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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond at the height of Christmas cheer. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 46, from Gazette & Herald

Helen Spencer’s Fagin in Pick Me Up Theatre’s production of Deborah McAndrew’s Oliver Twist at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York

THE myriad delights of Christmas entertainment shine through Charles Hutchinson’s tips to vacate the festive fireside.

Dickens at Christmas, but not A Christmas Carol: Pick Me Up Theatre in Oliver Twist, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, until December 30. 7.30pm performances on December 18 to 21, 27, 28 and 30, plus 2.30pm Saturday and Sunday matinees. No performances on December 23 to 26

HELEN Spencer takes the director’s reins and plays Fagin in York company Pick Me Up Theatre’s staging of Deborah McAndrew’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’s 1838 novel, described as a “a new version of Oliver with a festive twist”.

Not to be confused with Lionel Bart’s musical Oliver!, it does feature musical arrangements by John Biddle to to complement Dickens’s tale of Oliver Twist being brought up in a workhouse, sold into an apprenticeship and recruited by Fagin’s band of pickpockets and thieves as he sinks into London’s grimy underworld in his search for a home, a family and love. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Northern Ballet in A Christmas Carol: Festive favourite makes its return to Leeds Grand Theatre

Christmas ballet of the week: Northern Ballet in A Christmas Carol, Leeds Grand Theatre, until January 4 2025

FIRST choreographed by Massimo Morricone and directed by Christopher Gable in 1992, Northern Ballet’s retired landmark production of A Christmas Carol is being revisited by director Federico Bonelli to the glee of longtime supporters and new audiences alike.

“Charles Dickens’s classic Victorian tale of redemption, with its message of human kindness and compassion, is something that resonates with us all, especially at this time of year,” says Bonelli. “Its iconic characters lend themselves so well to ballet”, complemented by Lez Brotherston’s colourful sets and costumes and Carl Davis’s festive score. Box office: 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.

The poster for HAC Around The Tree, the last show of 2024 at Helmsley Arts Centre

Festive celebration of the week: HAC Around The Tree, Helmsley Arts Centre, tomorrow, 7.30pm

JOIN the Helmsley Arts Centre Singers, 1812 Theatre Company, 1812 Youth Theatre, Ryedale Writers and invited guests for an evening of theatre, music, poetry and prose around the Christmas tree. The bar will be serving mulled wine and mince pies to spark up the festive spirit in Helmsley Arts Centre’s last event of 2024. Box office:  01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Step Into Christmas: Festive hit after festive hit at York Barbican

Christmas songs galore: Step Into Christmas, York Barbican, tomorrow, 7.30pm

THIS feel-good Christmas show brings all the magic of the season to musical life with favourite festive songs, from All I Want For Christmas Is You, Last Christmas, Jingle Bell Rock, Stay Another Day and Let It Snow to White Christmas, Do They Know It’s Christmas, A Winter’s Tale and Merry Xmas Everybody. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Chapter House Choir: Choral music old and new in the Nave of York Minster

Carol concert of the week: Chapter House Choir, Carols By Candlelight, York Minster Nave, Friday, 7.30pm, doors 6.45pm

THE Chapter House Choir, directed by musical director Benjamin Morris, combine with the Chapter House Youth Choir, directed by Charlie Gower-Smith, for this ever-popular candle-lit concert, first performed in 1965 and now held in the Nave. In addition to traditional choral music old and new, festive music will be played by the chamber choir’s Handbell Ringers. For returned tickets only, check yorkminster.org/whats-on/event/carols-by-candlelight/or contact 01904 557256.

Gary Stewart: Presenting tributes to Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours and Paul Simon’s Graceland at York Barbican

Tribute gig of the week: Gary Stewart presents Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours and Paul Simon’s Graceland, York Barbican, Friday, 8pm

SCOTTISH-BORN Easingwold musician Gary Stewart presents Weetwood Mac and his Graceland band in a celebration of two career-defining works, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, from 1977, and Paul Simon’s Graceland, from 1986. “With combined sales of more than 50 million worldwide, both albums have stood the test of time and are cherished to this day,” says Stewart.

