Tag: Snow White

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 3, from Gazette & Herald

York Printmakers: Tenth anniversary exhibition…with cake on Saturday

IN his third highlights package of the New Year, Charles Hutchinson picks out a riparian exhibition, a brace of pantos, murderous deeds in 1950s’ Italy and a transatlantic folk talent.

Exhibition of the week: York Printmakers, Rivers of York, City Screen Picturehouse, York, until February 7

CELEBRATING York Printmakers’ tenth anniversary, Rivers of York presents original hand-made prints inspired by the River Foss and River Ouse. Head to City Screen’s upstairs lounge today from 2pm and 4pm for Prints and Cake, a chance to share cake, find out more about the prints and meet the artists who created them.

On show are a variety of printmaking techniques, including etching, linocut, collagraph, monotype, screen print, solar plate, Japanese woodblock, lithography and stencilling, in works that explore the rivers’ place in the history, ecology and culture of York from Roman times to the present. 

Paula Cook’s villainous Queen Lucrecia and John Brooks’s scheming Chamberlain in Pickering Musical Society’s Snow White

Panto time: Pickering Musical Society in Snow White, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, until January 25, 7.15pm, except January 19; 2.15pm, January 17, 18, 24 and 25  

DIRECTED for the tenth year by resident director Luke Arnold and scripted by Ron Hall, Pickering Musical Society’s 2026 pantomime blends familiar faces with new turns, led by Alice Rose as Snow White in her first appearance since Goldilocks in 2018.

Local legend Marcus Burnside plays Dame Dumpling alongside mischievous sidekick Jack Dobson as court jester Fritz, his first comedic role. Company regular Courtney Brown switches to comedy too as Helga; Paula Cook turns to the dark side in her villainous debut as Queen Lucrecia; Danielle Long is the heroic Prince Valentine, John Brooks, the scheming Chamberlain and Sue Smithson, Fairy Dewdrop. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.littleboxoffice.com.

Jack Robinson’s PC World and Evie-Mae Dale’s Sergeant Pong in Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin – The Pantomime 

Panto time too: Malton and Norton Musical Theatre in Aladdin – The Pantomime, Milton Rooms, Malton, Saturday, 1.30pm, 5.15pm; Sunday, 2pm; January 20 to 23, 7.15pm; January 24, 1pm, 5.15pm

BETWIXT York roles in York Shakespeare Project’s The Spanish Tragedy and Black Treacle Theatre’s Anne Boleyn, Harry Summers continues to corner the market in dark roles as wicked magician Abanazar in Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin.

Fresh from his villainous scene-stealing in The Spanish Tragedy, Thomas Jennings plays the Emperor. Further principal players in the mystical land of Shangri-La include Harriet White’s Aladdin, Isabel Davis’s Princess Jasmine; Rory Queen’s dame, Widow Twankey, Tom Gleave’s Wishee Washee, Mark Summers’ Genie of the Lamp and Annabelle Free’s Spirit of the Ring. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

The Steelers: Paying tribute to Steely Dan at Helmsley Arts Centre

Tribute show of the week: The Steelers, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday 7.30pm

THE Steelers, a nine-piece band of musicians drawn from around Great Britain, perform songs from iconic Steely Dan Steel albums Pretzel Logic, The Royal Scam, AJA and Goucho, crafted by Walter Becker and Donald Fagan since 1972. 

Once described as “the American Beatles”, Becker and Fagan’s songs are noted for their clever lyrics and sophisticated arrangements. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Bruce Herbelin-Earle as Dickie Greenleaf, left, and Ed McVey as Tom Ripley in The Talented Mr Ripley. Picture: Mark Senior

Game of lies of the week: The Talented Mr Ripley, Grand Opera House, York, January 19 to 24, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees

BEFORE its West End run, The Talented Mr Ripley plays the Grand Opera House with a cast led by Ed McVey as Tom Ripley, Bruce Herbelin-Earle as Dickie Greenleaf and 2020 Strictly Come Dancing finalist Maisie Smith as Marge. Tom is a nobody, scraping by in New York, forging signatures, telling little white lies, until a chance encounter changes everything. When a wealthy stranger offers him an all-expenses-paid trip to Italy to bring home his wayward son, Dickie, Tom leaps at the opportunity. 

In the sun-drenched glamour of 1950s’ Italy, surrounded by shimmering waters and whispered secrets, Tom is seduced by Dickie’s freedom, wealth and effortless charm. Fascination turns to obsession in Patricia Highsmith’s story, whereupon an innocent chance turns into a chilling game of lies, identity theft and murder. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Elanor Moss: Songs of the nuances of life lived in relation to others at Pocklington Arts Centre

Folk gig of the month: Elanor Moss, Pocklington Arts Centre, January 29, 8pm

ELANOR Moss, an “emotionally transatlantic” talent with family roots in Lincolnshire and Baltimore, Maryland, draws on influence from homes familiar and felt in songs that turn over the nuances of life lived in relation to others, taking inspiration from the British and American folk canons alike.

In keeping with such heroes as Judee Sill, Joni Mitchell, Sibylle Baier and Vashti Bunyan, her subject is “always people in all their lovely flawed-ness”. Ned Swarbrick supports. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

John Doyle: Returning to York Theatre Royal to direct The Secret Garden The Musical this spring

Welcome back to nature: The Secret Garden The Musical, York Theatre Royal, March 17 to April 4

TONY Award-winning John Doyle, artistic director of York Theatre Royal from 1993 to 1997, returns to his old patch to stage his trademark actor-musician interpretation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden in a new revival of the Broadway musical with a score by Lucy Simon and book and lyrics by Marsha Norman.

In 1906 North Yorkshire (North Riding, as was), newly orphaned Mary Lennox is sent to Misselthwaite Manor to live with her widowed uncle in a moorland house of memories and spirits. Determined to breathe new life into her aunt’s mysterious neglected garden, she makes new friends while learning of the power of connection and the restorative magic of nature.  Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Amber Davies in the poster for Legally Blonde The Musical, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York, in April

Casting announced for: Made At Curve presenting Legally Blonde The Musical at Grand Opera House, York, April 21 to 25, 7.30pm plus Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees, 2.30pm

STRICTLY Come Dancing 2025 finalist Amber Davies will play Elle Woods in the 2026 tour of Legally Blonde The Musical, joined by York Theatre Royal pantomime villain Jocasta Almgill as Brooke Wyndham, fresh from playing wicked fairy Carabosse in Sleeping Beauty.

Davies had been set to appear as Hollywood hooker Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman The Musical at the Grand Opera House in February 2024, but Sydnie Hocknell understudied that week. Hannah Lowther, otherwise playing Margot, will step in for Davies at the April 23 matinee. North Yorkshireman  Nikolai Foster directs the uplifting, totally pink tale of Elle’s transformation from ‘It Girl’ fashionista to legal ace at Harvard Law School, all in the name of love. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 2, from Gazette & Herald

Lawyer Arthur Kipps (John Mackay) and The Actor (Daniel Burke) in The Woman In Black, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York, from January 13

IN his second guide to the New Year, Charles Hutchinson picks out upcoming highlights on January’s calendar and beyond.

Ghostly return of the week: The Woman In Black, Grand Opera House, York, January 13 to 17, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Thursday and Saturday matinees

FIRST staged in 1987 in a pub setting by the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, Stephen Mallatratt’s adaptation of Susan Hill’s ghost story The Woman In Black returns to the Grand Opera House two years to the month since its last visit.

Elderly lawyer Arthur Kipps (played by John Mackay) is obsessed with his belief that a curse has been cast over his family by the spectre of a “Woman in Black” for 50 years. Whereupon he engages a sceptical young actor (Daniel Burke’s The Actor) to help him tell his terrifying story and exorcise the fear that grips his soul, but the boundaries between fiction and reality begin to blur. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Paula Cook’s Queen Lucrecia and John Brooks’s scheming Chamberlain in Pickering Musical Society’s Snow White at Kirk Theatre, Pickering. Picture: Robert David Photographer

First Ryedale panto of the New Year: Pickering Musical Society in Snow White, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, January 14 to 25, 7.15pm, except January 19; 2.15pm, January 17, 18, 24 and 25  

DIRECTED for the tenth year by resident director Luke Arnold and scripted by Ron Hall, Pickering Musical Society’s 2026 pantomime blends familiar faces with new turns, led by Alice Rose as Snow White in her first appearance since Goldilocks in 2018.

Local legend Marcus Burnside plays Dame Dumpling alongside mischievous sidekick Jack Dobson as court jester Fritz, his first comedic role. Company regular Courtney Brown switches to comedy too as Helga; Paula Cook turns to the dark side in her villainous debut as Queen Lucrecia; Danielle Long is the heroic Prince Valentine, John Brooks, the scheming Chamberlain and Sue Smithson, Fairy Dewdrop. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.littleboxoffice.com.

Cellist Eloise Ramchamdani

Dementia Friendly Tea Concert of the week: Eloise Ramchandani and Robert Gammon, St Chad’s Church, Campleshon Road, York, January 15, 2.30pm

ELOISE Ramchandani gives an all Saint-Saëns cello recital, accompanied by pianist Robert Gammon. The 45-minute programme includes the well-loved The Swan, lively Allegro Appassionato and beautiful Cello Concerto No. 1.

