Northern Ballet in The Nutcracker. Picture Sophie Beth Jones
2026 will see Leeds company Northern Ballet launch the world premiere of Belgian-Colombian choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Gentleman Jack at Leeds Grand Theatre from March 7 to 14.
Already the stuff of biographies, novels and a brace of TV series, the story of adventurous Yorkshire landowner Anne Lister, of Shibden Hall, Halifax, will be staged with a new live score by Peter Salem in a co-production with Finnish National Opera and Ballet.
Exciting times ahead under Federico Bonelli’s artistic directorship, but in the meantime Northern Ballet regulars will be delighted at the latest return of company staple The Nutcracker.
Premiered in 2007, former artistic director David Nixon CBE’s decorative, delightful, dazzling winter wonderland has become his most performed work, bidding farewell to the old year and embracing the new every few years, last doing so in 2022 on tour and back home in Leeds.
Glory be, this latest resurrection comes with a live orchestra (under conductor Yi Wei on press night), when the sight as well as sound of musicians makes the ballet all the more joyous (whereas recorded accompaniment can be so sterile).
What’s more, like singing Christmas Carols or re-visiting Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, the familiarity of Nixon’s choreography and costume designs breeds ever more contentment, adding to the emotional impact of a story told so beautifully, with such sparkle, wonder and bravura dancing, against the grain of the 21st century world’s woes and wars.
Once more snow may fail to dust Yorkshire’s hills this festive season, but winter’s white coat is all part of the nostalgic magic of Nixon’s Nutcracker, where snowflakes flutter across the stage front cloth to set the mood for his Regency England setting of Tchaikovsky’s late-19th century Christmas ballet.
Charles Cusick Smith’s gorgeous designs cast their own spell again, their grand scale sweeping up audience and dancers alike in the fantastical journey from castle drawing-room party to toy battlefield, snowy fairyland and a world above the clouds.
As in every home across the land, Rachael Gillespie’s inquisitive Clara excitedly awaits the chance to unwrap the presents that lie behind the towering, closed doors on Christmas Eve night.
When the clock strikes midnight, Clara is transported to fantasia by Harris Beattie’s noble Nutcracker Prince, her journey through the snow orchestrated flamboyantly by Harry Skoupas’s dandy Herr Drosselmeyer, fleet of foot and full of poised purpose.
Bruno Serraclara’s Mouse King seeks to defy the odds, so brave in dashing defeat, and making an amusing exit to boot, before Act One’s climax mirrors the traditions of pantomime in the outstanding transformation scene, graced with the most beautiful imagery of all, yet more delightful for Mark Jonathan’s lighting: spectacle as big as Yorkshire.
As ever, Act Two is even better, its tempo set by Saeka Shirai’s enchanting Sugar Plum Fairy, in tandem with Jonathan Hanks’s Cavalier.
Amid the snow, contrast is provided by the kaleidoscopically colourful pageant of national dances – Spanish, Arabian, Chinese, French, Russian – in a showcase with an amusingly competitive spirit, orchestrated with panache by Skoupas’s Drosselmeyer.
Throughout, Nixon adorns Tchaikovsky’s rousing score with the poetic eloquence of his elegant choreography, at once beauteous and charming, suffused with romance and drama, always up for mischievous comic interplay too in Puck style.
The Nutcracker is on cracking good form, a winter warmer like no other in Yorkshire this season.
Northern Ballet in The Nutcracker, Leeds Grand Theatre, until January 4 2026. Box office: 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com
Jared More and Katie Coen feeling stressed out at the Bethlehem Inn in Riding Lights’ Christmas Inn Trouble
CHRISTMAS shows in myriad merry modes dominate Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations for the week ahead.
Magical new twist on the Nativity of the week:Riding Lights Theatre Company in Christmas Inn Trouble, Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate, York, today, 1.30pm and 4pm, then December 21 to 24, 11am, 1.30pm and 4pm
BOTHER aplenty is afflicting The Bethlehem Inn and Spa, where taps are leaking, the rats are squeaking and the rooms are fit to burst. So many guests have arrived that parking your camel is impossible and, if things were not bad enough already, a rascally Roman soldier has come to make sure everything is above board.
