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REVIEW: NE in Stephen Sondheim’s Into The Woods, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, 2.30pm and 7.30pm today ***

Steve Tearle: Director, Narrator and Mystery Man. All pictures: David Richardson

THIS is as much Stephen Tearle’s Into The Woods as Stephen Sondheim’s wickedly witty Broadway show in a fusion of York and New York imaginations.

Sondheim rooted his 1987 Broadway musical in a grown-up twist on the Brothers Grimm stories that casts a new light on such familiar fairy-tale frequenters as Cinderella (University of York student Rebecca Jackson); Beanstalk-climbing Jack (Jack Hambleton); a skipping Little Red Riding Hood (CAPA College and PQA York student Missy Barnes/Rowntree Players panto regular Mollie Surgenor); Rapunzel (Juliette Brenot); Snow White (Elizabeth Farrell) and The Wolf (Ryan Richardson, looking not unlike Sam Smith in their Gloria tour get-up).

James Lapine’s book for Sondheim’s songs centres on the plight of the Baker (Chris Hagyard) and the Baker’s Wife (Perri Ann Barley), a childless couple seeking to lift the curse placed on them by a once-beautiful Witch (a towering performance from Pascha Turnbull).

Flour power: Perri Ann Barley’s barren Baker’s Wife and Chris Hagyard’s Baker in NE’s Into The Woods

Venturing into the woods, they must search for the ingredients that will reverse the spell:  a milk-white cow (Erin Greenley, in white jeans and boots), hair as yellow as corn (from Rapunzel); a blood red cape (from Little Red Riding Hood) and a slipper of gold (from Cinderella).

Here they will encounter the fairy-tale folk, each on a quest to fulfil a wish, and into the story come the likes of Cinderella’s Prince (Sam Richardson), Rapunzel’s Prince (Kristian Barley), Cinderella’s Mother (Rebecca Warboys) and the Ugly Sisters, Florinda (Ali Butler-Hind) and Lucinda (Morag Kinnes).

Sondheim steers a path away from pantomime into terrain altogether darker, behaviour worsening, human foibles bursting through, enchantment turning to disenchantment, living unhappily ever after until the denouement. Steve Tearle nudges the playing style back towards panto, without changing the fruitier post-9pm-curfew content.

Missy Barnes’s Little Red Riding Hood: “Something of the Wednesday Addams about her”

He also introduces a young ensemble to swell the company ranks to 50, playing woodland birds and forest dwellers in pointy ears, who gather at Tearle’s feet in his role as string-pulling Narrator and Mystery Man too. He plays free and loose with the script, interjecting adlibs in his north-eastern accent in the manner of a Dame Berwick Kaler pantomime.

Sondheim’s style is deadpan, even noir, as well as being witheringly witty, as paraded in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street too. Tearle’s style is broader, tongue pushed into the cheek in pursuit of “highly camp fun”, typically expressed in the performances of Richardson and Barley’s Princes and Melissa Boyd as Jack’s Mother, although Missy Barnes’s Little Red Riding Hood on Thursday night had something of the Wednesday Addams about her.

In a “big” joke, Helen Greenley’s diminutive Giant’s Wife arrives in massive platforms and a startlingly deep, echoing, discordant voice – compared by one audience member to Mr Blobby – that brings to mind the Wizard Of Oz at the moment he is exposed as a fraud.

Hagyard and Perri Ann Barley play it closest to Sondheim’s tone, while Pascha Turnbull, regularly cast as “larger than life, formidable women”, takes on the bewitching role she has “yearned to play for many years”, combining the show’s most powerful singing with her suitably domineering presence. Not for the first time, Jack Hambleton stands out as one of York’s rising talents.

Bean there, done that: Jack Hambleton’s Jack of Beanstalk-climbing notoriety

Scott Phillips conducts his musical forces with glee and oomph aplenty; Adam Kirkwood’s rainbow palette of lighting complements Tearle and Faye Richarson’s woodland setting with its camouflage gauze and three rotating scaffolding towers, forever on the move, whether occupied by Jack or Rapunzel or whoever.

The fabulous costumes, designed by award-winning Ashington fashion designer Paul Shriek, go with the many shrieks that pierce the sylvan night air.

Experimental, experiential and wildly ambitious, amber-gambler Tearle’s Into The Woods heads deliriously into the weird. It certainly brings a smile, but would the late Sondheim take Tearle’s tribute as a compliment? We shall never know.

Box office: 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond, strictly in the name of entertainment. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 17, from The Press

Boundary breakers: Kevin Clifton’s Scott Hastings and Faye Brookes’s Fran in Baz Luhrmann’s Strictly Ballroom The Musical, on tour at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Pamela Raith

SHAKESPEARE all shook up, a trio of musicals, a singular Magic Number, orchestral Potter and Tolkien and rocking Goths put Charles Hutchinson’s week ahead in good shape.

Dance show of the week: Strictly Ballroom The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, Monday to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees

STRICTLY Come Dancing champ Kevin Clifton is joined by Dancing On ice runner-up and Coronation Street soap star Faye Brookes in Baz Luhrmann’s Australian romantic comedy musical.

Directed by Strictly’s Aussie-born judge Craig Revel Horwood, it follows rebellious ballroom dancer Scott Hastings (Clifton) as he falls out with the Australian Federation and finds himself dancing with Fran (Brookes), a beginner with no moves at all. Inspired by one another, this unlikely pairing gathers the courage to defy both convention and families. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

From Ukraine, with love: Kyiv National Academic Molodyy Theatre, from Ukraine, will perform A Midsummer Night’s Dream at York International Shakespeare Festival on April 28. Picture: Oleksii Tovpyha

Festival of the week and beyond: York International Shakespeare Festival, various venues, running until May 1

THIS festival’s fifth edition combines more than 40 live events with others online, taking in international, national and York-made performances, talks, workshops, exhibitions and discussions.