Ideal for those who may not feel comfortable at a formal classical concert, the relaxed recital will be followed by tea, coffee and homemade cakes in the church hall. Seating is unreserved; no charge applies but donations are welcome.

Malton and Norton Theatre’s principal cast for Aladdin – The Pantomime: left to right, Amelia Little (So-Shy); Tom Gleave (Wishee Washee); Annabelle Free (Spirit of the Ring); Alexander Summers (Executioner); Isobel Davis (Princess Jasmine); Mark Summers (Genie of the Lamp); Harriet White (Aladdin); Harry Summers (Abanazar); Thomas Jennings (The Emperor); Evie-Mae Dale (Sergeant Pong); Malcolm Tonkiss (Mangle Malcolm) and Jack Robinson (PC World)

Second Ryedale pantomime of the New Year: Malton and Norton Musical Theatre in Aladdin – The Pantomime, Milton Rooms, Malton, January 17, 1.30pm, 5.15pm; January 18, 2pm; January 20 to 23, 7.15pm; January 24, 1pm, 5.15pm

BETWIXT York roles in York Shakespeare Project’s The Spanish Tragedy and Black Treacle Theatre’s Anne Boleyn, Harry Summers continues to corner the market in dark, dramatic and deliciously boo-worthy roles as wicked magician Abanazar in Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin.

Fresh from his villainous scene-stealing in The Spanish Tragedy, Thomas Jennings plays the Emperor, insisting he is “one of the good guys”, even if his idea of good includes execution and arranged marriages. Further principal players in the mystical land of Shangri-La include Harriet White’s Aladdin, Isobel Davis’s Princess Jasmine; Rory Queen’s dame, Widow Twankey, Tom Gleave’s Wishee Washee, Mark Summers’ Genie of the Lamp and Annabelle Free’s Spirit of the Ring. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Death Of Gesualdo: The Gesualdo Six and Tableaux Vivants in tandem at NCEM, York

World premiere of the month: Death Of Gesualdo, The Gesualdo Six with Tableaux Vivants, National Centre for Early Music, York, January 18 and 19, 6.30pm

THE Gesualdo Six reunite with director Bill Barclay for this daring successor to international hit Secret Byrd. Featuring six singers, six actors and a puppet, Death Of Gesualdo creates living tableaux that illuminate the life and psyche of madrigalist Carlo Gesualdo, a tortured genius most famous for murdering his wife and her lover in an explosive fit of jealousy, but revered among composers for anticipating chromaticism by 200 years.

This is the boldest look yet at how the life and sometimes chilling music of this enigmatic prodigy must function together for the true Gesualdo to emerge from the shadows. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

Grace Petrie: No time for panicking at The Crescent, York. Picture: Fraser West

Comedy-folk combination of the month: Little Wander and Say Owt present Grace Petrie, This Is No Time To Panic!, January 18, The Crescent, York, 7.30pm

DO you like protest songs? Neither does Grace Petrie – and she has been singing them for 15 “politically disastrous” years. No longer able to meet the desperate hopes of left-wing audiences, the “British folk scene’s funniest lesbian” reckons there is no better time for a feel-good show.

After making her stand-up debut in 2022 with Butch Ado About Nothing, she combines music and comedy for the first time in This Is No Time To Panic! “I know folk songs can’t save the world, and neither can stand-up, but both at the same time?” ponders Petrie. “Read it and weep, Putin!” Box office for returns only: thecrescentyork.com.  

York Residents’ Festival: Weekend of experiences, attractions and offers

Festival launch of the month: York Residents’ Festival, January 31 and February 1

ORGANISED by Make It York, York Residents’ Festival offers residents free entry to York’s top attractions and exclusive offers on food, retail and unique experiences across the city in support of businesses and independent makers.  

Thefull list of offers and pre-booking will go live from 12 noon on January 9 at visityork.org/resfest. Among them will be York Museums Trust providingfree entry to York Castle Museum, York Art Gallery and the Yorkshire Museum and the National Trust doing likewise to Treasurer’s House.

Self Esteem: Headlining Live At York Museum Gardens on July 10

Looking ahead to the summer: Futuresound Group presents Self Esteem at Live At York Museum Gardens, July 10, 5pm

SOUTH Yorkshire’s Self Esteem is the second headliner to be announced for Futuresound Group’s third summer of Live At York Museum Gardens concerts, in the wake of Orchestral Manoeuvres in The Dark, Heaven 17, China Crisis and Andrew Cushin  being booked for July 9.

Rotherham-born Rebecca Lucy Taylor was part of Slow Club for a decade before turning solo as the sardonic Self Esteem, releasing the albums Compliments Please in 2019, Prioritise Pleasure in 2021 and A Complicated Woman last April. She will be supported by South African “future ghetto funk” pioneer Moonchild Sanelly and Sweden-based Nigerian spoken-word artist and musician Joshua Idehen, with more guests to be confirmed. Box office: futuresound.seetickets.com/event/self-esteem/york-museum-gardens/3555239.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond at the dawning of 2026’s arts & culture diary. Hutch’s List No. 1, from The York Press

Joshua Arnold and Therine: On the bill for A Feast Of Fools III at the Black Swan

N his first guide to the New Year, Charles Hutchinson picks out upcoming highlights on January’s calendar and beyond.

Navigators Art presents A Feast Of Fools III, The Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green, York, Sunday, 7.30pm, doors 7pm

WELCOME to A Feast Of Fools III, York arts collective Navigators Art’s sign-off to “Holiday’s end – the last gasp of Mischief” in a celebration of Twelfth Night and Old Christmas packed with live folk music and a nod to the pagan and the impish.

On the bill are Ancient Hostility, performing passionate political and personal song in harmony;  North West folk duo Joshua Arnold and Therine, presenting vocal-led trad and experimental versions of British folk songs; Pefkin, whose ritualistic hymnals draw heavily on the landscape and the natural world, and White Sail, York’s multi-instrumental alt-folk legends. Box office: www.ticketsource.co.uk/navigators-art-performance.

Danielle Long’s Prince Valentine and Alice Rose’s Snow White in Pickering Musical Society’s pantomime Snow White

First Ryedale panto of the New Year: Pickering Musical Society in Snow White, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, January 14 to 25, 7.15pm, except January 19; 2.15pm, January 17, 18, 24 and 25  

DIRECTED for the tenth year by resident director Luke Arnold and writer by Ron Hall, Pickering Musical Society’s 2026 pantomime combines comedy, spectacle, festive magic, dazzling scenery and colourful costumes.

The show features such principals as Marcus Burnside’s Dame Dumpling, Danielle Long’s Prince Valentine, Alice Rose’s Snow White, Paula Cook’s Queen Lucrecia and Sue Smithson’s Fairy Dewdrop. Audiences are encouraged to book early to avoid disappointment. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.littleboxoffice.com.

Harry Summers in rehearsal for the role of Abanazar in Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin – The Pantomime

Second Ryedale pantomime of the New Year: Malton and Norton Musical Theatre in Aladdin – The Pantomime, Milton Rooms, Malton, January 17, 1.30pm, 5.15pm; January 18, 2pm; January 20 to 23, 7.15pm; January 24, 1pm, 5.15pm

BETWIXT York roles in York Shakespeare Project’s The Spanish Tragedy and Black Treacle Theatre’s Anne Boleyn, Harry Summers continues to corner the market in dark, dramatic and deliciously boo-worthy roles as wicked magician Abanazar in Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin.

Fresh from his villainous scene-stealing in The Spanish Tragedy, Thomas Jennings plays the Emperor, insisting he is “one of the good guys”, even if his idea of good includes execution and arranged marriages. Further principal players in the mystical land of Shangri-La include Harriet White’s Aladdin, Isabel Davis’s Princess Jasmine; Rory Queen’s dame, Widow Twankey, Tom Gleave’s Wishee Washee, Mark Summers’ Genie of the Lamp and Annabelle Free’s Spirit of the Ring. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

To her Eternal Shame: Sue Perkins announces return to the comedy circuit after more than a decade

Amusing musings of the month: The Eternal Shame Of Sue Perkins, Grand Opera House, York, January 18, 7.30pm

YOU may know her as Bake-Off Sue, Taskmaster Sue, Just A Minute Sue, or the Sue that gives you travel envy, but stand-up Sue is full of surprises. In this new show, Sue Perkins shares the unlikely happenings from a career in the spotlight.

What’s the fallout when your pituitary gland goes haywire on live TV? How do you convince the public you didn’t really fall on to that vacuum cleaner attachment? And when intimate photos are splashed all over the internet, how do you switch the shame to dignity and joy? Find out in Perkins’ first live show in more than a decade, wherein shedelivers a humorous treatise on stigma, humiliation and misunderstanding. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Deadpan Players’ poster for their Star Wars sci-fi and AI spoof at the JoRo

The spoof, the whole spoof and nothing but the spoof: Deadpan Players in Star Wars: May The Farce Be With You, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, January 23, 7.30pm, and January 24, 2pm and 7.30pm

IN a time of deep unrest, rebel forces are fighting for survival. Led by Garth Vader, the Empire has created a sinister network called The Dark Web, through which Vader could travel back in time to crush the rebellion. Plucky Princess Slaya has encrypted and uploaded the password, along with a desperate cry for help to cute droid R2Ai.

