REVIEW: Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap, Grand Opera House, York ****

On tour: The company for Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap. Picture: Matt Crockett

Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap, 70th Anniversary Tour, Grand Opera House, York, snowed in until Saturday, 7.30pm nightly plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

PLEASING symmetry finds Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap retaining its habit of playing the Grand Opera House every three years since the mouse first escaped its London trap for a Diamond Anniversary Tour in 2013.

Giles and Mollie Ralston (Laurence Pears and Joelle Dyson) may be novice hosts at the newly opened Monkswell Manor Guest House, but the furniture and wallpaper at this converted Berkshire manor house look suitably well-worn to match a comfortingly ageing play in its 71st year, still featuring the original set design with its grand entrances and closed doors, wood panelling and faded carpets.

Snow is falling, denoted by somewhat large, sporadic flakes on coats and hats, as each guest arrives, greeted by thoroughly decent, off the cuff, somewhat grouchy Giles and very organised Mollie, who turn out to have something of Fawlty Towers’ Basil and Sybil about them in their mutual point scoring.

This is old England where rationing still simplifies the menu; the radio informing of a murder in London is still called a wireless, and every man wears a dark coat, a light scarf and a felt hat (just like the chap seen exiting the scene of the crime apparently), in an early nibble at a false trail. The audience’s laughter is of the knowing kind, happy to be played by Christie’s mind games.

Hard boiled: Gwyneth Strong’s Mrs Boyle

Christie has assembled a rum assortment of guests ripe for both humour and something altogether darker. “All our guests are unpleasant or odd,” Giles will later observe ruefully of this eccentric bunch.

Enter schizophrenic young architect Christopher Wren (Elliot Clay), a practical joker with a streak of Peter Pan in his refusal to grow up, outwardly charming but crazed inside.

Next come sourpuss old stick and former magistrate Mrs Boyle (Gwyneth Strong, with a bristling performance to match that surname); brusque lesbian Miss Casewell (a clipped Essie Barrow), and sinister Mediterranean man of mystery Mr Paravicini (Kieran Brown, parading his Barricade Boys singing chops too).

He is the only one to arrive without a booking, his car having overturned in the snow, or so he claims, but then again, he could be casing the joint. Brown’s melodramatic performance, deliberately dodgy accent to boot, is just about straight, but like Clay’s Wren, he is all the more humorous for straying towards campery.

Sanguine Major Metcalf (Nicholas Maude, understudying the unavailable Todd Carty all week) fits in well. Then whoosh, last through the door, or rather, announcing his entrance with a tap on the window, is young Detective Sergeant Trotter (Joseph Reed), who has defied the inclement weather on skis. In another gentle bend to humour under Ian Talbot and Denise Silvey’s direction, he swings them around his head, forcing guests to duck each time he turns.

Taking notes: Joseph Reed’s Detective Sergeant Trotter conducting his investigations

Once the guest house and phone line are both cut off, the humour begins to play second fiddle to the mystery (except for Brown’s mischief-making Mr Paravicini) as Reed’s Trotter conducts his investigations with rising frustration.

The truth will out, revelation by revelation, as to why everyone is there. All the while, the nursery rhyme refrain of Three Blind Mice plays its haunting part in Christie’s venerable story.

The Mousetrap, anachronistic English Fifties’ entertainment to the conservative manner born, is not the greatest play ever written, with a little stiffness in the dialogue’s limbs and an afternoon nap in its tempo in the second half. 

However, without today’s gruesome gore, it is jolly good fun, replete with the requisite twists, turns and teases, suspicions and suspense, allied to psychological nous, to keep you guessing in the dark as the nerves tingle.

The affable cast members, with their dapper dress and plummy accents, have a period flavour about them that delights, and no rotter will surely defy Trotter’s request at the final curtain to keep schtum about whodunnit.

By Charles Hutchinson

More Things To Do in York and beyond for rebels and revellers alike. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 10 for 2023, from The Press, York

On the run: Pilot Theatre in Manjeet Mann’s teenage drama Run, Rebel. Picture: Pamela Raith

A TEENAGE rebel,  a vintage murder mystery, panel games, circus and singing feats and a diverse women’s festival command Charles Hutchinson’s attention. 

Play premiere of the week: Pilot Theatre in Run, Rebel, York Theatre Royal, 7pm, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday; 1pm, Wednesday to Friday; 2pm, Saturday

SCHOOLGIRL Amber Rai is trapped by her family’s rules, their expectations, her own fears, but on the running track she is completely free. As her body speeds up, the world slows down, the tangled lines in her head becoming straighter.

York company Pilot Theatre combine physical theatre and mesmerising visuals in Manjeet Mann’s stage adaptation of her verse novel, suitable for age 11 upwards, as she addresses domestic violence, alcoholism, bullying and discrimination. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Blue diamond ceramic by Ilona Sulikova at Pyramid Gallery, York

Exhibition of the week: Abstract, Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York, until March 28, open 10am to 5pm, Monday to Friday; 10am to 5.30pm, Saturdays

CZECH-BORN York ceramacist Ilona Sulikova will be at Pyramid Gallery today from 12 noon to 2pm to meet gallery visitors and give an insight to her large, full-bodied raku-fired vessels , decorated with intricate geometric patterns that repeat, expand and contract as they progress. “The intention is to create sequences of rhythm and movement,” she says.

