Helen Spencer’s Fagin in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Oliver Twist at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York
IN a new twist, the opening of Pick Me Up Theatre’s Oliver Twist at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, is being delayed by a day through cast illness.
All being well, the curtain will now rise on the York company’s winter production on Wednesday night.
At the show’s helm both on stage and off is Helen “Bells” Spencer, who is not only playing Fagin in Deborah McAndrew’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’s 1838 novel, but also has taken over the director’s seat from producer and designer Robert Readman five weeks ago.
“Robert started rehearsals while I was still rehearsing Last Five Years [Black Sheep Theatre Productions and Wharfemede Productions’ November musical at the NCEM], so I wasn’t available until that was over, and then, after a while, he asked me to step in, taking over his vision.
“I’ve worked with Robert a lot over the last couple of years, so I know how his mind works. When Pick Me Up had to pull the original dates for Young Frankenstein, I took over the reins with Andrew Isherwood to re-mount the production, but this is a slightly different situation from that one, as we’re still working to Robert’s ideas.
Playwright Deborah McAndrew
“We have a lot of mutual respect, so I can crack on, but it’s certainly a challenge that so many young people are in it. We have two ‘teams’: two Olivers, two Dodgers, two Roses, two Bets and ‘Children’s’ roles too; there are about 12 young people in all, ranging from eight to 17, so I’m working with a big age differences in the young cast.”
Not to be confused with Lionel Bart’s musical Oliver!, McAndrew’s stage adaptation “on the surface looks like an easy show, but it’s definitely not,” says Helen. “It’s incredibly complex, and one of the things that makes it harder is that no-one knows the songs in the way they do with Oliver! – and there are no recordings, bar for one song.”
Devised at the Bolton Octagon and staged at Hull Truck Theatre in December 2018 as “a new version of Oliver with a festive twist!”, McAndrew’s adaptation is an ensemble piece. “There’s a Greek-style chorus commenting on what’s happening and actors taking on different roles, so it’s quite a different way of working to what most people are used to in musical theatre,” says Helen.
“It’s not like coming on, singing a solo and going off, so the logistics have been more complex, especially when you have no familiarity with the score. I feel like what we got was the script and the basic score and we’ve tried to create our version with the actors we have and the musicians we have.
“I’m really glad I haven’t seen it before as we just want to do a version that makes sense to us, with the core adult cast pulling together to create the ensemble, and some of the adversity we’ve experienced has worked to our advantage.”
Into the dark: James Willstrop’s Bill Sikes
Readman has designed the set with a bridge across the stage. “We’ve been lucky to get into the theatre early enough to work on the show with the set in place. It will look fantastic, very atmospheric, and not what people might expect at all,” says Helen.
“The show will have Christmassy moments but it will have a darkness to it too to allow characters like James Willstrop’s Bill Sikes to be really horrible, which has been a real joy in rehearsals.
“When you think of actors like James, Jennie Wogan-Wells [who plays Nancy] and me, we’re very happy to do musical theatre, with James as the classic leading man, Jennie as the bright-eyed leading lady, and me doing comic parts, so I think people will be surprised to see us in these darker roles – though I used to do straight acting roles before musical theatre and I always enjoyed playing serious parts.”
Helen will play Fagin, who runs a band of pickpockets and thieves in London’s grimy Victorian underworld, where Oliver is the new recruit in his search for a home, family and love. “I suppose the most obvious thing to say is that I’m a female and the original was not,” she says.
“We had a discussion about whether I should play it as a woman, or a women playing a man, and we decided to lean into being a female taking on a male part, so all the references are still to ‘he’ and ‘him’. I’m playing him as an old man.
Tracey Rea’s Widow Corney and Nick Sephton’s Mr Bumble in a scene from Pick Me Up Theatre’s Oliver Twist
“We decided to see how it would feel, and it does feel right. The way the script has been written, it is right to do it this way, rather than make it wholly appropriate to a woman. It’s so exciting to play a male character, which I would never do normally.
