Tag: Velma Celli

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 43, from Gazette & Herald

Teacher Miss Hedge (Katie Spencer) steps in between school bully Dean Paxton (Cain Branton), left, and dreamer Jamie New (Frankie Bounds) in York Stage’s Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

FROM a couple all at sea at the SJT to Yorktoberfest in a circus big top,  a piratical twist on The Comedy Of Errors to Bison Hip’s blues, Charles Hutchinson recommends ways to stay cheerful.

Bold and unapologetic musical of the week: York Stage in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday; 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

TOM MacRae and Dan Gillespie’s Sheffield musical plays the Grand Opera House for the first time in Nik Briggs’s production for York Stage that restores the grit to both complement and counter the glitz in the uplifting underdog story of Jamie New (Frankie Bounds), a 16-year-old schoolboy from a Steel City council estate with big dreams and the courage to stand out when it would be easier to stay quiet.

Equipped with the strength to face the world head on, Jamie fights prejudice, finds his voice and discovers the freedom of stepping into the spotlight on his own terms. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Over-reaching strategy: Phil Corbitt’s Colin puts yet another plan to Sarah Belcher’s exhausted Deborah in Alison Carr’s All At Sea

Premiere of the week: Stephen Joseph Theatre and Live Theatre, Newcastle, present All At Sea, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, until October 31

MARIA Crocker directs Phil Corbitt and Sarah Belcher in All At Sea, Alison Carr’s new play inspired by the real-life escapades of John and Anne Darwin in the early 2000s.

Colin and Deborah are a couple with spiralling debt, a sky-high mortgage and seemingly nowhere to turn. Then Colin comes up with the idea of faking his own death in a canoeing accident in the North Sea for an insurance payout. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

Amelia Bullmore’s Penelope comes face to face with Charlie Russell’s Odysseus in Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

Greek tragedy twist of the week: Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad, Odyssey: Her Story, York Theatre Royal, until October 31

BOOKER Prize winner Margaret Atwood revisits Homer’s The Odyssey in an exuberantly irreverent and darkly humorous retelling where she gives voice to Odysseus’s silenced wife, Penelope – still awaiting his return 20 years after the Trojan War – and her chorus of maids in a tale of injustice, betrayal and revenge that exposes the truth behind the myth. Creative director Juliet Forster’s cast is led by Happy Valley and Riot Women star Amelia Bullmore. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Ben Reeves-Rowley and Harry Summers in rehearsal for York Shakespeare Company’s piratical The Comedy Of Errors

Shakespeare shake-up of the week: York Shakespeare Project in The Comedy Of Errors, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

KATIE Leckey and Emily Carhart co-direct York Shakespeare Project in “ an exciting take on Shakespeare’s shortest and possibly funniest play”, giving a piratical, gender-swapping twist to The Comedy Of Errors in a convergence of the original text with slapstick, farce and physical comedy and a “celebration of relationships of many kinds, platonic, familial and romantic”.

“The morally questionable, yet still comedic, nature of many (if not all) of the characters put us in mind of some of our favourite piratical anti-heroes,” they say. “We felt like the framing device of piracy gave us the chance to include slapstick violence between ‘masters and servants’ in a way that wouldn’t seem too brutal or alien to a modern audience.” Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

The poster for The Amy Winehouse Band’s Back To Black 20th Anniversary Tour

Going back to Back To Black: The Amy Winehouse Band, York Barbican, tomorrow, 7.30pm

AMY Winehouse’s original band, who played with her from the very start, are marking the 20th anniversary of her iconic second album, Back To Black, the one that brought her five awards at the 2008 Grammy Awards. Performing with Amy that evening, as these musicians had done since her earliest gigs in London pubs, was her band. 

Led by Amy’s long-time musical director and bass player, The Amy Winehouse Band features members who both toured and recorded with her throughout her career. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Hudson & Hudson: Combining the magical and the marital at Helmsley Arts Centre

Magic show of the week: Hudson & Hudson Magicians: Married At First Sleight, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm

ORIGINALLY from Hull, husband-and-wife magicians Alan and Kat Hudson appeared separately on Britain’s Got Talent before eventually forming a double act. Ant & Dec had suggested they should work together while they were on the show, but they both said no at the time. Between them, they have appeared on Penn & Teller: Fool Us, ITV’s The Next Great Magician and in the West End production Wonderville.

Married At First Sleight mixes magic, mind-reading, comedy and audience participation with the realities of being married to the person with whom you also rehearse, tour and perform. Cue marital banter alongside the tricks. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

York drag diva Velma Celli leading the Yorktoberfest celebrations in the Big Top with The Bavarian Strollers at York Racecourse

Festival of the week: Jamboree Entertainment presents Yorktoberfest, Clocktower Enclosure, York Racecourse, Friday, 7pm to 1pm; Saturday, 1pm to 5pm & 7pm to 11pm

FOR the first time, James Cundall’s Jamboree Entertainment is staging Yorktoberfest, York’s traditional Bavarian beer festival, inside a Big Top, launched last weekend by aerial artist Zoe Kulyk twisting and tumbling from the rooftop. 

Look out on Friday and Saturday for outrageous York drag diva Velma Celli’s powerhouse singing and quick-fire critique of the costumes on display and oompah band The Bavarian Strollers’ traditional drinking songs and disco classics. The Bavarian Bar and the Dog Haus serve up drinks and German-inspired food. Tickets: www.ticketsource.co.uk/yorktoberfest and at the entrance, subject to availability.

Bison Hip: A dose of the Glasgow blues at Ryedale Blues Club

Blues gig of the week: Ryedale Blues Club presents Bison Hip, Milton Rooms, Malton, October 29, 8pm

BISON Hip were formed by long-time friends Paul Sloway, Malcolm Button, Steven Radziwonik, John Gilmour Smith and Graeme Carswell during a lockdown Zoom call in 2020. “Maybe it was the mid-life crisis at play,” says vocalist Sloway.

“We wanted to take our love of blues and rock and mix it up with our experiences of life. Between us, we’ve been through so many things in life, ups and downs, some successes and plenty of failures, we wanted all that in the music. We needed to wrap it up in the DNA of our hometown, Glasgow, and hopefully that’s what we’ve achieved.” Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 42, from The York Press

In the spotlight: Frankie Bounds’ Jamie New, front, in York Stage’s Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

FROM added grit in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie to a piratical twist on The Comedy Of Errors, Brandon Flowers in full bloom at York Barbican to drag diva Velma Celli rocking out, Charles Hutchinson spots pearls aplenty.

Bold and unapologetic musical of the week: York Stage in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Grand Opera House, York, until October 24; 7.30pm, Tuesday to Saturday, plus 2.30pm Saturday matinees and 4pm Sunday

TOM MacRae and Dan Gillespie’s Sheffield musical plays the Grand Opera House for the first time in Nik Briggs’s production for York Stage that restores the grit to both complement and counter the glitz in the uplifting underdog story of Jamie New (Frankie Bounds), a 16-year-old schoolboy from a Steel City council estate with big dreams and the courage to stand out when it would be easier to stay quiet.

Equipped with the strength to face the world head on, Jamie fights prejudice, finds his voice and discovers the freedom of stepping into the spotlight on his own terms. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Amelia Bullmore’s Penelope comes face to face with Charlie Russell’s Odysseus in The Penelopiad. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

Greek tragedy twist of the week: Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad, Odyssey: Her Story, York Theatre Royal, until October 31

BOOKER Prize winner Margaret Atwood revisits Homer’s The Odyssey in an exuberantly irreverent and darkly humorous retelling where she gives voice to Odysseus’s silenced wife, Penelope – still awaiting his return 20 years after the Trojan War – and her chorus of maids in a tale of injustice, betrayal and revenge that exposes the truth behind the myth. Creative director Juliet Forster’s cast is led by Happy Valley and Riot Women star Amelia Bullmore. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Kristin Hersh: Queen of the alternative scene

Recommended but sold out already: An Evening With Kristin Hersh, National Centre for Early Music, York, tonight,7.30pm

OVER  three decades, Atlanta, Georgia singer, songwriter and guitarist  Kristin Hersh, 60, has been heralded queen of the alternative scene with Throwing Muses, 50Foot Wave and on her own, releasing her latest 12th solo album, Sugar On Blackstone, on Fire Records on September 18. Recorded at Stable Sound Studio in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, with Steve Rizzo, it features Rob Ahlers on drums and Pete Harvey on cello.

Since signing to Fire Records in 2018, the prolific Hersh has released tenth studio album Possible Dust Clouds, Throwing Muses’  Sun Racket in 2020, 50Foot Wave’s Black Pearl in 2022, her book Seeing Sideways in 2022 and self-produced 11th solo album, the cinematic road trip and personal vignettes of Clear Pond Road, in September 2023.

