Bill Bailey Archives - charleshutchpress

August 2, 2024August 2, 2024

“Let’s cherish every moment and create one last round of memories that we will treasure forever” at Underneath The Stars

*Kate Rusby: Headlining today’s bill at Underneath The Stars*

THE last Underneath The Stars festival “for now” is under way today for three days of music and arts, fun and festivities at Cinder Hill, Darton Road, Cawthorne, Barnsley.

On June 19, the organisers issued this statement: “Dearest Stargazers, it is with heavy hearts that we announce this year’s festival will be our last for now and that we have decided to take a break on our festival journey.

“Worry not though, all is on track to ensure that 2024 will be our best yet and a fitting celebration of ten stellar years. Join us if you are able”

Festival director Emma Holling explained: “We never imagined that a wild idea conceived around our dining room table, overlooking the hills near Cawthorne, would blossom into the amazing festival it is today.

“When we started a decade ago, we were driven, as now, by passion and a sense of adventure. Now, we find ourselves in different places, both personally and professionally and operating in different times. We can’t believe this will be our tenth event. It is an amazing achievement and now our adventures are leading us in different directions.”

Emma continues: “This decision, though difficult, feels right as we embrace these new chapters in our lives. Looking back, we are overwhelmed with pride and joy. From our humble beginnings to welcoming a beautiful, ever-growing audience, every moment has been a dream come true.

“The laughter, music, and unforgettable memories we’ve shared together have exceeded our wildest expectations. Those we have worked with and who have supported us, together with our incredible audience and volunteer team, have been the heart and soul of this festival.

“Your involvement, energy, love, and unwavering support turned our little dream into a phenomenal and award-winning success. Each year, you’ve brought magic, transforming our event into a celebration of community, creativity, and pure joy.”

“While this news may come as a shock, we wanted to share it with you in good time and so that our stargazers can all come together to celebrate one last time.”

Could the festival return? “Never say never of course and no-one ever knows what we might do in the future,” said Emma.

As for this year: “We do know that the festival landscape is challenging at the moment and our hearts and minds are with all our festival friends and family.

“If you are thinking at all about supporting Underneath the Stars or any independent event or festival this year, now more than ever is the time to and we would urge you to do just that.”

*Bill Bailey: Following up tonight’s appearance at Scarborough Open Air Theatre by headlining Sunday’s line-up at Underneath The Stars*

The June 19 statement from Team UTS (Underneath The Stars) concluded: “Looking forward to this summer, plans are firmly in place to make this final festival our best and most spectacular yet, filled with love, and the biggest cheer possible.

“Thank you for being a part of this incredible journey. Let’s cherish every moment and create one last round of memories that we will treasure forever; we look forward to seeing you there!”

The festival was founded in 2014 by the production team behind South Yorkshire folk singer Kate Rusby and the Pure Records label. Kate headlines today’s bill, also featuring Blazin’ Saddles, Hope & Social, John Smith, Katherine Priddy, Oh My God! It’s The Church, Fanny Lumsden, Cahalen Morrison and Ruth Lyon.

Tomorrow’s line-up comprises headliners The Feeling, plus Rumer, Dervish, Beans On Toast, O’Hooley & Tidow, Keston Cobblers Club, Rumba De Bodas, Dolores Forever, Suntou Susso, Barnsley Youth Choir and The Hunch.

Comedian and musician Bill Bailey tops Sunday’s bill, when Lucy Spraggan, Hamish Hawk, Skinny Lister, Damien O’Kane & Friends, Gary Stewart’s Graceland, The Bar-Steward Sons Of Val Doonican, Brown Horse, King Zepha and Simeon Hammond Dallas perform too.

Tickets: underneaththestarsfest.co.uk/tickets.

July 27, 2024July 27, 2024

More Things To Do in York & beyond the Proms, whatever the pomp & circumstance. Hutch’s List No. 31, from The Press

*Jane Burnell: Buxton Opera soprano performing at tomorrow’s York Proms in York Museum Gardens*

IN search of high-summer highlights, Charles Hutchinson finds Proms fireworks, outdoor cinema singalongs, a mad woodland king and comedy on the coast.

Musical picnic of the week: York Proms, York Museum Gardens, York, Sunday, general admission, 5.30pm; main stage concert, 7.45pm to 10.30pm

TICKETS are close to selling out for the York Proms, tomorrow’s picnic concert under the stars organised as ever by York soprano Rebecca Newman.