Abstract complements ceramics by Sulikova and Carolyn Genders with oil paintings by Kimbal Bumstead and glass sculptures by Crispian Heath, Yuki Kokai and Jon Lewis. 

Elysian Singers: Psalms, sonnets and songs at the Unitarian Chapel

Concerts at the double: Late Music presents Ruth Lee, Harp Recital, March 4, 1pm to 2pm; Elysian Singers, Psalms, Sonnets And Songs, March 4, 7.30pm; both at St Saviourgate Unitarian Chapel, York

IN an afternoon concert of folk-inspired new music for harp, Ruth Lee premieres a David Lancaster work, visits Eleanor Turner’s Alice In Escher’s Wonderland and gives a rare performance of Hindemith’s Sonata for Harp (First Movement).

At night, the Elysian Singers present a tripartite modern take on the milestone publication of William Byrd’s Psalmes, Sonnets and Songs Of Sadness and Piety in 1588. Composer Nick Williams gives a pre-concert talk at 6.45pm ahead of the premiere of his new work. Tickets: latemusic.org or on the door.

Rachael Maskell MP: Taking part in York International Women’s Week

Festival of the week: York International Women’s Week, March 4 until March 12

UNDER the theme of Solidarity, York International Women’s Week embraces live and online events. A full programme is available at yorkinternationalwomensweek.wordpress.com or in print from community venues, libraries, cafés and independent shops.

Among the highlights will be End Period Poverty: A Community Conversation in the Priory Street Centre on March 10 from 6.30pm to 8.30pm. Confirmed for the panel are chair Justine Hughes, activist and period queen Anna Johnston, York Central MP Rachael Maskell, Freedom4Girls’ Tina Leslie and YorKits’ Janice Lawson.

I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue: Host Jack Dee and his panellists Tony Hawks, Pippa Evans, Marcus Brigstocke and Milton Jones at York Barbican

Spoilt for choice at York Barbican: Cirque, The Greatest Show, March 5, 1pm and 5pm; I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue, March 6, 8pm; Giovanni Pernice: Made In Italy, March 9, 7.30pm

MUSICAL theatre meets circus spectacle in Cirque, where West End and Broadway hits combine with aerialists, contortionists, and feats of agility and flair.

Droll Jack Dee hosts BBC Radio 4’s antidote to panel games, setting the challenges to Tony Hawks, Pippa Evans, Milton Jones and Marcus Brigstocke. Cue inspired nonsense, Mornington Crescent and musical accompaniment from Colin Sell.

Strictly Come Dancing 2021 professional champ Giovanni Pernice journeys to his homeland in Made In Italy, promising hot, hot, hot action with his ensemble of ballroom dancers and singers.  Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Giovanni Pernice: Made in Italy, performing in York

Murder mystery in York: The Mousetrap, Grand Opera House, York, March 6 to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees

AGATHA Christie’s mystery The Mousetrap, “the longest running play in the world”, takes in a return to York’s Grand Opera House on its 70th anniversary tour.

Ian Talbot directs this twisting, turning tale of intrigue and suspense set at Monkswell Manor, a stately countryside guesthouse where seven strangers find themselves snowed in as news spreads of a murder in London. When a police sergeant arrives, the guests discover – to their horror – that a killer is in their midst, but whodunnit? Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Conducting enquiries: Joseph Reed as Detective Sergeant Trotter in Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Matt Crockett

Soulful musical journey of the week: Arsen Petrosyan, National Centre for Early Music, St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, York, March 10, 7.30pm

ARMENIAN duduk specialist Arsen Petrosyan returns to the NCEM after his Making Tracks showcase there. This time he leads his quartet, featuring Astghik Snetsunts (on qanun), Avetis Keoseyan (dhol/percussion) and Vladimir Papikyan (santur), through Armenian traditional, early, classical and sacred music. 

Hokin Janapar: My Soul’s Journey is his nostalgic exploration of the  music that has stirred his soul in turbulent times, reflecting the continued odyssey of his nation on the border between Europe and Asia. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

Arsen Petrosyan: Playing Armenian duduk music at NCEM, York

The great gig in the café: 50 Years of Dark Side Of The Moon: Vinyl Listening Party, FortyFive Vinyl Café, Micklegate, York, March 23, 6pm to 7pm

CELEBRATING 50 years of one of the greatest albums of all time, FortyFive Vinyl Cafe is marking this momentous occasion by inviting you to bask in an early second issue of the original 1973 pressing of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon.

“These copies were produced for a short time only, between first pressing and first repress,” explains Dom White, from FortyFive. A short break for drinks will bridge the gap between Sides 1 and 2, the other side of the ‘Moon’. Reissued vinyl copies of the album will be for sale, along with a new book detailing the vinyl pressing history. Entry is free.

