Tag: Wharfemede Productions

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REVIEW: Wharfemede Productions in Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, until Sat ****

Nick Sephton’s Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm and Jason Weightman’s Fredrik Egerman duelling and duetting in Wharfemede Productions’ A Little Night Music. All pictures: Dan Crawfurd-Porter

“LET’S make romance emotionally devastating and funny,” Stephen Sondheim once said, and the New York lyricist and composer was never more playful than in his 1973 musical A Little Night Music.

Here it forms North Yorkshire company Wharfemede Productions’ third show since being formed by Helen “Bells” Spencer and Nick Sephton in autumn 2024.

“Few writers capture the glorious mess of love quite like Sondheim,” posits director Spencer in her programme director’s note, describing Sondheim’s savvy 1902 Swedish sexual shenanigans as elegant and biting, romantic and relentless, funny and quietly heartbreaking, often all at once, in its rumble-tumble of desire, regret, hope and desperate quest for happiness

James Pegg’s Henrik Egerman: As gloomy as his cello playing in A Little Night Music

Her production, eloquent, waspish of wit, balanced between light and weighty, captures all those qualities most fruitfully and fruitily. Precise in style and movement, her direction places equal emphasis on Hugh Wheler’s fizzing dialogue and Sondheim’s confessional, candid songs that call on quintet, trio, duet and solo performance in equal measure, steered with elan by musical director and Sondheim expect James Robert Ball, in charge of his eight-piece band (split between keys, strings and reeds).

Rooted in Ingmar Bergman’s film 1955 film Smiles Of A Summer Night, whose story of several couples’ interlinked romantic lives it mirrors so smartly, Sondheim’s ever-perceptive depiction of love being “rarely simple, frequently ill timed and deeply human” – to quote Spencer once more – is played out by the juiciest of casts, assembling the cream of York and Leeds stage talent (several having appeared alongside Spencer in Les Miserables at Leeds Grand Theatre last year).

They range from Maggie Smales, Theatre@41 trustee and esteemed York actress and director, as wheelchair-bound grande dame Madame Armfeldt, with her glut of putdowns in the curmudgeonly old-stick manner of her fellow Maggie, Dame Maggie Smith in Downton Abbey, to Libby Greenhill, A-level student in humanities and creative subjects, who impressed in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Fun Home last September and now plays granddaughter Fridrika with emotional frankness.

Maggie Smales’s grande dame, Madame Armfeldt

Libby Greenhill as Fredrika Armfeldt and director Helen “Bells” Spencer as her mother, Desiree Armfeldt, in A Little Night Music

Crucial to Spencer’s directorial impact is the prominence of the Liebeslieder Singers, alias The Quintet, omnipresent in white dresses and cream suits as they greet you at the top of the stairs, sell programmes, open Act One with the overlapping la-la-las of Night Waltz, then become a cross between a Greek chorus and Shakespeare’s mischief-making Puck, moving the principals into place as if in a dream or a pictorial tableau at the start of various scenes.

Under Rachel Merry’s slick choreography, they slip seamlessly between foreground and background as Mrs Nordstrom (Emma Burke), Mrs Anderson (Hannah Thomson), Mrs Segstrom (Merry herself), Mr Erlansson (Matthew Oglesby) and Mr Lindquist (Richard Pascoe), their harmony singing delighting in Remember? and the Act Two-opening The Sun Won’t Set, as well as when accompanying the principals in the plot-thickening and summarising A Weekend In The Country.

The sophisticated but Tabasco-saucy Scandi scandals of A Little Night Music are led by Spencer’s Desiree Armfeldt, the darling of the Swedish stage, bored by the chore of touring the same old plays but seeking satisfaction from married men, Nick Sephton’s pompous, blustering, time-keeping dragoon buffoon, Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm, forever up for a pistol duel, and middle-aged lawyer Fredrik Egerman (Jason Weightman), yet to consummate his marriage to 18-year-old, hair-obsessed Anne (Alexandra Mather) after 11 months but still desirous of old flame Desiree’s ample, bewitching charms.

Mind the age gap: Alexandra Mather’s 18-year-old Anne Egerman and Jason Weightman’s Fredrik Egerman, her husband, in A Little Night Music

Spencer’s programme note talks of A Little Night Music asking its performers to “live fully inside both comedy and pain”, a state crystalised in James Pegg’s Henrik Egerman, Fredrik’s troubled son, who is taking holy orders but is wholly smitten by his stepmother, Mather’s Anne, who chides his earnest outbursts as comical, the more he vexates.

Pegg’s outstanding, devastatingly honest performance recalls Konstantin Gavrilovich Treplev, the suicidal student in Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull, and let’s hope the York debut of this Leeds actor and higher education professional service leader will lead to further roles here.

Katie Brier catches the eye in the rumbustiously fetching ‘downstairs” role of Petra, whether introducing Henrik to the birds and bees or romping with fellow servant Frid (Chris Gibson).

Swedish actress Sanna Jeppsson’s Countess Charlotte Malcolm

As Desiree’s weekend invitation to her grand and glamorous country estate leads to much web-tangling amid partner swaps, new pairings, sudden seductions and second chances, Swedish-born Sanna Jeppsson comes to the fore as the dunderheaded Count’s exasperated wife, Countess Charlotte, making every ice-cold comic interjection count on renewed home turf.

Sondheim’s romping costume drama is filled with barbed wit, caustic bite and a delicious sense of Scandinavian desperation, topped off by sublime singing, from Weightman, Pegg and Mather’s complex Now/Later/Sooner to Weightman’s Fredrik in his insensitive You Must Meet My Wife duet with Spencer’s Desiree; Jeppsson and Mather’s jilted Every Day A Little Death to the sparring of Weightman and Sephton’s It Would Have Been Wonderful.

Brier maximises her moment in the spotlight in The Miller’s Son; Spencer tops everything with Send In The Clowns, all the more moving for tapping deep into Desiree’s desolation.

Make sure to enjoy Sondheim’s weekend in the country this week in Wharfemede’s combustible combination of courage, comedy, co-ordinated chaos and commitment.   

Wharfemede Productions, A Little Night Music, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, 7.30pm tonight, tomorrow and Friday; 2.30pm and 7.30pm, Saturday. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Rachel Merry’s Mrs Segstrom, left, Emma Burke’s Mrs Nordstrom, Hanna Thomson’s Mrs Anderssen and fellow member of The Quintet Matthew Oglesby’s Mr Erlansson in A Little Night Music

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More Things To Do in York & beyond as greatest showman shows up & abbey lights up. Hutch’s List No. 7, from The York Press

Child’s play: Andrew Renn, Jon Cook and Jess Murray, back row, with Mark Simmonds and Victoria Delaney in York Settlement Community Players’ Blue Remembered Hills. Picture: John Saunders

FROM Dennis Potter to Stephen Sondheim, showman  P.T. Barnum to Selby Abbey’s light installation, Charles Hutchinson is spoilt for cultural choice.

Play of the week: York Settlement Community Players in Blue Remembered Hills, York Theatre Royal Studio, until February 28, 7.45pm nightly, except Sunday and Monday, plus 2pm Saturday matinees

FLEUR Hebditch, former Stephen Joseph Theatre dramaturg for a decade, makes her Settlement Players directorial debut with Dennis Potter’s stage adaptation of his 1979 BBC Play For Today drama.

Seven children are playing in the Forest of Dean countryside on a hot summer’s day in 1943. Each aged seven, they mimic and reflect the adult world at war around them, but their innocence is short lived as reality hits. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Cole Stacey’s social media posting for his Rise@Bluebird Bakery gig

Folk gig of the week: Cole Stacey, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York tonight, doors 7.30pm

VISCERAL singer-songwriter Cole Stacey weaves together British folk, 1980s’ pop, spoken word and ambient electronics, as heard on last February’s debut album with its symbiosis of “lost” places and forgotten words, stretching back to the 13th century, paired with his lyrical songwriting and field recordings.

“I’d like to invite you to come along with me on the next chapter as I head out to share Postcards From Lost Places in some unique and inspiring settings, beginning in York tonight,” says Stacey. “I loved my time and bread last year playing at Bluebird Bakery, so I’m very delighted to be invited back for an intimate gig in their fully working bakery. It’s a special setting and one I’m thoroughly looking forward to!” Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk.