Look out for the Kyiv National Academic Molodyy Theatre, from Ukraine, performing A Midsummer Night’s Dream (April 28); Flabbergast Theatre’s The Tragedy Of Macbeth (April 26); artists from Poland, Croatia and Romania and Tim Crouch’s exploration of King Lear in a post-pandemic world, virtual-reality head set et al, in Truth’s A Dog Must To Kennel (April 29). For the full programme and tickets, go to: yorkshakes.co.uk.

Virtual reality meets King Lear: Tim Crouch in Truth’s A Dog Must To Kennel at the York International Shakespeare Festival. Picture: Stuart Armitt

Soundtracks of the week: The Music Of The Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit and The Rings Of Power In Concert, York Barbican, Monday, 4pm; The Magical Music Of Harry Potter Live In Concert, Monday, 8pm

THIS brace of concerts has been rearranged from April 6 to 24, both featuring a symphonic orchestra, choir, star soloists and an original actor. The first, a two-hour matinee celebrating the music inspired by the work of J R R Tolkien, spans the threatening sounds of Mordor, the shrill attack of the black riders and the beautiful lyrical melodies of the elves. 

The second showcases the Harry Potter film soundtracks by John Williams, Patrick Doyle, Nicholas Hooper and Alexandre Desplat, complemented by music from the Harry Potter And The Cursed Child stage show. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Crowning gory: Harry Summers’ Richard, seated, becomes king in a York Shakespeare Project rehearsal for Richard III. Picture: John Saunders

“Petty, narcissistic and vengeful psychopath” of the week: York Shakespeare Project in Richard III, Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate, York, Wednesday to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

PHASE Two of York Shakespeare Project, projected to run for 25 years, is launched with former British diplomat Daniel Roy Connolly’s modern-day account of “the York play”, Richard III, set amid the frenetic, calculating and brutal politicking of the House of Commons.

“Telling Shakespeare through what is comfortably the most corrupt institution in the country, the play explores the cut and thrust of power’s crucible, with laws ignored and lies sown,” he says. Harry Summers leads the cast. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk/ridinglights.

Romeo Stodart: Solo night at the Fulford Arms for the Magic Numbers singer

Low-key gig of the week: An Evening With Romeo Of The Magic Numbers, Fulford Arms, York, Sunday, 7.30pm

O ROMEO, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo Stodart on Sunday night? The lead vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter of indie rockers The Magic Numbers will be in lonesome mode at the Fulford Arms. Expect Magic Numbers gems and equally magic numbers from 2011 solo album The Moon And You. Box office: thecrescentyork.seetickets.com.

Steve Tearle: Director, Narrator and Mystery Man in NE’s Into The Woods

Bewitching show of the week: NE in Stephen Sondheim’s Into The Woods, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Tuesday to Saturday, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee

STEPHEN Sondheim’s darkly witty musical is a grown-up twist on the classic fairytales of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Jack And The Beanstalk, here narrated by NE director Steve Tearle.

After the curse of a once-beautiful witch (Pascha Turnbull) leaves a baker (Chris Hagyard) and his wife (Perri-Ann Barley) childless, they venture into the woods to find the ingredients needed to reverse the spell.  Encounters with all manner of fairytale favourites ensue, each on a quest to fulfil a wish. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Mayflies writer-composer Gus Gowland, seated with cast members Emma Thornett, left, Rumi Sutton and Nuno Queimado

Musical premiere of the week: Gus Gowland’s Mayflies, York Theatre Royal, April 28 to May 13, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees

THREE into two will go when York Theatre Royal stages the world premiere of resident artist Gus Gowland’s musical Mayflies, wherein he explores how people present different versions of themselves in relationships and how it can then all come crashing down.

Three actors, Nuno Queimado (May), Rumi Sutton (May/Fly) and Emma Thornett (Fly), will alternate the roles, with each pairing offering a different perspective on the relationships within this contemporary love story, traced by Gowland from first flourish on a dating app to the last goodbye in person. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Cold Cave: Headlining the Friday bill at the Tomorrow’s Ghosts Festival in Whitby

Goth gathering of the week: Tomorrow’s Ghosts Festival Spring Gathering 2023, Whitby Pavilion, Whitby, April 28 and 29

BACK in black in the home of Dracula, Whitby’s premier gothic music and alternative arts festival returns with headline appearances by Cold Cave (April 28) and New Model Army (April 29) and a Friday club night into the early hours by Leeds living legends Carpe Noctum.

The Friday bill features a rare performance from American goth rock special guests Christian Death, alongside sets by The Rose Of Avalanche and Siberia. Saturday features special guests Lebanon Hanover, Ist Ist and The Nosferatu. Box office: ticketweb.uk.

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Steve Tearle leads NE’s cast of 50 into the woods for Sondheim musical adventure

Can they lift the curse? Perri Ann Barley and Chris Hagyard as the barren Baker’s Wife and Baker in NE’s Into The Woods. All pictures: David Richardson

INTO The Woods go York musical theatre company NE as they present Stephen Sondheim’s wickedly witty musical at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, from April 25 to 29.

The New York composer and lyricist rooted his 1987 Broadway show in the Brothers Grimm stories, in a grown-up twist that cast a new light on such familiar fairy-tale frequenters as Cinderella, Jack of Beanstalk fame, Rapunzel and Little Red Riding Hood, but this is no time for pantomime.

Instead, with a book by James Lapine, the story is centred on the Baker and the Baker’s Wife, a childless couple seeking to lift the curse placed on them by a once-beautiful witch.

