Leg power: Riverdance celebrates 30 years with The New Generation tour in 2025, playing York, Sheffield and Hull among 30 UK venues
RIVERDANCE 30: The New Generation will visit York Barbican for five performances from October 24 to 26 2025 on the Irish dance troupe’s 30th anniversary tour.
The British leg of next year’s global travels will take in 30 venues – one for each year of Riverdance’s history – from August to December, including further Yorkshire performances at Sheffield City Hall from August 16 to 18 and Hull Connexin Live on October 7.
For the 30th anniversary, Riverdance will welcome a new generation of performers who were not born when the show began. Those beginnings were as an eight-minute interval act in the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest at The Point in Dublin, where Michael Flatley was among the original dancers.
Directed by John McColgan, produced by Moya Doherty and featuring compositions by Bill Whelen, Riverdance 30 will “rejuvenate the original show with new innovative choreography and costumes and state-of-the-art lighting, projection and motion graphics” in a performance by dancers, musicians and singers that will blend the traditional with the contemporary.
McColgan says: “It is both a privilege and a delight to celebrate 30 years of Riverdance and the unique journey it has taken us on. In those 30 years, the show has transformed from a spectacle into a global cultural phenomenon – continuously evolving yet remaining true to its Irish roots.
“On this upcoming tour we look forward to welcoming ‘The New Generation’ of artists while paying tribute to the talented performers, creators, dedicated crew and the millions of fans who have made Riverdance a worldwide celebration of music and dance.”
Irish green: Anniversary celebrations in Riverdance 30: The New Generation
Principal dancer and dance captain Fergus Fitzpatrick says: “Being part of Riverdance’s journey is an absolute honour. It’s truly a dream come true to get to perform the principal role in this phenomenon.
“As we approach our 30th anniversary, the excitement for the incredible work our team and creative talents are about to unveil is palpable.
“I can’t wait to see what they will produce and feel the excited pulse of the audience’s response. This milestone is not just a celebration of Riverdance’s past but a light that inspires the new generation of performers all around the world.”
Fellow principal dancer and dance captain Amy Mae Dolan adds: “I am fascinated to see how Riverdance continues to grow and evolve over the next decade. I have no doubt that it will continue to surpass our expectations, move audiences and inspire new generations for dancers to come.”
Riverdance 30: The New Generation, York Barbican, October 24 to 26 2025, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday and Sunday matinees. Box office: axs.com/york.
Sheffield City Hall, August 16 to 18 2025, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday and Sunday matinees; sheffieldcityhall.co.uk. Hull Connexin Live, October 7 2025, 7.30pm; connexinlivehull.com.
Unhappy hour at The Midnight Bell tavern? Oh, but the joys of a new Matthew Bourne show visiting York Theatre Royal
DANCE at the double, Jekyll & Hyde, a quartet of short plays, sax music and Late Music, a Manic Monday and a Taylor-made gig are Charles Hutchinson’s pick of the early autumn harvest of live shows.
Intoxicated tales from darkest Soho: Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell, York Theatre Royal, tonight to Saturday, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee
CHOREOGRAPHER and storyteller in dance Matthew Bourne’s new show for New Adventures explores the underbelly of 1930s’ London life, where ordinary people emerge from cheap boarding houses nightly to pour out their passions hopes and dreams in the bars of fog-bound Soho and Fitzrovia.
Inside The Midnight Bell, one particularly lonely-hearts club gathers to play out lovelorn affairs of the heart; bitter comedies of longing, frustration, betrayal and redemption.
Inspired by novelist Patrick Hamilton, Bourne’s dance theatre show will challenge and reveal the darker reaches of the human heart. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk
Hands down (by your sides) if you can’t wait for the return of Riverdance
The other dance event of the week: Riverdance: The New 25th Anniversary Show, York Barbican, tomorrow to Sunday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
TWENTY-FIVE years on, composer Bill Whelan has re-recorded his mesmerising soundtrack while producer Moya Doherty and director John McColgan have completely reimagined the Irish and international dance show with innovative and spectacular lighting, projection, stage and costume designs.
The 25th Anniversary show catapults Riverdance into the 21st century and will “completely immerse you in the extraordinary and elemental power of its music and dance”. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Blackeyed Theatre in Nick Lane’s take on Jekyll & Hyde, on tour at Stephen Joseph Theatre
Play of the week outside York: Blackeyed Theatre in The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde , Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, tonight until Saturday
NICK Lane’s adaptation of Jekyll & Hyde draws inspiration from his own journey. Injured by a car accident when he was 26 that permanently damaged his neck and back, he imagines Jekyll as a physically weakened man who discovers a cure for his ailments; a cure that also unearths the darkest corners of his psyche.
“I wondered, if someone offered me a potion that was guaranteed to make me feel the way I did before the accident, but with the side effect that I’d become ruthless and horrible – would I drink it?” ponders Lane.