Dnipro Opera in Carmen, on tour at York Barbican

Opera of the week: Dnipro Opera (Ukrainian National Opera) in Carmen, York Barbican, Sunday, 7.30pm

THE Dnipro Opera, from Ukraine, performs Georges Bizet’s Carmen in French with English surtitles, accompanied by an orchestra numbering more than 30 musicians. 

Feel the thrill of fiery passion, jealousy, and violence of 19th century Seville in Carmen’s story of the downfall of naive soldier Don José,  who falls head over heels in love with seductive, free-spirited femme fatale Carmen. Whereupon he abandons his childhood sweetheart and neglects his military duties, only to lose the fickle Carmen to the glamorous toreador Escamillo. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Showman extraordinaire: Lee Mead’s P. T. Barnum in Barnum: The Circus Musical at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Pamela Raith

Touring musical of the week: Bill Kenwright Ltd in Barnum: The Circus Musical, Grand Opera House, York, February 24 to 28, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees

MUSICALS leading man Lee Mead plays the most challenging role of his career, stepping into P. T. Barnum’s shoes and on to the tightrope as the legendary circus showman, businessman and politician in Jonathan O’Boyle’s touring production of the Broadway musical.

Mead leads the cast of more than 20 actor-musicians (playing 150 instruments), acrobats and international circus acts as, hand in hand with wife Charity, Barnum finds his life and career twisting and turning the more he schemes and dreams his way to headier heights. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Alexandra Mather’s Anne Egerman and Jason Weightman’s Fredrick Egerman in rehearsal for Wharfemede Productions’ A Little Night Music

Sondheim show of the week: Wharfemede Productions in A Little Night Music, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, February 24 to 28, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

SET in turn-of-the-20th century Sweden, A Little Night Music explores the tangled web of love, desire, and regret through Stephen Sondheim’s signature blend of sophistication, humour and hauntingly beautiful music, not least the timeless Send In The Clowns.

Directed by Helen “Bells” Spencer, Wharfemede Productions’ show combines the North Yorkshire company’s hallmark attention to emotional depth, musical high quality and character-driven ensemble storytelling. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Disney In Concert: The Sound Of Magic, celebrating music from Walt Disney’s animated films at York Barbican

Movie music of the week: Disney In Concert: The Sound Of Magic, York Barbican, February 25, 7.30pm

THE Novello Orchestra’s Disney In Concert: The Sound Of Magic performance is a symphonic celebration of Disney music, animation and memories, a century in the making, under the direction of creative director Amy Tinkham, music director Giles Martin and arranger and orchestrator Ben Foster. 

Favourite characters and music from across the Walt Disney Animation Studios catalogue come to life on the concert hall stage and screen in new medleys and suites on a magic carpet ride through Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, Moana, Alice In Wonderland, Aladdin, The Jungle Book, Frozen, The Lion King, Fantasia, Encanto, Beauty And The Beast and more. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Homeward bound for Selby Abbey: Imitating The Dog’s large-scale installation

Installation of the week: Selby Light 2026, Selby Abbey, February 26 to 28, 6pm to 9pm

SELBY Abbey will be the setting for Homeward, Leeds company Imitating The Dog’s  large-scale installation celebrating our different stories and the unified feeling of finding home, framed by the question How Did You Get Here?

Inside, the installation continues as a walk-through experience, complemented by Jazmin Morris’s Through The Liquid Crystal Display, a series of visual code illustrations inspired by Selby Abbey. The trail then extends into the town centre with works by Selby College students. Admission is free.

Phoenix Dance Theatre in Interplay: World premiere opens at York Theatre Royal next Friday and Saturday. Picture: Drew Forsyth

Dance show of the week: Phoenix Dance Theatre, Interplay, York Theatre Royal, February 27, 7.30pm; February 28, 2pm, 7.30pm

LEEDS company Phoenix Dance Theatre’s world premiere tour of Interplay opens at York Theatre Royal next Friday and Saturday, featuring dynamic works by Travis Knight and James Pett (Small Talk), Ed Myhill (Why Are People Clapping?!), Yusha-Marie Sorzano & Phoenix artistic director Marcus Jarrell Willis (Suite Release) and Willis’s Next Of Kin. 

Across duet and ensemble works, Interplay explores themes of duality and shared authorship, revealing how distinct artistic voices can intersect to create something greater than the sum of their parts. Each piece offers a unique perspective, united by a bold physicality and a deep curiosity about human relationships, rhythm and collective experience. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Levellers: Levelling The Land anew at York Barbican this autumn

Gig announcement of the week: Levellers, York Barbican, October 29

BRIGHTON folk-rockers Levellers have been among Britain’s most enduring and best-loved bands for nearly 40 years, their success in part built on the anthems that comprised their platinum-selling second album Levelling The Land, whose 35th anniversary falls on October 7.

To mark the occasion, Levellers will head out on a UK and European tour from October 16 to November 21, playing many songs from that album, alongside fan favourites from their extensive catalogue. Hotly tipped Essex punk duo The Meffs will support. Box office: https://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/levellers-2026/.

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Wharfemede Productions to waltz its way into Sondheim’s A Little Night Music at Theatre@41 from February 24 to 28

Sanna Jeppsson’s Countess Charlotte Malcolm, left, Jason Weightman’s Fredrick Egerman and Alexandra Mather’s Anne Egerman in Wharfemede Productions’ A Little Night Music

NORTH Yorkshire theatre company Wharfemede Productions follows up 2025’s Little Women and Musical Across The Multiverse revue with Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, next week.

Director and company co-founder Helen “Bells” Spencer says: “Sondheim has always been one of my favourite musical theatre writers. His work captures the full spectrum of the human experience; messy, beautiful and deeply relatable.

“What I find most inspiring is how his music doesn’t simply accompany the story; it drives it. Every note, rhythm and lyric reflects the emotional journey of the characters in a way that is both intricate and profoundly moving.”

Continuing to build its reputation for delivering high-quality, character-driven musical theatre, Wharfemede Productions brings together talent from across Yorkshire to present Sondheim’s witty, romantic and elegantly crafted 1973 musical.

Fan fare: Jason Weightman’s Fredrick Egerman and Alexandra Mather’s Anne Egerman in a scene from A Little Night Music

“Directing A Little Night Music has long been a dream of mine, and I’m thrilled to bring it to life with such an exceptional company,” says Bells, who will play Desiree Armfeldt, alongside Alexandra Mather as Anne Egerman, fresh from her outstanding Christmas performance as nightclub singer/evangelist Reno Sweeney in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Anything Goes.

In the company too will be Jason Weightman as Fredrick Egerman, James Pegg as Henrik Egerman,  Maggie Smales as Madame Armfeldt, Libby Greenhill as Fredrika Armfeldt, Nick Sephton as Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm and Sanna Jeppsson as Countess Charlotte Malcolm.

Completing the cast will be Katie Brier’s Petra, Chris Gibson’s Frid, soprano Emma Burke’s Mrs Nordstrom, soprano Hannah Thomson’s Mrs Anderssen, mezzo-soprano Rachel Merry’s Mrs Segstrom, tenor Matthew Oglesby’s Mr Erlansson and baritone Richard Pascoe’s Mr Lindquist.

“We’re drawing together an incredible mix of Yorkshire talent, particularly from York and Leeds, including actors I worked with in Les Miserables at Leeds Grand Theatre last year, and the chemistry within this cast is something truly special,” says Bells.

The Quintet in Wharfemede Productions’ A Little Night Music: Emma Burke, left, Richard Pascoe, Rachel Merry, Matthew Oglesby and Hannah Thomson. Picture: Matthew Warry

Joining her in the production team are musical director James Robert Ball, choreographer Rachel Merry and wardrobe mistress Suzanne Perkins. “It was so important to me to have a musical director who not only shares a passion for Sondheim’s music but also understands how to shape the dramatic journey alongside me,” says Bells.

“I am absolutely thrilled to be working with James, whose knowledge, enthusiasm and expertise in Sondheim’s work are second to none. A true Sondheim super-fan, academic and all-round expert, James is breathing such magic into this incredible score and as an assistant director.

“He is a joy to work with and has an extraordinary gift for bringing out the very best in the people around him, both musically and creatively.”

Set in turn-of-the-20th century Sweden, A Little Night Music explores the tangled web of love, desire and regret through Sondheim’s signature blend of sophistication, humour and hauntingly beautiful music, topped off by the timeless Send In The Clowns.

A directorial flash of inspiration for Helen “Bells” Spencer as she rehearses her role as Desiree Armfeldt in A Little Night Music

“A Little Night Music is a lot of people’s favourite Sondheim work – and a lot of cast members have said that too,” says Bells.

