Tricia Paoluccio’s Dolly Parton in Here You Come Again, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York
ON Tuesday, queen of country and philanthropist Dolly Parton announced her new autobiographical stage show, Dolly: An Original Musical, would be opening in Nashville in July, ahead of a Broadway debut in 2026.
Previously, Dolly wrote the music and lyrics for 9 To 5 The Musical, premiered in 2008, having starred as secretary Doralee Rhodes in the 1980 film version.
Here she comes again in Here You Come Again, a musical full of Dolly songs, both familiar and not so familiar (Me And Little Andy), picked with Dolly’s approval for the story of diehard Dolly devotee Kevin, who needs dollops of Dolly advice on life and love in Covid times.
Written by Bruce Vilanch, director Gabriel Barre and Broadway actress Tricia Paoluccio, the show first ran in the United States and is now visiting its 33rd city on its debut British tour, produced by Simon Friend Entertainment and Leeds Playhouse.
The setting is an attic in Halifax in lockdown 2020, not Halifax, Nova Scotia, but now in West Yorkshire, home of the Halifax Courier et al, after Gimme Gimme Gimme writer Jonathan Harvey was entrusted with a British re-write.
Or, as the programme credits put it, “additional material” that brings British humour to the core story, along with Covid references, such as a UK news bulletin, banging a pan for the NHS, singing Happy Birthday twice through when washing hands, and stocking up on loo rolls.
Kevin (Aidan Cutler, understudying very capably for Steven Webb at Wednesday’s matinee) has returned to his parents’ home from London, on furlough from his job at a comedy club. His attic is a chapel of adoration to Dolly Parton, as well housing as the best hi-fi and finest retro turntable, a pink flamingo by his bedside and a pulley system for delivery of meals made by his parents on the floor below.
Only he can enter, by a ladder from the outside. His boyfriend, money-man Jeremy, is keeping more than a six-foot distance. Indeed Jeremy has just sent a message to say the relationship is over.
We need to talk about Aidan Cutler’s Kevin: Impressive understudy for Steven Webb at Wednesday’s matinee
Kevin may play by the Covid rules, but what he needs is an agony aunt angel to lift him out of the doldrums. Who could that possibly be but a fantasy vision of rhinestone splendour. Yes, Miss Dolly Parton, y’all.
Nothing is a barrier to Tennessee’s queen of Dollywood, who enters as if by magic, through a poster turning into a real-life Dolly (Tricia Paoluccio, every inch Dollied up to the max), equipped with quips, bon mots, kind words and a song for every scenario.
They need to talk about Kevin. He does, she does, and only occasionally do we see or hear from the parents (Austin Garrett and Emma Jane Fearnley, popping up on backing vocals too) in a show where the two leads do the heavy lifting, backed by a band of Jordan Li-Smith, keyboards, Luke Adams, guitar, Ben Scott, drums, and Kevin Oliver Jones, bass/harmonica. Sometimes musicians appear in the attic, more often they are behind Paul Wills’s set design.
Paoluccio is the perfect Dolly mixture: wholesome, whole-hearted, glamorous yet home-spun, supportive in her philanthropic way. She sings like Dolly, talks like Dolly, moves like Dolly, but this is no mere 2D impersonation. As her Dolly says, she is not only in 3D, but “make that triple D”, and there are plenty more Dolly one-liners where that one came from.
Favourite moment? After Paoluccio’s Dolly sings the tragic, lachrymose tale of Me And Little Andy, Dolly and Kevin discuss why she has written so many sad, sad songs. To make us all feel better about ourselves, she explains.
By this stage, spoiler alert, Kevin, on the wrong side of 40, has lost his boyfriend, his job, his home, but the Dolly hits keep coming (after finding a corny excuse to include Jolene early on) as the matinee audience starts chipping in with encouragement for Dolly and Kevin alike. Two Doors Down, 9 To 5, Islands In The Stream, I Will Always Love You and the climactic Light Of A Clear Blue Morning go down particularly well, aided by Lizzi Gee’s fun choreography.
Understudy Aidan Cutler’s Kevin, camp and lovable, crushed but uplifted by Dolly, more than holds his own in such glittering company, with a sweetness to his singing chops too. As for Paoluccio’s Dolly, you will always love her.
Here You Come Again, Grand Opera House, York, runs until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Ric Liptrot: Exhibiting in The Other Collective exhibition at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb
FROM dollops of Dolly Parton advice to Stewart Lee’s werewolf encounter, devilish storytelling to a Cinderella prequel, Charles Hutchinson, cherry picks highlights for the days ahead.
Exhibition of the week: The Other Collective, Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, until March 13
CURATED by Bluebird Bakery, The Other Collective brings together the work of Lu Mason, Ric Liptrot, Rob Burton, Liz Foster and Jill Tattersall.
“These wonderful artists were all missed off the billing for York Open Studios 2025 and we felt that was a real shame,” says Bluebird boss Nicky Kippax. “So The Other Collective was born and we hope the work will get a lot of interest from our customers.”
Mark Reynolds’ tour poster illustration for Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf, playing York Theatre Royal until Saturday
Comedy gigs of the week: Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf, York Theatre Royal, until Saturday, 7.30pm
IN Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf, Lee shares the stage with a tough-talking werewolf comedian from the dark forests of the subconscious who hates humanity. The Man-Wulf lays down a ferocious comedy challenge to the “culturally irrelevant and physically enfeebled Lee”: can the beast inside us all be silenced by the silver bullet of Lee’s deadpan stand-up? Tickets advice: Hurry, hurry as all shows are closing in on selling out; 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Tricia Paoluccio’s Dolly Parton and Stevie Webb’s Kevin in Here You Come Again at Grand Opera House, York
Musical of the week: Here You Come Again, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees
SIMON Friend Entertainment and Leeds Playhouse team up for the tour of Here You Come Again, starring and co-written by Broadway actress Tricia Paoluccio, who visits York for the first time in the guise of a fantasy vision of country icon Dolly Parton.
Gimme Gimme Gimme writer Jonathan Harvey has put a British spin on Bruce Vilanch, director Gabriel Barre and Paoluccio’s story of diehard Dolly devotee Kevin (Steven Webb) needing dollops of Dolly advice on life and love in trying times. Parton hits galore help too! Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Hayden Thorpe: Performing Ness with Propellor Ensemble members at the NCEM, York, tonight
Arthouse gig of the week: Hayden Thorpe & Propellor Ensemble, National Centre for Early Music, York, tonight, doors 7pm for 7.30pm start
PLEASE Please You and Brudenell Presents bring Hayden Thorpe & Propellor Ensemble to the NCEM to perform Ness, with the promise of a “sonically spectacular and transformational live show”.
Thorpe, former frontman and chief songwriter of Kendal band Wild Beasts, promotes his September 2024 album. Using a process of redaction, Thorpe brought songs to life from nature writer Robert Macfarlane’s book Ness, inspired by Suffolk’s Orford Ness, the former Ministry of Defence weapons development site during both World Wars and the Cold War. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
Sylvie (Aileen Hall), centre, demonstrates her skills to friends Amelie (Perri Ann Barley), left, and Helene (Devon Wells), right, in rehearsal for Blue Light Theatre Company’s Where The Magic Begins!
Premiere of the week: Blue Light Theatre Company in Where The Magic Begins!, Acomb Working Men’s Club, York, tonight to Friday, 7.30pm; Saturday, 2pm matinee
BLUE Light Theatre Company stage York playwright and actress Perri Ann Barley’s new play Where The Magic Begins!, a prequel to Cinderella based on characters from the original Charles Perrault version.
“We meet many beloved characters in their younger days, such as a young Fairy Godmother, who is about to discover her ‘gift’. We follow her journey as she struggles with a secret that could put her life, and that of her family, in grave danger,” says director Craig Barley. Box office: 07933 329654, at bluelight-theatre.co.uk or on the door.
Hannah Rowe: Performing in the cabaret setting of The Old Paint Shop at York Theatre Royal Studio
Cabaret night of the week: CPWM Presents An Evening With Hannah Rowe, The Old Paint Shop, York Theatre Royal Studio, tomorrow, 8pm
YORK promoters Come Play With Me (CPWM) welcome Hannah Rowe to The Old Paint Shop’s winter season. This young singer writes of experiences and shifts in life, offering a sense of reflection within her rich, authentic, jazz-infused sound. Friday’s 8pm show by upstanding York pianist Karl Mullen has sold out. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Adderstone’s Cath Heinemeyer and Gemma McDermott
Devilish delight of the week: Tim Ralphs and Adderstone, Infernal Delights, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, Friday, doors 7.30pm
TIM Ralphs and York alt-folk storytellers Adderstone serve up a winter night’s double bill of dark delights. Let Adderstone’s Cath Heinemeyer and Gemma McDermott lead you down the steps to the underworld with story-songs from wild places in their Songs To Meet The Darkness set.
