Beth Steel’s Sandy and Jonathan Stockill’s Danny in Ryedale Youth Theatre’s Grease The Musical
RYEDALE Youth Theatre heads back to the summer of 1959 at Rydell High to follow the epic love story of Danny Zuko and Sandy Dumbrowksi in Grease The Musical at the Milton Rooms, Malton, from April 1 to 4.
Here come the T-Birds and Pink Ladies, hot rods and timeless songs, such as Summer Nights, We Go Together and Greased Lightning in a show with book, music and lyrics by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey and songs from the 1978 film by arrangement with Robert Stigwood.
Formed in 1991, the main purpose of Ryedale Youth Theatre is to train young people, aged eight to 18, in the Ryedale and York areas in all aspects of the performing arts and in particular musical theatre, both on stage and behind the scenes.
Each Easter, Ryedale Youth Theatre welcomes up to 70 young people to participate in a theatre production, an enriching experience that inspires creativity, teamwork and confidence at an organisation run by dedicated volunteers that relies heavily on the generosity of supporters to fund such productions.
Ryedale Youth Theatre lads in leather in Grease The Musical
Next week, the focus falls on Grease, the American musical that opened on February 5 1971 in Chicago, in a damp, draughty former trolley barn called the Kingston Mines Theatre. On a $171 budget , a non-professional cast of 18 actors played the first of its scheduled “four performances only” to a full house of 120 seats.
Almost immediately, the show was extended…then again and again and again. The rest, as they say, is history.
A year later, on St Valentine’s Day, February 14 1972, the musical romantic comedy opened in New York. Within six months, a national tour crossed the United States and Canada. Then a company opened in Australia.
The first London production premiered at the New London Theatre with a young, unknown Richard Gere as Danny Zuko (the role assumed eventually by co-producer Paul Nicholas). Soon the foreign productions, touring companies and stock and amateur groups seemed to span the globe.
The success of Randal Kleiser’s 1978 motion picture starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in 1978 resulted in a new legion of Grease fanatics. Forty-eight years later, the musical continues to play to packed houses.
Ryedale Youth Theatre’s Pink Ladies cast members in Grease The Musical
“Grease doesn’t have a message,” says Ryedale Youth Theatre chair Barbara Wood. “It gives you a flavour of being a teenager in the ’50s – when rock’n’roll and putting grease on your hair were the most important things in life. If people come along to the show and take it on that level, then we’ll give them a party.
“In fact, if you come out of the theatre feeling that you’ve been to the best party in town, then we’ll know that we’re getting it right. A party of the best kind. It was fun then, but it’s just as much fun now!
“What Grease is really all about – more than anything else – is having fun. So, just sit back, kick off your blue suede shoes, and relax. Have a ball! Grease is, after all, a celebration.”
Ryedale Youth Theatre presents Grease The Musical, Milton Rooms, Malton, April 1 to 4, 7.15pm plus 2pm Thursday and Saturday matinees. Box office: yourboxoffice.co.uk.
Dale Vaughan, front, with Monica Frost and Matthew Warry, in a scene from Pick Me Up Theatre’s Next To Normal. Picture: Joanna Hird
A DYSFUNCTIONAL American family musical, a spirited band of newsboys, a madcap murder mystery and a bakery burlesque night confirm variety is the spice of Charles Hutchinson’s arts life.
American musical of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Next To Normal, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight to April 4, 7.30pm except Sunday and Monday; 2.30pm matinees, Saturday, Sunday and April 4
ANDREW Isherwood directs York company Pick Me Up Theatre in Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt’s Tony Award-winning musical exploration of family and illness, loss and grief as a suburban American household copes with crisis and mental illness.
Dad is an architect; Mom rushes to pack lunches and pour cereal; their daughter and son are bright, wise-cracking teens but their lives are anything but normal, because Mom has been battling manic depression for 16 years.Next To Normal presents their story with love, sympathy and heart. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Freida Nipples: Baps & Buns on board a baguette at Rise@Bluebird Bakery
Cabaret of the week: Freida Nipples presents Baps & Buns Burlesque, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, Friday, 8pm, doors 7pm
YORK’S queen of burlesque, Freida Nipples, swaps teas for tease as she turns the bakery cafe into a cabaret joint for a night of fun, frolics and freedom of expression in all shapes and sizes.
On the fabulously zesty menu will be Donna Divine, Ezme Pump, Callum Robshaw and Freida herself, hosted by Harvey Rose. Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.