Velma Celli: Drag diva delights…including a tribute to Dolly Parton RIP

Drag delights of the week: The Velma Celli Show, with special guest Jessica Steel and guitarists Stuart Allan and Olly Chilton, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Sunday, 6pm

YORK vocal drag act deluxe and international cabaret superstar Velma Cell moves to a new location for her camp, spectacular song and comedy home-city performances. “My last two shows at York Theatre Royal – Snow Queen and Rock Queen – had been among my favourites, so this one will be a mixture of Snow Queen and Rock Queen and musical theatre material,” says Velma’s creator, actor and West End star Ian Stroughair.

 “The first set will be musical theatre favourites, songs from my career in West End musicals – Cats, Fame, Chicago and Rent – and an homage to Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand. In the second set we’ll rock out with York. There’ll be songs by David Bowie, Freddie Mercury, Bryan Adams, Bonnie Tyler, Guns N’ Roses, Roxette, Alanis Morissette, Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game – and I’ll do a Dolly Parton section too. There has to be!” Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Imperial Classical Ballet in Swan Lake

Ballet of the week: Imperial Classical Ballet presents Swan Lake, York Barbican, October 19, 7.30pm

IMPERIAL Classical Ballet  performs Swan Lake, the powerful tale of Princess Odette, cursed to live as a swan by day and a woman by night. When Prince Siegfried discovers her under the moonlight, he vows to break the spell, yet the evil sorcerer Rothbart and his daughter Odile plot a deception that threatens them both.

From the haunting beauty of the lakeside scenes to the electrifying Black Swan pas de deux, Swan Lake is a visual delight, performed to Tchaikovsky’s soaring score, played live by an orchestra. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Brandon Flowers: In full bloom at York Barbican. Picture: Chris Phelps

Gig of the week: Brandon Flowers, York Barbican, October 21, 7.30pm

THE Killers’ frontman, Brandon Flowers, plays York Barbican as the only Yorkshire venue on his nine-date UK and Ireland tour, promoting Thrasher, his third solo album and first since 2015, which peaked at number three on release in August.

Fans can look forward to hearing songs from Thrasher, played live for the first time, alongside highlights from his British chart-topping solo albums, 2010’s Flamingo and 2015’s The Desired Effect, as well as beloved tracks from The Killers’ catalogue. No support. Ticket update: Sold out; for returns only, go to https://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/brandon-flowers.

Pirate reboot ahoy: York Shakespeare Project in The Comedy Of Errors. Picture: John Stead

Shakespeare shake-up of the week: York Shakespeare Project in The Comedy Of Errors, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, October 21 to 24, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

KATIE Leckey and Emily Carhart co-direct York Shakespeare Project in “ an exciting take on Shakespeare’s shortest and possibly funniest play”, giving a piratical, gender-swapping twist to The Comedy Of Errors in a convergence of the original text with slapstick, farce and physical comedy and a “celebration of relationships of many kinds, platonic, familial and romantic”.

“The morally questionable, yet still comedic, nature of many (if not all) of the characters put us in mind of some of our favourite piratical anti-heroes,” they say. “We felt like the framing device of piracy gave us the chance to include slapstick violence between ‘masters and servants’ in a way that wouldn’t seem too brutal or alien to a modern audience.” Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

The poster for the Amy Winehouse Band’s Back To Black 20th Anniversary Tour, visiting York Barbican

Going back to Back To Black: The Amy Winehouse Band, York Barbican, October 22, 7.30pm

AMY Winehouse’s original band, who played with her from the very start, are marking the 20th anniversary of her iconic second album, Back To Black, the one that brought her five awards at the 2008 Grammy Awards. Performing with Amy that evening, as these musicians had done since her earliest gigs in London pubs, was her band. 

Led by Amy’s long-time musical director and bass player, The Amy Winehouse Band features members who both toured and recorded with her throughout her career. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

A Fate Worse Than Death: Premiering at Everyman Harrogate on Thursday

In Focus: Film premiere of the week: A Fate Worse Than Death, Everyman Harrogate, Harrogate, October 22, 7.30pm

AFTER three years of production, Abraham Fieldsend will premiere his feature film A Fate Worse Than Death at Everyman Harrogate on Thursday.

Made in North and West Yorkshire for £12,000, this 70-minute psychological horror-drama was produced independently by Wayside Trinity, using primarily local cast, crew and locations.

Written by co-producers Zachary Fieldsend, Steve Jones-Robertson and Abraham Fieldsend, the story explores the effects of grief through a couple struggling to cope with the loss of their child. As the mother’s debilitating headaches intensify, they are forced to confront the possibility that the darkness consuming their home is more than grief alone.

A Fate Worse Than Death’s production team

“A bold title, a tragic story, a horrifying series of events, A Fate Worse Than Death promises to be a horror film of different forms, assaulting your comfort, scarring your emotions, and engaging your mind when the credits roll,” says Fieldsend. “Our first foray into the world of feature film-making will be sure to shock even the most hardened horror fans.”

The cast comprises Susan Fieldsend as Elizabeth; Lyndsey Craine, Doctor Kent; Jake Fireman, Group Therapy Speaker; Kay Gartland, Doctor Armstrong; Martin Turner, Keith; Evan “T-Rex” Singleton,  Paramedic 1; Zachary Fieldsend, Paramedic 2; Natalie Fieldsend, Pyschologists’ Receptionist (voice); Neil Fieldsend, Unnamed Doctor; Mike Blackburn, The Figure and Burn Victim, and Matthew Chan, James’s Work Colleague.

Thursday’s running order will be: 7:30pm, complimentary drink on arrival; 8pm, short introduction in Screen 2; 8:15pm, film screening; 9.3pm, screening ends, followed by drinks and a chance to mingle in the bar area.

For more details, go to: https://www.everymancinema.com/venues-list/x0x9k-everyman-harrogate/.

The poster for A Fate Worse Than Death

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Velma Celli finds two new homes in York for drag diva delights at JoRo and Silver Spur

Velma Celli: Heading to Joseph Rowntree Theatre on October 18

YORK vocal drag act deluxe and international multi-award winning cabaret superstar Velma Cell is on the move to a new location for her camp, spectacular song and comedy home-city shows.

“My first ever show with a dance solo as a kid was at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, so I thought it would be fun to go back there,” says Velma’s creator, actor and West End star Ian Stroughair, who will be presenting The Velma Celli Show at the JoRo on October 18 with special guest Jessica Steel and guitarists Stuart Allan and Olly Chilton.

“My last two shows at York Theatre Royal – Snow Queen and Rock Queen – had been among my favourites, so next month’s show will be a mixture of Snow Queen and Rock Queen and musical theatre material.”

Ian continues: “The first set will be musical theatre favourites, songs from my career in West End musicals – Cats, Fame, Chicago and Rent – and an homage to Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand. In the second set we’ll rock out with York. There’ll be songs by David Bowie, Freddie Mercury, Bryan Adams, Bonnie Tyler…

Velma Celli and special guest Jessica Steel

“I was supposed to be doing a cruise show with Bonnie, but that couldn’t happen [after her passing in July].”

Velma Celli’s rock repertoire also will take in Guns N’ Roses’ Sweet Child O’ Mine,  rock songs re-imagined as power ballads and a rock revamp of Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game. “There’ll be some Roxette, some Alanis Morissette, possibly Ironic, from Jagged Little Pill, which has to be one of the greatest albums ever. I’ll probably do the Alanis number as a duet with Jessica.”

October 18’s audience should expect one more ingredient. “There’ll be a Dolly Parton section too – there has to be,” says Ian.

Velma Celli has another October engagement in the diary, appearing as the master of ceremonies at the Yorktoberfest Beer Festival for the sixth successive year, this time in its new Big Top tent in the Clocktower Enclosure at York Racecourse on October 16, 17, 23 and 24.

In the pink: Velma Celli launching Country Drag Brunch at Silver Spur Saloon Bar tomorrow

“I’ll be doing six appearances,” says Ian. “I’m going to be in butch German lesbian mode as usual, singing my hit song Das Ist Gut, Ja! There’ll be plenty of sausage, lots of audience participation, and of course alcohol – and we’ll be joined by a fabulous oompah band, The Bavarian Strollers, to fill in the gaps between me.”

Velma, the only drag queen to appear in both EastEnders and Coronation Street, has found another new home too, switching the Bottomless Drag Brunch from Impossible York to The Silver Spur, the Nashville-inspired, cowboy-themed saloon bar and restaurant in Bridge Street. “We’re going country, rock, pop and bottomless [drinks], with food and Velma in pink,” says Ian, whose first brunch with a country & western theme will be at 1pm to 3pm tomorrow (26/9/2026).