“To have the chance to do that, having a face-off and a bit of fisticuffs with Sikes, it’s so liberating, even though he’s an older, frailer man, because if you were an older woman you wouldn’t deliver it that way.”
Describing the music, Helen says: “What strikes me is that they’re not conventional songs; they are more conversational songs, no big numbers, but there are a couple of fun chorus bits. It’s very much about creating the atmosphere in the scenes, rather than through big numbers and big choreography.
“What we need is the actors’ expertise because the songs are difficult and the text is difficult, and that’s been a challenge for even our most experienced cast members, but everyone has risen to it.”
Pick Me Up Theatre in Oliver Twist, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, December 18 to 30, 7.30pm, except December 24, 25 and 26; Saturday and Sunday matinees, 2.30pm. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Who’s in Pick Me Up Theatre’s cast for Oliver Twist?
Frankie Whitford: Playing Oliver Twist in Oliver Twist at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York
Oliver Twist – Frankie Whitford/Logan Willstrop; Fagin – Helen Spencer; Mr Bumble – Nick Sephton; Widow Corney – Tracey Rea; Mr Sowerberry and Mr Brownlow – Neil Foster; Mrs Sowerberry and Mrs Bedwin – Rhian Wells; Noah Claypole – Matthew Warry; Charlotte Sowerberry – Ruby Salter; Artful Dodger – Libby Greenhill/Reuben Baines; Nancy – Jennie Wogan-Wells; Bill Sikes – James Willstrop; Bet – Rosie Musk/Tempi Singhateh; Rose – Isla Whitford/Rosie Musk; Dr Grimwig – Rich Musk; Children – Lao Singhateh, Matilda Foster, Tempi Singhateh and Bea Wells.
Helen “Bells” Spencer’s Cathy Hiatt and Chris Mooney’s Jamie Wellerstein in The Last Five Years, opening at the NCEM on Thursday. Picture: Simon Trow
CO-FOUNDERS Helen “Bells” Spencer and Nick Sephton are launching Wharfemede Productions by staging Jason Robert Brown’s The Last Five Years in association with fellow York company Black Sheep Theatre Productions.
The American musical two-hander will be staged at the National Centre for Early Music, York, from Thursday to Saturday this week.
Formed by chief artistic director, musical actress and psychiatrist Helen and chief operating officer, musical actor and former Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company chair Nick, the innovative new company takes its name from their home in Thorp Arch.
After their fruitful involvement in the Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company, not least in fund-raising for the JoRo, their new venture Wharfemede Productions will focus mainly on character-driven musical theatre pieces and use Helen’s expertise to establish a culture of learning and development as part of the rehearsal process.
Wharfemede Productions chief operating officer Nick Sephton and chief artistic director Helen Spencer at the September company launch in the Wharfemede garden
“Having gained a Drama degree from Manchester University and then co-founded and company managed Envision Theatre Company, this is a return to my roots,” says Helen, who has bags of experience as a professional and amateur performer, vocal coach and company manager.
Supporting and organising the company will be Nick’s role. “With decades of logistics, managerial and computing experience, I’m excited to be founding a company that uses these skills, combined with my love for music and theatre,” he says.
For The Last Five Years, Wharfemede and Black Sheep have brought together a formidable core creative team of Helen, as director, and Black Sheep founder and good friend Matthew Clare, as musical director, complemented throughout the rehearsal process by Susannah Tresilian, a professional director and journalist from London, as guest director, and Tom Guest, from Manchester, as vocal coach.
Premiered at Chicago’s Northlight Theatre in 2001 and then produced Off-Broadway in March 2002, The Last Five Years tells the emotive story of two New Yorkers, rising novelist Jamie Wellerstein and struggling actress Cathy Hiatt, who fall in and out of love over the course of five years.
Helen Spencer and Chris Mooney working with guest director Susannah Tresilian, right, in the rehearsal room. Picture: Dan Crawfurd-Porter
Using an unconventional structure, American pop-rock musical theatre composer, lyricist and playwright Jason Robert Brown presents the story in reverse from Cathy’s point of view, first revealing the end of their tumultuous relationship.