Tribute show of the week: The Supermodels, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, Saturday, 7.30pm
BACK by popular demand, The Supermodels return to Pickering with hits aplenty from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, from The Who to Led Zeppelin, Abba to A-ha Abba, ELO to Queen, Erasure to Oasis. The show is “guaranteed to put a smile on your face”, but book promptly because a sell-out is predicted. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk.
The Snake Davis Trio: Jazz, soul, tales and banter at Helmsley Arts Centre
Jazz gig of the week: The Snake Davis Trio, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 7.30pm
SAXOPHONIST to the stars Snake Davis teams up with his best buddies, trumpet player Johnny Thirkell and guitarist Mark Creswell, for a night of gorgeously mellow musicianship infused with jazz, soul and pop. Expect beautiful tunes, fascinating tales and bags of banter. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Lucy Keirl in rehearsal for Murder For Two at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Whodunit of the week: Murder For Two, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, Saturday to April 18
JOE Kinosian and Kellen Blair’s fast-paced musical whodunit is a madcap murder mystery with a twist, performed by two actors, Tom Babbage and Lucy Kierl , who play 13 characters between them, plus the piano, as they put the laughter into manslaughter.
When famous novelist Arthur Whitney is found dead at his birthday party, it is time to call in the detectives, but they are out of town. Enter Officer Marcus Moscowicz, a neighbourhood cop who dreams of climbing the ranks. Here is his chance to prove his super sleuthing skills and solve the crime before the real detective arrives. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
The clock is ticking: James Bye, left, Shvorne Marks, Natalie Casey and Grant Kilburn in 2:22 A Ghost Story, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York
Supernatural thriller of the week: 2:22 A Ghost Story, Grand Opera House, York, March 30 to April 4, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees
“THERE’S something in our house. I hear it every night. At the same time,” says Jenny, who believes her new home is haunted, but her husband Sam is having none of it. Whereupon they argue with their first dinner guests, old friend Lauren and new partner Ben. Can the dead really walk again? Belief and scepticism clash, but something feels strange and frightening and is moving closer. Only by staying up until 2:22 will they know the answer.
James Bye, Shvorne Marks, Natalie Casey and Grant Kilburn perform Uncannyand The Battersea Poltergeist podcaster Danny Robbins’s supernatural thriller, the Best New Play winner at the 2022 WhatsOnStage Awards, on its return to York. As secrets emerge and ghosts may or may not appear, dare you discover the truth? Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Black Sheep Theatre Productions on Parade in the rehearsal room for next week’s musical at the JoRo
The other American musical of the week: Black Sheep Theatre Productions in Parade, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, April 1 to 4, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
PRESENTED by York company Black Sheep Theatre Productions under the direction of Matthew Peter Clare, Jason Robert Brown and Alfred Uhry’s stirring Tony Award-winning musical explores love and hope against the odds, set against a backdrop of political injustice and rising racial tension.
Leo Frank, a Brooklyn-raised Jew, is put on trial for murder, but when the world seems against you, receiving a fair trial might prove impossible. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Beth Steel’s Sandy and Jonathan Stockill’s Danny in Ryedale Youth Theatre’s production of Grease The Musical
‘Word’ of the week: Ryedale Youth Theatre in Grease The Musical, Milton Rooms, Malton, April 1 to 4, 7.15pm plus 2pm Thursday and Saturday matinees
EACH Easter, Ryedale Youth Theatre welcomes up to 70 young people to participate in a theatre production. This time the show will be Grease, featuring book, music and lyrics by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey and songs from the 1978 film by arrangement with Robert Stigwood.
Ryedale Youth Theatre heads back to the summer of 1959 at Rydell High to follow the epic love story of Danny and Sandy. Here come the T-Birds and Pink Ladies, hot rods and timeless songs, such as Summer Nights, We Go Together and Greased Lightning. Box office: yourboxoffice.co.uk.
In Focus:Be Amazing Arts in Disney’s Newsies Jr, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tomorrow to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
Be Amazing Arts’ cast for Disney’s Newsies Jr, this week’s production at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York
YORK audiences are invited to seize the day this week as Malton company Be Amazing Arts brings the high-energy, crowd-pleasing musical Disney’s Newsies Jr to the Joseph Rowntree Theatre.
This spectacular youth production features a cast of 60 young performers from the Ryedale and York area, aged seven to 18, who will share the unforgettable music, dynamic choreography and inspiring story after months of dedicated rehearsals.