“Littered with gossip and controversy, Rumours and Graceland elevated their artists to new heights of popularity, inspiring the popular music canon for decades to come. This evening celebrates a time of artistic discovery and re-creates the excitement of the era, with these seminal albums lovingly interpreted by some of today’s finest touring musicians.” Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Mike Newall: Laidback storytelling at York Barbican

Comedy gig of the week: Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club Christmas Special, York Barbican, featuring Mike Newall, Friday, 8pm

MANCUNIAN Mike Newall, who appeared on Britain’s Got Talent, takes top billing on with his laidback storytelling, Swiss clock timing and tack-sharp turn of phrase. “He’s like your best, most humorous friend – only funnier,” says promoter and master of ceremonies Damion Larkin. Two support acts feature too. Box office: lolcomedyclubs.co.uk or yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Holly Cassidy with the puppet of Cracker in A Christmas Cracker at Friargate Theatre, York. Picture: Tom Jackson

Alternative Nativity play of the week: Riding Lights Theatre Company in A Christmas Cracker, Friargate Theatre, York, December 21 to 24, 11am and 1.30pm each day; 6pm, first three days; 4pm, last day

IN Paul Birch’s first play as artistic director of Riding Lights, world-famous storyteller Ebenezer Sneezer is lost, with snow in her wellies and faithful canine companion Cracker full of strange ideas about Christmas.

When caught taking shelter in Mrs McGinty’s barn, she allows them to stay on the condition that Ebenezer brings her glad tidings with her stories. If so, a hot supper awaits. If not, exit pronto. Ebenezer must triumph over not only Mrs McGinty’s frozen heart but also Deadly, a dastardly donkey ready to kick comfort and joy out of his stable. Box office: 01904 613000 or ticketsource.co.uk/ridinglights.

The Snowman: Two screenings with a live orchestra at York Barbican

Christmas film event of the week: The Snowman with Live Orchestra, York Barbican, Sunday, 1pm and 4pm

CARROT Productions presents two screenings of Dianne Jackson and Jimmy T Murakami’s animated 1982 film with the accompaniment of a live orchestra of professional musicians.

Raymond Briggs’s story of a young boy’s Christmas snowman magically coming to life for a journey to meet Santa Claus will be shown with The Snowman And The Snowdog at 1pm and The Bear, The Piano, The Dog And The Fiddle at 4pm. Each show includes a fun introduction to the orchestra and a visit from the Snowman himself. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

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Helen Spencer takes on double challenge of playing gang boss Fagin and directing Oliver Twist for Pick Me Up Theatre

Helen Spencer’s Fagin in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Oliver Twist at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York

IN a new twist, the opening of Pick Me Up Theatre’s Oliver Twist at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, is being delayed by a day through cast illness.

All being well, the curtain will now rise on the York company’s winter production on Wednesday night.

At the show’s helm both on stage and off is Helen “Bells” Spencer, who is not only playing Fagin in Deborah McAndrew’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’s 1838 novel, but also has taken over the director’s seat from producer and designer Robert Readman five weeks ago.

“Robert started rehearsals while I was still rehearsing Last Five Years [Black Sheep Theatre Productions and Wharfemede  Productions’ November musical at the NCEM], so I wasn’t available until that was over, and then, after a while, he asked me to step in, taking over his vision.

“I’ve worked with Robert a lot over the last couple of years, so I know how his mind works. When Pick Me Up had to pull the original dates for Young Frankenstein, I took over the reins with Andrew Isherwood to re-mount the production, but this is a slightly different situation from that one, as we’re still working to Robert’s ideas.

Playwright Deborah McAndrew

“We have a lot of mutual respect, so I can crack on, but it’s certainly a challenge that so many young people are in it. We have two ‘teams’: two Olivers, two Dodgers, two Roses, two Bets and ‘Children’s’ roles too; there are about 12 young people in all, ranging from eight to 17, so I’m working with a big age differences in the young cast.”

Not to be confused with Lionel Bart’s musical Oliver!, McAndrew’s stage adaptation “on the surface looks like an easy show, but it’s definitely not,” says Helen. “It’s incredibly complex, and one of the things that makes it harder is that no-one knows the songs in the way they do with Oliver! – and there are no recordings, bar for one song.”

Devised at the Bolton Octagon and staged at Hull Truck Theatre in December 2018 as “a new version of Oliver with a festive twist!”, McAndrew’s adaptation is an ensemble piece. “There’s a Greek-style chorus commenting on what’s happening and actors taking on different roles, so it’s quite a different way of working to what most people are used to in musical theatre,” says Helen.

“It’s not like coming on, singing a solo and going off, so the logistics have been more complex, especially when you have no familiarity with the score. I feel like what we got was the script and the basic score and we’ve tried to create our version with the actors we have and the musicians we have.

“I’m really glad I haven’t seen it before as we just want to do a version that makes sense to us, with the core adult cast pulling together to create the ensemble, and some of the adversity we’ve experienced has worked to our advantage.”

Into the dark: James Willstrop’s Bill Sikes

Readman has designed the set with a bridge across the stage. “We’ve been lucky to get into the theatre early enough to work on the show with the set in place. It  will look fantastic, very atmospheric, and not what people might expect at all,” says Helen.

“The show will have Christmassy moments but it will have a darkness to it too to allow characters like James Willstrop’s Bill Sikes to be really horrible, which has been a real joy in rehearsals.