Dark Side Of The Moon: Welcome to the Pink Floyd Listening Party at FortyFive Vinyl Café, York

Kieran Brown’s mysterious play days in Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap head to Grand Opera House amid snow alert

Kieran Brown in the role of the mysterious Mr Paravicini in The Mousetrap. Picture: Matt Crockett

SNOW could be on its way to York this week and definitely will be in Agatha Christie’s murder mystery The Mousetrap, the longest running play in the world.

The British and Irish tour to mark the whodunnit’s 70th anniversary opened last September at Nottingham Theatre Royal, where its world premiere took place in 1952 before transferring to London for its unbroken run ever since, playing 28,500 performances and selling ten million tickets at the St Martin’s Theatre.

Next stop for Christie’s beloved tale of intrigue and suspense will be the Grand Opera House, York, from tonight to Saturday.

So, what’s the story? As news spreads of a murder in London, seven strangers find themselves snowed in at Monkswell Manor, a stately countryside guesthouse. When a police sergeant arrives, the guests discover – to their horror – that a killer is in their midst. One by one, the suspicious characters reveal their sordid pasts, but which one is the murderer? Who will be the next victim?

Heading to York will be a cast of Nicholas Maude (replacing the unavailable Todd Carty) as Major Metcalf; Gwyneth Strong as Mrs Boyle; Joelle Dyson as Mollie Ralston; Laurence Pears as Giles Ralston; Elliot Clay as Christopher Wren; Essie Barrow as Miss Casewell; Joseph Reed as Detective Sgt Trotter and Kieran Brown as Mr Paravicini.

Unlike Clay and Barrow, who have both performed in Christie’s drama in London, Kieran is a Mousetrap novice. “To my eternal shame, I had never seen it, had no idea of what it was about, and I didn’t read it until the first day or rehearsals, so I went into it with a completely fresh set of eyes,” says the Scottish actor, from Falkirk. “When it’s a show that’s been around for a while, I don’t think it’s healthy to see it before you do it, because you don’t want to copy someone.”

His role of Mr Paravicini, the most mysterious of all in the murder mystery, is described in the character crib notes as “the unexpected guest who arrives at Monkswell Manor due to the severity of the storm”.

Is he from Europe or is he putting it in on? “Well, he does make a point of overly pronouncing his name so that the detective sergeant can spell it correctly!” says Kieran.

“The way I’ve approached it is that I was undecided if it was all just an act. Is he really foreign or faking it? The director gives you a little freedom as to how you play your character, without having to tell anyone what you’ve decided. So, I’m going for more a Mediterranean flavour to his accent rather than Italian.”

The cast for the 70th anniversary tour of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap. Picture: Matt Crockett

Mr Paravicini’s character card – and he is a card! – says this of him: Occupation: Unknown. Manner: Roguish, game-player. Notes: Moves like a much younger man.

“He plays the markets. Read into that what you will,” says Kieran. “He says his car has overturned in a snowdrift, so he’s had to stagger through the snow to find a safe haven. There  are lots of signs of him being a conman or robber, who’s gone there to case the joint, on the chance of making money out of it.”

Assessing the undying appeal of The Mousetrap after all these years, Kieran says: “The audiences love the twists and turns, and when they have the rug pulled from under their feet, you can hear the gasp of surprise.

“It also feels like you’re all part of a secret club, you are all partners in crime – cast and audience – and you respect being asked to keep the ‘reveal’ a secret. So many people have been a party to that and don’t want to break it.”

As for Agatha Christie, “I think she’s such a wonderful writer. Some of the characters she has written here are so ahead of their day,” says Kieran.

“There are signs and pointers, a representation of characters that weren’t being represented in theatre at the time, and not in a negative way. She was brave enough to present characters who would identify as lesbian or gay, which was alien to her day. Maybe she’s kind of the last person you would think of as being sympathetic, but she was.”

The Mousetrap has stood the test of time. “There were attempts to modernise it, like replacing the radio with a television, but that just didn’t work. There’s no point trying to keep things up to date. It doesn’t need it. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” says Kieran.

Next week’s run will not be the first time that he has played the Grand Opera House. “I performed there with The Barricade Boys two years ago,” says Kieran, who sang alongside Scott Garnham, the musical theatre actor and singer from Malton, whose paths first crossed at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (now the Royal Scottish Conservatoire). “But I was only in York for a day, so it will be lovely to spend a proper week there.”

His contract in The Mousetrap runs until May 6, concluding with three weeks back in his homeland in Perth, Edinburgh and Glasgow. The perfect ending.

The Mousetrap runs at Grand Opera House, York, from March 6 to 11, 7.30pm nightly plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees. Box office: atgtickets.com/york .

Who are you? Meet Mr Paravicini…

Drama at Grand Opera House as aliens take over box office. Lincoln Lightfoot is at large

Creature From The Bottom Of The Ouse, by Lincoln Lightfoot

ALIENS, dinosaurs and King Kong invade the Grand Opera House box office as York artist Lincoln Lightfoot explores surrealist concepts reminiscent of the absurdist poster art for the Fifties and Sixties’ B-movie fixation with comical science-fiction disasters.

Depicting unusual happenings with large beasts, staged in familiar settings and on iconic architecture, from York Minster to the Angel of the North, Lightfoot’s artwork escapes from everyday problems to tap into the fears perpetuated by the news media and politicians alike in a post Covid-19 world.

