Ukrainian Opera and Ballet Theatre Kyiv in Ellen Kent’s production of La Boheme for Opera International
OPERA International director Ellen Kent returns to the Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow and on Saturday to present the Ukrainian Opera & Ballet Theatre Kyiv in Puccini’s La Boheme and Madama Butterfly.
As ever, the insurgence of President Putin’s Russian forces into Ukraine – now past its third anniversary – has presented Ellen with logistical challenges to bring the Kyiv singers and musicians from Eastern Europe to British shores, but emotional challenges too.
“Last year, the wife of Vasily, the orchestra director, was killed in their flat by one of Putin’s bombs” she says. “Vasily had gone shopping with his daughter and they came back to find her dead. He only recognised her in the rubble by her hair.
“He said: ‘I promise I will come on tour, but please let me bury my wife first’. Can you imagine what these people are having to go through? And yet he still came on tour.
“They are such proud people, and I almost feel Ukrainian myself, having worked with them since 2001, when I started with Odessa Opera. How can Trump and Putin meet without Volodymyr Zelensky? It’s completely undemocratic. Why are we so frightened of America? Because they are so powerful? If they leave Zelensky out of discussions, how outrageous is that?” [Editor’s note: Ellen was speaking on February 20.]
Every performance on tour climaxes with a show of support for Ukraine. “We bring out the Ukrainian flag and a great big banner at the end, when we sing the Ukrainian national anthem accompanied by the whole orchestra,” says Ellen.
A scene from Ellen Kent’s Opera International production of La Boheme, featuring the Ukrainian Opera and Ballet Theatre Kyiv, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York
“All the audience rise to their feet without being prompted. It’s very emotional and a wonderful end to the opera. It’s a very, very moving experience and the audience love it, as it adds an extra level to the performance – and I’ve never had so many nice letters.
“We are the only company touring over here from Ukraine, which is significant, just as it was in 2001, but it’s even more so now. I’ve even received medals in Ukraine as the first person to bring Ukrainian performers into the UK.”
Aside from 2020-2021, when Covid intervened, Ellen has continued to tour Ukrainian productions for more than two decades. “But this tour is probably the most difficult of my life – it’s been a bl**dy nightmare,” says the veteran director, who will turn 76 in April.
“We bring them, through the war, out of Ukraine into Moldova on buses, to stay in Air B&Bs and hotels for a month of rehearsals in November and December, and then they return to Ukraine till the end of January, when they come across the border to Krakow, from where we fly them over here.”
Ellen continues: “We’ve faced challenges every single day. Serious problems. We get the necessary permission to bring the men on tour, but any man aged over 25 has to fight in the war; any man under 25 doesn’t, but there are exceptions, like if they are working for the big opera houses, they are exempt over 25 too.
“It’s a right palava as it has to go through the Minister of Culture to get permission, but the thing that makes me nervous is that we heard there were gangs going round in vans, kidnapping men to round them up to fight, and I was terrified that would happen to our men.
Opera director Ellen Kent
“It’s been very stressful, with changes of rules all the time, with a change of Minister of Culture, and we’ve had to deal with the Minister of Defence too.”
Ellen and Opera International have faced these difficulties for three years. “We know the process, but it’s beset with problems, and the new Minister of Culture is from the military. It’s got more and more military, which is inevitable.”
There has been a resulting impact on the Opera International tours. “Sometimes my orchestra could be bigger and I have to use a lot of young men because of the situation,” says Ellen. We’re getting younger and younger musicians now, perhaps a little younger than we would normally have.”
Nevertheless, Opera International resolutely keeps on touring, with three productions this time, Verdi’s La Traviata completing the line-up, with international soloists aplenty: Korean soprano Elena Dee, Ukrainian soprano Viktoria Melnyk, Ukrainian mezzo-soprano Yelyzaveta Bielous, Georgian tenor Davit Sumbadze and Armenian tenor Hovhannes Andreasyan.
“I’ll be coming up for the York performances, to remind me of my days when I was a young actor, performing at York Theatre Royal in the days of Richard Digby Day [artistic director from 1971 to 1976],” says Ellen. “Happy days!”
Senbla and Opera International present Ukrainian Opera and Ballet Theatre Kyiv in La Boheme, tomorrow, 7.30pm, and Madama Butterfly, Saturday, 7.30pm; both sung in Italian with English surtitles (CORRECT). Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Director Joanne Lister in rehearsal for Art with 1812 Theatre Company cast members Ivan Limon and Mike Martin. Picture: Paddy Chambers
WHEN art meets theatre, a hit play leads off Charles Hutchinson’s picks for a week where prompt booking is advised for a host of here today, gone tomorrow events.
Ryedale theatre show of the week: 1812 Theatre Company in Art, Helmsley Arts Centre, tonight to Saturday, 7.30pm
JOANNE Lister is not only making her 1812 Theatre Company directorial debut but also, in the late absence of her husband John Lister, she will take over the role of Marc with script in hand in Yasmina Reza’s 1994 French comedy, Art.
Translated by Christopher Hampton, the play asks: can a friendship between three close friends – Marc, Serge (Ivan Limon) and Yvan (Mike Martin) – survive when one of them does something completely unexpected? Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Leeds poet Antony Dunn
Poetry event of the week: Rise Up!, A Celebration of Poetry and the Spoken Word, Rise @Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York tonight, doors 7.30pm; performance 8.30pm to 10pm
LEEDS writer and People Powered Press poet-in-residence Antony Dunn, Yorkshire-born poet, mezzo-soprano and theatre-maker Lisa J Coates and York St John University Fine Art coarse leader and poet Nathan Walker take part in Rise Up!.
Hosted by Bluebird Bakery boss and poet Nicky Kippax and Elizabeth Chadwick Pywell, the evening has three open-mic slots too. The next Rise Up! bill on April 30 will feature poets Rachel Long, Ioney Smallhorne and Minal Sukumar. Tickets update: last few left at eventbrite.co.uk.
Something wicked but educative this way comes: Dickens Theatre Company in Macbeth at Grand Opera House, York
GCSE study aid of the week: Dickens Theatre Company, Revision On Tour: Macbeth, Grand Opera House, York, today, 1pm with post-show Q&A
THE infamous Porter acts as narrator for an ensemble of six actors to create a cauldron of characters as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth make their perilous descent towards Hell in Shakespeare’s bloodiest tragedy, adapted and directed by Ryan Philpott, with music by Paul Higgs.
Set against a back-drop of wars, witchery and treasonous plotting, Dickens Theatre Company aim to “entertain and educate to the bitter end” while highlighting how “the Scottish play” remains ominously relevant in the 21st century. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Dickens Theatre Company in Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, playing the Grand Opera House, York
The other GCSE study aid of the week: Dickens Theatre Company, Revision On Tour: Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, Grand Opera House, York, tonight, 7pm
WITHIN the thick Fitzrovia fog and dimly lamp-lit streets lurks an evil predator. When Gabriel Utterson learns of the mysterious Mr Hyde, he commits his lawyer’s logic to the proceedings. Believing Hyde to be blackmailing Jekyll, he vows to bring Hyde to task to solve the mystery.
As with Macbeth, Dickens Theatre Company’s cast of six takes on an exciting, educational new stage adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Victorian gothic masterpiece, adapted and directed by Ryan Philpott. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Unpacking Nina Simone: Florence Odumosu in Black Is The Color Of My Voice at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Steve Ullathorne
Biographical drama of the week: Black Is The Color Of My Voice, York Theatre Royal, tonight, 7.30pm
WRITTEN and directed by Apphia Campbell, Black Is The Color Of My Voice is inspired by the life of Nina Simone in an evening of storytelling and performances of her most iconic songs by Florence Odumosu.
Campbell’s 70-minute play follows the North Carolina singer and activist as she seeks redemption after the untimely death of her father. She reflects on her journey from piano prodigy destined for a life in the church to jazz vocalist at the forefront of the civil rights movement. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Big Wolf Band: Ryedale Blues Club’s blues rock act in Malton tomorrow
Blues rock gig of the week: Ryedale Blues Club presents Big Wolf Band, Milton Rooms, Malton, tomorrow, 8pm
BIG Wolf Band, a formidable blues rock powerhouse formed in Birmingham in 2014 by guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Jonathan Earp and bassist Mick Jeynes, now perform with Tim Jones on drums, Justin Johnson on guitar, and Robin Fox on keys. They made the Top Five Best Blues Bands in the UK list at the UK Blues Awards in 2023 and 2024. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
English Touring Opera in rehearsal for The Vanishing Forest, bound for Acomb Explore Library. Picture: Julian Guidera
Climate change drama of the week: English Touring Opera in The Vanishing Forest, Acomb Explore Library, Front Street, Acomb, York, Sunday, 11am
ENGLISH Touring Opera present an enchanting adventure for seven to 11-year-olds that blends Shakespeare, music and an environmental message.