“You introduced me to it when Opera North did it in Leeds,” recalls company co-founder Nick. “Yes, I made Nick go and see it!” rejoins Bells.

“I really wanted to do this show, because I think it’s one of Sondheim’s most accessible musicals. It’s more classical in style, taking its inspiration from Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik. The very clever thing about it, and the very unusual thing too, is that apart from a few bars, it’s written in triple time (3/4 time), which is very rare, particularly in musicals.

“The show is made up predominantly of triangles of love interests, and therefore it reflects those tangled trios in the musical structure, while also reflecting wealthy family life and their servants at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century in Sweden.”

Maggie Smales’s Madame Armfeldt makes her point to Libby Greenhill’s Fredrika Armfeldt

Crucial to the structure too is Sondheim’s use of The Quintet, alias the Liebeslieder Singers, here comprising Burke, Merry, Thomson, Oglesby and Pascoe. “They act like a Greek chorus, and they’ve been represented in very different ways in various versions of the show, but I was really clear when I started that I wanted them to do more than just come on and do their pieces,” says Bells.

“I was really keen for them to be more integral to the plot and the structure, so I wanted them to feel they were part of the decision-making about who The Quintet were. Right at the beginning, I gave them materials about Greek choruses and how they worked in theatre.

“I also researched Swedish folklore, in particular Freya, the goddess of love, beauty, fertility and sex. We then had a few rehearsals where the quintet decided who they should be, and while not wanting to spoil it for anyone, I can say that essentially they’re the driving force of our show. They’re  in control; they can change things as an agent of fate, an agent of Freya.”

Bells continues: “They are in no way an ensemble. They are exceptional, doing the most difficult singing in the show, and they’re so on top of it. It’s so good to have such a strong quintet, and I’m really excited for audiences to see what we’ve done with the concept.

James Weightman’s Fredrick Egerman, left, and James Pegg’s Henrik Egerman raising eyebrows as well as glasses in A Little Night Music

“When the quintet is on stage, the lighting will be set for night-time, very ethereal, so it’ll be mysterious and nocturnal, and we will go in and out of that state, depending on the scene.”

Looking forward to a waltzing week ahead, Bells concludes: “Promising emotional depth, musical excellence and ensemble storytelling, Wharfemede Productions invites audiences to experience an evening of charm, laughter and lyrical brilliance, further cementing its place as one of Yorkshire’s most exciting rising theatre companies.”

Wharfemede Productions presents A Little Night Music, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, February 24 to 28, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Wharfemede Productions: back story

CO-FOUNDED in 2024 by Helen “Bells” Spencer, chief artistic director, and Nick Sephton, chief operating officer, the company is dedicated to bringing high-quality musical productions and events to Yorkshire, with respect and openness at the heart of their artistic philosophy.

After gaining a Drama degree from Manchester University, Bells co-founded and company-managed Envision Theatre Company, and now Wharfemede marks a return to those roots. Drawing on decades of logistics, managerial and computing experience, Nick uses these skills in Wharfemede’s work, combined with his love for music and theatre.

Wharfemede Productions’ poster for A Little Night Music at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 7, from Gazette & Herald

Victoria Delaney in rehearsal for York Settlement Community Players’ Blue Remembered Hills. Picture: John Saunders

FROM Dennis Potter to Stephen Sondheim, showman  P.T. Barnum to a Phil Collins tribute, Charles Hutchinson is spoilt for cultural choice amid the incessant rainfall.

Play of the week: York Settlement Community Players in Blue Remembered Hills, York Theatre Royal Studio, tonight to February 28, 7.45pm, except Sunday and Monday; February 21 and 28, 2pm matinees

FLEUR Hebditch, former Stephen Joseph Theatre dramaturg for a decade, makes her Settlement Players directorial debut with Dennis Potter’s stage adaptation of his 1979 BBC Play For Today drama.

Seven children are playing in the Forest of Dean countryside on a hot summer’s day in 1943. Each aged seven, they mimic and reflect the adult world at war around them. Their innocence is short lived, however, as reality hits. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Blue Remembered Hills director Fleur Hebditch

Spooky adventure of the week: Flying Ducks Youth Theatre in The Addams Family Musical, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tomorrow  to Saturday, 7pm plus 2pm Saturday matinee

YORK company Flying Ducks Youth Theatre undertake a whimsical, spooky musical adventure into the delightfully dark world of the hauntingly eccentric Addams Family on a night of unexpected revelations.

When Wednesday Addams falls in love with a “normal” boy, chaos ensues. As the two families converge over dinner, secrets are revealed and the true meaning of family is put to the test. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Kathryn Williams: Opening Mystery Park Tour at Pocklington Arts Centre

Time’s shifting tides of the week: Kathryn Williams, Mystery Park Tour 2026, Pocklington Arts Centre, Friday, 8pm

KATHRYN Williams, the Liverpool-born, Newcastle-based folk singer-songwriter, novelist, podcaster, tutor and artist long celebrated for her quiet emotional depth and lyrical precision, promotes her 15th studio album, last September’s Mystery Park, with support and special guest guitarist Matt Deighton in tow.

Opening her 12-date tour in Pocklington, 2000 Mercury Music Prize nominee Williams marks 27 years of diverse, multi-faceted music projects with a reflective, textured work, made in the quiet margins of motherhood and memory, shaped by time’s shifting tides. “This is the most personal record I’ve made,” she says. “The artwork is my own painting, based on the willow pattern from my grandmother’s tea sets. Each part of it ties into the songs: a map of memories.” Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Megson’s Debs Hanna and Stu Hanna: Performing at Helmsley Arts Centre on Friday

Folk gig of the week: Megson, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm

FOUR-TIME BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards nominees and double Spiral Earth Awards winners Megson combine heavenly vocals, lush harmonies and driving rhythmic guitars, topped off with northern humour. 

Hailing from Teesside and now based in Cambridgeshire, husband-and-wife folk roots duo Debs Hanna (vocals, whistle, piano accordion) and Stu Hanna (guitar, mandola, banjo) followed up 2023 studio album What Are We Trying To Say with Megson – Live In Teesside, recorded at Stockton-on-Tees Arc in 2025. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Ryedale film event of the week: Summit Stories, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, Friday, 7.30pm

THIS evening of adventure films to raise funds for the Scarborough & Ryedale branch of Mountain Rescue England & Wales features a variety of exciting off-piste adventures, such as ski mountaineering, mountain climbing and mountain biking.

Created by elite athletes from around the world, the Faction Collective’s 150 Hours From Home, Blair Aitken of British Backcountry’s 10 In A Weekend, Commencal’s Dolomites and Jessie Leong’s The Last Forgotten Art contain scenes to take the breath away. The mountain rescue team, by the way, supports adventurers when things go wrong and conducts  day-to-day searches and rescues off the beaten track. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk.

Seriously Collins: Taking Phil Collins at Face Value in tribute to solo and Genesis years at Milton Rooms, Malton

Tribute gig of the week: Seriously Collins – A Tribute To Phil Collins & Genesis, Milton Rooms, Malton, Saturday, 8pm

RETURNING by popular demand, Seriously Collins relive the hits of Phil Collins and Genesis, taking a musical journey through the songs that defined an era, echoing Collins’s soulful solo sound and re-creating the energy, intricacy and intensity of his more expansive original band. Expect “no gimmicks, just a genuine tribute to one of the greatest artists of our time”. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Lee Mead, centre, as showman P. T. Barnum, surrounded by actor musicians and circus acts in Barnum: The Circus Musical, on tour at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Pamela Raith

Touring musical of the week: Bill Kenwright Ltd in Barnum: The Circus Musical, Grand Opera House, York, February 24 to 28, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees

MUSICALS leading man Lee Mead plays the most challenging role of his career, stepping into P. T. Barnum’s shoes and on to the tightrope as the legendary circus showman, businessman and politician in Jonathan O’Boyle’s touring production of the Broadway musical.

Mead leads the cast of more than 20 actor-musicians (playing 150 instruments), acrobats and international circus acts as, hand in hand with wife Charity, Barnum finds his life and career twisting and turning the more he schemes and dreams his way to headier heights. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Maggie Smales’s Madame Armfeldt and Libby Greenhill’s Fredrika rehearsing for Wharfemede Productions’ A Little Night Music

Sondheim show of the week: Wharfemede Productions in A Little Night Music, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, February 24 to 28, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

SET in turn-of-the-century Sweden, A Little Night Music explores the tangled web of love, desire, and regret through Stephen Sondheim’s signature blend of sophistication, humour and hauntingly beautiful music, not least the timeless Send In The Clowns.

