
Ryedale School musicians: Performing at Kirk Theatre, Pickering, on Friday
School performance of the week: Ryedale School Music Concert, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, Friday, 7pm
THIS night of music performed by Ryedale School musicians features Ryedale Concert Band Shining Brass and Ryedale Stray Notes. Proceeds will go to Ryedale School Performing Arts and Rotary funds. Tickets are on sale on 01751 474833 or at kirktheatre.co.uk.
Mat Jones: Solo rendition of A Christmas Carol for two nights at Friargate Theatre, York. Picture: Vintage Verse
Solo show of the week: Mat Jones in A Christmas Carol, Friargate Theatre, York, Friday and Saturday, 7.30pm
RING in the Christmas season with Mat Jones’s spellbinding rendition of Charles Dickens’s Victorian festive classic, brought to life in vivid detail from Dickens’s original performance text as Scrooge encounters the Spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet To Come en route to the redemption of London’s most miserable miser.
“A Christmas Carol is not just a story; it’s a celebration of the human spirit and the power of kindness,” says Jones. Box office: 01904 613000 or friargatetheatre.co.uk.
Jo Walton setting up her exhibition at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York
Exhibition of the week: Jo Walton, Steel, Copper, Rust, Gold, Verdigris, Wax, Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York, until January 23 2025
WHEN Rogues Atelier artist, interior designer, upholsterer and Bluebird Bakery curator of exhibitions Jo Walton asked poet Nicky Kippax to put words to images she had sent her, she responded with “The heft of a cliff and a gathering of sea fret”. Spot on, Nicky.
Into the eighth month of recovery from breaking her right leg, Jo is exhibiting predominantly large works that utilise steel, copper, rust, gold, verdigris and wax in the bakery, cafe and community centre, whose interior she designed in 2021.
Kate Rusby: Winter Light tour arrives at York Barbican on December 17
Christmas concert of the week: Kate Rusby, Winter Light Tour, York Barbican, December 17, 7pm
BARNSLEY folk songstress Kate Rusby draws on her seven Christmas albums – she released her latest, Light Years, in 2023 – for her annual celebration of South Yorkshire carols sung in pubs through the winter months.
Spreading Yuletide joy, Kate will be joined by her regular band, featuring her husband, producer, guitarist and banjo player Damien O’Kane, and the Brass Boys quintet. Look out for the fancy-dress finale. Tickets update: Closing in on a sell-out; hurry, hurry to yorkbarbican.co.uk.
The Corrs: Heading to the Scarborough coast next summer
Gig announcement of the week: The Corrs and Natalie Imbruglia, TK Maxx presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, June 11 2025
THE Corrs, Irish sibling purveyors of sleek pop rock, lush harmonies and Celtic folk trimmings, will line up as ever with Andrea on lead vocals, piano and tin whistle, Sharon on violin, piano and vocals, Caroline, on drums, piano and vocals, and Jim on guitar, keyboards and vocals.
Former Neighbours soap actress, Torn hit-maker and The Masked Singer 2022 winner Natalie Imbruglia will support. The Corrs join Shed Seven, Gary Barlow, Basement Jaxx, Pendulum, Rag’n’Bone Man, Blossoms, Texas, UB40 featuring Ali Campbell and The Script among next summer’s Scarborough OAT headliners. Tickets go on general sale at 9am on Friday at ticketmaster.co.uk.
Michael Cornell’s dame, Gertrude Gander, making her point to Gemma McDonald’s Jack in Rowntree Players’ Mother Goose. Picture: Howard Ella
IN the words of director Howard Ella, Mother Goose is “the dame’s pantomime”. Boldly, he casts Michael Cornell in the role of Gertrude Gander in his dame debut after his Ugly Sister double act as Miranda to Jamie McKeller’s Cassandra in last winter’s Cinderella.
These are big boots to fill after the years of Graham Smith and, before that Barry Benson, father of Josh, comedy turn Muddles alongside Su Pollard’s Carabosse and Lee Mead’s Prince Lee in Darlington Hippodrome’s Sleeping Beauty this winter, should you be wondering.
Cornell’s dame is taller, younger, more elegant on initial impression, than his more rumbustious predecessors, his dame style still finding its feet and tone and his voice its pitch. Whether singing or talking, he shows off a wide vocal range, spectacularly so with his singing, full of operatic drama to go with his natural stage presence. He can carry a dress with aplomb too.
Ella likes an eggy pun and a political jab, also parading a meta-theatre awareness that Mother Goose is not exactly thick with plot by mentioning it brazenly, instead building his pantomime around set-pieces, bright-coloured characterisation and songs aplenty, both familiar and less so.
For those about to rock: Jamie McKeller’s guitar-wielding Demon Blackheart and Laura McKeller’s Bob Bingalong in Mother Goose. Picture: Howard Ella
A topical thread runs through the show’s core as Gertie comes to realise the folly of pursuing fame and fortune, after swapping scratching a living from her Wolds farm’s hen pens for the bright lights of Doncaster’s club scene. Doncaster?!
Meanwhile, co-writer and comic turn Gemma McDonald loves the sound of breaking wind, letting rip at every mention of dishy farmer Kev (principal boy Sara Howlett) being the King of Kale. Her daft lad Jack, with his Billy Bremner hair, strawberry cheeks and looning clown face, is as irrepressible as ever, bonding delightfully with Cornell’s Gertie, Jack mucking about at every opportunity when the dame is seeking to assert motherly authority.
Howlett’s farmer Kev is a classic principal boy, each slapping of a thigh being met with Kev being framed in a spotlight and breaking into a toothpaste-perfect smile. There is a pleasing self-awareness to this handsome performance, coupled with chemistry with Laura Castle’s ever-enthusiastic, humorous Jill, recalling their performance in John Godber’s Teechers Leavers ’22 at the JoRo in 2023.