In Beelzebub Rebranded, Tim Ralphs’s stand-up storytelling exhumes the bones of ancient Devil stories and stitches them into new skins for fresh consumption in his wild reimagining of folktale, fairytale and urban legend. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk/adderstone/infernal-delights/e-xjjber.
Saxophonist Snake Davis, right, double bassist Don Richardson, left, and concertina player Alistair Anderson: Playing together at Helmsley Arts Centre on Sunday
Trio of the week: Snake Davis, saxophones, Don Richardson, double bass, and Alistair Anderson, concertina and Northumbrian pipes, Helmsley Arts Centre, Sunday, 7.30pm
ADD an old mucker to a new pal, whereupon saxophonist to the stars Snake Davis sounds excited. Snake and Don Richardson go back decades, too many gigs and shows to remember. Lulu and Paul Carrack were particularly memorable. Snake and Alistair Anderson met at a wonderfully quirky Northumberland venue in late 2023 and decided to make music together. Here comes folk, jazz, world, pop and more. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Craig David: Combining his singing, master of ceremonies 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.” Tickets go on sale at 10am on Friday at scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Ric Liptrot: Exhibiting in The Other Collective exhibition at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb
FROM dollops of Dolly Parton advice to Stewart Lee’s werewolf encounter, devilish storytelling to a Cinderella prequel, Charles Hutchinson, cherry picks highlights for the days ahead.
Exhibition of the week: The Other Collective, Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, until March 13
CURATED by Bluebird Bakery, The Other Collective brings together the work of Lu Mason, Ric Liptrot, Rob Burton, Liz Foster and Jill Tattersall.
“These wonderful artists were all missed off the billing for York Open Studios 2025 and we felt that was a real shame,” says Bluebird boss Nicky Kippax. “So The Other Collective was born and we hope the work will get a lot of interest from our customers.”
The poster for South Bank Singers’ Of All The Birds concert
Nature concert of the week: South Bank Singers, Of All The Birds, A Winter Chorus, St Clement’s Church, Scarcroft Road, York, today, 3pm
SOUTH Bank Singers present Of All The Birds, A Winter Chrous, a Saturday afternoon concert of choral music inspired by the enchanting beauty and song of birds. Directed by Carlos Zamora, the choral programme spans six centuries, taking in Mendelssohn, Stanford, Ravel, Gibbons, Janequin, Vautor, Guastavino and Bartlet. Admission is free with a retiring collection for the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.
The poster for A Million Dreams, presented by Steve Coates Productions, at the Grand Opera House, York
Fundraiser of the week: A Million Dreams, A Charity Broadway Spectacular, Grand Opera House, York, tonight, 7.30pm
STEVE Coates Productions present an evening of musical magic, song, dance and laughter by York talent in aid of The Snappy Trust, a charity “dedicated to maximising the personal development of children and young people with wide- ranging disabilities”.
Bev Jones Music Company, Flying Ducks Youth Theatre and a ten-piece band perform songs from Broadway and West End shows such as Wicked, Hamilton, Frozen, The Phantom Of The Opera, Les Miserables and The Greatest Showman. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Mark Reynolds’ tour poster illustration for Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf, playing York Theatre Royal from January 28 to February 1
Comedy gigs of the week: Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf, York Theatre Royal, January 28 to February 1, 7.30pm
IN Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf, Lee shares the stage with a tough-talking werewolf comedian from the dark forests of the subconscious who hates humanity. The Man-Wulf lays down a ferocious comedy challenge to the “culturally irrelevant and physically enfeebled Lee”: can the beast inside us all be silenced by the silver bullet of Lee’s deadpan stand-up? Tickets advice: Hurry, hurry as all shows are closing in on selling out; 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Tricia Paoluccio’s Dolly Parton and Steven Webb’s Kevin in Here You Come Again at Grand Opera House, York
Musical of the week: Here You Come Again, Grand Opera House, York, January 28 to February 1, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees
SIMON Friend Entertainment and Leeds Playhouse team up for the tour of Here You Come Again, starring and co-written by Broadway actress Tricia Paoluccio, who visits York for the first time in the guise of a fantasy vision of country icon Dolly Parton.
Gimme Gimme Gimme writer Jonathan Harvey has put a British spin on Bruce Vilanch, director Gabriel Barre and Paoluccio’s story of diehard Dolly devotee Kevin (Steven Webb) needing dollops of Dolly advice on life and love in trying times. Parton hits galore help too! Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Sylvie (Aileen Hall), centre, demonstrates her skills to friends Amelie (Perri Ann Barley), left, and Helene (Devon Wells), right, in rehearsal for Blue Light Theatre Company’s Where The Magic Begins!
Premiere of the week: Blue Light Theatre Company in Where The Magic Begins!, Acomb Working Men’s Club, York, January 29, 30 and 31, 7.30pm; February 1, 2pm matinee
BLUE Light Theatre Company will forego their annual panto in favour of staging York playwright and actress Perri Ann Barley’s new play Where The Magic Begins!, a prequel to Cinderella based on characters from the original Charles Perrault version of “everyone’s favourite fairytale”.
“We meet many beloved characters in their younger days, such as a young Fairy Godmother, who is about to discover her ‘gift’. We follow her journey as she struggles with a secret that could put her life, and that of her family, in grave danger,” says director Craig Barley. Box office: 07933 329654, at bluelight-theatre.co.uk or on the door.
Hannah Rowe: Performing in the cabaret set-up of The Old Paint Shop at York Theatre Royal Studio
Cabaret night of the week: CPWM Presents An Evening With Hannah Rowe, The Old Paint Shop, York Theatre Royal Studio, January 30, 8pm
YORK promoters Come Play With Me (CPWM) welcome Hannah Rowe to The Old Paint Shop’s winter season. This young singer writes of experiences and shifts in life, offering a sense of reflection within her rich, authentic, jazz-infused sound.
The Old Paint Shop shows by irreverent York covers combo Hyde Family Jam (today, 2pm and 8pm) and Karl Mullen, upstanding York pianist Karl Mullen (January 31, 8pm) have sold out. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Tim Ralphs: Wild reimagining of folktale, fairytale and urban legend at Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb
Devilish delight of the week: Tim Ralphs and Adderstone, Infernal Delights, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, January 31, doors 7.30pm
TIM Ralphs and York alt-folk storytellers Adderstone serve up a winter night’s double bill of dark delights. Let Adderstone’s Cath Heinemeyer and Gemma McDermott lead you down the steps to the underworld with story-songs from wild places in their Songs To Meet The Darkness set.
In Beelzebub Rebranded, Tim Ralphs’s stand-up storytelling exhumes the bones of ancient Devil stories and stitches them into new skins for fresh consumption in his wild reimagining of folktale, fairytale and urban legend. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk/adderstone/infernal-delights/e-xjjber.
York Ice Trail: Taking the theme of Origins next weekend
Whatever the weather, here comes the new ice age: York Ice Trail 2025, February 1 and 2
YORK’S “free weekend of frosty fun” returns with a 2025 theme of Origins as York’s streets are turned into an icy wonderland of frozen tableau in this annual event run by Make It York. Among the 30 ice sculptures showcasing 2,000 years of city history will be a Roman shield, a Viking helmet, a chocolate bar, a drifting ghost, a majestic train and a Yorkshire rose, all captured in the language of ice by Icebox. Full details can be found at visityork.org/york-ice-trail.
Before all that ice, windswept York has another free event on the city streets and beyond this weekend: York Residents’ Festival today and tomorrow. For the full list of offers, head to: visityork.org/offers/category/york-residents-festival.
Snow Patrol: Returning to Scarborough Open Air Theatre this summer
Gig announcement of the week: Snow Patrol, TK Maxx Presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, June 27
THE Northern Irish-Scottish indie rock band Snow Patrol are to return to the Scarborough coast for the first time since July 2021, led as ever by Gary Lightbody, accompanied by long-time lead guitarist Nathan Connolly and pianist Johnny McDaid.
Emotionally charged anthems such as Chasing Cars, Run and Open Your Eyes will be complemented by selections from 2024’s The Forest Is The Path, their first chart topper in 18 years. Box office: ticketmaster.co.uk and scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
In Focus: Hayden Thorpe & Propellor Ensemble, National Centre for Early Music, York, January 29, doors 7pm, start 7.30pm
Hayden Thorpe: Performing Ness with Propellor Ensemble at the NCEM
PLEASE Please You and Brudenell Presents bring Hayden Thorpe & Propellor Ensemble to the NCEM to perform Ness on Wednesday, with the promise of a “sonically spectacular and transformational live show”.
Thorpe, 39-year-old former frontman and chief songwriter of Kendal and Leeds band Wild Beasts, promotes his September 2024 album, Ness, released on Domino Records.
Using a process of redaction, Cumbrian musician Thorpe brought songs to life from nature writer Robert Macfarlane’s book Ness, inspired by Orford Ness, a ten-mile long shingle spit on the coast of Suffolk that housed the former Ministry of Defence weapons development site during both World Wars and the Cold War.
