AMERICAN R&B singing group Tavares will play York Barbican on September 7 on their ten-date Greatest Hits Tour 2022.
Noted for their close harmonies, the Grammy award winners from Providence, Rhode Island, will be touring with a line-up of brothers Chubby, Pooch and Butch.
Tavares are best known for their run of hits in 1976-1977, Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel, Don’t Take Away The Music, Whodunit, One Step Away and More Than A Woman, from the iconic Bee Gees/Gibb Brothers soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever.
Expect a brace of Tavares number ones from the American R&B charts too, It Only Takes A Minute Girl and She’s Gone.
At the height of their R&B, funk and soul career, Tavares comprised five Cape-Verdean American brothers: Ralph, Chubby, Pooch, Butch and Tiny. They also performed as Chubby And The Turnpikes and The Tavares Brothers. Eldest brother Ralph died last December, two days short of his 80th birthday.
Tickets for their 7.30pm York show go on sale on Friday from 9am at ticketline.co.uk and yorkbarbican.co.uk or on 0844 888 9991.
2,000 shows and counting: Kristian Lavercombe, as Riff Raff, far right, clocks up another milestone in The Rocky Horror Show on its return to York . Picture: David Freeman
LET’S do The Time Warp again? It’s just a jump to the left, and then a step to right, to enjoy plenty more of Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations.
Fancy dress invitation of the week: Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show, Grand Opera House, York, Monday to Saturday
KRISTIAN Lavercombe celebrates his 2,000th performance as Riff Raff as Richard O’Brien’s 1973 musical extravaganza enjoys yet another York run.
Alongside Lavercombe in Christopher Luscombe’s touring production will be 2016 Strictly Come Dancing winner Ore Oduba as preppy college nerd Brad Majors, Haley Flaherty as squeaky-clean fiancée Janet Weiss and Stephen Webb as castle-dwelling Transylvanian transsexual doctor Frank-N-Furter.
Cue fabulously camp fun and even camper costumes, shlock-horror comedy and science-fiction send-ups, audiences in fancy dress and sassy songs such as Sweet Transvestite, Science Fiction/Double Feature and The Time-Warp singalong. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/York.
New Beverly Cinema, by Imogen Hawgood, at According To McGee, York
Exhibition launch of the week: Imogen Hawgood and Horace Panter, Hyperrealism in America and Japan, at According To McGee, Tower Street, York, from 11am today until March 25
NEW According To McGee signing Imogen Hawgood, from County Durham, introduces her collection of realist paintings in a duo show with Pop artist and Ska legend Horace Panter, The Specials’ bassist.
Panter’s Edward Hopper-inspired depictions of Midwest motels, inner-lit Japanese kiosks and sun-warmed Coca-Cola crates complement Hawgood’s exploration of Americana icons and the idea of “the road” as a transitional landscape.
The vampire strikes back: Steve Steinman’s Baron von Rockula with his vampettes in Vampires Rock – Ghost Story
Rock horror show: Steve Steinman’s Vampires Rock – Ghost Train, Grand Opera House, York, tonight (12/3/2022), 7.30pm
NOTTINGHAM singer and producer Steve Steinman returns to York with his tongue-in-cheek show stacked high with rock anthems, guitar gods and vampy vampettes.
Steinman’s Baron von Rockula and his vampires take refuge in an old fairground’s ghost train as he seeks a new virginial wife after the death of his beloved Pandora. Ordering faithful sidekick Bosley to find him one, enter Roxy Honeybox.
Now in its 20th year, Vampires Rock sets a cast of singers, dancers and musicians loose on Queen, AC/DC, Bonnie Tyler, Meat Loaf, Bon Jovi, Journey and Guns N’ Roses chestnuts. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/York.
Glenn Tilbrook: Squeezing in hit after hit at The Crescent
York gig of the week: Glenn Tilbrook, The Crescent, York, Sunday, 7.30pm
THIS is a standing show…and an outstanding one too as endearing and enduring Deptford singer, songwriter, guitarist and troubadour Glenn Tilbrook makes his debut appearance at The Crescent.