Jonathan Ainscough and Michael Betteridge’s new opera picks up the threads of A Midsummer Night’s Dream as Cassie and Mylas, Duke Theseus and Queen Hippolyta’s children, team up with Puck to save the forest before it is too late. Expect songs, puppetry, spells, mystical flowers and a story to entertain and inspire while tackling the pressing issue of deforestation. Tickets update: last few available at tickettailor.com.
Diversity: Pouring Soul into their dancing at York Barbican in April 2026
Show announcement of the week: Diversity present Soul, York Barbican, April 20 and 21 2026
BRITAIN’S Got Talent’s 2009 winners, Ashley Banjo’s Southend dance ensemble Diversity, will base next year’s tour around the technological advancements of artificial intelligence, asking what the future holds and what it means to be human within the digital age.
“The future is now,” says Banjo. “Humans have become plugged in and completely connected to a world full of artificial intelligence – a world in which it is hard to distinguish reality from fiction. AI has become so advanced it’s considered a life form of its very own. Is this the next stage in our evolution? What exactly have we created? What makes us human?” His answer: “Soul.” Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Everything turns green: Flying Ducks Youth Theatre in Shrek The Musical at Joseph Rowntree Theatre
BLINK and you might miss it! Charles Hutchinson urges prompt booking for a host of here today, gone tomorrow events.
Ogre party of the week: Flying Ducks Youth Theatre in Shrek The Musical, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, today, 2pm and 7pm
JENNA Howlett directs York company Flying Ducks’ two casts in today’s performances as they dive into a world where love knows no boundaries, friendships are forged in the most unexpected places and laughter is guaranteed.
Join Shrek, Fiona and Donkey on their journey to find true happiness in this David Lindsay-Abaire and Jeanine Tesori show, replete with catchy songs, quirky characters and a story that turns fairytales upside down. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Hammonds Band: Top brass at tomorrow afternoon’s concert in aid of York Against Cancer
Fundraiser of the week: York Brass Against Cancer, Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow, 2.30pm
THE fourth York Brass Against Cancer concert to raise funds for York Against Cancer features the Hammonds Band, founded in 1855 by Sir Titus Salt, and the Shepherd Group Brass Band, from York, introduced by BBC presenter David Hoyle. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
The hand of fate: The Witches in Dickens Theatre Company’s Macbeth at Grand Opera House, York
GCSE study aid of the week: Dickens Theatre Company, Revision On Tour: Macbeth, Grand Opera House, York, February 24 and 25, 7pm; February 26, 1pm with post-show Q&A
THE infamous Porter acts as narrator for an ensemble of six actors to create a cauldron of characters as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth make their perilous descent towards Hell in Shakespeare’s bloodiest tragedy, adapted and directed by Ryan Philpott, with music by Paul Higgs.
Set against a back-drop of wars, witchery and treasonous plotting, Dickens Theatre Company aim to “entertain and educate to the bitter end” while highlighting how “the Scottish play” remains ominously relevant in the 21st century. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Yemisi Oyinloye’s Carmen, left, and Hannah Genesius’s Elsa, right, in Tiny Fragments Of Beautiful Light, on tour at Theatre@41, Monkgate. Picture: Victoria Wai
Investigative play of the week: Tiny Fragments Of Beautiful Light, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, February 25
INSPIRED by writer Allison Davies’s diagnosis of autism, Tiny Fragments Of Beautiful Light is a journey of self-discovery wrapped in a celebration of the joy that comes when we live as we truly are.
Hannah Genesius takes the role of Elsa, who does not know why she has never fitted in. Could it be the way she is made? Quirky, kind, clever and funny, but school was always a nightmare, and romance was a mystery – until now. When Elsa meets Carmen (Yemisi Oyinloye), the real journey begins: to find out who she is and why an octopus is living inside her head? Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Dickens Theatre Company in Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, lurking around the Grand Opera House, York, for two days
The other GCSE study aid of the week: Dickens Theatre Company, Revision On Tour: Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, Grand Opera House, York, February 25, 1pm, with post-show Q&A; February 26, 7pm
WITHIN the thick Fitzrovia fog and dimly lamp-lit streets lurks an evil predator. When Gabriel Utterson learns of the mysterious Mr Hyde, he commits his lawyer’s logic to the proceedings. Believing Hyde to be blackmailing Jekyll, he vows to bring Hyde to task to solve the mystery.
As with Macbeth, Dickens Theatre Company’s cast of six takes on an exciting, educational new stage adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Victorian gothic masterpiece, adapted and directed by Ryan Philpott. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Unpacking Nina Simone: Florence Odumosu in Black Is The Color Of My Voice at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Steve Ullathorne
Biographical drama of the week: Black Is The Color Of My Voice, York Theatre Royal, February 26, 7.30pm
WRITTEN and directed by Apphia Campbell, Black Is The Color Of My Voice is inspired by the life of Nina Simone in an evening of storytelling and performances of her most iconic songs by Florence Odumosu.
Campbell’s 70-minute play follows the North Carolina singer and activist as she seeks redemption after the untimely death of her father. She reflects on her journey from piano prodigy destined for a life in the church to jazz vocalist at the forefront of the civil rights movement. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Gordon Buchanan: Wild about wildlife at the Grand Opera House, York
Talk on the wild side: Gordon Buchanan, Lions And Tigers And Bears, Grand Opera House, York, February 27, 7.30pm
FILMMAKER and photographer Gordon Buchanan recounts thrilling encounters with pandas, grizzlies, tigers, jaguars and more as he charts the heart-stopping moments, the mud, sweat, and tears and the tender interactions that have shaped his career. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Elvana: When Nirvana meets Elvis Presley at York Barbican
Tribute gig of the week: Elvana: Elvis Fronted Nirvana, March 1, 7pm doors
FROM the bowels of Disgraceland, rock icons of the afterlife are raised from the dead when rock’n’roll meets grunge as Elvis fronts Nirvana to give the band the front man it has been missing since 1994. Elvana tear through Nirvana’s catalogue while splicing in grunge- up sections of the King’s finest moments, culminating in a whopper mash-up of overdrive and old-school rockabilly. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
English Touring Opera in rehearsal for The Vanishing Forest, bound for Acomb Explore Library. Picture: Julian Guidera
Climate change drama: English Touring Opera in The Vanishing Forest, Acomb Explore Library, Front Street, Acomb, York, March 2, 11am
ENGLISH Touring Opera present an enchanting adventure for seven to 11-year-olds that blends Shakespeare, music and an environmental message.
Jonathan Ainscough and Michael Betteridge’s new opera picks up the threads of A Midsummer Night’s Dream as Cassie and Mylas, Duke Theseus and Queen Hippolyta’s children, team up with Puck to save the forest before it is too late. Expect songs, puppetry, spells, mystical flowers and a story to entertain and inspire while tackling the pressing issue of deforestation. Tickets update: last few available at tickettailor.com.
Soul searching: Diversity to play York, Hull and Sheffield on 60-show tour of 31 cities and towns in 2026
Show announcement of the week: Diversity present Soul, York Barbican, April 20 and 21 2026
BRITAIN’S Got Talent’s 2009 winners, Ashley Banjo’s Southend dance ensemble Diversity, will base next year’s tour around the technological advancements of artificial intelligence, asking what the future holds and what it means to be human within the digital age.
“The future is now,” says Banjo. “Humans have become plugged in and completely connected to a world full of artificial intelligence – a world in which it is hard to distinguish reality from fiction. AI has become so advanced it’s considered a life form of its very own. Is this the next stage in our evolution? What exactly have we created? What makes us human?” His answer: “Soul.” Also playing: Hull Connexin Hall, March 11; Sheffield City Hall, March 13 and 14 (matinee). Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk; connexinlivehull.com; sheffieldcityhall.co.uk.