Rebecca Jackson’s Cinderella

Venturing into the woods three days before the rise of a blue moon, they must search for the ingredients that will reverse the spell: a milk-white cow, hair as yellow as corn, a blood red cape and a slipper of gold. Here they will encounter the fairy-tale folk, each on a quest to fulfil a wish.

The tale will be narrated by NE director Steve Tearle, who also takes on a second role as “the Mysterious Man”. “We chose to do Into The Woods as a tribute to the late Stephen Sondheim. It’s a very different show, which I was lucky enough to see on Broadway in the 1990s, though I missed the star turn, Bernadette Peters, as she was on her day off!” he says.

“I loved it! It was so, so funny. High camp comedy really! I put it on the backburner to do, but a couple of years ago we applied for it – before Sondheim died in November 2021 – and we were meant to be doing it last year.

Ali Butler Hind and Morag Kinnes as the Ugly Sisters, Florinda and Lucinda

“We’re so happy we now are as it’s a fantastic musical comedy for all ages with its wonderfully inventive re-telling of some of the Brothers Grimm stories, where Sondheim was thinking, ‘let’s bring out the child in the adult’. Being a family-driven company, it fits in perfectly with our actors from six years old.”

Steve’s New York trip has influenced his production. “When thinking about the set design, I took inspiration from the original Broadway version,” he says. “I wanted the audience to feel like they were also inside the woods, so we’re using rainbow colours and various styles to bring the woods to life.

“Befitting such an epic musical, we have an amazing set design and fabulous costumes, designed by award-winning Ashington fashion designer Paul Shriek, which we’ve managed to buy second-hand for our show. The finesse to Adam Kirkwood’s lighting is phenomenal too.”

Ready to climb the beanstalk: Jack Hambleton’s Jack

The cast plays its part in setting the scene. “We have more than 50 people in the show, and the ensemble really are the set, becoming the woods, so the woods are interactive. It’s a movable set that changes as the show moves through the three simultaneous stories that blend together,” says Steve.

“We’re making the set a lot more personable to the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, making it ‘fit’ the theatre and more experiential, so that everyone there will feel part of the woods.”

Steve’s show will be knocking down theatre’s ‘fourth wall’, the imaginary barrier between cast and audience, several times. “The Narrator has his own posse of children in the ensemble, and they work with him in these fabulous break-out moments, like when we stop the show when he loses the book or he freezes everybody because he’s in control of everything.

Steve Tearle: Director, Narrator and Mystery Man

“That’s like pantomime, but it’s all done with more serious overtones as – spoiler alert! – the show does feature deaths, as well as blood pouring out of a slipper, a toe being cut off and a heel shaved off. We’ll use a sausage for the toe and ham for the heel!”.

Chris Hagyard and Perri Ann Barley lead the NE cast as the Baker and Baker’s Wife, while Pascha Turnbull casts a spell on the audience as the Witch whose curse is the cause of the culinary couple’s woes. Rebecca Jackson plays Cinderella with Sam Richardson as her Prince; Molly Surgenor and Missy Barnes share the role of Little Red Riding Hood; Juliette Brenot is Rapunzel, with Kristian Barley as her Prince.

Further principal roles go to Ryan Richardson as the Wolf; Jack Hambleton, aptly, as Jack; Melissa Boyd as Jack’s Mother; Effie Warboys as Sleeping Beauty and Elizabeth Farrell as Snow White Farrell. “Helen Greenley may be the smallest member of our NE team but she’s playing what you might say is the biggest role,” says Steve. “She’s the Giant’s wife, wearing these massive platforms.”

Missy Barnes’s Little Red Riding Hood

Steve is as proud of his cast as ever. “There are no professionals in the show; we do it for the love of theatre, and we just embrace people and what their capabilities are. We have cast members in the ensemble who have hearing difficulties and are partially sighted,” he says.

“I like to think we give opportunities that other companies wouldn’t give, and we love encouraging confidence among our young performers. We very much wanted to have them in the cast; some had never heard of Sondheim, but they definitely love him now!”

NE [once short for New Earswick, the company’s origins, but now denoting New & Exciting] present  Stephen Sondheim’s Into The Woods, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, April 25 to 29, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk

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REVIEW: NE in Oliver!, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, lots more until 26/11/22 ****

Zachary Pickersgill as orphan Oliver: “Could not give more to his role”

NE in Oliver!, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, 7.30pm tonight (last few tickets), then next Tuesday to Saturday; 2.30pm matinees, tonight and next Saturday, both sold out. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk

CREATIVE director and producer Steve Tearle is playing Fagin for the fourth time in Lionel Bart’s beloved musical account of Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist.

He knows both part and musical inside out – he has appeared in six productions since the late-1970s – but he was determined to freshen it up anew, not so much new twists as more Twist.

NE Musicals York may have stripped back its name temporarily to NE but Tearle has embellished Oliver! with short extra scenes, a “fruitier” frisson to Chris Hagyard’s Mr Bumble and a cast of thousands (well, almost), divided into two teams, Dawkins and Twist, for alternate performances.

Steve Tearle’s Fagin: Arch, devious, but humorous too

Tearle reckons this  production is the darkest of NE’s three versions in the past decade – 2015, 2018 and 2022 – signified by the thunder and dark Victorian attire of the opening and wholly encapsulated in the menacing performance of Eric Jensen’s jemmy-wielding Bill Sikes.

Last spotted on stage pushing Priscilla the bus and being a bigoted bar-room rowdy in the Aussie outback in Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical, Jensen graduates to a principal role – after the original Sikes had to withdraw for health reasons – with aplomb.

If your reviewer says he even murdered My Name – his big, brutal song in the spotlight – it is meant in the most positive way. By his side, unlike Bill, Bonnie behaves impeccably in the canine spotlight as his English bull terrier, Bullseye.