“I hosted a show at the O2 in London in June last year for Flight Centre, the travel agents, with a Day-Glo Rodeo theme, so I learned a lot of country material for that. Now country music is really in, here in York, with the opening of the Silver Spur, followed by Ruby Rae’s Bar.  

“Dolly Parton’s songs will be heavily featured, along with Shania Twain, LeAnn Rimes, Kelly Clarkson, Beyonce’s country songs and Miley Cyrus.”

The Velma Celli Show, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, October 18, 6pm. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk. Yorktoberfest, yorktoberfest.co.uk/entertainment. Country Drag Brunch with Velma Celli, Silver Spur Saloon Bar, York, tomorrow, 1pm to 3pm; silver-spur.co.uk. 

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 48, from Gazette & Herald

Danny Horn’s Ray Davies leading The Kinks in Sunny Afternoon, on tour at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Manuel Harlan

SUNNY Afternoon’s Kinks songs for dark nights, Dibley comedic delights and drag diva Velma Celli’s frock rock catch Charles Hutchinson’s eye.

Musical of the week: Sonia Freidman Productions and ATG Productions present Sunny Afternoon, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Friday and Saturday matinees

RETURNING to York for the first time since February 2017, four-time Olivier Award winner Sunny Afternoon charts the raw energy, euphoric highs, troubling lows, mendacious mismanagement and brotherly spats of Muswell Hill firebrands The Kinks, equipped with an original story (and nearly 30 songs) by frontman Ray Davies.

The script is by Joe Penhall, who says: “As a band The Kinks were the perennial outsider – punk before punk.” Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Nicki Clay’s Reverend Geraldine Granger in MARMiTE Theatre’s The Vicar Of Dibley at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York. Picture: Paul Miles

Village drama of the week: MARMiTE Theatre in The Vicar Of Dibley, Theatre:41, Monkgate, York, until Saturday,7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

NICKI Clay is going doubly Dibley for MARMiTE Theatre in the new York company’s debut production of The Vicar Of Dibley, having played Geraldine Grainger for The Monday Players in Escrick in May.  

Martyn Hunter directs Ian Gower and Paul Carpenter’s cherry-picking of the best of Richard Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer’s first two TV series, bringing together all the favourite eccentric residents of Dibley as the new vicar’s arrival shakes up the parish council of this sleepy English village. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

N’Faly Kouyaté: Dancing shoes recommended

African rhythms of the week: N’Faly Kouyaté, National Centre for Early Music, York, tonight, 7.30pm

AFTER gracing stages across the world with Afro Celt Sound System — where Celtic voices and instrumentation met the vibrant heartbeat of African rhythms — avant-garde griot N’Faly Kouyaté embarks on a profoundly personal journey.

This masterful Guinean multi-instrumentalist, inspired vocalist and living bridge between ancestral heritage and future sounds returns with his album Finishing, whose songs stir the soul, provoke reflection, elicit smiles and set bodies moving. Bring your dancing shoes! Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

Velma Celli: Rock Queen with a nod to David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane slash. Picture: Sophie Eleanor Photography

Drag night of the week: Velma Celli: Rock Queen, York Theatre Royal, tonight, 7.30pm

YORK’S international drag diva deluxe Velma Celli follows up her iconic October 1 appearance in Coronation Street soapland withan “overindulgent evening celebrating and re-imagining the best of rock classics” with her band. 

The alter ego of West End musical star Ian Stroughair, who has shone in Cats, Fame, Rent and Chicago, cabaret queen Velma’s live vocal drag act has been charming audiences for 14 years, whether at Yorktoberfest at York Racecourse, her Impossible Brunches at Impossible York, or in such shows as A Brief History Of Drag, My Divas, God Save The Queens and Divalussion (with Christina Bianco). Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Beth McCarthy: Heading back home to play Big Ian’s A Night To Remember charity concert. Picture: Duncan Lomax., Ravage Productions

Charity event of the week: Big Ian’s A Night To Remember, York Barbican, tonight, 7.30pm

BIG Ian Donaghy hosts a “night of York helping York” featuring a 30-strong band led by George Hall  with a line-up of York party band HUGE, Jess Steel, Beth McCarthy, Heather Findlay, Graham Hodge, The Y Street Band, Simon Snaize, Annie-Rae Donaghy, fiddler Kieran O’Malley, Samantha Holden, Las Vegas Ken and musicians from York Music Forum, plus a guest choir. 

Proceeds from this three-hour fundraiser go to St Leonard’s Hospice, Bereaved Children Support York, Accessible Arts & Media and York dementia projects. Tickets update: Balcony seats still available at yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Staff woes: William Ilkley, left, Levi Payne and Dylan Allcock in John Godber’s Black Tie Ball, on tour at the SJT, Scarborough

One helluva party of the week: John Godber’s Black Tie Ball, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, November 12 to 15, 7.30pm plus 1.30pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees

ON the glitziest East Yorkshire fundraising night of the year, everyone wants to be there. The Bentleys are parked, the jazz band has arrived, the magician will be magic, but behind the bow ties, fake tans and equally fake booming laughter lie jealousies and avarice, divorces and affairs, as overdressed upstairs meets understaffed downstairs through a drunken gaze. 

The raffle is ridiculously competitive, the coffee, cold, the service, awful, the guest speaker, drunk, and the hard -pressed caterers just want to go home. Welcome to the Brechtian hotel hell of John Godber’s satirical, visceral comedy drama, as told by the exasperated hotel staff, recounting the night’s mishaps at breakneck speed in the manner of Godber’s fellow wearers of tuxedos, Bouncers. Box office:  01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

Ensemble 360: Performing works by Shostakovich and Dvořák at Helmsley Arts Centre. Picture: Matthew Johnson and Music in the Round

Classical matinee concert of the week: Ensemble 360, Helmsley Arts Centre, Sunday, 2.30pm

ENSEMBLE 360’s chamber musicians Benjamin Nabarro and Claudia Ajmone-Marsan, violins, Rachel Roberts, viola, Gemma Rosefield, cello, and Tim Horton, piano, perform the dramatic intensity and soaring lyricism of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 57 and the radiant warmth and Czech folk-inspired melodies of Antonín Dvořák’s Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major, Op. 81, a piece cherished for its lush harmonies, spirited dances and seamless instrumental interplay. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Rock’n’roll show of the week: Two Pianos, Pocklington Arts Centre, Thursday, 7.30pm

IN the words of Jerry Lew Lewis, “Two Pianos are awesome rockers”. Tomorrow night, David Barton and Al Kilvo  bring their rock’n’roll piano show to Pocklington for a journey through the golden age of  Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins, Ray Charles, Wanda Jackson, Brenda Lee and, yes, the “The Killer” himself. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Lydia Hough and Joseph Taylor in London City Ballet’s Pictures At An Exhibition, on tour at York Theatre Royal

Dance show of the week: London City Ballet: Momentum, York Theatre Royal, Friday, 7.30pm (with post-show discussion); Saturday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

LONDON City Ballet, former resident company of Sadler’s Wells, returns to York Theatre Royal with Momentum, a new repertoire that showcases artists rarely seen in the UK. Haieff Divertimento, an early George Balanchine work, was thought to be lost for 40 years after its premiere and remained unseen outside the USA until now. Emerging choreographer Florent Melac, premier danseur at Paris Opera Ballet, combines inventive transitions with intimate partnering in his fluid new work.

Alexei Ratmansky, New York City Ballet’s artist in residence, presents Pictures At An Exhibition, performed to Modest Mussorgsky’s eponymous score, set against a backdrop depicting Wassily Kandinsky’s paintings. Unseen in the UK since its 2009 premiere, Liam Scarlett’s Consolations & Liebestraum is a response to Franz Liszt’s piano score, depicting the life cycle of a relationship, its blossoming and later fracturing love. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

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Drag night of the week: Velma Celli: Rock Queen, York Theatre Royal, Nov 12, 7.30pm

Velma Celli: Rock Queen with a nod to David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane slash make-up. Picture: Sophie Eleanor Photography

YORK’S international drag diva deluxe Velma Celli follows up her iconic October 1 appearance in Coronation Street soapland with an “overindulgent evening celebrating and re-imagining the best of rock classics” with her band. 

The alter-ego of West End musical star Ian Stroughair, who has shone on the London stage in Cats, Fame, Rent and Chicago, cabaret queen Velma’s live vocal drag act has been charming audiences for 14 years.

In York, Velma is to be spotted hosting Yorktoberfest at York Racecourse and her Impossible Brunches at Impossible York, as well as on stage down the years at York Theatre Royal, the National Centre for Early Music and The Basement at City Screen Picturehouse.

Wider afield, Velma has starred in such shows as A Brief History Of Drag, My Divas, God Save The Queens, Equinox, her David Bowie tribute Irreplaceable, Velma Celli Goes Gaga, Show Queen and Divalussion (with American actress, singer and impressionist Christina Bianco), performing in London, at the Edinburgh Fringe and with award-winning success in Australia. 