Directed by Helen “Bells” Spencer, Wharfemede Productions’ show combines the York company’s hallmark attention to emotional depth, musical high quality and character-driven ensemble storytelling. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Levellers: Revisiting Levelling The Land at York Barbican this autumn. Picture: Steve Gullick

Gig announcement of the week: Levellers, Levelling The Land 35th Anniversary Tour, York Barbican, October  29

BRIGHTON folk-rockers Levellers have been among Britain’s most enduring and best-loved bands for nearly 40 years, their success built in part on the anthems that comprised their platinum-selling second album Levelling The Land, whose 35th anniversary falls on October 7.

To mark the occasion, Levellers will head out on a UK and European tour from October 16 to November 21, playing many songs from that album, alongside fan favourites from their extensive catalogue. Hotly tipped Essex punk duo The Meffs will support. Tickets go on sale on Friday at 10am from https://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/levellers-2026/.

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REVIEW: Wharfemede Productions in Musicals Across The Multiverse, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York ****

Emma Burke’s wartime nurse performing Anthem, from Chess

“THE show’s concept is playful, radical too, and has the potential to be rolled out again,” predicted your reviewer, when encountering June 2023’s “out of this world” Musicals In The Multiverse.

Sure enough, here comes the bigger, bolder sequel, still with a “big cast, bags of energy and enthusiasm, and a fun idea for a show”, still with Helen “Bells” Spencer as director and Matthew Clare in charge of the remarkable musical arrangements as songs are freed from the chains of their usual presentation.

The company and venue has changed, from the Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company and art deco Joseph Rowntree Theatre to Spencer and Nick Sephton’s Wetherby-based Wharfemede Productions and black-box Theatre@41, Monkgate.

The show title has replaced ‘In’ with the broader-sounding ‘Across’ to reflect an even more expansive multiverse: alternative worlds where musical favourites and newer works are turned on their head, taking on a new life with a change of gender, era, key or musical style, as musical director James Ball and his band, out of view behind curtains but worthy of a standing ovation in their own right, deliver Matthew Clare’s diverse, dazzling arrangements with such brio.

Nick Sephton and Helen “Bells” Spencer’s tender rendition of I Don’t Need A Roof

Attending Monday night’s dress rehearsal, the technical rough edges with the projection would be ironed out by tonight’s opening  show, and likewise Bells Spencer was keeping herself busy in taking notes, and even adjusting actors’ stage positions mid-number to achieve the right balance. Choreographer Connie Howcroft, when not performing, kept an eye on the big numbers too.

Musicals Across The Universe sits inside an end-on set design, usually bare to enable use of the full stage, even the stairway, with the occasional addition of chairs too, while projections, whether of a blur of Fake News or images of wartime Poland, accompany assorted numbers. Costume changes are frequent, sometimes amusing, often witty, always striking.

Act One opens with the full company finding its voice in Facade, a number from Jekyll And Hyde that is the essence of putting on a front, but with the truth still bursting through. As Long As He Needs Me, Nancy’s troublesome song from Oliver!, becomes more mournful, less desperate, in Jai Rowley’s interpretation.

The Place Where The Lost Things Go, from Mary Poppins Returns, is transformed into a children’s song, all the more moving in Matthew Warry’s performance, supported by Laertes Singhateh and Emelia Charlton-Matthews.

Lauren Charlton-Matthews: Outstanding rendition of Dear Bill from Operation Mincemeat. Picture: Simon Trow

Anthem, from Chess, takes on a Jazz Age air in Emma Burke’s rendition; Lauren Charlton-Matthews chose Dear Bill, from the Grand Opera House-bound Operation Mincement for her solo number, duly delivering the show’s best storytelling singing. 

Go The Distance/Defying Gravity, from Hercules/Wicked, vie for centre stage in a mash-up for David Copley-Martin, Emily Hardy, Naomi Mothersille and Zander Fick; partners Spencer and Sephton bring tender romance to Big Fish’s I Don’t Need A Roof and Tess Ellis revels in the stark solo spotlight in Miss Saigon’s Why God? Why?

Two Act One favourites follow in quick succession, first Rosy Rowley’s lonesome Mr Cellophane, from Chicago, her face marked by a painted tear, accompanied by the Dance Core in white masks with crimson lips and matching dark tears.

Listen, from Dreamgirls, branches out from dialogue to Jai Rowley expressing himself in British Sign Language, learned expressly for this performance, to be interpreted in song by James Ball as Matthew Warry takes over on piano.

Exchanging sign language: James Ball, left, and Jai Rowley in Listen

After the men-in-black smooth chops of When She Loved Me, from Toy Story, you will go potty for Connie Howcroft’s polka-dotty reinvention of Friend Like Me from Aladdin, with her Dance Core in tow.

Mickey Moran, outstanding in the 2023 show, comes to the fore in Act Two’s opening Queen Medley from We Will Rock You, both on lead vocals as bravura as Freddie Mercury and on guitar too. The show must go on, and indeed does with Naomi Mothersille leading Make Them Hear You from Ragtime.

Richard Bayton and James Ball address songs to each other as gay lovers on the path to separation, first in Bayton’s confessional Just Not Now, from I Love You Because, then Ball, wrought with tragedian drama in Abba’s The Winner Takes It All, from Mamma Mia!, the show’s outstanding solo turn.

It’s Never That Easy/I’ve Been Here Before, from Closer Than Ever, find Spencer, Howcroft, Emily Hardy and Naomi Mothersille in harmony; Tess Ellis, in cream, stands out from the crowd in the heartfelt Someone Like You, from Jekyll & Hyde, and Ben Holeyman does likewise in Gypsy’s Don’t Rain On My Parade. Take note of Kirsty Barnes, notebook in hand, in Santa Fe, from Newsies.

Life is a Cabaret for Zander Fick, surrounded by the Dance Core in Musicals Across The Multiverse. Picture: Simon Trow

Zander Fick, fresh from playing drag star Loco Chanel in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, dons fishnets, shiny red Latex top and matching high heels and lipstick, to darken Sally Bowles’s Cabaret, from Cabaret, into being more in keeping with the Emcee.

Bayton and Ellis, Holeyman and Barnes play two couples in declamatory tandem in the mash-up of Million Dreams and How Far I’ll Go from The Greatest Showman and Moana, and mother and child partnerships, Spencer and Singtaheh, Rowley times two and Charlton-Matthews a deux, express the bond movingly in Mamma Mia’s Slipping Through My Fingers. Abbie Law savours the last solo showcase in Shouldn’t I Be Less In Love With You, from I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.

The full company assembles for Blame It On The Boogie, from MJ The Musical, a celebratory finale led flamboyantly by Rosy Rowley and Mickey Moran that has everyone dancing to the Multiverse max.

Wharfemede Productions present Musicals Across The Multiverse, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, September 10 to 13, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Rosy Rowley. front, left, and Mickey Moran, front, right, lead the outbreak of dancing in Blame It On The Boogie, the finale to Musicals Across The Multiverse

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More Things To Do in York & beyond when willow whispers and cinema pops outdoors. Hutch’s List No.39, from The York Press

Willow artist Laura Ellen Bacon in the saloon at her Whispers Of The Wilderness exhibition at Beningbrough Hall. Picture: Anthony Chappel-Ross

WILLOW sculptures, outdoor cinema, musical premieres and the Yellow Brick Road are beckoning Charles Hutchinson. 

Exhibition opening of the week: Laura Ellen Bacon, Whispers Of The Wilderness, Exploring Wilderness Gardens, Beningbrough Hall, near York, until April 12 2026, Tuesday to Sunday, 11am to 4pm

WHISPERS Of The Wilderness brings together contemporary large-scale willow sculptures by Laura Ellen Bacon, historic pieces from across the National Trust collection to showcase Wilderness Gardens through time and a new drawing studio designed by artist Tanya Raabe-Webber.

Complemented by a new soundscape, audio chair, sketches of the developing sculptures and more, the exhibition is a sensory experience across the first-floor Reddihough Galleries and Great Hall. Tickets: nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/yorkshire/beningbrough.  

Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles in 10 Things I Hate About You, Sunday’s screening at Picturehouse Outdoor Cinema at York Museum Gardens

Film event of the week: City Screen Picturehouse presents Picturehouse Outdoor Cinema, York Museum Gardens, York, Stop Making Sense (PG), tonight, 6.30pm; 10 Things I Hate About You (12A), Sunday, 6.30pm

JONATHAN Demme’s Stop Making Sense, capturing David Byrne’s Talking Heads in perpetual motion at Hollywood’s Panatges Theatre in December 1983, re-emerges in a 40th anniversary restoration of “the greatest concert film of all time”.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Allison Janney, Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger star in 10 Things I Hate About You, wherein Cameron falls for Bianca on the first day of school, but not only his uncool status stops him from asking her out. Blankets, cushions and small camping chairs are allowed. Box office: picturehouses.com/outdoor-cinema/venue/york-museum-gardens.

Hal Cruttenden: Reflecting on the insanity of modern politics at Burning Duck Comedy Club. Picture: Matt Crockett

“Take no prisoners” gig of the week: Hal Cruttenden Can Dish It Out But Can’t Take It, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight, 8pm

HAL Cruttenden promises to stick it to ‘The Man’, as long as ‘The Man’ does not stick it back to him. Expect hard-hitting pontificating on middle-aged dating, social media, the insanity of modern politics and his daughters loving him but not respecting him. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Artist Kerry Ann Moffat with her oil painting Sunlight Catching Wooden Sculpture at the Created In York pop-up gallery in High Petergate, York

Pop-up art space of the week: Created In York, hosted by Blank Canvas by Skippko charity, 22 High Petergate, York, 10.30am to 5pm, Thursdays to Saturdays; 11am to 4pm, Sundays

CHAMPIONING change through creativity, York art charity Skippko’s rolling programme of three-week Created In York shows is running in High Petergate until December 2025 in tandem with York Conservation Trust. On show until September 14 are oil paintings by Kerry Ann Moffat and linocuts and woodblock prints by Rachel Holborow.

York RI Golden Rail Band: Performing Sounding Brass and Voices with York RI Golden Railway Band. Picture: Keith Meadley

Musical partnership of the week: Sounding Brass and Voices, York Philharmonic Male Voice Choir and York RI Golden Rail Band, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tonight, 7.30pm

YORK Philharmonic Male Voice Choir and York RI Golden Rail Band reunite for a fourth joint concert in a tender and thrilling pairing of brass and voices, celebrating 100 years of music.

“From romantic film music to toe-tapping hits, there will be something for everyone,” says Golden Rail Band conductor Nick Eastwood.  Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Musicals Across The Multiverse choreographer Connie Howcroft, right, working on moves with Zander Fick, Ben Holeyman, Abbie Law and Lauren Charlton-Matthews

Interdimensional journey of the week: Wharfemede Productions in Musicals Across The Multiverse, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, September 10 to 13, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee

DIRECTOR Helen “Bells” Spencer and musical director Matthew Clare follow up 2023’s Musicals In The Multiverse 2023 with another blend of iconic musical theatre hits reconfigured with surprising twists. 

“Think unexpected style swaps, minor to major key switches, gender reversals, era-bending reinterpretations, genre mash-ups and more,” says Bells.” Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Debbie Isitt’s cast in rehearsal for the world premiere of Military Wives – The Musical at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Danny With A Camera

World premiere of the week: Military Wives – The Musical, York Theatre Royal, September 10 to 27, times vary

YORK Theatre Royal stages the world premiere of writer-director Debbie Isitt’s musical based on the 2019 film, rooted in Gareth Malone’s The Choir: Military Wives project.

Faced with husbands and partners being away at war, the women are isolated, bored and desperate to take their minds off feelings of impending doom. Enter Olive to help them form a choir. Cue a joyous celebration of female empowerment and friendship, courage and ‘unsung’ heroes. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Libby Greenhill’s Medium Alison, left, Hattie Wells’s Young Alison and Claire Morley’s Alison in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Fun Home

York premiere of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Fun Home, York Medical Society, Stonegate, York, September 10 to 19, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday and Sunday matinees

ROBERT Readman directs the York premiere of Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Krow’s five-time Tony Award winner, based on Alison Bechdel’s graphic novel. 

When her volatile father dies unexpectedly, Alison (Claire Morley) recalls how his temperament and secrets defined her family and her life. Moving between past and present, she relives her unique childhood at the family’s Bechdel Funeral Home, her growing understanding of her sexuality and the looming, unanswerable questions of her father’s hidden desires. Box office: ticketsourse.co.uk/pickmeuptheatrecom.

Rob Newman: Wondering where we are going in Where The Wild Things Were at The Crescent

The future, now: Burning Duck Comedy Club presents Rob Newman, Where The Wild Things Were, The Crescent, York, September 11, 7.30pm

ROB Newman wants to discuss where we are and where we are going, from future cities and philistine film directors to Dorothy Parker’s Multiverse Diaries. Throw in Pythagorean gangsters, intellectual bingo callers and a crazy character called Arlo for a comedic “tour-de-force utterly unlike anything else you will ever see anywhere else”. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.

Mick Tickner: Headlining the Funny Fridays bill at Patch

Comedy gathering of the week: Funny Fridays, at Patch, Bonding Warehouse, Terry Avenue, York, September 12, 7.30pm

AFTER May and June sell-outs and a summer break, Funny Fridays returns for a third night of stand-up hosted by promoter and comedian Katie Lingo. On the £10 bill are 2023 Hull Comedian of the Year Hannah Margaret, Jamie Clinton, Kerris Gibson, James Earl Marsters and headliner Mick Tickner. Box office: eventbrite.co.uk/e/funny-fridays-at-patch-tickets-1473792325519?aff=oddtdtcreator.

Erin Childs’ Dorothy with Toto (Freddie) in York Stage’s The Wizard Of Oz

Ruby slippers of the week: York Stage in The Wizard Of Oz, Grand Opera House, York, September 12 to 20, times vary

UNDER Nik Briggs’s direction, York Stage skips down the Yellow Brick Road as Erin Childs’ Dorothy, Toto and her friends, the Scarecrow (Flo Poskitt), Tin Man (Stu Hutchinson), and Cowardly Lion (Finn East), journey to the Emerald City to meet the Wizard (Ian Giles).

In navigating the enchanting landscape of Oz, Dorothy is watched closely by Glinda, the Good Witch (Carly Morton) as the Wicked Witch of the West (Emily Alderson) plots to thwart Dorothy’s quest and reclaim the magical ruby slippers. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

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What happens when iconic songs collide with parallel realities? Find out in Wharfemede Productions’ Musicals Across The Multiverse at Theatre@41 Monkgate

Wharfemede Productions artistic director Helen “Bells” Spencer, right, leading a rehearsal for Musicals Across The Multiverse

THE musical multiverse is on the move but with the visionary creative team of director Helen “Bells” Spencer and co-creator and musical director Matthew Clare still at the helm.

After the Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company staged Musicals In The Multiverse as its “most ambitious concert production ever” in June 2023, now Helen’s Wetherby-founded company, Wharfemede Productions, takes up the multiverse mantle for Musicals Across The Multiverse, featuring a stellar cast of performers drawn from across Yorkshire’s vibrant talent pool.

Promising to be “even more inventive and boundary-pushing”, this out-of-this-universe sequel will take over Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, from September 10 to 13, with its “nod to the Marvel franchise and the Spiderverse”.

“Musicals Across The Multiverse is a bold and exhilarating theatrical experience that reimagines your favourite musical theatre numbers like never before,” says Wharfemede Productions artistic director Bells, whose daily diary combines being a consultant psychiatrist with motherhood and her multiple theatrical pursuits.

“Step into a multiverse where the classics you know and love still exist, but not as you remember them. You’ll hear the songs that you know and love, but with their traditional presentation turned on its head, so they’re different but still recognisable.

Musical director Matthew Clare, right, in rehearsal with Wharfemede Productions cast members for Musicals Across The Multiverse

“Think unexpected style swaps, minor to major key switches, surprising gender reversals, era-bending reinterpretations, genre mash-ups and more, offering audiences a witty, heartfelt journey through the many worlds of the multiverse.

“Inventive, genre-defying and packed with surprises, Musicals Across The Multiverse is a celebration of creativity and theatrical flair that promises to delight, challenge and thrill audiences. This is musical theatre recharged, remixed and ready to take you on an interdimensional journey you won’t forget.”

