York Light Opera Company performers and production team for A Night With The Light. From the left, musical director Martin Lay, producer Helen Eckersall and director Jonny Holbek are pictured in the centre
YORK Light Opera Company’s summer show, A Night With The Light, runs at Friargate Theatre, Friargate, York, from tomorrow until Saturday.
In the wake of York Light’s production of Evita, directed by Martyn Knight at York Theatre Royal in February, the amateur company presents a feel-good programme of powerful, funny, emotive and irreverent numbers from favourite musicals and new ones too.
Under the direction of Jonny Holbek and musical direction of Martin Lay, the show features songs from Hamilton, Waitress, Wicked, Chicago, Chess, Avenue Q, The Phantom Of The Opera, Les Misérables, The Sound Of Music and plenty more.
Jonny Holbek: Directing York Light Opera Company in A Night With The Light
Taking part will be: Abby Wild; Alexa Chaplin; Al Elmes; Annabel van Griethuysen; Chloe Chapman; Clare Meadley; Emily Hardy; Emma Louise Dickinson; Grace Harper; Helen Eckersall; Henry Fairnington; Kathryn Tinson; Kirsten Griffiths; Matt Tapp; Pascha Turnbull; Paul Hampshire; Pippa Elmes; Rachael Cawte; Ruth Symington; Ryan Richardson; Tom Menarry and Victoria Rimmington. The producer is Helen Eckersall.
“Come join us as we have Magic To Do!” say Jonny and Martin ahead of this week’s 7.30pm evening shows and 2.30pm Saturday matinee.
Tickets cost £10 upwards on 01904 655317 or at ridinglights.org/a-night-with-the-light/.
Emma-Louise Dickinson’s Eva Perón and Jonny Holbek’s Che in York Light’s Evita. All pictures: Tom Arber
York Light in Evita, York Theatre Royal, until February 19, including Saturday matinees. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk
IT’S no fun being out of action for two years. So there was relief and pleasure on all the faces of York Light – the musical theatre company formerly known as York Light Opera Company – when they returned to their rightful home base in a rousing Martyn Knight production of Evita.
The company is sensibly alternating two groups of principals over its 12 performances. On this second night (10/2/2022) it was Team Blue’s turn.
Eva Perón, familiarly known as Evita, and even Santa Evita to diehard fans, still excites controversy today, even in Argentina. She was both an ambitious social climber who slept her way to the top but also a benefactress, a figurehead who spent lavishly on herself, a unifying icon for some and a uniquely self-seeking politico for others.
Neil Wood as Juan Perón : “His baritone serves him well over a wide range”
None of which makes it easy for the actress playing her. How likeable should she be? Emma-Louise Dickinson’s response is bravely sassy, which comes close to being a warts-and-all exposé. It is the right approach. Nobody wants a prissy heroine. Tim Rice’s lyrics don’t allow her to be.
Much of her singing is stridently assertive, which doesn’t always make for the prettiest of sounds. For those we have to wait till Act 2 and in particular the scenes surrounding her illness and death.
Like all true operatic heroines, Evita takes a long time to die but Dickinson uses it to show us that she has a pleasing soprano. She is the main reason why Act 2 generates such pathos. Buenos Aires and You Must Love Me are poles apart but her versatility is more than equal to both.
Jonny Holbek’s Che: “Brings a folk-singing style to the role”
Juan Perón may have been twice Eva’s age when he married her, but their personalities were well-matched. He strong-armed his way to power and was just as ruthless. His police state is echoed here with several shows of repressive policing. But Neil Wood plays him with sensitivity as well as strength and his passion for his young wife is never in doubt. His baritone serves him well over a wide range.
Jonny Holbek brings a folk-singing style to the role of Che, the narrator and social conscience of the unfolding events, which makes him an engaging man of the people, even if he sometimes strays from the notes that are actually in the score. He is mainly dressed in camouflage pants which verge on the paramilitary. He leads And The Money Kept Rolling In superbly.
Two other roles deserve special mention. Richard Weatherill’s big number as Magaldi, Eva’s home-town boyfriend, comes early but he is more than ready. So too is Hannah Witcomb as Peron’s glamorous bit on the side, neatly crystallised in Another Suitcase In Another Hall.