Combining ensemble storytelling, physical theatre, movement and a new musical score by Tristan Parkes, Lane remains true to the spirit and themes of the original novella while adding a major female character, Eleanor. Box office: 01723 370541 or at sjt.uk.com.
Caught Short? No photos, so here is the poster artwork for RhymeNReason Put On Shorts, up and running at Theatre@41
Short run of the week: RhymeNReason Put On Shorts, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm
WHAT was Margaret Thatcher’s relationship with Jimmy Savile? Why did a Yorkshire pensioner try to smuggle a fruit cake through Australian customs? What really happened on day three in the Garden of Eden? How should a perfect murder end in a real cliff hanger?
Questions, questions, all these questions, will be answered in funny, thought-provoking short plays by Yorkshire writers David Allison, Steve Brennen, Lisa Holdsworth and Graham Rollason. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Sax Forte: Lunchtime concert at St Saviourgate Unitarian Chapel
The good sax guide: Sax Forte, Friday Concerts, St Saviourgate Unitarian Chapel, York, tomorrow, 12.30m
YORK saxophone quartet Sax Forte – Chris Hayes, Keith Schooling, Jane Parkin and David Badcock – open York Unitarians’ new season of Friday Concerts with an afternoon programme of English and French music.
Introducing themselves, Sax Forte say: “Chris plays soprano sax because he likes showing off; Keith plays alto sax because he tries to keep up with Chris; Jane plays baritone because she’s got the strongest shoulders; David knows his place (with apologies to The Two Ronnies and John Cleese)!”
The saxophone was not invented until the mid-19th century, but Sax Forte will be playing earlier classical and baroque pieces, trad folk tunes and later 19th and 20th works for sax quartet.
Conductor Simon Wright: Bringing together York Guildhall Orchestra and Leeds Festival Chorus next month
Classic comeback: York Guildhall Orchestra, York Barbican, October 16, 7.30pm
YORK Guildhall Orchestra return to the concert stage on October 16 after the pandemic hiatus with a programme of operatic favourites, conducted by Simon Wright.
The York musicians will be joined by Leeds Festival Chorus and two soloists, soprano Jenny Stafford, and tenor Oliver Johnston, to perform overtures, arias and choruses by Tchaikovsky, Wagner, Rossini, Mozart, Puccini and Verdi. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Late Music…now: Gemini, St Saviourgate Unitarian Chapel, Saturday, 7.30pm
YORK’S Late Music programme of contemporary music returns from pandemic lockdown with Gemini on Saturday night.
First performances will be given of Gemini’s commission of Sadie Harrison’s Fire In Song and Morag Galloway’s It’s Getting Hot In Here, complemented by Peter Maxwell Davies’s Economies Of Scale and works by York composer Steve Crowther and Philip Grange. Box office: latemusic.org or on the door.
Reflection and reaction: Manic Street Preachers showcase new album Ultra Vivid Lament at York Barbican
Not just another Manic Monday: Manic Street Preachers, York Barbican, Monday, 8pm
WELSH rock band Manic Street Preachers play York on Monday, with a second Yorkshire gig at Leeds O2 Academy on October 7.
Their autumn itinerary is showcasing this month’s release of their 14th studio album, The Ultra Vivid Lament: “both reflection and reaction; a record that gazes in isolation across a cluttered room, fogged by often painful memories, to focus on an open window framing a gleaming vista of land melting into sea and endless sky,” say the Manics. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
From Queen to Outsider: Roget Taylor in concert at York Barbican
The inside track on the outsider: Roger Taylor, Outsider Tour, York Barbican, Tuesday, 7pm
QUEEN drummer Roger Taylor plays York Barbican as the only Yorkshire show of this autumn’s Outsider tour in support of his new album of that name, out tomorrow.
“This is my modest tour,” he says. “I just want it to be lots of fun, very good musically, and I want everybody to enjoy it. I’m really looking forward to it. Will I be playing Queen songs too? Absolutely!” Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Go wild in the country: The Shires look forward to returning yet again to the East Yorkshire market town of Pocklington next January
Gig announcement of the week outside York: The Shires, Pocklington Arts Centre, January 26 2022
THE Shires, Britain’s best-selling country music act, will bring their 2022 intimate acoustic tour to their regular haunt of Pocklington next January.
“Wembley Stadium, MEN Arena, Grand Ole Opry are all amazing, but Pocklington will always be a special place for us,” say Ben Earle and Crissie Rhodes, who are working on their fifth album. Box office: 01759 301547 or at pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
We’ve been expecting you, Mr Bond…for a long time
Oh, and just one other thing….
BOND, James Bond. Yes, after all those false dawns in the accursed Covid lockdowns, the perpetually postponed final curtain for Daniel Craig’s 007 opens today when it really is time for No Time To Die to live or die at last. Shaken or stirred, thrilled or deflated, you decide.
