Tag: grand opera house york

Posted on

What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 47, from Gazette & Herald

Luxmuralis’s Echoes Of Yorkshire: Art, light and sound in harmony in York Museum Gardens. Picture: Duncan Savage, Ravage Productions, for York Museums Trust

GARDEN art & light installations, wartime memories and Dracula and Cinderella retellings spark Charles Hutchinson’s interest.

Installation of the week: Echoes Of Yorkshire, York Museum Gardens, until Sunday, 6pm to 8.20pm

LET light, colour and music surround you at Luxmuralis’s light and sound installation as artist Peter Walker, composer David Harper and lighting designer Steve Rainsford bring the story alive of the Yorkshire Museum and York Museum Gardens from 1,000 images. 

Immerse yourself in the story of the historic site with contemporary light and music showcasing York Museum Trust’s age-defining artefacts and extraordinary exhibits. Tickets: yorkshiremuseum.org.uk.

David Barrott, Catherine Edge and Adam Marsdin in rehearsal for Settlement Players’ production of Party Piece

Calamitous comedy misadventure of the week: York Settlement Community Players in Party Piece, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee

AMERICAN director, writer, producer, historian and stuntman Martin T Brooks directs Settlement Players for the first time in Richard Harris’s calamitous 1992 comedy Party Piece.

Michael and Roma Smethurst are preparing meticulously for their fancy-dress housewarming party as Mrs Hinson, not the biggest fan of her upper-class new neighbours, keeps a criticising eye on the attendees. Then disasters strike: an embarrassing lack of guests, a burning barbeque, a marauding Zimmer frame and a corpse showing up at the front door. Cue chaos. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Cassie Vallance, left, and Jane Bruce in Story Craft Theatre’s Bat, Cackle And Pop! at York Theatre Royal

Children’s Halloween show of the week: Story Craft Theatre in Bat, Cackle And Pop!, York Theatre Royal Studio, today until Friday, 10.30am and 1pm

WINIFRED the Witch thinks everyone has forgotten her birthday. Not so. There will be a big surprise party, but first, a special birthday cake must be made.

“We just need the last three rather spooky ingredients,” say York company Story Craft Theatre’s Cassie Vallance and Jane Bruce. “Our show is bubbling with all sorts of ghosts and ghouls – more silly than scary – and there’s plenty of opportunities to dabble in some spell making, as well as flying with luxury BAT Airways.” Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Jimmy Regal & The Royals: Playing Ryedale Blues Club at Milton Rooms, Malton

Blues gig of the week: Ryedale Blues Club presents Jimmy Regal & The Royals, Milton Rooms, Malton, tomorrow, 8pm

JIMMY Regal & The Royals are a tough and howlin’ harmonica-led three piece from South London, brandishing a sound from Mississippi to New Orleans, Mali to Canvey Island. Signed to Lunaria Records, they are touring to promote latest album Well Boss, a live set recorded at the Temperance in Leamington Spa. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Stage Hammer: Revamping Bram Stoker’s Dracula

High stakes of the week: Stage Hammer in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tomorrow and Friday, 7.30pm; Kirk Theatre, Pickering, Saturday, 7.30pm

WOLVES howl in the forests of Transylvania. Waves crash violently against the cliffs below Whitby Abbey. The infection is spreading. Count Dracula (Stuart Sellens) walks among us. Yorkshire solicitor Jonathan Harker (Callum Mathers) travels to a castle in the Carpathian Mountains to finalise the sale of property for a reclusive nobleman.

When he seemingly vanishes, fiancée Mina (Jennifer Jones) and her closest friend Lucy (Kathryn Lay) fall into the grip of a sinister force. Their only hope for survival is the mysterious vampire slayer Professor Van Helsing (Christopher C Corbett) in East Yorkshire troupe Stage Hammer’s new account of Bram Stoker’s vampire story, adapted by Corbett and directed by Lydia Baldwin. Box office: York, 01904 658338 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk; Pickering, 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk. 

Fizzy with the singers in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Bugsy Malone: Theo Rae, Isla Lightfoot, Olivia Swales and Beau Lettin

Musical of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Bugsy Malone, Grand Opera House, York, October 31 to November 8, 7.30pm, except Sunday and Monday; 2.30pm, both Saturdays and Sunday

LESLEY Hill directs and choreographs York company Pick Me Up Theatre’s cast of 40 young performers in  Alan Parker and Paul Williams’s musical, replete with the film songs You Give A Little Love,  My Name Is Tallulah, So You Wanna Be A Boxer?, Fat Sam’s Grand SlamandBugsy Malone.

In Prohibition-era New York, rival gangsters Fat Sam and Dandy Dan are at loggerheads. As custard pies fly and Dan’s splurge guns wreak havoc, penniless ex-boxer and all-round nice guy Bugsy Malone falls for aspiring singer Blousey Brown. Can Bugsy resist seductive songstress Tallulah, Fat Sam’s moll and Bugsy’s old flame, and stay out of trouble while helping Fat Sam to defend his business? Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Little Seeds Music: Refreshing the fairytale world in Cinderella Ice Cream Seller

Fairytale retelling of the week: Little Seeds Music in Cinderella Ice Cream Seller, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 2.30pm

OVER the past four decades, Cinderella’s has become the kingdom’s most beloved ice cream company, with a parlour on every street corner, but how did this humble maker become a multimillionaire business woman with her own empire?

Prepare your dessert spoons for a tale of perseverance, princes, palace balls, glass slippers and, yes, ice cream in writer-composer David Gibb’s hour-long family musical, wherein loyal Cinderella’s employees Talvi and Caldwell share her rags-to-riches tale and confront their own desires, hopes and the magic that lies within each scoop. Suitable for age five upwards. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Bomb Happy: Film and live performance double bill for VE Day at Milton Rooms, Malton

Theatre memorial of the week: Everwitch Theatre in Bomb Happy VE Day double bill, Milton Rooms, Malton, Sunday, 3pm

PRESENTED in the lead-up to Remembrance Sunday, whose focus this year falls on 80th anniversary of VE Day, Bomb Happy has been created by writer-performer Helena Fox and actor-vocalist Natasha Jones, of Everwitch Theatre.

From D-Day to VE Day, this powerful one-hour double bill of live performance (30 minutes) and short film (30 minutes) brings to life the verbatim accounts of two working-class Yorkshire Normandy veterans, highlighting the lifelong impact of post-traumatic stress disorder and sleep trauma, not only on war veterans but on their families too. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Chris Smither: Playing All Saints Church, Pocklington tonight

In Focus: Chris Smither, All Saints Church, Pocklington, tonight, 7.30pm

CHRIS Smither, truly an American original, returns to the UK to perform songs from his vast catalogue on his 2025 UK and Irish tour as he approaches his 81st birthday on November 11.

Honing his synthesis of folk and blues for more than 50 years, this profound songwriter and captivating performer, from Miamai, Florida, melds the styles of his two major influences, Lightnin’ Hopkins and Mississippi John Hurt, into his own signature guitar sound.

His music draws deeply from the blues, American folk music, modern poets and humanist philosophers. His songs have featured in films and TV shows and been covered by John Mayall, Emmylou Harris,  Bonnie Raitt and Diana Krall, among others.

Smither continues to tour festivals, music clubs and concerts halls all over the world. Now he showcases his 20th studio album, 2024’s All About The Bones, produced by long-time friend and producer David Goodrich, which complements eight new compositions with Smither’s renditions of Eliza Gilkyson’s Calm Before The Storm and Tom Petty’s Time To Move On.

The recording sessions took place at Sonelab Studios in Easthampton, Massachusetts, where Smither was joined by Goodrich, Zak Trojano, BettySoo and Chris Cheek.

The New York Times said of All About The Bones: “With a weary, well-travelled voice and a serenely intricate finger-picking style, Mr Smither turns the blues into songs that accept hard-won lessons and try to make peace with fate.”

Singer-songwriter BettySoo is Smither’s guest on the tour. Tickets for tonight cost £21.50 at www.smither.com.

Posted on

York Stage to take deeper dive into “beautiful mess of growing up different in a northern city” in new staging of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie next October

York Stage’s poster to announce next October’s production of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie at the Grand Opera House, York

YORK Stage will present a “bold and gritty” new production of Sheffield-forged musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie at the Grand Opera House, York, from October 16 to 24 2026.