Meanwhile, Jamie tells the story chronologically from when the couple first met. The pair only cross paths once, in the middle of the show, where they are seen together before they continue on their respective timelines.
Clare’s seven-piece band combines with Helen Spencer’s Cathy and Harrogate teacher Chris Mooney’s Jamie in a to-and-fro evening of frank storytelling and gorgeous music.
“I have loved this play for many years and in fact was cast as Cathy some years ago but unfortunately the show never went ahead,” says Helen. “I’m absolutely delighted to be finally getting the chance to sing all of these fantastic songs. Even better, I get to watch and listen to Chris, who is so unbelievably talented, playing Jamie.
The poster for Black Sheep Theatre Productions and Wharfemede Productions’ collaborative production of The Last Five Years
“Chris and I worked together on Falsettos[Black Sheep Theatre Productions, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, August 2023] and found we had great chemistry and connection on stage.
“Having talked with Matthew about producing The Last Five Years for a while, all the pieces finally aligned. I’m genuinely giddy with excitement! It’s such a cleverly written show, with wonderful music that will be brought to life by Matthew and his band.”
Helen continues: “With it just being a two hander, it’s intense, intimate and a wonderful challenge. There’s nowhere to hide for us as performers but also for the audience as well. I think I’m better known on the York circuit for portraying brash comedy characters, so it will be nice to tackle something very different. I can’t wait to share this phenomenal show with an audience.”
Calling himself “truly a sucker for a sung-through musical”, Chris says: “The Last Five Years has been on the bucket list for a while now, so accepting the opportunity was a no-brainer. The piece itself challenges audiences with songs centred around difficult concepts that we don’t often see in musicals, with no real protagonist to root for.
Guest director Susannah Tresilian, vocal coach Tom Guest, centre, and musical director Matthew Clare in the rehearsal room for The Last Five Years. Picture: Dan Crawfurd-Porter
“They simply get to experience the beauty and the challenges that can happen as two people in love grow together. The songs are a real joy to perform, and it’s been an enjoyable challenge to try to best convey Jamie’s perspective in the show. What’s been a real highlight is getting to bear witness to the professional that is Bells Spencer tackling Cathy and truly making the part her own. I can’t wait to open it all up to the audience now!”
Musical director Matthew Clare describes The Last Five Years as a “beautiful show that highlights just how much can be achieved by a cast of two phenomenal individuals”. “In this way, it is the ultimate challenge for a performer – to be perfect, with no room to hide or any escape from the audience’s sight, for the entirety of a show,” he says.
“I’ve loved working with Bells before as both a member of my previous casts (Jekyll & Hyde (2022), Elegies For Angels, Punks, And Raging Queens (2023), Falsettos (2023) and For The Love Of Animation (2023)) and on production teams or as the director, such as for Musicals In The Multiverse (2023).
“Chris is a phenomenal performer that I have worked with on multiple rounds of Jesus Christ Superstar (2019, 2022) and Falsettos (2023).”
Helen “Bells” Spencer and Chris Mooney rehearsing for The Last Five Years. Picture: Dan Crawfurd-Porter
Assessing their performing skills, Matthew says: “Bells brings a robust and exciting vision to her projects with the most delightful working attitude. She’s amazing at leading any project; in particular, one like this, which requires an ability that is second to none and a dedication to match.
“Bells and Chris both have that. Their grasp of the characters and the nuances that they’re able to bring to this show will set it apart from almost anything else this year in York. It’s set to be incredible, with some of the best performers York has to offer, as well as seven of the best musicians! A labour of love, bursting with talent and emotion that one no-one should miss out on!”
Guest director Susannah Tresilian adds: “Interesting love stories never follow an obvious path, but the way the stories of Cathy and Jamie intertwine is so unusual that it really does stand out. It’s been huge fun to work with Bells and Chris on their timelines as they navigate who said what when and who is saying what when now!