Lightfoot’s paintings parody religious apocalyptic scenes circa 1800, such as the work of John Martin, while his storybook illustrations explore detailed pen work and bright block colour.

Lightfoot’s journey into the fantastical began while studying Fine Art at York St John University. After achieving a PGCE in art, craft and design and leading an art & design department in a north-eastern school, he is pursuing his love for art and the surreal full time, showcasing his work in such York exhibitions as Under Siege and Revelation. Now his paintings are just the ticket for theatregoers in Cumberland Street.

York artist LIncoln Lightfoot with his alien artwork at his 2022 exhibition, Revelation, at Micklegate Social, York. Now his creatures from beyond are moving into the theatre world

As past and future collide in Lincoln Lightfoot’s art for today, CharlesHutchPress heads out into the maelstrom to track down the visionary artist among the marauding T-Rex

What inspired such nightmare visions of York and the north in your paintings, Lincoln?

“During the late B-Movie era, the Cold War kept us in perpetual fear of extinction from nuclear Armageddon until the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet bloc.

“Today we have growing similarities re-emerging due to the conflict in the Ukraine, which threatens to spill over into the wider world.  Through engagement with art, we can deal with these nightmares.

“Children confront and make sense of a dangerous world through stories and rhymes and are taught of danger through the safe spaces of literature and illustration, which deal with anecdote and myth.”

How does your art respond to that world?

“My artworks attempt to highlight these fears through a safe and comical lens. Juxtaposed with scenes of our storybook city, it’s not hard to imagine incredible things happening in this part of the world because they already have. 

“Walking through York’s streets and passageways, our past heritage resonates in the present. Popular with shoppers and scholars alike, high art co-exists with popular culture.”

How did this Grand Opera House exhibition come about?

“I was fortunate enough to be approached by Allie Long, who works for the Opera House. She invited me to exhibit. She has a collection of my work at home, and when the opportunity arose to fill the box office with artwork, she thought my work would be a good fit. On show is a collection of three large oil paintings from my Revelation exhibition that showed at Micklegate Social last May.”

Close Encounters, by Lincoln Lightfoot

Do you go to the theatre…or are you more of a movie man, given that your images have a cinematic quality?

“As a child I attended a lot of theatre productions. My dad was heavily involved in theatrical groups and my brother and I attended Stagecoach, where we would have drama, dance and singing lessons.

“It opened many doors for me and I had the opportunity to perform as one of the Snow Children in Carousel at the Darlington Hippodrome Theatre and did some smaller production too.

“Unfortunately, it failed to make any sort of long-term impact, but I do still enjoy going to the theatre. I would say that I’m probably more of a movie man, but this may be down to the accessibility and what can be achieved in film. I still really enjoy the theatre and intend to attend more.”

What exhibitions are coming up for you in 2023?  York Open Studios, perhaps?

“Yes, I’ll be taking part in York Open Studios 2023! This should be an opportunity for visitors to my studio, in Brunswick Street, to engage with some new large paintings!

“I’m hoping to have a large solo exhibition in the summer, which will debut a new series, alongside some old favourites and potentially some 3D pieces. I’m toying with a couple of venues but need a large space. Any one of the empty buildings in town would be amazing, so if anyone has any venue ideas, please get in touch via lincoln.lightfoot@hotmail.co.uk.

“I also have work exhibiting alongside two more York artists in The Arthouse [fellow artist Sharon McDonagh’s holiday let in a Victorian terraced house in Railway Terrace, Holgate, York].”

You are developing a new series of works created in oil on circular boards. What do you like about this design shape?  

“I’ve chosen to pursue creating circular pieces as initially this was something new and exciting that I haven’t attempted before. I feel that the circle has certain biblical connotations and hope that it will lend itself to a heightened sense of mystery.

Land Of The Lost, by Lincoln Lightfoot

“I’m even toying with the idea of incorporating gold leaf into those sickly yellow skies but am yet to experiment with this. A lot of these pieces will involve writhing tentacles and the circular shape should complement the rhythm created within.

“I initially came up with the idea when studying Caravaggio’s Medusa’. I’m hoping to replicate some of the style without the violence. Any violence would merely be suggested. I’m still hoping to suggest science-fiction comedy.

“I’ve fallen in love with the 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea poster and now have the French version hanging in my bathroom. I’m sure this will inspire some of the imagery.”

How does the circular differ in impact from the rectangular? 

“The use of circular boards breaks away from the expected. You’re immediately dealing with different rules of composition. What is aesthetically pleasing in a rectangle may not be in a circle and vice versa, for example.”

Will the design influence the subject matter too?

“I’m intending to return to and improve a successful line of illustrations, which I’ve informally entitled the ‘It Came From…’ series. So, there’ll be some familiar ideas and imagery but hopefully executed in a more compelling way. There’ll also be some new ideas too.”

Under what title will you exhibit these new works?

“I’m hoping to show them under the title ‘Encircled’ (inspired, I know!) this summer. I do have a number of venues in mind. I love the space in the Den at Micklegate Social and feel it fits the vibe of my work extremely well.