Written by Harvey Fierstein (book), Alan Menken (book) and Jack Feldman (lyrics), Disney’s Newsies The Musical was adapted from the 1992 film, premiering at the Paper Mill Playhouse, Milburn, New Jersey, before hitting Broadway in 2012.
Packed with moving numbers, bold dance routines and a powerful message of courage and unity, Newsies Jr follows a spirited band of newsboys as they fight for what is right against New York City’s powerful newspaper publishers.
In the news: Be Amazing Arts cast members rehearsing for Disney’s Newsies Jr
Promising to be an uplifting theatrical experience for audiences of all ages, the production will showcases not only the performers’ talent but also their commitment, teamwork and passion for live theatre.
Be Amazing Arts specialises in providing young people with the opportunity to work in a professional theatre environment while developing industry skills both on and off the stage. From performance and technical theatre to teamwork and discipline, participants gain invaluable experience that builds confidence and creativity in a supportive yet professional setting.
Creative director Roxanna Klimaszewska says: “Our cast has worked incredibly hard to bring this show to life. Their energy, dedication and enthusiasm have been inspiring. We cannot wait for the people of York to see what these amazing young performers have achieved.
“Be Amazing Arts strives to inspire the next generation, keeping at the heart of everything they do, making work with, for or by young creatives.”
Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
NETheatre York’s production triumvirate for Grease The Musical: Creative director/producer Steve Tearle, centre, with choreographer Ellie Roberts and musical director Scott Phillips
AFTER another name change, NETheatre York begins a new term at Rydell High with a cast of 60 pupils enrolled for Grease The Musical from tomorrow to Saturday.
Formerly NE and before that NE Musicals York and several variations on a New Earswick theme, the company with the “New and Exciting” tag is spanning its scope.
“The reason why we wanted to change the name is because we want our company to be as diverse as possible and to cover as many things as possible, not just musicals, but plays and dance too,” says Steve. A case of NE theatre symbolising any form of theatre.
“Like taking part in the York Community Choir Festival at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre next year and performing at the York Proms in June, when we had our part in both sections on the main stage – and that’s the first time Rebecca [organiser Rebecca Fewtrell] has done that – as well as being on the community stage in the interval. We did selections from Oliver! in the first half and Les Miserables in the second.”
Calum Davis’s Kenickie
Amid the NamE changes, the company has shown consistency in its choice of production team for this week’s show at the JoRo. Once more, Steve Tearle is the creative director/producer – and cannot resist playing Teen Angel to boot – alongside musical director Scott Phillips and choreographer Ellie Roberts as audiences are transported back to all-American 1959 and the senior year at Rydell High.
After a whirlwind summer romance, Danny Zuko and Sandy Dumbrowski thought they would never see each other again but find themselves at the same high school as the T Birds and the Pink Ladies assemble for the new term.
Playing Danny and Sandy will be University of Hull student Finley Butler and Cleethorpes pantomime star Maia Beatrice (her stage name, shedding her surname of Stroud). “We know each other from doing the diploma in acting at York College six years ago, so we have a few shows together under our belt, like The Resistible Rise Of Arturo Ui Rise, and then last year I did The Wind In The Willows with this company, who I got to join because of Maia,” says Finley.
Maia, 22, from York, will be returning to TaleGate Theatre’s pantomime ranks this winter for Cinderella at the Parkway Cinema, Cleethorpes, playing Prince Charming after her title role in Pinocchio there last winter. “I get all the principal boy parts,” she says of pantomime’s traditional thigh-slapping role. Her thighs? “Very slappable!” she laughs.
Maia Beatrice’s Sandy Bumbrowski and Finley Butler’s Danny Zuko in NETheatre York’s Grease The Musical
For Grease, she was drawn to playing either Sandy or bad girl Rizzo. “I’m used to playing grittier characters that I can get my teeth into,” she says. “But I do feel I’m more of a Sandy with my blonde hair and blue eyes – and Sandy is the dream role.”
Steve chips in: “We’ve not made Sandy as sweet and innocent as she’s usually played.” Such as? “I take Rizzo down…to the floor,” says Maia.
Steve elaborates: “The musical is meatier than the film version, which they cleaned up a little. The original story was much grittier when it was first launched in Chicago, written for a bunch of teenagers. I haven’t gone back to that version, but we’ve kept the grittiness, and as part of that emphasis, the story of Rizzo and Kenickie runs side by side with Danny and Sandy’s.”