Melanie Groom and Tom Menarry: “Dancing a succulent tango”
A word, too, for the top brass in the musical chairs of The Art Of The Possible: good fun. There is also a succulent tango danced by Melanie Groom and Tom Menarry. Considering the importance of tango in Argentinian music, we could stand to see a lot more of them.
The chorus shows a marvellous mix of voices and ages, with plenty of young blood among several company veterans. All its numbers are danced, which means that a huge amount of choreography – also by Martyn Knight – has had to be memorised, an incredible feat considering they barely put a foot wrong.
Chorus delivery is occasionally on the shouty side but the opening Requiem is beautifully sustained and there is some lovely quiet singing in Act 2. The ladies look especially appealing in vintage hats and dresses.
Hannah Witcomb as “Juan Perón s glamorous bit on the side”
Mike Thompson conducts an 11-piece orchestra with plenty of pizzazz. Its feel for Latin American rhythms is consistently excellent. The balance is not always quite right. The bass is too boomy in Act 1, which means that several delicate phrases from keyboard or guitar do not get the prominence they deserve. In general the amplification could be turned down a notch to good effect.
The show is well served by its permanent set (from Lowestoft, but otherwise uncredited), which casts a presidential aura. It is absolutely heart-warming to have York Light back in action and in such amazing shape. The company’s enthusiasm is infectious. You daren’t miss it.
For the record, the Yellow Team principals are Alexa Chaplin as Eva, John Hall as Perón and Dale Vaughan as Che. All are seasoned performers.
Review by Martin Dreyer
Alexa Chaplin, centre, as Team Yellow’s Eva Perón with the ensemble in in York Light’s Evita
The Bluejays: Ready to Rave On at York Theatre Royal
GOLDEN hits, blue art, a grotesque puppet, raucous inventions, a brace of musicals and an on-trend comedian are Charles Hutchinson’s fancies for cultural gratification.
Nostalgia trip of the week: The Bluejays in Rave On, York Theatre Royal, Saturday (5/2/2022), 7.30pm
THE Bluejays, a group comprised of West End stars from The Buddy Holly Story, Million Dollar Quartet, One Man, Two Guvnorsand Dreamboats & Petticoats, head back to the fabulous Fifties and swinging Sixties in Rave On.
Charting the meteoric rise of rock’n’roll, this joyful journey through these revolutionary musical decades revels in the golden days of Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, The Beatles, Neil Sedaka, The Kinks, Connie Francis, Lulu and The Shadows. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Rebecca Taylor: Soloist for Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 1 at York Guildhall Orchestra’s concert
Beethoven at the double: York Guildhall Orchestra, York Barbican, tonight, 7.30pm
REBECCA Taylor will be the soloist for Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 1 in the second concert of York Guildhall Orchestra’s 41st season.
Under conductor Simon Wright, the orchestra also perform one of Beethoven’s rarely played overtures, an 1811 commemorative work to King Stephen 1st, founder of Hungary in 1000AD.
The second half features a stalwart of the symphonic repertoire, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No 5, a popular work that “demonstrates his darker side, perhaps ultimate victory through strife,” says Wright. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Jane Dignum’s poster for Westside Artists’ Into The Blue exhibition at Pyramid Gallery, York
Group exhibition of the week: Westside Artists’ Into The Blue at Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York, until March 13, open Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm
EACH of the Westside Artists, a group from the west end of York, has created new work to portray a personal interpretation and concept of the exhibition title, Into The Blue, at Terry Brett’s Pyramid Gallery.
Taking part are Adele Karmazyn (digital photomontage); Carolyn Coles (painting); Donna Marie Taylor (mixed media); Ealish Wilson (mixed media and sculpture); Fran Brammer (textiles) and Jane Dignum (printmaking).
So to are Jill Tattersall (mixed-media collage); Kate Akrill (ceramics); Lucie Wake (painting); Mark Druery (printmaking); Richard Rhodes (ceramics); Sharon McDonagh (mixed media) and Simon Palmour (photography).
Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company cast members in rehearsal for Kipps, The New Half A Sixpence Musical
Who will he choose? Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company in Kipps, The New Half A Sixpence Musical, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, February 9 to 12, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee
IN the coastal town of Folkestone, Arthur Kipps knows there is more to life than his demanding but unrewarding job as an apprentice draper.