Acquired by the National Trustin 1993 and left to re-wild, to this day it remains a place of paradox, mystery and constant evolution.
Thorpe’s ode to Orford Ness, the physical place and the book, features Macfarlane’s words and illustrations by Stanley Donwood. He premiered Ness with Propellor Ensemble at Orford Ness on September 28 and 29 last year.
Here Hayden discusses working with Robert Macfarlane and Propellor Ensemble, the Cold War, nature and past York experiences with CharlesHutchPress.
Do you have any past experiences of York, whether on a school visit or whatever, Hayden?
“My parents used to take us to the Jorvik Viking Museum when me and my siblings were young. I was always amazed by the fake open sewer smell they would pump into the space.”
When did you last play in York, either solo or with Wild Beasts?
“I believe it was in 2006 or 2007. A rather long time ago. In any case, it’s been too long. It was somewhere quite familiar to me when Wild Beasts were coming up in Leeds. We’d make a regular dash across.”
How did the Ness project come about with Robert Macfarlane?
“In a really old fashioned manner. I fan-mailed Rob and he wrote back with all the generosity and open heartedness of his books. He’s as good as his word in the truest sense.
“Rob and I decided to perform some improvised music to his reading of Ness. It was a Eureka moment. The atmosphere and drama of the sound we made demanded that we commit to expanding it.”
Did you visit Orford Ness, now the Orford Ness National Nature Reserve, for research purposes?
“Yes. Orford Ness is an astonishing place. It’s a monument to rejuvenation and a monument to destruction. The very best and the very worst of us.”
By the way, Hayden, York has a Cold War Bunker Museum, in Monument Close, Holgate: a two-storey, semi-subterranean bunker built in 1961 to monitor nuclear explosions and fallout in Yorkshire, in the event of nuclear war.
“I had no idea that a Cold War museum existed in York. That’s fabulous. Bizarrely, I’ve developed a Cold War romance. I guess the conflicts and hostilities we face today have brought these conversations back into our everyday consciousness.”
The album cover artwork for Hayden Thorpe’s Ness
How have you turned the album into a concert performance?
“The album is very much made of sounds we’ve made with our hands and lungs, so with enough pairs of those it actually translates in a very true way. The unusual instrumentation, with orchestral percussion and clarinet foregrounded alongside me, creates a very distinct ‘Ness’ sound. The shows have been really emotional as a result.”
Were you tempted to feature strings in the Ness project for their emotional heft?
“We deliberately did not use strings. We opted to use the elemental forces at my play at Orford Ness: wind and resistant materials like metal and wood. It creates a haunted, volatile soundscape.”
Which Propellor Ensemble members will play in York?
“Jack McNeill plays clarinet and Delia Stevens plays orchestral percussion. Molly Gromadzki performs the spoken-word parts and sings in the choir. Brigitte Hart and Helen Ganya make up the choral section. It’s been a joy to work with such expressive and capable performers.”
What does a “sonically spectacular and transformational live show” entail?
“Something which is sonically ambitious and immersive. Once we start the show we don’t stop, it’s the album in full back to front. We want to take the audience to Ness, have them come face to face with the monster.”
Why was the National Centre for Early Music, in the former St Margaret’s Church in Walmgate, chosen for the York gig rather than The Crescent community venue, a classic working men’s club design?
“We’ve heard such great things about NCEM. Much of the story of Ness takes place ‘In The Green Chapel’, so the work lends itself to a space of worship.”
What is your own relationship with nature? Wild Beasts hailed originally from Kendal, with all that Lake District beauty around you…
“Nature has become increasingly important to my life and work. As artists we’re forced to ask what side of the conversation we sit on, one which acknowledges the existential crisis facing us or one which excuses it. Music can carry non-human voices really effectively. Ness is very much a meditation on that.”
What will be the next project you work on?“
Good question. Ness has certainly expanded my palette. I’ve come to feel maybe my strength is in making strange and ambitious works which would otherwise not get made. It’s crucial to keep the flame burning on works of exploration and oddity in an industry which increasingly incentivises conformity.”
Tricia Paoluccio as Dolly Parton in the musical Here You Come Again, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York, next week
BROADWAY actress Tricia Paoluccio has never met Dolly Parton but inhabits the Tennessee country music icon to the max in the musical Here You Come Again.
Headed for York’s Grand Opera House next week after a London season at Riverside Studios, Hammersmith, she says: “I met her sister Rachel, who saw our show in Tennessee, but unfortunately Dolly was away shooting music videos for her rock album [November 2023’s Rockstar], so she wasn’t able to come along herself.
“I don’t know what I’d do if I ever met her. I’d die! I would ask her first, ‘Can I borrow some of your wigs for our show?’ But if I was having a real heart-to-heart with Dolly, I’d want to know, ‘How have you been able to navigate your life and career the way that you have?’ She really has never had a misstep.”
Navigating a path through life in Covid-troubled times with dollops of home-spun advice from an imagined version of Dolly is the story of Here You Come Again, wherein diehard Dolly devotee Kevin (played by West End actor Steven Webb) is taught “a whole lot about life, love and how to pull yourself up by your bootstraps…even if your bootstraps don’t have rhinestones”.
“I’ve always loved Dolly and been able to sing like her,” says Tricia. “It was my dream to someday be able to use this ability in a theatrical way and thought the best way to do it was to have it be another person’s journey.
“I wanted to sing my favourite Dolly songs but put her in a situation where we could see her in action in a real-life way, in a fantasy friendship where everything is done with lots of humour and tough love too, instead of it being a bio musical about her life.”
Fully authorised by Dolly herself, a plethora of Parton hits feature in the show: Jolene, 9 To 5, Islands In The Stream, I Will Always Love You, Here You Come Again et al. “But if people are expecting a tribute show, it’s not. It’s a proper theatre show; a play with music, with the side benefit of sometimes feeling like a Dolly Parton concert,”says Tricia.
“I think every audience member will find the show to be really funny, with lots of laughs, but they’ll also be surprised by how deep and emotional it is. It’s not about Covid, but the pandemic provides a universal backdrop experience as a time when we needed to let go of our plans, our job routines, our sense of identity. If you were defined by your career, you had a crisis over your identity – and Covid was even more of a worldwide experience than World War Two.”
Tricia co-created the original American script in collaboration with director Gabriel Barre and Emmy Award-winning comedy and song writer Bruce Vilanch in “one of the most harmonious, joyous experiences” of her creative career.
“We each brought something unique to the journey,” she says. “Gabriel is an expert in creating the theatrical framework and keeping us on track. He’s such a diplomat and truly a great director.
“I helped conceive of the basic story and I’d share how I think Dolly would say something or how I think she would behave in a situation.”
Vilanch is a “comedy genius,” she says. “He fleshed out the dialogue based on all of our brainstorming sessions with personal insights to Dolly as he wrote for her and the world of stand-up comics since he’s also from that world.”.
Tricia then worked with Gimme Gimme Gimme writer Jonathan Harvey to give the story a British revamp for the UK tour that began last April in her first ever visit to these isles. “Our producer, Simon Friend, thought Jonathan would be perfect, and he’s been a lovely collaborator, so easy to work with, understanding how things will hit a British audience,” she says.
“What’s wonderful about our show is that you could adapt it to any culture of a person in trouble, who needs Dolly’s help. It could be anywhere, but for this tour we needed the humour to be specific to the UK, changing all of the cultural references to fit.
“We’ve done 32 cities already and they’ve absolutely loved it. They are so on board with it not being a concert but a comedy with a deep heart.”
Summing up Dolly Parton’s appeal, Tricia says: “When it comes to her songwriting, she is a true artist. Like any great songwriter, she knows how to tell a story and connect with the heart, and she’s just blessed with that gift to write so many songs that do that.
“She can tap into human experience, and when you hear one of her sad songs about someone else’s experience, it can make you feel better about yourself, making you think ‘I have so much to be grateful for’.”
Like Dolly, Tricia comes from farming stock. “Even though there are many things where Dolly and I are so different – I’m a plain Jane, who doesn’t care about jewels and clothes; Dolly would be very disappointed at how I look off stage – but I do connect with her in many ways.
“I grew up on a small farm in Modesta, California, a 40-acre almond farm, where my parents taught me that happiness came from small things, growing up surrounded by nature. I do align with Dolly in seeing beauty all around, and like Dolly, I have many interests and I’m an entrepreneur with two businesses as a teacher and an artist with a pressed flower brand.”
Looking forward to visiting York for the first time, Tricia says: “One of my best friends will be flying in from Virginia because we’d heard York is one of the best places in England. We’re planning walking tours and spending Monday sight-seeing.”
Tricia will be on the road in Here You Come Again until February 22. “I cannot believe what an honour this has been, having the chance as an American to learn about British culture and hear all these different accents,” she says.