“When you think of actors like James, Jennie Wogan-Wells [who plays Nancy] and me, we’re very happy to do musical theatre, with James as the classic leading man, Jennie as the bright-eyed leading lady, and me doing comic parts, so I think people will be surprised to see us in these darker roles – though I used to do straight acting roles before musical theatre and I always enjoyed playing serious parts.”

Helen will play Fagin, who runs a band of pickpockets and thieves in London’s grimy Victorian underworld, where Oliver is the new recruit in his search for a home, family and love. “I suppose the most obvious thing to say is that I’m a female and the original was not,” she says.

“We had a discussion about whether I should play it as a woman, or a women playing a man, and we decided to lean into being a female taking on a male part, so all the references are still to ‘he’ and ‘him’. I’m playing him as an old man.

Tracey Rea’s Widow Corney and Nick Sephton’s Mr Bumble in a scene from Pick Me Up Theatre’s Oliver Twist

“We decided to see how it would feel, and it does feel right. The way the script has been written, it is right to do it this way, rather than make it wholly appropriate to a woman. It’s so exciting to play a male character, which I would never do normally.

“To have the chance to do that, having a face-off and a bit of fisticuffs with Sikes, it’s so liberating, even though he’s an older, frailer man, because if you were an older woman you wouldn’t deliver it that way.”

Describing the music, Helen says: “What strikes me is that they’re not conventional songs; they are more conversational songs, no big numbers, but there are a couple of fun chorus bits. It’s very much about creating the atmosphere in the scenes, rather than through big numbers and big choreography.

“What we need is the actors’ expertise because the songs are difficult and the text is difficult, and that’s been a challenge for even our most experienced cast members, but everyone has risen to it.”

Pick Me Up Theatre in Oliver Twist, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, December 18 to 30, 7.30pm, except December 23 to 26 and 29; Saturday and Sunday matinees, 2.30pm. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Who’s in Pick Me Up Theatre’s cast for Oliver Twist?

Frankie Whitford: Playing Oliver Twist in Oliver Twist at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York

Oliver Twist – Frankie Whitford/Logan Willstrop; Fagin – Helen Spencer; Mr Bumble – Nick Sephton; Widow Corney – Tracey Rea; Mr Sowerberry and Mr Brownlow – Neil Foster; Mrs Sowerberry and Mrs Bedwin – Rhian Wells; Noah Claypole – Matthew Warry; Charlotte Sowerberry – Ruby Salter; Artful Dodger – Libby Greenhill/Reuben Baines; Nancy – Jennie Wogan-Wells; Bill Sikes – James Willstrop; Bet – Rosie Musk/Tempi Singhateh; Rose – Isla Whitford/Rosie Musk; Dr Grimwig – Rich Musk; Children – Lao Singhateh, Matilda Foster, Tempi Singhateh and Bea Wells.

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REVIEW: Mat Jones in A Christmas Carol, Friargate Theatre, York, tonight ***1/2

Storyteller Mat Jones. Picture: Vintage Verse

IN the tradition of Charles Dickens himself, solo storytelling performances of his festive fable A Christmas Carol abound on the Yorkshire winter calendar.

After York Gothic actor James Swanton’s annual return to York Medical Society and doyen of the one-man show Guy Masterson’s spellbinding account with music by Robb Williams at Kirk Theatre, Pickering, Bedfordshire actor Mat Jones visits Friargate Theatre for two nights.

Into the black-box theatre setting Jones places a black lectern and a single smidgeon of a candle, as stingy as miserly Scrooge would allow Bob Cratchit.

Heralded from the dark by a plaintive violin, Jones arrives on stage in white shirt, brocade waistcoat, flourishing bow tie, dark trousers and polished black leather shoes. He will not add a single prop, relying entirely on variety of voice and storytelling powers, complemented by occasional sound effects for a banging door, church bells and graveyard crows.

Five months of preparation have gone into this two-act presentation built around Dickens’s own original performance text condensing the ghost story into 90 minutes. Dickens gave 127 “lively and emotional” public readings of this work from 1853 to 1870, noted for his “altering of expression, accent and gesture to play the characters”.

Jones follows that template in his meticulous, measured, authentic account, as strong on movement as characterisation as he conducts the seamless flow between narrator and Scrooge’s troubled yet redemptive night of haunting encounters with Jacob Marley and the Spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet To Come.

From the Fezziwigs to the Cratchits, he conjures the Victorian world, the grief-stricken Bob returning from his son Tiny Tim’s grave being a particularly affecting moment.

Humour plays its part too, both in description and mannerism, in a performance that testifies to the power of kindness as a heart is transformed from cold to warm and spirits bring out the best in the human spirit. God bless us, every one, that Dickens’s story comes alive anew, as resonant as ever, every Christmas.