Can Fluke Skywalker decipher the message, find Only One Kenobi, enlist the help of rogue pilot Ham Solo and the legendary, if rather pungent, Gedi Master, the diminutive but powerful “Odour”, then rescue the Princess and save the Galaxy? Find out by attending this fundraising event, with all proceeds going to Yorkshire Air Ambulance and Candlelighters. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Mike Joyce: Recollections of five years on the drummer’s stool with The Smiths at Pocklington Arts Centre

On the beat: Mike Joyce, The Drums: My Life In The Smiths, Pocklington Arts Centre, January 28, 7.30pm

DRUMMER Mike Joyce has been asked numerous times, “What was it like being in The Smiths?”. “That’s one hell of a question to answer!” he says. Answer it, he does, however, both in his 2025 memoir and now in his touring show The Drums: My Life In The Smiths.

To reflect on being stationed behind singer Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr from 1982 to 1987, Joyce will be interviewed by Guardian music journalist Dave Simpson, who lives near York. Audience members can put their questions to Joyce too. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

York Residents’ Festival 2026: Weekend of free attractions, experiences and offers

Festival launch of the month: York Residents’ Festival, January 31 and February 1

ORGANISED by Make It York, York Residents’ Festival offers residents free entry to York’s top attractions and exclusive offers on food, retail and unique experiences across the city in support of businesses and independent makers.  

Thefull list of offers and pre-booking will go live from 12 noon on January 9 at visityork.org/resfest. Among them will be York Museums Trust providingfree entry to York Castle Museum, York Art Gallery and the Yorkshire Museum and the National Trust doing likewise to Treasurer’s House.

Self Esteem: Headlining Futuresound’s July 10 bill at Live At York Museum Gardens

Looking ahead to the summer: Futuresound Group presents Self Esteem at Live At York Museum Gardens, July 10,  5pm

SOUTH Yorkshire’s Self Esteem is the second headliner to be announced for Futuresound Group’s third summer of Live At York Museum Gardens concerts, in the wake of Orchestral Manoeuvres in The Dark, Heaven 17, China Crisis and Andrew Cushin  being booked for July 9.

Rotherham-born Rebecca Lucy Taylor was part of Slow Club for a decade before turning solo as the sardonic Self Esteem, releasing the albums Compliments Please in 2019, Prioritise Pleasure in 2021 and A Complicated Woman last April. She will be supported by South African “future ghetto funk” pioneer Moonchild Sanelly and Sweden-based Nigerian spoken-word artist and musician Joshua Idehen, with more guests to be confirmed. Box office: futuresound.seetickets.com/event/self-esteem/york-museum-gardens/3555239.

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 1, from Gazette & Herald

Ancient Hostility: Passionate political and personal song in harmony at The Black Swan Inn, York

IN his first guide to the New Year, Charles Hutchinson picks out upcoming highlights on January’s calendar.

Navigators Art presents A Feast Of Fools III, The Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green, York, January 4, 7.30pm, doors 7pm

WELCOME to A Feast Of Fools III, York arts collective Navigators Art’s sign-off to “Holiday’s end – the last gasp of Mischief” in a celebration of Twelfth Night and Old Christmas is packed with live folk music and a nod to the pagan and the impish.

On the bill will be: Ancient Hostility, performing passionate political and personal song in harmony, in the vein of The Young Tradition, plus fiddle and squeezebox, and North West folk duo Joshua Arnold and Therine, presenting vocal-led trad and experimental versions of songs in the British folk canon on hurdy gurdy, harmonium and DIY instruments.

So too are Pefkin, whose slowly unfolding, ritualistic hymnals draw heavily on the landscape and the natural world, using processed violin/viola, electronics, voice and field recordings, and White Sail, York’s multi-instrumental alt-folk legends, weaving sound-spells for the season’s final curtain. Box office: www.ticketsource.co.uk/navigators-art-performance.

The Hammonds Band: A blast of brass at the SJT, Scarborough. Picture: Lorne Campbell

The Hammonds Band, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, January 11, 3pm

THE award-winning Hammonds Band returns to the SJT for an afternoon of the best of brass music. Founded by mill owner Sir Titus Salt in Saltaire as an amenity for the workers, the band later had a long association with Hammonds Sauce Works under the baton of the legendary Geoffrey Whitham. Now, under Morgan Griffiths’s direction, the band performs across the world. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

Danielle Long’s Prince Valentine and Alice Rose’s Snow White in Pickering Musical Society’s panto Snow White

Pickering Musical Society in Snow White, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, January 14 to 25, 7.15pm, except January 19; 2.15pm, January 17, 18, 24 and 25  

INTEREST has been “extraordinary” for Pickering Musical Society’s January 2026 pantomime, directed for the tenth year by resident director Luke Arnold. More than 1,000 tickets have sold already; January 18’s 2.15pm performance has sold out and several others are close behind.

Written by Ron Hall, the show combines comedy, spectacle, festive magic, dazzling scenery and colourful costumes and features such principals as Marcus Burnside’s Dame Dumpling, Danielle Long’s Prince Valentine, Alice Rose’s Snow White, Paula Cook’s Queen Lucrecia and Sue Smithson’s Fairy Dewdrop. Audiences are encouraged to book early to avoid disappointment. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.littleboxoffice.com.

York actor Harry Summers: Wintering in panto villainy as Abanazar in Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin

Malton and Norton Musical Theatre in Aladdin – The Pantomime, Milton Rooms, Malton, January 17, 1.30pm, 5.15pm; January 18, 2pm; January 20 to 23, 7.15pm; January 24, 1pm, 5.15pm

BETWIXT York roles in York Shakespeare Project’s The Spanish Tragedy and Black Treacle Theatre’s Anne Boleyn, Harry Summers continues to corner the market in dark, dramatic and deliciously boo-worthy roles as wicked magician Abanazar in Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin.

Fresh from his villainous scene-stealing in The Spanish Tragedy, Thomas Jennings plays the Emperor, insisting he is “one of the good guys”, even if his idea of good includes execution and arranged marriages. Further principal players in the mystical land of Shangri-La include Harriet White’s Aladdin, Isabel Davis’s Princess Jasmine; Rory Queen’s dame, Widow Twankey, Tom Gleave’s Wishee Washee, Mark Summers’ Genie of the Lamp and Annabelle Free’s Spirit of the Ring. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Sue Perkins: Reflecting on stigma, humiliation and misunderstanding at the Grand Opera House, York

The Eternal Shame Of Sue Perkins, Grand Opera House, York, January 18, 7.30pm

YOU may know her as Bake-Off Sue, Taskmaster Sue, Just A Minute Sue, or the Sue that gives you travel envy, but stand-up Sue is full of surprises. In this new show, Sue Perkins shares the unlikely happenings from a career in the spotlight.

What’s the fallout when your pituitary gland goes haywire on live TV? How do you convince the public you didn’t really fall on to that vacuum cleaner attachment? And when intimate photos are splashed all over the internet, how do you switch the shame to dignity and joy? Find out in Perkins’ first live show in more than a decade, wherein she delivers a humorous treatise on stigma, humiliation and misunderstanding. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

The poster for Deadpan Players’ Star Wars spoof at the JoRo, York

Deadpan Players in Star Wars: May The Farce Be With You, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, January 23, 7.30pm, and January 24, 2pm and 7.30pm

IN a time of deep unrest, rebel forces are fighting for survival. Led by Garth Vader, the Empire has created a sinister network called The Dark Web, through which Vader could travel back in time to crush the rebellion. Plucky Princess Slaya has encrypted and uploaded the password, along with a desperate cry for help to cute droid R2Ai.

Can Fluke Skywalker decipher the message, find Only One Kenobi, enlist the help of rogue pilot Ham Solo and the legendary, if rather pungent, Gedi Master, the diminutive but powerful “Odour”, then rescue the Princess and save the Galaxy? Find out by attending  this fundraising event, with all proceeds going to Yorkshire Air Ambulance and Candlelighters. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Snake Davis and special guest Sumudu Jayatilaka: Performing together at Helmsley Arts Centre

Snake & Sumudu, Helmsley Arts Centre, January 24 2026, 7.30pm

SAXOPHONIST to the stars Snake Davis and singer-songwriter Sumudu Jayatilaka often meet up to perform with Jools Holland and His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra or to play together in arts centres.

Raised in Scunthorpe, now based in London, Sumudu has frequently toured as a backing vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist and percussionist for Sir Van Morrison. At 15, she made her TV debut on BBCs Pebble Mill At One, performing her own composition, accompanied by Snake on sax and flute. Later they took part in a Royal Albert Hall concert with Burt Bacharach and Hal David.  At Helmsley, expect classic pop, original compositions and a touch of soul and jazz. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Mike Joyce: Discussing his days on the beat with The Smiths at Pocklington Arts Centre

Mike Joyce, The Drums: My Life In The Smiths, Pocklington Arts Centre, January 28, 7.30pm

DRUMMER Mike Joyce has been asked numerous times, “What was it like being in The Smiths?”. “That’s one hell of a question to answer!” he says. Answer it, he does, however, both in his 2025 memoir and now in his touring show The Drums: My Life In The Smiths.

