Matt Goss: The Hits And More at Sheffield Oval, York Barbican, Hull Connexin Live and Leeds Grand Theatre in Spring 2025. Picture: Paul Harris
THE “New King of Las Vegas”, Matt Goss will play four Yorkshire venues on his 2025 tour, The Hits And More, including York Barbican on April 25.
The 21-date itinerary also will take in Sheffield Oval on March 14, Hull Connexin Live on April 24 and the tour’s closing night at Leeds Grand Theatre on April 28.
Pre-sale tickets will be available via on Wednesday (11/12/2024) at ticketmaster.co.uk; general sale from Friday at mattgossofficial.co.uk.
The Hits & More will be a “celebration of all Matt has achieved in his music career and beyond”, from pop pin-up days in Bros to Las Vegas, not forgetting the 2022 series of Strictly Come Dancing.
Initially he headed to Palms Casino for one year only, but the South Londoner has been performing in the United States for more than 11 years now after his show became an instant success.
He moved to Caesars Palace for the remainder of his Vegas residency and has since played such iconic New York venues as Carnegie Hall and Madison Square Garden. He even hailed August 8 as “official Matt Goss Day” in Las Vegas.
“Trust me, what I’ve learnt over the years, being on countless stages around the world, this will be your best night of the year!” says Matt Goss. Picture: Paul Harris
Next spring’s tour will mark Goss’s return to the UK concert stage after his hit tour in 2023, when the Matt Goss Experience, with the MG Big Band and Royal Philharmonic, played York Barbican on April 23.
“Trust me, what I’ve learnt over the years, being on countless stages around the world, this will be your best night of the year!” says Goss, who promises sensational songs and an electric atmosphere.
In his Bros days, frontman Matt and drummer brother Luke played to 77,000 fans as the youngest ever band to headline Wembley Stadium in August 1989, with support from Salt’n’Pepa and Debbie Gibson on the Bros In 2 Summer bill.
Bros also played 19 shows at Wembley Arena between 1987 and 1992, later re-uniting for two concerts at the O2 Arena, London, in 2017, when the 40,000 tickets sold out in seven seconds, the fastest ever sell-out for any Live Nation show there.
Best known for their November 1987 number two When Will I Be Famous?, Bros split up in 1992 after releasing their third and final album, Changing Faces.
In 2018, the BAFTA-winning documentary film about Matt and Luke’s lives together and apart, After The Screaming Stops, became that year’s most downloaded BBC production.
STRICTLY Come Dancing judge and dashing dancer Anton Du Beke glides into York Barbican next Tuesday in his new festive tour show, Christmas with Anton & Friends.
Anton, 58, will be joined as ever by elegant crooner Lance Ellington, a live band and a company of dancers to create an evening filled with song and dance with added Christmas dazzle.
“I’ve always dreamed of doing a big Christmas show as it’s the best time of the year, so this is a real treat for me,” says the king of the ballroom. “It’s the show I’ve always wanted to do with some old faces and some new!
“Don’t forget to bring your voices for a mega sing-a-long with some of my favourite Christmas songs. It’s going to be lots of fun and full of Christmas cheer.”
In the past few years, Anton has been appearing in pantomime over the winter months, making his debut as Buttons in Cinderella at Richmond Theatre in 2021-2022, followed by protagonist Jack in Jack & The Beanstalk at Churchill Theatre, Bromley, in 2022-23 and Smee alongside Paul Chuckle’s Starkey in Peter Pan at the New Victoria Theatre, Woking, in 2023-24. “Only goodies! I can only play goodies,” he says. “It’s fun but it’s a lot of time to spend away from my children.”
Hence his decision to launch Christmas With Anton & Friends, whose tour runs from November 24 to December 21, hot on the heels of his autumn terpsichorean travels in Showman: An Evening With Anton Du Beke.
The tour poster for Anton Du Beke’s Christmas show
He was still on that song, dance and chat tour when conducting this interview on November 19, on top of his Strictly judging commitments for the BBC.
“I’m on the road at the moment, and then we’ll do four weeks of the Christmas show,” he said at the time. “So we’ve been rehearsing the Christmas show in the day and doing the Showman show at night.”
Exit the Showman, enter the snow man. “I used to do Christmas shows at the Royal Albert Hall and loved it,” says Anton. “Now I’m doing this new tour. It’s all Christmas songs, and it’s going to be such fun. Lance Ellington is with me again, the band, and I’ve got my wonderful dancers and a female singer too.
“This one has been done with the team: Kelly Chow, our dance captain, has sort of put it together choreographically; my musical director, Clive Dunstall, has done all the arrangements, writing all this stuff while being on tour with me. It’s been quite the task but so exciting!
“There’ll be Christmas trees on stage and everyone in Christmas jumpers and hats. We’ll have a big medley at the end, about nine minutes long, starting with Mariah Carey [All I Want For Christmas Is You] and ending with Slade [Merry Xmas Everybody]. Six songs in all.”
The show will span Christmas classics to more contemporary numbers, from It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year to Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire. “There’s a lovely song called [Everybdody’s Waiting For] The Man With The Bag. It’s a classic, not that new, but rarely played…so Lance and I will be doing it as a duet,” says Anton.
“I’ve always dreamed of doing a big Christmas show as it’s the best time of the year,” says Anton Du Beke. Picture: Bev Comboy/Plank PR
Summing up the show, he says: “I love Christmas so much and everyone in the show is so looking forward to doing these shows. If you love Christmas as much as I do, you will have a great time.
“I love Christmas songs! My producer doesn’t entirely love them and my wardrobe mistress is much more into Halloween than Christmas, but I love Christmas much more than Halloween.”
Showman, now Christmas With Anton & Friends and Strictly, of course: Anton is busy, busy, busy. “Yes, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Strictly is great because I don’t have to do anything now other than turn up, judge and leave! I’m not choreographing, like when I was one of the professional dancers. I just turn up on Saturdays and that’s lovely,” he says.