Mat Jones: A Christmas Carol, Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate, York, tonight at 7.30pm. Box office: 01904 613000 or friargatetheatre.co.uk.

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Riding Lights artistic director Paul Birch serves up ‘alternative’ Nativity play A Christmas Cracker at Friargate Theatre

It’s a Cracker: Holly Cassidy with the puppet dog in A Christmas Cracker. Picture: Tom Jackson

WRITER and artistic director Paul Birch is staging his first play since taking the reins of Riding Lights Theatre Company at Friargate Theatre, York, in July.

On tour from November 25 to December 18, A Christmas Cracker will conclude its travels with a home run in York from December 21 to 24.

Introducing a magical show packed with comedy, puppetry and seasonal storytelling for all the family, Paul says: “Things are not going well for world-famous storyteller Ebenezer Sneezer. She’s lost. There is snow in her wellies and her wise and faithful dog, Cracker, has some strange ideas about Christmas.

“Caught taking shelter in Mrs McGinty’s barn, she allows them to stay on condition that Ebenezer warm up her Christmas with some of her seasonal stories. If they bring her enough glad tidings, there’s a hot supper on the cards. If not, they will be thrown back out into the storm.

“With Mrs McGinty’s frozen heart in need of a magnificent miracle and Deadly the dastardly donkey ready to kick comfort and joy out of his stable, will Ebenezer triumph? Despite turbulent turkeys and hysterical hay fights, she has a plan and some tremendous tales to turn things around.”

Full of Birch’s trademark humour, “it’s kind of an alternative, unusual way into the Nativity story,” he says. “I would say it’s like a cross between Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run in its tone, and hopefully it pulls off that Pixar trick, where the whole family can sit down and enjoy it together.

Riding Lights artistic director Paul Birch, right, with executive director Oliver Brown outside Friargate Theatre

“It’s a play about communicating the importance of love, the importance of perseverance and the wonder and power of storytelling.

“So it’s a re-working of the Christmas story that also recognises that the act of storytelling itself has such a powerful effect on people. Part of the play shows how stories can be harmful too, where we have the ‘villains of the piece’  not actually being villains but playing out roles when they’ve been treated as villains, but then they discover that’s not the true story at all.”

Paul continues: “Stories are not just something we tell to each other but they also shape us. It’s about re-discovering the stories we tell and how we tell them to each other.

“It’s very difficult to live with the cynicism of our age. One of the things I think about the Creation story, whether you think the story is true or not, is that people can be transformed for the better and there is hope in that.

“Christian stories or stories of other faiths have hope embedded in them, and we have to come back to the hope that we can be better, we can make things better. What links His Last Report [next summer’s community play about the life and legacy of Seebohm Rowntree that Riding Lights will be doing with York Theatre Royal] and A Christmas Cracker is the common theme of the power of human beings to change things for the better.

“Maybe that is the case with all theatre: that thing of what happens as a result of that change into a new story. It’s not that stories simply go, ‘here is the message’, but that it is a point of connection between audience members and connection between theatre-makers and their audience.

Grace Hussey-Burd and Holly Cassidy in a scene in Riding Lights Theatre Company’s winter show A Christmas Cracker. Picture: Tom Jackson

“We’re trying to make sense of the world, not providing answers, but seeing new opportunities through new ideas.”

Paul points to the ever-changing shape of theatre being one of its prime strengths. “The difference between film or other recorded media and theatre is that they cannot be changed, but theatre can do that with each performance. It will change and shift, and not only the performers, but the audience too – and when theatre is good, it’s a dialogue between the two. That’s not to say it might not have clear provocations within it, but it always needs to be responsive.”

Paul first wrote A Christmas Cracker more than a decade ago. “I did re-write it for this production and even now I would re-work it again. We are always re-tuning. Watching with a young audience is always really interesting because they will tell you when it’s working and when it’s not.”

Paul’s hour-long play is directed by Erin Burbridge, retaining the Burbridge family involvement in Christian theatre company Riding Lights after the death of company founder Paul in May 2023. Her cast features Grace Hussey-Burd as Ebeneezer Sneezer and Holly Cassidy as Cracker and Mrs McGinty, with York actress Claire Morley on understudy duty.

Time to get cracking to secure tickets.

Riding Lights Theatre Company in A Christmas Cracker, Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate, York, December 21 to 24. Performances: 11am, 1.30pm and 6pm, December 21 to 23; 11am, 1.30pm and 4pm, December 24. Box office: 01904 655317or ridinglights.org/achristmascracker.

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More Things To Do in York & beyond as sprites & seagulls step into Christmas. Hutch’s List No. 51, from The Press, York

Pocklington Arts Centre cast members Levi Payne, left, Caitlin Townend and Dylan Allcock in Jack Frost’s Christmas Wish

CHRISTMAS shows dominate Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations but there is still room to fit in comedy and a homeward-bound singer-songwriter too.