Written by Rachel Price, directed by Riding Lights artistic director Paul Birch and starring Jared More and Katie Coen, festive farce Christmas Inn Trouble “turns the traditional tale on its head” in a slapstick comedy perfect for telling the Nativity story to primary-school aged children and their families. Box office: 01904 655317 or ridinglights.org/christmasinntrouble.
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, today, 4pm to 5pm
PRODUCED and conducted by Prima Choral Artists director Eve Lorian, today’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.
The Queeries: Fun, frolicsome fiddling at Navigators Art’s As Yule Like It
All cracker, no cheese festive menu of the week: Navigators Art presents As Yule Like It, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, tonight, 7.30pm (doors 7pm)
NAVIGATORS Art promises “All cracker, no cheese” at As Yule Like It, tonight’s live, local and loud showcase of “some of York’s finest and most individual sounds”. On the bill are University of York music student Cast Beatbox, racing up the ranks in national contests; Knitting Circle, York’s socially conscious and urgent post-punk trio, and York St John University folkies The Queeries, purveyors of fun, frolicsome fiddling.
Performing too will be Tang Hall Smart tutor and passionate singer-songwriter Toemouse, offering an invitation to a mystical ride, and Weather Balloons with a set of Boschian vignettes and betrayals of guitar music from a soft-rock renegade off duty from regular band Fat Spatula. Some material may not be suitable for young children. Box office: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/navigators-art-performance.
Hole Of Horcum, 2025, from Donna Maria Taylor’s This Rugged Earth exhibition at Rise@Bluebird Bakery
Exhibition of the week: Donna Maria Taylor, This Rugged Earth, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, until February 12 2026
SOUTH Bank Studios resident artist Donna Maria Taylor’s latest collection of paintings, This Rugged Earth, is inspired by the world around her and her travels both in the United Kingdom and Europe.
“The majority of the new work nod to my love of rugged hillscapes and mountainous landscapes,” says Donna, who will be exhibiting at York Open Studios and York Hospital in 2026.
Hannah Christina’s Rosie and Emilio Encinoso-Gil’s Rex in Pocklington Arts Centre’s Christmas show, Jingle All The Way
Deer double act of the week: Jingle All The Way, Pocklington Arts Centre, today, tomorrow, 1.30pm; Monday, 4.30pm; Tuesday, 10.30am and 4.30pm
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.
Northern Ballet’s dancers in a flurry of snow in The Nutcracker at Leeds Grand Theatre. Picture: Sophie Beth Jones
Ballet of the week: Northern Ballet in The Nutcracker, Leeds Grand Theatre, until January 4 2026
LEEDS company Northern Ballet’s much-loved festive production of The Nutcracker – premiered in 2007 – is revived anew this winter, featuring lavish costumes and Charles Cusick Smith sets that capture the 19th century Regency England setting beautifully for the timeless story of Clara and her wooden Nutcracker doll. As the clock strikes midnight, she finds herself being whisked away on a magical adventure filled with dancing snowflakes and a whole host of colourful characters.
Choreographed by former artistic director David Nixon CBE, the ballet is performed to the instantly recognisable music of Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky that first accompanied Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov’s original choreography in 1892. Glory be, that score will be performed live under conductor Yi Wei. Box office: https://northernballet.com/the-nutcracker.
Gemma Curry and her Arctic Fox puppet in Yuletide Tales at Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb
Where the Northern Lights dance and old tales come alive: Hoglets Theatre in Yuletide Tales, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York, Sunday, doors 4pm
GATHER round as the snow begins to fall and step into a world of wonder, cheeky robins and enchanted polar bears in Yuletide Tales, York company Hoglets Theatre’s heartwarming festive show for families, full of original songs, puppetry and magical storytelling.