Hold on. Didn’t York Stage perform Dan Gillespie Sells and Tom MacRae’s award-winning show at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, in June 2023? Yes indeed, but that was the York premiere of the Teen Version, starring Ryan Addyman, from Knaresborough, in the title role in his York Stage debut.

Now, director Nik Briggs has decided to re-imagine the award-winning musical with a “raw, authentic edge, capturing the electricity, humour and heart that has made Jamie a modern British classic”. How? By diving deeper into Jamie’s world.

Ryan Addyman as Jamie New in York Stage’s June 2023 York premiere of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Teen Edition. Picture: Matthew Kitchen

Inspired by the Firecracker documentary Jamie: Drag Queen At 16, composer Dan Gillespie Sells (from Horsham’s finest pop practitioners The Feeling) and writer/lyricist Tom MacRae worked their magic from an original idea by director and co-writer Jonathan Butterell for the 2017 Sheffield Crucible Theatre premiere.

Inspired by a true story, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie follows 16-year-old Jamie New, who doesn’t quite fit in. Supported by his loving mum and his friends, Jamie overcomes prejudice, beats the bullies and steps into the spotlight to become the star he was born to be.

York Stage’s 2026 production promises a fresh take on the hit West End show, blending Gillespie Sells’s infectious pop score and MacRae’s fearless, humorous book with York Stage’s trademark theatrical grit and emotional honesty.

 Nik Briggs: Directing York Stage’s 2026 production of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

“This is a story about identity, courage and the power of self-expression,” says Nik. “Our new production will dive deeper into Jamie’s world – its highs, its heartache and its hope – and celebrate the beautiful mess of growing up different in a northern city. We can’t wait to share this version with York audiences.”

Next October’s full-scale production will feature a vibrant cast and professional creative team, marking another landmark moment for York Stage at the Grand Opera House. Tickets will go on sale soon at atgtickets.com/york.

Did you know?

EVERYBODY’S Talking About Jamie was last staged in York by Pick Me Up Theatre at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre in July 2025, when 15-year-old York schoolboy Harvey Stevens took the lead role of Jamie New.

Posted on

More Things To Do in York and beyond when walls come alive with art and light. Hutch’s List No. 47, from The York Press

Principal dancers, dance captains and siblings Anna Mai Fitzpatrick and Fergus Fitzpatrick in Riverdance’s 30th anniversary show, The New Generation

LEFT-FIELD Halloween entertainment, garden art and light installations, Normal comedy and a splurge gun musical spark Charles Hutchinson’s interest.

Dance show of the week: Riverdance, 30th Anniversary Tour, York Barbican, today and tomorrow, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

VISITING 30 UK venues – one for each year of its history – from August to December 2025, the Irish dance extravaganza Riverdance rejuvenates the much-loved original show with new innovative choreography and costumes, plus state-of-the-art lighting, projection and motion graphics, in this 30th anniversary celebration.

For the first time, John McColgan directs “the New Generation” of Riverdance performers, none of them born when the show began. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Blair Bitch Project: Playing on Navigators Art’s bill at YO Underworld 6 at The Basement

Live, left-field, local new music, comedy and words for Halloween: Navigators Art presents YO Underworld 6, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, tonight, 7.30pm

IN this special Halloween edition, York arts collective Navigators Art plays host to riot grrrl punk and grunge-inspired York quartet Blair Bitch Project and improvising cellist and sound artist Gaia Blandina, performing collaborative, open-form pieces with Ish, featuring Iris Casling, double bass, Des Clarke, oboe, and Nika Ticciati, voice.

Joshua Arnold & Therine: Welcoming the coming of Samhain at YO Underworld 6

Taking part too are dark hurdy-gurdy and vocal-led trad and experimental drone folk combo Joshua Arnold & Therine, welcoming the coming of Samhain; Kane Bruce,  delivering his outrageously dark yet cheeky take on “taboo” topics, and Hull poet Melissa Shode, who explores identity in the socio-political climate and writes for release, justice and the voiceless. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk/navigators-art-performance or on the door.

Steve Gunn: Showcasing his two 2025 albums at The Band Room, Low Mill, tonight. Picture: Paul Rhodes

Moorland gig of the week: Steve Gunn, The Band Room, Low Mill, Farndale, North York Moors, tonight, 7.30pm

STEVE Gunn, the ambient psychedelic American singer-songwriter based in Brooklyn, New York, made his name as a guitarist in Kurt Vile’s backing band, The Violators. His myriad magical influences include Michael Chapman, Michael Hurley and John Fahey.

This weekend he will be showcasing his second album of 2025, Daylight Daylight, out on November 7 on No Quarter, as well as his first fully instrumental album, August’s Music For Writers. Box office: 01751 432900 or thebandroom.co.uk.

Hands and Voices: York choir singing at Laughs, Lyrics & You! at the Gateway Centre on Sunday

Inclusive open mic event of the week: Accessible Arts & Media presents Laughs, Lyrics & You!, Gateway Centre, York, Sunday, 2.30pm to 5pm

WHAT is Laughs, Lyrics & You!? “The idea is to have an open mic-type event, in a relaxed and friendly environment that’s accessible and fun, with tea and cake too,” says Accessible Arts & Media (AAM) chief executive officer Chris Farrell. “Our projects, IMPs, Movers and Shakers and Hands and Voices, will start the show with their wonderful music, dances and stories.

“Then it’s over to whoever would like to perform. Any talent is welcome, a duet, a solo instrument, a poetry reading, a recording of some original music, jokes…whatever you can think of would be great!” To take part, performers must contact projects@aamedia.org.uk or ring Hannah on 07762 428818. Admission is free; donations welcome.

Artist Ric Liptrot: Taking part in That Acomb Arty Thing

Art event of the week: That Acomb Arty Thing, Art Trail, until November 2; Open Studios, November 1 and 2

DISCOVER York artists’ work in venues around Acomb on the autumn Art Trail featuring Carla Ballantine, Linda Braham, Ric Liptrot, Jelena Lunge, Rae Merriman, Isaac Savage, Ginette Speed, Donna Taylor and Dianne Turner.

North Yorkshire Open Studios participants are hosting open studios next Saturday and Sunday: Paul Mathieson & Peter Mathieson, 49 Jute Road, 10am to 4pm; Peijun Cao, 60 Jute Road, 10.30am to 5pm; Fran Brammer, 81 Jute Road, 10am to 4pm; Charlotte Lister & Charley Hellier, 7 Chestnut Grove, 10am to 2pm; Robin Grover-Jacques, 35 Chestnut Grove, 11am to 4pm, and Mo Nisbet, 116 Acomb Road, 11am to 4pm.

Blue sigh thinking? Henry Normal reflects on himself, his mistakes, his Z celebrity status, in The Slideshow

Normal service resumed: Henry Normal, The Slideshow, Helmsley Arts Centre, Sunday, 8pm

THE Slideshow, as poet, film and TV producer/writer Henry Normal explains, is a multi-MEdia spectacular with the emphasis on the “me” in his celebration of his “meteoric rise to Z celebrity status”, followed by his joyous and inevitable slide into physical and mental decline.

Expect poetry, photos, jokes, music, dance, song, circus skills, costume changes, props and stories, exploring where Normal  went wrong in life, plus lessons you can learn from his mistakes, in this memoir with cautionary verse. Box office: helmsleyarts.co.uk.

David Barrott, left, Catherine Edge and Adam Marsdin in rehearsal for Settlement Players’ production of Party Piece

Calamitous comedy misadventure of the week: York Settlement Community Players in Party Piece, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, October 28 to November 1, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee

AMERICAN director, writer, producer, historian and stuntman Martin T Brooks directs Settlement Players for the first time in Richard Harris’s calamitous 1992 comedy Party Piece.

Michael and Roma Smethurst are preparing meticulously for their fancy-dress housewarming party. Mrs Hinson, not the biggest fan of her upper-class new neighbours, is keeping a criticising eye on the attendees. Then disasters strike: an embarrassing lack of guests, a burning barbeque, a marauding Zimmer frame and a corpse showing up at the front door. Cue chaos. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Cassie Vallance, left, and Jane Bruce in Story Craft Theatre’s Bat, Cackle And Pop! at York Theatre Royal

Children’s Halloween show of the week: Story Craft Theatre in Bat, Cackle And Pop!, York Theatre Royal Studio, October 29 to 31, 10.30am and 1pm

WINIFRED the Witch thinks everyone has forgotten her birthday. Not so. There will be a big surprise party, but first, a special birthday cake must be made.