East Riding Christmas play of the week: Jack Frost’s Christmas Wish, Pocklington Arts Centre, until 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.

Saving Scarborough: Stephen Brailsford’s Captain Cliff in Captain Cliff & The Seagull Squad at the SJT. Picture: Tony Bartholomew

Coastal children’s play of the week: Captain Cliff & The Seagull Squad, The McCarthy, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, until 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, who must 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.

Mike Newall: Laidback storytelling at Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club

Comedy gigs of the week: Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club Christmas Specials, York Barbican, Michael Legge, tonight; Mike Newall, December 20, both 8pm

TONIGHT’S headliner, Michael Legge, combines improvised irreverence with spiky tongue-in-cheek antics. “This livewire performer has ‘funny’ popping out of him at every opportunity,” says promoter and master of ceremonies Damion Larkin.

Mancunian Mike Newall, who appeared on Britain’s Got Talent, takes top billing on Friday with his laidback storytelling, Swiss clock timing and tack-sharp turn of phrase. “He’s like your best, most humorous friend – only funnier,” says Larkin. Both nights will feature two support acts too. Box office: lolcomedyclubs.co.uk or yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Ian Stroughair: Performing at York’s Annual Community Carol Concert

York’s Annual Community Carol Concert, York Barbican, Sunday 2pm

YORK RI Golden Rail Band, Knavesmire Primary School, Heworth Community Choir and Ian Stroughair, York’s West End showman behind drag diva Velma Celli, join forces for an afternoon of Christmas carols and songs.

Regular participant  Steve Cassidy will sing with the ensemble, while the community singing will be led by musical director Mike Pratt. Proceeds go to the Lord Mayor and Sheriff of York’s Christmas Cheer Fund and York Hospital Radio. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Snow queen of folk: Kate Rusby’s Winter Light tour arrives at York Barbican on December 17

Christmas folk 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, bolstered by the Brass Boys quintet. Look out for the fancy-dress finale. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Sam Griffiths: Singer, songwriter and frontman of The Howl And The Hum. Picture: Stewart Baxter

Christmas double joy of the week: Please Please You & Brudenell Presents present The Howl & The Hum, The Crescent, York, full band band show, December 17, 7.30pm; solo show, December 18, 7pm

IN the wake of a sublime sold-out gig at Leeds Irish Centre on November 15 and the autumn release of second album Same Mistake Twice, York band The Howl & The Hum end the year with their now obligatory festive celebrations at The Crescent.

Frontman and songwriter Sam Griffiths will be joined by his full band – saxophonist and keyboard player Matthew Herd, drummer Dave Hamblett, guitarist Arun Thavasothy and bass player Naomi McLeod – on Tuesday night and will then play an intimate, stripped-back, seated solo show on Wednesday. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.

The poster for Step Into Christmas at York Barbican

Christmas songs galore: Step Into Christmas, York Barbican, December 19, 7.30pm

THIS feel-good Christmas show brings all the magic of the season to musical life with favourite festive songs, from All I Want For Christmas Is You, Last Christmas, Jingle Bell Rock, Stay Another Day and Let it Snow to White Christmas, Do They Know It’s Christmas, A Winter’s Tale and Merry Xmas Everybody. 

Meanwhile, the Barbican’s 7.30pm screening of the Christmas rom-com The Holiday with a live orchestra on December 16 has sold out. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Homeward bound: Benjamin Francis Leftwich will make a sold-out return to York on December 19

Homecoming of the week: The Crescent & Brudenell presents Benjamin Francis Leftwich, National Centre for Early Music, York, December 19, 7.30pm

“I FEEL like there’s nowhere for me to hide on this record,” says York-born singer-songwriter Benjamin Francis Leftwich of Some Things Break, his fifth album, released in February. “I’m proud of so much of my earlier work, but trying to replicate that now would feel very obsequious and fake. I’m proud of this – it’s from the heart.”

Now living in London, Leftwich heads back to his home city for a sold-out show in the quietude of St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate.  Nadia Kadek supports. Box office for returns only: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

Chapter House Choir: Choral music old and new in Carols By Candlelight

Carol concert of the week: Chapter House Choir, Carols By Candlelight, York Minster Nave, December 20, 7.30pm, doors 6.45pm

THE Chapter House Choir, directed by musical director Benjamin Morris, combine with the Chapter House Youth Choir, directed by Charlie Gower-Smith, for this ever-popular candle-lit concert, first performed in 1965 and now held in the Nave. In addition to traditional choral music old and new, festive music will be played by the chamber choir’s Handbell Ringers. For returned tickets only, check yorkminster.org/whats-on/event/carols-by-candlelight/or contact 01904 557256.