More than 45 years after he first answered an ad placed by Chris Difford looking for like-minded sorts to form the band that became the evergreen Squeeze, an ending is nowhere in sight, even if he called his fourth solo album Happy Ending in 2014. Expect silver-tongued Squeeze and solo numbers, peppered with audience requests, tomorrow night.
Squeeze up, by the way, because this Gig Cartel-promoted gig has sold out. Fingers crossed for any returns (www.thecrescentyork.com), but otherwise you’re really up the junction for a ticket.
Alexander McCall Smith: Delving into his books at York Theatre Royal
Literary event of the week: Alexander McCall Smith, York Theatre Royal, Monday, 7.30pm
YORK Literature Festival plays host to Alexander McCall Smith as he discusses the new instalment in his long-running Scotland Street series, the warm-hearted, humorous and wise Love In The Time Of Bertie.
Fiona Lindsay pops the questions, intertwined with footage shot on location in Edinburgh, wherein McCall Smith invites guests into his study, where he writes surrounded by paintings and books, and visits key landmarks from the books.
The festival follows from March 18 to 27 with full details at yorkliteraturefestival.co.uk. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
NOT Thu 17 March 2022 after all: It’s different for Joe Jackson now as York gig moves to the summer
Postponement of the week: Joe Jackson, Sing, You Sinners! Tour, York Barbican, moving from March 17 to July 29
BLAME Covid for this delay to only the second ever York concert of singer, songwriter and consummate arranger Joe Jackson’s 44-year career.
“After months of uncertainty, it finally became clear that continuing Covid restrictions (particularly on venue capacity) in certain countries, would make our Spring European Tour un-viable as planned,” says Jackson’s official statement. “We can’t tour at a loss, and the situation did not look like changing soon enough.”
Tickets remain valid for the new July 29 date when Jackson promises hits, songs not aired in years and new material. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Sam Freeman: Thirty years of love burst out of his storytelling show in Harrogate and York
Storytelling show of the week: Sam Freeman, Every Little Hope You Ever Dreamed (But Didn’t Want To Mention), Cold Bath Brewery Co Clubhouse, Harrogate, Monday, 7.30pm; York Theatre Royal Studio, Friday, 7.45pm
FORMER York Theatre Royal marketing officer and 2009 TakeOver Festival co-director Sam Freeman heads back to his old stamping ground with his solo rom-com for the lonely hearted and the loved-up, armed with a projector, a notebook, wonky spectacles and nods to Richard Curtis’s Notting Hill.
Freeman, marketeer, occasional writer, director and stand-up comedian, combines storytelling and whimsical northern comedy in his multi-layered story of a chance encounter between two soulmates, how they fall in love, then part but may meet again. Box office: Harrogate, harrogatetheatre.co.uk; York, 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
For Charles Hutchinson and Graham Chalmers’ interview with podcast special guest Sam Freeman, head to the Two Big Egos In A Small Car listening link at: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1187561/10231399.
Off to the woods: Northern Broadsides in As You Like It
Shaking up Shakespeare: Northern Broadsides in As You Like It, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, Tuesday to Saturday; York Theatre Royal, March 23 to 26
MARKING Northern Broadsides’ 30th anniversary, artistic director Laurie Sansom’s diverse cast of 12 northern actors captures the “sheer joy of live performance and the crazy power of love to change the world” in his bold, refreshing take on Shakespeare’s most musical comedy.
Exiled from the court, high-spirited Rosalind, devoted cousin Celia and drag queen Touchstone encounter outlaws, changing seasons and life unconfined by rigid codes in the forest.
Gender roles dissolve and assumptions are turned on their head in a natural world of endless possibilities. Box office: Scarborough, 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com; York, 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Lola May as daughter Aramide, Oyi Oriya as mother Omotola and Anni Domingo as grandmother Agbeke in Utopia Theatre’s Here’s What She Said To Me
Touring show of the week: Utopia Theatre in Here’s What She Said To Me, York Theatre Royal Studio, Thursday and Friday, 7.45pm
MEET Agbeke, Omotola and Aramide, three generations of proud African women connecting with each other across two continents, time and space, in Oladipo Agboluaje’s distaff drama, conceived and directed by York St John University graduate Mojisola Elufowoju.