To reflect on being stationed behind singer Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr from 1982 to 1987, Joyce will be interviewed by the Guardian music journalist Dave Simpson, who lives near York. Audience members can put their questions to Joyce too. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

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Aoife Kenny delights in playing Princess Aurora in Sleeping Beauty after jumping at chance to appear in Theatre Royal panto

Aoife Kenny in the role of Aurora in Sleeping Beauty at York Theatre Royal. Picture: S R Taylor Photography

WEST End actress Aoife Kenny is making her York Theatre Royal debut as Princess Aurora, the Sleeping Beauty of the title of this winter’s pantomime co-production with Evolution Productions.

Originally from Birmingham, now living in Reading and working mainly on the London stage, she made her first ever visit to York for the September 30 pantomime press launch. “My first time in Yorkshire was last Christmas for Snow White at Sheffield Lyceum Theatre [also co-produced by Evolution Productions],” she says.

Aoife had studied at Laine Theatre Arts performing arts school, in Epsom, Surrey, when the Covid 19 pandemic made for a disrupted finale to her musical theatre degree under lockdown restrictions in 2020.

“I had to finish my studies that summer on Zoom, and luckily it was a nice summer, so I was able to complete the course out in the garden,” she recalls.

“Ever since then, I’ve done various musical theatre shows, such as being in the ensemble for Frozen The Musical at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, which you can watch on Disney+.  We filmed it in February 2024.

“I’ve just finished in a show in London called Clueless [at Trafalgar Theatre], a musical theatre show that KT Tunstall wrote the score for, with lyrics by Glenn Slater [best known for Sister Act and Tangled]. Amy Heckling, the writer-director of the original film, wrote the script.

“I was in the ensemble and covering for the role of Dionne Marie Davenport, played by Stacey Dash in the 1995 film. It was meant to run for a year but closed early after six months.

“When I rang Paul (Evolution Productions director and York Theatre Royal panto script writer Paul Hendy) and said, ‘the Clueless job has been cancelled, do you have a panto slot for me ?’, as I’d enjoyed Snow White so much,  luckily this chance to play Aurora in York came up.

Aoife Kenny’s Princess Aurora and Christian Mortimer’s Prince Michael of Moravia singing a duet in Sleeping Beauty. Picture: S R Taylor Photography

“I’ve been raving about Paul’s script writing. He really knows his art and he just captures so well what works for a ‘straight’ panto character. He knows how kids think, being a dad, and is very up to date with the modern world, which always helps.”

Aoife enjoys performing with Evolution. “They’re lovely people to work with, really easy going, and it’s nice to have input into a show, whereas you can’t do that with West End show. The joy of panto is reacting to the audience and having fun with them,” she says.

“This year I’m in the princess’s role, which kind of drives the show forward – someone’s got to get the show’s message across! She’s a modern-day princess in our show, and although she’s still being rescued [from Carabosse’s curse], she can hold her own.”

Aoife can certainly hold a tune too. “I was brought up in an Irish-Jamaican family who loved musicals, growing up with so much music around me 100 per cent of the time.  Me and my sister Sinead, all we’ve known is music and musical theatre,” she says.

“My parents were a bit reluctant at first [for Aoife to pursue a stage career] because it’s a hard industry but Sinead and I had the talent and they’ve thoroughly supported us.” Who should be sitting directly in front of CharlesHutchPress on press night but Aoife’s parents, whereupon a very proud conversation ensued.

Naming a favourite musician, Aoife picks Steve Wonder. “I went to see him at Hyde Park this summer, which was amazing, but that was the day I found out I’d lost my Clueless job, so there I was, in the middle of Hyde Park, crying – and that’s when I decided to contact Paul [Hendy] about a panto job.

She is a “huge fan” of Beyonce too. “I saw her at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in June on her Cowboy Carter Tour,” she says. “I loved her country album! Her career has been going as long I’ve been here – I’m 26 – and she’s an icon.  She does her own thing, and she has a message behind everything, so it’s not just the music with her.”

Christmas has been a chance for Aoife to reunite with her partner, musical theatre actor Matt Blaker. “He’s been out in the Philippines doing The Bodyguard The Musical for ten weeks,” she says. “My family are all away in Spain for Christmas, but Matt’s coming up for a couple of days from Reading. Just the two of us together – and York’s not a bad place to be for Christmas!”

Aoife Kenny’s Princess Aurora and Tommy Carmichael’s Jangles performing in Sleeping Beauty with ensemble members Chris Morgan-Shillingford, back row, left, Elijah Daniel James, dance captain Alyssia Turpin, Sophie Flora and, front row, Jayden Tang and Charlotte Rose O’Sullivan. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

Aoife Kenny: back story

TRAINED at Laine Theatre Arts, Epsom, Surrey, graduating with a BA (Hons) degree in musical theatre in 2020.

Theatre credits include Clueless (Trafalgar Theatre); Frozen The Musical (West End); Snow White (Sheffield Lyceum); White Christmas (UK tour); Carousel (Kilworth House); Chess (Theatre Royal Drury Lane); Sunset Boulevard (Alexandra Palace); Up Next Gala (National Theatre); Sleeping Beauty (Mayflower Theatre, Southampton); Peter Pan (Swansea Grand Theatre); Cinderella (SEC Armadillo, Glasgow) and A Little Night Music and Beauty And The Beast (Laine Theatre Arts). 

Television credits include Songs Of Praise, The Chart (pilot), Children In Need and The X Factor. Other credits include Bare (London Palladium); Josh Groban’s Stages (UK tour); Russell Watson (UK tour); Turn Up London (Cadogan Hall); Drive In London (concert); Love Never Dies in concert (Theatre Royal Drury Lane) and I Put A Spell On You (Theatre Cafe). 

Kevin the “vicious” Velociraptor in Sleeping Beauty at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

On second thoughts: child’s play at the pantomime on a Saturday afternoon

RE-VIEW: Sleeping Beauty, York Theatre Royal, until January 4 ****

ACCOMPANYING three children plus chocolate goodies to Saturday afternoon’s matinee of Sleeping Beauty, Charles HutchPress discovered – not for the first time – that he was wrong. Very wrong.

We need to talk about Kevin, the “vicious Velociraptor”, derided in the original review as the “dawdling, limb-twiddling dinosaur that somewhat undermined the impact of speciality act Kris Madden’s fire artistry as Guardian of the Raptor” at the close of Act One.

To these eyes, Kevin still looks lost in the sudden spotlight, his front limbs doing a Tommy Cooper “Just Like That” impersonation”, spoiling any chance of  being scary, but no, no, no. Kevin was a roaring success with Louis, dinosaur devotee, aged five. Enraptured by the Raptor indeed.

And that’s the point. York Theatre Royal and co-producers Evolutions Productions have the right instincts for a pantomime that will appeal to all comers. The animal kingdom has always been part of the Theatre Royal show, whether Martin Barrass’s unforgettable Seal back in the day or Zeus the scene-stealing Border Collie two years ago.

Louis loved Kris Madden’s pyrotechnics too – an act truly on fire, topped off by his burning top hat in his walk-down –  and Finley named that twisting, turning fire starter as his favourite too, while Molly most enjoyed Golden, the up-up-uplifting K-Pop Demon Hunters hit that has become this pantomime season’s ubiquitous song in another on-trend choice by the Theatre Royal panto team.

Fired up: Kris Madden’s Guardian of the Raptor in Sleeping Beauty. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

Encountering Sleeping Beauty for a second time, CharlesHutchPress was struck once more by the political jibes (especially a dig at the early release of prisoners under Labour’s watch); the cornucopia of corny puns and the chemistry of dame Robin Simpson’s Nurse Nellie, Tommy Carmichael’s dippy Jangles and Christian Mortimer’s game Prince Michael in the outstanding splosh slapstick scene.

Top marks too go to Terry Parsons, Michelle Marden and Stuart Relph’s gorgeous set designs and Michael J Batchelor and Joey’s Dame Creations’ ever-witty costumes for Simpson’s polka-dotty dame.

The exploding confetti cannon – fired without warning after a big build-up much earlier– finds Simpson’s dame at his best in pulling all the strings amid the comical chaos.

No less explosive is the battle for supremacy of CBeebies’ star Jennie Dale’s Fairy Moonbeam and Jocasta Almgill’s wicked fairy Carabosse in a lung-busting sing-off as they spar to the max in Everything About You.

To put the cherry on the festive icing, Louis excitedly joined the queue to meet Jennie Dale, still on full beam in the foyer ahead of another performance that evening.

York Theatre Royal and Evolution Productions present Sleeping Beauty, York Theatre Royal, today, 2.30pm (captioned performance), 7pm; December 31,  11am, 3pm;  January 2,  2.30pm (relaxed performance), 7pm;  January 3, 2.30pm, 7pm; January 4,  11am, 3pm.  

Jennie Dale’s Fairy Moonbeam and Jocasta Almgill’s Carabosse battling for singing supremacy in York Theatre Royal’s musical variation on a spoken-word slam or rap battle

Which songs feature in Sleeping Beauty at York Theatre Royal?