Holly Cassidy with the puppet of Cracker in A Christmas Cracker at Friargate Theatre

Alternative Nativity play of the week: Riding Lights Theatre Company in A Christmas Cracker, Friargate Theatre, York, December 21 to 24, 11am and 1.30pm each day; 6pm, first three days; 4pm, last day

IN Paul Birch’s first play as artistic director of Riding Lights, world-famous storyteller Ebenezer Sneezer is lost, with snow in her wellies and faithful canine companion Cracker full of strange ideas about Christmas.

When caught taking shelter in Mrs McGinty’s barn, she allows them to stay on the condition that Ebenezer brings her glad tidings with her stories. If so, a hot supper awaits. If not, exit pronto. Ebenezer must triumph over not only Mrs McGinty’s frozen heart but also Deadly, a dastardly donkey ready to kick comfort and joy out of his stable. Box office: 01904 613000 or ticketsource.co.uk/ridinglights. 

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. Box office: ticketmaster.co.uk.

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REVIEW: Beauty And The Beast, Grand Opera House, York, until January 5 ***1/2

Magical performance: Dani Harmer’s Fairy Bon Bon in Beauty And The Beast at the Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick

SUDDENLY there are more similarities between the Grand Opera House and York Theatre Royal shows than at any time in more than three decades of reviewing York’s professional pantomimes. They even share their closing date.

Dowager dame Berwick Kaler is performing at neither theatre after hanging up his boots (except on The Archers!); both theatres have a sustained relationship with a commercial partner, Martin Dodd and UK Productions for a third year at the GOH, writer-producer Paul Hendy and Evolution Productions for a fifth season at the Theatre Royal.

Both writers, Jon Monie for Beauty And The Beast and Hendy for Aladdin, are Great British Pantomime Award winners. Both theatres have confirmed their return next year for the already announced Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty.

In the frame: Phil Atkinson’s Hugo Pompidou giving it large in Beauty And The Beast. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick

Once upon a time, the Grand Opera House was considered to be the pantomime for younger audiences, the Theatre Royal playing to devotees of Dame Berwick’s unique panto brio and banter with David Leonard, Martin Barrass and Suzy Cooper. Now, both shows put children’s entertainment to the fore.

Just as Evolution heralded a new broom at the Theatre Royal in 2020-2021, now UK Productions are bringing a new face to the Grand Opera House show, or more to the point, new faces, faces with abundant West End and TV credits. They have bonded in the hothouse of less than a fortnight’s rehearsals with ebullient, ultra-efficient Scottish director George Ure in central York.

The result is a slick show full of rousing singing, highly proficient ensemble scenes, a relish for the power of storytelling and bags of comedy set-pieces. Watching the 10.30am Thursday matinee surrounded by primary schoolchildren found double entendres sailing over young heads like a Joe Root reverse ramp, but this is surely the sauciest mainstream pantomime York has ever seen.

Shall we dance? Jennifer Caldwell’s Belle and Samuel Wyn-Morris’s Beast in Beauty And The Beast. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick

Not a blue panto in the post-watershed Jim Davidson style, I stress, but certainly closer to the knuckle, tongue pushed further into cheeks than even Dame Berwick’s fruitier latter-day shows in his Theatre Royal pomp.  

The prime source of the sauce is Leon Craig, a towering presence of a highly experienced dame, all 6ft 7 of her Polly La Plonk in boots and high-rise wigs, who owns the York stage from the off, full of lip and lip gloss, camp cheek and dress dazzle.

Craig is a musical theatre specialist and his singing duly hits the heights here. Playing the Beast’s cook, his dame is both supportive and disruptive, as the role dictates, and his bond with the show’s clown, comedian Phil Reid as his son Louis La Plonk, sparks slapstick aplenty.

Clowning around: Phil Reid’s Louis La Plonk. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick

Reid, quick on his feet and in the head, works a treat with the children, all keen to be in his gang, not least the three picked out to join him stage for Choo Choo Wa, this show’s variation on the traditional song-sheet number that has everyone off their feet joining in.

The star on the show poster – as she is quick to remind us in her rap battle with Phil Atkinson’s villainous hunk Hugo Pompidou – is Tracy Beaker’s Dani Harmer, who previously appeared in Beauty And The Beast at York Barbican in 2015. She was Beauty in that Easter panto; now she is a no-nonsense Fairy Bon Bon, with a love-a-duck London accent and platform shoes, always game for a laugh, especially in that rap scrap.

Atkinson’s Hugo Pompidou, Craig’s match in double entendres, sends up his vainglorious villain with an ‘Allo ‘Allo! French accent and a keenness to show off his pecs at every opportunity.  