“I just feel like everyone else is doing the work and I do my bit with the other judges, and it’s a very exciting series this year. The standard is so good that I’m at the stage where I’m waiting for a mistake because you don’t expect someone to do something wrong.
“It’s difficult to say who’ll win. The great thing is that the winner is not decided by the judges but by the public.”
How does judging contrast with dancing with a celebrity partner each year? “I’m enjoying it enormously because I can make the joke that I now make the final every time!” says Anton.
Together again: Anton Du Beke and Giovanni Pernice will reunite for 2025 tour, visiting York Barbican on July 18. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk
“That’s the big thing: I’m now involved for the whole series, even if it’s only 25 seconds of chat per couple, not dancing. That’s the joy for me, always being involved, whereas I never wanted to be voted off when competing because I loved being in it.
“Not one of those couples would rather be out than in, regardless of the circumstances, even if they know a dance has not been great, because the best thing is to be in it. There’s no fun when you’re out.”
His 2025 diary is filling up. “Next year is working out already,” he says. “I’m doing the Strictly tour, January into February, then a spring tour, Anton: The Musicals, a celebration of big musicals with great numbers from the shows and a lovely combination of old and new.”
Look out too for Anton & Giovanni Together Again, The Live Tour, when Du Beke and Pernice play York Barbican on July 18 2025 at 7.30pm.
Anton Du Beke in Christmas With Anton & Friends, York Barbican, December 10, 7.30pm. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Dani Harmer as Fairy Bon Bon on the Grand Opera House stage in Beauty And The Beast. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
BAFTA award-winning Dani Harmer will appear in Beauty And The Beast for a second time on a York stage from Saturday.
Best known for playing the title role in the CBBC series Tracy Beaker and its sequel Tracy Beaker Returns, from the age of 13, and later My Mum Tracy Beaker in 2021, Harmer will wave her wand as Fairy Bon Bon in UK Productions’ third pantomime season at the Grand Opera House.
In March 2015, she had played Beauty in two performance of the Easter pantomime at York Barbican, where she had taken the title role in Cinderella in December 2012, when she had to miss two shows that clashed with her commitments competing in BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing that season.
In the “craziest fortnight of my life”, Dani had to combine rehearsing each morning at the Barbican and spending each afternoon and evening at the University of York, practising routines with partner Vincent Simone, first for the semi-final, then three for the final: a tango, jive and show dance (Bohemian Rhapsody). “It’s been the best thing I have ever done,” she said at the time.
“I’m super excited to be back in my favourite panto of all time, Beauty And The Beast, which I’d be happy to do each year!” says Bracknell-born Dani, who appeared in the same role at Mansfield Palace Theatre last winter.
Beauty And The Beast principals and ensemble in rehearsals at Central Methodist Church, including Dani Harmer, second from right, back row
“For those that don’t know, I have always been completely obsessed with this story, so it’s a real joy for me to be bringing it to life on stage. And I adore playing the loveable and slightly bonkers Fairy Bon Bon, so cannot wait to put on my wings once more.
“And it’s even more exciting to be coming to the gorgeous city of York! I’m very, very happy to be here. I can’t think of a better place to be spending the Christmas period. So, bring on the Yorkshire puddings.”
Dani has a long history of performing in pantomime. “My first panto was when I was six, as a juvenile. I’m 35 now,” she says. “I went to theatre school from the age of six. It didn’t put me off! Most of what I learnt was on the job.
“I grew up on camera. Your teenage years can be your most difficult, but all my teenage days were spent on camera [filming Tracy Beaker] – and I’m very grateful that social media was not around then. I don’t know if I’d still be an actor now if it had been.”
Now she is waving her wand as Fairy Bon Bon for the second year running. “Playing Fairy, you can take the role two ways. You can be a Fairy Godmother, like a mother figure to a princess, or you can go the more non-traditional fairy route, where I’m loud and energetic and not quite sure what’s going to come out of my mouth!
Dani Harmer as Beauty in Beauty And The Beast at York Barbican in 2015
“So you can expect the unexpected with this show. You get the story but there are also twists and turns you won’t expect.”
The script comes from the pen of 2019 Great British Pantomime Award winner Jon Monie. “I’ve had the pleasure of working with him a few times,” says Dani. “He was my Buttons when I was Cinderella – I just adore that man.”
Dani will forever be associated with Tracy Beaker, the childhood role she resumed as an adult in My Mum Tracy Beaker. “We were one of the first shows to go back into the studio after the pandemic, having been postponed,” she recalls.
“Playing Tracy again was like wearing a nice, comfy pair of slippers. I loved playing her. I’m a fan, like everyone else, where I’m desperate to see where she goes next!”
What first made Tracy so popular, Dani? “I think she just came around at a good time when TV was male dominated and comedy was male dominated, where we grew up with the Chuckle Brothers – I was a fan – but along came this female-led series, just when Grange Hill had finished,” she says.
Beauty And The Beast cast members Phil Reid, Dani Harmer, Leon Craig and Phil Atkinson pose by Clifford’s Tower. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
“I was 13 years old and Jacqueline Wilson’s stories were just magical. You always found something to relate to – and the way the BBC adapted stories, they just nailed it in the scripts. It might make me feel old now but I love the stories and there’s a lot to be said for nostalgia.”
Dani recalls an eye-opening role that brought her to Yorkshire in 2013 to play timid, naive but maybe not-so-innocent Janet Weiss in The Rocky Horror Show in 2013 at Leeds Grand Theatre. “She really does go through a transition, doesn’t she!” she says.
“It was such a joy to do because it couldn’t have been further from anything I’d done before, going from being a teenage lass on a TV show to being in my underwear on stage with a transvestite scientist seducing me!
“The producers took a leap of faith with me and my fans loved it! Rocky Horror fans will stick with you so I was really thankful that they loved it as they’ll tell you when they don’t rate you!”