Good Day Sunshine (The Beatles)

Hot To Go (Chappell Roan)

Introducing Me (Nick Jonas, from Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam)

School’s Out/Baggy Trousers/ABC (Alice Cooper/Madness/The Jackson 5)

Sweet Dreams (Eurythmics) 

Hakuna Matata (Elton John, from The Lion King) 

Die With A Smile (Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars)

Golden Slumbers (The Beatles)

Hellfire (Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz, from The Hunchback Of Notre Dame)

Pinball Wizard (The Who)

A Hundred Years Have Passed (from Dragonland)

Everything About You (Ugly Kid Joe)

A Thousand Years, repurposed as A Hundred Years (Christina Perri)

Ghostbusters (Ray Parker Jr)

Together In Electric Dreams (Giorgio Moroder and Philip Oakey)

Golden (from K-Pop Demon Hunters) 

Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, audience songsheet song, (Wham)

Everybody Needs Somebody To love, walk-down song (Bert Berns, Solomon Burke and Jerry Wexler, from The Blues Brothers).

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More Things To Do in York and beyond as the festivities spread good cheer. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 55, from The York Press

Fergus Powell’s Moonface Martin, left, and Adam Price’s Billy Crocker in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Anything Goes at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York. Picture: Felix Wahlberg

SEEING out the old year, welcoming in the new, Charles Hutchinson refuses to advocate putting your feet up in the festive season.

All aboard for the last chances to see: Pick Me Up Theatre in Anything Goes, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, today to December 30

CLIMB aboard the S.S. American as it sets sail in Andrew Isherwood’s all-singing, all-dancing staging of Anything Goes, Cole Porter’s swish musical, charting the madcap antics of a motley crew leaving New York for London on a Christmas-themed steamer.

Meet nightclub singer/evangelist Reno Sweeney (Alexandra Mather) and lovelorn Wall Street broker Billy Crocker (Adam Price), who has stowed away on board in pursuit of his beloved Hope Harcourt (Claire Gordon-Brown). Alas, Hope is engaged to fellow passenger Sir Evelyn Oakleigh (Neil Foster). Enter second-rate conman Moonface Martin (Fergus Powell) to join Reno in trying to help Billy win the love of his life. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Frances Marshall of History Riot: Presenting Tales From The Trail at York Castle Museum

Family-friendly performances of the week: History Riot in Tales From The Trail, York Castle Museum, Eye of York, York, today (27/12/2025) to January 3, except January 1, between 10am to 5pm daily

HISTORY Riot return to York Castle Museum with Tales From The Trail, an array of family-friendly performances, with start times being advertised at the admissions desk each day. Join two madcap Victorian characters for an urgent shopping trip on the Victorian street of Kirkgate this festive season.

Cue mystery, silliness and stories of the variety of items that they pick up along the way. Entry is included in general admission at https://beta.yorkmuseumstrust.org.uk/york-castle-museum/admission-tickets.

The billboard poster for The Tubs & Bull’s co-headline show at The Crescent, York

Double bill of the week: The Tubs and Bull, The Crescent, York, tonight, 7.30pm

IN A Please Please You Seasonal Rock’n’Roll Party, The Tubs and Bull team up for a co-headline show, featuring Dan Lucas at the double, complemented by some friends DJing in the bar.

Cardiff indie rock band The Tubs comprises Lucas, Owen Williams, Max Warren and Taylor Stewart; York alt. rock band Bull features songwriting frontman Tom Beer, guitarist Lucas, drummer Tom Gabbatiss, bassist Kai West and keyboard player and vocalist Holly Beer. Box office: thecrescentyork.com/events/the-tubs-bull/.

Aoife Kenny’s Aurora and Christian Mortimer’s Prince Michael of Moravia in Sleeping Beauty at York Theatre Royal. Picture: S R Taylor Photography

Still time for pantomime: Sleeping Beauty, York Theatre Royal, until January 4

YORK Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster directs returnee dame Robin Simpson’s Nurse Nellie, Jocasta Almgill’s Carabosse, Tommy Carmichael’s Jangles, CBeebies star Jennie Dale’s Fairy Moonbeam, Aoife Kenny’s Aurora and Harrogate actor Christian Mortimer’s Prince Michael of Moravia in Sleeping Beauty.

Written as ever by Paul Hendy, the Theatre Royal’s festive extravaganza is co-produced once more with award-winning Evolution Productions. Look out too for Kris Madden’s pyrotechnics: he indeed the fire starter, twisting, turning fire starter. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Turning ugly: Luke Attwood’s Melody Hard-Up and Brandon Nicholson’s Harmony Hard-Up in UK Productions’ Cinderella at the Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick

Still time for more pantomime: Cinderella, Grand Opera House, York, until January 4

CORONATION Street star Lisa George’s Fairy Godmother leads the Grand Opera House pantomime cast, joined by Tobias Turley (ITV’s Mamma Mia I Have A Dream) as Prince Charming and West End star Rachel Grundy (Rocky Horror Picture Show, Legally Blonde) as Cinderella in UK Productions’ Cinderella, scripted by award-winning Jon Monie. 

Directed by Ellis Kerkhoven, West End drag stars Luke Attwood and Brandon Nicholson double down on the rather saucy mayhem in Ugly Sisters mode, joined in the capering comedy corner by Jimmy Bryant’s Buttons. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

The creative team behind The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz at Castle Howard. Picture: Tom Arber

The Yellow Brick enters the home straight: The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz, Castle Howard, near York, until January 4

CASTLE Howard is transformed for winter into an immersive Christmas experience, dressed in set pieces, decorations, floristry, projections, lighting and sound for The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz.

Created by CLW Event Design, headed up by Charlotte Lloyd Webber and Adrian Lillie, the show-stopping Emerald City High Street in the Long Gallery is the highlight, with life-size fabricated shop fronts inspired by York’s Shambles, while the 28ft Christmas tree sparkles in the Great Hall. Leeds theatre company Imitating The Dog provides the spectacular projections and soundscapes. Tickets: castlehoward.co.uk.

Snow show in A Winter Adventure at JORVIK Viking Centre

Deep freeze: A Winter Adventure at JORVIK Viking Centre, York, until February 22 2026

A WINTER Adventure brings a new wintery experience to the underground York visitor attraction, where the 10th century Vikings are celebrating Yule with natural decorations hung on their houses. For the first time, visitors can peer through Bright White’s time portal into the blacksmith’s house excavated on this site in the 1970s, seeing what it would have been like to live there.

They will then board a time sleigh to travel back in time around the backstreets, transformed by Wetherby set dressers EPH Creative, who have covered streets and houses in a thick blanket of snow, bathed in cold blue lighting. Pre-booking is essential for all visits to JORVIK at jorvikvikingcentre.co.uk.

Fever presents: Candlelight: Best Of Bridgerton On Strings, National Centre for Early Music, Walmgate, York, January 3, 6.30pm; Candlelight: Tribute To Queen & More, 8.30pm

DEAREST  Reader, Lady Whistledown has given her verdict: the event of the season is here! Bathed in the soft glow of candlelight, favourite melodies from Shondaland’s Bridgerton series on Netflix are re-imagined by the New World String Quartet in a magical 60-minute performance of Candlelight: Best Of Bridgerton On Strings.

Later that same night, Candlelight presents the music of Queen and More in a live, hour-long multi-sensory musical experience featuring We Will Rock You, Somebody To Love, Radio Ga Ga, Killer Queen, We Are The Champions, Another One Bites the Dust, Bohemian Rhapsody and many more. Box office: support.feverup.com.

Ancient Hostility: Passionate political and personal song in harmony at Navigators Art’s A Feast Of Fools III

Navigators Art presents A Feast Of Fools III, The Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green, York, January 4, 7.30pm, doors 7pm

WELCOME to A Feast Of Fools III, York arts collective Navigators Art’s sign-off to “Holiday’s end – the last gasp of Mischief” in a celebration of Twelfth Night and Old Christmas packed with live folk music and a nod to the pagan and the impish.

On the bill will be: Ancient Hostility, performing passionate political and personal song in harmony;  North West folk duo Joshua Arnold and Therine, presenting vocal-led trad and experimental versions of British folk songs;  Pefkin, whose ritualistic hymnals draw heavily on the landscape and the natural world, and White Sail, York’s multi-instrumental alt-folk legends. Box office: www.ticketsource.co.uk/navigators-art-performance.

Pickering Musical Society’s principal panto players for Snow White at Kirk Theatre, Pickering

First panto of the New Year: Pickering Musical Society in Snow White, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, January 14 to 25, 7.15pm, except January 19; 2.15pm, January 17, 18, 24 and 25  

DIRECTED for the tenth year by resident director Luke Arnold and writer by Ron Hall, Pickering Musical Society’s 2026 pantomime combines comedy, spectacle, festive magic, dazzling scenery and colourful costumes.

The show features such principals as Marcus Burnside’s Dame Dumpling, Danielle Long’s Prince Valentine, Alice Rose’s Snow White, Paula Cook’s Queen Lucrecia and Sue Smithson’s Fairy Dewdrop. Audiences are encouraged to book early to avoid disappointment. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.littleboxoffice.com.

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 53, from Gazette & Herald

Emily Chattle’s Lowen and Ceridwen Smith’s Granbow in a magical scene in Next Door But One’s Christmas show with a difference, When Robins Appear. Picture: James Drury

FESTIVE shows, carol concerts, dancing with Anton and a musical aboard a Christmas steamer fill Charles Hutchinson’s in-box for December delights.