Anyway, we digress. The opening number sets out Tearle’s stall as 45 children explode from everywhere in a burst of stamping feet to fill the stage for the workhouse number Food, Glorious Food. Tearle has adapted Robert Readman’s My Fair Lady set, utilising its framework for a walkway and to present scenes on a mezzanine level, and he is not averse to his cast frequenting the aisles too in a blur of mischief-making.

Maia Beatrice’s Nancy, right, with Erin Greenley

His Fagin and Zachary Pickersgill’s Oliver even make use of the orchestra pit, when seeking cover from being found. (You will note too the decking out of the pit apron in dockside wood in a striking designer’s flourish.)

Space aplenty is necessary for the ensemble scenes, whether in the pub, the streets, the workhouse, or Fagin’s den of young pickpockets. Tearle’s passion for community theatre is emblazoned across these scenes, so full of life, filling the stage at every opportunity, whether with Fagin’s Gang, Tearle’s young charges relishing taking their early steps on the boards, or with the ever-enthusiastic adult chorus.

Ellie Roberts’s choreography revels in having to accommodate so many limbs, typified by the outstanding Oom-Pah-Pah, while bringing personality to the oh-so-familiar set-piece numbers. Who Will Buy? is a particular delight.

Tearle’s scheming yet lily-livered crook Fagin, Jensen’s bruiser Sikes and Hagyard’s amusingly slimy, meddlesome beadle Mr Bumble will be appearing in all the performances, as will Kelvin Grant’s upstanding Mr Brownlow and Tom Henshaw’s antagonistic undertaker Mr Sowerberry. 

What a scream! Chris Hagyard’s Mr Bumble and Fiona Cameron’s Widow Corney make a comically crotchety couple

CharlesHutchPress saw Thursday’s company, so please forgive no mention of the alternate cast when praising Maia Beatrice’s heartbreaking Nancy (As Long As He Needs Me); Fiona Cameron’s heartless, on-the-make Widow Corney (I Shall Scream); Melissa Boyd’s gothic Mrs Sowerberry (That’s Your Funeral) and Scott Kendrew’s smug bully, Noah Claypole.

Zachary Pickersgill is fearless in the title role, as mobile as a dancer in moving around the stage, and not fazed by that most difficult of songs for a young voice, Where Is Love?. Whether cheeky, defiant, angry, or searching for love amid constant change and adversity, he could not give more to his orphan Oliver.

Toby Jensen hits his groove as a suitably artful Dodger, leading Consider Yourself with swagger, but one tip: keep the head up to look the audience in the eye, projection being so vital to giving off the all-important air of self-confidence that will carry through to the finale with its foretelling of the post-Fagin era.

Rather than cor-blimey, apples-and-pears Cockernee accents, Tearle and his cast are not so specific about placing Oliver! in London’s East End. That ensures clarity throughout, save for the occasional line that needs more volume or those moments when the band overpowers the singing in the sound balance.

Menacing: Eric Jensen’s Bill Sikes

Tearle’s Fagin is arch, devious, but he finds the humour in the old rogue too, whether in improvised asides (such as when struggling to put on his coat), or in his signature song, Reviewing The Situation, where he reviews the song in progress and banters with violinist Olivia Virgo.

He excels in his costume designs too, while Scott Phillips’s orchestra is a joy, flowing between strings and brass, equally adept at the uptempo and the contemplative grand ballad.

All in all, this is an Oliver! with more: more detail, more cast members, more humour, more drama, more shows, spread over two weeks. What more encouragement do you need to join Fagin’s gang and co? If you don’t go, well, that’s your funeral.

Review by Charles Hutchinsion

Oliver, Oliver: Zachary Pickersgill, left, and Fin Walker are alternating performances in the lead role in NE’s Oliver!
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Not only Oliver wants some more, so does director Steve Tearle as NE add new scenes and stretch JoRo Theatre run to a fortnight

Eric Jensen’s Bill Sikes and director Steve Tearle’s Fagin in an argumentative scene in rehearsal for NE’s Oliver!

THE company name is becoming ever shorter, but NE’s production runs in York are growing longer.

Formerly NE Musicals York, NE will be stretching Lionel Bart’s Oliver! into a second week at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, under the direction of Steve Tearle, who is playing Fagin for the fourth time in his career at 62.

“It’s our first venture into doing a fortnight in the theatre,” says Steve. “We wanted to do a show where, if we were going to have two casts, we were going to have a return on it by lengthening the run. We wanted it to be two weeks, not just for us as a company but as an experience for everyone involved.  

“Two performances have sold out already [the Saturday matinees] and four have only limited availability [November 18, 19, 25 and 26, 7.30pm]. We’re selling 100 tickets daily and have sold more than 2,800 so far, but you can always ask for more!”

Where once ‘NE’ stood for the company’s roots of New Earswick, now it is an anagram for creating “New and Exciting” musical productions, the latest being a revised version of Oliver! that complements the familiar songs and characters with added scenes to “bring the story to life in more detail”.

Toby Jensen’s Artful Dodger, left, Callum Richardson’s Charley and Matthew Musk’s Nipper

“It was revised in 2018, when Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh revised it,” says Steve. “So now we have Bill Sikes in Act One with Fagin. 

“I’ve put in a new scene that explains why Nancy so loves Oliver because he stops Sikes from hitting her, and we’ve also revamped Mr Bumble’s character, played at every performance by Chris Hagyard, making him much more fruity!”

The two teams of performers – Team Dawkins and Team Twist – will play alternate performances, led by Zachary Pickersgill and Fin Walker sharing the role of Oliver Twist, the boy who asks for more.

Henry Barker and Toby Jensen will be the Artful Dodger; Fiona Ann Cameron and Aileen Stables, Widow Corney, and Perri Ann Barley and Maia Stroud, Nancy. “They’re playing Nancy in contrasting ways, one older, one younger, so they’re very differing characters,” says Steve.