“It may be that these circular pieces make their debuts as Encircled and that my entire collection is exhibited in a large gallery setting alongside illustration, large murals and 3D pieces.”

Lincoln Lightfoot is exhibiting in the Grand Opera House box office, in Cumberland Street, York, until May 31. The box office is open 90 minutes before each show.

NEWSFLASH: 20/4/2023

LINCOLN Lightfoot will present a 90-minute Grand Opera House Creative Learning artist talk and workshop on May 4 at 6pm. Tickets can be booked at: atgtickets.com/shows/artist-talk-and-workshop-with-lincoln-lightfoot/grand-opera-house-york/.

Corrie & Legally Blonde star Faye Brookes to join Kevin Clifton in Strictly Ballroom The Musical at Grand Opera House in April

Kevin Clifton and Faye Brookes team up for Strictly Ballroom The Musical in York this spring

DANCING On Ice finalist and Coronation Street star Faye Brookes is to join Kevin Clifton in Baz Luhrmann’s Strictly Ballroom The Musical at the Grand Opera House, York, from April 24 to 29.

The Manchester actress, 35, will play the lead female role of Fran opposite Strictly Come Dancing alumnus Clifton’s Scott Hastings in Strictly judge Craig Revel Horwood’s production, co-choreographed with Strictly creative director Jason Gilkison, on tour until July 15.

Faye will be taking over from 2020 Strictly joint runner-up Maisie Smith, who leaves the ten-month tour on March 25 after being on the road since September 26 last year.

Faye is no stranger to musical theatre, having starred as Roxie Hart in Chicago, Princess Fiona in Shrek and Elle Woods in Legally Blonde The Musical, appearing in that pink and perky role at the Grand Opera House in August 2011.

She became a household name after joining ITV soap opera Coronation Street to play Underworld packer and waitress Kate Connor, from 2015-2019. Taking on “some of the biggest storylines the show has seen”, Faye won the 2017 National Television Award for Best Newcomer. In 2021, she skated all the way to the runner-up position in the 13th series of ITV’s Dancing On Ice.

“I can’t wait to work with Craig Revel Horwood, Kevin Clifton and the hugely talented cast,” says Faye Brookes

“I’m thrilled to be joining the tour of Strictly Ballroom and can’t wait to work with Craig Revel Horwood, Kevin Clifton and the hugely talented cast,” says Faye. “I’m so excited to be playing the role of Fran and making it my own. Bring it on!“

Welcoming her to the tour, Kevin Clifton says: “It’s very exciting news that Faye is joining the cast of Strictly Ballroom and I’m looking forward to singing and dancing my way across the UK and Ireland with her.“

Director Craig Revel Horwood says: “I am delighted to be directing the sensational Faye Brookes as she joins Kevin Clifton and the super-talented cast of Strictly Ballroom The Musical. I know that she’ll be nothing short of FAB-U-LOUS!”

Based on Luhrmann’s 1992 Australian romantic comedy film, Strictly Ballroom The Musical tells the beguiling story of Scott Hastings, a talented, arrogant and rebellious young ballroom dancer (played by former Strictly professional and 2018 champion Clifton).

When he falls out with the Australian Federation over his radical dance moves, he finds himself dancing with Fran (Brookes), a beginner with no moves at all. Inspired by one another, this unlikely pairing gathers the courage to defy both convention and families – and discover that, to be winners, the steps don’t need to be strictly ballroom.

Faye Brookes in Legally Blonde The Musical, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York, in 2011

Combining a book by Luhrmann and Craig Pearce with a cast of more than 20, Strictly Ballroom The Musical brings to stage life such songs as Love Is In the Air, Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps and Time After Time with joyous verve.

The tour also features new songs by Sia, David Foster and Eddie Perfect in a show full of “scintillating singing, dazzling dancing and eye-popping costumes”, plus heart, comedy and drama, under the glitterball.

This uplifting and courageous musical originated as a stage play that Baz Luhrmann devised with a group of classmates at Sydney’s National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1984.

Eight years later, he made his silver-screen directorial debut with Strictly Ballroom, the first instalment of his Red Curtain Trilogy, winning three awards at the 1993 BAFTAs and receiving a 1994 Golden Globe nomination for Best Picture. In April 2014, Strictly Ballroom The Musical had its world premiere at the Sydney Lyric Theatre, Australia.

Tickets for the York run can be booked at atgtickets.com/york.

Ben Folds to play Grand Opera House, York, on What Matters Most tour on Nov 16

Ben Folds: Striding into York on November 16

NORTH Carolina pianist, songwriter, author and podcast host Ben Folds will play the Grand Opera House, York, on his What Matters Most Tour this autumn.

Tickets for the 56-year-old American’s November 16 gig – his first ever York show – will go on sale tomorrow morning (22/2/2023) at atgtickets.com/york.

Making his name fronting the alt-rock trio Ben Folds Five, his genre-bending music has taken in collaborations and special projects.

Folds tours as a pop artist, while also performing with some of the world’s greatest symphony orchestras and serving since 2017 as the first ever artistic advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, New York.