Poet, mezzo-soprano, theatre-maker and photographer Lisa J Coates: Picture: lisajcoates.co.uk
In Focus:Rise Up!: A Celebration of Poetry and the Spoken Word, Rise @Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York, Feb 26
LEEDS poet Antony Dunn, Yorkshire-born Lisa J Coates and York St John University Fine Art course leader Nathan Walker take part in Rise Up! on Wednesday when doors open at 7.30pm for the trio of poetry performances from 8.30pm to 10pm.
Hosted by Bluebird Bakery boss and poet Nicky Kippax and Elizabeth Chadwick Pywell, the evening has three open-mic slots up for grabs. Email rise@bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise to apply.
The next Rise Up! on April 30 will feature poets Rachel Long, Ioney Smallhorne and Minal Sukumar.
Antony Dunn: Poet in Residence at People Powered Press. Picture: Sara Teresa
Antony Dunn
PUBLISHED four collections of poems: Pilots And Navigators, Flying Fish, Bugs and Take This One to Bed (Valley Press). Winner of Newdigate Prize and Eric Gregory Award. Regular tutor for The Poetry School and Arvon Foundation. Worked on translation projects with poets from Holland, Hungary, China and Israel.
Has served as Poet in Residence at University of York, Ilkley Literature Festival and People Powered Press. Artistic director of Bridlington Poetry Festival from 2012 until 2018. For more details, go to: www.antonydunn.org.
Lisa J Coates
YORKSHIRE-BORN multi-disciplinary artist, working as musician, writer and opera director. Poetry published in Southbank Poetry Magazine, Northern Gravy, York Literary Review, Bad Lilies, and Anthropocene. Undertaken commissions for Risky Cities, and Hull Maritime. Mentored by Helen Mort. Awarded DYCP (Developing Your Creative Practice) funding by Arts Council England in 2023 to develop her writing for the stage.
Classically trained mezzo-soprano, with distinction in PG Artist Diploma from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance and MA in Vocal Performance from University of York. Performed internationally on stage and in concert, recorded for Naxos, Delphian, Boreas and Touch labels and appeared on television and radio.
Nathan Walker
ARTIST and writer from West Cumbria. Works across and between performance art and poetry, exploring the body and the page as sites for vocal exploration and manipulation of sound and speech. Their scores and poetry have been published in books, magazines and journals, including 100 Queer Poems anthology, edited by Mary Jean Chan & Andrew McMillan (Vintage, 2022), Prototype Anthology 5 (UK), Tripwire (USA) and Pamenar Magazine Online (UK).
First collection of poetry, Skirting, was published by Broken Sleep Books in 2024. Published two books of language-based artworks: Condensations (uniform Books) & Action Score Generator (If P Then Q). Course lead for Fine Art at York St John University, lecturing in .
Tickets update: last few left at eventbrite.co.uk. More details at bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.
Nathan Walker: First poetry collection, Skirting, was published last year
Top of the plots: Nic Myers’ Kathryn Merteuil in Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography
AFTER New York and London runs, Jordan Ross, Lindsey Rosin and Roger Kumble’s jukebox musical spin on Kumble’s too-cool-for-school 1999 movie Cruel Intentions arrives in York in only the second week of its debut UK tour.
Tickets are selling well, albeit with surprising availability for Saturday night, with audience members spread across age groups, from the film’s devotees to lovers of Nineties pop and outré musicals.
Bill Kenwright Ltd is mounting the tour, a rubber stamp that guarantees a high-quality production with hi-tech lighting by Nick Richings, pin-sharp sound design by Chris Whybrow and, above all, a luxuriant set and especially costume design by Polly Sullivan to evoke the wealth of New York’s Upper East Side in the 1990s.
Jonathan O’Boyle’s cast for the 2025 tour of Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical, heading to York, Leeds and Hull. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography
Cruel Intentions was the romance/thriller one with the budding Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon and Selma Blair, re-setting Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’s French novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses in the summer recess before the new term at the exclusive Manchester High School in Manhattan, 1999.
‘Tis the mischief-making season where high society does what it always does in thumb-twiddling lulls: match-making, love-making, plotting and counter-plotting, amid the loss of innocence and the need for inner sense.
Oh, and just like in Sex Education, what all the young seem to have on their mind is sex rather more than education. And like in Sex Education too, a soundtrack to die for. We’ll get to that.
The plotting thickens: Will Callan’s Sebastian Valmont and Nik Myers’ Kathryn Merteuil lay their wager in Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography
The show opens with a voiceover from Nic Myers’ Kathryn Merteuil, waspish and haughtily dismissive, potty-mouthed too, as New York calls on old York to turn off its mobile devices.
Sharp of dress, dark of glass and countenance, Myers’ Kathryn and her step brother Sebastian Valmont (Will Callan) are the “trust fund casualties of absentee parents”, toying with their prey as they place their “cruel” wager. She wins his 1950s’ roadster if he fails to seduce Annette Hargrove (Abbie Budden), virtuous daughter of the incoming new headmaster; he wins next-level sex with Kathryn if he does.
In a new opening song, Livin’ La Vida Loca, director Jonathan O’Boyle introduces all the principals, while Gary Lloyd establishes his choreography will be every bit as snappy, snazzy, fiery, fun and sexy as it was in Heathers.
Abbie Budden’s Annette Hargrove , the new headmaster’s virtuous daughter. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography
In her interview with CharlesHutchPress, Abbie Budden, the only returnee from the London cast, said Cruel Intentions differed from other jukebox musicals in not taking itself too seriously. There was still the darkness of Kumble’s film, she added, but now a playful energy too.
In that way, it might remind you of how The Rocky Horror Show, down the years, has turned camper than the original Rocky Horror Picture Show. Especially here in the entanglements of Luke Conner Hall’s bleach-blond, mullet haired Blaine Tuttle and Joe Simmons’ sports jock Greg McConnell, expressing what they want, what they really, really want in The Spice Girls’ Wannabe.
You want it darker, as Leonard Cohen enquired in his last masterpiece? Well, Kumble and his co-conspirators don’t kill the flame but the darkness comes tongue in cheek, with knowing winks in the dialogue.
Head over heels: Luke Conner Hall’s Blaine Tuttle and Joe Simmons’ Greg McConnell performing Wannabe in Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography
The callous cruelty brought on by privilege stripping perpetrators of moral responsibility should not be this much fun, but as we know, the devil’s disciples always have the best lines. Witness Callan’s Sebastian, irresistible devourer of “insipid Manhattan dilettantes”.
They don’t always have the best tunes: these are splendidly spread out, from Budden’s Just A Girl and Foolish Games to Gabriella Williams’s No Scrubs in the guise of bigoted snob Mrs Bunny Caldwell (the Lady Bracknell of Upper East Side).
Lucy Carter is a scream as daughter Cecile Caldwell, blossoming in her sexual awakening and funnier scene by scene, whether with scandalous Sebastian, Kathryn or cello tutor Ronald Clifford (Kevin Yates), while Myers is spectacularly, seductively splenetic as the viperous Kathryn, her singing of Bitch being the show’s high point.
Kiss Me: Nic Myers’ Kathryn Merteuil, left, initiates Lucy Carter’s Cecile Caldwell in the art of kissing in Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography
You will love Lloyd’s choreography in raincoats for the railway station scene; cheer the inner strength of Budden’s Annette, and enjoy how the show uses Nineties’ pop gems Lovefool, Kiss Me and Breakfast At Tiffany’s, alongside the rock stealth of Counting Crows’ Colorblind and R.E.M.’s Losing My Religion.
What better way to finish than with Bitter Sweet Symphony, as impactful as it was in the movie, in summing up the overriding theme, whether “Tryna make ends meet, you’re a slave to money then you die” or “Tryna find somebody then you die”.
Will Joy’s musical direction and Zach Spound’s orchestrations peak in this ensemble finale, the band fading away in climax of a cappella singing and orchestrated clapping. Earlier, familiar Nineties nuggets break out in new directions, new interpretations, whether in solos, duets, triplets of duets in a song, even bravura mash-ups as top of the plots meets top of the pops.
Bill Kenwright Ltd presents Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical, Grand Opera House, York, today, 2.30pm and 7.30pm; tomorrow, 7.30pm; Friday, 5pm and 8.30pm; Saturday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Age guidance: 15 plus. Box office: atgtickets.com/york. Also playing: Leeds Grand Theatre, May 6 to 10, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com; Hull New Theatre, May 13 to 17, 01482 300306 or hulltheatres.co.uk.