“We just need the last three rather spooky ingredients,” say York company Story Craft Theatre’s Cassie Vallance and Jane Bruce. “Our show is bubbling with all sorts of ghosts and ghouls – more silly than scary – and there’s plenty of opportunities to dabble in some spell making, as well as flying with luxury BAT Airways.” Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Rory Stewart: Discussing his new book, Middleland, at York Barbican

Book event of the week: Toppings presents Rory Stewart, Middleland, York Barbican, October 30, 7pm

NOW Professor of the Practice of Grand Strategy at Yale University’s Jackson School of Global Affairs and Alastair Campbell’s co-podcaster on The Rest Is Politics, Rory Stewart spent nearly a decade as Conservative MP of Britain’s most rural constituency, Penrith and the Border.

Living in the Eden Valley, he found inspiration in the beauty of Cumbrian landscape, its rugged history as a frontierland, and the spirit of its people, prompting him to write Middleland: Dispatches From The Borders, a portrait of rural Britain today: a place caught in tensions between farming and the natural world, between the need to preserve and to grow, between local and national politics. Over to you, Rory.  Tickets: toppingbooks.co.uk/events/york/rory-stewart-middleland/.

Fizzy with the singers in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Bugsy Malone: Theo Rae, Isla Lightfoot, Olivia Swales and Beau Lettin

Musical of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Bugsy Malone, Grand Opera House, York, October 31 to November 8, 7.30pm, except Sunday and Monday ; 2.30pm, both Saturdays and Sunday

LESLEY Hill directs and choreographs York company Pick Me Up Theatre’s cast of 40 young performers in  Alan Parker and Paul Williams’s musical, replete with the movie songs You Give A Little Love,  My Name Is Tallulah, So You Wanna Be A Boxer?, Fat Sam’s Grand SlamandBugsy Malone.

In Prohibition-era New York, rival gangsters Fat Sam and Dandy Dan are at loggerheads. As custard pies fly and Dan’s splurge guns wreak havoc, penniless ex-boxer and all-round nice guy Bugsy Malone falls for aspiring singer Blousey Brown. Can Bugsy resist seductive songstress Tallulah, Fat Sam’s moll and Bugsy’s old flame, and stay out of trouble while helping Fat Sam to defend his business? Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

In Focus: Tom Grennan, York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend, July 25 2026

BEDFORD singer-songwriter Tom Grennan is the first act to be confirmed for the Music Showcase Weekend at the 2026 York Racecourse flat racing season.

Grennan, 30, has achieved three UK number one albums, 2021’s Evering Road, 2023’s What Ifs & Maybes and 2025’s Everywhere I Went Led Me To Where I Didn’t Want To Be, preceded by his top five-charting 2018 debut Lighting Matches. 

He has chalked up hit singles too with Little Bit Of Love, Let’s Go Home Together (with Ella Henderson), Remind Me, Lionheart (Fearless, with Joel Corry), Here, How Does It Feel, It Can’t Be Christmas, By Your Side (Calvin Harris, featuring Tom Grennan) and Not Over Yet (KSI, featuring Tom Grennan).

Next summer’s Knavesmire gig will form part of a busy touring schedule for Grennan, who also co-hosts the You About? podcast with TV and radio presenter Roman Kemp.

Racing and music fans can take advantage of a price freeze on adult general admission on the track’s website, meaning entrance to the main Grandstand and Paddock enclosure, starts at just £40 per person for a group of six. As well as free car parking, no booking fees apply on this route to purchase. To book, visit www.yorkracecourse.co.uk.

On the racecourse, the racing action will see seven thoroughbred contests with combined prize money of £380,000. The Group Two feature race will be the Sky Bet York Stakes.

The Summer Music Saturday meeting will be held on June 27; the Friday evening Music Showcase Weekend meeting on July 24. Music acts for both those days are yet to be confirmed; keep checking www.yorkracecourse.co.uk for further announcements, expected soon.

James Brennan, head of marketing and sponsorship says: “It is great news that Tom Grennan is joining the artists to have performed on the Knavesmire; a performer who has gone from strength to strength. It will herald a month for music and racing fans to remember.”

In Focus too: Luxmuralis presents Echoes Of Yorkshire, York Museum Gardens, until November 2, 6pm to 8.20pm

Luxmuralis’s Echoes Of Yorkshire transforming the St Mary’s Abbey ruins in York Museum Gardens. Picture: Duncan Savage, Ravage Productions, for York Museums Trust

LET light, colour and music surround you at the Echoes Of Yorkshire light and sound installation conjured by the internationally acclaimed Luxmuralis, who bring alive the culturally rich story of the Yorkshire Museum and York Museum Gardens.

Visitors are invited to “immerse yourself in the story of the historic site with contemporary light and music showcasing its age-defining artefacts and extraordinary exhibits. Join us to celebrate all that the museum and its gardens bring to our city and the wider north of England.”

In the 30-year collaboration of sculptor and artist Peter Walker and composer David Harper, Luxmuralis travels the world to create stories in light and sound for audiences at locations ranging from the Tower of London and St Paul’s Cathedral, London, to city-wide open-air projections in places such as Oxford and Limburg in the Netherlands.

Through combining fine art, light and sound, Luxmuralis reflects closely on the history and heritage of places by weaves together the contemporary and the ancient.

Now, for the first time, Luxmuralis is transforming the walls of York in Echoes Of Yorkshire in York Museum Gardens for ten evenings filled with six looping art installations and landscape lighting by Steve Rainsford.

Ticketed entry time slots are given every 20 minutes, but once in the gardens visitors can journey through the experience at their own pace with a recommended walking time of one hour. Refreshments will be available to buy on the night, including from Thor’s tipi.

Echoes Of Yorkshire is suitable for all ages. Audiences will experience the gardens’ history from the Roman period to its time as an abbey (St Mary’s Abbey) in tandem with Luxmuralis’s showcase of the Yorkshire Museum’s collections that span 60 million years from the Jurassic and the Mesolithic, through to the Romans, Viking, Anglo Saxon and Medieval.

Welcoming Luxmuralis to York Museum Gardens, Siona Mackelworth, head of audience and programme for York Museums Trust, says: “We are delighted that Luxmuralis agreed to produce a very special and bespoke show for us here in York.

“This is a celebration of all that the Yorkshire Museum brings to the city, its history and the location as the repository of great discoveries and stories. With this amount of content, the Luxmuralis light and sound show looks amazing.”

Luxmuralis artistic director Peter Walker says: “We’re thrilled to be collaborating with the team at Yorkshire Museum to deliver a truly distinctive experience set within the stunning and historically rich Museum Gardens.

“By drawing inspiration from the museum’s collections, this light installation re-imagines the architecture and landscape in an entirely new and transformative way.”

Tickets cost £13.50 per adult; £9.50 for children aged five to 16; free admission for under-fives. Box office: yorkshiremuseum.org.uk. Echoes Of Yorkshire is on a constant loop from 6pm to 8.20pm each night. Please note, only assistance dogs will be allowed into the gardens during the event.

Posted on

More Things To Do in York and beyond. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 46 of criminally good entertainment, from The York Press

Martha Tilston: Playing The Basement tonight at City Screen Picturehouse

CRIMINAL investigations and a brace of plays with murder at the core, Charles Hutchinson detects a theme to his latest recommendations.

Singer-songwriter of the week: Martha Tilston, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, tonight, 7.30pm

BORN in Bristol and now living in Cornwall, singer, songwriter and filmmaker Martha Tilston writes songs from the heart as a balm for the modern age.

Tilston, who has worked Zero 7, Damien Rice, Nick Harper, Kae Tempest and Aztec Camera’s Roddy Frame, combines raw vocals and sparkling melodies with thought-provoking lyrics and filmic movements, inviting her audience to “connect with longed-for parts of ourselves”. Box office: marthatilston.co.uk.