UK Productions presents Beauty And The Beast at Grand Opera House, York, from December 7 to January 5 2025. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Meet the Grand Opera House pantomime stars: Phil Atkinson’s Hugo Pompidou, left, Jennifer Caldwell’s Belle, Dani Harmer’s Fairy Bon Bon, Leon Craig’s Polly La Plonk, Samuel Wyn-Morris’s Prince and Phil Reid’s Louis La Plonk
Kym Marsh’s Cruella De Vil in her giraffe suit in 101 Dalmatians The Musical. Picture: Johan Persson
THE musical tour of Dodie Smith’s canine caper 101 Dalmatians arrives at the Grand Opera House, York, on Tuesday, led by Kym Marsh’s villainous Cruella De Vil.
Written by Douglas Hodge (music and lyrics) and Johnny McKnight (book), from a stage adaptation by Zinnie Harris, the show is re-imagined from the 2022 production at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, London.
When fashionista Cruella de Vil plots to swipe all the Dalmatian puppies in town to create her fabulous new fur coat, trouble lies ahead for Pongo and Perdi and their litter of tail-wagging young pups in a story brought to stage life with puppetry, choreography, humorous songs and, yes, puppies.
After making her name in the Popstars reality TV pop band Hear’Say in 2001, playing barmaid and landlady Michelle Connor in Coronation Street for 13 years from 2006 and partnering with Graziano di Prima in the 2022 series of Strictly Come Dancing, Merseysider Kym is turning to the dark side at 48 in 101 Dalmatians The Musical.
“I enjoy playing [villainous] roles because they’re so far removed from me, so you have to really try and get into the head of that person,” she says of playing the dog-murdering Cruella.
At the wheel: Kym Marsh’s Cruella De Vil in 101 Dalmatians The Musical. Picture: Johan Persson
“Trying to get into the head of a person who wants to skin puppies to wear is especially alien to me because I’m such a huge dog lover! I’ve got two of my own, and I adore them.”
Villains do not come more fabulous than Cruella De Vil. “I think people are going to absolutely love her,” says Kym. “The costumes are so brilliant, and when she walks on, she’s just in command of everything. She’s the the most fun character ever.”
Look out, above all, for Cruella’s trademark black-and-white hairdo. “But there won’t be just one wig,” reveals Kym. “There’s going to be several changes and it’s not just what you expect from her. We’re like Cruella De Vil times ten!”
Her role requires her to perform big musical numbers on stage after many years of concentrating on other pursuits. “If you don’t sing, you forget,” she says.
Did she not sing in her role in last year’s tour of the Take That musical Greatest Days? “I didn’t have a lot to sing [in that],” she clarifies. “There were no solos, and nothing hugely taxing. Whereas in this, I’ve got my own songs, and there’s a lot to learn.”
Kym had to combine rehearsals for 101 Dalmatians with filming commitments for her role as canteen worker Nicky in the latest series of BBC school drama Waterloo Road. Then again, she is no stranger to juggling tasks, ever since she started out as a performer while raising two children as a single mother.
“When she walks on, she’s just in command of everything,” says Kym Marsh of playing Cruella De Vil. “She’s the the most fun character ever.” Picture: Johan Persson
Her parents encouraged her determination to succeed. “I fell pregnant at a very young age and my parents were like ‘this is even more reason for you to continue and carry on pursuing your dream, and make the life that you want, not just for you but for the children’. I was very much spurred on and encouraged, and I’m thankful for that,” she says.
Popstars, the 2001 ITV series that spawned the Hear’Say line-up of Kym, Suzanne Shaw, Noel Sullivan, Myleene Klass and Danny Foster, kicked off the wave of talent shows that led to Pop Idol, The X Factor and The Voice UK.
Kym recalls those “unique and very strange” days as a learning experience unlike anything that anyone had undergone before. “We were guinea pigs and people were watching thinking, ‘what’s going to happen now?’. People were very much waiting for us to fail, and every move we made, there was a comment about it,” she says. “The press back then were very different to how they are now. They’re much more well behaved.”
Her move into acting emerged “by accident”. When Hear’Say folded after only 20 months, citing “abuse from the public” as the primary reason for their demise, Kym set a solo career in motion but was dropped by her record label, despite her 2003 album Standing Tall peaking at number nine in the UK charts and spawning two Top Ten singles, Cry and Come On Over.
While contemplating whether to pursue another deal, she was offered the role of Annette in a West End production of Saturday Night Fever. “Once I started to do that, I remembered my love of acting, which I had as a teenager but had not pursued because I felt like I could make money singing in pubs and clubs,” she says.
Haus of De Vil: Kym Marsh’s Cruella De Vil in her fashion house in 101 Dalmatians The Musical. Picture: Johan Persson
A few small TV roles ensued, followed by the chance to play Michelle Connor in Coronation Street, a soap-opera opportunity that initially was confined to only four episodes. Kym made such an impression, however, that she was asked to return, becoming one of the best-loved characters.
“I never in a million years thought or expected [that was how things would go],” she says. “I’ve been very fortunate, as I’ve been given some amazing opportunities, and had a lot of people believe in me, even if I didn’t necessarily believe in myself.”
She is now a daytime TV presenter too, hosting the BBC’s flagship lifestyle show Morning Live since its launch in 2020. When offered the job, she had “huge impostor syndrome”, having never done a live TV gig and only a couple of presenting slots for the BBC.
Four years on, she feels part of a TV family, working with co-host Gethin Jones. “I was very fortunate to be paired with him, because he’s a very generous co-presenter,” she says. “He took me under his wing, and I’ve learned so much from him.”
101 Dalmatians will keep Kym on the road until January 5 2025. What next? She has ambitions to do more meaty TV dramas and films but is content to see where life leads her.”One minute I’m serving chips and beans in the canteen at Waterloo Road, and the next thing I’m Cruella wearing [pretend] giraffe skin,” she says. “It’s a bizarre life I live!”
101 Dalmatians The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, November 5 to 9, 7pm plus 2pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
In the red: Brothers AJ, right, and Curtis Pritchard team up for Come What May this autumn
AJ and Curtis Pritchard bring the sultry, mysterious atmosphere of Paris to York Barbican on September 29 on the 24-date of Come What May.
A cast of West End performers will join the terpsichorean Stoke-on-Trent brothers in a song-and-dance show inspired by Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 jukebox musical romantic drama Moulin Rouge.