Join cheerful storyteller Gemma Curry and her mischievous Arctic Fox friend as they journey through wintery folktales from the icy kingdoms of the North to the shimmer of the Northern Lights. Re-imaginings of traditional stories East Of The Sun And West Of The Moon, The Arctic Fox And The Northern Lights and How The Moon Got Its Cloak are accompanied by gentle audience interaction and a message of warmth and togetherness. Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.
The poster for Anton Du Beke’s festive song-and-dance show with 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”.
David Ward Maclean: Marking Winter Solstice with “iceberg songs with penguins on them”
Solo show of the week: David Ward Maclean Winter Solstice Concert, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, Sunday, 7.30pm
JOIN York singer-songwriting legend David Ward Maclean for a lovely night of songs to mark the Winter Solstice, drawing on material from the past 20 years for his two sets. “My songs are icebergs. With penguins on them,” he says. “All revenue will go straight to recording my new album Pilgrims.” Box office: https://wegottickets.com/event/668355/.
Under pressure: All in need of quick cash, can grotto department workforce Maryam Ali’s Rani, left, Charles Doherty’s Michael and Roo Arwen’s Red win the Christmas bonus in Red Ladder Theatre Company’s A Proper Merry Christmess? Picture: Robling Photography
LEEDS companies Red Ladder Theatre Company and Wrongsemble have joined together to tour the UK with a Christmas double bill this festive season.
The shows opened at fellow Leeds company Slung Low’s cavernous Warehouse, in Holbeck, before venturing out to Stockton Arts Centre, Wakefield Exchange, Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle (December 19 to 21), the Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield (December 22 and 23), and Brighton Dome (hosting “chilled performances”, December 27 to 31).
CharlesHutchPress caught Red Ladder’s riotous, righteous new comedy A Proper Merry Christmess, whose somewhat perfunctory set was surrounded to either side by presumably the designs for A Town Called Christmas, Wrongsemble’s family show for three year olds and upwards. The effect was to feel like being on one funfair ride, with prospective further rides all around that started to look more attractive.
Alas, Red Ladder’s lustily performed Christmas play turned out to be something of a bumpy ride, one where you could follow the words on a screen above the stage that revealed Charles Doherty’s anything but saintly Michael had developed a progressively worsening habit of adding swear words, as if putting the improper in A Proper Merry Christmess.
He delivers lines with an Australian accent as disdainful as Aussie bowlers and commentators giving their verdict on England’s kamikaze batting in the Ashes.
Roo Arwen’s Red makes her exasperated point to Charles Doherty’s Michael, the grouchy Santa in A Proper Merry Christmess. Picture: Robling Photography
Whether he or first-time playwright Seeta Wrightson and co-writer Leon Fleming called the tune on his potty mouth, who knows, but it had the look and sound of an actor striving too hard for a laugh.
Michael is the resident if reluctant Father Christmas at West Yorkshire’s cheeriest garden centre, where he is a rebel with a Claus, the grouchy Santa of attention, a cross between the Grinch and Billy Bob Thornton’s swindler, Willie Soke, in Terry Twizogg’s 2004 American movie.
As miserable as Ebenezer Scrooge before his Christmas Eve ghost tour, and drawing complaint after complaint for his treatment of children in his grotty grotto, Michael’s mood is only worsened by store announcer Katherine (Kathryn Hanke) declaring the £500 Christmas bonus will be given to only the best-performing department.
Michael needs the money urgently, having overspent massively on his daughter’s wedding, to the point that the four bailiffs of the apocalypse are about to knock on his door.
Doherty’s Michael is “working” with a “positive Christmas tree” and a stressed-out elf, as selfish meets elfish in the dysfunctional Team Grotto. Michael thinks only of himself; Roo Arwen’s Red, an overstretched single mum, is thinking “How can I afford the present” she so desperately wishes to give her young child; Maryam Ali’s Rani is a student, taking odds and sods of part-time jobs to meet the cost of her accountancy degree.