The intimidating role of Bill Sikes has been re-cast after the original actor had to pull out for health reasons. “Luckily, Eric Jensen has stepped in to play his first big role on stage. Last time, he pushed the bus around and appeared in the bar scenes in Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical,” says Steve.

Ali Butler Hind’s Mrs Sowerberry, Chris Hagyard’s Mr Bumble, and Tom Henshaw’s Mr Sowerberry 

“He’s been on the equivalent of a speed-dating experience to achieve what he has!  To go from where he was to where he is now is unbelievable. He’s taken to it like a duck to water. Who knew he had it in him! And he’s getting on so well with the dog, Bonnie, an English bull terrier, who’s playing Bill’s dog, Bullseye.”

Steve himself is performing in Oliver! for the sixth time, having played Mr Sowerberry for the Tyneside Theatre Company in the late-1970s, Mr Brownlow for York Opera and Fagin four times, first for the Tyneside company in the 1980s and now completing a hattrick for NE, after earlier performances eight and four years ago.

“That’s one of the reasons I can direct it because I know the story so well, the characters so well, the songs so well, that I can concentrate on getting the vision I want,” he says. “It means I can try something new, something different. This is our simplest production of Oliver!, quite dark, and I believe it’s our best,” says Steve, who is joined in the production team by musical director Scott Phillips and choreographer Ellie Roberts.

“We have an amazing set too, costumes designed exclusively for this production and 45 children coming on from everywhere in the opening number. Each show, half of them leave after half an hour; the other half stay to do the rest of the show, and we alternate that with each show. The parents have been amazingly supportive, which we really appreciate.”

Steve is “fanatical” in his research for the show’s costumes. “I think it’s really important, when you’re taking someone back to that Victorian time, to be accurate. You want someone to love this musical for everything it stands for, especially if it’s the first time they’re seeing the show, coming with their parents,” he says.

Oliver at the double: Zachary Pickersgill, left, and Fin Walker will share the title role in NE’s Oliver!

“I’ve even researched tattoos, which became fashionable in the 1700s, particularly around the docks.

“I’m also passionate about everyone creating their own back story for their role, so that they really live their character.”

Steeped in theatre through his family’s heritage – Osmond Tearle, Godfrey Tearle et al – Steve has been at the helm of NE for ten years, with one guiding principle, ever since being invited to take over by NEMS stalwart Mavis Massheder.

“I’ve gone back to true community theatre,” he says. “I believe in introducing people to performing theatre for the joy of it and the discipline of it too.

“I love it when we take on people who are just starting out because they have to begin somewhere, and if you don’t give them the chance, how will they ever develop? There are so many life lessons from doing theatre.”

Perri Ann Barley’s Nancy in the rehearsal room

NE will re-emerge next year with a new name, still incorporating ‘NE’, as Steve looks to expand the company’s vision. “I need to get rid of the word ‘musicals’ from the title to the point where it isn’t necessary for songs to be in the shows. It could be dance; it could be drama; a whole dance show, a straight play, but definitely not a music revue night.

“I want to attract more dancers and more people who are interested in drama that maybe can’t sing. In essence, we’ll look to do three shows a year, like Nik Briggs with York Stage and Robert Readman with Pick Me Up Theatre.”

NE in Oliver!, at Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, today until Saturday, then November 22 to 26, 7.30pm, plus 2.30pm matinees, November 19 and 26. Box office: 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Did you know?

FORMED in 1914 as the New Earswick Dramatic Society, the society has mutated into New Earswick Dramatic and Operatic Society, New Earswick Operatic Society, New Earswick Musical Society, latterly NE Musicals York and now NE. A new name will be announced shortly.

Director Steve Tearle leading a rehearsal for Oliver! with his young charges

Did you know too?

WEST End actor, musical theatre performer and singing teacher Ashley Stillburn is NE’s new patron.

He grew up in North Yorkshire, performing on the York stage, before heading south in 2011 to study at Guildford School of Acting, where he graduated with a First in musical theatre.

He has since starred in Les Miserables and played the Phantom in The Phantom Of The Opera in London. From Buxton, in the Peak District, he teaches singing online and in person.

“We particularly look forward to Ashley coming up to York to talk to our young actors,” says director Steve Tearle.

Copyright of The Press, York

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NE to serve up more in revised Oliver! with extra scenes at Joseph Rowntree Theatre

Oliver! Oliver! Meet NE’s two Oliver Twists, Zachary Pickersgill in orphan’s clothes and Fin Walker in his Sunday suit, who will alternate performances next month

IT would appear that NE Musicals York have undergone a name change to the shortest theatre company moniker in York: NE.

Once NE stood for New Earswick, the company’s roots. Now it is an anagram for creating “NEW & EXCITING” musical productions.

Formed in 1914 as the New Earswick Dramatic Society, the society has mutated into New Earswick Dramatic and Operatic Society, New Earswick Operatic Society, New Earswick Musical Society and latterly NE Musicals York.

Anyway, here comes NE’s latest new and exciting production, Lionel Bart’s musical Oliver!, now well into rehearsals for the November 16 to 26 run at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York.

Steve Tearle directs NE cast members as they rehearse Food Glorious Food

The NE creative team behind Wind In The Willows and Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical will stage a revised version of Oliver!, complementing the familiar songs and characters with added scenes that “bring the story to life in more detail”. 

The show-stopping songs are all there, including Food Glorious Food, Consider Yourself, Who Will Buy?, As Long As He Needs Me and Where Is Love?

Two teams of performers will play alternate performances, led by Zachary Pickersgill and Fin Walker sharing the role of Oliver Twist, the boy who asks for more. Henry Barker and Toby Jensen will be the Artful Dodger; Perri Ann Barley and Maia Stroud, Nancy, and Fiona Ann Cameron and Aileen Stables, Widow Corney.