“Come What May is going to get myself and Curtis back on stage performing together and that’s exactly what we love doing,” says Strictly Come Dancing alumnus AJ, the elder sibling at 29.
“This show embodies the big musical numbers we have all come to love with the dance routines that I love to watch, but I much prefer being on stage, which is exactly where I’ll be.”
2019 Love Island contestant, Dancing With The Stars dancer, choreographer and actor Curtis, 28, enthuses: “I’ve loved performing and entertaining an audience since my Ballroom and Latin dancing days, so this is the perfect tour for me: singing and dancing!”
“We’re ‘Irish twins’! Born 15 months apart. Everything done together,” says AJ Pritchard
Ahead of rehearsals starting in London on Sunday, he adds: “Having gone through the full show I know that you will be entertained start to finish. Come What May is going to blow you away, I guarantee it.”
In the week when sibling rivalry has been all the rage with the feuding Gallagher brothers announcing “the guns have fallen silent. The stars have aligned” for the return of Oasis next summer, how do the Pritchard brothers rub along?
“To be honest, Curtis and myself always perform together, having been brought up together,” says AJ. “We’re ‘Irish twins’! Born 15 months apart. Everything done together.
“When we’re performing, Curtis is more like controlled chaos, milking a number for two hours, whereas I’ll be saying, ‘Come on, we have to go on to the next number’, and that contrast works really well because we can play to each other’s strengths.
“Myself and Curtis competed all over the world, both training to the highest levels in Latin and ballroom, representing our country. We’ve always had a competitive relationship, doing extreme, high-adrenaline sports, and also to get the best audience reaction.
“We’ve always got each other’s back,” says Curtis Pritchard. “When working, be as competitive as you like, but when you are out and about, look after each other”
“Anything fun and dangerous we like to do, both of us breaking our arms. Curtis once broke his arm and leg at the same time.”
Curtis chips in: “We’ve always got each other’s back. When working, be as competitive as you like, but when you are out and about, look after each other.”
The brothers look forward to being on the road, away from the prying lens of the television camera that has charted their deeds, whether on Strictly or Love Island, Celebrity SAS or Dancing With The Stars.
“Doing a show like this with a different audience every night, you can always tweak things, and every night it should be slightly different,” says Curtis. “I love performing on stage and the competitive side of that is so stimulating…feeding off the adrenaline of a live audience.
“Though they say, ‘never break the fourth wall’, let’s be honest: you can break that wall if the audience gives you something.”
The tour poster for Come What May, featuring AJ and Curtis Pritchard
The spirit of Moulin Rouge, a Luhrmann film the brothers love for its dancing and costumes, will be evoked in Come What May, capturing the “sexy and disreputable underbelly of the city to the glamour and glitz of the Moulin Rouge, where you’ll be transported back in time to a place of dreams, adventure, and most importantly, love”.
Expect such songs as Come What May, Lady Marmalde, Your Song and Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend from the film soundtrack, together with hits from other modern movie musicals, such as The Greatest Show, Like A Virgin and The Show Must Go On.
“I will not be singing,” says AJ, “It’s not my forte! But we’ve got a fantastic band and singers. Fundamentally, Curtis and I will do what you see on the big numbers on Strictly.”
Now come the rehearsals and the tour run from September 20 to October 24, with the need to stay in tip-top condition. “If you have the best technique and really high-quality dancers, with lifts or without lifts, if you’re physically and mentally fit, the injuries don’t come,” says AJ. “You always have to be fit and ready”…come what may!
Sisco Entertainment, Cuffe & Taylor and Live Nation present AJ and Curtis Pritchard in Come What May, York Barbican, September 29, 7.30pm. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk. Also: Sheffield City Hall, September 26, 7.30pm. Box office: sheffieldcityhall.co.uk.
“I adore playing the loveable and slightly bonkers Fairy Bon Bon, so cannot wait to put on my wings once more,” says Grand Opera House-bound Dani Harmer
OUT with the old, in with the new, for the Grand Opera House pantomime in York, following the exit of Berwick Kaler and co after three years.
In come BAFTA award-winning Dani Harmer, Phil Reid, Leon Craig, Phil Atkinson and David Alcock to star in Beauty And The Beast, UK Productions’ third panto at the Cumberland Street theatre, from December 7 to January 5. Further star-studded casting for Belle and the Beast will be announced shortly.
Best known for playing the title role in the CBBC series Tracy Beaker and its sequel Tracy Beaker Returns, from the age of 13, and later My Mum Tracy Beaker in 2021, Harmer will wave her wand as Fairy Bon Bon.
“I can’t think of a better place to be spending the Christmas period,” says Dani Harmer of her return to York
Bracknell-born Harmer, now 35, has appeared in numerous pantomimes and West End musical theatre shows, including playing the title role in York Barbican’s 2012 panto, Cinderella, when she had to miss two performances that clashed with her commitments competing in BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing that season.
In the “craziest fortnight of my life”, she had to combine rehearsing each morning at the Barbican and spending each afternoon and evening at the University of York, practising routines with partner Vincent Simone, first for the semi-final, then three for the final: a tango, jive and show dance (Bohemian Rhapsody). “It’s been the best thing I have ever done,” she said at the time.
Earlier that year at York Barbican too, she appeared as Dorothy in The Wizard Of Oz, returning there in March 2015 for two performances as Beauty in the Easter pantomime Beauty And The Beast. In between, she played not-so-innocent Janet in The Rocky Horror Show at Leeds Grand Theatre in June 2013
Dani Harmer in the role of Beauty in Beauty And The Beast at York Barbican in March 2015
Now she will star in Beauty And The Beast in York for a second time, switching from Beauty to Fairy Bon Bon. “I’m super excited to be back in my favourite panto of all time, Beauty And The Beast,” says Dani.
“For those that don’t know, I have always been completely obsessed with this story, so it is a real joy for me to be bringing it to life on stage. And I adore playing the loveable and slightly bonkers Fairy Bon Bon, so cannot wait to put on my wings once more.