Maryam Ali’s stressed-out student Rami in Christmas tree mode in Santa’s grotto in A Proper Merry Christmess. Picture: Robling Photography
She’s thinking of changing her course to working with animals, as accountancy doesn’t add up to fulfilment and she is only doing it to please her parents.
In Red Ladder tradition, politics plays its part in Leeds writers Wrightson and Fleming’s story, one that evolved from workshops with BITMO (Belle Isle Tenant Management Organisation) and St George’s Crypt, an award-winning charity that supports homeless people in Leeds.
The gig economy, the exploitation of workers, their dissatisfaction with the need to comply to ever-changing management rules, all play their part in the rising tensions of Christmas Eve in garden centreland.
Management is represented by the intrusive Tannoy voice of Hanke’s unseen but increasingly heard Katherine, at first jolly and encouraging in her Christmas sales pitch, but slowly turning to frustration then slurred panic, seemingly under the influence of more than a glass or two as dirty tricks consume the workforce.
All around her, the garden centre is collapsing into chaos in a mini-version of the Titanic going down, with friction to rival Shane McGowan’s tired and emotional lovers in A Fairytale Of New York, as Doherty’s Michael goes rogue and Ali’s Rani and Arwen’s Red grow exasperated, each having their monologue moment in the spotlight.
Be on Red alert: Roo Arwen’s elf loses her rag in A Proper Merry Christmess. Picture: Robling Photography
Red Ladder artistic director Cheryl Martin’s direction gathers ever more pace over the 75 minutes, but the humour does not match that acceleration, feeling too forced, like failed rhubarb.
Carrying an age guidance of 16-plus, A Proper Merry Christmess is billed as a “a chaotic Christmas comedy for grown-ups – an honest festive story, featuring the authentic heartbreak and humour that the Christmas movies usually leave out”.
Chaotic? Yes. Honest? Earnest, certainly. Authentic heartbreak? Humour? The frantic pursuit of the latter undermines the former, riding roughshod over the pathos in both Rani and Red’s stories.
A Proper Merry Christmess ends up feeling exactly that.
Red Ladder Theatre Company presents A Proper Merry Christmess, Lawrence Batley Theatre, Queen’s Square, Queen Street, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, December 22 and 23, 6pm. Box office: 01484 430528 or https://www.thelbt.org/what-s-on/drama/a-proper-merry-christmess/.
REVIEW: Northern Ballet in The Nutcracker, Leeds Grand Theatre, until January 4 ****
Northern Ballet in The Nutcracker. Picture: Sophie Beth Jones
2026 will see Leeds company Northern Ballet launch the world premiere of Belgian-Colombian choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Gentleman Jack at Leeds Grand Theatre from March 7 to 14.
Already the stuff of biographies, novels and a brace of TV series, the story of adventurous Yorkshire landowner Anne Lister, of Shibden Hall, Halifax, will be staged with a new live score by Peter Salem in a co-production with Finnish National Opera and Ballet.
Exciting times ahead under Federico Bonelli’s artistic directorship, but in the meantime Northern Ballet regulars will be delighted at the latest return of company staple The Nutcracker.
Premiered in 2007, former artistic director David Nixon CBE’s decorative, delightful, dazzling winter wonderland has become his most performed work, bidding farewell to the old year and embracing the new every few years, last doing so in 2022 on tour and back home in Leeds.
Glory be, this latest resurrection comes with a live orchestra (under conductor Yi Wei on press night), when the sight as well as sound of musicians makes the ballet all the more joyous (whereas recorded accompaniment can be so sterile).
What’s more, like singing Christmas Carols or re-visiting Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, the familiarity of Nixon’s choreography and costume designs breeds ever more contentment, adding to the emotional impact of a story told so beautifully, with such sparkle, wonder and bravura dancing, against the grain of the 21st century world’s woes and wars.
Once more snow may fail to dust Yorkshire’s hills this festive season, but winter’s white coat is all part of the nostalgic magic of Nixon’s Nutcracker, where snowflakes flutter across the stage front cloth to set the mood for his Regency England setting of Tchaikovsky’s late-19th century Christmas ballet.