Zachary Pickersgill’s Oliver

At each performance, director Steve Tearle will play Fagin, James O’Neil, Bill Sikes, and Chris Hagyard, Mr Bumble.

“We have an amazing set, costumes designed exclusively for this production and 50 children in the opening number,” says Steve, who is joined in the production team by musical director Scott Phillips and choreographer Ellie Roberts. “This is an epic production not to be missed: a night at the theatre for the whole family to remember.”

Tickets are on sale on 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk. Performance times: 7.30pm, November 16 to 19 and 22 to 26; 2.30pm matinees, November 19 and 26.

Fin Walker’s Oliver
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Joseph Rowntree Theatre fills autumn and winter diary with musicals, dance and panto

The Wild Murphys enjoy the pub songs of One Night In Dublin on September 29

TICKETS go on sale today for the Joseph Rowntree Theatre’s autumn and winter season of musicals, dance performances, pantomime and one-night shows.

Theatre trustee and volunteer director Barbara Boyce says: “Everyone loves a musical show and we have a great selection to delight you this season. I’m thrilled to see such incredible talent performing on our beloved stage.

“We’re proud to showcase such a wonderful array of talented performers and to bring joy to theatregoers. We hope the people of York and the surrounding areas will enjoy our new season of shows, with stories of adventure, drama and song.”

After a pandemic-enforced two-year wait, York Light Youth’s production of Fame will go ahead at last from October 26 to 29.  Set in 1980s’ New York, the show follows the highs and lows of High School for the Performing Arts students, sharing their struggles, triumphs and often tempestuous relationships with each other and their teachers.

Complex issues such as prejudice, drug abuse and sexual exploitation are tackled as the young performers experience the realities of striving for a career and chasing fame in showbiz.

York Stage’s York premiere of Broadway hit Bring It On The Musical will invite audiences to channel their inner cheerleader in this highly energetic musical adaptation of Peyton Reed’s 2000 film starring Kirsten Dunst.

Back flipping into York from November 2 to 5, the story of the challenges and surprising bonds forged through the thrill of extreme competition is told by Tony Award winners Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton), Jeff Whitty (Avenue Q) and Tom Kitt (Grease: Live).

York School of Dance and Drama in a double bill of Survivors and Cinderella on October 22

NE Musicals York will follow up their summer show Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical by serving up Oliver! from October 16 to 19 and 22 to 26. Based on Charles Dickens’s story of crime, poverty, friendship and fate, Lionel Bart’s musical is set on the darkest streets of London, where young, orphaned Oliver has to navigate an underworld of theft and violence as he searches for a home, a family, and – most importantly – for love.

Written as ever by Howard Ella, Rowntree Players’ rollicking romp of a pantomime, Babes In The Wood, will enjoy a Christmas run from December 3 to 10 (no show on December 5). Expect the usual festive cocktail of slapstick comedy, drama, adventure, song, dance and cheeky gags aplenty.

The Victoria Rooke School of Dance and Drama will present The Nutcracker Story on September 24; Wyrley Music and Promotions will celebrate the hits of Billy Fury and Cliff Richard in Billy Meets Cliff on September 25; Irish band The Wild Murphys will return to the JoRo with One Night In Dublin, revelling in Galway Girl, Tell Me Ma, Dirty Old Town, The Irish Rover, Brown Eyed Girl and Seven Drunken Nights on September 29.

October will open with It’s Dance Time 2022, Barbara Taylor School of Dancing’s festival of song and dance, climaxing with excerpts from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!, on October 1.

The UK Ultimate Physiques fitness, physique and bodybuilding competition is booked in for October 9, when athletes will seek to qualify for that month’s 2022 UKUP British finals.

Vibe With Perform will showcase versatile dance, acting and singing talent from Emma Bassett’s school on October 15; JoRo regular Steve Cassidy & Friends will return with more rock, country and classic ballads on October 16, and York School of Dance and Drama will present two performances for the price of one in Survivors and Cinderella on October 22.

21st Century Abba: the old hits combined with the latest technology on December 18

Survivors is a new choreodrama designed to help children to overcome major trauma experienced during the pandemic in a story of learning to survive when a boarding school collapses. Innovative dance and American tap will feature. Cinderella will follow with all the fun and pathos of British pantomime. 

Christmas Showtime with Don Pears & Company will feature the vocal talents of Singphonia in a selection of warming seasonal favourites, from solos and duets to trios and ensemble numbers, on December 11.

The Shepherd Group Brass Band’s Christmas Concert on December 16 and 17 will bring together myriad musicians, from their Brass Roots beginners through to their championship section Senior Band, playing Christmas and winter music with plenty of audience participation.

21st Century Abba will re-create the super-Swedes’ greatest hits for a new generation, using the latest technology, combined with that unforgettable sense of Seventies and Eighties’ fashion, in this Wyrley Music & Promotions tribute show on December 18.

Confirmed for 2023 already is A Gala Night Of Musical Theatre to blow away the post-Christmas blues, hosted by White Rose Theatre on January 14 with contributions from the Katie Ventress School of Dance, York Musical Theatre Company and guest soloists.

Under the musical direction of John Atkin, songs from Les Miserables, Jesus Christ Superstar, Anything Goes and plenty more favourite shows will feature in this fundraiser for the JoRo’s Raise the Roof campaign. 

For full show details, performance times and tickets, including special offers, head to josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk/whats-on. Tickets can be booked on 01904 501935 too.