Conducted by Ben Crick, the orchestra will be joined by tenor Joshua Baxter and soprano Jane Burnell, both at present performing with Buxton Opera, for a programme of classical classics, operatic arias and film music, topped off with the flag-waving proms finale, decorated with a fireworks display. Box office: 01904 909487 or yorkproms.com.

*Hoglets Theatre’s puppet of Badger for Gemma Curry’s new show, The Badger And The Coins, at York Explore & Archive today*

Children’s show of the week: Hoglets Theatre in The Badger And The Coins, York Explore Library and Archive, Library Square, York, today, 11am to 11.45am

GEMMA Curry’s York company Hoglets Theatre presents The Badger And The Coins, an original play about love, courage and the belief that even the most unexpected companions can bring magic into our world, suitable for pre-school and primary school children.

Based on a Japanese folk tale, the story of an old man rescuing a mysterious Badger and triggering an amazing journey is powered by original songs, outrageous characters, beautiful hand-made puppets and Hoglets’ trademark energy and creativity. Box office: tickettailor.com/events/exploreyorklibrariesandarchives/1288717.

*Cinema in the open air at Castle Howard this weekend, from Disney to Abba, Spielberg to Cruise. Picture: Castle Howard Estate*

Outdoor film event of the week: Adventure Cinema at Castle Howard, near Malton, today and tomorrow

PACK a picnic for Castle Howard’s open-air outdoor cinema experience on a giant screen this weekend, presented in tandem with Adventure Cinema. This afternoon features a Sing-A-Long Edition of Disney’s Frozen (PG) at 1.30pm (gates 12 noon).

An Abba disco precedes Mamma Mia! Outdoor Cinema Extrabbaganza, this evening’s all-singing, all-dancing double bill of Mamma Mia! and Mamma Mia Here We Go Again at 6.30pm (gates 5pm). Tomorrow comprises Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler’s The Gruffalo/Stick Man (U) at 11am (gates 10am), Steven Spielberg’s dinosaur blockbuster Jurassic Park (PG) at 3pm (gates 1.30pm) and Tony Scott’s Top Gun, starring Tom Cruise, at 8pm (gate 6.30pm). Box office: adventurecinema.co.uk/venues/castle-howard.

*Barn Owl, by Bryn Parry CBE, in the Sculpture In The Landscape exhibition at the Himalayan Garden and Sculpture Park, The Hutts, Grewelthorpe. Picture: Celestine Dubruel*

Exhibition of the week: Sculpture In The Landscape, Himalayan Garden and Sculpture Park, The Hutts, Grewelthorpe, near Ripon, until November 3

THE 2024 Sculpture In The Landscape exhibition showcases 60 works for sale by artists across the United Kingdom, complementing the permanent sculptures on show at the Himalayan Garden.

Visitors are invited to explore the intricate sculptures set against verdant landscapes. From monumental installations to delicate works of art, each piece offers a perspective on the intersection of creativity and nature. Normal garden entry applies. Tickets: 01765 658009 or himalayangarden.com

*Adderstone in the trees: Music, mystery and magic in the woodland company of Mad Sweeney, the Irish king, at the Forest of Flowers, Huby*

Woodland folk event of the week: Sweeney Untethered by Adderstone, Forest of Flowers, Home Farm, Tollerton Road, Huby, York, tomorrow (28/7/2024), 1.30pm to 4pm

ADDERSTONE, the storytelling alt-folk duo of Cath Heinemeyer and Gemma McDermott, present Sweeney Untethered, the tale of a 7th century Irish king who went mad, as told and sung on a caper through the wild woods and meadows of the Forest of Flowers with refreshments after the 1.5-mile walk.

The music, mystery and magic-infused performance will immerse the audience in story and surroundings alike as Heinemeyer and McDermott take in the wildflowers, ponds, woodland and wildlife. Bookings: forestofflowers.co.uk/event-details.

*The View: Returning to the concert platform after five-year hiatus*

Return of the week: The View, The Crescent, York, August 2, 7.30pm

RESCHEDULED from June 15, Under The Influence presents Dundee indie-rock returnees The View in a night of Hats Off To Buskers classics, from Same Jeans to Wasted Little DJs and Superstar Tradesma, plus material from their first album in eight years.