When he suddenly inherits a fortune, Kipps is thrown into a world of upper-class soirées and strict rules of etiquette that he barely understands. Torn between the affections of the kind but proper Helen and childhood sweetheart Ann, Kipps must determine whether such a simple soul can find a place in high society.
Tickets for this Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company fundraising show for the JoRo are on sale on 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Blackeyed Theatre in Frankenstein, on tour at the SJT, Scarborough, from Wednesday. Picture: Alex Harvey-Brown
Fright nights ahead: Blackeyed Theatre in Frankenstein, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, February 9 to 12
SOUTH Yorkshire playwright Nick Lane has reinterpreted John Ginman’s original 2016 script for Bracknell touring company Blackeyed Theatre, built around Mary Shelley’s Gothic novel set in Geneva in 1816, where Victor Frankenstein obsesses in the pursuit of nature’s secret, the elixir of life itself.
This highly theatrical telling combines live music and ensemble storytelling with Bunraku-style puppetry to portray The Creature. Designed and built by Warhorse and His Dark Materials alumna Yvonne Stone, the 6ft 4inch puppet is operated by up to three actors at any one time. Box office: 01723 370541 or at sjt.uk.com.
Jonny Holbek in rehearsal for his role of Che in York Light Opera Company’s production of Evita
“Big sing” of the week ahead: York Light Opera Company in Evita, York Theatre Royal, February 9 to 19
DIRECTOR Martyn Knight has decided to use double casting for the five main roles in Evita, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s musical of people, politics and power, in response to Covid-19’s ongoing impact.
The principals have been rehearsing separately, with Alexa Chaplin and Emma-Louise Dickinson sharing the lead role of Eva Peron; Dale Vaughan and Jonny Holbek playing Che; John Hall and Neil Wood as Juan Peron, Dave Copley-Martin and Richard Weatherill as Agustin Maglidi, and Fiona Phillips and Hannah Witcomb as Peron’s Mistress.
Covid, long Covid and even physical injuries have necessitated Knight drawing up his 18th cast list at the latest count. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Con Brio, by Mark Hearld, at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Picture: Red Photography
Last chance to see: Mark Hearld’s Raucous Invention: The Joy Of Making, Upper Space and YSP Centre, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, near Wakefield, ends tomorrow (6/2/2022)
THIS weekend is the finale to Raucous Invention: The Joy Of Making, an ambitious, vibrant, and creative journey wherein York artist and designer Mark Hearld explores connections through collaboration and risk-taking to create bold and challenging works, including tapestries and ceramics.
Working from his Portland Street studio across a range of media and using the natural world as inspiration, Hearld has made collages, lino-cut prints, letter-press prints and a large-scale mural that fills the walls of the YSP kitchen in the visitor centre. You will need to book at ysp.org.uk.
Pandemic pontifications: Russell Kane’s new tour show, The Essex Variant!, is heading to York Barbican
Still the only subject in town by then? Russell Kane Live: The Essex Variant!, York Barbican, December 14
ENFIELD humorist Russell Kane offers his “gut-punch funny, searing take on the two years we’ve just gone through” in his new stand-up tour show, The Essex Variant!. More like, three years, by then.
Comic, writer, presenter and actor Kane presents two podcasts, Man Baggage and BBC Radio 4’s Evil Genius and is a regular on Channel 4, BBC and ITV. “I drink lots of coffee and I’m ‘like that in real life’,” he says. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Making Light work of it: John Hall (Juan Peron), Alexa Chaplin (Eva Peron) and Dale Vaughan (Che) as one principal trio for York Light’s Evita at York Theatre Royal
WHY will York Light Opera Company have two Evas, two Juan Perons and two Ches in Evita?
Director Martyn Knight has decided to use double casting for the main roles in the February 9 to 19 production at York Theatre Royal in response to Covid-19’s ongoing impact.
“For the five principal roles, they’re all double cast, because we’re still in a pandemic and we wanted to protect ourselves,” he says. “We’ve kept the principal casts separate, which has required us to double the rehearsal time and rehearse in separate rooms.