Jennifer Rees: Exploring stories of serial killers in forensic detail at the Grand Opera House, York

Criminal investigations of the week: Strange But True Crimes with Jennifer Rees, Grand Opera House, York, October 21, 7.30pm

FORMER forensics lecturer and Psychology Of Serial Killers presenter Jennifer Rees explores stories such as the serial killer who gained work in law enforcement while on the run – and ended up hunting himself.

Watch out too for the female, balloon-carrying killer clown, serial killers on game shows – how  their appearances led to their identification – and  many more stories. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Jason Durr’s Jonny ‘The Cyclops’, right, accosting the nervous burglar in Torben Betts’s comedy thriller Murder At Midnight. Picture: Pamela Raith

Deliciously twisted crime caper of the week: Original Theatre in Murder At Midnight, York Theatre Royal, October 21 to 25, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees

ON New Year’s Eve, in a quiet corner of Kent, a killer is in the house in Torben Betts’s comedy thriller Murder At Midnight, part two of a crime trilogy for Original Theatre that began last year with Murder In The Dark, this time starring Jason Durr, Susie Blake, Max Howden and Katie McGlynn.

Meet Jonny ‘The Cyclops’, his glamorous wife, his trigger-happy sidekick, his mum – who sees things – and her very jittery carer, plus a vicar, apparently hiding something, and a nervous burglar dressed as a clown. Throw in a suitcase full of cash, a stash of deadly weapons and one infamous unsolved murder…what could possibly go wrong? Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

The Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon: Showcasing new album Rainy Sunday Afternoon at York Barbican. Picture: Kevin Westerberg

Recommended but sold out already: The Divine Comedy, York Barbican, October 21, doors 7pm

IN the wake of composing all the original songs for the 2023 global blockbuster Wonka, North Irishman Neil Hannon has returned to his Divine Comedy guise for September 19’s Rainy Sunday Afternoon: album number 13 and his first studio set since 2019’s Office Politics.

Recorded at Abbey Road, London, the album was written, arranged and produced by Hannon, who covers his usual range of emotions: sad, funny, angry and everything in between. Hear Hannon songs new and old next Tuesday, when Studio Electrophonique will be the special guest. Box office, for returns only: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Katie Melia’s Show White in Steve Coates Music Productions’ Disenchanted, turning fairy tales on their head at the JoRo

Cheeky twist on fairy tales of the week: Steve Coates Music Productions in Disenchanted, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, October 22 to 25, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

KATIE Melia directs and leads the cast as Snow White in Steve Coates Music Productions’ production of  Disenchanted, the musical with the feminist twist that turns fairy tales upside down, from the Little Mermaid hitting the bottle to Belle ending up in a straitjacket for chatting with the cutlery.

Forget the damsels in distress, Snow White, Cinderella and their royal crew want to set the record straight. Equipped with sass, wit, and powerhouse vocals, these not-so-princessy princesses flip the script, spill the tea and reclaim their stories as they challenge outdated happily-ever-afters. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Making an impression: Dead Ringers on 25th anniversary tour

Comedy nights of the week: Dead Ringers, October 22, 3pm and 7.30pm, and Nick Mohammed Is Mr Swallow: Show Pony, October 26, 8pm, both at Grand Opera, House, York  

TO mark its 25th anniversary, BBC Radio 4’s topical satire show Dead Ringers takes to the road with a full UK tour for the first time as long-standing cast members Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Lewis MacLeod and Duncan Wisbey take a trip through classic sketches and unrivalled impressions, peppered with  topical humour.

Celebrity Traitors competitor, Taskmaster contestant and Ted Lasso actor Nick Mohammed returns to York as his alter-ego Mr Swallow. Expect magic, music and new mistakes. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Harry Summers, left, and Emma Scott in rehearsal for York Shakespeare Project’s The Spanish Tragedy. Picture: John Saunders

Revenge drama of the week: York Shakespeare Project in The Spanish Tragedy, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, October 22 to 25, 7.30pm

PAUL Toy directs York Shakespeare Project for the fourth time – and the first since Troilus And Cressida in 2011– in “the most popular play of the Elizabethan era, outselling Shakespeare”: Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy, the circa 1592 blueprint for the Revenge Tragedy genre.

No Kyd, maybe no Hamlet or The Duchess Of Malfi, as treachery, deceit and disguise are wrapped inside a torrid tale of vengeance-seeking ghosts, madness, a play-within-a-play and a Machiavellian villain, delivered by Toy with masks, music and dance. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk. 

Alexandra Mather’s Polly Peachum in York Opera’s The Beggar’s Opera. Picture: John Saunders

Opera of the week: York Opera in The Beggar’s Opera, The Citadel, York City Church, Gillygate, York, October 23 to 25, 7.30pm

YORK Opera stage John Gay and Johann Christoph Pepusch’s 1728 satirical ballad opera The Beggar’s Opera in an immersive production under the musical direction of John Atkin and stage direction of Chris Charlton-Matthews, with choreography by Jane Woolgar.

Watch out! You may find yourself next to a cast member, whether Mark Simmonds’ Macheath, Adrian Cook’s Peachum, Anthony Gardner’s Lockit, Alexandra Mather’s Polly Peachum, Sophie Horrocks’ Lucy Lockit, Cathy Atkin’s Mrs Peachum, Ian Thomson-Smith’s Beggar or Jake Mansfield’s Player. Box office: tickets.yorkopera.co.uk/events/yorkopera/1793200.

Heidi Talbot: Introducing November 21 album Grace Untold at NCEM on October 23

Folk gig of the week: Heidi Talbot, Grace Untold UK Tour, National Centre for Early Music, York, October 23, 7.30pm

IRISH folk singer Heidi Talbot returns to the NCEM stage to preview her November 21 album Grace Untold, a collection of songs based around Irish goddesses and inspirational women.

This is an album rooted in personal experience and collective lore as Heidi pays tribute to female strength, focusing on legendary figures and the unsung heroines within her own family. Box office: 01904 658338 or necem.co.uk.

Riverdance: The New Generation performs the Irish dancers’ 30th anniversary show at York Barbican

Dance show of the week: Riverdance, 30th Anniversary Tour, York Barbican, October 24 to 26, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday and Sunday matinees

VISITING 30 UK venues – one for each year of its history – from August to December 2025, the Irish dance extravaganza Riverdance rejuvenates the much-loved original show with new innovative choreography and costumes, plus state-of-the-art lighting, projection and motion graphics, in this 30th anniversary celebration.

For the first time, John McColgan directs “the New Generation” of Riverdance performers, none of them born when the show began. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Posted on

More Things To Do in York and beyond monsters, ghosts, banjos and bratwurst. Hutch’s List No. 45, from The York Press

Anna Soden: No bum deal, bum steer or bum’s rush, for that would be a bummer at tonight’s hour of comedy, It Comes Out You Bum, at The Old Paint Shop

FROM royal history re-told to Dickens’ ghost stories, magical monsters to banjo brilliance, Charles Hutchinson delights in October’s diversity.

Homecoming of the week: Anna Soden, It Comes Out Your Bum, The Old Paint Shop, York Theatre Royal Studio, tonight, 8pm

NOW based in Brighton but very much shaped in York, comedian, actor, writer, TikTok sensation and award-nominated Theatre Royal pantomime cow in Jack And The Beanstalk, Anna Soden delivers her debut hour of madcap comedy, full of brainwaves, songs, revenge and talking out your ass. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Robin Simpson: Monster storyteller and York Theatre Royal pantomime dame, performing at Rise@Bluebird Bakery

Spooky entertainment of the week: Robin Simpson’s Magic, Monsters And Mayhem!, Rise at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, Sunday, doors 4pm

YORK Theatre Royal pantomime dame Robin Simpson – soon to give his Nurse Nellie in Sleeping Beauty this winter – celebrates witches, wizards, ghosts and goblins in his storytelling show.

“The audience is in charge in this interactive performance, ideal for fans of spooky stories and silly songs,” says Robin. “The show is perfect for Years 5 and upwards, but smaller siblings and their grown-ups are very welcome too.” Tickets: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.

Out for revenge: Henry VIII’s wives turn the tables in SIX The Musical, returning to the Grand Opera House, York, from Tuesday. Picture: Pamela Raith

Recommended but sold-out already: SIX The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, October 14 to 18; Tuesday & Thursday, 8pm; Wednesday & Friday, 6pm and 8.30pm; Saturday, 4pm and 8pm

FROM Tudor queens to pop princesses, the six wives of Henry VIII take to the mic to tell their tales, remixing 500 years of historical heartbreak into an 80-minute celebration of 21st century girl power. Think you know the rhyme? Think again. Divorced. Beheaded. LIVE!

