Tag: Shed Seven

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More Things To Do in York and beyond as the ‘Sheds’ have a day out amid the huts. Hutch’s List No. 26, from The York Press

Shed Seven, huts five: Heading to the Yorkshire coast for the York band’s Scarborough Open Air Theatre debut today

OPEN studios, chocolate tales, dinosaurs and reflections on time make for a typically diverse week ahead in Charles Hutchinson’s diary.

Coastal gig of the week: Shed Seven, Jake Bugg and Cast, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, tonight; gates open at 6pm

THE 2025 season of Cuffe & Taylor concerts in the bracing sea air of Scarborough is under way. After two chart-topping 2024 albums in their 30th anniversary year, York band Shed Seven make their belated Scarborough Open Air Theatre debut tonight, supported by Jake Bugg and Cast. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.

Ric Liptrot: Taking part in North Yorkshire Open Studios at PICA Studios, Grape Lane, York, today and tomorrow

Festival of the week: North Yorkshire Open Studios, today and tomorrow, 10am to 5pm

MORE than 200 artists and makers are taking part in North Yorkshire Open Studios 2025. In and around York, look out for Helen Drye; Emma James; Alex Ash; Dee Thwaite; Veronica Ongara; Rachel Jones; Laura Duval; Karen Winship; Donna Maria Taylor; Di Gomery;  Caroline Utterson; Jacqueline Warrington; Constance Isobel; Jill Tattersall and Adele Karmazyn.

Opening their studios too will be: Mo Nisbet; Robin Groveer-Jacques; Fran Brammer; Rob Burton; Jo Walton; Ric Liptrot; Rae George; Lu Mason; Lisa Power; Lesley Shaw; Katrina Mansfield; Evie Leach; Drawne Up; Sam Jones; Greenthwaite Sculptor (Janie Stevens); Sarah Schiewe Ceramics; Gonzalo Blanco, Gina Bean; Freya Horsley; Graham Jones; Justine Warner; Andrew Bloodworth and Steve Page. Full details can be found at nyos.org.uk.

Theatre Of Connections: Bringing to life the deep roots of chocolate’s story in IxCacao at York Theatre Royal Studio

Chocolate story of the week: Theatre Of Connections, IxCacao, York Theatre Royal Studio, today, 4pm

INSPIRED by the Mayan legend of the Cacao Goddess, IxCacao journeys into an ancient time when the Earth thrived under the care of matriarchs and the rhythm of nature. Movement, song, and storytelling combine in a reclamation of community, pleasure and ancestral knowledge in the face of domination:  a reminder that joy is a revolutionary act and that true abundance is meant for all.

Theatre Of Connections, a York theatre group made up of “individuals from the global majority and people with refugee and asylum-seeker background”, brings to life the deep roots of chocolate’s story to honour the many who have carried its legacy forward. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Shepherd Group Brass Band : In concert at Joseph Rowntree Theatre

Brass concert of the week: Shepherd Group Brass Band Spring Concert, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tonight, 7.30pm

FROM their Brass Roots through to their Championship section, the Shepherd  Group Brass Band presents a mix of all genres of music, culminating in a grand finale when all band members play together on stage. Tickets update: Last few still available on 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Robert Lloyd Parry: Telling tales from The Archive Of Dread at Theatre@41, Monkgate

Tales of terror of the week: Robert Lloyd Parry in The Archive Of Dread: Revisited, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight, 7.30pm

IN late 2019, Southport storyteller Robert Lloyd Parry inherited the contents of a flat belonging to a dead man he had never met. The property was full of boxes, stuffed with chilling documents: letters, diaries, newspaper cuttings, notebooks and postcards. Filed in disarray, they all told impossible tales of terror. 

After the stunning revelation of two of these documents in York last year, Lloyd Parry now begs leave to share more items from The Archive Of Dread. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Rock’n’looroll: The Dinosaur That Pooped: The Rock Show at Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow

Children’s show of the week: The Dinosaur That Pooped: A Rock Show, Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow, 12.30pm and 3.30pm 

WHEN Danny and Dino’s favourite rock band announce their last ever concert, they go on a quest to acquire the last two tickets. However, a villainous band manager is lurking, so nothing goes to plan. Will the band perform? Will Danny rock out? Or will Dino’s rumbling tummy save the day?

Adapted from the number one best-selling books by McFly’s Tom Fletcher and Dougie Poynter, this new 60-minute stage show, directed by Miranda Larson, promises a “poopy good time” for all the family. Cue new songs by Fletcher and Poynter, loads of laughs and “a whole lot of poo”. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Singer Jessa Liversidge, left, and her poet sister Andrea Brown: Combining in A Tapestry Of Life at Theatre@41, Monkgate

Life, love and loss: Jessa Liversidge: A Tapestry Of Life, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tomorrow, 6pm

EASINGWOLD singer, songwriter and community singing workshop champion Jessa Liversidge presents her 60-minute solo musical performance, inspired by Carole King’s album Tapestry.

Such much-loved songs as You’ve Got A Friend, Will You Love Me  Tomorrow?, It’s Too Late, So Far Away, I Feel The Earth Move and Natural Woman will be interspersed with original songs, rooted in the powerful poetry of Jessa’s sister, Andrea Brown, from her Life, Love, Loss collection, reflecting on “life’s big themes of love and friendship and loss, situations and journeys, that every human can identify with”. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Comedian Raul Kohli: Exploring what it means to be British in Raul Britannia at Theatre@41, Monkgate

Comedy gig of the week: Raul Kohli: Raul Britannia, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, June 21, 8pm

COMEDIAN and proud Brit Raul Kohli is the son of a Hindu Indian and Sikh Singaporean, raised in Newcastle upon Tyne, where his best friend was a Pakistani Muslim.

Kohli has lived in every corner of this glorious nation and is fascinated by the diversity of these small isles.  Imagine his surprise to hear from politicians and the media that “multiculturalism has failed”: the spark that lit the flame for his exploration of what it means to be British. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Poet Ian Parks: Performing in About Time Too at St Olave’s, Marygate, York, this evening

In Focus: York Festival of Ideas event of the day: Navigators Art presents About Time Too, St Olave’s, Marygate, York,today, 7pm

ABOUT Time Too rounds off a day of free talks celebrating time. Navigators Art’s evening concert features poetry readings, music and original song settings, including works by York-born poet W H Auden and Nobel Prize winner Seamus Heaney, together with time-related works by York writers and musicians.

Taking part will be Jane Stockdale, from White Sail; poet Ian Parks; electronic musicians  Namke Productions; writer and University of York creative industries academic JT Welsch and poet and novelist Janet Dean Knight. Box office: bit.ly/nav-events.

Meanwhile, the Micklegate Arts Trail is in its final week, ending on Sunday (15/6/2025) with live music at The Falcon and The Hooting Owl at 2pm and 7pm, as well as works by 35 York artists in shops, cafes, pubs and restaurants.

Look out, in particular, for the display of 3D work in Holy Trinity church, curated by Navigators team member Nick Walters.

Navigators Art’s poster for Making Waves Live!, Sounds of the Solstice

In addition, the Making Waves exhibition is extending the Arts Trail into City Screen Picturehouse, Micklegate, where collage artist George Willmore has curated an exhibition by 20 further artists, including new and more familiar York names. The works are on show in the cafe and the first-floor corridor gallery until July 4.