Ooh…you are Eiffel: The towering Leon Craig’s dame, Polly La Plonk. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick

Jennifer Caldwell first caught the eye at the Grand Opera House as Anne Boleyn, the peachiest role in Six The Musical. Her rather more conservative but equally resolute Belle is both a knock-out singer and thoroughly lovely foil to all the silliness around her, both in her scenes with her impoverished artist father Clement (David Alcock) and especially with Samuel Wyn-Morris’s stentorian-voiced Beast.  

Wyn-Morris gives the show’s five-star performance, his singing rich and thunderous, his characterisation full of depth not usually to be found in pantomime. His scenes with Caldwell’s Belle are worthy of a proper, grown-up, serious romantic drama.

Ure’s assured direction is complemented by Alex Codd’s choreography, with room aplenty for an ensemble of Villagers and children’s teams from Dance Expression School of Dance and Lisa Marie Performing Arts, who are sharing performances. Musical director Arlene McNaught leads her three-piece orchestra with snap and crackle in the pop tunes.

Beauty And The Beast director George Ure

This is a polished pantomime whose one failing is that it could be playing anywhere in the country. It does not have enough acknowledgement of York and Yorkshire, with only perfunctory mentions of Wetwang and Ripon and a dig at Leeds United’s FA Cup incompetence.

The best pantos dip into a city’s culture, but if that is a missed opportunity, the show does make the most of its Camembert setting, oozing  in cheesy gags, French references and unforgettable Tricolour pants for Atkinson’s pompous Pompidou.    

UK Productions present Beauty And The Beast, Grand Opera House, York, until January 5 2025. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

David Alcock’s Clement and Jennifer Caldwell’s Belle in Beauty And The Beast. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
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What happens when Sleeping Beauty meets Beauty And The Beast? Badapple Theatre make a pantomime mash-up

Writer-director Richard Kay rehearsing Badapple Theatre Company’s Sleeping Beauty And The Beast

THREE actors, two pantomimes, one hour, what could possibly go wrong in Badapple Theatre Company’s panto mash-up Sleeping Beauty And The Beast?

The intrepid trio of Richard Galloway (in his third Badapple show), Pip Cook (in her second) and Livy Potter (in her Badapple debut) will “go where no pantomimers have ever gone before” in the Green Hammerton touring troupe’s madcap marriage of Sleeping Beauty and Beauty And The Beast by York writer, director and composer Richard Kay

From tomorrow’s first preview in Sutton upon Derwent Village Hall until closing night at St John’s Church, Sharow, on January 5 2025, audiences can join Fairy Naturel and friends as they try to thwart the evil potion plant-poisoning plans of the Wicked Witch of The West (of Yorkshire) and save Belle and Beauty from their storybook fates.

Expect classic pantomime japes, songs and costume changes galore as Badapple, in association with Rural Arts On Tour, undertake a joyous rollercoaster panto mash-up for all ages, all from the safety and comfort of a village hall, as Galloway plays the Wicked Witch and Cook and Potter the roles of Belle and Beauty plus multiple more roles each.

“The real world can be pretty scary at the moment, so this pantomime will provide some much-needed escapism on your doorstep,” says Richard. “Filled with the magic and glitz of a larger-scale panto packaged into your local hall, featuring multi-talented performers, cheaper ticket prices and less need to travel, you’ve got a festive theatre experience you can bring the whole family to without breaking the Christmas budget!”

Livy Potter: York actress making her Badapple debut in Sleeping Beauty And The Beast

This autumn, buoyed by Arts Council England funding, Badapple are already on tour with company founder and artistic director Kate Bramley’s new show Polaris The Snow Bear: “a classic Badapple family show with the usual comedy, puppets, songs, mayhem and a touch of snowy wonder  as Polaris and sidekick Sammy seek to save the Polar world – and Christmas itself”.

Now, after 26 years of performing original shows in the smallest and hardest-to-reach rural venues both regionally and nationwide, Sleeping Beauty & The Beast breaks new ground for Badapple. “This is the first Badapple show in which Kate has had pretty much no involvement,” says Richard. “That’s  quite some trust in me to have that honour, but it’s still very much true to the brand.

“The show came about in a slightly roundabout way. I’d performed in pantomime for many years, and in terms of writing, I’ve done a lot for York Maize and the York Castle Museum, and storytelling shows for Brimham Brocks too, walking around the rocks.

“The three-hander York Maize shows are very pantomimic in style, and I also did a show for York BID and Little Vikings, just before Covid, called The Hunt For The Magical Chocolatey Chips.”

At the same time, Richard has played his part in Badapple for ten years, co-directing and performing in a couple of shows and running the youth theatre, writing and directing Christmas shows for casts of up to 30.