A different kind of Christmas show of the week: Next Door But One in When Robins Appear, Clifton Explore, December 18, 5.30pm; York Explore, December 20 and 21, 11am and 2pm

WRITTEN and directed by Next Door But One artistic director Matt Harper-Hardcastle, When Robins Appear follows two friends as they face the big changes of moving house, starting new schools and a first Christmas without Grandma, when the festive sparkle seems to be missing.

Helped by a magical Robin (played by Ceridwen Smith), 12-year-old Ellis (Annie Rae Donaghy) and Lowen (Emily Chattle) are whisked away on a heart-warming journey through their favourite wintery memories to find the magic again. Soon they discover that the real sparkle of Christmas will not be found under the tree, but in the laughter, love and unforgettable moments we share together and that can live forever in our hearts. Tickets update: Sold out, for returns only, go to: www.nextdoorbutone.co.uk.

Adam Price’s Billy Crocker, left, Alexandra Mather’s Reno Sweeney and Fergus Powell’s Moonface Martin in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Anything Goes at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York. Picture: Felix Wahlberg

Full steamer ahead of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Anything Goes, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, until December 21, then December 27 to 30

CLIMB aboard the S.S. American as it sets sail in Andrew Isherwood’s all-singing, all-dancing staging of Anything Goes, Cole Porter’s swish musical, charting the madcap antics of a motley crew leaving New York for London on a Christmas-themed steamer.

Meet nightclub singer/evangelist Reno Sweeney (Alexandra Mather) and lovelorn Wall Street broker Billy Crocker (Adam Price), who has stowed away on board in pursuit of his beloved Hope Harcourt (Claire Gordon-Brown). Alas, Hope is engaged to fellow passenger Sir Evelyn Oakleigh (Neil Foster). Enter second-rate conman Moonface Martin (Fergus Powell) to join Reno in trying to help Billy win the love of his life. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Winter WonderBand: Performing Joy Illimited album at Helmsley Arts Centre

The cover artwork for Winter WonderBand’s Joy Illimited album

Christmas folk concert of the week: Winter WonderBand, Helmsley Arts Centre, tomorrow, 7.30pm

CHAMBER folk quartet Winter WonderBand comprises Saul Rose (from Faustus, War Horse and Waterson Carthy) on melodeon; Maclaine Colston (Pressgang and Kings Of Calicutt) on hammered dulcimer; Beth Porter (SpellSongs and Bookshop Band) on cello and Jennifer Crook (Broken Road and Cythara) on harp and guitar.

Together they play winter and festive-themed acoustic music and songs, traditional, modern and original, as heard on debut album Joy Illimited, released on December 1. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

The Icons Of Soul: In serenading mood at Milton Rooms, Malton, on Saturday

Christmas soul parties of the week: The Magic Of Motown, York Barbican, tomorrow, 7.30pm; The Icons Of Soul, Milton Rooms, Malton, Saturday, 8pm

ON its 20th anniversary tour, The Magic Of Motown travels down nostalgia avenue in celebration of  Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, The Supremes, The Four Tops, Martha Reeves, Mary Wells, The Isley Brothers, The Jackson 5, Smokey Robinson and Lionel Richie at York Barbican on Thursday. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Two nights later, direct from the United States, The Icons Of Soul serenade Malton’s audience with soul classics and slick dance routines as they celebrate 1960s and 1970s’ vocal groups such as The Drifters, The Temptations, The Stylistics and Tavares. Be prepared to dance all night long. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

The poster for Pocklington Arts Centre’s Christmas show, Elizabeth Godber’s Jingle All The Way

Deer double act of the week: Jingle All The Way, Pocklington Arts Centre, until December 23

FROM the team behind The Elves And The Shoemaker Save Christmas and Jack Frost’s Christmas Wish comes Elizabeth Godber’s latest Christmas family adventure, co-directed by Jane Thornton with musical direction by Dylan Allcock.

Reindeer siblings Rex (Emilio Encinoso-Gil) and Rosie(Hannah Christina) are reluctant to start at a new school just before Christmas, especially when that school is the East Riding Reindeer Academy, home of supreme athletes. Santa, however, has a position free on his sleigh squad; could this be Rex’s big chance? Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Eve Lorian: Conducting Prima Choral Artists’ Family Christmas Concert at St Olave’s Church, Marygate, York

Choral concert of the week: Prima Choral Artists, Family Christmas Concert, St Olave’s Church, Marygate, York, Saturday, 4pm to 5pm

PRODUCED and conducted by Prima Choral Artists director Eve Lorian, Saturday’s concert unites her choir with the New World String Quartet, organist James Webb and pianist Greg Birch in reflective and cheerful Christmas celebrations.

Here come high-spirited festive classics, modern choral arrangements and string and organ repertoire, including works by Tchaikovsky and Rawsthorne. Box office: primachoral.com and on the door.

Festive song and dance with Anton Du Beke and terpsichorean friends at York Barbican

Dandy dancing of the week: Christmas With Anton Du Beke & Friends, York Barbican, Sunday, 5pm

EMBARK on a dazzling journey into a festive wonderland as Strictly Come Dancing judge and ballroom king Anton Du Beke joins forces with his dynamic live band, vocalist Lance Ellington and  troupe of dancers for a magical evening of cherished Christmas songs, captivating dance and festive humour. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Recommended but sold out already is Robert Plant’s Saving Grace gig, Ding Dong Merrily, at York Barbican on December 23 (doors 7pm), when Plant, co-vocalist Suzi Dian drummer Oli Jefferson, guitarist Tony Kelsey, banjo and string player Matt Worley and cellist Barney Morse-Brown showcase September 26’s Saving Grace album, “a song book of the lost and found”.

Pickering Musical Society in pantoland: Starting off the new year in Snow White at Kirk Theatre, Pickering

Booking recommended now: Pickering Musical Society in Snow White, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, January 14 to 25, 7.15pm, except January 19; 2.15pm, January 17, 18, 24 and 25  

INTEREST has been “extraordinary” for Pickering Musical Society’s January 2026 pantomime, directed for the tenth year by resident director Luke Arnold. More than 1,000 tickets have sold already; January 18’s 2.15pm performance has sold out and several others are close behind.

Written by Ron Hall, the show combines comedy, spectacle, festive magic, dazzling scenery and colourful costumes and features such principals as Marcus Burnside’s Dame Dumpling, Danielle Long’s Prince Valentine, Alice Rose’s Snow White, Paula Cook’s Queen Lucrecia and Sue Smithson’s Fairy Dewdrop. Audiences are encouraged to book early to avoid disappointment. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.littleboxoffice.com.

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Why the ’empowering, cathartic’ Calendar Girls means so much to Maureen Nolan

“It’s such a touching story, especially for my family, where cancer has played such a part – and still is,” says Calendar Girls The Musical actress Maureen Nolan. Picture: Jack Merriman

CALENDAR Girls The Musical has a bucketload of poignancy for Maureen Nolan.

As ever, the collection buckets will be out, raising funds for Blood Cancer UK from tomorrow to Saturday when the Gary Barlow and Tim Firth musical plays the Grand Opera House, York.

“It’s such a touching story, especially for my family, where cancer has played such a part – and still is,” says Maureen, who will be playing Ruth in Jonathan O’Boyle’s touring production.

Sister Bernie, who appeared in the play version of Calendar Girls, died of breast cancer in 2013; eldest sister Anne, diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time in April 2020, is in remission; younger sister Linda last year announced her cancer had spread to her brain.

“That didn’t make it more difficult for me to do the show,” says Maureen, who made her name as part of The Nolans, the Anglo-Irish family of singing sisters from Blackpool. “Calendar Girls is almost empowering, cathartic. People come up constantly afterwards with these very sad stories but they’re still smiling on the way out.”

Quick refresher course: Calendar Girls, the film, the play, now the musical, was inspired by the true story of Rylstone Women’s Institute members raising £5 million (and counting) for blood cancer research.

Maureen Nolan, as Mrs Johnstone, with Sean Jones as her son Mickey Johnstone, in Blood Brothers at the Grand Opera House, York in 2013

The story goes: Following the death to leukaemia of Annie’s much-loved husband, the ordinary women of a small Yorkshire Women’s Institute are prompted to do something extraordinary, whereupon they set about creating a nude calendar to raise money for charity.

However, upturning preconceptions is a dangerous business and none of the women are prepared for the emotional and personal ramifications they will face as the fabulous and funny calendar brings each woman unexpectedly into flower.

Explaining those audience smiles, Maureen says: “I think it’s because Annie, who loses her husband, does get over it, raising £5 million for this amazing charity. Life has to go on. People are weeping in the audience, but the reality is that cancer is a a massive part of life but is getting more curable. Like my sister Linda, who has had cancer since 2005 in different forms but is still enjoying life.”

Maureen, whose Grand Opera House appearances included Mrs Johnston in Willy Russell’s musical Blood Brothers in October 13, is joined on the 2024 leg of the Calendar Girls tour by stars of music, stage and television: Laurie Brett as Annie; Liz Carney as Marie; Helen Pearson as Celia; Samantha Seager as Chris; Lyn Paul as Jessie and Honeysuckle Weeks as Cora.