“I’m just crazy about it, and our audiences have been so warm and responsive. It’s been a real pleasure.”
Simon Friend Entertainment and Leeds Playhouse present Here You Come Again, Grand Opera House, York, January 28 to February 1, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
More questions for Tricia Paoluccio from her official tour Q&A
Tricia Paoluccio: Grew up on a farm, like Dolly Parton
What does Jonathan Harvey, who has worked with you on the UK version of the show, bring to the table?
“He is so funny. He’s a great writer, with fine-tuned taste, and the main thing he’s contributed is helping us set it in England because we had to change all of our cultural references. He’s also helped us to understand how things will hit a British audience because British audiences are different than American audiences and your experience during 2020 was a little different than ours.”
How did you set about becoming Dolly for the show?
“I like to say that I began rehearsing for this role when I was five years old, when I first heard Here You Come Again on the radio. I remember that moment vividly. I begged for the record and I memorised every song on it.
“I’ve always been able to tune my vocal cords to hit her vibrato and to find that cry in her voice and the musicality of her styling. When it came time to doing our show, though, I did not have her speaking voice down.
“I worked with a very celebrated dialect coach named Erik Singer, who helped Austin Butler prepare to play Elvis. We worked together on cracking her speaking voice and that took a bit more effort.
“I’ve watched tons of Dolly videos and early interviews to absorb how she does and says things, her mannerisms and everything. I just love to study her.”
How important to you is it not to simply do a Parton impersonation?
“Very important. There are wonderful tribute artists out there doing great things to spread the love of Dolly. But in terms of a play or a musical, I don’t think that would be a very satisfying evening in the theatre.
“I do not think about impersonating her. I’m only thinking about what my objective is in the story and I trust that Dolly’s presence is strong enough in me to let it go.”
What was important to get right about her as a person as well as a singer?
“Dolly is a very practical person. She’s no-nonsense and wise. I wanted to make sure that she stayed grounded and real. While we have very performative moments to the audience, I wanted to show her in a very truthful and down-to-earth way.
“I also wanted to show Dolly doing very humble things. I envisioned her as the kind of friend who if you’re going through a hard time would help clean up your kitchen and eat a meal with you. She’s not so rich and famous that she’s above doing those little things.
How did you and the team decide which Dolly songs to include?
“I love the late-70s/early 80s Dolly, so I came up with a kind of hit list. But I have to give credit to our lawyer, Thomas Distler, who’s responsible for making this all happen because he knew Dolly
Parton’s lawyer and got the material to her. That’s how we got permission to be able to do the show and the rights to all her music. Tom also said, ‘You’ve got to find a way to put Jolene in there’. At first we didn’t have it in the show because it didn’t really fit our storyline, but we found a wonderful way to put it in and I’m really glad that we did.”
Steven Webb’s Kevin and Tricia Paoluccio’s Dolly Parton in a scene in Here You Come Again
Do you have a favourite song to perform in the show?
“It’s like picking a favourite child and I love them all for different reasons. But I think my favourite one to perform is Me And Little Andy. It’s just so sad and strange, where Dolly does a little girl voice and it takes this painfully tragic turn. I love performing it and I love the reaction it gets from the audience.
“If you don’t know the song already, don’t listen to it before you come to see the show! Let yourself be surprised because I want you to have the same reaction that Kevin does.”
Like Dolly, you grew up on a farm, albeit an almond farm. Do you have other things in common with her?
“Like her, I’m very lucky to have had a happy childhood. I’m from a loving family and now, as an adult, I recognise how rare that is. My parents gave my brother and I a very wholesome childhood and I think this greatly shaped my outlook on life and helped me to be a positive, optimistic person.
“I’m also grateful for an understanding of God that brings me a lot of comfort and joy. I credit God with all good things, just as Dolly’s faith is the backbone of her creativity and art. So many of her songs reflect that in a way that’s very universal and easy for people to accept – even people who might not have a belief in God themselves. She’s able to share her faith in a very simple way that people can understand.”
How would you describe your relationship with Dolly’s music?
“As a child I spent hours and hours walking around our almond orchard in Modesto, California, singing her songs, imagining how life might be as a grown-up. Singing along to her made me want to become an actress, because I loved how she told stories and how emotional her songs could be.
“I can’t express enough how deeply her artistry has influenced my entire life: a love of beauty and a love of storytelling, culminating in what I consider the greatest achievement of my career – creating and being in this show. It’s the honour of a lifetime.”
Why do you think Dolly Parton is so beloved?
“She grew up very poor, made it big and has handled herself with dignity and grace her whole career. Watching interviews with her from the ’70s, they’re just crazy. She gets asked the most insulting and sexist questions and she never takes offence. But she never backs down either. She sticks up for herself with great humility and humour.
“What I also admire is how she uses her wealth and influence to donate to and bring attention to worthy causes, and she has managed to stay true to herself and her beliefs without ever taking sides.
“She fights for the little guy, uses her power for good and basically is one of the kindest, sweetest human beings ever to walk the earth. I’m just in awe of the life she’s created for herself and all she has given to the world.”
As well as a performer, you are an artist and designer. How do you juggle that with your theatre work?
“When you love to do something, you always find the energy and time for it. I’m really passionate about flower pressing and I’ve been doing it my whole life.
“A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to be discovered by some luminaries in the fashion and music industries. I started doing these collaborations that became very successful, such as the Óscar de la Renta collaboration, which led to Taylor Swift wearing that pressed flower dress at the Grammys.
“Then Anna Wintour [editor-in-chief of Vogue] wore one of ODLR’s designs, which used my art as the pattern, at the Met Gala. It gave me the confidence to create a whole brand using pressed flower imagery in high design and now I’ve created a business.
“I really hope to make connections in the UK because I have a little following here of passionate flower pressers, which I hope to nurture. I also hope to pick and press flowers in the UK and make a body of work inspired by the flowers of this beautiful part of the world.”
Gareth Gates: Bringing Valentine romance to York Barbican
GARETH Gates was visiting York Barbican for the first time on Wednesday – or so he thought – to promote his upcoming visit on February 16 with a concert of love songs from the movies.
A perusal through The Press files revealed the Bradford pop singer, musical theatre actor and pantomime regular, now 40, had performed there in Mad About The Musicals, singing the songs of Rodgers & Hammerstein, Kander & Ebb, Boublil & Schönberg and Lloyd Webber & Rice, in November 2015.
Forgive him for not recalling that York performance. After all, much water has passed under the bridge since former Bradford Cathedral head chorister Gareth was piloted to pop success at 17 by his 2002 Pop Idol clash of the stammering northern working-class lad versus the unstoppable southern posh boy, Will Young.
In York, he also had appeared as bad-boy Warner in Legally Blonde The Musical in September 2012 and in his first comedy role as cowboy Willard in Footloose in May 2017, both at the Grand Opera House. “I did two tours of that show and they asked me to do it a third time, but I thought, ‘I’ve ticked that box,” he says.
Tanned, teeth pearly white, hair and beard matinee-idol dark, full and thick, he looked the very picture of gym-toned good health in the Barbican bar, his vocal coach a calming presence by his side as the stammer that never affects his singing or stage performances only rarely punctuated his affable conversation.
“I used to come to York as a child,” he says. “I’m from Bradford and we’d always have a day out here over the summer, bringing me over for a cruise on the River Ouse. I’ve always loved this place, going to the Minster, and being able to perform here over the years has been a thrill.”
His latest return, in the week of St Valentine’s Day, will see producer and performer Gareth leading a company of singers and a four-piece band in Gareth Gates Sings Love Songs From The Movies, a show rooted in his 2002 cover of The Righteous Brothers’ Unchained Melody.
“That was my biggest hit and first ever number one, made famous by that scene in the movie Ghost, and I got thinking about how the world’s greatest love songs come from the movies and how I should do a show built on all those incredible movie songs,” says Gareth.
“The more I’ve looked into it and put together the set list, I realised that the synergy between music and movies is huge, and I hope that tapping into that will be a great move.
“If the show is a roaring success, we could look at doing an album, either as a live concert recording or going into the studio.”
Expect songs from Armageddon, Dirty Dancing, Titanic, A Star Is Born, My Girl, Top Gun and Footloose, among others, in a concert show divided into two sets of “beloved classic ballads, heart-warming melodies, electrifying up-tempo modern hits”. “And of course I’ll be doing Unchained Melody too,” says Gareth.
“I’m working again with Carrie Courtney, who booked the tour for Mad About The Musicals, and I’ve put together an incredible cast featuring West End talent. We have Maggie Lynne, who’s done Wicked and worked with me on a show many, many years ago, and Britt Lenting, a Dutch singer, who’s just finished doing panto with me in Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley, where I was Prince Gareth of Greenwich and she was the Evil Queen.