Lucy Moss and Toby Marlow’s hit show is making its third visit to York, but it’s third time unlucky if you haven’t booked yet. Like Anne Boleyn’s head, every seat has gone.

Eddi Reader: Performing with her full band at The Citadel

Seven-year itch of the week: Hurricane Promotions presents Eddi Reader, The Citadel, York City Church, Gillygate, York, October 15, 7.30pm

EDDI Reader, the Glasgow-born singer who fronted Fairground Attraction, topping the charts with Perfect, also has ten solo albums, three BRIT awards and an MBE for Outstanding Contributions to the Arts to her name.

Straddling differing musical styles and making them her own, from the traditional to the contemporary, and interpreting the songs of Robert Burns to boot, she brings romanticism to her joyful performances, this time with her full band in her first show in York for seven years. Eilidh Patterson supports. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk.

Damien O’Kane and Ron Block: Banjovial partnership at the NCEM

Banjo at the double: Damien O’Kane and Ron Block Band, The Banjovial Tour, National Centre for Early Music, York, October 15, 7.30pm

GROUNDBREAKING  banjo  players Damien O’Kane and Ron Block follow up their Banjophony and Banjophonics albums with this month’s Banjovial and an accompanying tour.

O’Kane, renowned for his work with Barnsley songstress Kate Rusby, is a maestro of Irish traditional music, here expressed on his Irish tenor banjo; Block, a key component of Alison Krauss & Union Station, infuses his signature five-string bluegrass banjo with soulful depth and rhythmic innovation. Together, their styles intertwine in an exhilarating dance of technical mastery. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

Francis Rossi: Solo show of song and chat at York Barbican. Picture: Jodiphotography

Hits and titbits aplenty: An Evening of Francis Rossi’s Songs from the Status Quo Songbook and More, York Barbican, October 16, 7.30pm

IN his one-man show, Status Quo frontman Francis Rossi performs signature Quo hits, plus personal favourites and deeper cuts, while telling first-hand backstage tales of appearing more than 100 times on Top Of The Pops, why they went on first at Live Aid, life with Rick Parfitt, notching 57 hits, fellow stars and misadventures across the world. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

James Swanton: Halloween beckons, so here comes his double bill of Dickens’ ghost stories at York Medical Society. Picture: Jtu Photography

Ghost stories of the week: James Swanton presents The Signal-Man, York Medical Society, Stonegate, York, October 16, 17, 20 to 23, 7pm; October 27 and 28, 5.30pm and 7.30pm

A RED light. A black tunnel. A waving figure. A warning beyond understanding. Here comes the fear that  someone, that something, is drawing closer. Gothic York storyteller James Swanton returns to York Medical Society with The Signal-Man, “one of the most powerful ghost stories of all time and certainly the most frightening ever written by Charles Dickens”.

Swanton pairs it with The Trial For Murder, wherein Dickens treats the supernatural with just as much terrifying gravity. Tickets update: all ten performances bar October 21 have sold out. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Natnael Dawitin in Shobana Jeyasingh Dance’s We Caliban, on tour at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Foteini Christofilopoulou

Dance show of the week: Shobana Jeyasingh Dance in We Caliban, York Theatre Royal, October 17, 7.30pm (with post-show discussion) and October 18, 2pm and 7.30pm

SHOBANA Jeyasingh turns her sharp creative eye to Shakespeare’s final play The Tempest in a new co-production with Sadler’s Wells. A tale of power lost and regained, the play is the starting point for Jeyasingh’s dramatic and contemporary reckoning, We Caliban.

Written as Europe was taking its first step towards colonialism, The Tempest is Prospero’s story. We Caliban is Caliban’s untold story that started and continued long after Prospero’s brief stay. Performed by eight dancers, complemented by Will Duke’s projections and Thierry Pécou’s music, this impressionistic work draws on present-day parallels and the international and intercultural discourse around colonialism, as well as Jeyasingh’s personal experiences. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

John Bramwell: Playing solo in Pocklington

As recommended by Cate Blanchett: John Bramwell, Pocklington Arts Centre, October 17, 8pm

HYDE singer, song-spinner and sage John Bramwell, leading light of Mercury Prize nominees I Am Kloot from 1999 to 2014 and screen goddess Cate Blachett’s “favourite songwriter of all time”, has been on a never-ending rolling adventure since his workings away from his cherished Mancunian band.

His sophomore solo album, February 2024’s The Light Fantastic, will be at the heart of his Pocklington one-man show. . “After both my mum and dad died, I started writing these songs to cheer myself up,” Bramwell admits with trademark candour. “The themes are taken from my dreams at the time. Wake up and take whatever impression I had from what I could remember of my dream and write that.” He promises new material and Kloot songs too. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Velma Celli: York drag diva lighting up Yorktoberfest at York Racecourse. Picture: Sophie Eleanor

Festival of the week: Yorktoberfest, Clocktower Enclosure, York Racecourse, Knavesmire, York, October 18, 1pm to 5pm and 7pm to 11pm; October 24, 7pm to 11pm; October 25, 1pm to 5pm and 7pm to 11pm

MAKING its debut in 2021, Yorktoberfest returns for its fifth anniversary with beer, bratwurst and all things Bavarian. Step inside the giant marquee, fill your stein at the Bavarian Bar with beer from Brew York and grab a bite from the German-inspired Dog Haus food stall.

The Bavarian Strollers oompah band will perform thigh-slapping music and drinking songs; York drag diva Velma Celli will add to the party atmosphere with powerhouse songs and saucy patter. Doors open at 6.30pm and 12.30pm. Tickets: ticketsource.co.uk/yorktoberfest.

In Focus: Charlie Higson and Jim Moir: A Very Short But Epic History Of The Monarchy, York Theatre Royal, Oct 13, 7.30pm

In the frame: Author Charlie Higson and artist Jim Moir discuss royalty and comedy at York Theatre Royal on Monday

36 kings. Five queens. Two comedy legends. Join Charlie Higson and Jim Moir (alias Vic Reeves) for the rip-roaring story of every English ruler since Harold was shot in the eye at the Battle of Hastings.

Higson has always been interested in the story of the fabled English monarchy: from the b*stardly to the benevolent,the brilliant to the brutal. “Far from being a nice, colourful pageant of men and women in funny hats waving to adoring crowds, it’s a story of regicide, fratricide, patricide, uxoricide and mariticide (you might have to look those last two up),” he says.

Launched for the coronation of his namesake King Charles III, Charlie’s podcast Willie, Willie, Harry, Stee takes a deep dive into the murky lives of our monarchs. Now, his new book of the show features illustrations by artist Jim Moir, his compadre in comedy.

On Monday, Charlie and Jim will first share stories from their comic collaborations over 30 years, including Shooting Stars, Randell And Hopkirk Deceased and The Smell Of Reeves and Mortimer. Then they will take the plunge into the storied history of this most treasured of institutions. Bloody treachery? Check. Unruly incest? Check. Short parliaments? Check. A couple of Cromwells? Check.

Their rip-roaring journey takes in the Normans, Tudors and Stuarts, not to mention the infamous Blois (how can we forget them?), tin an “utterly engrossing and grossly entertaining primer on who ruled when and why – with never-before-seen illustrations”!

A signed copy of Higson & Moir’s book Willie, Willie, Harry, Stee: An Epically Short History Of Our Kings and Queens (RRP £22) is included when purchasing Band 1 (£55) tickets, available for collection on the night. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Posted on

More Things To Do in York & beyond when the air turns blue and the skies glower. Hutch’s List No. 44, from The York Press

Roy Chubby Brown: No offence, but it’s simply comedy, reckons Britain’s stalwart potty-mouthed joker at York Barbican

FROM sacre bleu comedy to a French silent  film,  Graham Nash and Al Stewart  on vintage form to Grayson Perry on good and evil,  love’s vicissitudes to the Hunchback musical, October is brewing up a storm of culture, reports Charles Hutchinson. 