Richard Galloway’s Wicked Witch of the West (Yorkshire) and Pip Cook’s Belle in rehearsal for Sleeping Beauty And The Beast

“So we had some ideas for doing Sleeping Beauty and Beauty And The Beast and Kate thought it would work well on tour. We were very lucky that Rural Arts [based in The Courthouse, Thirsk] contacted us at the start of the year to ask us to pitch to do their Christmas tour offering. They liked the idea of how these two stories go together so nicely,” he says.

“The brief was to write an hour-long panto with all the familiar elements and all the usual capers but with a cast of only three.

“So we’re doing a show with multi-roling, puppetry, pop songs and some original songs that I’ve written. We love the idea of blending two pantomimes, and because we’re an eco-conscious company, it’s also a pantomime with an eco-theme, where the Wicked Witch is destroying the planet with her potion boiling  but there is a prophesy that either Belle or Beauty will save the Earth, so the Wicked Witch wants to nobble both of them.”

What happened when he put the two stories together? “It’s been interesting to see where it went. Because Badapple tours to villages, I knew I wanted to set it in two neighbouring villages and then see how one could save the other,” says Richard.

“We’re also  delighted to have a set design by William Fricker, an old friend of mine that I’ve worked with before, who co-designed Hansel & Gretel at Shakespeare’s Globe and has created a wonderful proscenium arch set for us.”

Pip Cook: Following up the autumn tour of Badapple’s The Regalettes with Sleeping Beauty And The Beast

Fresh from making her Badapple debut in the autumn tour of Kate Bramley’s The Regalettes, Pip Cook is piling up the roles in Sleeping Beauty And The Beast. “I’m playing seven!” she says confidently. “Belle, the King, the Queen, Mother, Father, David Dimwit, David Attenborough.”

Later in this conversation in a break at Tuesday’s rehearsal in Hunsingore, it turns out she will be playing a Prince too. “Oh yes! I forgot about that one!”  she says.

“I play some of the characters at the same time: Mother and Father as puppets on each hand, and the King and Quen dashing on and off. It’s pretty manic.

“I absolutely love the Badapple style: I had loads of fun – and lots of moustaches – in The Regalettes, which was a typical Badapple show with a lot of heart and a message as well as comedy [in a play set in the 1930s in the fictional Yorkshire village of Bottledale, where a new movie premières at the tiny Regal cinema].”

Beauty is Livy Potter’s latest role as she settles into focusing on a freelance professional acting career, as well as writing and arts marketing, after working at York Theatre Royal and the University of York and being chair of the York Settlement Community Players.

Livy Potter’s Beauty, left, and Pip Cook’s Belle rehearsing a scene from Badapple Theatre Company’s Sleeping Beauty And The Beast

“I haven’t seen Badapple’s work in the past but I’m feeling very much part of the family now,” she says. “The friendliness and approachability have really struck me. Badapple are all about supporting local talent, which is really important to me,” says Livy, who also will be playing Fairy Naturel and Lord Hunk, who becomes the Beast.

“This show is something new in its style, and I’ve always wanted to do panto, so this is the perfect introduction for me – and the audience will definitely have a role to play, which will be fun.”

Like Pip and Livy in their matching blue and pink attire, Richard Galloway is dressed in character, in a skirt, in the rehearsal room for his principal role as the Wicked Witch. “I’ll also be playing the long-suffering French servant of Lord Hunk, and there’s a cuckoo puppet and a Prince in there for me too,” he says.

“This is my third Badapple show, after I did two last year, when I took over from Danny Mellor in Danny’s one-man show Yorkshire Kernel [a poignant war memorial comedy] and did the 25th anniversary tour of Kate’s play Eddie And The Gold Tops. Plenty of variety there!”

Badapple Theatre Company and Rural Arts On Tour present Sleeping Beauty And The Beast from December 17 to January 5 2025, preceded by previews at Sutton upon Derwent Village Hall tomorrow, 7pm, and Stillingfleet Village Institute, on Saturday, 6.30pm. For full tour and ticket details , head to ruralarts.org/whats-on/performances/ or email admin@ruralarts.org or phone  01845 526 536. Tickets for the previews and Green Hammerton Village Hall performance (January 2, 7pm) are on sale on 01423 331304 or at badappletheatre.co.uk.

Richard Galloway, right, in Badapple’s 25th anniversary tour of Kate Bramley’s Eddie And The Gold Tops, when he performed with Zach Atkinson and Emily Chattle. Picture: Karl Andre

Copyright of The Press, York

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What will be next year’s pantomimes at Grand Opera House & York Theatre Royal?

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 Come Dancing, as Fairy Bon Bon; dame Leon Craig, from Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, as Polly La Plonk, Jennifer Caldwell, from SIX The Musical, as Belle, and Samuel Wyn-Morris, from Les 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. 

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond when Christmas shows abound. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 45, from Gazette & Herald

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.

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REVIEW: Rowntree Players in Mother Goose, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, until Saturday ****

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.