Dismissive: Mrs Bunny Caldwell (Gabriella Williams) serves notice on cello tutor Ronald Clifford (Kevin Yates) in Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography
Abbie Budden as Annette Hargrove in Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical. Picture: Pamela Raith
ABBIE Budden is surrounded by an entirely new cast as she reprises her role of Annette Hargrove in the 2025 tour of Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical, playing the Grand Opera House, York, from tonight to Saturday.
Last year, Abbie made her professional bow aged 20 in the London premiere of Jordan Ross, Lindsey Rosin and Roger Kumble’s New York musical, based on Kumble’s too-cool-for-school 1999 film.
“I’m the only returning cast member from that show at The Other Palace Theatre in Victoria, and it’s been really lovely to revisit it, bringing new elements to it,” says Abbie, who is working again with director Jonathan O’Boyle and choreographer Gary Lloyd.
“The London run flew by and I just didn’t feel I’d finished with it after those five months, so it’s been liberating to come back for three weeks of rehearsals before we opened at Windsor Theatre Royal last Thursday. “
Why was it ‘unfinished business’, Abbie? “It’s always on reflection that you think ‘there is so much more I could have done’, and I’m now finding so many new moments for Annette, bouncing off new members of the cast.
“But I had an amazing time in London, and as last year was my professional debut, it felt so special to me, and I now come back to the show having had more experiences since then. I did Title Of Show, at Phoenix Arts Theatre and Southwark Playhouse, which was a very different show: a musical about two people writing a musical.
“It was a very meta piece of theatre with a cast of four, the writers and two friends, based on a real story. That was a lot of fun to do, as was playing Jill in my first pantomime in Jack And The Beanstalk at Ipswich Regent Theatre, and now Cruel Intentions feels like a new challenge again.”
Inspired by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’s French novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Cruel Intentions is rooted in a cruel bet where Kathryn Merteuil (Nic Myers) goads step-brother Sebastian Valmont (Will Callan) into attempting to seduce Annette Hargrove, the headmaster’s virtuous daughter at their exclusive Manhattan high school.
Weaving a web of secrets and temptation, their crusade wreaks havoc but soon the co-conspirators become entangled in their own web of deception and unexpected romance with explosive results.
Abbie Budden in her debut professional role as Annette Hargrove in last year’s London production of Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical. Picture: Pamela Raith
What a debut role and debut show for Abbie. “I didn’t train at drama college,” she reveals. “I jumped straight into the industry last year at the age of 20. Now I’m 21, and I feel they have really nurtured me. It was exciting but terrifying last year, but now I can be playful with the role with full confidence.
“Last year I learnt so much about myself, just how capable I am – and eight shows a week is tough for anyone.”
After landing such a role on the London stage when so young, Abbie found imposter syndrome kicking in. “But I think that is something that never goes away in this industry: that constant need to prove yourself,” she says. “It’s a feeling that you really have to try to switch off. Be confident that you’re meant to be here. You just have to remind yourself that you were chosen for a reason.”
Although Abbie has not studied for a drama degree, “as soon as I could, I was wearing dancing shows, from the age of three, growing up in Horsham in West Sussex” she says. “I loved the drama department at my school, Tanbridge House School, and did sessions twice a week and lots of productions at Showdown Theatre Arts, where I found my passion for the arts.
“I did an exchange programme to Baltimore, going to New York too, and that felt like a step into performing that couldn’t have come at a better time before jumping into professional theatre last year.”
Abbie confesses that she had not seen the film until the audition. “The moment I watched it, I loved it. I remember gasping and squealing at how outrageous it was – and chaotic too! The plot really keeps you guessing and Roger Kumble’s script is so cutting. I instantly connected with Annette, knowing it was so right for me as a role,” she says
“Though it’s strongly a 1990s’ film – and placing it in Upper East Side, New York, makes it even more iconic – its themes are still almost painfully relevant.
“Our version plays it slightly different to the film, still taking inspiration from those iconic characters, but I’ve really found my own Annette, where she matches Sebastian at his game. There’s no time where she’s weak or is a victim of Sebastian.
“The Gwen Stefani song that Annette sings, Just A Girl, is telling the world that she yearns to be more than innocent, to be rebellious. She definitely does have a lot of control throughout, and doesn’t lose that; it’s her self-control that she struggles with, showing vulnerability with that.”
The show poster for Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical, playing Grand Opera House, York, Leeds Grand Theatre and Hull New Theatre
As the show title indicates, Cruel Intentions is packed with 1990s’ pop gold dust, from Stefani, Britney Spears, Boyz II Men and Christina Aguilera to TLC, R.E.M., Ace Of Base, Natalie Imbruglia and The Verve.
“I almost wish all the songs were in the film because they suit the story so well, and what separates this show from other jukebox musicals is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously,” says Abbie.
What is her favourite number? “Torn. The Natalie Imbruglia song. It’s an absolute banger. If I ever went out to a karaoke night, that would be my number one choice – and it’s a real turning point in the show, where she doesn’t know where she will go from there,” she says.
Abbie also sings Lovefool, the one from the swimming pool scene; Counting Crows’ Colorblind – “a gorgeous moment in the film that’s so honest and sincere on stage that you really feel the audience go quiet” – and Foolish Games.
“That’s my big ‘belty’ solo in the show, where I do songs that give me lots of contrast, from ‘thrashy’ to beautiful, so Annette really gets to go on an emotional rollercoaster.”
What is the ultimate moral of Cruel Intentions, Abbie? “It’s weird because the characters are pretty devious and do some devious things, but because they’re teenagers and playing games, audiences fall in love with them,” she says.
“But the moral behind it is that there’s a dark side behind privilege, where they’re able to brush everything off with their wealth, which doesn’t just apply to the 1990s. A lot of people will connect with that thing of making questionable decisions as a teenager, but there’s a playful energy to the show as well darkness.”
On the road until the end of June, Abbie is visiting York for the first time this week. “I’ve never been there, so it’ll be lovely to see places on this tour that I’ve never been before,” she says. The further Yorkshire delights of Leeds and Hull await in May.
Bill Kenwright Ltd presents Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical, Grand Opera House, York, tonight, 7.30pm; tomorrow, 2.30pm and 7.30pm; Thursday, 7.30pm; Friday, 5pm and 8.30pm; Saturday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Age guidance: 15 plus. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Also playing:Leeds Grand Theatre, May 6 to 10, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com; Hull New Theatre, May 13 to 17, 01482 300306 or hulltheatres.co.uk.
Colour & Light: Illuminating York Minster’s South Transept with wildlife imagery
FROM wildlife illuminations to characterful faces, dog origin tales to dark sky wonders, Charles Hutchinson finds February fulfilment.
Illumination of the week: Colour & Light, York Minster South Transept, today to March 2
THIS free outdoor event promises a “mesmerising projection” of famous and lesser-known stories of York’s animal world, from the Minster’s peregrine falcons and the urban foxes that roam the streets after dark, to the Romans’ horses for their ride into Eboracum and the legendary dragons carved into the city’s history.
Colour & Light runs nightly from 6pm to 9pm with projections on a ten-minute loop. The final hour each evening is a designated quiet hour with reduced noise and crowd levels. No tickets are required.
A detail from one of Holly Capstick’s portraits in her We Are Layers exhibition at Pocklington Arts Centre
Exhibition of the week: Holly Capstick, We Are Layers, Pocklington Arts Centre, until February 28
HOLLY Capstick explores the layers of our beauty and character in her textile and mixed-media portraits that capture expressions and snapshots of moments in everyday life. “Faces have always amazed me,” she says. “The subtleties of the changes within a face can show so much of how we feel and how we connect to others.”
Thread and Press CIC tutor Holly will run portrait-themed workshops this month for children aged 7 to 16 (Learn To Draw A Face, February 19) and for adults (Textile Portraits, Free-motion Machine Embroidery, February 28). Find out more at hollycapstickart.co.uk.
In the pink: Emma Swainston’s Elle Woods in York Light Opera Company’s Legally Blonde The Musical. Picture: Matthew Kitchen Photography
Musical of the week: York Light Opera Company in Legally Blonde The Musical, York Theatre Royal, tomorrow to February 22, 7.30pm nightly (except February 16) plus 2.30pm matinees on February 15, 20 and 22
JOIN Elle Woods, a seemingly ditzy sorority girl with a heart of gold, as she tackles Harvard Law School to win back her man. Along the way, Elle discovers her own strength and intelligence, “proving that you can be both a beautiful blonde and brilliant”.