Partnerships abound in Ella’s production, always a good resource for engendering humour, and key to this show are two such double acts: Cornell’s Gertie with American Abbey Follansbee’s Priscilla the Goose and Jamie and Laura McKeller, from the Deathly Dark Tour ghost walks, teaming up as the villainous Demon Darkheart and his deadpan sidekick Bob Bingalong.
Whisking up egg puns: Gemma McDonald’s Jack with Laura Castle’s Jill in Mother Goose
Follansbee has graduated from the Cinderella chorus line to being the golden egg-laying goose on the loose, American accent, big bustle, orange leggings et al, and she brings a song-and-dance flourish to Priscilla in tandem with Cornell.
The McKellers spend time aplenty on the dark side in their nocturnal version of a Deathly day job, but always delivered with more than a dash of humour, and that sense of dark comedy infuses both Jamie’s thespian, shock-haired Darkheart, debt collector and purveyor of the dark arts, and Laura’s dogsbody Bob, a Yorkshire spin on Tony Robinson’s Baldrick in Blackaddder, and no less full of dim suggestions. Laura reveals rather a fine singing voice too.
The principal cast is completed by Holly Smith’s Fairy Frittata with her flow of rhyming couplets and perennially perky interjections. Throughout, choreographer Ami Carter keeps principal dancers, senior chorus and junior teams busy with ensemble routines that fill the stage with more buzz than a beehive, while the animated James Robert Ball is a highly watchable, always engaged musical director.
He extracts fantastic musicianship from his players, who include fellow keyboardist Sam Johnson, whose outstanding musical arrangements are surely worthy of a professional production.
Holly Smith’s Fairy Frittata, left, Sara Howlett’s Kev, the King of Kale, Laura Castle’s Jill, Michael Cornell’s Gertrude Gander, Gemma McDonald’s Jack, Laura McKeller’s Bob Bingalong and Jamie McKeller’s Demon Darkheart in Rowntree Players’ Mother Goose
Out of view but deserving a sustained round of applause are Katie Maloney on reeds, James Lolley on trumpet, James Stockdale on trombone, Micky Moran on guitar, Georgia Johnson on bass and Joel Fergusson on drums. Lena Ella and her costume team deliver the goods as ever.
A quick mention too for a welcome innovation: last Saturday’s matinee was the first interpreted and captioned performance of a panto at the JoRo, presented with interpreter Dave Wycherley and captioner Margaret Hansard in collaboration with York charity Lollipop, Stage Text and ToylikeMe.
Likewise, touch tours for blind and visually impaired theatregoers were provided on Sunday and will be again tomorrow night (10/12/2024). Always a community show, these new additions make it all the more so.
Rowntree Players present Mother Goose at Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm nightly, Tuesday to Saturday, plus 2pm Saturday matinee. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Michael Cornell’s Gertrude Gander and Gemma McDonald’s Jack in Rowntree Players’ Mother Goose
LET the egg puns get cracking when Rowntree Players launch their rollicking romp of a 2024 pantomime, Mother Goose, at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tonight.
The plot? Meet Jack (Gemma McDonald), head of hens at Chucklepatch Farm, with its newest addition to the coop, Priscilla the goose (American Abbey Follansbee). Joined by mum Gertrude Gander (alias Mother Goose, Michael Cornell) and his sister Jill (Laura Castle), they head out on their panto adventure.
Desperate for the showbiz life, Gertrude gives up the Wolds for the bright lights of Doncaster. However, ever-nasty landlord Demon Darkheart (Jamie McKeller, alias Deathly Dark Tour ghost walk host Dr Dorian Deathly) and his assistant Bob (Laura McKeller) will stop at nothing to collect rent, but dishy farmer Kev, the King of Kale (Sarah Howlett) and Fairy Frittata (Holly Smith) will not let the dark side rule.
Traditional casting, still with a female principal boy, combines with modernity in the Players’ panto. “We’ve gone down the fame and fortune route with Mother Goose; less judgemental on the look, more judgemental on the pursuit of fame and fortune, which is so much part of the modern age,” says director and co-writer Howard Ella.
“Pantomime keeps evolving as the national outlook changes and the politics change, ” says director and co-writer Howard Ella. “It’s that constant dynamic tension between tradition and relevance, and if you get it right, you have a very happy audience – but if you get it wrong, you can upset people.
“It’s not about being right-on; it’s about accessing each particular audience. You have to reach the broadest audience, and that constant challenge is what keeps our show fresh.”
After playing Ugly Sister Miranda to Jamie McKeller’s Cassandra in Cinderella last year, Michael Cornell steps into the dame’s boots vacated by long-serving Graham Smith, who chose not to audition this year.
On the dark side: Jamie McKeller’s Demon Darkheart and Laura McKeller’s Bob Bingalong in Mother Goose
“It’s a different set-up from Ugly Sister, doing it on his own as the dame,” says Howard. “The joy, the challenge, is that it’s Mother Goose; it’s the dame’s show, whereas Cinderella, for example, is essentially Buttons’ show.
“The fact that Michael is a triple threat – singer, actor, dancer, well, almost dancer! – means it’s a completely different take to Graham’s dame or Barry Benson’s dame before that. He knows it’s the dame’s show and that energy is a real buzz.
“There’s a point where the dame is out there for 30 pages, so she’s the glue, the engine behind the show.”
Abbey Follansbee graduates from the chorus line in Cinderella to play Priscilla the goose. That name? “She’s from the USA,” says Howard. “I don’t want to give too much away, other than to say she’s a tour de force as the goose.
“Mother Goose is fairly light on plot, so the challenge is how do you tell the story and how do you do the goose? “The plot takes you down a line and you just follow it; Abbey’s goose, Priscilla, just becomes livelier and livelier, and cheekier too, and yes, the goose will have an American accent!
“Leni [Ella] and Jackie [Holmes] have been working on the goose’s costume and they’ve created an amazing combo of dress and costume, with a big bustle, flying hat and goggles, so it’s impressionistic.”