Recorded with Grammy Award-winning producer Youth at Space Mountain, Granada, Exorcism Of Youth was released last August on Cooking Vinyl. Five years on from their departing gig at Dundee’s Caird Hall, original members Kyle Falconer (vocals/guitar), Kieran Webster (bass/vocals) and Pete Reilly (guitar) are back on the road. Box office: thecrescentyork.com. music, mystery and magic!

*Bill Bailey: Comedy in the Scarborough sea air on August 2*

Coastal gig of the week: Bill Bailey, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, August 2; gates open at 6pm

COMEDIAN, actor, musician, presenter, Never Mind The Buzzcocks team captain, Black Books sitcom star and 2020 Strictly Come Dancing champion Bill Bailey heads to the East Coast with his surrealist fusion of stories, poetry and wordplay that takes aim at the modern world’s absurdities, as aired in his Thoughtifier arena tour.

A veteran of the UK festival circuit, with appearances at Latitude, Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds, Sonisphere and the Eden Project, Bailey will have his array of weird and wonderful instruments on tap too for playful pastiches of Tom Waits, Kraftwerk et al. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.

*Chris Hagyard, pictured in Guys And Dolls mode, will be taking part in One Night Of Broadway Hits at the JoRo*

Musical revue of the week: Steve Coates and Bev Jones Music Company present One Night Of Broadway Hits, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, August 3, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

BEV Jones Music Company performs hits from 26 musicals, including Guys And Dolls, in an unashamedly traditional fashion under the musical direction of James Rodgers.

His band is joined in this moving, lively and at times funny show by vocalists Chris Hagyard, Annabel Van Griethuysen, Anthony Pengelly, Ruth McNeil, Sally Lewis, Stephen Wilson, Geoff Walker and producer Lesley Jones, back on stage for this show, wearing a silver cat suit unseen since 2010, when she played Vera in Stepping Out. Box office: 01904 501395 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

*Chrissie Hynde: The great Pretender, leading her band at York Barbican this autumn. Picture: Vi Price*

Gig announcement of the week: The Pretenders, York Barbican, October 31

THE Pretenders are extending their sold-out British tour, adding a new date in York, in the wake of releasing Relentless, their 14th UK Top 40 entry and highest-charting record in 23 years, last September.

Fronted as ever by Chrissie Hynde, 72, the band is joining Foo Fighters on their American tour in July and August. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/the-pretenders/.

July 24, 2024July 26, 2024

What’s On in Ryedale, York & beyond as the circus rolls in and comedy heads outdoors. Hutch’s List No. 26, from Gazette & Herald

*Putting it in black and white: from top, Finlay Butler, Kristian Barley, Kit Stroud, Rebecca Butler and Maia Beatrice in NETheatre York’s West Side Story*

FROM a musical in black and white to circus skills, outdoor comedy to racecourse music showcases, Charles Hutchinson picks his high-summer highlights.

Musical of the week: NE Theatre York in West Side Story, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee

EXPERIENCE the explosive love and rivalry in 1950s’ New York City in Bernstein & Sondheim’s musical re-telling of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. As romance blossoms between teens from opposing gangs The Sharks and The Jets, the relationship is – spoiler alert – fated to end in tragedy. Steve Tearle’s production for NE Theatre York features a black-and-white design and cultural references from the 1950s to the present day. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Exhibition of the week: Sculpture In The Landscape, Himalayan Garden and Sculpture Park, The Hutts, Grewelthorpe, near Ripon, until November 3

THE 2024 Sculpture In The Landscape exhibition showcases 60 works for sale by artists across the United Kingdom, complementing the permanent sculptures on show at the Himalayan Garden.

Visitors are invited to explore the intricate sculptures set against verdant landscapes. From monumental installations to delicate works of art, each piece offers a perspective on the intersection of creativity and nature. Normal garden entry applies. Tickets: 01765 658009 or himalayangarden.com

*Brainfools in Cabaret Cirque Enchanté at Pocklington Arts Centre*

Magical and mind-boggling circus feats of the week: BrainFools present Cabaret Cirque Enchanté, Pocklington Arts Centre, Friday, 6pm, and Saturday, 10.30am

BRAINFOOLS’ collective of National Centre for Circus Arts graduates and their friends bring a collaborative imagination to their versatile, immersive and visually enriching performance of enchanted circus, dance and humour.