Blue humour of the week: Roy Chubby Brown, It’s Simply Comedy, York Barbican, tonight, 7.30pm

GRANGETOWN gag veteran Roy Chubby Brown, now 80, forewarns: “Not meant to offend, it’s simply a comedy tour”. After more than 50 years of spicy one-liners and putdowns, he continues to tackle the subjects of sex, celebrities, politics and British culture with a high profanity count and contempt for political correctness. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Gemma Curry in Hoglets Theatre’s The Tale Of The Loneliest Whale at York Theatre Royal Studio

Children’s show of the week: Hoglets Theatre in The Tale Of The Loneliest Whale, York Theatre Royal Studio, today, 11am and 2pm

FRESH from an award-winning Edinburgh Fringe run, York company Hoglets Theatre invite primary-age children and families to an exciting adventure packed with beautiful handmade puppets, sea creatures, original songs and audience interaction aplenty.

Performed, crafted and directed by Gemma Curry, The Tale Of The Loneliest Whale celebrates friendship, difference and the beauty of being yourself in Andy Curry’s tale of Whale singing his heart out into the deep blue sea, but nobody singing back until…a mysterious voice echoes through the waves, whereupon Whale embarks on an unforgettable adventure. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Graham Nash: Sixty years of song at York Barbican. Picture: Ralf Louis

Vintage gigs of the week: Graham Nash, An Evening Of Songs And Stories, York Barbican, Sunday, 7.30pm; Al Stewart, The Farewell Tour, York Barbican, October 7, 7.45pm

GRAHAM Nash, 83-year-old two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee and Grammy award winner, performs songs spanning his 60-year career fromThe Hollies to Crosby, Stills andNash, CSNY (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) to his solo career, joined by Todd Caldwell (keyboards and vocals), Adam Minkoff(bass, drums, guitars and vocals) and Zach Djanikian (guitars, mandolin, drums and vocals). Long-time friend Peter Asher supports.

The poster for Al Stewart’s farewell tour, visiting York Barbican on Tuesday

Glasgow-born folk-rock singer-songwriter Al Stewart marks his 80th birthday (born 5/9/1945) with his UK farewell tour. After relocating to Chandler Arizona from Los Angeles, his home for the past 45 years, he is winding down his touring schedule with his long-running time band The Empty Pockets. Time for the last Year Of The Cat. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Jonny Best: Leading Frame Ensemble’s improvised score for The Divine Voyager at the NCEM. Picture: Chris Payne

Film event of the week: Northern Silents presents The Divine Voyager with Frame Ensemble, National Centre for Early Music, York, Monday, 7.30pm

FRAME Ensemble’s spontaneous musicians Jonny Best (piano), Susannah Simmons (violin), Liz Hanks (cello) and Trevor Bartlett (percussion) accompany Julien Duvivier’s lushly photographed, beautifully poetic 1929 French silent film The Divine Voyage with an improvised live score.

In a tale of faith and hope, rapacious businessman Claude Ferjac sends his ship, La Cordillere, on a long trading journey, knowing it is likely to sink after poor repairs. An entire village of sailors, desperate to support their families, has no choice but to set sail. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

James Lee, left, Helen Clarke, front, Wilf Tomlinson, back, and Katie Leckey rehearsing for Griffonage Theatre’s FourTold. Picture: John Stead

Time to discover: Griffonage Theatre in FourTold, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, October 6 to 11, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

YORK devotees of the madcap, the macabre and making the familiar strange and the strange familiar, Griffonage Theatre transport audiences to the quirky rural town of Baile Aighneas – The Town of Dispute – for FourTold, a quartet of comedies by early 20th century Irish playwright Lady Augusta Gregory, never presented together in the UK until now under Northern Irish director Katie Leckey.

Encounter the bustling market and all its gossip in Spreading The News; the restaurant where newspaper editors wine, dine and mix up their Coats; the post office, where the splendid Hyacinth Halvey has sent word he is coming to town, and the bus stop where strangers such as The Bogie Men can quickly become friends! Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Hannah Sinclair Robinson’s Jess and Joe Layton’s Robbie in Frantic Assembly’s Lost Atoms, on tour at York Theatre Royal next week. Picture: Tristram Kenton

Relationship drama of the week: Frantic Assembly in Lost Atoms, York Theatre Royal, October 7 to 11, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees

FRANTIC Assembly follow up York Theatre Royal visits of Othello and Metamorphosis with their 30th anniversary production, a two-hander memory play by Anna Jordan, directed by physical theatre specialist Scott Graham.

Joe Layton and Hannah Sinclair Robinson play Robbie and Jess, whose chance meeting, disastrous dates and extraordinary transformative love is the stuff of fairy tales. Or is it? Lost Atoms is a wild ride through a life-changing relationship, or Robbie and Jess’s clashing recollections as they relive the beats of connection, the moments of loss, but  are their stories the same and can their memories be trusted? Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Grayson Perry: “Finding out if you really are thoroughly good or maybe quite evil, but in a fun way” at the Grand Opera House

Question of the week: Grayson Perry: Are You Good?, Grand Opera House, October 7, 7.30pm

AFTER A Show For Normal People And A Show All About You, artist, iconoclast, television presenter and Knight Bachelor Grayson Perry asks Are You Good? A question that he thinks is “fundamental to our humanity”.

“In this show I will be helping you, the audience, find out if you really are thoroughly good or maybe quite evil, but in a fun way,” says Sir Grayson. “I always start out with the assumption that people are born good and then life happens. So, let’s pull back the curtain and see where your morals truly lie.” Add audience participation and silly songs, and expect to come out with core values completely in tatters. “Is it more important to be good or to be right? It’s time to update what is a virtue and what is a sin. No biggie.” Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Lightning Seeds’ Ian Broudie: Pure entertainment at York Barbican on Thursday

Oh, lucky you gig of the week: Lightning Seeds, Tomorrow’s Here Today, 35 Years Greatest Hits Tour, York Barbican, October 9, 8pm

NOW in his 36th year of leading Liverpool’s Lightning Seeds, Ian Broudie heads to York on his extended Tomorrow’s Here Today tour. Cue Pure, The Life Of Riley, Change, Lucky You, Sense, All I Want, Sugar Coated Iceberg, You Showed Me, Emily Smiles, Three Lions et al. Casino support. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Jack Fry’s Quasimodo and Ayana Beatrice Poblete at Black Sheep Theatre Productions’s Selby Abbey photoshoot for The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, opening next week at the JoRo

Musical of the week: Black Sheep Theatre Productions in The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, October 10, 11 and 14 to 18, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinees

BLACK Sheep Theatre Productions bring a cast of five leads, seven ensemble actors and a 23-strong choir to the York company’s larger-than-life staging of Alan Menken & Stephen Schwartz’s musical rooted in Disney’s 1996 musical film and Victor Hugo’s 1831 novel.

Combining powerful themes of love, acceptance and the nature of good and evil with a sweeping score, Matthew Peter Clare’s show will be “like nothing you’ve seen before”. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Posted on

Cheers! The Choir Of Man to set up pub on Grand Opera House stage from June 30 to July 4 2026. When do tickets go on sale?

The tour poster for The Choir Of Man, heading for Grand Opera House, York, next summer

RAISE your glasses. The Choir Of Man, the Olivier award-nominated international hit musical with the pub setting, will play the Grand Opera House, York, from June 30 to July 4 2026 on its inaugural UK tour.

Tickets go on sale general on sale tomorrow (3/10/2025) at 10am at https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/the-choir-of-man/grand-opera-house-york/.

After “thrilling audiences night after night in London’s West End”, the producers will be sending a cast of nine (extra)ordinary guys on the road with their combination of beautiful harmonies, foot-stomping singalongs and instrumental flourishes, topped off with tap dancing and soulful storytelling.

Featuring Queen, Luther Vandross, Sia, Paul Simon, Adele, Guns N’ Roses, Avicii and Katy Perry hits to name but a few, this uplifting celebration of community and friendship offers something for everyone – including free beer!

Creator and director Nic Doodson says: “It’s a huge moment for us to launch The Choir Of Man’s very first UK national tour. It’s incredible to see how far the show has come from our start at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2017…it feels incredibly special to finally be taking the show on the road at home. Bringing our pub to audiences across the UK has always been a dream.”

The Choir Of Man stage will include a fully functional bar with taps, well-stocked shelves and signage, designed to give the feel of a genuine working pub. Expect vintage fixtures and pub memorabilia to evoke a traditional pub ambience. 