“I first got involved at the end of the summer last year, when they said, ‘would you have a chat with Tim [Firth] and the director, Jonathan [O’Boyle]?’. He’s a young man, 40 this year, who had to work with all these women, seven women of differing ages, menopausal and older, and I can’t imagine anyone handling it better. He never lost his cool,” she says of her rehearsal experience.

The cast had to work on a condensed version of Barlow and Firth’s original version of the musical, premiered at Leeds Grand Theatre in November-December 2015 under the title of The Girls (returning there on the 2023-2024 tour’s first leg last November) .

Maureen Nolan as Ruth, holding her “Russian friend”, in Calendar Girls The Musical. Picture: Jack Merriman

“They don’t have the children in the show now, with Tim wanting to concentrate on the women, not the back story, with new songs as well, so we were a little under-rehearsed when we opened after only three weeks,” says Maureen, who had seen only the film and an amateur production of the before taking on the role of Ruth.

“I had nothing to go on, having not seen the original musical, so I play Ruth like Mavis [Thelma Barlow’s Mavis Riley] from Coronation Street! Others think she’s a bit OCD-ish, but it turns out she’s had a mentally abusive relationship [with a philandering husband] and she’s hiding a drink problem.

“At first I didn’t think Ruth was in it much, but it’s about quality not quantity, and at my age [she will turn 70 on June 14] I get the chance to stand in the dressing room making tea – and Ruth has some great comedy lines.”

Maureen enthuses: “Along with Blood Brothers, it’s the best show I’ve ever done. We were laughing and crying throughout rehearsals: the writing is genius by Tim and Gary; like Willy Russell’s shows, you can’t go wrong.

“Between Tim’s words and Gary’s music, the songs are beautiful and uplifting, and the music really adds to the show. I’ve been in things that I wish I hadn’t been in, but I am so proud of this musical.”

Sunflower power: The principal cast for Calendar Girls The Musical, including Maureen Nolan, right. Picture: Jack Merriman

Not least because of Ruth’s song, the tragicomic My Russian Friend And I, that ‘friend’ being the vodka bottle. “It’s a funny scene but then tragic: what people like her go through and yet keep hidden.”

Ruth ostensibly quaffs a drink to quell her fears of undressing, until the darker truth is revealed, but how did Maureen come to terms with the need to strip for the calendar photoshoot each show? “It was really funny because for about two weeks of rehearsals we didn’t really talk about it, and it became the elephant in the room!” she recalls.

“Then the director said there would be a meeting to talk about the photography scene – taking clothes off on stage was something I couldn’t imagine at my age! – but we talked about how much we would show, what we could wear, and then it’s one of those moments where you think, ‘oh, just get them off!’.

“It was all done so beautifully by our director, where we were really treated with respect. Every night, the tech team has to leave stage left.”

Back on the road, with four new cast members, after a winter break when she found time to appear as the Wicked Queen Cruella in Snow White in Cannock for a week, Maureen says: “I love, love, love going to York. It’s so beautiful.”

Calendar Girls The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow (February 6) to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Did you know? Maureen Nolan’s real name is Marie Antoinette Nolan; Mo for short
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REVIEW: Theatre Royal’s travelling show for the people rescues the essence of panto

Switched on at all times: Robin Simpson’s joke-generation dame lights up York Theatre Royal’s Travelling Pantomime. All pictures: Ant Robling

REVIEW: York Theatre Royal’s Travelling Pantomime, Jack And The Beanstalk, New Earswick Folk Hall, York, 5/12/2020

NO Rolling Stones show goes by without rock’n’roll’s greatest paleontological survivor, Keith Richards, leaning into his microphone to mumble: “It’s good to be here…it’s good to be anywhere”.

Lo and behold, “It’s great to be here…it’s kind of great to be anywhere,” says York Theatre Royal Travelling Pantomime’s comic turn, Josh “Just Joshing” Benson, at the outset of Saturday evening’s Covid-secure, socially distanced, temperature-tested, bubble-seated pantomime.

How right he is. Saturday was day four of the new dawn of the York Theatre Royal pantomime, the  first after 40 years in the wildness of the Dame Berwick Kaler era. Until Covid-19 became the joyless new villain, out to destroy the land of theatre, Cinderella was to have marked the transition from Kaler capers to a new partnership with regular Great British Pantomime Award winners Evolution Productions.

On his knees but not for long: York Theatre Royal’s inexhaustible pantomime comic turn Josh Benson

When invitations to the ball turned to cinders, chief executive Tom Bird, creative director Juliet Forster and Evolution writer-director Paul Hendy decided to tear up the script and compose three new ones instead to take the panto to the people.

Hence it is indeed great to be here, there and everywhere, because, while the Theatre Royal main stage awaits resuscitation in 2021, the Travelling Pantomime will definitely be pitching up at 16 of York’s 21 wards, possibly more if Covid-safe passage can yet be guaranteed to others. At least four more shows are being lined up for after Christmas and a recording of the second-night preview will be made available for streaming soon too.

On Saturday, New Earswick Folk Hall was transformed into a theatre for the first time, creating an impromptu stage with Hannah Sibai’s red-curtained, green-framed travelling theatre frontage and a traditional pantomime backdrop.

It’s all about the bass: York Theatre Royal’s multi-tasking fairy, singing captain and musician Anna Soden

Everything is slimmed down – a cast of five, no ensemble, no live band, no interval, no panto cow, but less just means being more inventive and cramming so much into what we are told will be an hour but stretches gladly well beyond.

Edinburgh Fringe shows work to tight running times, and quality, not quantity, rules here too. To Paul Hendy, that means bottling up the “the essence of panto” and right now, in Covid-19 2020, that essence is Joy.

Once we are introduced not just to Just Josh’s rubber-bodied comic, but also Robin Simpson’s classic dame, Faye Campbell’s modern hero, super-tall Reuben Johnson’s villain and Anna Soden’s trumpet/guitar/bass-playing fairy, we must vote for our choice of show: Dick Whittington, Jack And The Beanstalk or Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs. Seven dwarves, note; there is a knock-out joke a’coming.

Hitting the Jack-pot: Faye Campbell’s super hero in Jack And The Beanstalk

Jack won out on Saturday: Josh becoming, well, Josh, with the daftest streak of blond in his hair since Kevin Petersen pummelled 158 against Australia with a skunk plonked on his bonce in 2005. He is a lovably daft ball of energy, cheeky but not saucy, and if he kept his magic tricks up his sleeve this time, what an asset for the future.

Simpson, on loan from Huddersfield’s  Lawrence Batley Theatre, is the penniless but pun-full, mirthful Dame Trott, reaching for both a cuppa and the gin; Johnson, all in black with a dash of red to match his Russian accent, is a Flesh Creep with an amusingly dismissive air and a mischievous hint of Borat.

Campbell’s Jack must fight the old prejudices against girls being fit for purpose for heroic tasks while keeping the name Jack. Soden’s rapping, funky, blue and pink-haired Fairy is more likely to hit the bass line than wave a wand, as flashy as her lit-up boots.

Kill-joy: Reuben Johnson’s Flesh Creep in Jack And The Beanstalk

Juliet Forster directs with momentum, brio and thrills rather than frills, complemented by Hayley Del Harrison’s fun, compact choreography and musical director James Harrison’s rapid-fire bursts of high-energy songs.

Yes, there is a beanstalk and a Giant called Pundemic. Above all, York Theatre Royal have hit the jackpot with Paul Hendy’s script-writing prowess, love of a double-act routine and a knowingly contrived, convoluted path to a pay-off line.

He handles the pandemic crisis with a success rate to make the Government jealous, throwing in topical references galore with witty, often unpredictable Pandemime punchlines, but nothing insensitive in such traumatic times.

Writer Paul Hendy: Bottling the essence of pantomime, labelled with joy

A magazine title slapstick to-and-fro between Benson and Simpson is already a contender for panto scene of the year, and if there are jokes for adults, Hendy favours a Gilbert O’Sullivan song title, rather than adult material or in-jokes.

Pantomime 1, Pandemic 0, the Travelling Pantomime triumphs on its already sold-out run to December 23. Hendy will be back next winter for the full Evolution to roll out; Benson is due to return to the Victoria Theatre panto in Halifax next Christmas, alas, but his Theatre Royal day will surely come, even if he can’t magic his way out of that one.

Review by Charles Hutchinson

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21 wards, three shows, prepare for York Theatre Royal pantomime like no other

Just Joshing: York entertainer and magician Josh Benson larks around on the York Theatre Royal stage as rehearsals begin forThe Travelling Pantomime. Picture: Anthony Robling

REHEARSALS are underway for York Theatre Royal’s Travelling Pantomime, the neighbourhood show that will tour to all 21 wards in York.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden’s confirmation that theatre rehearsals could continue behind closed doors during Lockdown 2, despite all entertainment venues being closed from November 5, has facilitated director Juliet Forster bringing the cast together for sessions in the Covid-secure billiards room in the De Grey Rooms.

“It was a huge relief,” says Juliet, the Theatre Royal’s associate director. “We anticipated he would because he’d said film and TV rehearsals wouldn’t stop, but he hadn’t mentioned theatre at that time, so there was that awful feeling of not knowing, but it was great when the news came out at 9pm that night.”