Charles Cusick Smith’s gorgeous designs cast their own spell again, their grand scale sweeping up audience and dancers alike in the fantastical journey from castle drawing-room party to toy battlefield, snowy fairyland and a world above the clouds.
As in every home across the land, Rachael Gillespie’s inquisitive Clara excitedly awaits the chance to unwrap the presents that lie behind the towering, closed doors on Christmas Eve night.
When the clock strikes midnight, Clara is transported to fantasia by Harris Beattie’s noble Nutcracker Prince, her journey through the snow orchestrated flamboyantly by Harry Skoupas’s dandy Herr Drosselmeyer, fleet of foot and full of poised purpose.
Bruno Serraclara’s Mouse King seeks to defy the odds, so brave in dashing defeat, and making an amusing exit to boot, before Act One’s climax mirrors the traditions of pantomime in the outstanding transformation scene, graced with the most beautiful imagery of all, yet more delightful for Mark Jonathan’s lighting: spectacle as big as Yorkshire.
As ever, Act Two is even better, its tempo set by Saeka Shirai’s enchanting Sugar Plum Fairy, in tandem with Jonathan Hanks’s Cavalier.
Amid the snow, contrast is provided by the kaleidoscopically colourful pageant of national dances – Spanish, Arabian, Chinese, French, Russian – in a showcase with an amusingly competitive spirit, orchestrated with panache by Skoupas’s Drosselmeyer.
Throughout, Nixon adorns Tchaikovsky’s rousing score with the poetic eloquence of his elegant choreography, at once beauteous and charming, suffused with romance and drama, always up for mischievous comic interplay too in Puck style.
The Nutcracker is on cracking good form, a winter warmer like no other in Yorkshire this season.
Northern Ballet in The Nutcracker, Leeds Grand Theatre, until January 4 2026. Box office: 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com
Northern Ballet in The Nutcracker. Picture: Emily Nuttall
NORTHERN Ballet may have opened a new chapter with the appointment of Federico Bonelli as artistic director, but the company shows typical Leeds savvy in not closing the book on predecessor David Nixon.
The tenth anniversary of his sensational, sensuous, sinuous, Charleston and tango-filled The Great Gatsby will be marked with a revival in Leeds, Sheffield and London next year.
This autumn and winter comes the return of his most performed work, the festive favourite The Nutcracker, first on tour and now back home in Leeds at the Grand.
It has become the custom for choreographer and costume designer Nixon’s decorative, delightful, dazzling 2007 Northern Ballet production to see out the old year and welcome in the new every few years, most recently in 2018.
This latest return is more welcome than ever, its sparkle and joy, bravura dancing and elegant attire such a counter to this desperately destructive year of hapless politics, financial trauma, international strife and war on European soil.
Magic dances through the air from the moment of arrival, twinkling snowflakes filling the stage front cloth as the seats fill too in readiness for Nixon’s Regency England setting of Tchaikovsky’s gorgeous late-19th century Christmas ballet.
Vital to that magical spell too are Charles Cusick Smith’s designs, works of winter wonder on a grand scale that sweep up audience and dancers alike in the fantastical journey from castle drawing-room party to toy battlefield, snowy fairyland and a world above the clouds.
As in every house, Kirica Takahashi’s inquisitive Clara excitedly awaits the chance to unwrap the presents that lie behind the towering, closed doors on Christmas Eve night.
When the clock strikes midnight, Clara is transported to fantasia by George Liang’s noble Nutcracker Prince, her journey through the snow orchestrated exuberantly by Gavin McCaig’s luxuriously coiffured, nimble-footed Herr Drosselmeyer.
Andrew Tomlinson’s Mouse King shows dashing bravery in defeat in Act One, whose climax mirrors the traditions of pantomime in a transformation scene graced with the most beautiful imagery of all, lit exquisitely by Mark Jonathan.
Act Two is even more of a triumph, its tempo set by Saeka Shirai’s enchanting Sugar Plum Fairy, who receives the loudest cheers of all, in tandem with Joseph Taylor’s Cavalier.