Emma Swainston’s Elle Woods leads Martyn Knight’s 35-strong cast in this feel-good, sassy and stylish show with its powerful message of staying true to yourself, booted with music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin and book by Heather Hach. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
The Tannahill Weavers: Fire-driven instrumentals, topical songs, Celtic ballads and humorous tales of Scottish life at Helmsley Arts Centre
Folk gig of the week: The Tannahill Weavers 2025, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm
THE Tannahill Weavers, from Paisley, Scotland, play a diverse repertoire that spans the centuries, taking in fire-driven instrumentals, topical songs, ballads and humorous tales of life north of the border.
Roy Gullane, on guitar and lead vocals, Phil Smillie, on flute, whistles, bodhrán and harmony vocals, Scotland’s youngest clan leader, Iain MacGillivray, on Highland bagpipes, fiddle and whistles, and Malcolm Bushby, on fiddle, bouzouki and harmony vocals, demonstrate the rich Celtic musical heritage in their exuberant concert combination of traditional melodies, rhythmic accompaniment, and evocative vocals. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Paul Metcalfe in his Rod Stewart tribute act, Some Guys Have All The Luck
Tribute show of the week: Some Guys Have All The Luck – The Rod Stewart Story, Grand Opera House, York, Friday, 7.30pm
CELEBRATING Sir Rod Stewart’s 80th birthday in a West End tribute show endorsed by his family, Paul Metcalfe takes a live concert journey through six Stewart decades from humble beginnings in rhythm & blues clubs through to swaggering rock showman.
“Rod’s music brings back a lot of memories for people, and everyone can remember the first time they heard Maggie May,” says Metcalfe. “Rod has such an amazing back catalogue of songs and such variety as well. Wonderful ballads, joyful upbeat songs and some great rockers.”
Metcalfe feels like the guy with all the luck in performing this tribute. “When I’m on stage I go into another world and do things I wouldn’t normally dream of doing,” he says. “The show has come on massively since we started. The music, the lighting, the set and the video backdrops have all come on a lot. Fortunately, the audience seems to agree.” Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Festival of the week: National Parks Dark Skies Festival, North York Moors, from Friday to March 2
THIS year is the tenth anniversary of the Dark Skies Festival and where better to celebrate than on the North York Moors, one of only 21 global locations to be recognised for pristine dark skies as an International Dark Sky Reserve.
Look out for Stargazing Experiences in Dalby Forest; Stargazing at Ampleforth Abbey; the Robin Hood’s Bay Dark Skies Ghost Walks; Evening Adventure Walks with River Mountain Rescue; a Night Navigation Experience with Large Outdoors; Dancing with The Long Dead Stars and plenty more. For full details, visit: darkskiesnationalparks.org.uk/north-york-moors-events.
David O’Doherty: Tiny Piano Man’s pageant of Irish humour and song at Grand Opera House, York
Comedy show of the week: David O’Doherty, Tiny Piano Man, Grand Opera House, York, Saturday, 8pm
THE dishevelled prince of €10 eBay keyboards tries to make you feel alive with a pageant of Irish humour, song and occasionally getting up from a chair. “It’s gonna be a big one,” says Dublin comedian, author, musician, actor and playwright David O’Doherty, star of The Great Celebrity Bake Off 2024 and Along For The Ride With David O’Doherty. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Gareth Gates: A Valentine Special brimful of movie love songs at York Barbican
Romantic concert of the week: Gareth Gates Sings Love Songs From The Movies – A Valentine Special, York Barbican, Sunday, 7.30pm
EXTENDING the St Valentine ‘s Day vibes to the weekend, Bradford singer Gareth Gates combines beloved ballads from classic films with the electrifying energy of up-tempo hits, from Unchained Melody to Dirty Dancing, in a celebration of love stories that have graced the silver screen.
Joining the 2002 Pop Idol alumnus and musical star will be Wicked actress Maggie Lynne, Dutch singer Britt Lenting, Performers College graduate Dan Herrington and a four-piece band. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Ugg’n’Ogg: Telling the story of The World’s First Dogg at the Milton Rooms, Malton
Children’s play of the week: Rural Arts presents Fideri Fidera in Ugg’n’Ogg & The World’s First Dogg, Milton Rooms, Malton, February 20, 2pm
IN the fresh sparkling world just after the last Ice Age, there were no dogs. How, then, did we attain our best friend and the world’s number one pet? Luckily for us, along came young hunter gatherers Ugg‘n’Ogg to pal up with the wolves, Tooth’n’Claw, to defy flying meat bones, raging forest infernos and even a time-travelling stick to invent the dog.
This original play for families and pooch lovers aged three upwards highlights the evolutionary transition from lupine to canine in a show full of physical comedy, puppets, music and song. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
James Iha, left, Jimmy Chamberlin and Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins: Off to the Yorkshire coast in the summer
Gig announcement of the week: The Smashing Pumpkins, TK Maxx Presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, August 13
AMERICAN alternative rockers The Smashing Pumpkins will play Scarborough on their Aghori Tour. Billy Corgan, James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin’s multi-platinum-selling band will be supported on the Yorkshire coast by London post-punk revival band White Lies.
Since emerging from Chicago, Illinois, in 1988 with their iconoclastic sound, Smashing Pumpkins have sold more than 30 million albums worldwide and collected two Grammy Awards, seven MTV VMAs and an American Music Award. Tickets go on sale at 10am on Friday at ticketmaster.co.uk
Freida Nipples: Hosting a cabaret night of burlesque exhibitionism in The Old Paint Shop at York Theatre Royal Studio
FROM exhibitionist burlesque to imaginative dance moments, wildlife illuminations to bend-and- snap musical empowerment, Charles Hutchinson finds February fulfilment.
Cabaret night of the week: Freida Nipples Presents…The Exhibitionists, The Old Paint Shop, York Theatre Royal Studio, tonight, 8pm
YORK’S very own internationally award-winning burlesque artiste Freida Nipples welcomes some of her favourite and most fabulous performance artists from across Great Britain and beyond to The Old Paint Shop’s flesh-flashing cabaret night.
“Get ready to be dazzled, shocked and in awe,” says Freida. “Only a few things are guaranteed: glamour, gags and giggles.” Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk, for returned tickets only.
Chris Newman and Maire Ni Chathasaigh: Heading to Helmsley Arts Centre
Folk gig of the week: Maire Ni Chathasaigh and Chris Newman, Helmsley Arts Centre, tonight, 7.30pm
MULTIPLE award-winning, internationally renowned virtuoso harp and guitar duo Maire Ni Chathasaigh and Chris Newman return to Helmsley after playing to a full house there in December 2023.
County Cork harpist Chathasaigh and flat-picking guitarist, improviser, composer and record producer Newman have toured to 24 countries on five continents, playing venues ranging from village halls and town halls to palaces in Kyoto and Istanbul, from London’s Barbican to Cologne’s Philharmonia. Expect a fusion of traditional Irish music, hot jazz, bluegrass and baroque, spiced with new compositions and Newman’s subversive wit. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Unstoppable! Evie Hart, Sean Moss, Hobie Schouppe, Juliette Tellier, Donny Beau Ferris, Risa Maki and Oliver Rumaizen in Jasmin Vardimon Company’s Now. Picture: Tristram Kenton
Dance show of the week: Jasmin Vardimon Company, York Theatre Royal, today, 2.30pm with post-show discussion and 7.30pm
NOW, a new creation by choreographer Jasmin Vardimon MBE, celebrates her company’s 25th anniversary in a work that reflects the current moment, the present, and the continuous movement of time in a terpsichorean toast to the beauty of imagination and art.