“And even more exciting to be coming to the gorgeous city of York! I can’t think of a better place to be spending the Christmas period. So, bring on the Yorkshire puddings and I really hope you enjoy our magical beauty of a show.”
Phil Reid’s Louis la Plonk
Joining Dani will be award-winning comedian Phil Reid as Louis la Plonk and panto dame extraordinaire and musical theatre star Leon Craig as his larger-than-life mum, Polly la Plonk, after West End appearances in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and Disney’s Aladdin.
Musical theatre star Phil Atkinson, from The Bodyguard, Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Little Shop Of Horrors, will play the dastardly Hugo Pompidou, with David Alcock, from The Mousetrap and the BBC’s SAS: Rogue Heroes, as his assistant in villainy, Clement.
Producers UK Productions will be “pulling out all of the stops to bring their award-winning version of this timeless tale to York”. Managing director and producer Martin Dodd says: “We are delighted to be returning to the beautiful Grand Opera House and even more so that we can bring one of our favourite productions for the Christmas season.
Phil Atkinson’s dastardly Hugo Pompidou
“The show is filled with comedy, show-stopping tunes, a cast of top musical performers, magic and an award-winning script by Jon Monie [prize winner for Best Script in the 2019 Great British Pantomime Awards]. It’s a fantastic show for young and old and one that is sure to make your Christmas complete.”
Grand Opera House theatre director Laura McMillan says: “This year our Christmas is set to be a cross between a hilarious pantomime and a spectacular West End musical, really something for everyone.
“The audience are in for a festive treat, with a show packed full of award-winning talent and stars from the West End. There’s no doubt Beauty And The Beast will be a huge hit with something for all the family.”
Expect “larger-than-life characters, an unmissable transformation moment, slide-splitting comedy and stunning sets and costumes”, promises the panto press release.
Jay McGuiness’s Ben in a clinch with Vera Chok’s Lauren in 2:22 A Ghost Story
WHEN Jay McGuiness, boy band singer, songwriter, Strictly champion, musical theatre actor and fantasy novelist, saw 2:22 A Ghost Story, he knew what he wanted to do next.
“I turned to my manager [Damien Sanders] and said, ‘I’ve got to do that’,” recalls The Wanted vocalist, who is now touring in Danny Robins’s supernatural thriller. Next stop York, visiting the Grand Opera House from April 30 to May 4.
“Damien is a very convincing Cockney fella! He called up the casting agent, and after a successful reading, they said, ‘in you go’ – and then I had to wait five months for the new cast to start. It was like waiting for Christmas to come around!
“We had four weeks of rehearsals, which is more than enough for a play. We had time to get to know each other, whereas with musicals, you’re being whisked from one room to another, with lots of irons in the fire, dancing, doing your lines, trying on costumes.”
Newark-born Jay’s career in musicals had led indirectly to his participation in 2:22 A Ghost Story. “I saw the play because I did a musical with Girls Aloud’s Kimberley Walsh: BIG! The Musical, based on the Tom Hanks film. We went to see Cheryl [Cole, from Girls Aloud], who was in the show.”
Was it scary? “I jumped out of my skin!” says Jay, 33. Next week you can find out why when he plays Ben alongside Vera Chok as Lauren, Fiona Wadeas Jenny and George Rainsfordas Sam in the show’s seventh cast.
Written by the award-winning Danny Robins, creator of the BBC podcast The Battersea Poltergeist, and directed by Matthew Dunster and Isabel Marr, 2:22 is billed as “an adrenaline-filled night where secrets emerge and ghosts may, or may not, appear” as Robins asks: “What do you believe? And do you dare discover the truth?”
Tensions rising in the kitchen: Jay McGuinness’s Ben with Vera Chok’s Lauren, left, and Fiona Wade’s Jenny in Danny Robins’s 2:22 A Ghost Story
“I continue to be blown away by the success of this play,” says Danny. “It demonstrates a huge appetite and curiosity for all things paranormal. This fabulous seventh cast for the 2024 leg of the tour will bring their own energy to these characters, telling the story anew for audiences across the UK.
“It’s always exciting to see the play come to life again in this way. It’s such a fun night out, and if chills give you thrills, you’re in for a treat.”
In 2:22, Jenny believes her new home is haunted, claiming she hears something every night at the same time, but her husband Sam is not having any of it. They argue with their first dinner guests, old friend Lauren and new partner Ben.
Can the dead really walk again? Belief and scepticism clash, but something feels strange and frightening, and that something is drawing closer, so they decide to stay up…until 2:22 in the morning… and then they will know. “I tend not to be awake at that time,” says Jay.
He met his fellow cast members at the start of rehearsals, “but I knew of them,” he says. “When you start, it’s like the first day of school, getting the jitters out of the way. It’s natural that after five years of being in a band, suddenly auditioning again was a big adjustment, thinking, ‘how have I got myself into this situation again?’! But once you try to make someone jump or laugh, it’s fun.”
Ben is Jay’s first role in a play rather than a musical, having appeared in Rip It Up, BIG! and Sleepless, a second show rooted in a Tom Hanks film. “I’ve absolutely loved it, especially being able to focus on the script, which facilitated us getting to know each other and find out everyone’s opinions on each character. It was like being back at drama school,” he says.
“Then getting out in front of an audience each night, when you have to make sure they’re laughing at the right moment, jumping at the right moment.”
No smoke without fire: Jay McGuiness lighting up in 2:22 – A Ghost Story. Picture: Johan Persson
Robins’s play is built around tensions brought on by class differences. “You can feel the different reactions in different theatres around the country!” says Jay, who wiull be on the road from January to June. “I’m playing a working-class man who feels out of place at this dinner party, somewhere fancy in London, where most of the houses are newly gentrified, so he puts his foot in it with ill-judged comments, and the way he talks to women is very old-school Cockney.
“It’s good that people in places like Norwich really connected with him, whereas it was a very different response in Cambridge.”