All events are free and the trail and exhibition are open during business and licensing hours.

In the aftermath of the festival, Making Waves Live! Sounds of The Solstice in The Basement at City Screen Picturehouse will showcase some of Navigators Art’s favourite performers from the past two years of live events, complemented new friends, on June 21.

The first session will run from 4pm to 6.30pm; the second will start at 7.30pm after a break. “We’ve lined up a superb range of local poets, comedians, singers and bands in a celebratory midsummer festival,” says Navigators Art co-founder Richard Kitchen.

Taking part will be folk song duo Adderstone, poet Becca Drake, comedian Cooper Robson, storyteller Lara McClure, punk/jazz trio Borgia, psychedelic band Soma Crew and more. For full details and tickets (from Ticket Source), go to:  bit.ly/nav-events.


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Shed Seven launch summer of love-in shows at Scarborough Open Air Theatre

Shed Seven, huts five: Scarborough Open Air Theatre awaits the York band this weekend

SHED Seven are off to the Yorkshire coast on Saturday for their “biggest ever headline show in their home county”, a long-overdue debut at Scarborough Open Air Theatre.

Joining York’s Britpop titans at the UK’s largest purpose-built outdoor concert arena will be special guests Jake Bugg and Cast. 

“It’s been a dream of ours for some time to head out to the coast to play Scarborough OAT,” said Sheds frontman Rick Witter when tickets went on sale last October. “It’s a stunning and historic venue…Yorkshire’s very own Hollywood Bowl!

“It’s going to be a huge celebration following the success we had in 2024. Expect big hits and huge singalongs. See you down the front.”

In addition, Shed Seven will play either side of the Pennine divide for Sounds Of The City 2025, first at Castlefield Bowl, Manchester, on July 4, followed by a return to Leeds Millennium Square on July 11, having headlined the Sound Of The City bill there on July 15 2023. Ian Broudie’s Lightning Seeds and The Sherlocks will be on support duty on both nights. 

The first question to ask Rick, after the annus mirabilis of the Sheds’ 30th anniversary year, is “what have you been up to since the chart-topping highs of 2024”?

“It’s been a bit of a quiet beginning to the year, but then suddenly it’s June!” he says. “I was best man to Paul [guitarist Paul Banks] at his wedding at the start of March, when he married Mel.

Rick Witter and guitarist Paul Banks performing on the first night of Shed Seven’s 30th anniversary celebrations at Live At York Museum Gardens last summer. Picture: David Harrison

“I sorted out his stag do, and then at the wedding I sang Chasing Rainbows, changing the words for the happy couple.”

Already the Sheds have played their first outdoor show of 2025, supporting Sheffield United fan Paul Heaton at his beloved Bramall Lane homecoming on May 25. “It wasn’t our gig, so we just rocked up and did our thing. Playing Chasing Rainbows to 28,000 was great,” says Rick. 

Rehearsals for Scarborough and the summer season ahead took place on Monday and Tuesday before the Sheds headed to Norway to play Bergen. “We’re really looking forward to Scarborough. Yes, it’s not before time, but it’s worked in our favour because we could do the end-of-year 30th anniversary tour and then do the festivals this summer, knowing we needed to take a bit of a break in between.

“It’s nice not to have the pressure of having to sell albums this year. It’s more like a victory lap for us. We have some great ideas for the shows, but I can’t reveal them – though it could be in keeping with things like having the kids’ choir from our old school [Huntington School] singing with us in the Museum Gardens last summer. Something like that.”

The Sheds take pride in providing good value in the bills they have put together for Scarborough, Manchester and Leeds. “We always want to create as much value for money as we can get, while keeping prices as low as possible,” says Rick. “We talk with our booking agents and promoters, and thankfully all the acts we asked were more than happy to join the Shed Seven party.”

Shed Seven will be playing 14 festival and open-air shows this summer, not least a “career-spanning set” at Glastonbury festival on June 27. “It’s our first time there in 30 years, when we played possibly the NME stage. There was a huge crowd for us back then, and this time we’ll be on the Woodsies stage, which used to be the John Peel Stage, playing mid-afternoon on the Friday [5.15pm to 6pm to be precise].

“It’s going to be in a tent, which is nice because you know the audience are there for you, and the lighting show can be better.”

Reflecting on the maximum highs of 2024 – the brace of number one albums, the Museum Gardens concerts and 30th anniversary tour – Rick says: “What a year! At the end of the day, you never know what’s coming next with what you do, but we could sense something building over the last few years, and then everything seemed to align for us last year.

Shed Seven’s poster for Live Summer 2025 concerts at Scarborough Open Air Theatre, Manchester Castlefield Bowl and Leeds Millennium Square

“How incredible for it to happen in our 30th year, but the fact we are self-managed now and in control gave us our buzz,  and we became the biggest we’d been since the mid-1990s.

“It got to the point in November [when on tour], where I was getting up, cleaning my teeth, looking in the mirror and thinking. ‘oh no, not you again’! But I think we’re very savvy as a band at knowing when to push it and when to step back.”

Rick continues: “I’m very proud that we’re among only 20 acts since 1953 to have two UK number one albums in one year – and no other indie guitar band has done it. It’s an exclusive club!”

Looking ahead, “in the down time, we’ll start writing for the next album for a couple of years’ time, with plans for a Shedcember tour at the back end of 2026”.

Rick finished this interview with a recollection from 1995. “We had nowhere to rehearse in York at the time, but Tom [Gladwin], the bass player, knew the owner of the Cockerill potato plant, on Hull Road, where there was a disused office just collecting dust.

“His son said, ‘if you want to go and write and record there’…and that’s where we put together the ideas for A Maximum High. Then B&Q bought the site, and where they now sell sheds at B&Q is the exact spot where Cockerills had that disused office. It’s like it was meant to be!”

Shed Seven play Scarborough Open Air Theatre, supported by Jake Bugg and Cast, June 14; gates open at 6pm. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com/shedseven.

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 25, from Gazette & Herald

Making her point: Martha Godber’s Sally, left, in a contretemps with Chloe McDonald’s Nat as Emilio Encinoso-Gil’s Kyle seeks to intervene in John Godber’s Do I Love You?

CELEBRATIONS of Northern Soul and British comedy greats are right up Charles Hutchinson’s street for the week ahead.  

Weekender of the week: John Godber Company in Do I Love You?, York Theatre Royal, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees; post-show discussion on June 13

THE John Godber Company is on its third tour of John Godber’s hymn to keeping the faith in Northern Soul, with the same cast of Martha Godber, Chloe McDonald and Emilio Encinoso-Gil.

Inspired by Godber’s devotion to Northern Soul, Do I Love You? follows three twentysomethings, slumped in the drudgery of drive-through counter jobs, who find excitement, purpose and their tribe as they head to weekenders all over, from Bridlington Spa to the Blackpool Tower Ballroom, Chesterfield to Stoke. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

The fez, the spectacles and the bow tie: Damian Williams’s Tommy Cooper, Bob Golding’s Eric Morecambe and Simon Cartwright’s Bob Monkhouse in The Last Laugh, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York

Comedy legends of the week: The Last Laugh, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm matinees today, tomorrow and Saturday

WHO will have The Last Laugh at the Grand Opera House when British comedy triumvirate Eric Morecambe, Tommy Cooper and Bob Monkhouse reconvene in a dressing room in Paul Hendy’s play?