A kaleidoscopically colourful pageant of national dances – Spanish, Arabian, Chinese, French, Russian – ensues, showcasing company members in democratic spirit with a playfully competitive edge overseen by McCaig’s gleeful Drosselmeyer. None surpasses Jin Ishii’s Spanish solo.
Throughout, Nixon complements Tchaikovsky’s joyous score with the poetic eloquence of his choreography, ever beautiful and charming, full of spectacle and heart, with room for mischievous humour too.
As ever, you would be crackers to miss The Nutcracker.
Northern Ballet in The Nutcracker, Leeds Grand Theatre, until January 7 2023. Performances: December 29, 7pm; December 30, 2pm, 7pm; December 31, 2pm; January 3 and 4, 7pm; January 5, 2pm, 7pm; January 6, 7pm; January 7, 2pm, 7pm.Box office: 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com
A mouse on skis at the Fairfax House exhibition A Townmouse Christmas
A MOUSE house invasion, Christmas concerts galore, a much-loved musical and a cracking ballet are Charles Hutchinson’s festive fancies.
Exhibition of the week: A Townmouse Christmas, Fairfax House, York, until December 23, 11am to 4pm, last entry, 3.30pm
‘TWAS the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring. Not true! In among the Georgian festive decor, hundreds of decorative town-mice have descended on Fairfax House.
Stealing the cheese and biscuits, running up and down the clocks, even skiing down the banisters, the charming magical mousey scenes complement the 18th-century-style festive foliage that evoke a Fairfax family Christmas of a bygone era in York. Tickets: fairfaxhouse.co.uk.
Chapter House Choir: Candle-lit carol singing in the nave of York Minster
Christmas institution of the week in York: Chapter House Choir’s Carols By Candlelight, York Minster, tonight, 7.30pm; doors, 6.45pm
DIRECTED by Benjamin Morris, the Chapter House Choir will be joined in the central nave by the Chapter House Youth Choir, the choir’s Handbell Ringers and York organist William Campbell for a feast of festive music, combining familiar carols with new and exciting compositions.
Jesus Christ The Apple Tree, a carol composed for the choir by founder Andrew Carter, will be premiered. The 90-minute concert with no interval will be dedicated to the memory of Dr Alvan White, the choir’s Candlelighter-in-Chief for these concerts from 2003 to 2018, who died in August. Tickets: “Selling very well” at yorkminster.org.
Sanna Jeppsson’s Maria Rainer sings to the von Trapp children in Pick Me Up Theatre’s The Sound Of Music
Musical of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in The Sound Of Music, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, until December 30.
COMMONWEALTH Games squash gold medallist and Harrogate man of the musicals James Willstrop plays Captain von Tropp opposite Swedish-born Sanna Jeppsson’s trainee nun turned free-spirited nanny, Maria Rainer, in Robert Readman’s production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s final collaboration.
Three teams of von Trapp children, Team Vienna, Team Graz and Team Linz, will share out the performances at 7.30pm tonight, then December 19, 21, 23, 27, 28 and 29, and at 2.30pm, today, tomorrow, then December 20, 22, 27, 29 and 30. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Holly head: Kate Rusby crowned in festive foliage for her Christmas celebrations
Festive folk concert of the week: Kate Rusby At Christmas, York Barbican, tomorrow, 7.30pm
AFTER marking her 30th anniversary in the folk fold with 30: Happy Returns, an album of collaborations with Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Richard Hawley and KT Tunstall, Barnsley folk nightingale Kate Rusby ends the year with her customary Christmas tour.
Joined by her regular folk band, led by husband Damien O’Kane, and her Brass Boys quintet, Rusby draws on South Yorkshire’s Sunday lunchtime pub tradition of singing carols once frowned on by Victorian churches for being too jolly, complemented by festive favourites and her own winter songs. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Merry Christmas from The Howl & The Hum
Christmas fancy dress of the week: Please Please You presents The Howl & The Hum, The Crescent, York, Monday and Tuesday, 7.30pm, both sold out
DEMAND was so high for York band The Howl & The Hum’s now traditional Yuletide celebration at The Crescent that a Monday show was added to the fully booked Tuesday gig. All tickets have gone for that night too.