Rooted in her interest in contemporary lives, the structures of society and the ever-changing socio-political dynamics, Vardimon uses her distinctive dance theatre style to tell a story of our time with an international cast of performers and relevant and iconic moments from the Ashford, Kent company’s repertoire. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Jamie Walton: Cello soloist at York Guildhall Orchestra’s concert tonight at York Barbican. Picture: Matthew Johnson
Classical concerts of the week: Yorkshire Bach Choir, Bach To The Future, St Lawrence Parish Church, York, tonight, 7.30pm; York Guildhall Orchestra: Sibelius, Bloch, Tchaikovsky & Shostakovich, York Barbican, tomorrow, 3pm
PETER Seymour conducts Yorkshire Bach Choir on a choral journey through German polyphony, including music by Schutz, Johann Bach, JS Bach, Mendelssohn, Brahms and Rheinberger tonight. Professor Thomas Schmidt gives a pre-concert talk at 6.45pm. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
Jamie Walton, cellist and North York Moors Chamber Music Festival artistic director, will be the soloist for Ernst Bloch’s “rarely played, but utterly beautiful” Shelomo in tomorrow afternoon’s concert by the York Guildhall Orchestra. Sibelius’s Karelia Suite, Tchaikovsky’s Romeo And Juliet and Shostakovic’s Symphony No. 9 in Eb feature too in conductor Simon Wright’s programme. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Dominic Halpin & The Hurricanes: Turning the Grand Opera House into a honky-tonk in downtown Nashville
Country gig of the week: A Country Night In Nashville, Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm
DOMINIC Halpin & The Hurricanes re-create a buzzing honky-tonk in downtown Nashville, capturing the energy and atmosphere of an evening in the home of country music, featuring songs from its biggest stars both past and present: Johnny Cash to Alan Jackson, Dolly Parton to The Chicks, Willie Nelson to Kacey Musgraves. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Colour & Light: Illuminating York Minster with wildlife imagery
Illumination of the week: Colour & Light, York Minster South Transept, February 12 to March 2
THIS free outdoor event promises a “mesmerising projection” of famous and lesser-known stories of York’s animal world, from the peregrine falcons that call the Minster home and the foxes that roam the city after dark, to the horses on which the Romans rode into Eboracum and the legendary dragons carved into York’s history.
Colour & Light will run nightly from 6pm to 9pm with projections on a ten-minute loop. The final hour each evening will feature a designated quiet hour with reduced noise and crowd levels, ensuring everyone can enjoy the event. No tickets are required.
Pop Princesses : A fairytale epic adventure of pop hits and show favourites at the Grand Opera House
Children’s pop concert of the week: Pop Princesses World Tour, Grand Opera House, York, February 13, 6pm
IN a magical show where four fabulous fairytale princesses become pop stars on an epic adventure, they just love to sing the hits of Taylor Swift, Meghan Trainor, Miley Cyrus, Dua Lipa and Lizzo, complemented by a few of the best songs from all your favourite films and musicals. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Drag bingo agogo: Velma Celli’s Dragamama Bingo, Wagamama, Goodramgate, York, February 13, doors 6.30pm
YORK international vocal drag diva Velma Celli, alias West End musical star Ian Stroughair, has won the Best Cabaret prize at Perth Fringeworld 2024 – again! – Down Under. Next Thursday, Velma turns bingo caller for an evening of camp comedy drag bingo fun and games in Dragamama Bingo at Japanese restaurant Wagamama. Eyes down for a full house and a feast of Velma cabaret from 7pm to 9pm. Box office: https://tinyurl.com/4hmukk69.
Emma Swainston’s Elle Woods in York Light Opera Company’s Legally Blonde The Musical. Picture: Matthew Kitchen Photography
Musical of the week: York Light Opera Company in Legally Blonde The Musical, York Theatre Royal, February 13 to 22, 7.30pm nightly (except February 16) plus 2.30pm matinees on February 15, 20 and 22
JOIN Elle Woods, a seemingly ditzy sorority girl with a heart of gold, as she tackles Harvard Law School to win back her man. Along the way, Elle discovers her own strength and intelligence, “proving that you can be both a beautiful blonde and brilliant”.
Emma Swainston’s Elle Woods leads Martyn Knight’s 35-strong cast in this feel-good, sassy and stylish show with a powerful message about staying true to yourself, booted with music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin and book by Heather Hach. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Festival of the week: National Parks Dark Skies Festival, North York Moors, February 14 to March 2
THIS year is the tenth anniversary of the Dark Skies Festival and where better to celebrate than on the North York Moors, one of only 21 locations in the world to be recognised for pristine, dark skies as an International Dark Sky Reserve.
Look out for Stargazing Experiences in Dalby Forest; Stargazing at Ampleforth Abbey; the Robin Hood’s Bay Dark Skies Ghost Walks; Evening Adventure Walks with River Mountain Rescue; a Night Navigation Experience with Large Outdoors; Dancing with The Long Dead Stars on a walk to Boggle Hole and plenty more. For full details, visit: darkskiesnationalparks.org.uk/north-york-moors-events.
Untitled 7, by Neil Bunting, from Art Of Protest’s Outsider Inside York exhibition
A DANDY giant, outsider art, drag bingo and Cuban rhythms light up Charles Hutchinson’s early February diary.
Exhibition of the week: Outsider Inside York – An Exhibition of Words and Pictures, Art of Protest Gallery, Walmgate, York, on show until February 16
OUTSIDER Inside York celebrates the diverse voices of five artists who have used creativity to reshape their lives and challenge the status quo, revealing art’s transformative power in overcoming adversity.
Taking part will be Boxxhead, alias York mixed-media artist Kevin McNulty; former British Army soldier and PTSD sufferer Kevin Devenport, who began painting as a form of self-expression while in prison for drug offences; Peter Stapleton, who discovered a gift for painting in oils after 22 years behind bars, and late neurodivergent artist and musician Neil Bunting, who died last year, having struggled with mental health issues and personal loss throughout his life and never exhibiting his work in his lifetime. Their works are complemented by poems by Geoff Beacon, whose latest collection, Foreboding, engages with activism and politics in York.
Jennifer Jones’s Belle in Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company’s Beauty And The Beast at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre
Fairytale of the week: Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company in Disney’s Beauty And The Beast, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
THE Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company presents the timeless tale of Belle (Jennifer Jones), a young woman in a small provincial town, and the Beast (Adam Gill), a prince trapped under the spell of an enchantress. The Beast must learn to love and be loved in order to break the spell, but time is running out in this Disney musical adventure.
Further principal roles in Kathryn Lay’s cast go to Jim Paterson as Gaston; Tom Mennary, Lumiere; Paul Blenkiron, Maurice; Helen Barugh, Madame de la Grande Bouche; Heather Stead, Babette, and Anthony Gardner, Cogsworth. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Meet The Smartest Giant In Town in Little Angel Theatre’s show at the Grand Opera House, York
Children’s show of the week: Little Angel Theatre in The Smartest Giant In Town, Grand Opera House, York, today, 10am and 1pm
GEORGE wishes he were not the scruffiest giant in town. When he sees a new shop selling giant-sized clothes, he adopts a new look: smart trousers, smart shirt, stripy tie, shiny shoes. Now he is the smartest giant in town…until he bumps into some animals that desperately need his help – and his clothes!
So runs Little Angel Theatre’s latest puppet-filled stage adaptation of a typically heart-warming Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler picture-book tale of friendship and helping those in need. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
The poster artwork for Just Us & A Piano at Helmsley Arts Centre
Fundraiser of the week: Just Us & A Piano, Songs From Musical Theatre Broadway and the West End, Helmsley Arts Centre, tonight and Friday, 7.30pm
JULIE Lomas and pianist Neil Bell bring together a grand piano and an ensemble of 1812 Theatre Company singers to celebrate the world of musical theatre to raise much-needed funds for Helmsley Arts Centre.
Songs from the Broadway classics of George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern and Richard Rodgers through to Cabaret, Wicked, My Fair Lady, Les Miserables, Hamilton and Andrew Lloyd Webber will be performed by Amy Gregory, Esme Schofield, Joe Gregory, Julie Lomas, Kristian Gregory, Natasha Jones, Oliver Clive and Phye Bell. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Beverley Beirne: Fronting her trio at The Old Paint Shop on Friday
Jazz gig of the week: The Beverley Beirne Trio, The Old Paint Shop, York Theatre Royal Studio, Friday, 8pm
BEVERLEY Beirne sings songs of hope, passion, of living life to the full, of day dreaming, regret, love lost and love found and ultimately of dancing through the game and rhythm of life from Dream Dancer, long-listed for a Grammy Best Jazz Vocal Album.
Listen out for interpretations of David Bowie’s Let’s Dance, Let’s Face The Music And Dance and a bluesy take on The Clash’s Should I Stay Or Should I Go. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Drag diva deluxe at the double: The Velma Celli Show, Impossible York Wonderbar, St Helen’s Square, York, Friday, doors 7pm, show time 8pm to 10pm; Dragamama Bingo, Wagamama, Goodramgate, York, February 13, doors 6.30pm
YORK international vocal drag diva Velma Celli, alias West End musical star Ian Stroughair, has won the Best Cabaret prize at Perth Fringeworld 2024 – again! – in Australia. On Friday, Velma returns to her regular York joint for a night of sassy song and saucy badinage. Box office: https://tinyurl.com/24s4yyjt.