Find out in the Edinburgh Fringe, West End and New York hit’s first tour stop as Bob Golding, Damian Williams and Simon Cartwright take on the iconic roles in this new work by the Evolutions Productions director, who just happens to write York Theatre Royal’s pantomimes too. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

One of the Famous Faces on show in the Artistic Spectrum exhibition at Pocklington Arts Centre

Exhibition of the week: Artistic Spectrum: Famous Faces, Pocklington Arts Centre, on show until June 27

BOLD artworks feature in Famous Faces, a powerful, large-scale portrait project from Artistic Spectrum, co-created with more than 100 neuro-divergent and Special Educational Needs children and adults across East and South Yorkshire to challenge perceptions, champion inclusivity and put the power of representation into the hands of those too often left out of the frame.

Developed in group workshops over several weeks, participants created striking portraits of people who inspired them, from musicians and sports stars to activists and screen icons, using collage, found materials and personal objects to make works rich with texture, colour and personal meaning.

Comedian Scott Bennett and his daughter in the promotional picture for Blood Sugar Baby, on tour in York and Pocklington

Storyteller of the week: Scott Bennett, Blood Sugar Baby, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight, 8pm; Pocklington Arts Centre, August 6, 8pm

ONE family, one condition, one hell of a hairy baby: Scott Bennett, from The News Quiz, relates how his daughter fell ill with a rare genetic condition, congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI).

Never heard of it?  Neither have new parents Scott and Jemma as they fight to achieve  the right diagnosis for their daughter and are plunged into months of bewildering treatment, sleepless nights, celebrity encounters and bizarre side effects, but a happy ending ensues. Box office: York, tickets.41monkgate.co.uk; Pocklington, 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Shed Seven: Off to the Yorkshire coast on Saturday to play Scarborough Open Air Theatre

Coastal gigs of the week: The Corrs and Natalie Imbruglia, tonight; Gary Barlow and Beverley Knight, Friday; Shed Seven, Jake Bugg and Cast, Saturday, all at Scarborough Open Air Theatre; gates open at 6pm

THE 2025 season of Cuffe & Taylor concerts in the bracing sea air of Scarborough opens tonight with the Irish band The Corrs and Australian singer  and Neighbours actress Natalie Imbruglia, followed by Take That and solo songwriter and The X Factor and Let It Shine judge Gary Barlow on his Songbook Tour 2025 on Friday, when Beverley Knight supports. Expect hits from both his band and Barlow back catalogues.

After two chart-topping 2024 albums in their 30th anniversary year, York band Shed Seven make their belated Scarborough Open Air Theatre debut on Saturday, supported by Jake Bugg and Cast. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.

Henry Blofeld: Wickets and wit in cricket chat at Helmsley Arts Centre

The sound of reporting on leather on willow: An Audience With Henry Blofeld, Sharing My Love Of Cricket, Helmsley Arts Centre, tomorrow, 7.30pm, rearranged from March 21

LEGENDARY BBC broadcaster and journalist, Henry Blofeld, former stalwart of the BBC’s Test Match Special commentary box, takes a journey through modern cricket, while looking back at the great games of yesteryear.

Blowers reflects on how cricket used to be and where it is headed: the theme of his September 2024 book Sharing My Love Of Cricket: Playing The Game And Spreading The Word, wherein he explores the big shifts, innovations and challenges facing the game. Box office: helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Saul Henry: On the Funny Fridays bill at Patch at the Bonding Warehouse, York

York comedy bill of the week: Funny Fridays at Patch, Bonding Warehouse, Terry Avenue, York, Friday, 7.30pm

THE second Funny Fridays comedy night at Patch features Saul Henry, Gemma Day, Ethan Formstone, Lucy Buckley and headliner Jack Wilson, hosted by founder and comedian Katie Lingo.

Formstone’s profile reveals he is a bricklayer from York, who grew bored and now, “using his natural stage presence and wild imagination, lays surreal stories that will delight you and leave you slightly confused”. Tickets: eventbrite.co.uk/e/funny-fridays-at-patch-tickets-1353208666549?aff=oddtdtcreator.

The poster for the SatchVai Band’s Surfing With The Hydra Tour, visiting York Barbican on Friday

Rock gig of the week: SatchVai Band, Surfing With The Hydra Tour 2025, York Barbican, Friday, doors 7pm

FOR the first time in nigh on 50 years of playing rock, guitarists and friends Joe Satriani and Steve Vai have united to tour as the SatchVai Band, opening their European travels in York before heading to London, Paris, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Istanbul and Athens.

Powerhouse drummer Kenny Aronoff, bassist Marco Mendoza and virtuoso guitarist Pete Thorn complete the stellar quintet. Box office: for returns only, yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Alex telling her story in EGO Arts’ You Know My Mum at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, on Friday

Cheeky comedy of life, loss and love for all the family: EGO Arts in You Know My Mum, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Friday, 7.30pm.

LEADING EGO Midlands Creative Academy’s disabled and neuro-divergent cast, Alex is a 25-year-old woman with Down’s syndrome struggling with the death of her mum. One day, she discovers Bluey, a baby Blue Tit, in her garden.

While Bluey learns about fried chicken factories and joins a boot camp for birds, Alex battles Harry Potter monsters and dreams about life after death. As her wild imagination comes to life, she learns that the love she thought she lost is all around her. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond when night-time incidents spark curiosity. Hutch’s List No. 13, from The York Press

Kiki Dee & Carmelo Ruggeri: Heading to All Saints Church, Pocklington on The Long Ride Home tour

FOUR nights of Greg Davies and tenth visit of Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers are the headline acts in Charles Hutchinson’s bill for cultural satisfaction.

Acoustic duo of the week: Kiki Dee & Carmelo Luggeri, All Saints Church, Pocklington, tonight, 7.30pm

JOIN Bradford-born singer Kiki Dee and guitarist Carmelo Luggeri for an acoustic journey through their songs and stories, taking in songs from 2022 album The Long Ride Home, Kate Bush and Frank Sinatra covers and hits from Kiki’s 55 years and more in the music business, Don’t Go Breaking My Heart, Star, I Got The Music In Me, Loving & Free and Amoureuse. Box office: kikiandcarmelo.com.

Brighouse & Rastrick Band: A blast of brass on Sunday afternoon at Pocklington Arts Centre

Brass concert of the week: Brighouse & Rastrick Band, Pocklington Arts Centre, tomorrow, 2pm

FOREVER associated with 1977 number two hit and “unofficial encore” The Floral Dance, West Yorkshire’s Brighouse & Rastrick Band presents a concert suitable for casual listener and connoisseur alike.

The majority of premier band championships have been held by ‘Briggus’, most recently becoming the 2022 British Open and Brass in Concert champions. ‘Briggus’ are noted too for collaborations outside the brass band tradition, from the late Terry Wogan to Kate Rusby, classical actor Simon Callow to The Unthanks at York Minster in 2012. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Tom Holland: Hailing Caesars at Grand Opera House, York

History lesson of the week: Tom Holland, The Lives Of The Caesars, Grand Opera House, York, Sunday, 7.30pm

THE Rest Is History podcaster and storyteller Tom Holland journeys back to the Roman empire to “get up close and personal” with Caesar, Augustus, Caligula and Nero as he spotlights the lives of the first 12 Roman emperors in conversation with Martha Kearney.