Howard is joined for a third year in the writing team by the show’s regular clown-faced comic character, Gemma McDonald. “Gemma is as full of daftness and energy as ever. Where does she get all that energy from?! How she has this unbounding energy, as I get older and older by comparison, is unfathomable.
Laura Castle’s Jill, Michael Cornell’s Gertrude Gander and Gemma McDonald’s Jack in Mother Goose
“Each writing partnership is different, though I can’t let go of the steering wheel, but you need a bright mind to bounce ideas off, because there’s so much riffing in panto comedy,” he says. “Gemma’s enjoyment of the puerile absolutely counters my more sophisticated comic taste!
“I like a good pun; she likes a ripping fart gag, and you need both. The battle is keeping it fresh, and so much of that comes from the cast because our show has gradually revolved and resolved.”
The 2024 cast features not only Jamie McKeller, alias ghost tour host Dr Dorian Deathly, as the villainous Demon Darkheart, but also his partner in Deathly Dark Tours, Laura McKeller, as his deadpan assistant, Bob Bingalong.
“Playing the villain is Jamie’s natural space but he constantly works on freshening it up and bringing new things to it, developing it in rehearsals. Having Laura there by his side has brought another dynamic to it: a push-and-pull partnership.”
Howard draws attention to the bond of York Mix radio presenter Laura Castle’s Jill and Sara Howlett’s Kev, the King of Kale. “Laura is really good at what she does, with proper comedy bones. She and Sara really bonded in the John Godber play they did together [Teechers in March 2023], and you can feel that on stage, so we milk that chemistry of them knowing each other so well,” he says.
“Holly Smith, who plays Fairy Frittata, was in Shakers with Laura, so it’s like having all the alumni from Jamie McKeller’s Godber productions in this year’s panto. The cast are a real company with no ego, so rehearsals have been an absolute dream.”
The musical director is James Robert Ball, sparking up Sam Johnson’s arrangements to the max. “Sam’s arrangements are phenomenal,” says Howard. “When I find a song that I think will work in panto, I can say to him, ‘Can you ‘panto-fy it with cow bells or whatever?’.
Sara Howlett’s farmer Kev, the King of Kale, and Laura Castle’s Jill in Rowntree Players’ Mother Goose. “We milk the chemistry of them knowing each other so well,” says director Howard Ella
“James’s great talent is to get the ‘noise’ out of people when they perform. It’s amazing to watch. He’s one of the most gifted musicians I’ve met.”
Ami Carter provides the choreography once more. “Or ‘the long-suffering choreographer Ami Carter’, I should say, putting up with me interfering left, right and centre!” says Howard.
“Look at the strength of the team we’ve built up over the past 15 years. I might be the Pied Piper at the front, but this pantomime is the sum of all its parts.
“We also remain lucky that we have a workshop and prop store, and we’re very conscious that for a modern am-dram company to have those properties is really rare, enabling us to put on a pantomime as near to professional standards as possible, but, boy, does it rely on teamwork.”
Saturday’s opening matinee marks the launch of a new initiative by the Rowntree Players. “It will be our first-ever captioned and signed performance, spearheaded by Gemma [McDonald] and Abbey [Follansbee], with captions and signing on stage, all being done in conjunction with Lollipop [the York charity that offers opportunities for children and young people with any degree of deafness from mild to profound and their families to meet and build friendships with others].
“We will also have touch tours for blind and visually impaired theatregoers, with an audio introduction to give them a description of the sets and costumes, on Sunday and Tuesday. This is a big step for us and for the Joseph Rowntree Theatre too, and we’re delighted to be doing it.”
Rowntree Players in Mother Goose, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, December 7 to 14.Performances: today, 2pm (limited ticket availability) and 7.30pm (limited); Sunday, 2pm (last few tickets) and 6pm (limited); December 10, 7.30pm (limited); December 11, 7.30pm (limited), December 12 (last few tickets); December 13, 7.30pm (limited); December 14, 2pm (sold out) and 7.30pm (last few tickets). Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Holly Smith’s Fairy Frittata, left, Sara Howlett’s Kev, the King of Kale, Laura Castle’s Jill, Michael Cornell’s Gertrude Gander, Gemma McDonald’s Jack, Laura McKeller’s Bob Bingalong and Jamie McKeller’s Demon Darkheart in Rowntree Players’ Mother Goose
Ensemble Augelletti: BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Baroque Ensemble present their new Christmas programme, The Morning Star, at the NCEM on December 13at 7pm
CHRISTMAS festivities gather pace with a community pantomime, Early music festival, cabaret, Strictly dance king and a Muppet movie, as Charles Hutchinson reports.
Festival of the week: York Early Music Christmas Festival, National Centre for Early Music, Bedern Hall and Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York, until December 15
YORK Early Music Christmas Festival 2024 is under way, presenting 12 concerts and one (sold-out) choral workshop led by I Fagiolini founder Robert Hollingworth in a celebration of the winter season, its festivities, traditions, darkness and light, mulled wine and mince pies.
Concerts by Solomon’s Knot (Sunday), Stile Antico (December 12), Intesa (December 15) and Awake Arise (December 15) have sold out but tickets are available for Love And Melancholy with soprano Emilia Bertolini (today, 12 noon); Siglo de Oro (today, 6.30pm); Sean Shibe & Aidan O’Rourke (December 9, 7.30pm); Green Matthews (December 11, 7.30pm); Ensemble Augelletti (December 13, 7pm); Contre le Temps (December 14, 12noon) and Yorkshire Bach Choir (December 14, 7.30pm). Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
Micklegate Singers: A White Christmas lunchtime concert for York Late Music at Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York
Christmas concert of the week: York Late Music presents Micklegate Singers, A White Christmas, Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York, today, 1pm
MICKLEGATE Singers chart a journey from Joanna Marsh’s In Winter’s House through wintry landscapes to arrive at a Christmas prelude courtesy of Poulenc, Tallis, Vaughan Williams and more, including the world premiere of York composer James Else’s A Little Snow.