On Wednesday, Velma will be joined by musical director Scott Robinson on keyboards, Al Morrison on guitar, Olly Chilton on bass and Chris Sykes on drums.

Velma’s Act One set list will comprise Summer Of ’69; I Was Made For Loving You; Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me; It Must Have Been Love; Wicked Game; The Edge Of Glory; When Doves Cry; Bohemian Rhapsody and I Wanna Break Free/Under Pressure.

Act Two will open with a David Bowie medley, followed by Starman; Hey Jude; Ironic; Creep; Wonderwall; (Everything I Do) I Do It For You; If I Could Turn Back Time and The Best. Rock Queen will bid goodnight with the encore American double whammy of Livin’ On A Prayer and Sweet Child O’ Mine.

Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond when Dibley’s vicar is at your service. Here’s Hutch’s List No 48, from The York Press

Danny Horn’s Ray Davies leading The Kinks in Sunny Afternoon, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York, from next Tuesday. Picture: Manuel Harlan

SUNNY Afternoon’s Kinks songs for dark nights, Dibley comedic delights and drag diva Velma Celli’s frock rock catch Charles Hutchinson’s eye.

Musical of the week: Sonia Freidman Productions and ATG Productions present Sunny Afternoon, Grand Opera House, York, November 11 to 15, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Friday and Saturday matinees

RETURNING to York for the first time since February 2017, four-time Olivier Award winner Sunny Afternoon charts the raw energy, euphoric highs, troubling lows, mendacious mismanagement and brotherly spats of Muswell Hill firebrands The Kinks, with an original story (and nearly 30 songs) by frontman Ray Davies.

The script is by Joe Penhall, who says: “As a band The Kinks were the perennial outsider – punk before punk.” Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

MarcoLooks: Exhibiting at Inspired – York Artists & Designer Makers Winter Fair at York Cemetery Chapel

Christmas presence of the week: Inspired – York Artists & Designer Makers Winter Fair, York Cemetery Chapel, Cemetery Road, York, today and tomorrow, 10am to 5pm

NINE York artists and designers will be selling their work for the Christmas season in the divine setting of York Cemetery Chapel. Among them will be collagraphy printmaker Sally Clarke, jewellery designer Jo Bagshaw, artist Adrienne French, printmaker Petra Bradley and illustrator MarcoLooks . Enjoy a winter walk in the beautiful grounds too. Free entry, free parking.  

Clive Marshall RIP: York Railway Institute Band and York Opera perform in his memory at The Citadel tonight

Marshalling forces: York Railway Institute Band and York Opera, Clive Marshall Memorial Concert, The Citadel, Gillygate, York, tonight, 7.30pm

YORK Railway Institute Band and York Opera members come together tonight for a charity musical tribute to much-loved colleague Clive Marshall (1936-2025). Expect soaring choruses, heartfelt arias and the very best of operatic overtures in tonight’s programme of popular classics, in aid of St Leonard’s Hospice, where Clive spent the final days of his life in March this year. 

He was chairman of the RI band, leading the trombone section for many years, and first performed for York Opera in 1968, going on to play multiple character roles and stage direct myriad productions too. Box office: https://tickets.yorkopera.co.uk/events/yorkopera/1793750 or on the door.

At your service, in the French style: Nicki Clay’s Reverend Geraldine Granger in MARMiTE Theatre’s The Vicar Of Dibley

Village drama of the week: MARMiTE Theatre in The Vicar Of Dibley, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, November 11 to 15,7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

NICKI Clay is going doubly Dibley for MARMiTE Theatre in the new York company’s debut production of The Vicar Of Dibley, having played Geraldine Granger for The Monday Players in Escrick in May.  

Martyn Hunter directs Ian Gower and Paul Carpenter’s cherry-picking of the best of Richard Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer’s first two TV series, bringing together all the favourite eccentric residents of Dibley as the new vicar’s arrival shakes up the parish council of this sleepy English village. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Velma Celli: Rock Queen, with a nod to David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane slash make-up, at York Theatre Royal

Drag night of the week: Velma Celli: Rock Queen, York Theatre Royal, November 12, 7.30pm

YORK’S international drag diva deluxe Velma Celli follows up her iconic October 1 appearance in Coronation Street soapland with an “overindulgent evening celebrating and re-imagining the best of rock classics” with her band. 

The alter ego of West End musical star Ian Stroughair, who has shone in Cats, Fame, Rent and Chicago, cabaret queen Velma’s live vocal drag act has been charming audiences for 14 years, whether at Yorktoberfest at York Racecourse, her Impossible Brunches at Impossible York, or in such shows as A Brief History Of Drag, My Divas, God Save The Queens, Equinox, Velma Celli Goes Gaga, Show Queen and Divalussion (with Christina Bianco). Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

The poster for Toby Lee’s 2025 tour show, An Evening of Blues & Soul, at The Crescent

Blues gig of the week: Toby Lee & James Emmanuel plus Isabella Coulstock, An Evening of Blues & Soul, The Crescent, York, November 12, 7.30pm

BLUES prodigy Toby Lee’s musical journey started at only four years old when his grandmother bought him a yellow and green ukulele. This little instrument went everywhere with him, and he played it constantly, mainly tunes by Elvis and Buddy Holly. At eight, he received his first electric guitar for Christmas while staying at a Cornish. By chance, staying there too was Uriah Heep’s Mick Box, who duly gave him tips and picks. From that moment, Lee knew precisely what he wanted to do when he grew up.

Now 20, he has shared stages with Buddy Guy, Billy Gibbons, Peter Frampton, Slash, Lukas Nelson, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and his hero, Joe Bonamassa, at the Royal Albert Hall, as well as touring as Jools Holland and His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra’s special guest. On Tuesday, he is joined by James Emmanuel and Isabella Coulstock. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.

Beth McCarthy: Heading back home to York to play Big Ian’s A Night To Remember at York Barbican. Picture: Duncan Lomax, Ravage Productions

Charity event of the week: Big Ian’s A Night To Remember, York Barbican, November 12, 7.30pm

BIG Ian Donaghy hosts a “night of York helping York” featuring a 30-strong band led by George Hall  with a line-up of York party band HUGE, Jess Steel, Beth McCarthy, Heather Findlay, Graham Hodge, The Y Street Band, Simon Snaize, Annie-Rae Donaghy, fiddler Kieran O’Malley, Samantha Holden, Las Vegas Ken and musicians from York Music Forum, plus a guest choir. 

Proceeds from this three-hour fundraiser go to St Leonard’s Hospice, Bereaved Children Support York, Accessible Arts & Media and York dementia projects. Tickets update: Balcony seats still available at yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Staff woes: William Ilkley, left, Levi Payne and Dylan Allcock in John Godber’s Black Tie Ball, on tour at the SJT, Scarborough

One helluva party of the week: John Godber’s Black Tie Ball, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, November 12 to 15, 7.30pm plus 1.30pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees

ON the glitziest East Yorkshire fundraising night of the year, everyone wants to be there. The Bentleys are parked, the jazz band has arrived, the magician will be magic, but behind the bow ties, fake tans and equally fake booming laughter lie jealousies and avarice, divorces and affairs, as overdressed upstairs meets understaffed downstairs through a drunken gaze. 

The raffle is ridiculously competitive, the coffee, cold, the service, awful, the guest speaker, drunk, and the hard -pressed caterers just want to go home. Welcome to the Brechtian hotel hell of John Godber’s satirical, visceral comedy drama, as told by the exasperated hotel staff, recounting the night’s mishaps at breakneck speed in the manner of Godber’s fellow wearers of tuxedos, Bouncers. Box office:  01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

Amit Mistry: Topping the Funny Fridays bill

Comedy gig of the week: Funny Fridays, Patch@Bonding Warehouse, Terry Avenue, York, November 14, 7.30pm to 9.30pm

AMIT Mistry headlines next Friday’s bill, joined by Lulu Simons, Gareth Harrison, Liam Alexander and Dominique McMillan, hosted by promoter Kaie Lingo. Doors open at 7pm for a night of “back-to-basics comedy fun” and tickets cost £10 at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/funny-fridays-at-patch-tickets-1802236280229?aff=oddtdtcreator.

African rhythms of the week: N’Faly Kouyaté, National Centre for Early Music, York, November 12 , 7.30pm

Guinean multi-instrumentalist N’Faly Kouyaté: Starting his Finishing tour at the NCEM

AFTER gracing stages across the world with Afro Celt Sound System, avant-garde griot N’Faly Kouyaté has embarked on a profoundly personal journey that finds him opening his autumn UK tour in York, playing the National Centre for Early Music for the first time.