In this supreme arena, emperors had no choice but to fight, to thrill, to dazzle, as highlighted in Holland’s new Penguin Classics translation of Suetonius’s Lives Of The Twelve Caesars. Expect revelations of the emperors’ shortfalls, sex scandals, tastes, foibles and eccentricities. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Vivienne Carlyle’s Mrs Johnstone and Sean Jones’s Mickey in Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers, on tour at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Jack Merriman

Musical of the week: Blood Brothers, Grand Opera House, York, April 1 to 5, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees

WILLY Russell’s Liverpool musical makes its tenth visit to the Grand Opera House, and despite Sean Jones’s appearance in the 2022 tour being billed as his “last ever” after 23 years on and off as Mrs Johnstone’s son Mickey, here he is once more, still  “running around as a seven-year-old in a baggy green jumper and short trousers” at 54.

Scottish actress Vivienne Carlyle, who played Mrs Lyons on her previous Blood Brothers visit to York, takes the role of Mrs J in Russell’s moving tale of twins separated at birth, who grow up on the opposite sides of the tracks, only to meet again with tragic consequences. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Curiouser and curiouser: Pick Me Up Theatre in The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York

Play of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, April 1 to 5,7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday

ANDREW Isherwood directs York company Pick Me Up Theatre in Simon Stephens’s stage adaptation of Mark Haddon’s story of Christopher Boone (Jonathan Wells), a 15-year-old boy with an extraordinary brain Exceptionally gifted at Maths, he finds everyday life and interaction with other people very confusing.

Christopher has never ventured alone beyond the end of his road, hates being touched and deeply distrusts strangers, but everything changes when he falls under suspicion for killing his neighbour’s dog, propelling him on a journey of self-discovery that upturns his world. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Greg Davies: Milking it in his Full Fat Legend stand-up show

Comedy gigs of the week: Greg Davies: Full Fat Legend, York Barbican, April 2 to 5,

TOWERING comedian Greg Davies plays York Barbican for a full-fat four nights on his Full Fat Legend Tour, his first on British soil for seven years.

The 6ft 8 inch star of Taskmaster, The Inbetweeners, The Cleaner, Never Mind The Buzzcocks, Man Down and Cuckoo is undertaking his biggest stand-up tour to date. He last played York Barbican on November 1 and 2 2017 on his You Magnificent Beast tour, his first travels for four years. Tickets update: Sold out; for returns only, go to yorkbarbican.co.uk. Davies’s Hull Connexin Live shows on June 3 and 4 and at Leeds First Direct Arena on June 20 are sold out too.

Daniel Wilmot’s Count Dracula in Baron Productions’ Dracula at St Mary’s Church, Bishophill Junior, York

High stakes of the week: Baron Productions in Dracula, St Mary’s Church, Bishophill Junior, York, April 3 to 5, 7.30pm

FOUNDER and director Daniel Wilmot makes it Count when starring as the mysterious Dracula in York company Baron Productions’ account of Bram Stoker’s Gothic masterpiece in one of York’s most atmospheric churches.

When Jonathan Harker (Jack McAdam) embarks on a business trip to Count Dracula’s Transylvanian castle, little does he know the terror that awaits him. Guided by the wise Professor Van Helsing (Lee Gemmell), a courageous group must gamble their lives, even their very souls, to stop Dracula’s evil plans to enslave the world. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk/baron-productions. 

Pianist Ian Pace

Classical concert of the week: York Late Music presents The Beethoven Project: Ian Pace, Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, April 5, 7.30pm

IN the second of The Beethoven Project concerts for York Late Music, pianist Ian Pace continues his exploration of Beethoven’s nine symphonies (transcribed by Franz Liszt) with his iconic Pastoral Symphony No. 6.

The programme also includes Michael Finnissy’s English Country Tunes (1-3), Beethoven’s Six Goethe-Lieder (transcribed by Liszt) and a new work of three musical tributes by Steve Crowther, Rock With Stock, A Study In Glass and Louis’ Angry Blues. Box office: latemusic.org/product/ian-pace-concert-tickets/ or on the door.

The poster for the new additions to Lightning Seeds’ Tomorrow’s Here Today 35 Years Greatest Hits Tour

Gig announcement of the week: Lightning Seeds, Tomorrow’s Here Today 35 Years Greatest Hits Tour, York Barbican, October 9, doors 7pm

LIVERPOOL singer, songwriter and producer Ian Broudie is extending Lightning Seeds’ 35th anniversary tour with 11 more dates this autumn. Here come Pure, The Life Of Riley, Change, Lucky You, Sense, All I Want, Sugar Coated Iceberg, You Showed Me, Emily Smiles, Three Lions and many more from his 20-track Tomorrow’s Here Today: 35 Years Of Lightning Seeds compilation album. This summer, Lightning Seeds will support York band Shed Seven at Millennium Square, Leeds, on July 11. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Our Star Theatre Company’s tour poster for Hannay Stands Fast

In Focus: Our Star Theatre Company in Hannay Stands Fast, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York

OUR Star Theatre Company cut a dash at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, on Thursday and Friday in Hannay Stands Fast, the sequel to The 39 Steps.

Adapted by David Edgar from John Buchan’s novel, this rip-roaring comedy finds dashing hero Richard Hannay back in the fray on a mission to thwart a new and deadly threat to his beloved England.

Engaged on this top-secret case by MI5, Hannay makes his way down to Cornwall to infiltrate a secretive organisation and learn their dastardly plans. Can he save the day to keep the nation safe for another day? Cue derring-do, utter chaos and laughs aplenty in a show replete with a train, motorbike, ambulance, car, police vehicle, even a horse.

“Like for our production of The 39 Steps, Hannay Stands Fast is taken on by four actors playing dozens of characters – 53 to be precise! – set in various locations created through quick and innovative uses of trunks, crates, suitcases, ladders, you name it!” says director Ben Mowbray, who founded the Ledbury, Herefordshire company in 2016.

Our Star Theatre Company are visiting York on the debut UK tour of the British professional premiere of Hannay Stands Fast with a cast of George Cooper as Hannay and Angharad Mortimer in her company debut as Mary Lambington (and others), joined by the multi-role-playing Daniel Davies and Mowbray as First and Second Clown.

Our Star Theatre Company in Hannay Stands Fast, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, April 3 and 4, 7.30pm. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

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Lightning Seeds to play York Barbican on October 9 on extended 35 Years Greatest Hits Tour. When do tickets go on sale?

Ian Broudie: 35 years of Lightning Seeds at York Barbican. Picture: Peter Ashworth

LIVERPOOL singer, songwriter and producer Ian Broudie is extending Lightning Seeds’ 35th anniversary tour with 11 more dates this autumn, taking in York Barbican on October 9. Tickets go on sale on Friday at 10am at https://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/the-lightning-seeds/.

The first tranche of Tomorrow’s Here Today: 35 Years Greatest Hits Tour dates took in Scarborough Spa Grand Hall last November and The Welly, Hull, and Leeds Beckett Students’ Union in December among 22 sold-out shows to accompany the release of the 20-track Tomorrow’s Here Today compilation album.

Broudie, 66, says: “Wow, I can’t believe it’s been 35 years! Our first single Pure really opened the door to a life’s worth of songs, shows and recordings. I owe everything to Pure and I’m really looking forward to celebrating the 35th anniversary of its release.”