Among further works will be Holst’s Bring Us In Good Ale; Oliver Tarney’s The Waiting Sky and John Harle: Mrs Beeton’s Christmas Plum Pudding (Average Cost 3 Shillings And 6d). Box office: latemusic.org.
Rowntree Players’ principal panto players in Mother Goose, opening today at the JoRo
Let the egg puns get cracking: Rowntree Players in Mother Goose, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Saturday, 2pm and 7.30pm, Sunday, 2pm and 6pm; December 10 to 13, 7.30pm; December 14, 2pm and 7.30pm
MEET Jack (Gemma McDonald), head of hens at Chucklepatch Farm, with its newest addition to the coop, Priscilla the goose (American Abbey Follansbee). Joined by mum Gertrude Gander (alias Mother Goose, Michael Cornell) and his sister Jill (Laura Castle), they head out on their panto adventure.
Desperate for showbiz, Gertrude gives up the Wolds for the bright lights of Doncaster. However, ever-nasty landlord Demon Darkheart (Jamie McKeller) and his assistant Bob (Laura McKeller) will stop at nothing to collect rent, but dishy farmer Kev, the King of Kale (Sarah Howlett) and Fairy Frittata (Holly Smith) will not let the dark side rule in a rollicking romp directed by co-writer Howard Ella. Tickets update: Down to last few tickets or limited availability for most performances on 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Velma Celli: Xmas Roast cabaret songs, comedy and festive fruitiness at Impossible York
Christmas cabaret of the week: Velma Celli’s Xmas Roast, Impossible York, St Helen’s Square, York, Sunday 6pm, doors 5pm
YORK’S international drag diva deluxe, Velma Celli, hosts a fabulous evening of music, comedy and festive frolics. “Come and have yourself a merry Christmas,” says Velma, the Best Cabaret at Perth Fringeworld 2024 award-winning alter ego of West End musical actor and Atlantis Gay Cruises headline act Ian Stroughair, who promises “cabaret meets a partaaaaaay”. Box office: ticketweb.uk/event/velmas-xmas-roast-impossible-york-tickets/13855143.
The Hollywood Sisters: Cat Foster, left, Rachel Higgs, Henrietta Linnemann and Helen “Bells” Spencer
Fundraising festive concert of the week: The Hollywood Sisters & Friends, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Sunday, 7pm
THE Hollywood Sisters, the York vocal harmony group with vintage Hollywood vibes, have added extra tickets after selling out Sunday’s show. Expect a cabaret evening of music, song and a sprinkle of festive cheer featuring the luscious close harmonies of Helen “Bells” Spencer, Cat Foster, Rachel Higgs and Henrietta Linnemann and guest appearances by The Rusty Pegs, Mark Lovell, Phoebe Breeze and Anthony Sargeant.
All profits will go to the fundraising campaign for a new sensory room for dementia patients at Foss Park Hospital, in Haxby Road, York. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Anton du Beke: Christmas song and dance with the Strictly Come Dancing judge and Friends at York Barbican
Dance show of the week: Anton du Beke in Christmas With Anton & Friends, York Barbican, December 10, 7.30pm
STRICTLY Come Dancing judge and dashing dancer Anton Du Beke glides into York in his new festive tour show, joined as ever by elegant crooner Lance Ellington, a live band and a company of dancers for an evening of song and dance with added Christmas dazzle.
“I’ve always dreamed of doing a big Christmas show as it’s the best time of the year, so this is a real treat for me,” says the ballroom king. “It’s the show I’ve always wanted to do with some old faces and some new!” Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Jools Holland: Playing to a full house at York Barbican
No year would be complete without…Jools Holland and His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, York Barbican, December 11, 7.30pm
BOOGIE woogie pianist supreme Jools Holland makes his obligatory winter outing to York in the company of his top-notch rhythm & blues players and vocalists Ruby Turner, Louise Marshall and Sumudu Jayatilaka.
His special guests will be Soft Cell singer Marc Almond, who previously toured with Holland in 2018, and blues guitar prodigy Toby Lee, his guest on last year’s tour too. Holland will be performing songs from the former Squeeze keyboardist and television presenter’s long-running solo career. Box office for returns only: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Marc Almond: Jools Holland’s special guest at York Barbican. Picture: Mike Owen
Christmas film double bill: Friargate Theatre, York, presents The Muppet Christmas Carol (U), today, 2.30pm, and Die Hard (15), today, 8pm
FRIARGATE Theatre serves up a double dose of holiday cheer and action-packed excitement, opening with Kermit, Miss Piggy and the Muppet gang being joined by Michael Caine’s Ebenezer Scrooge as they re-tell the Dickens tale with a whimsical and heart-warming twist.
Let’s leave the debate over whether John McTiernan’s Die Hard is or is not a Christmas film to another day. Instead, revel in Bruce Willis’s John McClane battling with terrorists in a high-rise building on Christmas Eve. Box office: 01904 613000 or friargatetheatre.co.uk.
Christmas Cinema at St Saviourgate
Pop-up film event of the month: City Screen Picturehouse presents Christmas Cinema at Saint Saviourgate, The Great Hall, Central Methodist Church, St Saviourgate, York, December 12 to 23
CITY Screen Picturehouse, York, is setting up a pop-up screen at Central Methodist Church for the Christmas season, kicking off on December 12 with The Muppet Christmas Carol (U) at 4pm and Bridget Jones’s Diary (15) at 7PM.
Next come Home Alone (PG) at 4pm and Love Actually (15) at 7pm on December 13; Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone (PG) at 4pm and Elf (PG) at 7.20pm on December 14, then Ali Plumb’s Untitled Christmas Film Quiz Project at 5pm and The Nightmare Before Christmas (PG) at 8.30pm on December 15.