“Plus, Bells, Tom and I first met when studying Drama at university, and spent many happy years making theatre all across Europe together, and it is pure joy to be able to collaborate again here on this!”
The logo for Helen “Bells” Spencer and Nick Sephton’s new company, Wharfemede Productions
Vocal coach Tom Guest enthuses: “I’ve always loved the beautiful score by Jason Robert Brown. It’s great to sing, with brilliant, emotionally intelligent lyrics. The ingenious structure makes this story of Cathy and Jamie’s marriage even more engaging, and even more heart-breaking.
“The solo songs are nuanced and energetic and are a fantastic showcase for the actors. Then when their two timelines join for the central duet, it’s just delicious! Ah, those harmonies…
“I’m so excited to be able to work with these two talented musical theatre performers, and especially to be doing it alongside my faves from uni days, Bells and Susannah, is going to be perfect!”
The poster for Wharfemede Productions’ production of Little Women, The Broadway Musical next February
Coming next from Wharfemede Productions will be Little Women, The Broadway Musical, based on Louisa May Alcott’s American coming-of-age novel, with book by Allan Knee, music by Jason Howland and lyrics by Mindi Dickstein. Tickets for the February 18 to 22 2025 run at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, are on sale at tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
In the cast will be Catherine Foster as Meg March; Connie Howcroft as Jo; Rachel Higgs, Beth; Tess Ellis, Amy; Helen “Bells” Spencer, Marmee; Rosy Rowley, Aunt March; Steven Jobson, Lawrie; Nick Sephton, Professor Bhaer; Andrew Roberts, Mr Brooke, and Chris Gibson, Mr Lawrence.
The creative team comprises: Helen “Bells” Spencer, director; Rosy Rowley and Henrietta Linnemann, assistant directors; Matthew Clare, musical director, and Rachel Higgs, choreographer.
Wharfemede Productions in collaboration with Black Sheep Theatre Productions present The Last Five Years, National Centre for Early Music, St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, York, October 17 to 19, 7.45pm. Box office: www.ticketsource.co.uk/wharfemede-productions-ltd.
Wharfemede Productions: the top team
Helen “Bells” Spencer
Helen “Bells” Spencer, chief artistic director
HELEN studied Drama at Manchester University and was then company manager of Envision Theatre Company from 2002-2010. She has performed and vocal coached all around the UK and in Europe over the past 20 years.
Highlights include: 2002 & 2004 UK/Italy tours of I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change! (Woman 2), Little Voice (Little Voice), Manchester Dance House, Audrey in Little Shop Of Horrors, Barley Corn Jack (Beatrice) Manchester and Edinburgh Fringe (Best Actress Award 2002 MIFTAs).
Helen then had a period away from the stage, having qualified as a doctor and also started a family.
Since returning to musical theatre in 2019, her York credits include: We Remember Sondheim (director/performer), Young Frankenstein (Frau Blucher), Falsettos (Dr Charlotte), Musicals In the Multiverse (director/co-creator), Elegies For Angels, Punks And Raging Queens (various), Hello, Dolly! (Dolly Levi), The Sound Of Music (Mother Abbess), Wicked Origins (Ursula & Gelinda), Kipps: Half A Sixpence (Mrs Walsingham), For The Love Of Animation (various), Jekyll & Hyde (Lady Beaconsfield), Hooray For Hollywood (various) and Made In Dagenham (Beryl).
Nick Sephton
Nick Sephton, chief operating officer
NICK holds an Engineering Doctorate in Large Scale Complex Systems from the University of York, having won multiple Best Paper awards for his published works. Subsequently worked as software architect at University of York Digital Creativity Lab.
Nick has extensive experience in leadership and event logistics roles, having worked as both a senior technical architect and lead developer. He also has experience in roles such as UK Community Leader for WPN Judge Program, Magic Tournament Floor Rules Manager for WPN Judge Program and chair of Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company.
Having been a keen singer for some time, Nick’s first named role was as the Sergeant of Police in Pirates Of Penzance. Since become a regular in the York theatre scene.