The Choir Of Man has sold out three seasons at the Sydney Opera House and multiple American and European tours. The show will embark on its fourth North American tour from December to March 2026, playing 68 shows in 45 cities, including two residencies in West Palm Beach, Florida, and returning to Cleveland.

The Choir Of Man’s West End residency at the Arts Theatre began in 2021, since when it has enjoyed more than 1,000 performances with many sold-out shows and an Olivier award nomination for Best Entertainment or Comedy Play.

The UK tour is produced by HH Productions, Nic Doodson, Andrew Kay, Global Creative and Kenny Wax. The show carries an age guidance of ten plus.

Posted on

Kara Tointon to star in Royal Shakespeare Company’s The Constant Wife on tour at York Theatre Royal next January

Kara Tointon in the role of Constance in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s touring production of The Constant Wife

THE Royal Shakespeare Company’s touring production of The Constant Wife is to play York Theatre Royal from January 26 to 31 2026.

2010 Strictly Come Dancing winner Kara Tointon will star in Laura Wade’s new version of W Somerset Maugham’s 1926 comedy, directed by RSC co-artistic director Tamara Harvey.

Described as “a sparkling comedy of ill manners”, The Constant Wife is set in 1927. Constance is a deeply unhappy woman. “Nonsense,” says her mother. “She eats well, sleeps well, dresses well and she’s losing weight. No woman can be unhappy in those circumstances.”

Constance is the perfect wife and mother, and her husband is as devoted to her as he is to his mistress, who just happens to be her best friend.

The tour poster for the RSC’s The Constant Wife, booked into York Theatre Royal from January 26 to 31 next year

The Constant Wife reunites Olivier Award-winning writer Wade and director Harvey, having worked together on Home, I’m Darling, since when Wade was the executive producer and writer for Rivals, the Disney+ adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s bonkbuster novel.

Kara Tointon has played Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion in London’s West End, Dawn Swann in EastEnders from 20025 to 2009 and Rose Selfridge in the television period drama Mr Selfridge, as well as Bella Manningham in Patrick Hamilton’s Gaslight at the Grand Opera House, York, in February 2017.

RSC co-artistic directors Harvey and Daniel Evans said: “Our ambition is to bring joy to as many audiences as possible, deepening our understanding of ourselves and the world around us, and so we are thrilled to be bringing The Constant Wife to stages across the UK, following its success at the Swan in Stratford.

Kara Tointon as Bella Manningham on tour at Grand Opera House, York, in February 2017

“It will be so exciting to get back into the rehearsal room with our new company, led by the brilliant Kara Tointon, and for us to bring Laura Wade’s razor-sharp script to life.”

The tour is presented by Cunard and David Pugh, five-time Olivier Award and two-time Tony Award winning producer, who said: “I’m delighted to have commissioned Laura Wade to adapt this comedy and to be working with the Royal Shakespeare Company on this new production of The Constant Wife.

“Partnering again with Cunard, with whom I’ve had such a wonderful ongoing relationship, continues to be a joy. For me, in the times that we’re in, there is nothing better than to bring comedy to audiences in theatres all around the UK and to hear people laughing.”

Priority booking for York Theatre Royal members opens today (29/9/2025) from 1pm. Tickets go on general sale on October 4 from 1pm. Box office:  01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/show/the-constant-wife. Performances will be at 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees.

Posted on

More Things To Do in York and beyond when ghosts take over gardens. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 43, from The York Press

Sir Alan Ayckbourn: Marking 60th anniversary of his comedy Relatively Speaking with rehearsed reading and Q&A at the SJT tomorrow. Picture: Tony Bartholomew

FROM garden ghosts to Friends parody, Ayckbourn anniversary celebrations to Toussaint’s saxophone, Charles Hutchinson finds joy both outdoors and indoors.

Anniversary landmark of the week: Alan Ayckbourn’s Relatively Speaking, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, Sunday, 2.30pm

AS part of the SJT’s fundraising weekend with Director Emeritus Sir Alan Ayckbourn, Sunday’s 60th anniversary rehearsed reading of Ayckbourn’s Relatively Speaking will be followed by a Q&A with Sir Alan.

Greg and Ginny are living together, but Greg suspects he is not the only man in her life. Prompted by Ginny’s plan to “visit her parents”, he decides to follow her. Ginny is in fact going to see a considerably older lover, but only to break up with him. Greg mistakes the ex-lover and his wife for Ginny’s parents, a situation only compounded by Ginny’s arrival. Antony Eden directs a cast of Hayden Wood, Gina Burnell, Liza Goddard and Russell Richardson. Box office:  01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

Ghosts In The Garden: York’s haunted history told in 58 wire-mesh sculptures

Spectral trail of the season: Ghosts In The Garden, across York, until November 2

ORGANISED by York BID (Business Improvement District), the Ghosts In The Gardens sculpture trail has returned to York’s public gardens, ruins, hidden corners and green spaces in a free family event featuring 58 3D wire-mesh figures inspired by York’s haunted history.

Crafted in partnership with York creative team Unconventional Design, the translucent figures range from soldiers to monks, with ten new spectral sculptures to “ensure fresh surprises for returning visitors”.

Dave Johns: Playing Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club tonight in rare York outing

Comedy gig of the week: Dave Johns, Paul Pirie, Josh Sedman and Damion Larkin, Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club, YO1 Live Lounge, York Barbican, today, 8pm

I, DANIEL Blake actor and comedian Dave Johns has appeared on the stand-up circuit since 1989. Now highly selective about where and when he performs, tonight’s show is a rare chance to catch him in York.

Scotsman Paul Pirie specialises in blurring the lines between real-life anecdotes and flight of fancy, jumping from bitchy to silly. Yorkshire comedian Josh Sedman is equipped with quips, “Wetherby Teeth” and a lovely head of hair. Promoter Damion Larkin hosts as ever. Doors open at 7:30pm. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Dame Imogen Cooper: Piano concert at Helmsley Arts Centre tonight. Picture: Sussie Ahlburg

Classical concert of the week: Dame Imogen Cooper, Helmsley Arts Centre, today, 7.30pm

AFTER playing St Peter’s Church, Norton, at July’s Ryedale Festival, pianist Dame Imogen Cooper returns to Ryedale this weekend to play Bach’s Nun Freut Euch, Lieben Christen G’mein, arranged by Kempff;  Bach’s chorale-prelude Nun Komm’ der Heiden Heiland, arranged by Busoni and Schubert’s Four Impromptus, D. 899. Post-interval, her programme continues with Beethoven’s Seven Bagatelles and Schubert’s Four Impromptus, D. 935. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Alicia Belgarde (Monica), left, Daniel Parkinson (Chandler), Enzo Benvenuti (Ross), Eva Hope (Rachel), Amelia Atherton (Phoebe) and Ronnie Burden (Joey) in Friends! The Musical Parody, on tour at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Pamela Raith

The one where they sing: Friends! The Musical Parody, Grand Opera House, York, September 30 to October 4, Tuesday to Thursday, 7.30pm; Friday, 5.30pm and 8.30pm; Saturday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

NEW York and Las Vegas hit Friends! The Musical Parody is a musical comedy packed with iconic moments from all ten seasons of the beloved television series, complemented by an original musical score. Join Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler, Joey, and Phoebe, the world’s most famous group of twenty-somethings, as they navigate love, friendship and life’s ups and downs in 1990s’ New York City.

“Whether you’re in a love triangle, trying to make it as an actor, or just can’t quit your day job, you’ll be laughing, crying, and quoting your favourite lines all night long,” the show promises. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Saxophonist Jean Toussaint: Opening autumn season at National Centre for Early Music on Wednesday

Jazz gig of the week: Jean Toussaint, National Centre for Early Music, Walmgate, York, October 1, 7.20pm

THE Jean Toussaint Quintet – saxophonist, composer and bandleader Toussaint, pianist Emile Hinton, bassist Conor Murray, drummer Ben Brown and trumpet player Joti – showcases his JT5 project’s latest album, recorded at London’s Vortex jazz club in 2024.