What will frontman Sam Griffiths wear after raiding the Nativity Play dressing-up box for angel wings in 2019 and bedecking himself as a lit-up Christmas tree in 2021? And which Christmas classic will they reinvent in the wake of The Pogues’ Fairytale Of New York last time when joined by fellow York combo Bull?
The New York Brass Band’s two Xmas Party gigs on December 22 and 23 at 7.30pm have sold out too.
Christmas revival of the week: Northern Ballet in The Nutcracker, Leeds Grand Theatre, Tuesday to January 7 2023
The Nutcracker: Northern Ballet’s festive delight returns to Leeds Grand Theatre. Picture: Emily Nuttall
LEEDS company Northern Ballet’s touring revival of former artistic director David Nixon’s festive favourite heads home for a three-week finale at the Grand, replete with gorgeous Regency-style sets by Charles Cusick Smith.
“The Nutcracker is not just a ballet, it is a tradition for many families and generations, a way of having shared memories at a time of year when togetherness turns to the fore,” says Nixon. “I believe that The Nutcracker offers the perfect festive escapism for every generation, a chance to revel in the child-like magic of Christmas.” Box office: 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.
The York Waits: Christmas music on shawms, sackbuts, curtals, crumhorns, bagpipesand more
The wait is almost over for…The York Waits’ Christmas concert: The Waits’ Wassail: Music for Advent and Christmas, National Centre for Early Music, York, Tuesday, 7.30pm
THE York Waits, now in their 45th year of re-creating the historic city band, present Mirth & Melody Of Angels, music for Christmas and the festive season from medieval and renaissance Europe, performed by Tim Bayley, Lizzie Gutteridge, Anna Marshall, Susan Marshall and William Marshall with singer Deborah Catterall.
Angels abound, from the 1350’s Angelus ad Virginem to Orlando Gibbons’ Thus Angels Sung from the late-Elizabethan era. Familiar German chorales are followed by French Noels and Mediterranean folk songs, played on shawms, sackbuts, curtals, crumhorns, bagpipes, recorders, flutes, fiddles, rebec, guitar, hurdy gurdy and portative organ. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
Baaaaaarrrrgggghhhhhhbican frustration! Ricky Gervais’s brace of Armageddon dates at York Barbican sold out in 27 minutes
Apocalypse next month: Ricky Gervais, Armageddon, York Barbican, January 10 and 11 2023, 7.30pm precisely
ARMAGEDDON is not the end of the world as we know it but the name of grouchy comedian, actor, screenwriter, director, singer, podcaster and awards ceremony host Ricky Gervais’s new tour show.
Gervais, 61, will be torching “woke over-earnestness and the contradictions of modern political correctness while imagining how it all might end for our ‘one species of narcissistic ape’,” according to the Guardian review of his Manchester Apollo gig. Box office? Oh dear, you’re too late for Armageddon; both nights have sold out.
Also recommended but selling out fast: The Shepherd Group Brass Band Christmas Concert, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tonight, 7.30pm
ONLY the last few tickets remain for this Christmas concert featuring all the bands that make up the Shepherd Group Brass Band, from their Brass Roots absolute beginners to the championship section Senior Band, playing a variety of Christmas and seasonal music with plenty of audience participation. Box office: josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
MOSCOW City Ballet will present The Nutcracker at the Grand Opera House, York, on January 23 2022.
Set to Tchaikovsky’s glorious score, this enchanting tale is both an eternal winter favourite and the perfect introduction to Russian classical ballet with its timeless story of Clara being whisked away on a fairytale adventure by her Nutcracker Prince.
Moscow City Ballet is among the world’s most prestigious touring ballet companies, showcasing works from the Russian and Soviet ballet heritage, whether the classics, such as Swan Lake and Giselle, or children’s favourites, such as The Nutcracker and Cinderella.