The tour poster for Gareth Gates Sings Love Songs From The Movies
“We started rehearsals when I was looking to cast the show. I heard her sing and thought, ‘I need you to be in the cast’. She’s done The Phantom Of The Opera, Love Never Dies and Little Mermaid, and she can be very operatic when she sings. She has such a powerhouse voice.
“She made a big name for herself in Holland but in 2016 she decided to take a leap across the water to see if she could make it in the West End and she’s absolutely smashing it.”
Completing Gareth’s vocal line-up will be Dan Herrington. “He’s fresh out of college after studying at Performers College in Essex,” says Gareth. “I like to put together an experienced bunch of performers but I also like to give aspiring, budding talent a chance to shine.
“I went to a showcase at Performers College, heard him sing and booked him straightaway for my autumn tour, where he was one of the Four Seasons in my Gareth Gates Sings Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons show.”
The band from that tour – all of them session musicians from big shows in the West End – will be joining Gareth for the 25-date movie music tour of England, Scotland and Wales. “We also had this crazy idea of taking the Frankie Valli show out again at the same time, doing one show in some cities, the other show in other cities. It seemed like a good idea – I’ll tell you how it goes!”
Gareth has worked with lighting designer Matt Boyles on the movie show’s design. “It’s essentially a concert show, but because of my roots in theatre, there will be a narrative to it too, with an old-school TV screen that we’ll start the show on and then we launch into all these amazing songs, which I’m really excited about singing all in the same show.
“Putting the set list together is based on instinct and experience over the years of doing these shows, which counts for a lot. If, after the first show or two, we feel something doesn’t work where we’ve placed it, we will change things up, based on the reaction of the crowd. I’m a great believer in that: you have to read the room.”
Gareth has lived in London since his Pop Idol discovery at 17, “but any opportunity I get to come back to Yorkshire, I do,” he says. “The first house I ever bought was up here in Yorkshire, on the edge of the Dales, which I bought for my family and I still have a house up here. I come up as often as I can and Yorkshire will always be my home.”
Hence his Love Songs tour will open in Yorkshire in Valentine’s week with shows at Wakefield Theatre Royal on February 10 and Hull Connexin Live on February 13, as well as York Barbican on February 16, and later dates at Bradford St George’s Hall on March 14 and Sheffield City Hall on March 28, while Gareth Gates Sings Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons will play the Victoria Theatre, Halifax, on March 1.
He has filmed a piece for ITV’s Calendar show on Bradford City of Culture 2025, visiting “some of the places where I grew up, like my old school Dixons City Academy and Bradford Cathedral, where I joined the choir when I was nine and was head boy chorister at 11,” recalls Gareth.
“I sang for The Queen at the Maundy Thursday Service in 1997 when I was 12 and was given Maundy money as I was the head boy soprano soloist, so essentially I was working for The Queen!
“For that sort of pressure to land on your shoulders at that age was a challenge, but all great training for what was to come.”
“The more I’ve looked into it and put together the set list, I realised that the synergy between music and movies is huge, and I hope that tapping into that will be a great move,” says Gareth Gates
Gareth had the honour of meeting HM The Queen again on his 18th birthday. “I was invited to Buckingham Palace for a Young Achievers ceremony after I’d helped many people with stammering and speech impediments. She didn’t remember me singing at the Maundy service!.”
Gareth hopes to take part in Bradford’s year as City of Culture, on top of his home-city performance of Gareth Gates Sings Love Songs From The Movies. “We’re in talks about doing a show at Bradford Live, the brand new venue at the old Bradford Odeon, hopefully towards the end of the year,” he reveals. Watch this space.
Gareth’s diary is ever busy. “I’m constantly working, and the biggest thing I’ve learned of late is not to overdo it,” he says. “I’m very fortunate to be as much in demand as I’ve ever been. There’s never been a dry spell – I find it hard to say ‘No’ – though I do have to at times.
“In 2023 I worked the most I’d ever worked with only ten nights off. It was a mixture of work, like performing every night when I was on board on cruise ships, with my own lounge, and also doing pantomime and The SpongeBob Musical, which was a fun show to do.
“I did lots of festivals, lots of Nineties and Noughties shows, and do you know what, I did burn out. I did way too much, so last year I eased off when I could, and this year I’ll be trying to do a little less – and that’s through the fear of my voice becoming slightly smashed. I do have to be careful with it and look after it.”
Staying fit is important to Gareth. “I’m massively into the gym,” he says. “I’m a health freak! I get all that right but I am very guilty of over-working.”
Twenty-three years on from Pop Idol, he and Will Young maintain their friendship. “I’ve only stayed in touch with Will and with Zoe Birkett too from that time. We’re really good friends; we hook up whenever we can – I spoke to him last week.”
Looking back to 2002, he says: “We went into it completely blind, not knowing what to expect, and we had each other to rely on throughout. Then we had a number one hit together with The Long And Winding Road and went on tour together. We were the guinea pigs of it all but we could fall back on each other.”
Pop careers rooted in the hothouse of talent shows can crash and burn, but not so with Gareth. “I’m fortunate that people have not turned on me, but a big part of that is I’ve not changed from the person I was, whereas you open yourself up to criticism if you do. I’ve stuck with the same people, always being grounded, rather than overstepping the mark,” he says.
“The danger of pop stars losing their way is if they surround themselves with ‘yes’ people, and then the moment someone goes against them and says ‘No’, that’s their downfall. I’ve kept the friends I’ve always had around me and they’ve kept me the person I’ve always been.”
He may live in London, but you cannot take the Yorkshireman out of Gareth. “It’s massively important to me,” he says. “I take a lot of pride in keeping my roots. My accent is still quite broad and I actually enjoy that. I get a lot out of coming from Bradford and Yorkshire. It’s made me the person I am. I love being from Yorkshire – and I love playing to a home crowd as they love to see a Yorkshireman doing well.”
Gareth Gates Sings Love Songs from The Movies – A Valentine Special, York Barbican, February 16, 7.30pm. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk. Also Hull Connexin Live, February 13, 7.30pm. Box office: connexinlivehull.com.
Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson: Writers of The Psychic, premiering at York Theatre Royal in 2026
YORK Theatre Royal will stage the world premiere of Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman’s twisted thriller The Psychic at York Theatre Royal next year. Tickets go on general sale from 1pm on January 15.
In the wake of the success of Ghost Stories, which spooked the Grand Opera House, York, in March 2020, Dyson and Nyman are to reunite for this electrifying new production. Show dates will be April 29 to May 23 2026, with the first week being previews.
Leeds-born Dyson and Nyman say: “We are so thrilled to have the world premiere of our new play at York Theatre Royal and to be part of their exciting next chapter. We cannot wait to unleash The Psychic at this remarkable venue.”
Theatre Royal chief executive Paul Crewes says: “We are very proud to be producing the world premiere of The Psychic here at York Theatre Royal. Andy and Jeremy have created this wonderful edge-of-your-seat script that we can’t wait to bring to life on our stage in 2026.”
The poster for The Psychic at York Theatre Royal
In The Psychic, popular TV psychic Sheila Gold loses a high-profile court case that brands her a charlatan. It costs her not only her reputation, but also a fortune in legal fees.
When wealthy parents ask Sheila to conduct a séance to attempt to make contact with their late child, Sheila senses an opportunity to bleed them for money. What follows makes her question everything she has ever believed, leading her on a journey into the darkest corners of her life. Cue thrills, shocks…and laughs.
The Psychic adds to York Theatre Royal’s bill of produced and co-produced work in 2025 and 2026. In the diary for this year are the co-production of North By Northwest with Emma Rice’s Wise Children, HOME Manchester and Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse from March 18 to April 5 and erstwhile pantomime cat Gary Oldman’s return to the Theatre Royal in Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape from April 14 to May 17.
To book tickets, ring 01904 623568 or head to yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
The night-watchman on his guard in Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman’s Ghost Stories (pictured in the 2019 London production)
Jeremy Dyson: the back story
Award-winning Leeds-born writer and director.
Writing credits for theatre include Ghost Stories (Lyric Hammersmith, nominated for Olivier Award for Best Entertainment); The League Of Gentlemen Are Behind You (UK tour); The League Of Gentlemen: A Local Show For Local People (UK tour, Theatre Royal Drury Lane – nominated for Olivier Award for Best Entertainment) and The League Of Gentlemen.
Co-writing credits for television include Psychobitches (winner of Rose d’Or for Best TV Comedy and nominated for two British Comedy Awards); The Armstrong & Miller Show (winner of BAFTA Award for Best Comedy); Billy Goat; Funland (nominated for BAFTA Award for Best Drama Serial) and The League Of Gentlemen (winner of BAFTA Award for Best Comedy, Golden Rose of Montreux and RTS Award for Best Entertainment).
Co-writing credits for film include Ghost Stories and The League Of Gentlemen’s Apocalypse.
Andy Nyman: the back story
Award-winning actor, director and writer.