Next Thursday, Velma turns bingo caller for an evening of camp comedy drag bingo fun and games in Dragamama Bingo at Japanese restaurant Wagamama. Eyes down for a full house and a feast of Velma cabaret from 7pm to 9pm. Box office: https://tinyurl.com/4hmukk69.
York Latinos: Celebrating Cuban music and culture at The Milton Rooms, Malton
Cuban celebration of the week: York Latinos, A Night of Latin Music and Dance, Milton Rooms, Malton, Saturday, 8pm
YORK Latinos pay homage to the traditional rhythms of their homelands while infusing them with contemporary flair in a celebration of Cuban music and culture featuring a dancer from Havana.
Specialising in a variety of Latin genres, they blend the vibrant beats of salsa and the soulful melodies of Cuban Son, complemented by Merengue, Bachata and Cumbia. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Chris Newman andMaire Ni Chathasaigh
Folk gig of the week:Maire Ni Chathasaigh and Chris Newman, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 7.30pm
MULTIPLE award-winning, internationally renowned virtuoso harp and guitar duo Maire Ni Chathasaigh and Chris Newman return to Helmsley after playing to a full house there in December 2023.
County Cork harpist Chathasaigh and flat-picking guitarist, improviser, composer and record producer Newman have toured to 24 countries on five continents, playing venues ranging from village halls and town halls to palaces in Kyoto and Istanbul, from London’s Barbican to Cologne’s Philharmonia. Expect a fusion of traditional Irish music, hot jazz, bluegrass and baroque, spiced with new compositions and Newman’s subversive wit. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
PAUL Hendy, award-winning Evolution Productions writer and director, is a familiar name in York from his five pantomime collaborations with the Theatre Royal.
Now, his new play The Last Laugh, premiered at last summer’s Edinburgh Fringe, will play the Grand Opera House from June 10 to 14 after a West End run in London.
Penned and directed by Hendy, the play re-imagines the lives of three of Great Britain’s greatest comedy heroes, Tommy Cooper, Eric Morecambe and Bob Monkhouse, in a nostalgic show replete with gags, badinage and poignant stories.
The tour is being mounted by Evolution Productions in tandem with producer Jamie Wilson, the impresario behind tours of Sister Act The Musical and The Devil Wears Prada. “Jamie flew up on the last day of our sold-out Edinburgh Fringe run at the Assembly Rooms and nudged me to say ‘we’re taking this to the West End’,” recalls Paul. “I knew I had something that people were responding to. The reaction was overwhelming.”
Jamie says: “The young team here at JWP were bowled over by the relevance of their timeless comedy and after seeing it myself in Edinburgh, I just knew it had to have a further life so many more people could experience it.
“What is so brilliant about this play is the audiences who love and remember Eric, Tommy and Bob will be able to relive their comedy greatness, and those that don’t will be introduced to the genius of these national treasures. I’m so pleased these icons will be back on stage for audiences to enjoy.”
The Last Laugh will run at the Noel Coward Theatre, London, from February 25 to March 22 before heading out on tour in June.
In the cast will be Bob Golding as Eric Morecambe, after his Olivier Award-nominated portrayal of Eric in the West End hit Morecambe at the Duchess Theatre; Sheffield Lyceum pantomime dame Damian Williams as Tommy Cooper, after starring in the tour of Being Tommy Cooper, and actor and impressionist Simon Cartwright as Bob Monkhouse, fresh from appearing as York-born Frankie Howerd in the UK tour of Howerd’s End.
Why feature Monkhouse, rather than Howerd as the third comedy legend in The Last Laugh, Paul? “When you see it, it will make sense. Ultimately it’s a show about comedy, but more than that, the life and death of three contrasting comedians, gathered in a dressing room to talk about life, death and comedy, with their three differing approaches to comedy” he says.
“Tommy Cooper was a natural comedian. That was almost a curse as people would just laugh in his presence. He was an innate comedian: whatever he did was funny.
Damian Williams’s Tommy Cooper, left, Bob Golding’s Eric Morecambe and Simon Cartwright’s Bob Monkhouse in The Last Laugh. Picture: Pamela Raith
“Eric was born funny but he needed writers, whereas Tommy didn’t: even a rubbish Tommy joke would get a laugh!
“Bob Monkhouse – who I met, what a lovely man – was not a naturally funny man but he really understood comedy and was a scholar of comedy, working a joke down to the minimum number of words, and polishing it, to make it work.
“Bob was fascinated by how Tommy Cooper was naturally funny; he would say, how do you do it?’, and Tommy would say, ‘I just do’. Eric was in the middle, so funny but requiring material.”
The Last Laugh lets them have fun together. “It was interesting to see how the three of them would work off each other,” says Paul. “I’d already done a 20-minute film version, which did really well on the film circuit in 2017, winning a Best Film award in Manchester and at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival, and I’d always thought there was more to be mined, more to be explored.
“I analyse how comedy works for my play and panto scripts – I’m a massive Eric and Tommy fan, but I’m more like Bob in working out how comedy works, and that’s what they’re talking about in this play. What do they do when they get a laugh and then chase the next one and why do they do that?
“They were three people at the top of their game undoubtedly, which is why there’s still a lot of love for them. Tommy and Eric died within six weeks of each other 40 years ago and yet here we are, still discussing them. Is there anyone today who will have that lasting impact? Maybe Peter Kay.”
Paul wrote The Last Laugh expressly for Golding, Williams and Cartwright. “Damian is a great friend who I direct each year in the Sheffield Lyceum pantomime, where he’s been the dame for 17 years,” he says.
“Bob plays panto dame too in St Albans, and they both have as much passion for these comedians and the world they’re in as I do. We’ve all read the books, so this show is done with love. Simon was incredible in Howerd’s End, and he’s wonderful in this show too.”
The Last Laugh will be bound for the Brits Off Broadway season in New York, but as for old York, why is Paul’s play playing the Grand Opera House, not the Theatre Royal? “It came down to availability when Jamie Wilson was putting the tour together,” he says.
Last question, Paul: who has the last laugh in The Last Laugh? “I don’t want to give it away,” he says. “You’ll have to see it to find out! But it’s a good expression for what they do, with three comedians each trying to top each other as they always do.”
Jamie Wilson Productions and Emily Wood for Evolution Productions present TheLastLaugh, Grand Opera House, York, June 10 to 14, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Just like that….and that…and that in Paul Hendy’s The Last Laugh
Nina Gilligan: Headlining today’s Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club gig at The Basement
CHEEKY drag fun and games, a dandy giant, outsider art, folk luminaries aplenty and a terpsichorean comedian light up Charles Hutchinson’s early February diary.
Afternoon gig of the week: Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club presents Nina Gilligan, Ryan McDonnell, Adam Anwar and Damion Larkin MC, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, today, 4pm to 6.30pm, doors 3.30pm
2021 Leicester Mercury Comedy Award winner Nina Gilligan tops this afternoon’s comedy bill with an act described by Scottish culture magazine The Skinny as “a bolshier Mrs Merton”.
Belfast’s Ryan McDonnell interjects wit and Irish charm into his observation of everyday life. “Sometimes bizarre, often dark, he’ll guide you on a unique journey through the world as he sees it,” says master of ceremonies and club promoter Damion Larkin. Third act Adam Anwar’s stand-up material draws on themes of identity, race, and social issues. Box office: lolcomedyclubs.co.uk.
The Isolation Creations: Bingo meets drag in The Old Paint Shop
Looking for an evening of fun, games, bingo and daft prizes with a party atmosphere?Haus Of Games with The Isolation Creations, The Old Paint Shop, York Theatre Royal Studio, tonight, 8pm
CHEEKY comedy drag double act The Isolation Creations host a variety show to leave you blushing, giggling and maybe even holding a “crappy prize or two”. “Don’t come expecting RuPaul’s Drag Race,” they say. “We’re here to remind you that drag can be a bit saucy, rough around the edges and a whole lot of fun! Step into our world where the heels are a bit lower, the banter is a lot cheekier and the wigs have a delightful hint of nostalgia.”