Bell is “absolutely thrilled” to be working with Matthew again. “He’s incredibly talented,” she enthuses. “Collaborating with him is always a joy. He’s not only a brilliant musician and composer, but also an endlessly inspiring creative partner. His ability to take an idea and elevate it into something truly original is nothing short of magic.

“Our friendship and shared passion for musical theatre have been at the heart of developing this piece. We both love exploring the ‘what ifs’ of familiar stories and pushing the boundaries of traditional performance. We’re not afraid to take risks, flip conventions on their head, and do things a little differently – and that spirit of playful reinvention is what Musicals Across The Multiverse is all about.”

In Bells’ cast will be Abbie Law; Ben Holeyman; choreographer Connie Howcroft; David Copley-Martin; Ellie Carrier; Emilia Charlton-Mathews; Emily Hardy; Emma Burke; Jack Fry; Jai Rowley and James Ball.

Musicals Across The Multiverse choreographer Connie Howcroft, right, working on moves with Zander Fick, Ben Holeyman, Abbie Law and Lauren Charlton-Matthews

So too will Kirsty Barnes; Laertes Singhateh; Lauren Charlton-Mathews; Matthew Warry; Mickey Moran; Naomi Mothersille; Nick Sephton; Richard Bayton; Rosy Rowley; Tess Ellis; Zander Fick and Bells herself.

“Our cast is nothing short of phenomenal,” she says. “This time we have multiple new additions from the production of Les Miserables I did this summer at Leeds Grand Theatre, and it means we now have a lovely mix of people from York and Leeds, who haven’t done a show together before, making it a really unique mix.

“They’ve thrown themselves into this wild, imaginative world with energy, humour and heart. Rehearsals have been full of laughter, creativity, and genuine moments of magic. Watching this show come to life with such an amazing group of performers from across Yorkshire has been a total privilege.

“Hopefully this format is something we can continue to grow. We’re now talking with The Carriageworks about taking shows there as well as to York.”

Bells and Matthew’s original concept for the parallel universes of this musical multiverse emerged from a conversation among York’s musical theatre performers about songs they would love to sing but would never have the opportunity to do so in a fully staged musical production, on account of, for example, the gender or the age of the character in the original setting.

“This is musical theatre recharged, remixed and ready to take you on an interdimensional journey you won’t forget,” says director Helen Spencer

“We pride ourselves in Wharfemede Productions on being an inclusive and welcoming artistic space for all,” says Bells. “The concept for this show allows our wonderfully talented and diverse cast to perform songs that explore and celebrate who they are, to push some of the traditional musical theatre boundaries and ultimately honour some of the best musical songs ever written.

“What’s been really lovely, working with Matthew, is how we can not only swap the gender in a song but also the feel of a song or the genre to match the gender swap. There isn’t a single song in this show that’s in its original format, which is an amazing challenge, but Matthew is such a genius in doing the musical arrangements.

“Santa Fe, from Disney’s Newsies, for example, was made famous by Jeremy Jordan in the Broadway musical, but is now being sung by Kirsty Barnes, who has just starred as Sister Mary Robert, the postulant in Sister Act, with LIDOS at The Carriageworks Theatre in Leeds.

“Matthew describes the arrangement as ‘written in the style of Chopin’s Preludes’, so it’s much more lyrical with piano and cello that really changes the song.”

Reflecting on lessons learnt from the first iteration of the musical multiverse, Bells says: “The  changes made to songs really excited everyone, and we’re always looking to push things further, like in the mash-ups, where we’ll have A Million Dreams, from The Greatest Showman, pared with How Far I’ll Go, from Disney’s Moana, and Defying Gravity, from Wicked, with Go The Distance, from Hercules.

Hands across the multiverse in the Long Marston Village Hub rehearsal room

“We got really good feedback on the close-harmony singing last time, singing that’s challenging but really lovely to do, so we’ll be doing more of that , and we’ll also have maybe four more solos than before as we had so  many people auditioning and the standard was so high.

“I’m also really excited about using British Sign Language again, as we did last time with Jack Fry for Cell Block Tango, from Chicago. Now we’ll be using it from Listen from Dreamgirls.

“Another highlight will be Zander Fick singing Sally Bowles’s Cabaret in a darker, more modern male version, where there will be no jazz hands to be seen.”

Among further “very different” interpretations will be Connie Howcroft’s rendition of the Genie’s Friend Like Me from Disney’s Aladdin. “It’s very clearly not a cartoon and not male!” says Bells.

“We also have a couple of major-to-minor key swaps that turn positive songs into ‘villain’ songs. Don’t Rain On My Parade is so well known that changing the key makes it so different and so challenging to sing – and it’s not only a genre swap but a gender swap too. It’s now more of an aggressive, very funky song, performed by Ben Holeyman.

The Wharfemede Productions cast for Musicals Across The Multiverse

“Emma Burke, who played Cosette in Les Miserables this summer, will do a very moving version of Anthem from Chess, in a gender and genre swap, highlighting the role of the Women Land’s Army in the Second World War.”

Look out too for three sets of mothers and children – Bells and Laertes Singhateh, Rosy and Jai Rowley and Emilia and Lauren Charlton-Mathews – singing Slipping Through My Fingers from Mamma Mia!

“It”s lovely for us to sing such a gorgeous song together,” says Bells. “Every mother feels that sense of pride yet loss at their children growing up.”

Matthew Warry will join Laertes, Jai and Lauren in The Place Where The Lost Things Go – “the Emily Blunt one” – from Mary Poppins Returns. “It’s a switch from Mary Poppins singing it, so now we have children singing an adult’s song,” says Bells.

As rehearsals take shape at Long Marston Village Hub, Bells concludes: “We can’t wait to share this unique, genre-bending show with you. Come and see what happens when musical theatre gets turned on its head – and support community theatre at its most daring, dynamic and joy-filled.”

Wharfemede Productions present Musicals Across The Multiverse, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, September 10 to 13, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Out of this universe: Wharfemede Productions’ poster for Musicals Across The Multiverse

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REVIEW: Wharfemede Productions in Little Women – The Broadway Musical, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Feb 18-22 ****

Rachel Higgs’s Beth, left, Connie Howcroft’s Jo, Tess Ellis’s Amy and Catherine Foster’s Meg March in Wharfemede Productions’ Little Women – The Broadway Musical

WHARFEMEDE Productions emerged in butterfly form for the first time with Little Women after their chrysalis co-production of Browne’s The Last Five Years in tandem with fellow York company Black Sheep Theatre Productions last October.

Formed by chief artistic director Helen “Bells” Spencer and chief operating officer Nick Sephton, cornerstones of the York musical theatre scene, the company brought together similarly experienced leading players for a production bursting with impressive singing power.

Louisa May Alcott’s Alcott’s coming-of-age tale of the March sisters growing up in well-to-do New England during the American Civil War had never been staged in York on your reviewer’s four-decade theatre watch, until Juliet Forster’s free-flowing staging of screenwriter, novelist and playwright Anne-Marie Casey’s adaptation for the Theatre Royal last October.

You know the saying: like buses, you wait for ages for one, and then along come two in quick succession. On this occasion, the same story burst forth from Louisa May Alcott’s 1868–1869 two-volume novel, but now wrapped in all the Broadway trimmings the title proclaimed.

Helen Spencer’s Marmee reads a letter to the March daughters, Meg (Catherine Foster, left), Jo (Connie Howcroft), Beth (Rachel Higgs) and Amy (Tess Ellis)

Allan Knee, Mindi Dickstein and Jason Howland’s show shares Casey’s central focus on headstrong emerging writer Jo (Connie Howcroft) while not putting her fellow sisters, traditional Meg (Catherine Foster), timid, piano-playing Beth (Rachel Higgs) and romantic, impatient Amy (Tess Ellis), in the corner.

Spencer took on the role of the family drama’s emotional ballast as their beloved mother Marmee, holding everything together at home in Concord, Massachusetts, amid the discord of the American Civil War that has taken away their father to serve as a Union Army chaplain. Spencer has a way of making the world stop when she sings, and she did so twice here in songs that expressed feelings she could not reveal to her family.

The daughters, in turn, need to shed their fledgling feathers, travelling hither and thither in different directions, save for Beth, who is blighted by health problems. Songs served as a means to crystalising their feelings, their thoughts, their hopes, in heartfelt solos: always a strong suit in a character-driven musical.

Howcroft’s Jo had the pick of those songs, Astonishing, albeit that the majority were impactful in the moment under Matthew Clare’s musical direction, rather than memorable beyond the final curtain.  