Paddington In Peru (PG) will be shown at 4pm on December 16; Die Hard (15) at 7pm that night; The Polar Express (U) at 4pm and It’s A Wonderful Life (U) at 7pm on December 17; The Muppet Christmas Carol (U) at 4pm and Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone (PG) at 6.45pm on December 18, then Home Alone (PG) at 4pm and Wonka (PG) at 7pm on December 20.
Paddington In Peru (PG) returns at 4pm on December 22, followed by Elf (PG) at 7pm, before the season concludes with The Polar Express (U) at 4pm and It’s A Wonderful Life (U) at 7pm on December 23. Box office: picturehouses.com/YorkXmas.
Mat Jones in A Christmas Carol for two nights at Friargate Theatre. Picture: Vintage Verse
Solo show of the week: Mat Jones in A Christmas Carol, Friargate Theatre, York, December 13 and 14, 7.30pm
RING in the Christmas season with Mat Jones’s spellbinding rendition of Charles Dickens’s Victorian festive classic, brought to life in vivid detail from Dickens’s original performance text as Scrooge encounters the Spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet To Come en route to the redemption of London’s most miserable miser.
“A Christmas Carol is not just a story; it’s a celebration of the human spirit and the power of kindness,” says Jones. Box office: 01904 613000 or friargatetheatre.co.uk.
York artist Jo Walton setting up her exhibition at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb
Exhibition of the week: Jo Walton, Steel, Copper, Rust, Gold, Verdigris, Wax, Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York, until January 23 2025
WHEN Rogues Atelier artist, interior designer, upholsterer and Bluebird Bakery curator of exhibitions Jo Walton asked poet Nicky Kippax to put words to images she had sent her, she responded with “The heft of a cliff and a gathering of sea fret”. Spot on, Nicky.
Into the eighth month of recovery from breaking her right leg, Jo is exhibiting predominantly large works that utilise steel, copper, rust, gold, verdigris and wax in the bakery, cafe and community centre, whose interior she designed in 2021.
STRICTLY Come Dancing judge and dashing dancer Anton Du Beke glides into York Barbican next Tuesday in his new festive tour show, Christmas with Anton & Friends.
Anton, 58, will be joined as ever by elegant crooner Lance Ellington, a live band and a company of dancers to create an evening filled with song and dance with added Christmas dazzle.
“I’ve always dreamed of doing a big Christmas show as it’s the best time of the year, so this is a real treat for me,” says the king of the ballroom. “It’s the show I’ve always wanted to do with some old faces and some new!
“Don’t forget to bring your voices for a mega sing-a-long with some of my favourite Christmas songs. It’s going to be lots of fun and full of Christmas cheer.”
In the past few years, Anton has been appearing in pantomime over the winter months, making his debut as Buttons in Cinderella at Richmond Theatre in 2021-2022, followed by protagonist Jack in Jack & The Beanstalk at Churchill Theatre, Bromley, in 2022-23 and Smee alongside Paul Chuckle’s Starkey in Peter Pan at the New Victoria Theatre, Woking, in 2023-24. “Only goodies! I can only play goodies,” he says. “It’s fun but it’s a lot of time to spend away from my children.”
Hence his decision to launch Christmas With Anton & Friends, whose tour runs from November 24 to December 21, hot on the heels of his autumn terpsichorean travels in Showman: An Evening With Anton Du Beke.
The tour poster for Anton Du Beke’s Christmas show
He was still on that song, dance and chat tour when conducting this interview on November 19, on top of his Strictly judging commitments for the BBC.
“I’m on the road at the moment, and then we’ll do four weeks of the Christmas show,” he said at the time. “So we’ve been rehearsing the Christmas show in the day and doing the Showman show at night.”
Exit the Showman, enter the snow man. “I used to do Christmas shows at the Royal Albert Hall and loved it,” says Anton. “Now I’m doing this new tour. It’s all Christmas songs, and it’s going to be such fun. Lance Ellington is with me again, the band, and I’ve got my wonderful dancers and a female singer too.
“This one has been done with the team: Kelly Chow, our dance captain, has sort of put it together choreographically; my musical director, Clive Dunstall, has done all the arrangements, writing all this stuff while being on tour with me. It’s been quite the task but so exciting!
“There’ll be Christmas trees on stage and everyone in Christmas jumpers and hats. We’ll have a big medley at the end, about nine minutes long, starting with Mariah Carey [All I Want For Christmas Is You] and ending with Slade [Merry Xmas Everybody]. Six songs in all.”
The show will span Christmas classics to more contemporary numbers, from It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year to Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire. “There’s a lovely song called [Everybdody’s Waiting For] The Man With The Bag. It’s a classic, not that new, but rarely played…so Lance and I will be doing it as a duet,” says Anton.
“I’ve always dreamed of doing a big Christmas show as it’s the best time of the year,” says Anton Du Beke. Picture: Bev Comboy/Plank PR
Summing up the show, he says: “I love Christmas so much and everyone in the show is so looking forward to doing these shows. If you love Christmas as much as I do, you will have a great time.
“I love Christmas songs! My producer doesn’t entirely love them and my wardrobe mistress is much more into Halloween than Christmas, but I love Christmas much more than Halloween.”
Showman, now Christmas With Anton & Friends and Strictly, of course: Anton is busy, busy, busy. “Yes, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Strictly is great because I don’t have to do anything now other than turn up, judge and leave! I’m not choreographing, like when I was one of the professional dancers. I just turn up on Saturdays and that’s lovely,” he says.
“I just feel like everyone else is doing the work and I do my bit with the other judges, and it’s a very exciting series this year. The standard is so good that I’m at the stage where I’m waiting for a mistake because you don’t expect someone to do something wrong.
“It’s difficult to say who’ll win. The great thing is that the winner is not decided by the judges but by the public.”