Frequently he guest-stars in film and on television, latterly appearing as himself in three episodes of the Amazon Prime series The Wilds. Last year he received an Emmy nomination for his new theme song for The Peanuts Apple TV special, It’s The Small Things, Charlie Brown.

As an advocate for the arts, he serves on the board of the Arts Action Fund, Planet Word and the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. In his home state, he has launched a music education initiative for children.

In 2019, he released his memoir, A Dream About Lightning Bugs, with a second book on its way. In 2021, he launched his podcast, Lightning Bugs.

The artwork for Ben Folds’s June 2 album, What Matters Most, his first in eight years

On June 2, Folds will release What Matters Most, his first studio album since his 2015 collaboration with the string ensemble yMusic, on New West Records.

“There’s a lifetime of craft and experience all focused into this one record,” says Folds. “Sonically, lyrically, emotionally, I don’t think it’s an album I could have made at any other point in my career.”

Recorded in East Nashville and co-produced by Folds with Joe Pisapia, this “bold, timely, cinematic” work spans the bittersweet to the tragic, despair to hopefulness, the title track being inspired by Folds’s late friend, the actor and comedian Bob Saget.

“I come from the vinyl era, and this perhaps more than any record I’ve made is a true album,” says Folds. “There’s a very specific sequence and arc to each side, all building up to this almost surreal positive finale, and that structure was really important to me.

“More than anything, I wanted to make an album that was generous, that was useful. I want you to finish this record with something you didn’t have when you started.”

The track listing is: But Wait, There’s More; Clouds With Ellipses (featuring dodie); Exhausting Lover; Fragile; Kristine From The 7th Grade; Back To Anonymous; first single Winslow Gardens; Paddleboat; What Matters Most
and Moments (feat. Tall Heights)

On the What Matters Most tour, Folds will combine his new album with songs from his 35-year career. Guitarist and singer Lau Noah, from Catalonia via New York, will open the shows.

York will be the only Yorkshire gig on the 2023 tour’s nine-date British and Irish leg in November.

REVIEW: Martin Dreyer’s verdict on Ukrainian Opera & Ballet, Kyiv, at Grand Opera House, York, February 3 and 4

Elena Dee in Ellen Kent’s production of La Bohème for Ukrainian Opera & Ballet, Kyiv

Ukrainian Opera & Ballet Theatre, Kyiv, in La Bohème and Madama Butterfly, Grand Opera House, York, February 3 and 4

FOR nearly four decades, Ellen Kent has been bringing foreign opera and ballet companies to Britain, mainly from Eastern Europe. She has now additionally turned her hand to directing.

Under her aegis, Ukraine’s flagship company is touring the United Kingdom and Ireland between late January and early May, with Aida in repertory with the two productions here.

It would have been a marathon undertaking at the best of times. War at home makes it no easier. So it was to be expected that the company would play it safe. Still, this was a very respectable effort.

Neither of the lovers was in their best form in Act 1 of La Bohème. Korean-born Elena Dee, now resident in Italy, lacked focus as Mimì initially, but improved spectacularly until delivering some beautifully controlled tone in the final act. Her progression from naïve hesitation to love-induced dependency was nicely calculated.

The same could not be said for Vitalii Liskovetskyi’s Rodolfo. His Act 1 attacks were idle, approaching every phrase from slightly under the note and departing every high note almost before he had reached it. Nor was there much electricity in his interest in Mimì.

Ukrainian Opera & Ballet, Kyiv, in La Bohème

He must have been given a pep-talk after Act 2, because he was unrecognisable thereafter, singing with a purity of phrase that had previously eluded him. By the end he was fully engaged – but he had taken his time.

Olexandr Forkushak made a forthright Marcello, indeed he rarely sang below forte, but he cut a strong presence. The French soprano Olga Perrier was his vivacious, willowy Musetta, strutting and posing like a would-be celeb and really lighting up Act 2, although her relationship with Marcello there could have been give more emphasis. Vitalii Cebotari was a warm, confident Schaunard, with Valeriu Cojocaru a more diffident Colline.

Children from Stagecoach Theatre Arts York were brought in for Act 2, although their song was taken by the chorus ladies: a sensible use of local talent that was to be repeated around the circuit.

Kent needed to think harder about the opera’s comic moments, especially the by-play with the landlord and the Act 4 hi-jinks, which lacked sufficient spontaneity to spark real pathos when disaster struck.

Vasyl Vasylenko, the company’s permanent orchestra director, conducted with a good feel for momentum, steering well clear of sentimentality.

Ukrainian Opera & Ballet, Kyiv, in Madama Butterfly

Madama Butterfly was not quite on the same level. One understands that younger Ukrainians are largely engaged on military assignments, but when Pinkerton, rather than an ardent young lieutenant, is old enough to be Cio-Cio San’s father and looks as if he should be at least a commodore if not a rear admiral, disbelief is not willingly suspended.

Although we could not appreciate her interest in him, Alyona Kistenyova’s Cio-Cio San was appealingly innocent, only introducing steel into her tone when realising that she had been betrayed. Even more engaging was Natalia Matveeva’s sharply observed and keenly attentive Suzuki.