Connie Howcroft’s Jo and Rachel Higgs’s Beth in Wharfemede Productions’ Little Women – The Broadway Musical

Around those songs, the show took the form of a series of vignettes, chapters if you like, intercut with short stories from the wild imaginings of Jo in her attic studio, performed in humorously melodramatic fashion on the John Cooper Studio’s mezzanine level in a directorial flourish from Spencer that paid off to the max.

Howcroft’s fiery and fervent Jo encapsulated the show’s ability to both tug at the heart strings and locate the funny bone; Foster’s Meg was suitably unflappable; Higgs’s quiet Beth had a stillness to her, contrasting with the restless energy of Ellis’s Amy, so desperate to grow up too soon.

Rosy Rowley revelled in the disapproving air of starchy Aunt March, with a nod to those thespian dames, Maggie Smith and Edith Evans, while Spencer’s many hours devoted to character development with her cast paid off in the contrasting men in the Little Women’s lives: Nick Sephton’s slow-blossoming Professor Bhaer;  Andrew Roberts’s good egg Mr Brooke, Chris Gibson’s sturdy Mr Lawrence and Steven Jobson, the pick of a very good bunch as eager Laurie.

The set design of house interiors had one particularly striking motif, whereby the individual clothing palette of each March daughter was matched by a drape from the balcony. When Beth died, spoiler alert, her drape fell to the floor. On such attention to detail did Spencer’s production make its mark.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond when Viking beards roam the streets. Hutch’s List No. 7, from The York Press

Stag burning at the Jorvik Viking Festival. More fun and games next week. Picture: Charlotte Graham

THE boat-burning Vikings are back as Charles Hutchinson looks forward to an action-packed February half-term.

Festival of the week: 40th anniversary Jorvik Viking Festival, York, February 17 to 23

A NEW Viking longship, a sword that never misses its target and recreations of the world’s largest fossilised poo take centre stage at Europe’s largest Viking Festival over half-term. Five days of Norse fun, living history, hands-on combat and lectures culminate in a parade of more than 200 Vikings through the historic streets on February 22 and two dramatic evening son-et-lumière shows. 

A free living history encampment takes over Parliament Street with an array of tents featuring craftsmen and traders, with the opportunity to handle replica armour and weapons. For the full programme and to book tickets, go to jorvikvikingfestival.co.uk.

Emma Swainston’s Elle Woods, seated, with Bruiser, the Chihuahua (played by Lily), in York Light Opera Company’s Legally Blonde The Musical. Picture: Matthew Kitchen Photography

The power of pink musical of the week: York Light Opera Company in Legally Blonde The Musical, York Theatre Royal, until February 22, 7.30pm nightly (except February 16) plus 2.30pm matinees today, February 20 and 22

JOIN Elle Woods, a seemingly ditzy sorority girl with a heart of gold, as she tackles Harvard Law School to win back her man. Along the way, Elle discovers her own strength and intelligence, “proving that you can be both blonde and brilliant”.

Emma Swainston’s Elle Woods leads Martyn Knight’s 35-strong cast in this feel-good, sassy and stylish show with its powerful message of staying true to yourself, booted with music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin and book by Heather Hach. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

David O’Doherty: Irish humour and song at Grand Opera House, York

Comedy show of the week: David O’Doherty, Tiny Piano Man, Grand Opera House, York, tonight, 8pm

THE dishevelled prince of €10 eBay keyboards tries to make you feel alive with a pageant of Irish humour, song and occasionally getting up from a chair. “It’s gonna be a big one,” says Dublin comedian, author, musician, actor and playwright David O’Doherty, star of The Great Celebrity Bake Off 2024 and Along For The Ride With David O’Doherty. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Chloe Petts: Getting personal in How You See Me, How You Don’t at Theatre@41, Monkgate

Alternative comedy gig of the week: Chloe Petts, How You See Me, How You Don’t, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight, 8pm

CHLOE Petts returns with a new show and this time she’s getting personal. Between her newly found trolls, ‘oldly’ found school bullies and an excellent relationship with her food tech teacher, she brings her trademark ‘laddishness’ to tell you who she really is, all while her Head Girl badge glistens on her chest. Box office for returns only: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Gareth Gates: Turning romantic crooner in a Valentine mood at York Barbican

Romantic concert of the week: Gareth Gates Sings Love Songs From The Movies – A Valentine Special, York Barbican, Sunday, 7.30pm

EXTENDING the St Valentine’s Day vibes to the weekend, Bradford singer Gareth Gates combines beloved ballads from classic films with the electrifying energy of up-tempo hits, from Unchained Melody to Dirty Dancing, in a celebration of love stories that have graced the silver screen.

Joining the 2002 Pop Idol alumnus and musical star will be Wicked actress Maggie Lynne, Dutch singer Britt Lenting, Performers College graduate Dan Herrington and a four-piece band. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Abbie Budden’s Annette Hargrove in Bill Kenwright Ltd’s production of Cruel Intentions: The’90s Musical, on tour at Grand Opera House, York, from Tuesday. Picture: Pamela Raith

Dangerous liaison of the week: Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical, Grand Opera House, York, February 18 to 22, Tuesday to Thursday, 7.30pm; Wednesday, 2.30pm; Friday, 5pm and 8.30pm; Saturday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

CREATED by Jordan Ross, Lindsey Rosin and Roger Kumble from Kumble’s 1999 film spin on Les Liaisons Dangereuses, this American musical is powered by the 1990s’ pop gold dust of Britney Spears, Boyz II Men, Christina Aguilera, TLC, R.E.M., Ace Of Base, Natalie Imbruglia and The Verve.

Step siblings Sebastian Valmont (Will Callan) and Kathryn Merteuil (Nic Myers) engage in a cruel bet, where Kathryn goads Sebastian into attempting to seduce Annette Hargrove (Abbie Budden), the headmaster’s virtuous daughter. Weaving a web of secrets and temptation, their crusade wreaks havoc on the students at their exclusive Manhattan high school. Soon the dastardly plotters become entangled in their own web of deception and unexpected romance, with explosive results. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Stuart Green’s police inspector, Truscott, left, and Miles John’s thief, Dennis, in rehearsal for York Settlement Community Players’ production of Loot

Scandalous play of the week: York Settlement Community Players in Loot, York Theatre Royal Studio, February 18 to 27, 7.45pm except February 23; 2pm, February 22

KATIE Leckey directs the Settlement Players in agent provocateur Joe Orton’s scabrous 1965 farce, the one with two thieves, dodgy police officers, adult themes, offensive language, sexism and xenophobia, references to sexual assault, including rape and necrophilia, a live actor playing a dead body in a coffin and digs at the Roman Catholic Church.

Don’t let that put you off! Yes, it still carries a content warning and age recommendation of 16 upwards, but it remains outrageously funny. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Wharfemede Productions director Helen Spencer, centre, rehearsing her role as Marmee in Little Women with Connie Howcroft’s Jo, left, Catherine Foster’s Meg, Rachel Higgs’s Beth and Tess Ellis’s Amy. Picture: Matthew Warry

Marching on together: Wharfemede Productions: Little Women – The Broadway Musical, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, February 18 to 22, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

HELEN Spencer directs York company Wharfemede Productions in their first solo show, playing Marmee too in Allan Knee, Jason Howland and Mindi Dickstein’s musical account of Louisa May Alcott’s story of the March sister – traditional Meg, wild, aspiring writer Jo, timid Beth and romantic Amy – growing up in Concord, Massachusetts, while their chaplain father is away serving during the American Civil War. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Ugg’n’Ogg tell the story of The World’s First Dogg at Milton Rooms, Malton

Children’s play of the week: Rural Arts presents Fideri Fidera in Ugg’n’Ogg & The World’s First Dogg, Milton Rooms, Malton, February 20, 2pm

IN the fresh sparkling world just after the last Ice Age, there were no dogs. How, then, did we attain our best friend and the world’s number one pet? Luckily for us, along came young hunter gatherers Ugg‘n’Ogg to pal up with the wolves, Tooth’n’Claw, to defy flying meat bones, raging forest infernos and even a time-travelling stick to invent the dog.