Moscow City Ballet’s performances combine Russia’s best dancers and beautiful sets and costumes with a live orchestra and breath-taking choreography.
Tickets are on sale at atgtickets.com/york or on 0844 871 7615.
A Christmas tree on January 23? Yes, in Moscow City Ballet’s The Nutcracker at the Grand Opera House, York
The Stephen Joseph Theatre’s artwork for the Christmas Selection Box film season
THE Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, will unwrap a Christmas Selection Box of festive screen favourites from December 15 to 24.
The mini-festival of films and show recordings for all ages will feature the Royal Opera House’s The Nutcracker; It’s A Wonderful Life; Die Hard; Love Actually; Home Alone and The Muppet Christmas Carol.
Presented on the McCarthy screen at the former Odeon cinema, the screenings will be OC (open captioned), where stated.
The Christmas Selection Box comprises:
The Royal Opera House’s 2016 production of The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker, Royal Opera House, recorded in 2016, December 15, 6.30pm; December 17, 1.30pm
PETER Wright’s interpretation of The Nutcracker has been enchanting children and adults alike since its first performance by the Royal Ballet in 1984.
Filmed in 2016, this charming and magical production of Lev Ivanov’s 1892 ballet, combined with Tchaikovsky’s sumptuous, iconic score, are presented in a festive period setting with vivid designs.
James Stewart and Donna Reed in It’s A Wonderful Life
It’s A Wonderful Life (1946), December 16, 6.30pm, and December 18, 1.30pm
JAMES Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore and Henry Travers, as Clarence the angel, star in Frank Capra’s classic festive fantasy, considered by many to be the greatest Christmas film ever.
Bruce Willis lighting up Die Hard
Die Hard (1988), December 17 at 6.30pm; December 18 at 6.30pm; December 19 at 1.30pm (OC)
JOHN McTiernan’s action thriller is the ultimate “Is it or isn’t it a Christmas movie?”. Definitely it transformed Alan Rickman from a British stage actor into a top-notch international screen villain, starring alongside Bruce Willis, Alexander Godunov and Bonnie Bedelia in a wild romp around Los Angeles’s Nakatomi Plaza on Christmas Eve.
Bill Nighy in Love Actually
Love Actually (2003), December 19, 6.30pm; December 21, 6.30pm
THERE are stellar casts…and there are stellar casts. Love Actually finds room for Bill Nighy; Colin Firth; Liam Neeson; Emma Thompson; Martin Freeman; Joanna Page; Chiwetel Ejiofor…
…Hugh Grant; Martine McCutcheon; Andrew Lincoln; Nina Sosanya; Julia Davis, Alan Rickman and Adam Godley. Even Ant and Dec sneak in there.
Then accommodate cameos from Billy Bob Thornton, January Jones and Jeanne Moreau, and it must be one of the starriest movies ever.
Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone
Home Alone (1990), 30th anniversary screenings, December 21, 1.30pm; December 22, 6.30pm; December 23, 1.30pm
SCHITT’S Creek fans will enjoy seeing a young Catherine O’Hara as Kate, trying desperately to return home to her eight-year-old son Kevin (Macaulay Culkin), who has been left – yes – home alone and apparently at the mercy of two ruthless burglars, played by Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern. Guess who comes out on top!
Michael Caine as Scrooge with Kermit and co in The Muppet Christmas Carol
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), December 22, 1.30pm; December 23, 6.30pm; December 24, 1.30pm
IT should not work, but it does: the Muppets’ take on the Dickens Christmas story sees Michael Caine’s Scrooge meet his match in Kermit and Robin the Frogs’ Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim, alongside all the familiar Muppet characters. It all adds up to the perfect introduction to a perennial favourite for younger members of the family.
Tickets can be booked at sjt.uk.com/whatson or on 01723 370541 (Tuesday to Saturday, 12 noon to 5pm, or to 8pm on days with live performances, for both phone calls and in-person bookings).