The ensemble sets an evocative scene, evoking the cabaret flair of the 1920s with a jazz-flavoured musical score and a compere introducing family-friendly acts. In addition, in conjunction with Burnby Hall Gardens, Brainfools will host circus skills workshops for young people tomorrow and Friday. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

*Kaiser Chiefs: A night at the races in York. Picture: Cal McIntyre*

Under starter’s orders: York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend, Knavesmire, York, Kaiser Chiefs, Friday, 8.45pm to 10.30pm, and S Club, Saturday, 5.45pm to 7.30pm

LEEDS indie rock band Kaiser Chiefs, who mounted the exhibition When All Is Quiet at York Art Gallery in 2018-2019, return to York on Friday when the emphasis will be on I Predict A Riot, not Quiet. Expect Oh My God, Everyday I Love You Less And Less, Ruby et al, plus songs from this year’s Easy Eighth Album, after the evening race card.

Saturday afternoon’s racing will be followed by British pop favourites S Club, these days featuring Tina Barrett, Jon Lee, Bradley McIntosh, Jo O’Meara and Rachel Stevens. Here come S Club Party, Never Had A Dream Come True, Bring It All Back, Reach, Don’t Stop Movin’, Have You Ever, Two In A Million, Say Goodbye, You’re My Number One, Love Ain’t Gonna Wait For You and more besides. Raceday tickets: yorkracecourse.co.uk.

*Martin Carthy: Folk trailblazer*. *Picture: The Press, York*

Moorland gig of the week: Martin Carthy, The Band Room, Low Mill, Farndale, Saturday, 7.30pm

“WHAT we like most about Martin Carthy is that to us he’s a local hero who will once again take the high road from Robin Hood’s Bay to Farndale, jewel in the crown of the North York Moors National Park, to renew his acquaintance with The Band Room,” says gig promoter Nigel Burnham.

Carthy, 82, who has enjoyed trailblazing folk partnerships with Steeleye Span, Dave Swarbrick, wife Norma Waterson and daughter Eliza Carthy, brings to the stage more than half a century of experiences and stories as a ballad singer, groundbreaking acoustic and electric guitarist and insatiably curious interpreter and arranger of other artists’ material and trad songs. Box office: thebandroom.co.uk.

*John Watterton: Celebrating the works of Jake Thackray and Les Barker at Milton Rooms, Malton*

Unsung legends celebration of the week: John Watterton: An Evening Without Jake Thackray Or Les Barker!, Milton Rooms, Malton, Sunday 7.30pm

YORK guitarist and vocalist John Watterson keeps alive the spirit of Leeds singer-songwriter, poet, humourist and journalist Jake Thackray through his catalogue of songs that he describes as simultaneously “painfully funny, sad, tragic, rude, irreverent, incisive and happy”.

In this new show, Watterton also features the work of another “unsung legend”: Mancunian former accountant Les Barker, who discovered a talent for writing silly poems that he performed at folk clubs. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

*The View: Returning to the concert platform after a five-year hiatus*

Return of the week: The View, The Crescent, York, August 2, 7.30pm

*Bill Bailey: Comedy on the coast on August 2*

Coastal gig of the week: Bill Bailey, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, August 2; gates open at 6pm

*Chrissie Hynde: The great Pretender will lead her band at York Barbican in October. Picture: Vi Price*

Gig announcement of the week: The Pretenders, York Barbican, October 31

Fronted as ever by Chrissie Hynde, 72, the band is joining Foo Fighters on their American tour in July and August. Tickets for York Barbican go on sale on Friday at 10am at https://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/the-pretenders/.

November 17, 2022November 17, 2022

Que sera, Sara, whatever will be will be for comedian, writer, TV presenter and mum Pascoe in pursuit of defining Success

*“The rule should be, if the audience stops laughing, you have to try something different,” says Sara Pascoe. That’s the beauty of comedy: it’s not pressure, it’s liberating”*

HOW does comedian, actor, playwright, author, TV presenter and new mum Sara Pascoe quantify success?

She seeks to provide the answer in her biggest tour yet, Success Story, whose 50 dates in two blocks from November 10 to December 3 2022 and January 26 to April 22 next year take in four Yorkshire gigs: York Barbican on November 24 (7.30pm); Sheffield Octagon, the next night; Hull City Hall, March 17, and Harrogate Royal Hall, April 21.

She is delighted to be returning to the road for the first time since her LadsLadsLads tour of 2018-2019, the one where she contemplated the positive aspects of self-imposed celibacy, exploring love, sex and doing both alone.

This time, expect “name-dropping, personal stories and anecdotes,” says Sara, who will deliver jokes about status, celebrities, plus her new fancy lifestyle versus infertility, her multiple therapists and career failures.