This masterful Guinean multi-instrumentalist, multi-linguist, inspired vocalist and living bridge between ancestral heritage and future sounds returns with his September 12 album Finishing, whose songs stir the soul, provoke reflection, elicit smiles and set bodies moving.

Finishing is billed as a “a spiritual call to action – an artistic manifesto shaped by the soul of a griot and the conscience of a world citizen”

Conceived during nine reflective months along the banks of the Bafing River in Guinea, then recorded in Brussels, this album is both a deeply personal reflection and a universal cry for justice, compassion and balance.

“Finishing is my musical answer to a world searching for meaning,” says N’Faly. “It is the echo of my ancestors carried by today’s rhythms, a call to reflection and action. I wanted every note to be a question, every chorus a step towards a fairer, more conscious future.”

Hailing from the illustrious Konkoba Kabinet Kouyaté lineage – he is a member of the Mandingue ethnic group of West Africa; his father was the griot Konkoba Kabinet Kouyaté, who lived in Siguiri, Guinea – N’Faly is a master of the kora and balafon, a genre-defying composer and a cultural custodian with a mission.

His journey has taken him from Guinea to the Royal Conservatory of Belgium in 1994, where he formed the ensemble Dunyakan, onwards to global stages with the Grammy-nominated Afro Celt Sound System and now his solo projects, all speaking to his ability to weave past and future into the sound of now.

Should you be asking “what is a griot?”, let N’Faly explain.”The griot is an advisor to the people and the king in West Africa,” he says. “The griot is from the Mandingue kingdom; Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Burkina Faso.

“The king of this kingdom was the ancestor of Salif Keita, the Malian singer-songwriter. The griot is like the Bard in Celtic culture because we advise the king, the people, and if there’s a war somewhere, the griot comes to make peace.

“I continue the griot social class. I am griot, my father and my ancestors were griots. You can’t become griot; but you are born griot.”

How does this influence Finishing, N’Faly? “We griot, we advise all society. With this album you imagine the  artist finishing his dream to end all these horrible things in the world,” he says. “My dream was that if all these troubles could be finished, we could be happy. What a finishing that would be. For the people, we’re asking for the finishing of all this horror in our world.”

Finishing is an album rooted in a wish for healing. “We can use music to say to the political world ‘what we need is peace and love’,” says N’Faly, who spreads that message by singing songs in Mandinka (the language of Mandingue), Soussou, Pular, French and English as he dares to imagine a world where war, lies, theft and violence suddenly stopped.

The cover artwork for N’Faly Kouyaté’s Finishing album

Each track on Finishing pulses with urgency and purpose. Free Water, a collaboration with reggae luminary Tiken Jah Fakoly, is a passionate plea for water protection, while Khili Kanè condemns the corrosive effects of slander.

Mandela stands as a reverent salute to the late South African statesman and peacemaker, and Kolabana, featuring Senegalese hip-hop icon Didier Awadi, takes aim at global indifference in the face of crisis.

Elsewhere, songs such as Mökhöya, Halala and Kawa reflect on the quiet erosion of human value – mutual aid, dignity and humility – reminding us that these virtues are not nostalgic relics, but essential foundations for a liveable future.

“In my concerts I explain the words of all the songs and I use the job of my ancestors to play traditional music as well as modern,” says N’Faly, whose trademark “Afrotronix” sound is a fusion of AfroBeat, AfroTrap, AfroPop, RnB, Jazz and traditional Mandingue instrumentation as electronica meets djembe and kora.

“I am the protector of culture and tradition, and for me, we can use technology to serve tradition. If you want to interest young people, you have to sing in the language they want to hear and use the instruments and style of who they like – and statistically, much of my audience is aged 18 to 44 and upwards to 66-70.”

N’Faly will be joined on the NCEM stage by his wife, Muriel Kouyaté and Jay Chitul after rehearsing together in Brussels. Bring your dancing shoes,” he advises. Finishing will be on sale at the concert, along with T-shirts. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

Did you know?

N’FALY Kouyaté’s collaborators range from Peter Gabriel and Sinead O’Connor to Tayc and Robert Plant, affirming how he is as comfortable in ancient traditions as he is on the modern sonic frontier.

“When I finished my studies in Belgium, I started to work with Afro Celt Sound System, whose albums were produced by Peter Gabriel, and we worked with him many times, recording at Real World studios in Bath and performing on stage with him.” says N’Faly.

He undertook an acting role in William Kentridge’s musical The Head And The Load, performing in Miami, Amsterdam, London and New York.  

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No.45, from Gazette & Herald

Courtney Brown: Directing Pickering Musical Society for the first time in My Favourite Things – The Music of Rodgers & Hammerstein. Picture: Robert David Photography

FROM Rodgers & Hammerstein favourites to Caliban’s dancing revenge, Francis Rossi’s songs and stories to German beer festivities, Charles Hutchinson delights in October’s diversity.

Musical revue of the week: Pickering Musical Society presents My Favourite Things – The Music of Rodgers & Hammerstein, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, tonight  to Sunday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

LONG-TIME member Courtney Brown directs Pickering Musical Society for the first time in My Favourite Things – The Music of Rodgers & Hammerstein, a showcase of the very best of Broadway’s most iconic songwriting partnership.

As well as the cheeky charm of Honey Bun, the playful fun of The Lonely Goatherd and the rousing barn-dance energy of The Farmer And The Cowman, the show feature songs from The Sound Of Music, Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific and The King And I. Dancers from the Sarah Louise Ashworth School of Dance take part too. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk.

Eddi Reader: Playing York for the first time in seven years at The Citadel

Seven-year itch of the week: Hurricane Promotions presents Eddi Reader, The Citadel, York City Church, Gillygate, York, tonight, 7.30pm

EDDI Reader, the Glasgow-born singer who fronted Fairground Attraction, topping the charts with Perfect, also has ten solo albums, three BRIT awards and an MBE for Outstanding Contributions to the Arts to her name.

Straddling differing musical styles and making them her own, from the traditional to the contemporary, and interpreting the songs of Robert Burns to boot, she brings romanticism to her joyful performances, this time with her full band in her first show in York for seven years. Eilidh Patterson supports. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk.

Banjo at the double: Damien O’Kane and Ron Block team up at the NCEM, York

Banjo at the double: Damien O’Kane and Ron Block Band, The Banjovial Tour, National Centre for Early Music, York, tonight, 7.30pm

GROUNDBREAKING  banjo players Damien O’Kane and Ron Block follow up their Banjophony and Banjophonics albums with this month’s Banjovial and an accompanying tour.

O’Kane, renowned for his work with Barnsley songstress Kate Rusby, is a maestro of Irish traditional music, here expressed on his Irish tenor banjo; Block, a key component of Alison Krauss & Union Station, infuses his signature five-string bluegrass banjo with soulful depth and rhythmic innovation. Together, their styles intertwine in an exhilarating dance of technical mastery. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

Francis Rossi: Shaking up the Status Quo with songs and stories at York Barbican. Picture: Jodiphotography

Hits and titbits aplenty: An Evening of Francis Rossi’s Songs from the Status Quo Songbook and More, York Barbican, tomorrow, 7.30pm

IN his one-man show, Status Quo frontman Francis Rossi performs signature Quo hits, plus personal favourites and deeper cuts, while telling first-hand backstage tales of appearing more than 100 times on Top Of The Pops, why Quo went on first at Live Aid, life with Rick Parfitt, notching 57 hits, fellow stars and misadventures across the world. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Natnael Dawit in Shobana Jeyasingh Dance’s We Caliban at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Foteini Christofilopoulou

Dance show of the week: Shobana Jeyasingh Dance in We Caliban, York Theatre Royal, Friday, 7.30pm (with post-show discussion) and Saturday, 2pm and 7.30pm

SHOBANA Jeyasingh turns her sharp creative eye to Shakespeare’s final play The Tempest in a new co-production with Sadler’s Wells. A tale of power lost and regained, the play is the starting point for Jeyasingh’s dramatic and contemporary reckoning, We Caliban.

Written as Europe was taking its first step towards colonialism, The Tempest is Prospero’s story. We Caliban is Caliban’s untold story that started and continued long after Prospero’s brief stay. Performed by eight dancers, complemented by Will Duke’s projections and Thierry Pécou’s music, this impressionistic work draws on present-day parallels and the international and intercultural discourse around colonialism, as well as Jeyasingh’s personal experiences. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk. 

John Bramwell: Playing solo in Pocklington

As recommended by Cate Blanchett: John Bramwell, Pocklington Arts Centre, Friday, 8pm

HYDE singer, song-spinner and sage John Bramwell, leading light of Mercury Prize nominees I Am Kloot from 1999 to 2014 and screen goddess Cate Blachett’s “favourite songwriter of all time”, has been on a never-ending rolling adventure since his workings away from his cherished Mancunian band.