Credits include: Fester Addams (The Addams Family), Lord Chancellor (Iolanthe), Rudolph Reisenweber (Hello Dolly!), Sir Danvers Carew (Jekyll & Hyde), Mr Shalford (Kipps: Half A Sixpence), Captain Corcoran (HMS Pinafore), Eddie O’Grady (Made in Dagenham), Sir Marmaduke (The Sorcerer), Colonel Calverly (Patience), Strephon (Iolanthe) and Escamilio (Cover – Carmen).
When not on stage, Nick is a keen double bass player and enjoys playing board games.
Guests and hosts at the September 14 launch party for Wharfemede Productions
Sam Hird: Singing Sondheim with Pick Me Up Theatre
ROYAL College of Music student Sam Hird returns home to York to join his father Mark Hird in the Pick Me Up Theatre company for Sondheim We Remember at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, from March 27 to 30.
Taking part too in this celebration of New York composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim will be director Helen ‘Bells’ Spencer, Susannah Baines, Emma Louise Dickinson, Alexandra Mather, Florence Poskitt, Andrew Roberts, Catherine Foster, Nick Sephton and Matthew Warry.
Planned originally for 2020 before Covid intervened – and Sondheim’s death on November 26 2021 at the age of 91 – Pick Me Up’s show features music from his Broadway shows, film scores and TV specials. Tickets for the 7.30pm evening shows and 2.30pm Saturday matinee are on sale at tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Pick Me Up Theatre’s company of singers for Sondheim We Remember
Pick Me Up will make a swift return to Theatre@41 with a second Sondheim show, his 1984 musical collaboration with playwright and director James Lapine, Sunday In The Park With George, from April 5 to 13.
Inspired by Georges Seurat’s pointillist painting Sunday Afternoon On The Island Of La Grande Jatte, the musical follows Seurat (played by Adam Price) in the months leading up to the completion of that famous work.
Seurat alienates the French bourgeoisie, spurns his fellow artists and neglects his lover Dot (Natalie Walker), not realising that his actions will reverberate over the next 100 years.
Performances will start at 7.30pm on April 5, 6 and 9 to 13, plus 2.30pm on April 6, 7 and 13. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Picture pose: Pick Me Up Theatre’s Emma-Louise Dickinson, as Celeste, adds to the scene in Georges Seurat’s painting Sunday Afternoon On The Island Of La Grande Jatte, the inspiration for Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s musical Sunday In The Park With George
Guitarist Mickey Moran hits the histrionic heights in Bat Out Of Hell’s Dead Ringer For Love, the first-half climax to Musicals In The Multiverse. Pictures: Holly Brighton
JOSEPH Rowntree Theatre Company’s summer show is restricted to only two performances. Big cast, bags of energy and enthusiasm, fun idea for a show, and it would surely have merited a longer run.
Decent house last night, and an even bigger audience is expected tonight, with all proceeds going to the JoRo Theatre, as is the case with all JRTC productions.
This one is directed by Helen ‘Bells’ Spencer, who played the lead in Hello, Dolly! in February and now pulls the strings with aplomb.
Steven Jobson welcoming the audience to the Multiverse
She pops up in two numbers too (Beauty And The Beast’s Tale As Old As Time with Catherine Foster and an amusing pyjama party revamp of City Of Angels’ What You Don’t Know About Women with Foster, Connie Howcroft, Nicola Strataridaki, Jennie Wogan-Wells and Tessa Ellis).
Meanwhile, her children, Tempi and Lao Singhateh, enjoy a sweet, humorous cameo in Matilda’s When I Grow Up, where adults sing the children’s lines.
The show’s concept is playful, radical too, and has the potential to be rolled out again. Imagine alternative worlds – a multiverse – where musical favourites take on a new life with a change of gender, era, key or musical style, arranged with glee, joy and flourish after flourish by musical director Matthew Peter Clare for his smart band.