How does judging contrast with dancing with a celebrity partner each year? “I’m enjoying it enormously because I can make the joke that I now make the final every time!” says Anton.
Together again: Anton Du Beke and Giovanni Pernice will reunite for 2025 tour, visiting York Barbican on July 18. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk
“That’s the big thing: I’m now involved for the whole series, even if it’s only 25 seconds of chat per couple, not dancing. That’s the joy for me, always being involved, whereas I never wanted to be voted off when competing because I loved being in it.
“Not one of those couples would rather be out than in, regardless of the circumstances, even if they know a dance has not been great, because the best thing is to be in it. There’s no fun when you’re out.”
His 2025 diary is filling up. “Next year is working out already,” he says. “I’m doing the Strictly tour, January into February, then a spring tour, Anton: The Musicals, a celebration of big musicals with great numbers from the shows and a lovely combination of old and new.”
Look out too for Anton & Giovanni Together Again, The Live Tour, when Du Beke and Pernice play York Barbican on July 18 2025 at 7.30pm.
Anton Du Beke in Christmas With Anton & Friends, York Barbican, December 10, 7.30pm. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Robin Simpson’s Dame Dolly with the magnet of love in Aladdin at York Theatre Royal. Picture: SR Taylor Photography
THIS is York Theatre Royal’s fifth collaboration with regular pantomime award winners Evolution Productions. On Tuesday, a sixth was confirmed for next year when Sleeping Beauty will stir from December 2 2025 to January 4 2026 with Robin Simpson once more as the dotty dame and tickets on sale already.
The partnership is well grooved with tropes established in the writing of Evolution’s Paul Hendy and the casting and direction of Juliet Forster. Not only Simpson’s gregarious, teasing dame but also the presence of a CBeebies star each year; animals, whether live with Zeus the scene-stealing Border Collie last year or in rather more heavy-footed Welly the Elephant puppet form this time; plenty of set-piece spectacle and the obligatory ghost scene (here with the dame’s ghost gag bench).
A profusion of songs across the pop ages shares equal space with a love of putting the pun into punchlines and a preference for verbal wit over physical slapstick, although the latter still has its place.
There is, too, an awareness of changing times and sensitivities, so while we still have a Spirit of the Ring and Genie of the Lamp (both played by CBeebies’ ever-playful Evie Pickerill, chasing her tail breathlessly and singing heartily), now Widow Twankey’s Chinese laundry has made way for Dame Dolly’s Pun shop.
The decision to change ‘Abanazar’ to ‘Ivan Tobebooed’ may be rather more to do with Hendy’s love of a daft name than any PC correctness. Paul Hawkyard, returning to exuberant York villainy after a winter away doing panto in Dubai, had predicted as much at September’s press launch.
Hawkyard has such comic mischief about his burly, volcanic-voiced frame, whether playing Bottom in Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Mardy to Simpson’s Manky in their Ugly Sister double act in Cinderella, or now Ivan, you find yourself wanting to cheer as much as boo him.
Your reviewer would have liked to have seen more scenes with Simpson’s Dame Dolly in comic combat with and Hawkyard’s Ivan, given their rare stage chemistry, affirmed once more by their will-they-won’t-they-kiss shenanigans, but maybe the plot did not permit more of such golden moments.
The comedy is shared out between Pickerill’s double act, Simpson’s sassy, sometimes saucy Dame Dolly, Tommy Carmichael’s daft son Charlie and physical comedy specialist Rowan Armitt-Brewster’s PC World on his return to York after his dextrous turn as Inspector Fox in Around The World In 80 Days-ish this summer.
Armitt-Brewster’s officious officer rather out-stars the affable Carmichael, with better lines, better gags, funnier body movements too, but the children warm to Carmichael’s cheekiness and he plays his part alongside Armitt-Brewster and Simpson in the show’s best call-and-respond set-piece, as fractious as a rap battle when conducted with presses of a button to release a recorded line from a familiar pop hit to express their feelings.
The dame’s audience pick for humiliation, one Adam from the front row, plays his part in a headset in this scene and has an even bigger moment on stage earlier on when delivering a series of deliberately clunky punchlines in a joke shop routine with ‘Terry-Bull’ timing.
Fresh from playing Sonny in the UK tour of Grease, Sario Solomon is a delightfully ever-positive Aladdin, as uplifting as his carpet ride and singing like a dream too, and he is matched by Emily Tang’s Princess Jasmine, thoroughly modern in outlook in being drawn to the personality, not the bank balance.
Clear storytelling and good values (rather than heavy-handed moral messaging) are always strong features of creative director Juliet Forster’s direction, alongside the abundant humour, complemented by Hayley Del Harrison’s sparky, sparkling choreography.
Morgan Brind’s costumes stand out more than his set designs, especially the dame’s merry-go-round of ever-dafter attire. Look out too for one shop sign: Sherlock Combs, Barber, a cut above the norm.
Hendy’s script finds room for cutting observations on York’s parking and potholes and takes pot-shots at Hull and the Grand Opera House pantomime too, and never has he had more fun with a pun in a show where the second half surpasses the first, as should always be the case. All New Adventures Of Peter Pan and Jack And The Beanstalk were superior but there is still plenty to enjoy in Aladdin.
Aladdin runs at York Theatre Royal until January 5 2025. Box office:01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Velma Celli: Chestnuts toasted cabaret style at the Xmas Roast
YORK’S international drag diva deluxe, Velma Celli, hosts a fabulous evening of music, comedy and festive frolics in the Xmas Roast at Impossible York, St Helen’s Square, York, on Sunday at 6pm.
“Come and have yourself a merry Christmas,” says Velma, the Best Cabaret at Perth Fringeworld 2024 award-winning alter ego of West End musical actor and Atlantis Gay Cruises headline act Ian Stroughair, who promises “cabaret meets a partaaaaaay” with sing-alongs too.