Here come Pure, The Life Of Riley, Change, Lucky You, Sense, All I Want, Sugar Coated Iceberg, You Showed Me, Emily Smiles, Three Lions et al and many more, not only at York Barbican but also in a second Yorkshire gig at Holmfirth Picturedrome on October 11 (box office: picturedrome.net).

Earlier in 2025, Lightning Seeds will support York band Shed Seven at Millennium Square, Leeds, on July 11.

The poster for Lightning Seeds’ extended Tomorrow’s Here Today 35 Years Greatest Hits Tour, visiting York Barbican on October 9

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Nile Rodgers & CHIC confirmed as Live At York Museum Gardens headliners for July 4. When do tickets go on sale?

After playing Forest Live at Dalby Forest last June, Nile Rodgers will return to the great Yorkshire outdoors to headline Live At York Museum Gardens in July

NILE Rodgers & CHIC is the second headliner to be confirmed for Futuresound’s summer concert series Live At York Museum Gardens.

The trail-blazing New York-born disco musician, songwriter, guitarist and record producer, 72, will be joined on the July 4 bill by special guest Jalen Ngonda, the American soul, hip hop and jazz singer and songwriter who found his voice in Liverpool.

York exclusive postcode presale (for YO1 | YO10 | YO19 | YO23 | YO24 | YO26 | YO30 | YO31 | YO32) will go on sale at 9am on Thursday at https://futuresound.seetickets.com/event/nile-rodgers-chic/york-museum-gardens/3257099?pre=postcode.

General sales will open at 9am on Friday at https://futuresound.seetickets.com/event/nile-rodgers-chic/york-museum-gardens/3257099.

As a founding member of CHIC, Rodgers is responsible for such hits as Everybody Dance, I Want Your Love and Good Times and as a  producer he has collaborated with David Bowie, Madonna, Coldplay, Beyoncé and Daft Punk.

Elbow: Live At York Museum Gardens concert on July 3 has sold out

Futuresound Group’s first show confirmed for 2025, featuring Mercury Prize winners Elbow on July 3, has sold out already and further shows are set to be announced imminently for July 5 and 6.

Presented in tandem with York Museums Trust, the Leeds-based promoter’s inaugural July 2024 weekend drew 12,000 music fans to a brace of 30th anniversary home-city gigs by Shed Seven, with special guest Peter Doherty, preceded by Anglo-Italian singer-songwriter Jack Savoretti the previous night.

Rachel Hill, Futuresound Group’s project manager, says: “We’re incredibly excited to be working with York Museums Trust for our second year on Live at York Museums Gardens. Announcing the one and only Nile Rodgers and CHIC performing in the gardens is just surreal, especially off the back of Elbow selling out! 2025’s Live at York Museum Gardens series is shaping up to be an unmissable addition to the city’s summer calendar.”

Richard Saward, head of operations at York Museums Trust, says: “We are beyond delighted to welcome Nile Rogers and CHIC to York Museum Gardens this summer. With the band’s unbelievable repertoire and legendary live reputation, we’re already looking forward to a fantastic evening with everyone in full boogie mode.”

Founded in the 1830s, York Museum Gardens comprise ten acres of botanic gardens set against the backdrop of the ruins of St Mary’s Abbey and are the home to the Yorkshire Museum too. The gardens welcome around 1.3 million visitors a year.

Shed Seven’s Paul Banks, left, and Rick Witter performing at Live At York Museum Gardens last July. Picture: David Harrison
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More Things To Do in York and beyond in 2025, whether new or Oldman. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 1, from The Press, York

Laura Fraser’s DI Bea Metcalf on the York waterfront in Channel 4’s crime drama Patience. Picture: Channel 4

FROM a neurodiverse TV crime drama to an Oscar winner’s stage return, Charles Hutchinson picks highlights of the year ahead.

Seeing York through a different lens: Patience, Channel 4 from January 8, 9pm

CHANNEL 4’s six-part police procedural drama Patience, set in York, opens with the two-part Paper Mountain Girl, on January 8 and 9, wherein autistic Police Records Office civilian worker Patience Evans (Ella Maisy Purvis) brings her unique investigative insight to helping DI Bea Metcalf (Laura Fraser) and her team.

Written for Eagle Eye Drama by Matt Baker, from Pocklington, Patience is as much a celebration of neurodiversity as a crime puzzle-solver. “The centre of York itself is a little bit like a puzzle,” he says.   

Lara McClure: Atmospheric storytelling at A Feast Of Fools II at the Black Swan Inn

Out with the old, in with the new: Navigators Art presents A Feast Of Fools II, Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green, York, Sunday, 7pm to 10.30pm; doors, 6pm

YORK collective Navigators Art presents a last gasp of mischief in an alternative end-of-season celebration of Twelfth Night and Old Christmas, packed with live folk music, spoken word and a nod to the pagan and the impish.

Dr Lara McClure sets the scene with atmospheric storytelling, joined by York musicians Oli Collier, singer, guitarist and rising star Henry Parker, York alt-folk legends White Sail and poet and experimental musician Thomas Pearson. Book tickets at  bit.ly/nav-feast2.

Seeing eye to eye: Rob Auton in his new touring comedy vehicle The Eyes Open And Shut Show

The eyes have it:  Rob Auton: The Eyes Open And Shut Show, Burning Duck Comedy Club at The Crescent, York, March 5, 7.30pm; Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, May 3, 7.30pm

“THE Eyes Open And Shut Show is a show about eyes when they are open and eyes when they are shut,” says surrealist York/Barmby Moor comedian, writer, artist, podcaster and actor Rob Auton. “With this show I wanted to explore what I could do to myself and others with language when eyes are open and shut…thinking about what makes me open my eyes and what makes me shut them.”

On the back of last summer’s Edinburgh Fringe trial run, Auton goes on the road from January 27 to May 4 with his eyes very much open. Box office: York, thecrescentyork.com; Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.

York-raised artist Harland Miller with his title work for the XXX exhibition at York Art Gallery. Picture: courtesy of White Cube (Ollie Hammick), 2019

No stopping him this time, please: Harland Miller: XXX, York Art Gallery, March 14 to August 31, Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm

AFTER the first Covid lockdown curtailed his York, So Good They Named It Once show only a month into its 2020 run, international artist and writer Harland Miller returns to the city where he was raised to present XXX, a new exhibition that showcases paintings and works on paper from his Letter Paintings series.

Stirred by his upbringing in 1970s’ Yorkshire and an itinerant lifestyle in New York, New Orleans, Berlin and Paris during the 1980s and 1990s, Miller creates colourful and graphically vernacular works that convey his love of popular language and attest to his enduring engagement with its narrative, aural and typographical possibilities.

Harland Miller, XXX, oil on canvas, 2019. Copyright: Harland Miller. Photo copyright: White Cube, Theo Christelis

Coinciding with the release of a book of the same title by Phaidon, XXX features several new Miller works, including one that celebrates his home city, in a hard-edged series that melds the sacred seamlessly with the everyday, drawing inspiration from medieval manuscripts, where monks often laboured to produce intricate illuminated letters to mark the beginning of chapters.

In these works, the Yorkshire Pop artist – who is represented by White Cube – uses bold colours and typefaces to accentuate the expressive versatility of monosyllabic words and acronyms such as ESP, IF and Star.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a Q&A with the artist plus community activities to “inspire, inform and involve all”. Tickets: yorkartgallery.org.uk/tickets.