Inspired by Les Dawson, Dame Edna, Dick Emery and Lily Savage, and begun in the pandemic lockdown, Alan and Jamie’s characters embody the spirit of classic British drag. Think of cheeky barmaids, seaside B&B landladies and your Nanna’s gossipy friends. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Untitled 7, by Neil Bunting, from Art Of Protest’s Outsider Inside York exhibition
Exhibition of the week: Outsider Inside York – An Exhibition of Words and Pictures, Art of Protest Gallery, Walmgate, York, today until February 16
OUTSIDER Inside York celebrates the diverse voices of five artists who have used creativity to reshape their lives and challenge the status quo, revealing art’s transformative power in overcoming adversity.
Taking part will be Boxxhead, alias York mixed-media artist Kevin McNulty; former British Army soldier and PTSD sufferer Kevin Devenport, who began painting as a form of self-expression while in prison for drug offences; Peter Stapleton, who discovered a gift for painting in oils after 22 years behind bars, and late neurodivergent artist and musician Neil Bunting, who died last year, having struggled with mental health issues and personal loss throughout his life and never exhibiting his work in his lifetime. Their works are complemented by poems by Geoff Beacon, whose latest collection, Foreboding, engages with activism and politics in York.
Meet The Smartest Giant In Town in Little Angel Theatre’s show at the Grand Opera House, York
Comedy gig of the week…and next spring too: Chris McCausland, Yonks!,Grand Opera House, York, Monday (3/2/2025) and May 17 2026
AFTER lifting the glitterball trophy as the ground-breaking first blind contestant on Strictly Come Dancing, Liverpool comedian Chris McCausland returns to his “day job” on his Yonks! tour, now to be extended into 2026. He has added a second York date after selling out the first. Meanwhile, virtuoso ventriloquist Nina Conti’s Whose Face Is It Anyway? show on February 7 has sold out too. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Jennifer Jones’s Belle in Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company’s Beauty And The Beast at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre
Fairytale of the week: Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company in Beauty And The Beast, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, February 4 to 8, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
THE Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company presents the timeless tale of Belle (Jennifer Jones), a young woman in a small provincial town, and the Beast (Adam Gill), a prince trapped under the spell of an enchantress. The Beast must learn to love and be loved in order to break the spell, but time is running out.
Further principal roles in Kathryn Lay’s cast go to Jim Paterson as Gaston; Tom Mennary, Lumiere; Paul Blenkiron, Maurice; Helen Barugh, Madame de la Grande Bouche; Heather Stead, Babette, and Anthony Gardner, Cogsworth. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Meet The Smartest Giant In Town in Little Angel Theatre’s show at the Grand Opera House, York
Children’s show of the week: Little Angel Theatre in The Smartest Giant In Town, Grand Opera House, York, February 5, 1pm and 4pm, and February 6, 10am and 1pm
GEORGE wishes he were not the scruffiest giant in town. When he sees a new shop selling giant-sized clothes, he adopts a new look: smart trousers, smart shirt, stripy tie, shiny shoes. Now he is the smartest giant in town…until he bumps into some animals that desperately need his help – and his clothes!
So runs Little Angel Theatre’s latest puppet-filled stage adaptation of a typically heart-warming Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler picture-book tale of friendship and helping those in need. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
The good folk of the Transatlantic Sessions, bound for York Barbican on Wednesday
Folk and Americana gig of the week: Transatlantic Sessions, with Loudon Wainwright III, Julie Fowlis, Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams and Niall McCabe, York Barbican, February 5, doors 7pm
TRANSATLANTIC Sessions 2025 celebrates 30 years since the original television series. Taking to the stage will be the all-star, virtuoso house band, led as ever by Aly Bain and Jerry Douglas, plus guest vocalists Loudon Wainwright III, Julie Fowlis, Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams and Ireland’s Niall McCabe.
Joined by Phil Cunningham, John Doyle, Michael McGoldrick, Tatiana Hargreaves & Allison de Groot, John McCusker, Donald Shaw, James Mackintosh and Daniel Kimbro, they will interweave original material with age-old tunes and songs as they explore shared roots and find new common ground, celebrating the rich musical traditions that connect Scotland, Ireland and the United States. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Beverley Beirne: Fronting her trio at The Old Paint Shop on Friday
Jazz gig of the week: The Beverley Beirne Trio, The Old Paint Shop, York Theatre Royal Studio, February 7, 8pm
BEVERLEY Beirne sings songs of hope, passion, of living life to the full, of day dreaming, regret, love lost and love found and ultimately of dancing through the game and rhythm of life from Dream Dancer, long-listed for a Grammy Best Jazz Vocal Album.
Listen out for interpretations of David Bowie’s Let’s Dance, Let’s Face The Music And Dance and a bluesy take on The Clash’s Should I Stay Or Should I Go. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Craig David: Parading his singing, MC and DJ skills at Scarborough Open Air Theatre this summer
Gig announcement of the week: Craig David Presents TS5, TK Maxx Presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, July 19
SOUTHAMPTON rhythm & blues musician Craig David parades his triple threat as singer, MC and DJ at his TS5 party night – patented at his Miami penthouse – on the East Coast this summer. Expect a set combining old skool anthems from R&B to Swing Beat, Garage to Bashment, while merging chart-topping House hits too.
“I cannot wait to bring my TS5 show to Scarborough and the beautiful Yorkshire coast in July,” enthuses David, 43. “2025 is a massive year for me as it’s the 25th anniversary of my debut album [Born To Do It] and my debut number one single (Fill Me In]. What better way to celebrate than bringing the party to Scarborough this summer.” Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
In Focus: What’s the line-up for Futuresound Group’s first York Comedy Festival in York Museum Gardens? ADDED ON 3/2/2025
Dara Ó Briain
THE inaugural YorkComedyFestival will take place on Sunday, July 6 in the finale to Futuresound Group’s second season of Live At York Museum Gardens shows.
Irish comedian, broadcaster and writer Dara Ó Briain and Canadian comedian, writer, presenter, actress and singer Katherine Ryan will co-headline the open-air bill of nine acts, also featuring Maisie Adam, Joel Dommett, Clinton Baptiste, Angelos Epithemiou, Vittorio Angelone, Scott Bennett and host Stephen Bailey.
Ó Briain will be playing York for a second time this year: his 2025 tour show Re:Creation is heading for a sell-out at York Barbican on May 14 with tickets on sale at yorkbarbican.co.uk. He hosted 21 series of Mock The Week from 2005 to 2022 among myriad TV appearances on such shows as Have I Got News For You, Robot Wars, Dara And Ed’s Big Adventure, Dara Ó Briain’s Science Club and Three Men In A Boat.
Katherine Ryan
Ryan is a team captain on 8 Out Of 10 Cats and has appeared on Never Mind The Buzzcocks, A League Of Their Own, Mock The Week, Would I Lie to You?, QI, Just A Minute, Safeword and Have I Got News for You.
Maisie Adam, who grew up in Pannal, Harrogate, is an award-winning stand up, podcaster and comedy panellist; whip-smart stand-up, broadcaster and author Joel Dommett hosts ITV’s The Masked Singer.
Also taking part in the first comedy festival in York since Martin Witts’s Great Yorkshire Fringe (2015-2019) will be Phoenix Nights’ resident clairvoyant, Clinton Baptiste; cult surrealist comedian Angelos Epithemiou, from Shooting Stars; Italian-Irish offbeat comic, podcaster and rising star Vittorio Angelone and the brain behind viral hit Stand Up From The Shed, Scott Bennett. Comedian and presenter Stephen Bailey will be on compere duty.
YorkComedyFestivalwill follow Futuresound’s three Museum Gardens concerts, headlined by Elbow on July 3 andNile Rodgers & CHIC on July 4, with one more name to be announced for July 5.
Maisie Adam. Picture: Matt Crockett
Andy Smith, of Futuresound Group, said: “We’re thrilled to be introducing York Comedy Festivalthis July as part of our second series; building on our collaborative offering with a wider variety of entertainment beyond music.
“Our inaugural sell-out concert series last summer gave us the opportunity to see the lasting cultural impact that these large-scale outdoor events have on the city so this year we’re really excited to be bringing world-class comedy to York Museum Gardens alongside some incredible live music”
Richard Saward, head of operations at York Museums Trust, said: “The introduction of a comedy festival as part of Live at York Museum Gardens is a fantastic addition to the programme and York Museums Trust is delighted to be hosting this special evening. We are looking forward to welcoming these amazing comedians to York.”