Welcoming the cast of Robin Simpson, entertainer and magician Josh Benson, actor-musician Anna Soden, Reuben Johnson and Faye Campbell, chief executive Tom Bird says: “We’ve put Covid safety measures in place and will be carefully following Government guidelines over the weeks ahead, but we’re thrilled that we can carry on with our plans to take our pantomime out to the people of York this year.”

Revised dates – moved to a later start after Lockdown 2 was announced – are now in place for a run from December 3, with more to be added. The preview night on a pop-up theatre on York Theatre Royal’s main stage on December 3 will be filmed for broadcast so anyone who misses out on a ticket can still enjoy the show, co-produced by York Theatre Royal and new pantomime partners Evolution Productions.

“Be assured, one way or another, York Theatre Royal’s Travelling Pantomime will be coming to you,” says Tom.

“Panto really benefits from the input of the live audience, so that’s why it was always our intention to do the recording in front of an audience,” says Juliet.

York Theatre Royal associate director Juliet Forster and chief executive Tom Bird with Paul Hendy, producer of pantomime partners Evolution Productions

Joined in the production team by Pop-Up On The Patio designer Hannah Sibai, choreographer Hayley Del Harrison and musical director James Harrison, Juliet will be working on not one, but three 70-minute pantomimes written by Evolution producer Paul Hendy for each audience to vote whether to see Jack And The Beanstalk, Dick Whittington or Snow White.

Three pantomimes? Plenty to rehearse there, Juliet?! “It’s do-able, and thanks to the Government, we have a bit more rehearsal time now,” she says.

A cast of only five will help too. “Because we’re working on a small touring stage, it wouldn’t have made sense to do a big-sized show with a dance ensemble,” says Juliet. “You may lose some spectacle, but in terms of story-telling, chatting with Paul [writer Paul Hendy], we decided that having just the five key characters intensifies the story, investing in each character’s journey.”

Actor and writer Reuben Johnson will play Fleshcreep and Ratticus Flinch, the villain’s roles, after working previously with Juliet last year, appearing as the thoroughly decent Marco in the Theatre Royal’s autumn production of Arthur Miller’s A View From The Bridge.

“It was quite a different show from doing a panto!” he says. “We met on Skype to talk about it, and it’s a perfect chance to work on something fun in such dark times.”

“Reuben has such comedic funny bones, which you wouldn’t have seen in A View From The Bridge, but even there he mined a few comic moments,” says Juliet. “Sometimes you get someone in your head when you read a script, and they keep coming back into your head, like Reuben did, even though I think of him as a very serious actor. Some of my best casting has come that way.”

“I’m trying to find the humour and likeability of the villain, which really contradicts the audience’s thoughts and expectations,” says Reuben Johnson as he prepares to play Fleshcreep and Ratticus Flinch. Picture: Anthony Robling

Reuben may be a pantomime debutant but says: “I’m a theatre fan in general. I love Shakespeare, new plays, physical comedy, pantomime. Panto wouldn’t normally be number one, but I enjoy all theatre and we do need some big fun right now.”

Reflecting on taking on the villain’s role, he says: “I’ve played baddies quite a bit, and what I like to think I can bring to them, when playing stereotypical villains, is trying to find the humour and likeability of that character, which really contradicts the audience’s thoughts and expectations about that person.

“When I watched them as a child, I often thought that bad guys were hilarious to be around, very rowdy, exciting. Now I’ve got the chance to go to town with it in pantomime.”

One rule of acting asserts that you do not have to sympathise with the characters you play, but you should at least empathise with them. “As long as you know your motivation, it’s how you then go about playing the villain,” says Reuben.

“In pantomime, you’ll want to hear people both laughing at you and with you. It’s that love/hate thing.”

Robin Simpson was last seen on the Theatre Royal stage in Northern Broadsides’ Much Ado About Nothing in May 2019 and has Theatre Royal credits to his name in The Railway Children, The Wind In The Willows, Pinocchio and Pygmalion. 

This winter he returns in the juiciest of all pantomime parts, the Dame, a role he has played for the past three years at the Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield.  “This time feels very different because of the current situation and the nature of the show,” says Robin, who played Dame Dolly in Jack And The Beanstalk, Widow Twankey in Aladdin and Nanny Fanny in Sleeping Beauty.

“We didn’t mine that name for any humour, I can assure you! We were all very grown up about it, weren’t we!”

“It’s like being the best kind of party host,” says Robin Simpson, summing up the joy of playing the dame in York Theatre Royal’s Travelling Pantomime. Picture: Anthony Robling

Defining the dame’s importance to pantomime, Robin says: “It’s like being the best kind of party host, being welcoming, over the top, ebullient, everyone’s friend, which is so nice to play.”

In dame tradition, from Dan Leno to Berwick Kaler, he has settled on his distinctive persona. “If you’ve got something that works, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Robin says of the upcoming prospect of playing three variations on Dame Dolly next month.

“My dame is like Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd and Daffy Duck rolled into one! There won’t be any variation, except trying to remember who I’m playing each time, with the different frocks denoting the character.

“It’s very much a case of the dame generally being a working-class single mother, with numerous children; hard working, straight talking and funny. I’m sort of basing it loosely on northern women when I was growing up. That Ena Sharples character [in Coronation Street], gossiping over the wall; that matriarch; that Les Dawson send-up with Roy Barraclough.

“There’s lots of love there, but she’s also as hard as nails, and you don’t see that much anymore, but hopefully it’s still recognisable. But ultimately with the dame, she comes on stage as a bloke in a dress who tells jokes.”

Lockdown in March turned the lights out on stages across the country but both Johnson and Simpson have sought to keep busy. “I’ve done OK,” says Reuben. “Fortuitously for me, I write as well, doing spoken-word, so I’ve got by on that, with a few little acting jobs as well, but I’ve been craving getting back to work on a stage and that’s not been possible until now. Returning to the rehearsal room has been like a dream.”

Robin, who is also a storyteller, working in schools, libraries and museums all over the country, says: “I don’t want to complain too much because I know people have been going through worse. I’ve worked online, recording stories, learning skills like how to record and creating little films and kids’ stories on Facebook Live for Oldham Libraries,” he says.

York actor-musician Anna Soden, who will play Fairy and Sea Captain and a multitude of musical instruments in The Travelling Pantomime. Picture: Anthony Robling

“I think there’s merit in recording shows as I can reach places I couldn’t do with live performances for the library service, though you’ll never beat the ‘liveness’ of a show.”

Juliet rejoins: “It all comes back to the shared experience.” “That’s what we’re all desperate for,” says Robin.

“That’s why we couldn’t let go of the need to do a Theatre Royal pantomime this Christmas, even when we knew we weren’t going to be able to open the theatre,” says Juliet. “The prospect of not doing a panto felt wrong.

“We’d talked about community touring and rural touring, and our research told us that audiences would feel more comfortable going to a show locally with their neighbours, rather than coming to the theatre with people from all over the place.

“That’s why we decided to take something so synonymous with Christmas out of the theatre into York’s community centres, church halls and schools for families to have some festive fun with Paul’s shows that are really warm, funny for all ages, packed full of good characters and not innuendo.”

For tickets, dates and more details for The Travelling Pantomime, go to yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Here, there and everywhere: York Theatre Royal’s poster for The Travelling Pantomime

YORK THEATRE ROYAL’S TRAVELLING PANTOMIME schedule of performances. Confirmed so far:

December 2: Members-only preview, York Theatre Royal (pop-up theatre on main stage).

December 3: Preview, York Theatre Royal (pop-up theatre on main stage).

December 4: Tang Hall Community Centre, 4.30pm and 7pm.

December 5: New Earswick Folk Hall, 4.30pm and 7pm.

December 8: The Reading Room, Dunnington, 7pm.

December 9: Wiggington Recreation Hall, 7pm.

December 10:  St Barnabas Primary School, Holgate. Afternoon school performance; public

Performance, 6pm.

December 11: Clifton Church Hall, 4.30pm and 7pm.

December 12: Elvington Village Hall, Wheldrake, 4.30pm and 7pm.

December 13: The Poppleton Centre, 4.30pm and 7pm.

December 15: Acomb Parish Hall, 7pm.

December 16: Carr Junior School. Afternoon school performance; public performance, 6pm.

December 18: Copmanthorpe Methodist Church Hall, 4.30pm and 7pm.

December 19:  Clifton Green Primary School, 4.30pm and 7pm.

December 20: York Pavilion Hotel, 4.30pm and 7pm.

December 22: Heworth Christ Church, 4.30pm and 7pm.

December 23: Archbishop Holgate’s School, 4.30pm and 7pm.

Additional venues to be confirmed.

Brushing up on his role: Josh Benson goes to work at York Theatre Royal

Tickets cost £10 for adults, £5 for children, with a maximum party size of six people in a household or support bubble.

Up to 25 per cent of tickets will be made free of charge to families in need this Christmas.

Capacity at some venues is small. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis to anyone living in a York city ward.

Did you know?

TRAVELLING Pantomime musical director James Harrison was musical supervisor/director for Evolution Productions’ award-winning 2019-2020 pantomime, Cinderella, at Sheffield Lyceum Theatre. He was awarded the Best Music prize at the Great British Pantomime Awards. 

 Please note:  York Theatre Royal’s planned 2020/21 pantomime, Cinderella, will not go to the ball until next winter.