Gary Oldman in the dressing room when visiting York Theatre Royal last March to plan this spring’s production of Krapp’s Last Tape

Theatre event of the year: Gary Oldman in Krapp’s Last Tape, York Theatre Royal, April 14 to May 17

ONCE the pantomime Cat that fainted thrice in Dick Whittington in his 1979 cub days on the professional circuit, Oscar winner Gary Oldman returns to the Theatre Royal to perform Samuel Beckett’s melancholic, tragicomic slice of theatre of the absurd Krapp’s Last Tape in his first stage appearance since the late-1980s.

“York, for me, is the completion of a cycle,” says the Slow Horses leading man. “It is the place ‘where it all began’. York, in a very real sense, for me, is coming home. The combination of York and Krapp’s Last Tape is all the more poignant because it is ‘a play about a man returning to his past of 30 years earlier’.” Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Suzy Cooper and Mark Holgate: Teaming up as Titania and Oberon – and Hippolyta and Theseus too – in York Stage’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Look who’s back too: Suzy Cooper in York Stage’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Grand Opera House, York, May 6 to 11

GARY Oldman will not be the only former Berwick Kaler co-star returning to a York stage in 2025. Suzy Cooper, for more than 20 years the ditzy, posh-voiced, jolly super principal gal in the grand dame’s pantomimes, will lead Nik Briggs’s cast alongside York actor Mark Holgate as the quarrelling Queen and King of the Fairies, Titania and Oberon.

Briggs relocates his debut Shakespeare production from the court of Athens to Athens Court, a northern council estate, where magic is fuelled with mayhem and true love’s path still does not run smooth. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Beach hut five, Shed Seven: York band to make Scarborough Open Air Theatre debut in June

“Biggest ever headline show in their home county”: Shed Seven, TK Maxx Presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, June 14

IN the aftermath of their 30th anniversary celebrations and two number one albums in 2024, refulgent York band Shed Seven will focus on the great outdoors in the summer ahead, fulfilling a dream by making a long-overdue Scarborough OAT debut, when Jake Bugg and Cast will be their special guests. “It’s a stunning and historic venue…Yorkshire’s very own Hollywood Bowl!” enthuses lead singer Rick Witter.

The Sheds also return to Leeds Millennium Square on July 11, supported by Lightning Seeds and The Sherlocks. Box office: Scarborough, scarboroughopenairtheatre.co.uk or ticketmaster.co.uk; Leeds,  gigsandtours.com and ticketmaster.co.uk.

Bridget Foreman: Co-writer of York Theatre Royal and Riding Lights’ community play His Last Report

Community play of the year: York Theatre Royal and Riding Lights Theatre Company in His Last Report, York Theatre Royal, July 22 to August 3

YORK Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster and York company Riding Lights artistic director Paul Birch will co-direct a large-scale community project that focuses on pioneering York social reformer Seebohm Rowntree and his groundbreaking 1900s’ investigation into the harsh realities of poverty.

Told through the voices of York’s residents, both past and present, Misha Duncan-Barry and Bridget Foreman’s play will ask “What is Seebohm’s real legacy as the Ministry begins to dismantle the very structures he championed?” Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.


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Who won the 2024 Hutch Awards?

Nothing could burst Shed Seven’s celebratory balloons in 2024. Picture: Chris Little

CharlesHutchPress doffs his cap to the makers, creators, artists and shakers who shaped York’s year of culture.

Story of the year and gigs of the year: Shed Seven’s 30th anniversary annus mirabilis

GOING for gold anew, York’s likely lad Britpop veterans had the alchemist’s touch throughout their busiest ever year, matching Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin and Elton John in notching two number one  albums in a year in January’s studio set A Matter Of Time and October’s newly re-recorded compilation Liquid Gold.

In a year of resurgent upward motion in York, one that ended with York City atop the National League, Shed Seven’s resurrection was crystallised by lead singer Rick Witter’s name being appropriated for a council road gritter but even more so by two nights of homecoming concerts at York Museum Gardens in July, when special guest Peter Doherty’s beatific smile best captured the exultant mood of celebration.

Tristan Sturrock’s Blue Beard versus Katy Owen’s Mother Superior in Wise Children’s Blue Beard at York Theatre Royal

You Should Have Seen It play of the year: Wise Children’s Blue Beard, York Theatre Royal, February 27 to March 9

“IT certainly won’t be boring,” promised Wise Children writer-director Emma Rice, and it certainly wasn’t. Blue Beard, her table-turning twist on the gruesome fairytale, was everything modern theatre should be: intelligent, topical, provocative, surprising; full of music, politics, “tender truths”, mirror balls and dazzling costumery.

It had comedy as much as tragedy; actors as skilled at musicianship as acting and dancing to boot, all while embracing the Greek, Shakespearean, cabaret, kitchen-sink and multi-media ages of theatre. So, why oh why, weren’t the audiences bigger?

Angst and anger: Bright Light Musical Productions in Green Day’s American Idiot

York debut of the year: Bright Light Musical Productions in Green Day’s American Idiot, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, July 4 to 6

BRIGHT Light Musical Productions staged the York premiere of punk rock opera Green Day’s American Idiot in Dan Crawfurd-Porter’s high-octane, politically driven, perfectly-timed production that opened on American Independence Day and the UK General Election day, also marking the 20th anniversary of Green Day’s groundbreaking album American Idiot.

“Personally, the issues it tackles have affected me profoundly, as they have many others,” said Crawfurd-Porter. “The aim is to give a voice to those who feel unheard, just as it has given one to me.” The show, with its commentary on America and the impact of politics at large, did just that.

Jack Savoretti performing at Live At York Museum Gardens, presented by the Futuresound Group. Picture: Paul Rhodes

Event launch of the year: Futuresound presents Live At York Museum Gardens, July 18, 19 and 20

LEEDS concert and festival promoters Futuresound stretched their wings to launch Live At York Museum Gardens, selling out all three nights featuring Anglo-Italian singer-songwriter Jack Savoretti and a brace of gigs by local heroes Shed Seven, each bill featuring York and Yorkshire support acts. One complaint, from Clifton, over the Sheds’ noise levels was rejected by City of York Council, and Mercury Prize winners Elbow are booked already for 2025.

Rob Auton: Comedy mined from self-examination at The Crescent, York

Comedy show of the year: Rob Auton in The Rob Auton Show, Burning Duck Comedy Club, The Crescent, York, February 28

ROB Auton, hirsute York/Barmby Moor stand-up comedian, writer, podcaster, actor, illustrator and former Glastonbury festival poet-in-residence, returned north from London with his tenth themed solo show.

After mulling over the colour yellow, the sky, faces, water, sleep, hair, talking, time and crowds in past outings, surrealist visionary Rob turned the spotlight on himself, exploring memories and feelings from his daily life, but with the observational comic’s gift for making the personal universal as the sublime and the ridiculous strolled giddily hand in hand.

Bristol street artist Inkie’s artwork for Rise Of The Vandals at 2, Low Ousegate, York

Exhibition of the year: Bombsquad’s Rise Of The Vandals, 2, Low Ousegate, York, June 22 and 23, June 28 to 30 and July 5 to 7

YORK art collective Bombsquad launched Rise Of The Vandals in a celebration of the city’s street art scene, taking over a disused office block with the owner’s permission but suffused with the underground spirit of squatters’ rights. Art was not only wall to wall, but even the loos were given a black-and-white checkerboard revamp too.