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REVIEW: NE Musicals York’s Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical ****

Feathered finery: Tom Henshaw’s Adam/Felicia, left, Steve Tearle’s Bernadette and Finley Butler’s Tick/Mitzi in Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical

NE Musicals York in Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, until Sunday, 7.30pm nightly plus 2.30pm matinees, Saturday and Sunday. Box office: 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk

YOU must have seen the lipstick-pink banners plastered all over town, pronouncing NE Musicals York’s hotter-than-July production of Priscilla Queen Of The Desert.

“With a cast of 30 and more than 300 costumes, this is not just a bus ride, it’s a two-hour rollercoaster of a ride,” promises creative director and producer Steve Tearle, his beard shaved off to play veteran drag queen Bernadette Bassenger, the Terence Stamp role in Stephan Elliott’s 1994 film that gave rise to this musical spin-off.

Stamp famously gave transgender Bernadette an apples-and-pears Cockney accent despite the setting of the Australian Outback. Blonde-wigged North Easterner Tearle goes for Aussie, although he is sometimes closer to Newcastle-upon-Tyne than Newcastle, New South Wales, but he carries off Bernadette’s regal disdain with such aplomb in his swaggering strut that it matters not a jot.

What’s more, in the tradition of Berwick Kaler’s pantomime dame, Tearle is never averse to ad-libbing, breaking down the fourth wall to comment on one line he dislikes having to say and later pleading to borrow his co-star’s wig to cover his shaven head when he had left off his hairpiece in a rushed costume change, duly bringing the house down.

No misunderstanding: Definitely Jack Hambleton’s Miss Understanding

Both moments in Wednesday’s opening night were very much in keeping with NE Musicals York’s determination for everyone – cast and audience alike – to have a fun, fabulous time, whether being taken by the hand to join in a country dance in the aisles or being a lucky recipient of a gift bag containing a pink ping-pong ball and Ginger Nuts biscuits in a nod to one of the show’s most memorable lines.

Tearle’s direction has gone for spectacle, glamour, flamboyance, drama, boldness and pride, rather than technical perfection, especially in the singing, and is rewarded with performances full of vitality and emotional clout and bags of ballsy humour too.

Big number after big number, from It’s Raining Men to I Love The Night Life, I Will Survive to Hot Stuff, MacArthur Park to the Finally finale, are exuberantly choreographed by Ellie Roberts, and the drag costumes grow ever louder and prouder.

Elliott and co-writer Allan Scott’s musical retains the film’s fearless humanity, frank, fruity humour and fabulous feathered finery while adding a Kylie medley for Tom Henshaw’s Felicia and so many dancefloor fillers.

Show time for Finley Butler’s Tick/Mitzi, Tom Henshaw’s Adam/Felicia and Steve Tearle’s Bernadette

Yet for all that peacock parade and the novelty of a bus on stage, Priscilla Queen Of The Desert is all the better for wearing its heart on its sleeve in its tale of the tiffs and the tantrums, the tears and the fears, the triumphs and the terrors as the three drag queens, Tearle’s waspish Bernadette, Henshaw’s reckless young Adam/Felicia Jollygoodfellow and Finley Butler’s Tick/Mitzi, journey from Sydney to Alice Springs across the Oz outback for Tick to meet Benji (Matthew Musk), the son he has always found excuses never to be with.

Subtlety is not to the fore in Priscilla, but both the script and Tearle’s direction provide just enough, not least in Bernadette’s burgeoning bond with mechanic Bob (James O’Neill) and Tick’s reunion with wife Marion (Melissa Boyd).

Ali Butler-Hind is a scream as Cynthia, Bob’s mail-order bride with her ping pong ball-firing party trick to M’s Pop Muzik. Perri-Ann Barley, Aileen Stables and Julie Blackburn’s Divas, Jack Hambleton’s Miss Understanding and the ensemble relish every scene.

Scott Phillips’s orchestra glistens as brightly as his attire in this Tearle twirl of a dazzling show that parks the bus so much more positively than Jose Mourinho ever did.

By Charles Hutchinson

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More Things To Do in York and beyond on not only Bob Dylan’s rough and rowdy days. List No. 91, courtesy of The Press, York

NE Musicals York cast members climb aboard a City Sightseeing bus to publicise their upcoming production of Priscilla Queen Of The Desert

AS Madness and Sugababes canter up to York Racecourse, Charles Hutchinson picks his favourites from the upcoming entertainment runners and riders  

Musical of the week: NE Musicals York in Priscilla Queen Of The Desert, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, July 20 to 24, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday and Sunday matinees

CREATIVE director Steve Tearle’s cast of 30 features Finley Butler, Tom Henshaw and Tearle himself as three drag queens who take an epic journey from Sydney to Alice Springs across the Australian outback in their bus Priscilla.

“The journey is full of drama and dance routines but also so many laugh-out-loud moments,” says Tearle. “There’ll be costumes – 300 in total – that have never been seen before in York and the star of the show, the bus, will take your breath away.”  Box office: 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

John Cale: Rearranging his gig date at York Barbican

Underground movement of the week: John Cale, York Barbican, from July 19 to October 24, 8pm

VELVET Underground icon John Cale, now 80, is moving his first British itinerary in a decade to the autumn. Tickets for Tuesday – the only Yorkshire gig of his seven-date tour – remain valid for the new date in October.

The Welsh multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer will be performing songs from a pioneering six-decade career that began in classical and avant-garde music before he formed The Velvet Underground with Lou Reed in New York in 1965. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Bob Dylan’s poster for his Rough And Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour, visiting Hull Bonus Arena

Gig announcement of the week: Bob Dylan, Hull Bonus Arena, October 27

BOB Dylan will play Hull Bonus Arena as the only Yorkshire gig of his Rough And Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour 2021-2024 this autumn.