Jay is enjoying the collective thrill of a fright night at the theatre. “There’s something very exciting about it that’s different from something that’s introspective. It’s raw, and there’s plenty to chew on about class, ghosts and believing in the supernatural,” he says. “There’s fun to be had in hearing people around you screaming or laughing.”
Jay, who loves the ghost walks in Edinburgh, has plenty more to choose from on his return to York for the first time since The Wanted ambled down Shambles on their reunion two years ago. “I remember that shop with all the ‘ghosts’ in the window and the queue outside,” he says.
2:22 A Ghost Story spooks Grand Opera House, York, from April 30 to May 4, 7.30pm nightly plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday; 3pm, Friday. Box office: atgtickets.com/york
The poster for 2:22 A Ghost Story, on tour at Grand Opera House, York
Ghostly goings-on at the Grand Opera House, York
IN “Europe’s most haunted city”, 2:22 A Ghost Story will be playing at the Grand Opera House, a theatre and former corn exchange with its own paranormal stories.
When asked about the ghostly goings-on in the Cumberland Street building, Paranormal Research York follows up its visit to the theatre by saying: “Our team encountered a variety of supernatural experiences. The Grand Opera House continues to intrigue and captivate with its haunting mysteries, each time we investigate.”
Laura McMillan, the Opera House’s theatre director, says: “With over 100 years of history, the Grand Opera House certainly has a few spooky tales to tell that make us the perfect host for 2:22 A Ghost Story.
“York is known worldwide for its ghost stories and I know that audiences are going to love being on the edge of their seats with 2:22 as they experience a night of adrenaline-filled entertainment.”
Jay McGuiness: the back story
Jay McGuiness: Singer, songwriter, actor, 2015 Strictly Come Dancing champion and fantasy novelist. Picture: Seamus Ryan
Born: Newark, Nottinghamshire, July 24 1990.
Training: Attended “normal Catholic secondary school” in Mansfield. Started Tuesday afternoon dance classes at Charlotte Hamilton’s Dance School at 13 when “voice had started squeaking at that point!” Later attended Midlands Academy of Dance and Drama in Nottingham.
Best known for: Member of boy band The Wanted. Debut single All Time Low topped UK charts in 2010, as did Glad You Came in 2011. Further Top Five singles with Heart Vacancy, Gold Forever, Lightning, Chasing The Sun, I Found You and Walk Like Rihanna and Top Ten hits with We Own The Night and Show Me Love (America).
Band re-formed in 2021, releasing greatest hits album Most Wanted and embarking on 12-date UK arena tour in Spring 202.
TV success: After taking break from The Wanted, he won Glitterball trophy with Russian-Kazakh professional dancer Aliona Vilani on 2015 series of BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing. Jive routine to You Never Can Tell and Misirlou, from Pulp Fiction, amased eight million hits on YouTube. Voted Strictly’s Best Ever Dance by BBC viewers in December 2020
Musicals: Starred in lead role of Josh Baskin in musical version of Tom Hanks’s movie Big! in Dublin in 2016. Reprised role in West End at Dominion Theatre, London, in 2019. Took West End lead role of Sam in Sleepless, A Musical Romance at Troubadour theatre, London, based on Tom Hanks’s movie Sleepless In Seattle, in 2020.
More theatre work: Rip It Up, 1960s’ song-and-dance show at Garrick Theatre; London, lead role of Bob Wallace in touring production of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas in 2022.
Television work: Won celebrity version of Channel 4 show, Hunted, raising money for Stand Up To Cancer. Won weekly battle to take champion’s trophy in Richard Osman’s House Of Games. Presented regular features for BBC’s The One Show, fronting films on topics such as music education in schools and veganism.
Book: Debut fantasy novel for young adults, Blood Flowers, a story of love, witchcraft, betrayal and murder, published worldwide by Scholastic on January 8 2024.
The cover artwork for Jay McGuiness’s debut novel Blood Flowers
Ellie Leach, front right, as interior designer Annabel Scarlett with fellow cast members Hannah Boyce, Jack Bennett, Edward Howells and Jason Durr in Cluedo 2, on tour at York Theatre Royal fromTuesday to Saturday. Picture: Alastair Muir
WHAT did 2023 Strictly Come Dancing champion Ellie Leach do next?
The answer: Make her stage acting debut as Miss Scarlett in the world-premiere British tour of the comedy whodunit Cluedo 2, marking the 75th anniversary of the Hasbro boardgame.
Next stop, York Theatre Royal, from March 12 to 16, a run that will coincide with Manchester-born Ellie’s 23rd birthday next Friday.
She replaced Helen Flanagan in the five-month tour after her fellow former Coronation Street star was advised to withdraw for medical reasons. “It all happened very quickly,” says Ellie. “I went into rehearsals while I was doing the last week of the Strictly tour. They were already in their second week when I joined.
“It was very hectic, but as soon as I arrived, everyone made me feel so welcome. I’ve been having lots of fun!”
She jumped at the chance to take to the stage in her first role since playing Faye Windass in the ITV soap from 2011 and 2023.
Scarlett fervour: After Coronation Street and Strictly Come Dancing, Ellie Leach is enjoying the new challenge of her stage theatre debut in Cluedo 2. Picture: Alastair Muir
“Cluedo is such an iconic board game, isn’t it. Everyone enjoys playing it,” says Ellie. “I read the script and I loved it. The writers have an amazing track record.”
Those writers are the BAFTA Award-winning stage and screen-writing duo Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, of Birds Of A Feather, Goodnight Sweetheart and Dreamboats And Petticoats fame no less. Then add a director with comedy clout too: Mark Bell, who directed Mischief Theatre’s alarmingly funny catastrophic capers in The Play That Goes Wrong and The Comedy About A Bank Robbery. “The team behind this show is incredible,” says Ellie. “Who wouldn’t want to work on it?! I feel very lucky to be part of the show’s journey.”
Cluedo 2 – The Next Chapter, the follow-up to the play based on Jonathan Lynn’s 1985 film Clue, is an original comedy whodunit, set in the Swinging Sixties. Cue new house, new bodies, new suspects, in a tale of murder, mystery and secret passageways.