Spread over four floors in one of the tallest buildings in the city, the installation showcased retrospective and contemporary spray paint culture, graffiti, street art and public art in three galleries, complemented by a cinema room, an art shop and live DJs. There really should be more such artistic insurrections in York, instead of turning every shell of a building into another hotel or yet more student accommodation.

Honourable mention: National Treasures, an exhibition built around Claude Monet’s The Water-Lily Pond, as part of the National Gallery’s bicentenary, at York Art Gallery, May 10 to September 8.

Leading lights: Riding Lights’ new executive director Oliver Brown, left, and artistic director Paul Birch at Friargate Theatre in York

Re-enter stage right: Riding Lights Theatre Company and Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate, York, under the new artistic directorship of Paul Birch, picking up the baton from late founder Paul Burbridge. York Theatre Royal Studio, re-booting for cabaret nights as The Old Paint Shop.

Behind you: Departing dame Berwick Kaler gave his last pantomime performance as Dotty Dullally at the Grand Opera House, York, on January 6 2024. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick

Exit stage left: Dowager dame Berwick Kaler, from York pantomimes after 47 years; Harkirit Bopara, from The Crescent community venue; The Howl & The Hum’s Sam Griffiths, from York and Leeds for London; At The Mill, from serving up theatre, comedy, music, fine dining and Saturday sausage sandwiches at Stillington Mill; The Victoria Vaults, from promoting gigs, in an enforced pub closure on December 11 after 160 years. The very next day, City of York Council upheld York CAMRA’s request to list the Nunnery Lane premises as a community asset. Watch this space.

Gordon Kane RIP. Picture: Gareth Jenkins

Gone but not forgotten: Gordon Kane, actor and good sport

A SCOTSMAN by birth and richly theatrical accent, but long resident in York, this delightfully playful screen and stage actor, and casual cricketer and golfer to boot, appeared in Time Bandits, The Comic Strip Presents and latterly Nolly and Buffering, but around Yorkshire he will be treasured for his work for York Theatre Royal, Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre, Harrogate Theatre and Hull Truck Theatre, not least in John Godber’s plays.

His good friend Mark Addy delivered the eulogy – written with typically mischievous humour by Gordon himself – at December 18’s funeral at York Cemetery.  

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More Things To Do in York and beyond the last-minute shopping rush. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 52, from The Press, York

Casting a shadow: James Willstrop’s bullying bruiser Bill Sikes in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Oliver Twist at Theatre@41, Monkgate

THE myriad delights of Christmas entertainment shine through Charles Hutchinson’s tips to vacate the festive fireside.

Dickens at Christmas, but not A Christmas Carol: Pick Me Up Theatre in Oliver Twist, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, until December 30. 7.30pm performances on December 21, 27, 28 and 30, plus 2.30pm Saturday and Sunday matinees. No performances on December 23 to 26

HELEN Spencer takes the director’s reins and plays Fagin in York company Pick Me Up Theatre’s staging of Deborah McAndrew’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’s 1838 novel, described as a “a new version of Oliver with a festive twist”.

Not to be confused with Lionel Bart’s musical Oliver!, it does feature musical arrangements by John Biddle to to complement Dickens’s tale of Oliver Twist being brought up in a workhouse, sold into an apprenticeship and recruited by Fagin’s band of pickpockets and thieves as he sinks into London’s grimy underworld in his search for a home, a family and love. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Harris Beattie and Jonathan Hanks in Northern Ballet’s revival of A Christmas Carol at Leeds Grand Theatre. Picture: Tristram Kenton

Christmas ballet of the week: Northern Ballet in A Christmas Carol, Leeds Grand Theatre, until January 4 2025

FIRST choreographed by Massimo Morricone and directed by Christopher Gable in 1992, Northern Ballet’s retired landmark production of A Christmas Carol is being revisited by director Federico Bonelli to the glee of longtime supporters and new audiences alike.

“Charles Dickens’s classic Victorian tale of redemption, with its message of human kindness and compassion, is something that resonates with us all, especially at this time of year,” says Bonelli. “Its iconic characters lend themselves so well to ballet”, complemented by Lez Brotherston’s colourful sets and costumes and Carl Davis’s festive score. Box office: 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.

Holly Cassidy and Grace Hussey-Burd in a scene from Riding Lights Theatre Company’s winter show A Christmas Cracker. Picture: Tom Jackson

Alternative Nativity play of the week: Riding Lights Theatre Company in A Christmas Cracker, Friargate Theatre, York, today to Christmas Eve, 11am and 1.30pm each day; 6pm, first three days; 4pm, last day

IN Paul Birch’s first play as artistic director of Riding Lights, world-famous storyteller Ebenezer Sneezer is lost, with snow in her wellies and faithful canine companion Cracker full of strange ideas about Christmas.

When caught taking shelter in Mrs McGinty’s barn, she allows them to stay on the condition that Ebenezer brings her glad tidings with her stories. If so, a hot supper awaits. If not, exit pronto. Ebenezer must triumph over not only Mrs McGinty’s frozen heart but also Deadly, a dastardly donkey ready to kick comfort and joy out of his stable. Box office: 01904 613000 or ticketsource.co.uk/ridinglights.

The poster for The Snowman screenings with live orchestra at York Barbican

Christmas film & music event of the week: The Snowman with Live Orchestra, York Barbican, Sunday, 1pm and 4pm

CARROT Productions presents two screenings of Dianne Jackson and Jimmy T Murakami’s animated 1982 film with the accompaniment of a live orchestra of professional musicians.

Raymond Briggs’s story of a young boy’s Christmas snowman magically coming to life for a journey to meet Santa Claus will be shown with The Snowman And The Snowdog at 1pm and The Bear, The Piano, The Dog And The Fiddle at 4pm. Each show includes a fun introduction to the orchestra and a visit from the Snowman himself. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Shed Seven’s Paul Banks and Rick Witter: Performing as an acoustic duo at Huntington Working Men’s Club in the last gigs of their 30th anniversary celebrations this weekend. Picture: David Harrison

Recommended but sold out already: Shed Seven’s Rick Witter and Paul Banks, Huntington Working Men’s Club, York, tonight and Sunday, doors 7pm

AFTER two number one albums in a year, summer shows in York Museum Gardens and their biggest ever tour, Shed Seven end their 30th anniversary celebrations back home in York, where lead singer Rick Witter and guitarist Paul Banks play a weekend of acoustic sets in the intimate setting of a working men’s club.

“We’re finishing the year in the village where Rick and I first met back in 1984, and where all of this began,” says Banks. “What a journey we’ve been on.” Sheds’ bassist Tom Gladwin serves up a DJ set too. Box office for returns only: store.shedseven.com.

Nun better: Freida Nipples hosts her Baps & Buns burlesque Christmas cabaret at Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb

Feast your eyes on: Freida Nipples’ Baps & Buns Burlesque Christmas Cabaret, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, tonight, 8pm; doors open at 7pm

YORK’S queen of burlesque, Freida Nipples, presents drag, comedy and showgirls in her Baps & Buns Christmas Cabaret with festive good cheer after a joyous year of shows at Rise, Acomb’s answer to Paris’s Folies Bergère.

“Prepare yourself for an evening of debauchery and glamour in Acomb,” says Freida. “The big question is: are you ready for it?!” Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.