This original play for pooch lovers aged three upwards highlights the evolutionary transition from lupine to canine in a show full of physical comedy, puppets, music and song. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

In Focus: Exhibition refresh: Secrets Of Dress, Yorkshire Castle Museum, Fashion Gallery, Eye of York, York, from February 15

Fashion exhibits in the Secrets Of Dress exhibition at York Castle Museum. Picture: Duncan Lomax, Ravage Productions, for York Museums Trust

YORK Castle Museum’s Fashion Gallery has been refreshed, remodelled and enhanced for 2025 with new items and fresh interpretations to show Secrets Of Dress from the Middle Ages to the opening decades of the 21st century.

Not merely a fashion exhibition,  this re-boot is an opportunity to look at dress and textiles from the perspective of social history, exploring what clothes and accessories can reveal about our lives and experiences.

Every object has a secret to tell, hence Secrets Of Dress provides insights into ways of life that are very different to today and yet relatable. From 400-year-old sequins to Second World War utility shoes, from the cottage industry of old Yorkshire to the factory-produced fashions of the industrial age, this is social history brought alive by the story of dress.

Dr Faye M Prior, Curator of Social History, with a 1970s’ outfit designed by Angela Holmes for her York-based fashion brand Droopy & Browns. The outfit was kindly donated by Angela’s sister, Leone Cockburn, and her niece, Clare Cockburn. Picture:  Duncan Lomax, Ravage Productions, for York Museums Trust

This bespoke exhibition has been updated for the 21st century with a new section focusing on the City of York: York Makers. Thanks to the diligent research of York Castle Museum volunteers, York Makers presents York-made clothing, textiles and textile-working tools from the Middle Ages to the present day, alongside the stories of the people who made and used them.

York Makers celebrates creative people who lived and worked in York, some of whom contributed nationally as well as regionally to fashion.

On display are outfits by York-based designers Angela Holmes, founder of Droopy & Browns, and Vivien Smith, founder of Vivien Smith Simply Clothes. These two entrepreneurs created iconic fashion brands that offered distinctive styles on the high street from the 1960s to the early 2000s.

Gloves made of straw from the Secrets Of Dress exhibition at York Castle Museum. Picture: Duncan Lomax, Ravage Productions, for York Museums Trust

Other York Makers include Victorian shirtmaker Herbert Morris Crouch, who ran his own shop on Coney Street, and Mrs Maria Cook, the dressmaker whose ‘Made In York’ label sparked the volunteer research project.

Secrets Of Dress showcases 500 years of clothing, accessories and textiles, including items never displayed until now. Every object has something to tell, and many show repairs and adaptations, revealing how practices thought to be modern, such as ‘upcycling’ and ‘remaking’, have a long tradition.

Displayed in an accessible and fun way, iconic items and textiles from the 1960s and 1970s will be recognisable immediately. Visitors can touch, feel and try on costumes re-created by costume designer Naomi Pugh – aka ‘Nomes’ – of Textiles by Gnomes, and enjoy family trails with Little Spotters Trails, including a colouring page for creative little ones.

York Castle Museum is open Monday, 11am to 5pm; Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm. Tickets: adult £17; child £10.20; concessions available. Tickets are valid for 12 months. Children of York residents enter for free.

Visitors taking a close look at clothing and shoes in the Secrets Of Dress exhibition at York Castle Museum. Picture: Duncan Lomax, Ravage Productions, for York Museums Trust

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Wharfemede Productions go Marching on together in Little Women – The Broadway Musical at Theatre@41, Monkgate

Connie Howcroft rehearsing her role as Jo March in Little Women – The Broadway Musical. Picture: Matthew Warry

BURGEONING York company Wharfemede Productions will stage their first solo production, Little Women – The Broadway Musical, at Theatre@41, Monkgate, from February 18 to 22.

Based on Louisa May Alcott’s 1868-1869 semi-autobiographical novel, the American musical focuses on the four March sisters – traditional Meg, wild, aspiring writer Jo, timid Beth and romantic Amy – and their beloved Marmee, at home in Concord, Massachusetts, while their father is away serving as a Union Army chaplain during the American Civil War.

Vignettes wherein their lives unfold are intercut with several re-creations of the melodramatic short stories that Jo writes in her attic studio in a musical featuring a book by Allan Knee, lyrics by Mindi Dickstein and music by Jason Howland.

“Rarely produced in the UK since its Broadway debut in 2005, this is a unique opportunity for musical and literary lovers to see this fabulous adaptation,” says director Helen “Bells” Spencer, Wharfemede Productions’ chief artistic director and co-founder.

“Little Women is a character-driven musical with family and friendship at the heart of this beloved story. I fell in love with the musical the first time I listened to it and having never seen it on stage. The score is beautiful, rousing and reflects the traditional setting of the piece, with spectacular group numbers and heartfelt solos.”

Helen continues: “As Wharfemede’s first independent production, it was the perfect size company and we are incredibly lucky to have some of the best performers in York in our ten-strong cast.

Wharfemede Productions director Helen “Bells” Spencer, centre, rehearsing her role as Marmee in Little Women with Connie Howcroft’s Jo, left, Catherine Foster’s Meg, Rachel Higgs’s Beth and Tess Ellis’s Amy. Picture: Matthew Warry

“Leading our cast as the passionate and fiery Jo March will be the incredible Connie Howcroft. I knew that Connie had sung Astonishing, the most famous song from the show, in her graduation ceremony several years ago so, ‘some things are meant to be’.

“Having performed with Connie several times, there was no doubt in my mind that she was perfect for this challenging role, with her incredible vocals and strength as an actor.”

Connie was familiar with the musical from her student days. “I knew quite a lot about it because I explored it when I was studying for my musical theatre degree at Hull College of Arts [from 2014 to 2017],” she says.

“A friend used one of the songs in her singing assessment, and I thought, ‘ooh, that sounds really nice”! I already knew the book, researched the show and then sang Astonishing, in my degree final ceremony performance – which ‘Bells’ saw on YouTube!”

When “Bells” asked Connie if she would be interested in performing in Little Women, “I said ‘yeah, sure, it’s a great musical’, and so me and Jo March were brought together,” she says.

Did she always have her eyes on that particular role? “Absolutely, 100 per cent, because she’s just a great character! I have many similarities with her, which is helpful in playing a character,” she says.

“She’s so self-aware until she’s not; she knows what she wants until she doesn’t. When something in her life throws her off balance, she always strives to do more. She loves her family, but she wants more than that from her life, so she’s always pulled between her family and what she believes her dreams should lead to. Her passions are always being challenged.”

Rachel Higgs’s Beth March, left, and Connie Howcroft’s Jo March rehearsing a scene for Wharfemede Productions’ Little Women. Picture: Matthew Warry

Connie has to accommodate her acting passions while working full-time as an events lead for an education company, teaching leadership skills to teachers in Westminster and Central Hall, London. “I do the preparatory work from York, sometimes working with people remotely on Zoom, then travel to London to do the events,” she says. “For this show, I did have to miss one rehearsal in late-January for a two-day event.”

She needs the balance of work and play. “Without having some form of performance outlet in my life, I don’t feel happy,” says Connie. “I grew up singing in the Q church in York from the age of 16, putting on Christmas productions too.

“I feel I always need to have singing in my life, but I’m careful about how I spread my time, as I’m a mum as well, to Riley, who’s 13 – and he does lead the life of Riley!

“But when I commit to a performance, I’m 1,000 per cent into it to do everyone proud and to make sure the production is the best it can be.”

Like Connie, “Bells” Spencer has found the balance between her love of performance – once her professional career, running a theatre company – and her work as a doctor in York. “I’m very passionate about the work I do for the NHS but I also get to do the thing I love as a hobby, putting in 100 per cent to make a performance of a standard I would want and expect to see,” she says.

Formed by “Bells” and chief operating officer Nick Sephton, Wharefemede Productions made their debut last October, staging Jason Browne’s The Last Five Years in tandem with fellow York company Black Sheep Theatre Productions.

“The aim of Wharfemede Productions is to have a good time with a good work ethic, where it’s all about being supportive of each other and being a team,” she says.

Joining Connie in Little Women will be Catherine Foster as Meg; Rachel Higgs as Beth; Tess Ellis as Amy; Spencer herself as Marmee; Rosy Rowley as Aunt March; Steven Jobson as Laurie; Nick Sephton as Professor Bhaer;  Andrew Roberts as Mr Brooke and Chris Gibson as Mr Lawrence.

“We’ve spent a lot of time working on the rich characters and building a bond in the cast that shines through on stage. I’m so excited for our audiences to see this moving and funny show,” says “Bells”.

Wharfemede Productions present Little Women – The Broadway Musical, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, February 18 to 22, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office:  tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

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