Connie Howcroft: A major transformation of Frozen’s Let It Go in a foreboding minor key
The opening ensemble number Pure Imagination, from Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, is an invitation for the audience to use exactly that, as songs are freed from the chains of their usual presentation.
Blood Brothers’ That Guy, without a change of lyrics, is now sung by two females, Ashley Ginter and Scarlett Rowley, who later thrives on Jennie Wogan-Wellss’ choreography in the dance number Electricity from Billy Elliot.
In His Eyes, from Jekyll & Hyde The Musical, makes the reverse switch, given to James Willstrop and Ryan Richardson in a stand-out first half duet.
High point: Scarlett Rowley is held aloft in the Billy Elliot dance number Electricity
Porgy & Bess’s Summertime blossoms anew in a barbershop setting, Jennifer Jones leads the dance ensemble in a swish Luck Be A Lady from Guys And Dolls, and Nicola Strataridaki has the last word in her slick duet with Chris Gibson in Lady Is A Tramp.
In a shift from major key to foreboding minor, Connie Howcroft deep-freezes Frozen’s Let It Go, the closing line, “The cold never bothered me anyway”, now so chilling.
In the oh-so-right choice of first-half climax, Rosy Rowley rivals Meat Loaf’s braggadocio in Dead Ringer For Love (from Bat Out Of Hell), while a series of men take on Cher’s swaggering responses. Always an over-the-top number, it becomes a company pile-on as everyone joins in, beer bottles in hand, and heavy metal-haired guitarist Mickey Moran strides to the front for a rock god solo. Moran, by the way, is outstanding throughout.
A mother’s plea: Jennie Wogan-Wells sings Les Miserables in a First World War setting
The second half opens in Matilda’s classroom before Jennie Wogan-Wells delivers the night’s most moving solo: transforming Les Miserables’ Bring Him Home into a mother’s prayer for her son to return safely from the First World War trenches.
Nick Sephton’s It’s All Coming Back To Me Now (from Bat Out Of Hell) is powerfully, sombrely reflective, Rachel Higgs’s Part Of Your World, from The Little Mermaid, is the second belter to benefit from the switch from major to minor; Steven Jobson and Richardson make you know I Know Him So Well in a new way and Rosy Rowley and Abi Carter likewise transform La Cage Aux Folles’ Song On The Sand.
The most impactful reinvention of all, made all the punchier by Wogan-Wells’s choreography, is Cell Block Tango, where Richard Goodall, Gibson, Richardson, Jack James Fry, Jobson and Willstrop’s murderers in toxic orange prison overalls brag about their deeds, as the dancers strut around them in familiar Chicago style.
Murdering a song…most entertainingly: the orange-overalled prisoners (Richard Goodall, Chris Gibson, Ryan Richardson, Jack James FRy, Steven Jobson and James Willstrop) brag of their crimes to the Dancers in Chicago’s Cell Block Tango
Tessa Ellis turns Beauty And The Beast’s Evermore into a Sixties ballad in Dusty Springfield or Petula Clark style; Howcroft, superb again, and Wogan-Wells vie for centre stage in The Wild Party’s Let Me Drown, and Rosy Rowley has the audience on its feet, after some insistent cajoling, for the finale, as she deepens Frankie Valli’s lead vocal in Jersey Boys’ Who Loves You?
Musicals In The Multiverse turns out to be out of this world. A sequel will surely follow.
Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company in Musicals In The Multiverse, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tonight (30/6/2023) 7.30pm. Box office: 01904 501395 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Helen Spencer directing a rehearsal of Musicals In The Multiverse. Picture: Jenny Jones
Coming next from Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company
JOSEPH Rowntree Theatre Company will present a full-scale production of the musical whodunit Curtains, from the creators of Cabaret and Chicago, Fred Ebb and John Kander, at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, from February 7 to 10 2024.
British-American composer, singer-songwriter, dramatist and author Rupert Holmes wrote the book for this 2006 comedy mystery set in the 1950s. Ebb ebbed away (RIP September 11 2004) before its completion.
The song What Kind Of Man? attacks theatre critics. Ouch!