Central Methodist Church: Hosting City Screen Picturehouse’s pop-up Christmas Cinema at Saint Saviourgate, York

Pop-up film event of the festive season: City Screen Picturehouse presents Christmas Cinema at Saint Saviourgate, The Great Hall, Central Methodist Church, St Saviourgate, York, until December 23

CITY Screen Picturehouse, York, has set up a pop-up screen at Central Methodist Church for the Christmas season. Dougal Wilson’s Paddington In Peru (PG) will be shown at 4pm on Sunday, followed by Jon Favreau’s Elf (PG) at 7pm and Monday screenings of Robert Zemeckis’s The Polar Express (U) at 4pm and Frank Capra’s season-closing 1946 chestnut It’s A Wonderful Life (U) at 7pm. Box office: picturehouses.com/YorkXmas.

Ronan Keating: Playing at York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend next summer. Picture: Supplied by York Racecourse

Outdoor gig announcement of the week: Ronan Keating, York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend, July 26

IRISH singer, charity campaigner and breakfast show host Ronan Keating will perform after the Saturday race card as the first act to be confirmed for next summer’s Music Showcase Weekend on Knavesmire. A further act will be announced for the evening meeting on July 25.

Keating, 47, has three decades of hits to call on, from Boyzone boy band days to his solo career, from Love Me For A Reason and When You Say Nothing At All to Life Is A Rollercoaster and If Tomorrow Never Comes. Olly Murs is confirmed already for the new 2025 race day of June 28. For race day tickets, go to: yorkracecourse.co.uk.

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More Things To Do in York & beyond when an urbane spaceman comes travelling. Hutch’s List No 47, from The York Press

Shed Seven: Heading out on their 30th anniversary lap of honour. Picture: Barnaby Fairley

AS Shed Seven bring their 30th anniversary celebrations to a climax, Charles Hutchinson says “Let’s go” for a week of theatre, comedy, Christmas, film and musical highlights.   

On the road again: Shed Seven, 30th Anniversary Tour, Hull City Hall, November 19 and Leeds O2 Academy, November 30

ON the back of topping the album charts for a second time in 2024 with Liquid Gold (after a Matter Of Time in January), York indie champs Shed Seven head out on their 30th Anniversary Tour.

The 23-date itinerary opened at Sheffield Octagon on Thursday night, with further Yorkshire gigs to follow at Victoria Theatre, Halifax, on November 18, Hull City Hall on November 19 and Leeds O2 Academy on November 30. Tickets update: the best advice is to head to shedseven.com to check for late availability.

Paddy Young: Headlining the Rye Humour bill at Helmsley Arts Centre. Picture: Lucas Smith

Variety night of the week: Rye Humour, Comedy vs Climate Change, Helmsley Arts Centre, tonight, 7.30pm

RYE Humour’s variety bill of up-and-coming comics will be headlined by Chortle Best Newcomer winner Paddy Young, a stand-up with Scarborough roots. The 2023 BBC New Comedy Awards finalist and Edinburgh Comedy Awards Best Newcomer nominee has attracted 100 million views online for his sketches with Ed Night. His comedy special, filmed by American record label 800 Pound Gorilla Records, will be released shortly. 

This gig has been developed in collaboration with the Ryevitalise Landscape Partnership scheme, as part of a project that uses humour to explore environmental issues based around North Yorkshire’s rivers. Any questions about the evening, or accessibility, will be answered at events@comedyvsclimatechange.org.uk. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Lucy Beaumont: Off-beat stories, unusual anecdotes and bizarre journeys through modern-day womanhood at Grand Opera House, York

Hullarious gig of the week: Lucy Beaumont Live, Grand Opera House, York, tonight, 8pm

HULL humorist, BAFTA nominee and Taskmaster star Lucy Beaumont is determined to let loose and let slip on her rollercoaster world with off-beat stories, unusual anecdotes and bizarre journeys through modern-day womanhood.

From the co-host of the chart-topping podcast Perfect Brains with Sam Campbell and creator of Meet The Richardsons comes a look at life through the Lucy lens. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

York Christmas Market: Stalls galore

York Christmas Market, Parliament Street and St Sampson’s Square, York, until December 22, 10am to 7pm; Yorkshire’s Winter Wonderland, York Designer Outlet, St Nicholas Avenue, York, until January 5, from 10am

YORK Christmas Market lines Parliament Street and St Sampson’s Square with 75 chalets selling crafts, artisan products and seasonal food and drink. Four fifths of the traders come from Yorkshire, giving a showcase to local businesses. Look out for the vintage carousel in King’s Square too.

Yorkshire’s Winter Wonderland’s magical festivities at the York Designer Outlet combine an outdoor ice rink and funfair with Santa’s Grotto and Alpine café The Chalet.

Disney’s Frozen: Screening in aid of the Joseph Rowntree Theatre

Film event of the week: Fundraising Films, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Frozen (PG), tomorrow, 2.30pm; Love Actually, tomorrow, 7.30pm

THIS weekend’s fundraiser for the Joseph Rowntree Theatre opens with a special chance for all the family to see Elsa, Anna, Sven, Olaf et al in  Disney’s Frozen adventure in Arendelle.

In the evening, Christmas romance is in the air in Love Actually (15), the timeless Richard Curtis comedy stuffed with interlocking love stories. Hugh Grant, Laura Linney, Colin Firth and Liam Neeson lead the stellar cast. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk

Urbane spaceman: Garrett Millerick at Theatre@41, Monkgate

Angriest gig of the week: Garrett Millerick Needs More Space, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tomorrow, 8pm

IN Garrett Millerick Needs More Space, comedy’s “angriest optimist” returns for an honest and mostly historically accurate exploration of space travel as he examines his totally insignificant place in the universe and how little we actually know about anything.

Blending personal experiences with social commentary, while avoiding political partisanship in his hour-long show, Millerick – creator and star of the BBC sitcom series Do Gooders – looks to the stars to find solutions to our earthy complications. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Ivo Graham: Hoping to avoid banana skins at York Theatre Royal

Up to the task: Ivo Graham: Grand Design, York Theatre Royal, November 20, 7.30pm

WHAT (yoghurt and) banana skins await old Etonian and Oxford grad Ivo Graham next? No ball games, no blind alleys, no backstage printers this time, but one of the best stand-ups of his generation out to prove he’s “not just Taskmaster’s yardstick for failure”. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Adam Sowter: Playing Mr Poppy in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Nativity! The Musical at the Grand Opera House, York

Musical of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Nativity! The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, November 22 to 30, 7.30pm nightly, except November 25; 2.30pm, November 23, 24 and 30

PICK Me Up Theatre’s Nativity! The Musical returns to York after a smash-hit run two years ago, this time with director and choreographer Lesley Lettin’s cast featuring 48 children hand-picked from all over Yorkshire to play students from rival schools.

Adapted for the stage by Debbie Isitt from her films, the show follows St Bernadette’s Primary School teacher Mr Maddens (Alex Hogg) and his assistant, Mr Poppy(Adam Sowter) as they strive to mount a musical version of the Nativity, promising it will be adapted into a Hollywood movie in order to outdo rival school Oakmoor Prep. Look out for Alexandra Mather as Jennifer, Jonny Holbek as Mr Shakespeare, James Willstrop as the acid tongued Critic and Cracker the dog as Branwell. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.