His sophomore solo album, February 2024’s The Light Fantastic, will be at the heart of his Pocklington one-man show. “After both my mum and dad died, I started writing these songs to cheer myself up,” Bramwell admits with trademark candour. “The themes are taken from my dreams at the time. Wake up and take whatever impression I had from what I could remember of my dream and write that.” He promises new material and Kloot songs too. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Sam Moss: Heading out on to the moors at The Band Room. Picture: Jake Xerxes Fussell

Moorland gig of the week: Sam Moss, The Band Room, Low Mill, Farndale, North York Moors, Saturday, 7.30pm

FINGERPICKING folk virtuoso guitarist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sam Moss heads to the North York Moors this weekend from Staunton, Virginia, USA, to showcase his February 2025 album Swimming, championed by the scribes of Uncut, No Depression and Paste and Los Angeles online magazine Aquarium Drunkward, no less. “For the record, he is a renowned woodworker too, particularly celebrated for his incredible spoons,” says Band Room promoter Nigel Burnham. Sofa Sofa support (as sofas always do!). Box office: 01751 432900 or thebandroom.co.uk.

Drag diva Velma Celli lights up Yorktoberfest at York Racecourse. Picture: Sophie Eleanor

Festival of the week: Yorktoberfest, Clocktower Enclosure, York Racecourse, Knavesmire, York, Saturday, 1pm to 5pm and 7pm to 11pm; October 24, 7pm to 11pm; October 25, 1pm to 5pm and 7pm to 11pm

MAKING its debut in 2021, Yorktoberfest returns for its fifth anniversary with beer, bratwurst and all things Bavarian. Step inside the giant marquee, fill your stein at the Bavarian bar with beer from Brew York and grab a bite from the German-inspired Dog Haus food stall.

The Bavarian Strollers oompah band will perform thigh-slapping music and drinking songs; York drag diva Velma Celli will add to the party atmosphere with powerhouse songs and saucy patter. Doors open at 6.30pm and 12.30pm. Tickets: ticketsource.co.uk/yorktoberfest.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond monsters, ghosts, banjos and bratwurst. Hutch’s List No. 45, from The York Press

Anna Soden: No bum deal, bum steer or bum’s rush, for that would be a bummer at tonight’s hour of comedy, It Comes Out You Bum, at The Old Paint Shop

FROM royal history re-told to Dickens’ ghost stories, magical monsters to banjo brilliance, Charles Hutchinson delights in October’s diversity.

Homecoming of the week: Anna Soden, It Comes Out Your Bum, The Old Paint Shop, York Theatre Royal Studio, tonight, 8pm

NOW based in Brighton but very much shaped in York, comedian, actor, writer, TikTok sensation and award-nominated Theatre Royal pantomime cow in Jack And The Beanstalk, Anna Soden delivers her debut hour of madcap comedy, full of brainwaves, songs, revenge and talking out your ass. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Robin Simpson: Monster storyteller and York Theatre Royal pantomime dame, performing at Rise@Bluebird Bakery

Spooky entertainment of the week: Robin Simpson’s Magic, Monsters And Mayhem!, Rise at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, Sunday, doors 4pm

YORK Theatre Royal pantomime dame Robin Simpson – soon to give his Nurse Nellie in Sleeping Beauty this winter – celebrates witches, wizards, ghosts and goblins in his storytelling show.

“The audience is in charge in this interactive performance, ideal for fans of spooky stories and silly songs,” says Robin. “The show is perfect for Years 5 and upwards, but smaller siblings and their grown-ups are very welcome too.” Tickets: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.

Out for revenge: Henry VIII’s wives turn the tables in SIX The Musical, returning to the Grand Opera House, York, from Tuesday. Picture: Pamela Raith

Recommended but sold-out already: SIX The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, October 14 to 18; Tuesday & Thursday, 8pm; Wednesday & Friday, 6pm and 8.30pm; Saturday, 4pm and 8pm

FROM Tudor queens to pop princesses, the six wives of Henry VIII take to the mic to tell their tales, remixing 500 years of historical heartbreak into an 80-minute celebration of 21st century girl power. Think you know the rhyme? Think again. Divorced. Beheaded. LIVE!

Lucy Moss and Toby Marlow’s hit show is making its third visit to York, but it’s third time unlucky if you haven’t booked yet. Like Anne Boleyn’s head, every seat has gone.

Eddi Reader: Performing with her full band at The Citadel

Seven-year itch of the week: Hurricane Promotions presents Eddi Reader, The Citadel, York City Church, Gillygate, York, October 15, 7.30pm

EDDI Reader, the Glasgow-born singer who fronted Fairground Attraction, topping the charts with Perfect, also has ten solo albums, three BRIT awards and an MBE for Outstanding Contributions to the Arts to her name.

Straddling differing musical styles and making them her own, from the traditional to the contemporary, and interpreting the songs of Robert Burns to boot, she brings romanticism to her joyful performances, this time with her full band in her first show in York for seven years. Eilidh Patterson supports. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk.

Damien O’Kane and Ron Block: Banjovial partnership at the NCEM

Banjo at the double: Damien O’Kane and Ron Block Band, The Banjovial Tour, National Centre for Early Music, York, October 15, 7.30pm

GROUNDBREAKING  banjo  players Damien O’Kane and Ron Block follow up their Banjophony and Banjophonics albums with this month’s Banjovial and an accompanying tour.

O’Kane, renowned for his work with Barnsley songstress Kate Rusby, is a maestro of Irish traditional music, here expressed on his Irish tenor banjo; Block, a key component of Alison Krauss & Union Station, infuses his signature five-string bluegrass banjo with soulful depth and rhythmic innovation. Together, their styles intertwine in an exhilarating dance of technical mastery. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

Francis Rossi: Solo show of song and chat at York Barbican. Picture: Jodiphotography

Hits and titbits aplenty: An Evening of Francis Rossi’s Songs from the Status Quo Songbook and More, York Barbican, October 16, 7.30pm

IN his one-man show, Status Quo frontman Francis Rossi performs signature Quo hits, plus personal favourites and deeper cuts, while telling first-hand backstage tales of appearing more than 100 times on Top Of The Pops, why they went on first at Live Aid, life with Rick Parfitt, notching 57 hits, fellow stars and misadventures across the world. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

James Swanton: Halloween beckons, so here comes his double bill of Dickens’ ghost stories at York Medical Society. Picture: Jtu Photography

Ghost stories of the week: James Swanton presents The Signal-Man, York Medical Society, Stonegate, York, October 16, 17, 20 to 23, 7pm; October 27 and 28, 5.30pm and 7.30pm

A RED light. A black tunnel. A waving figure. A warning beyond understanding. Here comes the fear that  someone, that something, is drawing closer. Gothic York storyteller James Swanton returns to York Medical Society with The Signal-Man, “one of the most powerful ghost stories of all time and certainly the most frightening ever written by Charles Dickens”.

Swanton pairs it with The Trial For Murder, wherein Dickens treats the supernatural with just as much terrifying gravity. Tickets update: all ten performances bar October 21 have sold out. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Natnael Dawitin in Shobana Jeyasingh Dance’s We Caliban, on tour at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Foteini Christofilopoulou

Dance show of the week: Shobana Jeyasingh Dance in We Caliban, York Theatre Royal, October 17, 7.30pm (with post-show discussion) and October 18, 2pm and 7.30pm

SHOBANA Jeyasingh turns her sharp creative eye to Shakespeare’s final play The Tempest in a new co-production with Sadler’s Wells. A tale of power lost and regained, the play is the starting point for Jeyasingh’s dramatic and contemporary reckoning, We Caliban.

Written as Europe was taking its first step towards colonialism, The Tempest is Prospero’s story. We Caliban is Caliban’s untold story that started and continued long after Prospero’s brief stay. Performed by eight dancers, complemented by Will Duke’s projections and Thierry Pécou’s music, this impressionistic work draws on present-day parallels and the international and intercultural discourse around colonialism, as well as Jeyasingh’s personal experiences. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

John Bramwell: Playing solo in Pocklington

As recommended by Cate Blanchett: John Bramwell, Pocklington Arts Centre, October 17, 8pm

HYDE singer, song-spinner and sage John Bramwell, leading light of Mercury Prize nominees I Am Kloot from 1999 to 2014 and screen goddess Cate Blachett’s “favourite songwriter of all time”, has been on a never-ending rolling adventure since his workings away from his cherished Mancunian band.