“It’ll be a Xmas Roast with all my favourite chestnuts. Very exciting!” he says. “My costume is being made Chloe Moore, who made the black costume for my Show Queen! show at York Theatre in May. I asked her if she could now make one in red and it looks fabulous.”
Velma Celli in the Show Queen red dress designed by Chloe Moore
Recorded in Woodthorpe, York, with The Dandys’ Andy Firth – who also produced fellow York singer and good friend Jessica Steel’s 2022 album Higher Frequencies – it features piano arrangements by Scott Roberts of It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas, The Christmas Song, Last Christmas, Joni Mitchell’s River and Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.
Looking ahead, Velma will be heading out on the road in 2025 for regional and West End dates. These include: March 14, Velma Celli’s God Save The Queens!, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarbough, tickets fromhttps://shorturl.at/JwAHA; March 15, Show Queen!, Skipton Town Hall, tickets from https://shorturl.at/MJVaO; March 29, Show Queen, The Welsh Millennium Centre, Cardiff, tickets from https://shorturl.at/Fv0LR; April 4, A Brief History Of Drag, The Playhouse, Sheffield , tickets from https://shorturl.at/hDDiv, and April 18, Show Queen!, The Beggars Theatre, Millom, Cumbria, tickets from https://shorturl.at/U4W9J.
Velma Celli’s Show Queen tour poster
Further shows follow on May 24, Show Queen!, Cowes Fringe, Cowes, Isle of Wight, tickets on sale in the New Year; May 23, Show Queen, The Stage Door, Southampton, tickets from https://thestagedoor.org.uk/product.php/950; June 2, Show Queen!, The Duchess Theatre, West End, London, tickets from https://shorturl.at/XbL27; June 13, A Brief History Of Drag!, Hull Truck Theatre, tickets from https://shorturl.at/2saW5, and June 20, Show Queen!, Dudley Town Hall, tickets from https://shorturl.at/rnCQX.
In 2024, for a fourth year, Velma participated in Yorktoberfest in the Clocktower Enclosure at York Racecourse, playing to 600 to 1,000 revellers at each party. “It’s chaos but it’s great fun,” says Ian.
Unlike in 2022 and 2023, however, he will not be hosting Castellana in the Sophia Gardens spiegeltent in Cardiff this Christmas season. “I travelled back and forth to Wales for two years for these Christmas shows but there’s only so long you can do five-hour commutes to Cardiff, so I’m not doing Castellana this year,” he reasons.
Ian Stroughair
Did you know?
IAN Stroughair will be performing at York’s Annual Community Carol Concert at York Barbican on December 15 at 2pm. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Isobel Staton’s beatific Mary in York Mystery Plays Supporters Trust’s A Nativity for York. Picture: John Saunders
YORK Mystery Plays Supporters Trust’s new interpretation of the Nativity moves on to St James the Deacon Church Hall, Acomb, tonight (5/12/2024) and tomorrow, then St Oswald’s Church Hall, Fulford, on Saturday.
This chimes with the need to move in a story set in a time of threat when a homeless couple and their newborn baby are driven from home by oppressors.
Past productions have taken place in the Spurriergate Centre in York city centre, but taking a community production out into the community is a potent way to spread the message, all the more so in a year when taking flight has regularly been in the headlines.
CharlesHutchPress attended the Saturday matinee at The Tithe Barn in Nether Poppleton, the most spartan of the three locations, with its bare brickwork and stone-flagged floor, and therefore the closest in spirit to the stable in Bethlehem, albeit bigger and warmer, once the mulled wine served on arrival settled in.
Minstrel/balladeer Jonathan Brockbank sets the tone on Early Music whistle and drum instruments, later accompanying the Angel Choir of Emily Hansen, Trisha Campbell, Val Burgess, Wilma Edwards and Julie Speedie and leading the closing carol, The Bells Of Paradise I Heard Them Ring, with audience participation to boot.
Director Paul Toy’s inspiration for his latest Nativity production was the 1609 prosecution of a troupe of Catholic actors for performing a play that ridiculed a Protestant minister. Based at Egton on the North York Moors, they had established a safe circuit of Catholic gentry households they could tour, but a spy had infiltrated the audience and reported them.
There will surely be no spying, no reporting in 2024, save of the reviewing variety, but Toy’s programme note warrants quoting. “As we are touring a version of the Plays for the first time, I was inspired to set the production as if the Mystery Plays had continued their suppression [banned for ‘Catholic content’ in 1568] but as an underground, illicit activity – depending on secrecy for support of these clandestine performances of a play promoting banned religious doctrine in a time of oppression, always vulnerable to the outside authorities.
“The actors’ interpretation of the plays is influenced by their experience as outsiders.” You can debate whether actors are “outsiders” in today’s world, but reduced arts funding and cuts in arts provision in schools and colleges point to that status returning.
Division and destruction in the actions of Herod are as much at play in A Nativity for York as the message of great joy and hope. Toy’s direction favours the minimalist, the focus falling on the delivery of text and human interaction, rather than a box of theatrical tricks, bells and whistles (except for Brockbank’s).
He has his cast omnipresent, sitting on the benches that line the barn walls when not in scenes, with a raised stage at one end to accommodate stable scenes and Herod’s edicts.
James Tyler’s Herod is both hot-headed and chilling, with Wilma Edwards’s viperous Counsellor urging him to ill action at every opportunity. By way of contrast, Helen Jarvis’s Angel Gabriel has a suitably radiant presence.
The chemistry of Nick Jones’s aged Joseph and Isobel Staton’s young Mary is crucial, and their combination of contrast and yet connection works well. Jones portrays Joseph’s disbelief, puzzlement, yet support with typical attention to detail from this experienced hand, who adds a second woodwind instrument on occasion too. Staton’s Mary is the essence of devoted duty, resolute and loving in all she does.
Michael Maybridge, Sally Maybridge and David Denbigh take on the shepherds’ roles with banter and wonderment, while the Kings – or Wise Men – are played by three Wise Women (Val Burgess, Emily Hansen and Janice Newton). At the play’s close too, when everyone else has left the stage, it is Mary who leads off Joseph.