Sorin Lupu’s days as Pinkerton must surely be numbered, given that his tenor showed signs of fraying at the edges. Olexandr Forkushak was back as a determined Sharpless, moderating his dynamic levels as he had not done as Marcello. Ruslan Pacatovici was a busybody Goro and Anastasiia Blokha a striking Kate.

Vasylenko was back in the pit, but this time lacking some of the urgency he had shown in Bohème, but orchestral ensemble remained cohesive.

At the end of each opera, after the first few bows, a Ukrainian flag was unfurled and the national anthem sung, a moment of high poignancy that provoked even more resounding applause in each case.

On tour until May 8. Northern dates include Sunderland Empire (La Bohème, February 24 and Madama Butterfly, February 25), Alhambra Theatre, Bradford (La Bohème, March 16; Madama Butterfly, March 17m, and Aida,  March 18) and Sheffield City Hall (Aida, April 29). Box office: www.ticketmaster.co.uk

Review by Martin Dreyer

Alyona Kistenyova: “Appealingly innocent” in her role as Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly

More Things To Do in York and beyond to lighten up nights and uplift days. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 8 for 2023, from The Press

Countering the winter blues: Doubletake Projections’ Colour and Light illumination at York Minster

DARKNESS and light, American and Scottish singers, Yorkshire brass players and a York comedian will draw the crowds in the week ahead, advises Charles Hutchinson.

Light show of the week: Doubletake Projections’ Colour and Light, York Minster, 6pm to 9pm nightly until February 23

DOUBLETAKE Projections are using projection mapping to re-imagine the facade of York Minster’s  South Transept in a free public show visible from the South Piazza.

Brought to the city by the York BID (Business Improvement District) to illuminate the cathedral during winter’s dark nights, this immersive digital experience is running on an eight-minute loop. Viewers are invited to stay for as many showings as they wish. No booking is required.

In addition to paying homage to the cathedral’s construction and incorporating nods to local history, York Minster’s medieval stained glass is in the spotlight. Collaged compositions of biblical stories told through the glass is being animated and beamed onto the towering transept walls, shining a new light on the medieval window illustrations.

Using animation techniques and styles, the after-dark projection show showcases elements of the rich historical archives in a new way while emphasising the grandeur and ornate detail of York Minster’s architecture.

Chop chop! Demon barber Sweeney Todd (Neil Wood) and resourceful pie-maker Mrs Lovett ( Julie-Anne Smith) make a fast buck from their tasty venture in a cutthroat world in York Light’s Sweeney Todd. Picture: Matthew Kitchen

Dark show of the week: York Light Opera Company in Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street, York Theatre Royal, Wednesday to March 4, 7.30pm, except February 26; 2.30pm, February 25 and March 4

YORK Light return to York Theatre Royal for a 70th anniversary production of “one of the darkest musicals ever written”, Stephen Sondheim’s noir thriller Sweeney Todd, directed by Martyn Knight with musical direction by Paul Laidlaw.

Neil Wood plays the Georgian-era misanthropic barber who returns home to London after 15 years in exile, seeking vengeance on the corrupt judge (Craig Kirby) who ruined his life. The road to revenge leads him to open new tonsorial premises above the failing pie shop run by Mrs Lovett (Julie-Anne Smith). Cue a very tasty meaty new ingredient to boost sales in this now cutthroat business. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Shepherd Group Brass Band: Performing with the Black Dyke Band at Grand Opera House, York

Fundraiser of the week: York Brass Against Cancer 2, Grand Opera House, York, Sunday, 2.30pm

YORK’S Shepherd Group Brass Band joins up with West Yorkshire’s world famous Black Dyke Band for a charity collaboration in aid of York Against Cancer. BBC Radio Leeds presenter David Hoyle hosts this two-hour concert. Box office: atgtickets.com/york

Belinda Carlisle: Revisiting her decades of hits at York Barbican

California calling: Belinda Carlisle, The Decades Tour, York Barbican, Monday, 7.30pm

NOW living in Bangkok and once the lead vocalist of The Go-Gos, “the most successful all-female rock band of all time”, Los Angelean Belinda Carlisle, 64, has enjoyed chart-topping solo success too with Heaven Is A Place On Earth.

At a gig rearranged from October 2021, hopefully The Decades Tour set list will be taking in Runaway Horses, I Get Weak, Circle In The Sand, Leave A Light On, Summer Rain, (We Want) The Same Thing, Live Your Life Be Free, In Too Deep and Always Breaking My Heart from her eight studio albums. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Suzanne Vega: Songs and stories from New York in York on Wednesday night

Storyteller of the week: Suzanne Vega, An Intimate Evening Of Songs And Stories, York Barbican, Wednesday, 7.30pm

2022 Glastonbury acoustic stage headliner Suzanne Vega, 63, plays York Barbican as the only Yorkshire show of the New York singer-songwriter’s 14-date tour.