As an actor, his theatre work includes The Producers; Assassins (Menier Chocolate Factory); Fiddler On The Roof (Menier Chocolate Factory and Playhouse Theatre – Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical); Abigail’s Party (Menier Chocolate Factory and Wyndham’s Theatre); Hello, Dolly! (London Palladium); Martin McDonagh’s Hangmen (Wyndham’s Theatre/Broadway), and the original production of Ghost Stories (Duke of York’s Theatre/Arts Theatre), which he starred in, co-wrote and co-directed with Jeremy Dyson. Later adapted into a film, in which he also starred.
Television credits include Lockerbie; Wanderlust; The Eichmann Show; Campus and Dead Set, as well as playing Winston Churchill in Peaky Blinders.
Film credits include Jungle Cruise; Judy; The Commuter; Death At A Funeral; Kick-Ass2; Black Death; The Brother’s Bloom; Severance and Shut Up & Shoot Me, for which he won Best Actor award at Cherbourg Film Festival in 2006.
Collaborated with Derren Brown for almost 20 years, co-writing and co-creating much of Brown’s early TV work. Co-written and directed Brown’s stage shows, winning Olivier Award for Best Entertainment for Derren Brown – Something Wicked This Way Comes and New York Drama Desk Award for Best Unique Theatrical Event 2017 for Derren Brown – Secret.
Taboo-shattering comedy: Ed Byrne in Tragedy Plus Time at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Roslyn Grant
FROM Narnia to ice sculptures, comedy in wolf’s clothing to Ayckbourn’s 91st play, Charles Hutchinson finds plenty to perk up the days and nights ahead.
Taboo subject of the week: Ed Byrne: Tragedy Plus Time, Grand Opera House, tonight, 7.30pm
MARK Twain, the 19th century American writer, humorist, and essayist, defined humour as Tragedy Plus Time. Irish comedian Ed Byrne tests that formula by mining the most tragic event in his life – the death of his brother Paul from Hodgkin’s lymphoma at 44 – for laughs.
Byrne’s show carries the content warning “Discussions of death”. “But as with any subject I do, there are always digressions into asides,” he says. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Mark Reynolds’ illustration for Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf, on tour at York Theatre Royal for five nights
Comedy and not comedy: Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf, York Theatre Royal, January 28 to February 1, 7.30pm; The Shed presents Indeterminacy with Tania Caroline Chen, piano, Steve Beresford, piano and objects, and Stewart Lee, voice, National Centre for Early Music, York, February 1, 3.30pm
IN Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf, Lee shares the stage with a tough-talking werewolf comedian from the dark forests of the subconscious who hates humanity. The Man-Wulf lays down a ferocious comedy challenge to the “culturally irrelevant and physically enfeebled Lee”: can the beast inside us all be silenced by the silver bullet of Lee’s deadpan stand-up? Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
On John Cage and David Tudor’s 1959 double LP Indeterminacy, Cage read 90 of his stories, each one, whether long or short, lasting precisely one minute. Unheard by Cage, Tudor simultaneously played the piano and other things in another room. Now Stewart Lee joins pianists Tania Caroline Chen and Steve Beresford to do their own version of Cage’s work in a 40-minute performance in one room, where the musicians do their best not to hear Lee’s reading. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
York Ice Trail 2025: Taking the theme of Origins on February 1 and 2
After this week’s deep freeze, here comes York Ice Trail 2025, February 1 and 2
YORK’S “free weekend of frosty fun” returns with a 2025 theme of Origins as York’s streets are turned into an icy wonderland of frozen tableau in this annual event run by Make It York. Among the 30 ice sculptures showcasing 2,000 years of city history will be a Roman shield, a Viking helmet, a chocolate bar, a drifting ghost, a majestic train and a Yorkshire rose, all captured in the language of ice by Icebox. Full details can be found at visityork.org/york-ice-trail.
The book cover for Elizabeth Sharkey’s Why Britain Rocked: Under discussion with musician and environmental campaigner husband Feargal at Pocklington Arts Centre
One-off interview comes into view: Why Britain Rocked: Elizabeth and Feargal Sharkey, Pocklington Arts Centre, February 13, 7.30pm.
FEARGAL Sharkey, former frontman of The Undertones, will interview his wife, author Elizabeth Sharkey, on one night only of her debut book tour: the final show, which just happens to be in Pocklington.
Together they will explore the history of British pop music, as charted in Why Britain Rocked: How Rock Became Roll And Took Over The World, wherein Elizabeth re-writes the established history by uncovering the untold stories behind Britain’s musical evolution and challenges the American claim to have invented rock’n’roll. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
The Corrs: Kicking off the 2025 season at Scarborough Open Air Theatre
Off to the East Coast this summer: Scarborough Open Air Theatre season
IRISH siblings The Corrs lead off Cuffe & Taylor’s 2025 season in Scarborough with support from Natalie Imbruglia on June 11. In the diary too are Gary Barlow, June 13; Shed Seven with special guests Jake Bugg and Cast, June 14; Pendulum, June 15; Basement Jaxx, June 21, and The Human League, plus Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey and Blancmange, June 28.
July opens with The Script and special guest Tom Walker on July 5; UB40 featuring Ali Campbell, with special guest Bitty McLean, July 6; Blossoms, with Inhaler and Apollo Junction, July 10; Rag’n’Bone Man, with Elles Bailey, July 11; McFly, with Twin Atlantic and Devon, July 12; Judas Priest, with Phil Campbell & The Bastard Sons, July 23, and Texas, with Rianne Downey, July 26. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Bunmi Osadolor (Edmund), Jesse Dunbar (Peter), Kudzai Mangombe (Lucy) and Joanna Adaran (Susan) in The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe at Leeds Playhouse. Picture: Brinkhoff-Moegenburg
Touring show of the year: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, Grand Opera House, York, April 22 to 26, 7pm plus 2pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees
STEP through the wardrobe into the kingdom of Narnia for the most mystical of adventures in a faraway land. Join Lucy, Edmund, Susan and Peter as they wave goodbye to wartime Britain and say hello to Mr Tumnus, the talking Faun, Aslan, the Lion, and the coldest, cruellest White Witch.
Running at Leeds Playhouse until January 25 in the most spectacular production of the winter season, this breathtaking stage adaptation of CS Lewis’s allegorical novel then heads out on a new tour with its magical storytelling, bewitching stagecraft and stellar puppets. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Alan Ayckbourn: Directing his 91st play, Earth Angel, at the SJT, Scarborough, in the autumn. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Alan Ayckbourn’s 91st play: Earth Angel, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, September 13 to October 11
STEPHEN Joseph Theatre director emeritus Alan Ayckbourn directs his 91st play, Earth Angel, wherein Gerald has lost his wife of many years. Amy was the light of his life, almost heaven sent. It is tricky thinking about life without her but he is trying his best to put a brave face on things, accepting help from fussy neighbours and muddling along as best he can.
Then a mysterious stranger turns up at Amy’s wake. He seems like a nice enough chap, washing the dishes and offering to do a shop for Gerald, but is he all that he appears? Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
In focus: The Waterboys’ new album and tour dates at York Barbican, May 15; Sheffield City Hall, May 9, and Leeds O2 Academy, June 17
Mike Scott: Leading The Waterboys at York Barbican for the eighth time on May 15. Picture: Paul MacManus
THE Waterboys will showcase “the most audacious album yet” of Mike Scott’s 42-year career, Life, Death And Dennis Hopper, on their latest return to York Barbican, having previously played their “Big Music” brand of folk, rock, soul and blues there in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2021 and 2023.
Released on April 4 on Sun Records, their 16th studio album charts the epic path of the trailblazing American actor and rebel, as told through a song cycle that depicts not only Hopper’s story but also the saga of the last 75 years of western pop culture.
“The arc of his life was the story of our times,” says Scott, “He was at the big bang of youth culture in Rebel Without A Cause with James Dean; and the beginnings of Pop Art with the young Andy Warhol.
“He was part of the counter-culture, hippie, civil rights and psychedelic scenes of the ’60s. In the ’70s and ’80s he went on a wild ten-year rip, almost died, came back, got straight and became a five-movies-a-year character actor without losing the sparkle in his eye or the sense of danger or unpredictability that always gathered around him.”
As a first taste of what lies in store, Hopper’s On Top (Genius) was unveiled on streaming and video this week, capturing the electric, heady moment when Hopper’s Easy Rider became a cultural phenomenon and cemented his place in Hollywood history. Buoyed by Scott’s searing vocals, vibrant instrumentation and a psychedelic edge, the song channels the euphoria and hubris of the 1960s’ counterculture that Hopper epitomised.
Scott worked for four years on Life, Death And Dennis Hopper. Produced with Waterboys bandmates Famous James and Brother Paul, the album spans 25 tracks that trace the trace the extraordinary ups and downs of Hopper’s life, from his youth in Kansas to his long rise, five wives, tumultuous fall and ultimate redemption.