“But we’ve had cast members drop out with Covid; we’ve had cast members drop out with long Covid; we’ve had cast members suffer injuries. We are on our 18th cast list due to people having to pull out. It’s been a nightmare but it’s also been a labour of love.”
Explaining his reasoning behind “doing the double”, he says: “It’s a fully sung show and double casting provides each team with sufficient rest. The main character parts are huge and it would be a colossal ‘ask’ of any understudy to learn and have to perform those roles without significant rehearsal.
“Double casting provides the best possible cover, which is needed more than ever when putting on the production during a pandemic.”
All the while, Martyn had his annual pantomime commitment – for the 18th year –from November to January as the resident dame at Eastbourne’s Devonshire Park Theatre, playing Nellie Nightnurse in Sleeping Beauty.
Martyn Knight in the poster for this winter’s Eastbourne pantomime role as Dame Nellie Nightnurse
“The gutting thing for me is that I’d never missed a performance, in all those years, working through shingles, ear, nose and throat issues and stomach problems, but then I tested positive for Covid on New Year’s Eve,” he says. “Out of 13, ten of us went down with it during the run; at one point, we had no ensemble and the baddie [Carli Norris’s Carabosse] had to use the stage crew as her minions.
“But I managed to return for the last day, and it was a very powerful, emotional feeling doing the panto this winter, playing to 25,000 people. They needed it, the joy of seeing a show, and that’s why we’re so determined to get theatre back on.”
Hence the precautions taken by York Light for Evita, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s musical account of the rags-to-riches life story of Eva Peron as she goes from poor provincial child to First Lady of Argentina on her “Rainbow Tour”, using popularity and politics to serve both her people and herself.
For this musical of people, power and politics, Alexa Chaplin and Emma-Louise Dickinson will share the lead role of Eva Peron; Dale Vaughan and Jonny Holbek will play Che; John Hall and Neil Wood, Juan Peron; Dave Copley-Martin and Richard Weatherill, Agustin Maglidi, and Fiona Phillips and Hannah Witcomb, Peron’s Mistress.
Since initial rehearsals last autumn, Alexa and Emma-Louise had not seen each other until their paths crossed in the car park at last Sunday’s rehearsals.
“It’s been a very different experience, where we were only together early in the process, when Martyn was blocking the show, but that was a long time ago,” says Alexa. “It feels very odd not knowing what the other set of principals will be like, but doing it this way, dividing the performances, has meant I could do a show I couldn’t otherwise do, with childcare requirements.
“It will be interesting to see if each night off will feel restful or whether we’ll be chomping at the bit to get back on stage.”
Double act: Neil Wood (Juan Peron), Emma-Louise Dickinson (Eva Peron) and Jonny Holbek (Che) as the other principal trio for York Light Opera Company’s Evita
In preparing for the lead role, Alexa says: “I’m quite a nerd, when it comes to research, reading biographies, finding out about the character, but then, what writers do to a character in a musical is not fully true to life, and you have to bridge that gap of how they interpret her.
“But I feel whatever you think about her politics, Eva’s absolute tenacity and drive and endless energy is incredible – and the musical demands that you match that energy, with it being such a ‘big sing’.”
Emma-Louise was last on stage in a musical in February 2020, playing Nancy in Oliver! at York Theatre Royal, in the weeks before the first Covid lockdown. “The only thing I’ve done since then was the Raise The Roof fundraiser for the Joseph Rowntree Theatre with everyone spaced out and a restricted audience capacity,” she says.
“If someone had said you won’t do a musical for two years…but at least I’ve been fortunate in being able to engage in singing online as a music teacher. It’s such a discipline, performing, and after such a long time off, it’s been a challenge building up the stamina again since we started rehearsals in September.”
Contemplating playing Eva Peron, Emma-Louise says: “Whenever you’re playing a real-life character, there’s an added pressure to make it accurate, so there’s not as much room for interpretation.
“I’ve learned how fascinating it is that someone can be so adored but so reviled, and the only thing I can liken it to is the story of Princess Diana. They were both controversial figures, but when Diana died there was this huge devastation, and her legacy has grown and grown, just as it has for Eva Peron.”
York Light Opera Company in Evita, York Theatre Royal, February 9 to 19, 7.30pm (except February 13); 2.30pm matinees, February 12 and 19. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