York Music Forum students will be working with Toussaint earlier in the day to share their work on stage from 7.20pm to 7.40pm. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

Sue Ryding, left, recalling her 40-year comedy partnership with the late Maggie Fox (inset) in LipService in Funny Stuff at Pocklington Arts Centre

Reflections on grief: LipService in Funny Stuff, Pocklington Arts Centre, October 2, 7.30pm

SUE Ryding is one half of legendary satirical duo LipService. In March 2022, her comedy partner, York actress and writer Maggie Fox, died  leaving Sue with a shipping container full of 40 years of stage props, costumes, wigs, hats, shoes, sheep, you name it.

This show looks at all the “stuff” we accumulate, hoard and hate to let go in her humorous and creative response to grief, wherein Sue struggles to part with a life-sized stuffed sheep, a badger onesie, some ruby slippers, a sinking bog, Charlotte Bronte’s knickers and a host of soft toys. Touring anecdotes are combined with archive footage from LipService shows. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Tom Smith: Editors’ frontman, playing solo show at Stockton on the Forest Village Hall

Indie rock gig of the week: Tom Smith, Stockton on the Forest Village Hall, near York, October 3, 7.45pm

TOM Smith, frontman of Birmingham indie rock band Editors since 2022, heads north to play a seated village hall gig in North Yorkshire, hosted by Off The Beaten Track and The Crescent, York. Expect a selection of new solo work alongside Editors’ favourites. Box office for returns only: thecrescentyork.com.

Cooper Robson: Say Owt Slam special guest at The Crescent, York

Sizzling spoken words of the week: Say Owt Slam with special guest Cooper Robson, The Crescent, York, October 3, 7.30pm

HEATON slam champion and left-wing, left-field loudmouth Cooper Robson returns to York for a special-guest full set of hard-hitting poetry, raucous comedy and outlandish at The Crescent. Robson sports “more meter than Mo Farrah, more nonsense than a sapling touching Tolkien-tree”, while spouting more trash than a government coastal policy. Box office: thecrescentyork.com or on the door.

Pixies: Playing York for first time in 40-year career next May

Gig announcement of the week: Pixies, York Barbican, May 20 2026

CELEBRATING  40 years since their 1986 formation in Boston, Massachusetts, Pixies will head out on their Pixies 40 worldwide tour next year. The British and European leg will open with their long-overdue York debut on May 20 at York Barbican.

Founding members Black Francis, Joey Santiago and David Lovering will be touring with bassist Emma Richardson as they head to the UK, Ireland, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. Tickets for their only Yorkshire concert are on sale at bnds.us/ziwfqx or yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/pixies.

Posted on

How Edward Leigh is making Friends! about more than the friends in musical parody, on tour at Grand Opera House, York

Edward Leigh’s Gunther in Friends! The Musical Parody, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York, next week. Picture: Pamela Raith

FRIENDS! The Musical Parody is the one with new songs and iconic moments – pivot points – from 236 television episodes squeezed into two hours on stage.

After New York and Las Vegas hit runs for satirical duo Bob and Tobly McSmith’s show, now the Hairspray musical producers and The Full Monty stage director are taking the escapades of “the world’s most famous group of twenty-somethings” on the UK road. Next coffee stop, Grand Opera House, York, from September 30 to October 4.

Join not only Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler, Joey and Phoebe as they navigate love, friendship and life’s ups and downs in 1990s’ New York City, but also such supporting staples as Central Perk coffee shop worker Gunther, played by Knaresborough actor Edward Leigh, in this nostalgic musical comedy replete with an original musical score and favourite lines aplenty.

“Everyone seems to know Friends but didn’t know there was a musical – and not did I,” admits Edward, as he settles into a multi-role-playing role that calls on him to be the warm-up master of ceremonies for the show-opening re-creation of the live taping of a Friends TV episode and to launch Act Two with a Friends quiz.

“We started rehearsals in London, then did a six-week run at the Barn Theatre in Cirencester over the summer, before coming back for a couple of weeks’ rehearsals for the tour. We opened at Nottingham Theatre Royal last Wednesday and got a very strong response. Really lovely. The cast got a little teary!”

What does putting Friends on stage bring to stories of a love triangle, trying to make it as an actor or never quite quitting the day job? “Because it’s live, it’s on stage and it’s theatrical, it’s heightened, though the TV show has many moments above reality,” says Edward.

Edward Leigh’s Gunther craves to “Part Of Their Gang” in his song in Friends! The Musical Parody. Picture: Pamela Raith

“But because our show is a parody and we’re playing in a live setting, it allows us to be as big in our performances as we want to be.

“Part of the challenge is taking iconic moments from the ten TV seasons and then converting them into a coherent two-hour musical, with some of those moments being turned into original songs, such as for Ross’s ‘pivot’ and Gunther’s aria of unrequited love for Rachel.”

Before landing the role of Gunther, Edward had “watched Friends but never avidly”. “Then I did watch it for professional reasons and I found I knew a lot more of it than I realised,” he says.

Friends! The Musical Parodyis set in Joey’s apartment, Monica’s apartment and Central Perk. “We also have the opening credits on a sofa by the fountain,” says Edward.”We’re cramming in as much as we can on stage in a musical.

“The songs are all original with a slight homage to the Friends theme tune too, so the core of the show is the songs that we learnt from day one in the rehearsal room.”

The inclusion of ‘Parody’ in the show title is significant. “It’s a fair assumption that it’s a comedy show! But that’s not the whole show,” says Edward. “There are definitely satirical songs but genuinely heartfelt moments too, but we do lean into  the parody element, particularly for my song Part Of Their Gang, lamenting how Gunther is never part of the group.

Alicia Belgarde (Monica), left, Daniel Parkinson (Chandler), Enzo Benvenuti (Ross), Eva Hope (Rachel), Amelia Atherton (Phoebe) and Ronnie Burden (Joey) in Friends! The Musical Parody, on tour at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Pamela Raith

“Maybe other than in the first episode, it was a running gag that Gunther was pretty much in every episode, becoming a fan favourite and consistently part of the show. In our show, I play Gunther and a variety of iconic characters, with Gunther always being on the periphery, but still very much in love with Rachel. For that song there’ll be familiar faces that appear without being expected.”

Why is Friends is still so popular 31 years since its first American broadcast? “I can make an informed guess, but if I knew the answer, I would make my own TV series!” says Edward. “But it offers comfort: you watch it with friends, just as you first did at seven o’clock each episode.

“We’ve noticed the love of fans of the TV show, who bring their family, maybe those who discovered Friends through streaming, and they love how our show has a warmth, a silly warmth, to it. It’s fun and doesn’t take itself too seriously and nor do we. That’s what people are enjoying about  it.”

The central focus may be on Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler, Joey and Phoebe, but the likes of Gunther have a chance to shine too. “That’s part of why Friends is such a brilliant TV series. Everyone has a moment in our show to show good they are, so it’s an ensemble piece despite the titular leads.”

Friends! The Musical Parody, Grand Opera House, York, September 30 to October 4, Tuesday to Thursday, 7.30pm; Friday, 5.30pm and 8.30pm; Saturday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Box office: atgtickets.com/york. Warning: May cause spontaneous PIVOT-ing!

Knaresborough actor Edward Leigh, who has appeared previously at the Grand Opera House in A Boiling Frog, Shrek The Musical and We Will Rock You

Edward Leigh: the back story

EDWARD’S family moved to Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, when he was three. After attending King James’s School, when he performed at the Frazer Theatre, he moved away to study theatre at Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts from 2011 to 2014.

On graduating, he worked abroad for two years, performing on cruise ships and appearing in an Italian tour of The Blues Bothers that took in Sicily and Sardinia. “Unbeknown to me, The Blues Brothers is really big in Italy!” he says.

Having re-settled in Knaresborough, he married in 2019. “We met at school. It’s a real Knaresborough love story,” he says.

He has appeared in such shows as A Boiling Frog, at the Grand Opera House, York, in his “am-dram” days; Shrek The Musical with Mark Goucher Productions, playing Papa Bear and Shrek cover. “It was a fun role with a lot of prosthetics,” he recalls. “It would take an hour to put them on and 45 minutes to take them off after each show.”

He toured in We Will Rock You on either side of the Covid lockdowns, first as Ensemble and cover Brit, then Ensemble and Brit, playing the Grand Opera House in February 2022.

“It’ll be like coming home to appear there in Friends!,” he says. “I’m really looking forward to it.”

He will be on tour in Friends! The Musical Parody until May 2 2026.