Finley, 22, has just graduated from the University of Hull with a degree in drama and theatre practice and will return there this autumn to study for a Masters in theatre making. “The course I’ve done is not just about the acting and drama side but there’s very much a focus on practice, so you can specialise in many different things, and towards the end my focus was on directing and lighting design,” he says.
Melissa Boyd and Calum Davis as Rizzo and Kenickie
“Throughout my time there, I directed shows, like doing a children’s theatre pieced called The Forest, where we had to use sign language and stage it in the round. On top of that, I’m now the president of the university’s performing arts society, a post which runs on into the next year as I do my Masters.”
Finley, by the way, will be Steve’s assistant director for NETheatre York’s upcoming production of Fiddler On The Roof when Steve will combine directing duties with playing the lead, the poor Jewish milkman Tevye.
This summer, Finley’s focus is on Danny Zuko and not least on the way he moves. “A lot of it I have taken from John Travolta, those Travolta-isms. Danny is very bold in his movement,” he says.
“But I also wanted to focus on the conflict within Danny, who has this core persona of not liking a particular girl above any other, but then Sandy comes along, and she’s like a thorn, getting under his skin. You find subtle ways to show that inner conflict through his movement as he’s so expressive.”
Juliette Brenot as Frenchy
As for achieving the Danny Zuko look: “I’ve just received the all-important comb!” says Finley. “The styling takes a lot of gel and a lot of hairspray. I must have got through nearly a whole can for the photo-shoot.”
In the cast too will be Ali Butler Hind. “I’m playing the ballet teacher, part of the staff that oversee the pupils and do the scene changes in this production, which is a clever idea,” she says. “We’re there to support the head teacher, Miss Lynch, and I think our presence in this production really helps, especially in the dance contest scene.”
NETheatre York has paid the extra musical rights to be able to use Grease, You’re The One That I Want, Sandy and Hopelessly Devoted To You from the 1978 film. “They’re not normally in the musical but we really wanted to have them,” says Steve. Out go Drive In Movie, All Choked Up and It’s Raining On Prom Night.
“With songs like Hopelessly Devoted To You and There Are Worse Things (I Could Do), the text is incredible and says so much,” says musical director Scott Phillips. “They’re a good example of the how the songs pull the plot along and really show the character too, and that’s why Grease has stuck around down the years.”
Sam Richardson as Eugene
From the keyboards, Scott will be leading a band featuring two tenor saxophones, two electric guitars, one bass guitar and drums. “The show verges on modern jazz in terms of its arrangements,” he says.
Scott has arranged a Grease Mega-Mix for a party mood to close the show. “We’re delighted to have been given permission to use it,” says Steve. “People will leave the theatre with that vibe.
“It’s all part of making it an experience to go to this show, whether it’s the glitter station at the theatre, the authentic Fifties’ costumes, or the mega-mix finale. You’ll know you’re at Rydell High from the moment you arrive, and we’ll be breaking down theatre’s fourth wall straightaway.
“We’ve even got a big neon Grease sign on stage in the shape of a car, made and delivered from China in only two weeks.””
NETheatre York in Grease The Musical, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, July 25 to 29, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Tickets update: first night, sold out; last few tickets for all other shows. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk
Mat Clarke as Doody
Who will be playing the principal roles in NETheatre York’s Grease The Musical?
Finley Butler as Danny Zuko; Maia Beatrice as Sandy Dumbrowski; Melisaa Boyd, Rizzo; Calum Davis, Kenickie; Flyn Coultous, Roger;Mo Kinnes, Jan; Mat Clarke, Doody; Juliette Brenot, Frenchy; Kristian Barley, Sonny, Erin Greeley, Marty, Sam Richardson, Eugene, and Chloe Drake, Patty.
Did you know?
LOOK out for Maia Beatrice at York Maze, Elvington, this summer, hosting a trailer ride, playing characters and being a mascot. If you spot Corn on the Cob or the back end of a cow, between now and September 4, that will be Maia.
Ore Oduba strikes a pose in the obligatory dress code for playing Brad Majors in The Rocky Horror Show. Fishnets? Tick? High heels? Tick. Picture: Shaun Webb
ACTOR, presenter and 2016 Strictly winner Ore Oduba will be donning his fishnets in Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show at the Grand Opera House, York, from March 14 to 19.
Delighted to be resuming his role as squeaky clean Brad Majors in Christopher Luscombe’s touring production from January to June, he says: “I’m so excited to be extending my stay with our amazing Rocky family. Truth is, when you know how it feels to wear a corset and heels, it’s very hard to take them off – at least it is in my case!