“What I want to explore is how do we define success and when do we define it. Does it change with age? Do we only want things we can’t have? When we attain our goals, do we move the goal posts and become unsatisfied with what we’ve got and want something else instead?

“I’m 41 now and it’s a reflective time; it feels like a very adult age. Looking back on my life to when I was 14, I really wanted to be on television. That’s where I work now but is it what I imagined it to be?”

The trigger for Success Story were her experiences when undergoing IVF after a miscarriage. “When I was going through that with my partner [Australian comedian Steen Raskopoulos], they kept talking about it in terms of success,” says Sara, who became a mum on Valentine’s Day this year at the age of 40.

“I started thinking about success, what I wanted as a child, and then thinking about what makes you happy, or if you’ve set out on a certain path that makes you unhappy, should you do something else?”

*“If you’ve set out on a certain path that makes you unhappy, should you do something else?” ponders Sara Pascoe in Success Story*

Deciding she wanted to be famous at 14, Dagenham-born Sara would go on to audition for Barrymore, scare Dead Or Alive’s Pete Burns and ruin Hugh Grant’s birthday, but she would also notch a decade in stand-up comedy and pen the feminist Animal: The Autobiography Of A Female Body in 2016 and her exploration of sex through the medium of evolutionary psychology, sex work, and the role of money in modern heterosexual relationships in Sex Power Money in 2019, spawning an accompanying podcast.

Her “big, bold and funny” stage adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride And Prejudice played York Theatre Royal in October 2017 and she wrote and starred in the October 2020 sitcom Out Of Her Mind on BBC Two. She has presented television shows too, hosting Comedians Giving Lectures on Dave, Guessable on Comedy Central, BBC Two’s Last Woman On Earth and this year’s BBC One series of The Great British Sewing Bee.

“What quite often happens with stand-up comedy, it doesn’t take up a lot of your time, when it’s your main job. You have a lot of time on your hands, when that main job only takes up an evening five times a week.

“You can do other things, like writing a book, where they aren’t looking for gags, whereas you can’t go half an hour without a joke in a stand-up show,” says Sara.

Hence her diversification. “It’s more about thinking, ‘oh, that would be good to have a go at that’, rather than worrying about being found out at one thing,” she reasons.

How do you judge success in comedy? “I’ve noted that some people, once they get to the top, they then plateau, and that can be hard, as not everyone can be a stadium comic,” says Sara.

She enjoys the expectation of having to come up with fresh material for every new tour, whereas the success of a band’s gig is often judged on which hits they played, which they chose to leave out.

*“It’s horrible when a gig becomes dead behind the eyes,” says Sara, outlining what to avoid when seeking comedy success*

“That’s the added benefit of doing comedy. I was thinking how boring it must be to always have to play songs from 20 years ago when the bands probably hate them by now, whereas comedians have to move on, just as people do when they can’t keep talking about a divorce or an old girlfriend,” says Sara, who switched from the repetition of performing theatre to the freshly squeezed juice of comedy.

“You’re quite often in a different place by the end of a tour and your set reflects that. It’s horrible when a gig becomes dead behind the eyes.

“I remember being told very early in my career how Bill Bailey always had five minutes of new material each night, working it into shape for the next tour, and it’s true that if you try out new bits after the interval, you’re never dead behind the eyes.”

Sara continues: “The rule should be, if the audience stops laughing, you have to try something different. That’s the beauty of comedy: it’s not pressure, it’s liberating. If you have three nights in a row where people aren’t connecting, throw that material in the bin. Actors can’t do that!

“At the end of a show, you don’t want a crowd going ‘yeah, that was fine’. You want them to say, ‘oh god, do you remember that bit?’. You want an audience to be engaged in what you’re saying.”

At the time of this phone interview, Sara was busy writing a book and filming the latest series of The Great British Sewing Bee. She could reveal that those shows would be broadcast on BBC One next spring; she could say rather less, however, about her next venture into print.

“We’ve not done a proper release yet,” she says. “Put something vague… ‘I’m moving into fiction’. It’s a chance to make some things up for a change.” Watch this space.

Tickets for Sara Pascoe’s Success Story tour are on sale at sarapascoe.co.uk/sara-on-tour; for York Barbican at yorkbarbican.co.uk; Harrogate, 01423 502116 or harrogatetheatre.co.uk.