Amid the starkness of design, one moment has particular resonance: in the soldiers’ slaughter of the innocents, each bairn’s death is signified by a cloak being turned from its black side to its red side. No image is more striking. Models of two cow’s heads in the manger were a rare but welcome artistic flourish.
The choice of music pays dividends for studious research. The Kyrie, for example, was written by Roman Catholic composer William Byrd for a recusant household while the folk carols are suffused with Catholic sensibility too: the outsider in Protestant times.
York Mystery Plays Supporters Trust presents A Nativity for York, St James the Deacon Church Hall, Acomb, December 5 and 6, 7.30pm, then St Oswald’s Church Hall, Fulford, December 7, 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Suitable for adults and children aged 11 plus. Box office: 0333 666 3366, at ympst.co.uk/nativityticketsor on the door, subject to availability.Donations will be welcomed after each performance for the work of UNICEF.
Dani Harmer as Fairy Bon Bon on the Grand Opera House stage in Beauty And The Beast. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
BAFTA award-winning Dani Harmer will appear in Beauty And The Beast for a second time on a York stage from Saturday.
Best known for playing the title role in the CBBC series Tracy Beaker and its sequel Tracy Beaker Returns, from the age of 13, and later My Mum Tracy Beaker in 2021, Harmer will wave her wand as Fairy Bon Bon in UK Productions’ third pantomime season at the Grand Opera House.
In March 2015, she had played Beauty in two performance of the Easter pantomime at York Barbican, where she had taken the title role in Cinderella in December 2012, when she had to miss two shows that clashed with her commitments competing in BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing that season.
In the “craziest fortnight of my life”, Dani had to combine rehearsing each morning at the Barbican and spending each afternoon and evening at the University of York, practising routines with partner Vincent Simone, first for the semi-final, then three for the final: a tango, jive and show dance (Bohemian Rhapsody). “It’s been the best thing I have ever done,” she said at the time.
“I’m super excited to be back in my favourite panto of all time, Beauty And The Beast, which I’d be happy to do each year!” says Bracknell-born Dani, who appeared in the same role at Mansfield Palace Theatre last winter.
Beauty And The Beast principals and ensemble in rehearsals at Central Methodist Church, including Dani Harmer, second from right, back row
“For those that don’t know, I have always been completely obsessed with this story, so it’s a real joy for me to be bringing it to life on stage. And I adore playing the loveable and slightly bonkers Fairy Bon Bon, so cannot wait to put on my wings once more.
“And it’s even more exciting to be coming to the gorgeous city of York! I’m very, very happy to be here. I can’t think of a better place to be spending the Christmas period. So, bring on the Yorkshire puddings.”
Dani has a long history of performing in pantomime. “My first panto was when I was six, as a juvenile. I’m 35 now,” she says. “I went to theatre school from the age of six. It didn’t put me off! Most of what I learnt was on the job.
“I grew up on camera. Your teenage years can be your most difficult, but all my teenage days were spent on camera [filming Tracy Beaker] – and I’m very grateful that social media was not around then. I don’t know if I’d still be an actor now if it had been.”
Now she is waving her wand as Fairy Bon Bon for the second year running. “Playing Fairy, you can take the role two ways. You can be a Fairy Godmother, like a mother figure to a princess, or you can go the more non-traditional fairy route, where I’m loud and energetic and not quite sure what’s going to come out of my mouth!
Dani Harmer as Beauty in Beauty And The Beast at York Barbican in 2015
“So you can expect the unexpected with this show. You get the story but there are also twists and turns you won’t expect.”
The script comes from the pen of 2019 Great British Pantomime Award winner Jon Monie. “I’ve had the pleasure of working with him a few times,” says Dani. “He was my Buttons when I was Cinderella – I just adore that man.”
Dani will forever be associated with Tracy Beaker, the childhood role she resumed as an adult in My Mum Tracy Beaker. “We were one of the first shows to go back into the studio after the pandemic, having been postponed,” she recalls.
“Playing Tracy again was like wearing a nice, comfy pair of slippers. I loved playing her. I’m a fan, like everyone else, where I’m desperate to see where she goes next!”
What first made Tracy so popular, Dani? “I think she just came around at a good time when TV was male dominated and comedy was male dominated, where we grew up with the Chuckle Brothers – I was a fan – but along came this female-led series, just when Grange Hill had finished,” she says.
Beauty And The Beast cast members Phil Reid, Dani Harmer, Leon Craig and Phil Atkinson pose by Clifford’s Tower. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
“I was 13 years old and Jacqueline Wilson’s stories were just magical. You always found something to relate to – and the way the BBC adapted stories, they just nailed it in the scripts. It might make me feel old now but I love the stories and there’s a lot to be said for nostalgia.”
Dani recalls an eye-opening role that brought her to Yorkshire in 2013 to play timid, naive but maybe not-so-innocent Janet Weiss in The Rocky Horror Show in 2013 at Leeds Grand Theatre. “She really does go through a transition, doesn’t she!” she says.
“It was such a joy to do because it couldn’t have been further from anything I’d done before, going from being a teenage lass on a TV show to being in my underwear on stage with a transvestite scientist seducing me!
“The producers took a leap of faith with me and my fans loved it! Rocky Horror fans will stick with you so I was really thankful that they loved it as they’ll tell you when they don’t rate you!”
UK Productions presents Beauty And The Beast at Grand Opera House, York, from December 7 to January 5 2025. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Meet the Grand Opera House pantomime stars: Phil Atkinson’s Hugo Pompidou, left, Jennifer Caldwell’s Belle, Dani Harmer’s Fairy Bon Bon, Leon Craig’s Polly La Plonk, Samuel Wyn-Morris’s Prince and Phil Reid’s Louis La Plonk