“It’s been a wild ride so far. This show is the perfect remedy to everything we’ve all been through. People want to laugh and be uplifted and to be able to forget about everything for a couple of hours. It’s all about ‘Leave your inhibitions at the door – we haven’t got time for that’.”
In O’Brien’s risqué and riotous 1973 sci-fi musical sextravaganaza, Oduba’s preppy Texas student Brad Majors and his college-sweetheart fiancée Janet Weiss (Haley Flaherty) inadvertently cross paths with mad scientist Dr Frank-N-Furter (Stephen Webb) and his outrageous Transylvanian coterie.
“I think there’s a lot of Brad in me and in a lot of people, ” says Ore Oduba
In a shock’n’roll sugar-rush of fruity frolics, frocks, frights and frivolity, Ore ends up in assorted states of undress. Previously seen on a Yorkshire musical theatre stage as swoon-inducing crooner Teen Angel in Grease, The Musical at Leeds Grand Theatre in July 2019, he signed up to play Brad from last summer, but not before he checked with his wife, television researcher Portia.
“It’s such an iconic show and so well loved, but I thought, ‘I wonder what my wife is going to say about audiences seeing me in stockings?’. I needn’t have worried because what I’d forgotten is that Rocky Horror is one of her and her family’s favourite shows of all time. She was beside herself!
“Then she started chuckling at the idea of me being on stage in just my briefs for the early part of the show, then coming out later in stockings and high heels.”
Ore’s nerdy Brad undergoes a spectacular shedding of inhibitions at the hands of Frank-N-Furter, “just a sweet transvestite from transsexual Transylvania” as he calls himself.
Given how Ore has gone from studying sports and social sciences at Loughborough University to presenting on Newsround, BBC Breakfast, Radio 5 Live and The One Show, to dancing to Glitterball success with Joanne Clifton on Strictly Come Dancing, to musical theatre roles as Teen Angel and songwriter Aaron Fox in Curtains in the West End, he can connect with Brad’s transformation.
Ore Oduba as Teen Angel in Grease at Leeds Grand Theatre in 2019. Picture: Antony Robling
“I think there’s a lot of Brad in me and in a lot of people,” he says. “It’s the idea of being kind of caged animals, because we all have a lot of reservations and inhibitions and things we hold back. We’re just waiting to be unleashed.”
Not that his Strictly sparkle and burst of musical theatre roles came out of the blue. At 13, he won the school drama prize for his performance in the musical Seven Golden Dragons. “Then at secondary school I did every production under the sun,” recalls Ore, now 36. “It was only when I went to university that I turned my attention to broadcasting, but Strictly reminded me ‘Oh my gosh, I love being on stage’.
“On the surface, doing musical theatre now might seem like a big change-up but when I look back to where I felt happiest and most comfortable when I was younger, it was always on stage. In many ways it’s kind of what I always wanted to do. After Grease and Curtains, Rocky Horror is another step up in my so-far short musical theatre career and a lovely chance for me to do something liberating, fun and a little bit different.”
Ore has taken performing the signature song-and-dance routine The Time Warp in his stride, after continuing to dance since his Strictly triumph, both in the BBC show’s tours and in musicals. “I took up tap dancing too, although my wife and I then decided to renovate the house and turn the garage I was practising in into a kitchen,” he says.
Preppy but unprepared for what lies in store at deliciously, devilishly deviant Dr Frank-N-Furter’s castle: Ore Oduba’s Brad Majors and Haley Flaherty’s Janet Weiss. Picture: David Freeman
“So, I no longer have my tap space. Blame it on the kitchen! But every time I get to do something involving choreography, it gets me as excited as I was when I did Strictly. I love it.”
Wearing fishnets and high heels is altogether more over the top than anything he sported in tandem with Joanne Clifton on Strictly. “We did wear Latin heels but they’re not as high as the ones I have to wear in Rocky Horror,” says Ore.
“I remember the first time I was asked to wear something a little bit sheer on Strictly and I thought, ‘I don’t want to be too much of a show pony, I want it to be about dancing’. But by the time it came to the end, I was like, ‘You can put me in whatever you want’.”
Cue Frank-N-Furter doing exactly that to Ore’s Brad Majors in The Rocky Horror Show.
Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show runs riot at Grand Opera House, York, from March 14 to 19; Monday to Thursday, 8pm; Friday, Saturday, 5.30pm and 8.30pm. Box office: 0844 871 7615. Fancy dress encouraged.