Emerging from the Greenwich Village folk revival scene of the 1980s, Vega has brought succinct, insightful storytelling to songs of city life, ordinary people and social culture. Her support act will be Tufnell Park folk singer and traditional song archivist Sam Lee. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Rob Auton: Send in the crowds in York, Pocklington and Leeds

Crowd pleaser: Rob Auton, The Crowd Show, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, February 24 (Burning Duck Comedy Club) , 8pm, sold out; Pocklington Arts Centre, May 27, 8pm; Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds, June 5, 7.30pm

CHARMINGLY offbeat York poet, stand-up comedian, actor and podcaster Rob Auton returns home from London on his 2023 leg of The Crowd Show tour. Next Friday’s show is crowded out already but space is available at his Pocklington and Leeds gigs.

After his philosophical observations on the colour yellow, the sky, faces, water, sleep, hair, talking and time, now he discusses crowds, people and connection in a night of comedy and theatre “suitable for anyone who wants to be in the crowd for this show”. Box office: Pocklington, 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk; Leeds, hydeparkbookclub.co.uk.

KT Tunstall: A nut in every soundbite on her latest album, showcased at York Barbican on Friday

Doing her Nut: KT Tunstall, York Barbican, February 24, 8pm

SCOTTISH singer-songwriter KT Tunstall returns to York on Friday for the first time since she lit up the Barbican on Bonfire Night in 2016. In her line-up will be Razorlight’s Andy Burrows, on drum duty after opening the gig with his own set.

The BRIT Award winner and Grammy nominee from Edinburgh will be showcasing songs from her seventh studio album, last September’s Nut, the conclusion to her “soul, body and mind” trilogy after 2016’s Kin and 2018’s Wax. Box office: kttunstall.com and yorkbarbican.co.uk.

A tale of love: Will Parsons as Davy and Kayla Vicente as Yvonne in Central Hall Musical Society’s Sunshine On Leith at the JoRo Theatre. Picture: Joly Black (jolyblack4@gmail.com)

You should walk 500 miles for: Central Hall Musical Society in Sunshine On Leith, Joseph Rowntree Theatre,  York, February 23 to 25, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

SUNSINE On Leith, aka “the Proclaimers’ musical”, is a tale of love; love for family, love for friends, love for romantic partners and love for our homes, as one tight-knit family, and the three couples bound to it, experience the joys and heartache that punctuate all relationships. 

Secrets will be revealed, relationships made and lost and broken hearts mended once more, all while singing the songs of Charlie and Craig Reid in this student production by the University of York’s musical theatre society, directed by Romilly Swingler. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Remember that film? Now Pretty Woman: The Musical heads for Grand Opera Opera next February with ‘love story for the ages’

Danny Mac’s Edward and Aimie Atkinson’s Vivian in the West End production of Pretty Woman: The Musical. Picture: Helen Maybanks

THE debut UK tour of Pretty Woman: The Musical will play the Grand Opera House, York, from February 20 to 24 next year.

Billed as “Hollywood’s ultimate rom-com, live on stage”, the show features original music and lyrics by Canadian rock star and Grammy Award winner Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance and a book by Garry Marshall and the 1990 film’s screenwriter, J F Lawton, with direction and choreography by two-time Tony Award winner Jerry Mitchell.

Tickets for the 7.30pm evening performances and 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees in York are newly on sale at atgtickets.com/York.

The West End production continues to play at the Savoy Theatre, London, taking bookings until June 11 2023. The British and Irish tour will open on October 17 at the Birmingham Alexandra  Theatre; the tour cast is yet to be announced.

Should the Richard Gere-Julia Roberts movie have escaped your attention, here is a quick refresher course on Pretty Woman’s story: Once upon a time in the late 1980s, Vivian met Edward and her life changed forever.

Or put it another way, in a tale based somewhat loosely on George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion, rich New York corporate raider Edward Lewis hires free-spirited Hollywood prostitute Vivian Ward to accompany him to a series of social events, only to fall in love with her. How will they bridge the chasm between their worlds?

Danny Mac’s Edward Lewis and Aimie Atkinson’s Vivian Ward in a scene from Pretty Woman: The Musical at the Savoy Theatre, London

Move forward to 2023-2024, when the tour publicity invites you to “be swept up in their romance in this dazzlingly theatrical take on a love story for the ages – and get to know these iconic characters in a whole new way – in a sensational show guaranteed to lift your spirits and light up your heart”.

The musical also features the Roy Orbison and Bill Dees composition Oh, Pretty Woman, the Big O’s August 1964 chart topper that inspired Garry Marshall’s film.

Atlantic Records has released Pretty Woman: The Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording), a soundtrack album produced by Adams and Vallance.

The show has  scenic design by David Rockwell; costumes by Tom Rogers, from the original Broadway designs by Gregg Barnes; lighting design by Kenneth Posner and Philip S Rosenberg; sound design by John Shivers; hair design by Josh Marquette and music supervision, arrangements and orchestrations by Will Van Dyke. 

Pretty Woman; The Musical received its world premiere at Chicago’s Oriental Theatre in March 2018 before transferring to Broadway, where it ran at the Nederlander Theatre. A German production opened in Hamburg at the Stage Theater an der Elbe in September 2019 and a USA tour began in October 2021. 

The Ambassador Theatre Group, the Grand Opera House owners, are among the tour’s producers.

The artwork for Pretty Woman: The Musical, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York, next February