The album cover artwork for The Waterboys’ Life, Death And Dennis Hopper, set for release on April 4
Every song has its own special place and fascinating, deep-rooted story. “It begins in his childhood, ends the morning after his death, and I get to say a whole lot along the way, not just about Dennis, but about the whole strange adventure of being a human soul on planet Earth,” says Scott.
The album will be The Waterboys’ first for Sun Records. “Hey, we’re label mates with Howlin’ Wolf and young Elvis,”says Scott, who is joined by a stellar line-up of guests, ranging from Bruce Springsteen, Fiona Apple and Steve Earle to Nashville-based Alt Americana artist Anana Kaye, English singer Barny Fletcher, Norwegian country-rockers Sugarfoot, Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes, Kathy Valentine of The Go-Go’s and punk arch-priestess Patti Palladin.
The 31-date UK and Ireland tour will run from May 1 to June 19. Box office: York, yorkbarbican.co.uk; Sheffield, sheffieldcityhall.co.uk; Leeds, academymusicgroup.com.
Life, Death And Dennis Hopper track listing:
1. Kansas (featuring Steve Earle) 2. Hollywood ’55 3. Live In The Moment, Baby 4. Brooke/1712 North Crescent Heights 5. Andy (A Guy Like You) 6. The Tourist (featuring Barny Fletcher) 7. Freaks On Wheels 8. Blues For Terry Southern 9. Memories Of Monterey 10. Riding Down To Mardi Gras 11. Hopper’s On Top (Genius) 12. Transcendental Peruvian Blues 13. Michelle (Always Stay) 14. Freakout At The Mud Palace 15. Daria 16. Ten Years Gone (featuring Bruce Springsteen) 17. Letter From An Unknown Girlfriend (featuring Fiona Apple) 18. Rock Bottom 19. I Don’t Know How I Made It (featuring Taylor Goldsmith) 20. Frank (Let’s F**k) 21. Katherine (featuring Anana Kaye) 22. Everybody Loves Dennis Hopper 23. Golf, They Say 24. Venice, California (Victoria)/The Passing Of Hopper 25. Aftermath
Suzy Cooper and Mark Holgate: Playing Titania and Hippolyta and Oberon and Theseus respectively in York Stage’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
GARY Oldman will not be the only former Berwick Kaler co-star returning to a York stage in 2025.
Suzy Cooper, for more than 20 years the ditzy, posh-voiced, jolly super principal gal in the grand dame’s pantomimes, will lead Nik Briggs’s cast alongside York actor Mark Holgate as the quarrelling Queen and King of the Fairies, Titania and Oberon, in York Stage’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream from May 6 to 11.
In his tenth anniversary of producing and directing shows at the Grand Opera House, Briggs relocates his debut Shakespeare production from the court of Athens to Athens Court, a northern council estate, where magic is fuelled with mayhem and true love’s path still does not run smooth.
Presented as York Stage’s first co-production with the Cumberland Street theatre, Briggs’s Dream will feature a new score by musical director Stephen Hackshaw. “Whilst not being a musical, the show will include a live band alongside powerhouse vocals that York Stage are famous for with their musical production,” says Nik. “Keep your eyes peeled over the coming weeks for more Dreamy cast announcements. The next one will be very soon.”
Suzy last trod the Grand Opera House boards in dowager dame Berwick Kaler’s valedictory pantomime after 47 years on the York stage in Robinson Crusoe And The Pirates Of The River Ouse from December 9 2023 to January 6 2024.
Britannia rules the waves: Suzy Cooper’s fairy in Robinson Crusoe &The Pirates Of The River Ouse at the Grand Opera House, York, in December 2023. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
“It will be lovely to be back in York, performing at the Grand Opera House again,” says Suzy, who will take the role of Hippolyta too opposite Holgate’s Theseus. “I’ve never played Titania before, but I did play the fairy, Mustardseed, at York Theatre Royal, with Malcom Skates as Bottom and Andrina Carroll as Titania, and then Peter Quince in Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre’s production at Blenheim Palace in 2019 [when she also appeared as Lady Macbeth in Macbeth].
“I’ve not worked with Mark before, but he did the Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre season the same summer that I did, and it’s going to be a lot of fun working with him.”
Explaining how this production and the initial casting came to fruition, producer-director Nik says: “This is a new venture for York Stage in our first co-production with the Grand Opera House, so as part of that we were looking at how we could create the next generation of York Stage productions.
“Like when we did our first pantomime [the socially distanced Jack And The Beanstalk in the Covid-shadowed winter of 2020] and we’ve also talked about using professional casting alongside our community casting, where a lot of our actors have professional credits too.
“It was important for York Stage to use professional actors with connections with York, and Suzy was someone I had wanted to work with for a long time. We’d talked several times about doing a show, and this was the perfect opportunity. It’s been in the offing since late-summer when we started talking about it.”
York Stage director Nik Briggs: Relocating Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream from the court of Athens Court, a northern council estate
Nik continues: “We were thinking about making ‘Dream’ like Brassic or Shameless, set on a northern council estate. In the original telling, Hippolyta is the Amazon queen, who is almost a prisoner of the Athenian court, and the idea struck me that with Suzy being a southerner but adopted by York after performing here for nigh on 30 years, she would be ideal as the southern counterpoint to the northern world in the tumultuous battle that unfolds, adding a North-South divide to it.”
Nik will be directing Mark Holgate for the first time too. “Our paths have never crossed before. Mark’s father had seen a piece in The Press about us looking for actors and said that Mark had had a career with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Cheek By Jowl, Sheffield Crucible and theatres across the UK and was a real master of Shakespearean acting, but he’d never performed at the Grand Opera House or York Theatre Royal.
“The opportunity to perform in one of the big theatres in his home city, with his family living in the city, was a real draw for him. He’s played such roles as Banquo in Macbeth and Duke Orsino in Twelfth Night – he was sensational in that – for Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre but until now I wasn’t aware that he was from York.
“So we met up, he did some readings and he was exactly what I’d envisaged for Oberon. It really hinges on Oberon in this play, and Mark got my vision; he had just what I wanted from the role. It’s really exciting to see what he’ll bring to it.”
Suzy Cooper and Mark Holgate will star in York Stage’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Grand Opera House, York, May 6 to 11, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday matinees . Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Laura Fraser’s DI Bea Metcalf on the York waterfront in Channel 4’s crime drama Patience. Picture: Channel 4
FROM a neurodiverse TV crime drama to an Oscar winner’s stage return, Charles Hutchinson picks highlights of the year ahead.
Seeing York through a different lens: Patience, Channel 4 from January 8, 9pm
CHANNEL 4’s six-part police procedural drama Patience, set in York, opens with the two-part Paper Mountain Girl, on January 8 and 9, wherein autistic Police Records Office civilian worker Patience Evans (Ella Maisy Purvis) brings her unique investigative insight to helping DI Bea Metcalf (Laura Fraser) and her team.
Written for Eagle Eye Drama by Matt Baker, from Pocklington, Patience is as much a celebration of neurodiversity as a crime puzzle-solver. “The centre of York itself is a little bit like a puzzle,” he says.
Lara McClure: Atmospheric storytelling at A Feast Of Fools II at the Black Swan Inn
Out with the old, in with the new: Navigators Art presents A Feast Of Fools II, Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green, York, Sunday, 7pm to 10.30pm; doors, 6pm
YORK collective Navigators Art presents a last gasp of mischief in an alternative end-of-season celebration of Twelfth Night and Old Christmas, packed with live folk music, spoken word and a nod to the pagan and the impish.
Dr Lara McClure sets the scene with atmospheric storytelling, joined by York musicians Oli Collier, singer, guitarist and rising star Henry Parker, York alt-folk legends White Sail and poet and experimental musician Thomas Pearson. Book tickets at bit.ly/nav-feast2.
Seeing eye to eye: Rob Auton in his new touring comedy vehicle The Eyes Open And Shut Show
The eyes have it: Rob Auton: The Eyes Open And Shut Show, Burning Duck Comedy Club at The Crescent, York, March 5, 7.30pm; Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, May 3, 7.30pm
“THE Eyes Open And Shut Show is a show about eyes when they are open and eyes when they are shut,” says surrealist York/Barmby Moor comedian, writer, artist, podcaster and actor Rob Auton. “With this show I wanted to explore what I could do to myself and others with language when eyes are open and shut…thinking about what makes me open my eyes and what makes me shut them.”
On the back of last summer’s Edinburgh Fringe trial run, Auton goes on the road from January 27 to May 4 with his eyes very much open. Box office: York, thecrescentyork.com; Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.
York-raised artist Harland Miller with his title work for the XXX exhibition at York Art Gallery. Picture: courtesy of White Cube (Ollie Hammick), 2019
No stopping him this time, please: Harland Miller: XXX, York Art Gallery, March 14 to August 31, Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm
AFTER the first Covid lockdown curtailed his York, So Good They Named It Once show only a month into its 2020 run, international artist and writer Harland Miller returns to the city where he was raised to present XXX, a new exhibition that showcases paintings and works on paper from his Letter Paintings series.