The Nobel Prize-winning American singer, songwriter and cultural icon last visited Britain in 2017 on his Never Ending Tour. This time the focus will be on his 39th studio album, June 2020’s chart-topping Rough And Rowdy Ways, his first set of original songs since 2012’s Tempest. Box office: hurry, hurry, to ticketmaster.co.uk.

Resting up: Tears For Fears’ Scarborough concert is cancelled due to Curt Smith’s rib injury

One on, one off, tonight: cheers for Richard Ashcroft, Sounds Of The City, Leeds Millennium Square; tears for Tears For Fears, Scarborough Open Air Theatre

IN the Leeds outdoors tonight, Richard Ashcroft, frontman of Wigan’s Nineties’ rock gods The Verve, performs songs from his chart-topping band days and solo career in the wake of re-recording his prime work for 2021’s Acoustic Hymns Vol 1. Gates open at 6pm; support slots go to DJ Wayne and Cast. Last few tickets: millsqleeds.com .

Shout, shout, let it all out, these are the things they could do without: Curt Smith’s rib injury has forced Tears For Fears to call off tonight’s gig in Scarborough.

Jane McDonald: Letting the light in at York Barbican

Yorkshire favourite of the week: Jane McDonald: Let The Light In, York Barbican, July 22, 7.30pm

WAKEFIELD singer and television star Jane McDonald plays her long-awaited Let The Light In Show in York, rearranged from the lockdown gloom of 2020.

The BAFTA award-winner, Cruising With presenter and Loose Women panellist  will be joined by her band and backing singers for a night of cabaret song, laughter and fabulous dresses. Box office for last few tickets: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Madness this way lies: The Nutty Boys are returning to York Racecourse next Friday

On course for race days: York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend, Madness, July 22; Sugababes, July 23

CAMDEN’S Nutty Boys, Madness, return to the Knavesmire track next Friday, having first gone One Step Beyond there in July 2010. Once more Suggs and co will roll out such ska-flavoured music-hall hits as Our House, Baggy Trousers, House Of Fun, Wings Of A Dove, My Girl and Driving In My Car after the evening race card.

The re-formed original Sugababes line-up of Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena and Siobhán Donaghy are next Saturday afternoon’s act. The London girl group last appeared in York as long ago as 2003 with a line-up of Buchanan, Buena and Heidi Range at the Barbican Centre, as was.

Here come Freak Like Me, Round Round, Hole In The Head, Push The Button, Walk This Way and About You Now et al. Tickets: yorkracecourse.co.uk.

Low-key festival of the week: Crawfest, Partings Lane, Ebberston, YO13 9PA, off A170, July 22 and 23, noon to midnight

THE line-up is in place for Crawfest, the family-friendly music festival held on farmland near Pickering, in memory of Alan Crawford, a friend of the organisers, who lost his life to Covid in 2020.

Next Friday will be headlined by The House We Built (9.40pm), preceded by Edwina Hayes (2pm); Paint Me In Colour (3.20pm); Nalgo Bay (4.20pm); Sean Taylor (5.30pm); Breeze (6.50pm) and Friday Street (8.10pm).

Next Saturday’s bill toppers will be Big Me (9.40pm), preceded by Kelsey Bovey (12 noon); Bongoman & The Bongomaniacs (1pm); Danny MacMahon (2pm); Beetlebug (3.15pm); Rocketsmith (4.10pm); Nalgo Bay (5.30pm); Red Box (6.50pm) and The Feens (8.10pm). Box office: tickettailor.com/events/crawfest/641880.

Anne-Marie Piazza and Pete Ashmore in rehearsal for Brief Encounter at the SJT. Picture: Tony Bartholomew

Romance of the summer: Emma Rice’s Brief Encounter, in The Round, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, July 22 to August 27

SJT artistic director Paul Robinson directs this new co-production of Emma Rice’s playful adaptation of Noel Coward’s Brief Encounter, presented in tandem with Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, and Octagon Theatre, Bolton.

Rice turns Coward’s film inside out, adding joyous musical numbers and physical comedy while still maintaining the classic love story of the 1945 black-and-white original, where Laura and Alec are married – but not to each other – when a chance meeting at a railway station hurls them headlong into a whirlwind romance that threatens to blow their worlds apart. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

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NE Musicals York take bus trip to drive home Priscilla Queen Of The Desert is opening soon at Joseph Rowntree Theatre

The NE Musicals York company members on board a CitySightseeing bus on a publicity drive for Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical

NE Musicals York are into the final stages of rehearsals for Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical.

Running at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, from July 20 to 24, creative director Steve Tearle’s production will feature Finley Butler, Tom Henshaw and Tearle himself as three drag queens who take an epic journey from Sydney to Alice Springs across the Australian outback in their bus Priscilla.

The musical was preceded by Stephan Elliott’s 1994 film The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert, starring Terence Stamp, Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce.

In making the journey to the stage, it revels in such songs as It’s Raining Men, Hot Stuff, MacArthur Park and I Will Survive.

Steve Tearle, Finley Butler and Tom Henshaw in rehearsal for their roles as three desert-crossing drag queens in Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musicals

Director Steve says: “The journey is full of drama and dance routines but also so many laugh-out-loud moments. There’ll be costumes that have never been seen before in York and, of course, the star of the show, the Priscilla bus, which will take your breath away.” 

“This musical is one of the best I’ve ever directed; the soundtrack is one of the very best; anyone who sees this show will not be disappointed. With a cast of 30 and more than 300 costumes, this is not just a bus ride, it’s a two-hour rollercoaster of a ride.”

To publicise Priscilla’s desert bus journey ahead of the July 20 opening, the NE Musicals company hopped on board a CitySightseeing open-top bus for a trip around York.

Tickets for the 7.30pm evening shows and 2.30pm Saturday and Sunday matinees are on sale at £15 to £18 on 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

NE Musicals York cast members publicising next week’s run of Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical