The artwork for the 2025 York Festival of Ideas, making waves until June 13
A FESTIVAL full of bright ideas leads off Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations for cultural sustenance and enlightening entertainment.
Festival of the week: York Festival of Ideas, running until June 13
YORK Festival of Ideas 2025 explores the theme of Making Waves in more than 200 mostly free in-person and online events designed to educate, entertain and inspire.
Led by the University of York, the festival features world-class speakers, performances, exhibitions, tours, family-friendly activities and much more. Topics range from archaeology to art, history to health and politics to psychology. Browse the programme at yorkfestivalofideas.com.
Dance return of the week: New Adventures in Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell, York Theatre Royal, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees
IN 1930s’ London, ordinary people emerge from cheap boarding houses nightly to pour out their passions, hopes and dreams in the pubs and fog-bound streets of Soho and Fitzrovia. Step inside The Midnight Bell, a tavern where one particular lonely-hearts club gather to play out their lovelorn affairs of the heart: bitter comedies of longing, frustration, betrayal and redemption.
Inspired by the work of English novelist Patrick Hamilton, Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell returns to York Theatre Royal, where it first played in October 2021, with a 14-strong cast of New Adventures’ actor-dancers, music by Terry Davies and set and costume design by Lez Brotherston. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk
The poster artwork for NE Theatre York’s fully staged concert performances of Carousel
Musical of the week: NE Theatre York in Carousel, Tempest Anderson Hall, Museum Gardens, York, tomorrow to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
STEVE Tearle directs NE Theatre York in fully staged concert performances of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel with an 18-piece orchestra conducted by Joe Allen. The cast for this tale of hope, redemption and the power of love will be led by Kit Stroud as Billy Bigelow; Rebecca Jackson as Julie Jordan; Maia Beatrice as Carrie Pepperidge; Finlay Butler as Mr Snow and Perri Ann Barley as Aunt Netty.
Cue such R&H classics as June Is Burstin’ Out All Over, If I Loved You, When I Marry Mister Snow, Blow High, Blow Low and the iconic Liverpool and Celtic terrace anthem You’ll Never Walk Alone. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk/netheatre-york.
King Creosote’s Kenny Anderson: Serving up a Storm In A Teacup at The Crescent, York
Scottish visitor of the week: Please Please You and Brudenell Presents host King Creosote, The Crescent, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm
KING Creosote follows up 2024’s springtime tour Any Port In A Storm with his Any Storm In A Teacup travels from April to June this year, again with a mix of modular synths, his back catalogue from 50 studio albums and his November 2023 album I Des, the first King Creosote recording in seven years.
As ever, Scotsman Kenny Anderson’s performance will be marked by his singular voice, allied to roguish, roving, ever-evolving, gorgeous songs in the key of Fife. Box office, for returns only: thecrescentyork.com.
Lady Nade: Paying tribute to Nina Simone. Picture: Joseph Branston
Celebration of a legacy: Lady Nade Sings Nina Simone, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 7.30pm,
KNOWN for paying homage to those who have influenced her journey profoundly, Lady Nade holds Nina Simone in high regard for leaving behind a legacy of liberation, empowerment, passion and love through her extraordinary body of work.
As a black woman, Lady Nade acknowledges Simone’s trailblazing role in paving the way for artists of her generation. Her high-energy performance is a heartfelt dedication to recreating the transformative sound that blended popular tunes of the era into a distinctive fusion of jazz, blues, gospel, and folk music. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Pink Floydian: Showcasing the golden era of progressive rock at Milton Rooms, Malton
Tribute gig of the week: Pink Floydian, Milton Rooms, Malton, Saturday, 7.30pm
PINK Floydian’s immersive experience transports fans back to the golden era of progressive rock in a two-and-a-half hour show that takes in the Syd Barrett, Roger Waters and David Gilmour eras.
From the lush landscapes of Shine On You Crazy Diamond to the haunting refrain of Great Gig In The Sky to the anthemic Comfortably Numb and Wish You Were Here, Pink Floydian undertake a magical journey through Pink Floyd’s illustrious recording career. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Rachel Anderson’s Dolly Gallagher Levi, centre, and the ensemble in Pickering Musical Society’s Hello, Dolly! Picture: Robert David Photography
Goodbye to musicals: Pickering Musical Society in Hello, Dolly!, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, June 10 to 14, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
PICKERING Musical Society is preparing to raise the curtain on its final full-scale musical production, after more than a century, citing rising production costs and falling membership.
Set in the energetic bustle of 1890s’ New York, Jerry Herman’s Hello, Dolly! follows the irrepressible Dolly Gallagher Levi (society favourite Rachel Anderson) – a witty matchmaker, meddler and “arranger of things” – as she decides to find a match for herself. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk or in person from the box office on Tuesdays, 11am to 1pm.
Christopher Simon Sykes’s photograph of Mick Jagger in concert on the Rolling Stones’ Tour of the Americas in 1975, on show at Sledmere House from June 13
Exhibition launch of the week: On Tour With The Rolling Stones 1975, A 50th Anniversary Exhibition of Photographs by Christopher Simon Sykes, Sledmere House, Sledmere, near Driffield, June 13 to July 6, except Mondays and Tuesdays, 10am to 5pm
IN June 1975, Christopher Sykes, of Sledmere House, joined the Rolling Stones Tour of the Americas, known as T.O.T.A ’75: his first rock’n’roll itinerary as a snapper after specialising in photographing stately home interiors.
“You know going on tour is not like country life, Chrissie,” advised Mick Jagger on his first day of accompanying the Stones on their three-month tour of North America and Canada, playing 40 shows in 27 cities. The photos were used in a tour diary published the following year, and this exhibition showcases a selection of the best of the behind-the-scenes and stage pictures in the Courtyard Room. Tickets: sledmerehouse.com.