His sophomore solo album, February 2024’s The Light Fantastic, will be at the heart of his Pocklington one-man show. . “After both my mum and dad died, I started writing these songs to cheer myself up,” Bramwell admits with trademark candour. “The themes are taken from my dreams at the time. Wake up and take whatever impression I had from what I could remember of my dream and write that.” He promises new material and Kloot songs too. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Velma Celli: York drag diva lighting up Yorktoberfest at York Racecourse. Picture: Sophie Eleanor

Festival of the week: Yorktoberfest, Clocktower Enclosure, York Racecourse, Knavesmire, York, October 18, 1pm to 5pm and 7pm to 11pm; October 24, 7pm to 11pm; October 25, 1pm to 5pm and 7pm to 11pm

MAKING its debut in 2021, Yorktoberfest returns for its fifth anniversary with beer, bratwurst and all things Bavarian. Step inside the giant marquee, fill your stein at the Bavarian Bar with beer from Brew York and grab a bite from the German-inspired Dog Haus food stall.

The Bavarian Strollers oompah band will perform thigh-slapping music and drinking songs; York drag diva Velma Celli will add to the party atmosphere with powerhouse songs and saucy patter. Doors open at 6.30pm and 12.30pm. Tickets: ticketsource.co.uk/yorktoberfest.

In Focus: Charlie Higson and Jim Moir: A Very Short But Epic History Of The Monarchy, York Theatre Royal, Oct 13, 7.30pm

In the frame: Author Charlie Higson and artist Jim Moir discuss royalty and comedy at York Theatre Royal on Monday

36 kings. Five queens. Two comedy legends. Join Charlie Higson and Jim Moir (alias Vic Reeves) for the rip-roaring story of every English ruler since Harold was shot in the eye at the Battle of Hastings.

Higson has always been interested in the story of the fabled English monarchy: from the b*stardly to the benevolent,the brilliant to the brutal. “Far from being a nice, colourful pageant of men and women in funny hats waving to adoring crowds, it’s a story of regicide, fratricide, patricide, uxoricide and mariticide (you might have to look those last two up),” he says.

Launched for the coronation of his namesake King Charles III, Charlie’s podcast Willie, Willie, Harry, Stee takes a deep dive into the murky lives of our monarchs. Now, his new book of the show features illustrations by artist Jim Moir, his compadre in comedy.

On Monday, Charlie and Jim will first share stories from their comic collaborations over 30 years, including Shooting Stars, Randell And Hopkirk Deceased and The Smell Of Reeves and Mortimer. Then they will take the plunge into the storied history of this most treasured of institutions. Bloody treachery? Check. Unruly incest? Check. Short parliaments? Check. A couple of Cromwells? Check.

Their rip-roaring journey takes in the Normans, Tudors and Stuarts, not to mention the infamous Blois (how can we forget them?), tin an “utterly engrossing and grossly entertaining primer on who ruled when and why – with never-before-seen illustrations”!

A signed copy of Higson & Moir’s book Willie, Willie, Harry, Stee: An Epically Short History Of Our Kings and Queens (RRP £22) is included when purchasing Band 1 (£55) tickets, available for collection on the night. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

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More Things To Do in York beyond as the Vikings reveal power-base life skills. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 31, from The York Press

Dr Adam Parker, curator of archaeology at York Museums Trust, holding the Thor’s Hammer Pendant at the Viking North exhibition at the Yorkshire Museum, York

VIKING treasures, street art moved indoors, Fringe comedy previews and Ryedale Festival’s classical lustre bring out the summer smiles in Charles Hutchinson.

Museum launch of the week: Viking North, Yorkshire Museum, York

VIKING North is filled with magnificent objects, many unseen for generations and others that have never been on public display, adding up to “the best collection of Viking finds to be shown outside London” as these Viking treasures reveal the North’s power base, wealth and skills.

Telling the story of the Viking Age in the North of England from AD866 to 1066, the exhibition is underpinned by new archaeological research and cutting-edge technology and features objects from Yorkshire Museum’s own collection, the Vale of York hoard, co-owned with the British Museum, and specially loaned national and regional items, including from the Viking Army Camp at Aldwark, North Yorkshire.

Sea, Swell, Scribe: Jo Walton, Ruth King and Nicky Kippax combine in Pyramid Gallery’s exhibition of paintings, pottery and poetry

Exhibition launch of the week: Sea, Swell, Scribe, Jo Walton, Ruth King and Nicky Kippax, Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York, from today, 11am, to August 31, open 10am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday

WHAT happens when you let a poet loose in an art gallery with a piece of charcoal? If the juxtaposition of sumptuous curvy and pointy pots against a backdrop of textured metallic atmospheric paintings is inspiring her, then she will scribble words and phrases all over the plinths.

Artist Jo Walton, left, potter Ruth King and poet Nicky Kippax

York artist Jo Walton, from Rogues Atelier, potter Ruth King, from the Craft Potters Association, and poet Nicky Kippax, from Bluebird Bakery, combine in a show planned and organised by Pyramid  gallery manager Fiona Macfarlane and curated by Walton. Kippax has written Eksphratic verse in response to the paintings and pots.

Here is one of Nicky Kippax’s poems form the exhibition, The First:

The first
creature to climb
from the sea had the logger
head of a turtle and nothing more
yet to unfold to body but unbeaten
in its lug to land, brow thrust against
the fret and neck amok. Look now –
as the suggestion of an arm
is beginning to break
free of itself.

Street artist Al Murphy in his Naughty Corner at VandalFest at 2, Low Ousegate, York

Street art takeover of the summer: Vandals At Work present VandalFest, today and tomorrow, July 18 to 20 and July 25 to 27, 11am to 6pm

VANDALS At Work reunite with youth homelessness charity Safe and Sound Homes (SASH) for VandalFest, the immersive street art takeover of a disused office block at 2 Low Ousegate, York, with a 2025 theme of the playful, cheeky, witty and mischievous.

The stripped-out interior provides four floors of blank canvas for bold, site-specific “intervention” that cover walls, floors and ceilings, complemented by live DJ sets.  Among more than 30 artists from the UK and beyond are Bristol graffiti pioneer Inkie, subversive stencilist Dotmasters, inflatable prankster Filthy Luker, master of optical illusions Chu, rooftop renegade Rowdy and York’s own Sharon McDonagh, Lincoln Lightfoot and Boxxhead. Entry is free, with a suggested £3 donation to SASH. Visitors can support the cause by buying limited-edition artworks and merchandise.

Ryedale Festival artist in residence and soprano Claire Booth

Festival of the week; Ryedale Festival 2025, until July 27

THIS North Yorkshire festival of delights will be led off by 2025’s artists in residence, saxophonist Jess Gillam, soprano Claire Booth and viola player Timothy Ridout, along with Quatuor Mosaiques, VOCES8 and composer Eric Whitacre.

Pianists Sir Stephen Hough and Dame Imogen Cooper, organist Thomas Trotter, Arcangelo, York countertenor Iestyn Davies and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic’s festival debut are further highlights. Jazz, folk and literature weave into the programme too: reeds player Pete Long and vocalist Sara Oschlag salute Duke Ellington; Barnsley’s Kate Rusby showcases her new album, When They All Looked Up, and Dame Harriet Walter channels Jane Austen’s wit in Pride And Prejudice. Full details and tickets at: ryedalefestival.com. Box office: 01751 475777.

McFly: Heading to the Scarborough seaside today

Coastal gig of the week: McFly, TK Maxx Presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, today; gates open at 6pm

MCFLY’S Tom Fletcher, Danny Jones, Dougie Poynter and Harry Judd head to the Yorkshire coast to perform 5 Colours In Her Hair, Obviously, All About You, You’ve Got A Friend, I’ll Be OK, Star Girl, Don’t Stop Me Now, Obviously et al. Twin Atlantic and Devon complete the bill. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.

Josie Long: Opening Theatre@41’s week of Edinburgh Fringe previews and comedy nights. Picture: Matt Crockett

Comedy event of the week: Halfway To Edinburgh, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, July 13 to 19

A WEEK of Edinburgh Fringe previews and comedy nights takes over Theatre@41, Monkgate, kicking off with comedian, writer, podcaster and filmmaker Josie Long’s Work In Progress on July 13 at 2pm, followed by two Mark Watson selections, Sam Nicoresti and Lulu Popplewell’s Fresh For The Fringe double bill at 7.30pm.

Molly McGuinness and Phil Ellis are in preview mode on July 14 (8pm); Nina Gilligan discusses memory loss, health anxiety and goldfish-related trauma in Goldfish on July 16 (8pm), and Hayley Ellis navigates middle age in Silly Mare (Work in Progress) on July 17 (8pm). Susan Riddell and Kate Dolan, on July 18 (7.30pm), and Barmby Moor surrealist Rob Auton and Chloe Petts, on July 19 (7.30pm), round off the festival previews. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Phil Grainger, left, and Alexander Flanagan Wright. Picture; Charlotte Graham


News just in: Wright & Grainger in The Gods The Gods The Gods, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, July 15, 7.30pm

IN a very late addition to Theatre@41’s packed programme for next week, Easingwold duo Wright & Grainger return their Edinburgh Fringe gig theatre hit The Gods The Gods The Gods to North Yorkshire soil for one night only.