What happens? Fading rock’n’roll legend Rick Black (Liam Horrigan) is broke, desperate for cash to run his expensive new home, Graveny Manor, and prepared to do anything to regain his fame and fortune.
Excited to reveal his long-awaited comeback album, Black has assembled his supermodel wife, the Honourable Emerald Peacock (Hannah Boyce); his manager, Colonel Eugene Mustard (Jason Durr, from Heartbeat and Casualty); long-time roadie “Professor” Alex Plum (Edward Howells), trusted interior designer Annabel Scarlett(Leach) and housekeeper Mrs White (Dawn Buckland), who came with house and who knows all its secrets.
However, someone is missing: Black’s former song-writing partner “The Reverend” Hal Green (Gabriel Paul), who disappeared mysteriously at the same time that Black’s career went downhill. What’s more, where did that butler, Wadsworth (Jack Bennett) come from?
First meeting:Jason Durr’s Colonel Eugene Mustard introduces himself to Ellie Leach’s Annabel Scarlett in the comedy whodunit Cluedo 2. Picture: Alastair Muir
As the bodies start to pile up, the ever-colourful characters move from room to room trying to escape the murderer and survive the night, while PC Silver (Tiwai Muza) and audience alike look for the clues to unravel the secrets, seeking to work out whodunit, with what, and where!
“What’s really fun is playing a character that’s evolved from a board game,” says Ellie. “You can do a lot with it, and there’s so much that’s different about Miss Scarlett from the first play.
“Every Cluedo character is iconic but you can put your own stamp on it; there’s lots of layers to each one and it’s been interesting to delve into them: how they are when they’re together; how they are when they’re on their own.”
Miss Scarlett by name, but is she scarlet by nature? “People may have that perception of her, but she has more to her than that,” says Ellie, as the company continues rehearsals under Bell after opening the tour in Richmond, Surrey, on February 29. “There’s hints of scarlet, but other things too!”
Ellie is “so excited to join the cast of Cluedo 2 after an incredible year”, the year when she waltzed her way to winning Strictly Come Dancing with Italian dancer Vito Coppola last December. “It was an absolute dream come true to take part but for us to lift the Glitterball Trophy with Vito was something I will cherish for the rest of my life,” she says. “I treasure that feeling of joy at the public voting for us each week.”
Cluedo 2 runs at York Theatre Royal, March 12 to 16, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and Saturday matinees. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
In the red: Ellie Leach’s Miss Scarlett looks alarmed in Cluedo 2. Picture: Dave Hogan
Ore Oduba as narrator and Hollywood Boulevard wheeler-dealer Happy Man in Pretty Woman The Musical, playing the Grand Opera House, York, from next Tuesday
2016 Strictly Come Dancing champ Ore Oduba was last seen on the Grand Opera House stage in fishnets as nerdy, preppy American student Brad Majors in The Rocky Horror Show.
A month shy of two years later, he returns to the Cumberland Street theatre in York next week in “the ultimate rom-com, live on stage”: Pretty Woman The Musical.
What’s more, audiences can look forward to Oduba at the double, playing not only hotel manager Barnard Thompson but also Happy Man on tour from Tuesday to Saturday.
“Mr Thompson exists in the movie, but what they’ve done for the musical is create this dual role, where you’re also Happy Man, something of a narrator, who’s kind of the Fagin of Hollywood Boulevard, where two worlds meet.”
Set once upon a time in the late 1980s, as a Cinderella tale for the modern age, Pretty Woman connects the worlds of Hollywood hooker Vivian Ward (played by Amber Davies) and entrepreneur Edward Lewis (Oliver Savile).
Ore Oduba in fishnets in his previous role at the Grand Opera House: Brad Majors in The Rocky Horror Show in March 2022. Picture: Stuart Webb
“Happy Man brings the magic to Vivian’s turnaround – and you do have to sprinkle a little magic dust on that transformation,” says Ore. “That’s the kind of romance that people really get behind. Audiences really love the human empowerment story: the villains of the piece have to leave the theatre in hooded cloaks as everyone really gets behind Vivian.”
The BBC presenter turned actor, 38, is four months into the 12-month run of the debut British tour of a musical featuring original music and lyrics by Canadian rock star and Grammy Award winner Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance and a book by Garry Marshall and the 1990 film’s screenwriter, J F Lawton.
Direction and choreography is by two-time Tony Award winner Jerry Mitchell, for whom Ore auditioned. “I was aware of the show going into the West End in 2019, where it was such a massive success, and there’s always hype when a musical goes on tour from the West End,” he says.
“The audition call came through in February last year, and it’s just crazy because the life of an actor means you’re a freelance really and you never know what will be around the corner, but to get that call come through when it did can make it quite scary.
“I’d already done a couple of auditions in front of Americans, but Jerry Mitchell is such a charismatic man, so it’s intimidating. He’s got an excellent poker face, but I made him laugh – which is not always good, but in this case it was.”
Amber Davies’s Vivian Ward, Oliver Savile’s Edward Lewis and Ore Oduba’s Barnard Thompson in the announcement poster for the tour of Pretty Woman The Musical
The musical adds another level to Pretty Woman. “I think you have to be aware, as we say at the beginning, that this is a story set in the Eighties, but if you just did the movie on stage, it wouldn’t quite work,” says Ore.
“What Jerry has done is add meat to that story, going through the rom-com we love but aspiring to be something more, then adding the incredible choreography and a wonderful new score, with some beautiful songs by Bryan Adams.
“What we didn’t know, on the very last day of rehearsals, when things get to wind down after a busy four weeks, was why the resident director was standing gingerly at the door of the rehearsal room. He looked kind of nervous, then said, ‘Bryan Adams is here’!”
What could have been “quite a relaxed day, collecting things in bags” was transformed. “It became an exciting day, performing in front of Bryan, and he loved it. That really set us up to go off into the country,” says Ore.
He embraces the challenge each week of being on tour. “What’s wonderful about touring – and I’ve been doing it for seven years, which was never planned – is how, at the start of each week, you get a brand now burst of energy from the show rolling into a new town, looking forward to the reaction you’ll get at each place,” he says.
Dance moves: 2016 Strictly champion Ore Oduba’s Happy Man
“From the production point of view, you really get into it. You start by sticking to what you rehearse, but at the same time, when you have a show that’s such a crowd pleaser, and with me playing the narrator, you do get different reactions and a different energy from the audience that we like to play with.
“Pretty Woman transcends time and culture; it’s just in our fabric, and it’s not just nostalgia. People will want to dial into that, so there are touch points, but at the end of the day, it’s an incredible new musical with great new music and a story that people love, which we bring alive every night, transporting them into a different world.
“That world may be different from today, and you may have to put today’s world aside and put your faith in the story.”
Happy Man sums up Ore’s experience on tour. “Taking on a job, it’s about positivity, especially if I’m going to be doing it for a year, where the energy pushes us forward,” he says. “I’m looking forward to 12 months of positivity!”
Pretty Woman The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, February 20 to 24, 7.30pm, plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees. Box office: atgtickets.com/york
Wanderful: Nina Wadia’s Fairy Sugarsnap with her arty joke of an artichoke wand in York Theatre Royal’s pantomime, Jack And The Beanstalk
NINA Wadia was confused. Growing up in India and Hong Kong, pantomime was a foreign country to her.
“When I came to the UK from Honk Kong to study classical theatre at the London Theatre School in Wandsworth, I was new to this country,” recalls the EastEnders and Good Gracious Me star.
“I went for an audition for my first ever professional job in Robin Hood at Theatre Royal Stratford East, but I thought pantomime was some form of mime! I auditioned like all the other actors, and when they said, ‘have you got a song?’, I blagged it and said ‘of course’. ‘Do you dance?’. ‘Yes, I tap,’ I said, but I was thinking, ‘why do I need to do this when it’s a mime show?’, as I just didn’t know the pantomime tradition.”
Song and dance? “What kind of mime is that,” she asked. Explanation forthcoming, she was cast as Friar Tuck, and now, more than 30 years later, she will be making her York Theatre Royal tonight (8/12/2023) as the poster face of Jack And The Beanstalk, playing Fairy Sugarsnap.
In the box seating: Nina Wadia at York Theatre Royal
She is forever grateful to Theatre Royal Stratford East, in particular Philip Hedley, artistic director from 1979 to 2004, and his associate director, Jeff Teare. “It’s the most incredible theatre that opens the door for ethnic actors,” says Nina, who will turn 55 during the panto run on December 18.
“It was very hard being an ethnic actor, and if you think of pantomime, I don’t think you’d go to a brown actor in those days. I loved that it was such an open theatre to look at actors regardless of their colour and think if you have potential, they will help develop that.
“Jeff saw something in me, the kind of thing that has made my career: the kind of energy I have, but also the willingness to learn, which I still have, whereas a lot of young actors seem overly confident now.
“I really want to express that to young people coming into the business, where they can stand out at drama school and think they know it all, by I always find that by the end of playing a role I know more than when I started.”
Nina Wadia: Mother, actress, comedian, producer, presenter and charity campaigner
Nina points to her role as Zainab Masood in the BBC’s London soap opera EastEnders from 2007 to February 2013. “I never watched EastEnders before being in it,” she admits. “I signed up for six months but ended up staying on and on, and I got to knowZainab over those six and a half years – and I really liked her.
“They hired me to bring some comedy to EastEnders, and I was the first actor to win an award for best comedy performance in EastEnders. What was really interesting was I was told they wanted me to create a character like Wendy Richards’ Pauline Fowler but funny, so I watched her, and she was so grumpy that I found her funny! Anyway, I found the way to make Zainab funny was to make her very blunt.”
Nina’s gift for her comedy had marked her out from her pantomime bow as Friar Tuck, the beginning of a seven-year involvement with Theatre Royal Stratford East. “The show was brilliant and the writer Patrick Prior was the real thing. Playing Friar Tuck, I was one of the four ‘merry men’, with a pillow at the front, a pillow at the back and a skull cap put on top of my very long hair. Very glamorous!” she says.
“I had the best actresses to work with straightaway, sharing the dressing room with all the ‘merry men’, all played by women.”
Fairy versus villain: Nina Wadia’s Fairy Sugarsnap with pantomime baddie James Mackenzie’s Luke Backinanger in Jack And The Beanstalk
She loved the pantomime humour. “I laughed so much, having grown up with British humour in Hong Kong: Blackadder, Morecambe & Wise and Some Mothers Do ’Ave ’Em. On. On the American side, there was the stand-up of Joan Rivers, Robin Williams and Eddie Murphy, so I was drawn to the combination of crazy antics and really raw, rude comedy that I wasn’t supposed to watch but I loved, especially Eddie Murphy.”
Nina’s subsequent career has embraced everything, from radio drama company regular to soap opera , BBC Asian sketch comedy in Goodness Gracious Me to 2021 Strictly Come Dancing contestant, TV roles as Aunty Noor in Citizen Khan and Mrs Hussein in Still Open All Hours to video game voiceover artist and narrator for the animated series Tweedy And Fluff on Channel 5’s Milkshake. Charity campaigner too, honoured with an OBE.
Profiling herself on social media as Mother, Actress, Producer and Presenter, Nina loves to embrace every medium, her latest addition being her online satirical political character, the Conservative councillor and constituency candidate Annie Stone. “She’s a mixture of Suella Braverman and Priti Patel: vile but believable. She’s on TikTok, Instagram and X and she now has proper followers at #VoteAnnieStone!”
From tonight, Nina will be delivering rhymes, mirth and magic as Fairy Sugarsnap in Jack And The Beanstalk. “I was expecting a silly costume. I described it to my husband [Raimond Mirza] and said they’ve dressed me as an aubergine pretending to be an artichoke,” she says. “I’ve made her more kooky than usual, given her more depth, as much as you can give her depth!”
Nina Wadia waves a wand over Jack And The Beanstalk at York Theatre Royal from today (8/12/2023) until January 7 2024. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