Stirred by his upbringing in 1970s’ Yorkshire and an itinerant lifestyle in New York, New Orleans, Berlin and Paris during the 1980s and 1990s, Miller creates colourful and graphically vernacular works that convey his love of popular language and attest to his enduring engagement with its narrative, aural and typographical possibilities.
Harland Miller, XXX, oil on canvas, 2019. Copyright: Harland Miller. Photo copyright: White Cube, Theo Christelis
Coinciding with the release of a book of the same title by Phaidon, XXX features several new Miller works, including one that celebrates his home city, in a hard-edged series that melds the sacred seamlessly with the everyday, drawing inspiration from medieval manuscripts, where monks often laboured to produce intricate illuminated letters to mark the beginning of chapters.
In these works, the Yorkshire Pop artist – who is represented by White Cube – uses bold colours and typefaces to accentuate the expressive versatility of monosyllabic words and acronyms such as ESP, IF and Star.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a Q&A with the artist plus community activities to “inspire, inform and involve all”. Tickets: yorkartgallery.org.uk/tickets.
Gary Oldman in the dressing room when visiting York Theatre Royal last March to plan this spring’s production of Krapp’s Last Tape
Theatre event of the year: Gary Oldman in Krapp’s Last Tape, York Theatre Royal, April 14 to May 17
ONCE the pantomime Cat that fainted thrice in Dick Whittington in his 1979 cub days on the professional circuit, Oscar winner Gary Oldman returns to the Theatre Royal to perform Samuel Beckett’s melancholic, tragicomic slice of theatre of the absurd Krapp’s Last Tape in his first stage appearance since the late-1980s.
“York, for me, is the completion of a cycle,” says the Slow Horses leading man. “It is the place ‘where it all began’. York, in a very real sense, for me, is coming home. The combination of York and Krapp’s Last Tape is all the more poignant because it is ‘a play about a man returning to his past of 30 years earlier’.” Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Suzy Cooper and Mark Holgate: Teaming up as Titania and Oberon – and Hippolyta and Theseus too – in York Stage’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Look who’s back too: Suzy Cooper in York Stage’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Grand Opera House, York, May 6 to 11
GARY Oldman will not be the only former Berwick Kaler co-star returning to a York stage in 2025. Suzy Cooper, for more than 20 years the ditzy, posh-voiced, jolly super principal gal in the grand dame’s pantomimes, will lead Nik Briggs’s cast alongside York actor Mark Holgate as the quarrelling Queen and King of the Fairies, Titania and Oberon.
Briggs relocates his debut Shakespeare production from the court of Athens to Athens Court, a northern council estate, where magic is fuelled with mayhem and true love’s path still does not run smooth. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Beach hut five, Shed Seven: York band to make Scarborough Open Air Theatre debut in June
“Biggest ever headline show in their home county”: Shed Seven, TK Maxx Presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, June 14
IN the aftermath of their 30th anniversary celebrations and two number one albums in 2024, refulgent York band Shed Seven will focus on the great outdoors in the summer ahead, fulfilling a dream by making a long-overdue Scarborough OAT debut, when Jake Bugg and Cast will be their special guests. “It’s a stunning and historic venue…Yorkshire’s very own Hollywood Bowl!” enthuses lead singer Rick Witter.
The Sheds also return to Leeds Millennium Square on July 11, supported by Lightning Seeds and The Sherlocks. Box office: Scarborough, scarboroughopenairtheatre.co.uk or ticketmaster.co.uk; Leeds,gigsandtours.com and ticketmaster.co.uk.
Bridget Foreman: Co-writer of York Theatre Royal and Riding Lights’ community play His Last Report
Community play of the year: York Theatre Royal and Riding Lights Theatre Company in His Last Report, York Theatre Royal, July 22 to August 3
YORK Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster and York company Riding Lights artistic director Paul Birch will co-direct a large-scale community project that focuses on pioneering York social reformer Seebohm Rowntree and his groundbreaking 1900s’ investigation into the harsh realities of poverty.
Told through the voices of York’s residents, both past and present, Misha Duncan-Barry and Bridget Foreman’s play will ask “What is Seebohm’s real legacy as the Ministry begins to dismantle the very structures he championed?” Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Taboo or not taboo? Ed Byrne shatters the glass ceiling of not conversing about death by doing just so in Tragedy Plus Time. Picture: Roslyn Gaunt
LOOK at these snippets from the reviews for Irish comedian Ed Byrne’s groundbreaking tour show, bound for the Grand Opera House, York, on January 11.
“Genuinely reflective and deeply emotional”. “Grief, regret”. “From rage to dark humour to poignancy”. “Dead funny”. “Cathartic storytelling”. “Tear-jerking observations”. “Poignant, touching, spiky”. “Plumbs the very depths of his soul”. “Delicate, sensitive high-wire act of a show”.
Just checking: this is a comedy gig, right? Yes indeed, one that takes its title from a quote from 19th century American writer, humorist, and essayist Mark Twain, who defined humour as “Tragedy Plus Time”.
Putting that metric to the test by mining the most tragic event in his life for humour, 52-year-old Byrne “manages to make dying and death very funny” (to quote the Daily Business Group review] in a show that carries the content warning “Discussions of death” with an age guidance of 14 plus.
At the time of this interview, Byrne, who grew up on the east coast of Ireland in Swords, County Dublin, had just finished a run of Irish dates where some had proved challenging, even for such an experienced act.
“The last night was a breeze, really, really good, not having to shut down drunken ****holes, but in Dunleary there was a noisy works outing and then four lads in Kilkenny on the front row that just wouldn’t shut up: one table of quite drunk people who I had to address for joining in too much,” Ed says.
“I don’t know if it [raucous behaviour] is on the increase, but with this show, it’s full of jokes but there are a couple of moments where it’s more serious, so you need some quiet, though it’s punctuated with a couple of laughs, but the last thing you want is someone who’s drunk to use that moment to butt in.”
Byrne’s material refracts the concept of Tragedy Plus Time through the prism of two ‘tragedies’. “One was my car being broken into, which I was raging about by the following night’s show. It was an enormous ball ache but I ended up with eight minutes of stand-up,” Ed says.
“The rest of the show is about how my brother Paul died [of Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a form of cancer, in February 2022, aged 44, after being diagnosed initially in 2013].” He had suffered a short illness in lockdown. “Then the Covid finished him off,” adds Ed.
“There is now comedy for everybody: whatever your demographic, race, creed, sexual orientation,” says observational Irish comedian Ed Byrne
“In the show I’m arguing with those who locked us down but at the same time didn’t take it seriously enough, and the reaction will depend on people’s political sensibilities.”
On stage, Byrne talks of how he argued with comedy director Paul, who he had called “my pain in the a*** little brother” in his 2022 tribute, but also of how he reconnected with him. “I will miss him so much,” his tribute had ended.
He is playing York as part of an extended tour that began in 2023, will visit Leeds City Varieties for the third time on January 25 and end in April 2025, almost two years after the first date. “My tours have been getting longer,” he says. “I always say that the hard part of the show is writing it and then getting out and doing it is the reward – and now there are just more and more places to play.
“When I was starting out, even playing a comedy night outside London in the Nineties, you were worried about how it would go because people had this idea of comedy as end of the pier and pub jokes, so observational comedy was something of an unknown quantity.
“I remember playing in Southend, where it was always one observational comedian and one end-of-the-pier comedian on the bill. Now, if people go and see a comedy club night, they know there’ll be some one-liners but a lot more storytelling, so you don’t feel like a visionary any more – and outside pantomime, comedy now draws the biggest audiences to theatres.”
Comedy has its broadest scope ever too, Byrne suggests. “I think people previously were perhaps slightly put off when they thought it was all going to be too political or too ‘ladsy’, but I think it’s a fact there is now comedy for everybody: whatever your demographic, race, creed, sexual orientation, there is humour designed just for you, comedy for all stripes,” Ed says.
He does add a note of caution, however: “The worrying thing is that it is becoming a bit polarised, and if a comedian is not tailored exactly to someone’s taste, they’ll say, ‘well, I’m not going to laugh at that’. I feel it’s post-Brexit where it’s become more divisive.”
As for Ed Byrne, he is breaking the unspoken barrier of death still being considered a taboo subject for conversation in Tragedy Plus Time, a show that has done anything but divide opinion. Oh, and for the record: “As with any subject I do, there are always digressions into asides,” he says.
Ed Byrne: Tragedy Plus Time, Grand Opera House, York, January 11, 7.30pm; Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, January 25, 7.30pm, and Cast, Doncaster, January 28, 7.30pm. Box office: York, atgtickets.com/york; Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com; Doncaster, 01302 303952 or castindoncaster.com.