Combining 12 tracks, four stories, three performers and one exhilarating experience, Alexander Flanagan Wright and Phil Grainger mix big beats, heavy basslines, soaring melodies and heart-stopping spoken word into a show that has headlined festivals and sold out venues from Wānaka Festival of Colour in New Zealand to the Sydney Opera House in Australia, the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mumbai, India, to Stillington Mill. Please note: this event is standing room only; chairs will be available for those unable to stand. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Georgi Mottram: Classical BRIT Award nominee performing at Voices United concert in aid of St Leonard’s Hospice

Charity event of the week: Ian Stroughair presents Voices United: Rubies For Our Angel, Grand Opera House, York, July 18, 7.30pm

YORK cabaret artiste and West End musical actor Ian Stroughair co-hosts this fundraiser to mark St Leonard’s Hospice’s 40th anniversary with radio presenters Joanita Musisi and Laura Castle, introducing a night of musical theatre and rock and pop classics.

On the bill will be Stroughair in Velma Celli drag diva regalia; York singer Jessica Steel and guitarist Stuart Allan; York musical theatre actress Joanne Theaker; retro party band Jonny And The Dunebugs; The Voice UK 2024 semi-finalist Lois Morgan Gay and West End classical singer Georgi Mottram. Box office: https://shorturl.at/G3qhV or atgtickets.com/york.

Dance is SO embracing: Dancefloor double act Anton & Giovanni reunite for Together Again at York Barbican

Dance show of the week: Anton Du Beke and Giovanni Pernice in Together Again, York Barbican, July 18, 7.30pm

STRICTLY Come Dancing alumni Anton Du Beke and Giovanni Pernice promise “more fun, more dance, more song and even more entertainment than ever before” in the terpsichorean double act’s new show Together Again, full of breathtaking routines, stunning choreography and a seamless blend of Ballroom, Latin and musical theatre. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Ancient Hostility: Harmony singing and drones at YO Underground 4 in The Basement

Navigators Art presents YO Underground 4, The Basement, City Screen, York, July 18, 7.30pm to 10.30pm

YORK arts collective Navigators Art plays host to a night of live, local and left-field folk song, electronica and film at The Basement. On the adventurous bill of York and regional acts will be: Andrew Metheven’s lo-fi folk music from the hills and the concrete; Ancient Hostility’s harmony singing and drones from members of Dawn Ray’d and All In Vain, and transdisciplinary artist Hannah-May Batley’s traveller ballads, storytelling, writing, performance and pigments.

Participating too will be: Mark Hanslip, who has a “PhD in shoving saxophones through computers” (possibly not literally); Namke Communications’ electronics and echoes, and multidisciplinary artist Things Found And Made, rummaging in zines, films, music, storytelling, pop-culture, esoterica and folklore. Box office: bit.ly/nav-events

The Wedding Present’s David Gedge, right, walking in Leeds with Reception writer-director Matt Aston

Gig announcement of the week: An Evening of Conversation and Music with David Gedge from The Wedding Present, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York, July 20, 8pm, doors 7pm

DAVID Gedge, long-time leader of The Wedding Present, discusses his “semi-legendary” Leeds indie band’s 40-year-career and his life in the music industry, in conversation with Amanda Cook. York writer/director Matt Aston join him too on the eve of rehearsals for Reception – The Wedding Present Musical, ahead of its premiere at Slung Low, The Warehouse, Holbeck, Leeds, from August 22 to September 6.  

Next Sunday’s event concludes with Gedge’s 20-minute acoustic set drawn from The Wedding Present’s cornucopia of arch, romantic yet perennially disappointed songs of love, life’s high hopes and woes, chance and no chance. Box office: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/an-evening-with-david-gedge-from-the-wedding-present-tickets-1472506409309?aff=oddtdtcreator.

Listen to David Gedge discuss 40 years Of The Wedding Present, the Reception musical and his Rise@Bluebird Bakery show with Two Big Egos In A Small Car podcasters Charles Hutchinson and Graham Chalmers at:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1187561/episodes/17507606-episode-233-interview-special-with-david-gedge-from-the-wedding-present

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Ian Stroughair confirms line-up for Voices United charity night for St Leonard’s Hospice at Grand Opera House on July 18

Voices United co-organiser and co-host Ian Stroughair in his drag diva guise as Velma Celli

YORK cabaret artiste and West End musical actor Ian Stroughair is to present Voices United: Rubies For Our Angels, at the Grand Opera House, York, on July 18 to mark St Leonard’s Hospice’s ruby anniversary.

You will know international award winner Ian as his alter ego, Velma Celli, the UK’s queen of live vocal drag vocal. He will host the 7.30pm bill in that guise, alongside BBC Radio York presenter Joanita Musisi (whose father passed away at St Leonard’s) and YorkMix Radio Breakfast Show presenter Laura Castle. 

Together they will introduce York’s finest performers and West End stars in a night of musical theatre and rock and pop hits to raise funds for a cause extremely personal to Ian.

The hospice, in Tadcaster Road, York, cared for his mum, Pauline, in her final days of battling cancer. “It was so difficult when my mum was ill, but the staff at the hospice provided a level of care that was above and beyond,” he says. “They gave us the space and freedom to spend those precious last days by Mum’s side in such a warm and supportive environment.”

Georgi Mottram: Classical BRIT Award nominee performing at Voice United next Friday

Taking part will be international and West End classical singer Georgi Mottram; Lois Morgan Gay, from The Voice UK; York blues and soul singer Jessica Steel & guitarist Stuart Allan; York musical theatre actress, singer and theatre tutor Joanne Theaker, performing songs from Calendar Girls, and York retro party band Jonny And The Dunebugs.

“All of the artists and musicians are donating their time and talent for free,” says Ian, who has appeared in West End productions of Chicago, Cats, Fame and Rent. “None of us will be taking a single penny, so as much money as possible will go directly to the hospice. Performers always want to get involved and help because St Leonard’s means so much to so many people.

“It’s a big celebration, honouring all the work that the hospice does.  Expect a fun, upbeat concert with light entertainment featuring all the songs you know and love: favourites from musical theatre, together with rock and pop classics, from David Bowie to Queen and Lady Gaga.

“Jessica and me, with Stuart on acoustic guitar, will be doing Kate Bush and Sinead O’Connor songs and one from Jessica’s Higher Frequencies album, maybe Abba too. ”

Classical BRIT Award nominee Georgi Mottram has performed for royalty, made her London Palladium debut as Nimue in Camelot and topped the iTunes Classical chart with her 2021 debut single Dream Believe.

Lois Morgan Gay: The Voice UK singer will be performing songs from her appearances on the ITV talent show

Lois Morgan Gay was a semi-finalist on the 2024 series of The Voice UK, with a  £100,000 record deal under her belt already from 2022. “I’m thrilled to be part of this concert, raising money for an incredible cause,” she says.

Next Friday’s concert is co-organised by Ian’s close friend Sarah Walker. By a sad coincidence, her father Peter died at the hospice only three weeks before Pauline. Retired policeman Peter was better known as writer Nicholas Rhea, whose Constable series of books were turned into the television series Heartbeat.

Sarah was back at the hospice only a few months later: “What my sister Tricia thought was a stomach bug turned out to be an aggressive form of cancer,” she says. “She died in St Leonard’s five weeks after being diagnosed and just eight months after Dad.”

Ian produced a live-steam kitchen concert in 2020 to support the hospice and he and Sarah always strive to help in any way they can. Ian came up with the idea of a charity show after learning that St Leonard’s receives only a quarter of its annual running costs from the National Health Service. The remaining £6 million has to come from fund-raising.

Jessica Steel: Joining Ian Stroughair on stage at Voices United

Looking forward to next Friday’s event, St Leonard’s community and events manager Sarah Atkinson says: “We’re really excited about the upcoming Voices United evening at the Grand Opera House as we celebrate our 40th anniversary. We’re deeply grateful to everyone involved, those performing, organising and supporting the event.

“The compassionate care we provide at St Leonard’s Hospice is only possible thanks to the incredible generosity of our community, and we very much appreciate the continued support. So book your tickets for a glittering evening of entertainment and join us in celebrating both the talent and spirit that make our work possible.”

Ian concludes: “Tickets prices range from £20 to £50, making this fabulous event affordable for all, and there will be other opportunities to donate on the evening too.”

Box office: https://shorturl.at/G3qhV or atgtickets.com/york. For more information on St Leonard’s Hospice, visit: stleonardshospice.org.uk.

Did you know?

IAN Stroughair takes 90 minutes to apply his make-up – or his “slap” as he calls it – to transform into drag diva Velma Celli.

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