Together the women share their struggles, their joys, tragedies and broken dreams, in order to find healing in the present. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
CANADIAN comedian, writer, presenter and actress Katherine Ryan is to return to York Barbican on September 29 for a second performance of Missus.
The creator and star of the Netflix series The Duchess and host of All That Glitters first presented her latest tour show in York last December.
Ryan, 38, once denounced partnerships but she has since married her first love, accidentally, in a world where a lot has changed for everyone, prompting her to offer new perspectives on life, love and what it means to be Missus.
London-based Ryan’s debut sitcom, The Duchess, made its debut in September 2020, immediately leaping to the top of the UK Netflix chart in the wake of her Netflix stand-up specials, 2017’s In Trouble and July 2019’s Glitter Room. She remains the only woman to be given a Netflix global special.
Ryan is a stalwart of British panel shows Would I Lie To You?, 8 Out Of 10 Cats and QI and has appeared on the BBC One series Who Do You Think You Are?.
Tickets for Katherine Ryan’s Missus show go on sale on Friday from 10am at yorkbarbican.co.uk.
MARILLION will play York Barbican on September 21 on their nine-date autumn tour to promote new album An Hour Before It’s Dark.
Tickets will go on sale on Friday at 10am at yorkbarbican.co.uk for the prog rock veterans, who say: “We’re once again looking forward to our shows in September, in conjunction with Kilimanjaro, and we can’t wait to get out there and play the new album to the fans.”
Addressing social, political and personal matters, Marillion “put their finger on the pulse of time” on their March 4 album, whether referencing the last hour of being allowed to play outside as a child before having to go home; the fight against time in relation to the climate crisis or the last minutes in a person’s life.
The poster for Marillion’s September 2022 tour
An Hour Before It’s Dark contemplates the Covid-19 virus, mortality, medical science, care and Leonard Cohen and yet the music is surprisingly upbeat, Marillion’s sound being bolstered by the soulful addition of Choir Noir.
Like its predecessor, 2016’s FEAR (**** Everyone And Run), the new album was recorded at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studio. Those studios also formed the backdrop for a behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of the album and a performance of Murder Machines released in tandem with the record.
Founded in 1979, Marillion have chalked up 20 studio albums over 43 years. In the line-up at York Barbican will be Ian Mosley, Steve Rothery, Steve Hogarth, Pete Trewavas and Mark Kelly.
Fan-tasia : Becky Gee, curator of fine art at York Museums Trust, at the Beyond Bloomsbury: Life, Love & Legacy exhibition at York Art Gallery. Picture: Charlotte Graham
FROM an ice trail to Spring Awakening, a very happy pig in mud to sibling rivalry in a salon, Charles Hutchinson points you in the right direction for days and nights out.
Exhibition opening of the week: Beyond Bloomsbury: Life, Love & Legacy, York Art Gallery, until June 5
YORK Art Gallery’s spring exhibition, in partnership with the National Portrait Gallery and Sheffield Museums, explores the lives and work of the extraordinary Bloomsbury writers, artists and thinkers.
Active in England in the first half of the 20th century, they included the writer and feminist pioneer Virginia Woolf and her sister, the painter Vanessa Bell, as key figures.
On show are more than 60 major loans of oil paintings, sculptures, drawings and photographs by Bell, Dora Carrington, Roger Fry, Duncan Grant, Paul Nash, Gwen Raverat and Ray Strachey, plus four commissions from Sahara Longe, painted in response to the Bloomsbury legacy, and Bloomsbury-inspired murals and fireplaces designed by graphic artist Lydia Caprani.
York Ice Trail: Thrills in chills this weekend
Spectacle of the week: York Ice Trail, today and tomorrow
MAKE IT York and Visit York invite you to “pack your suitcase, grab your passport and embark on a journey around the world” in the return of the York Ice Trail.
Sculptures of solid ice await discovery at 43 locations this weekend, inspired by international cultures and a love of travel. Live carving is promised too.
In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the National Railway Museum has withdrawn its Faberge’s Trans-Siberian Railway Egg in Low Petergate, but a newly added ice sculpture in support of Ukraine will be on display in St Helen’s Square.
Giovanni Pernice: This is him in This Is Me!, on tour at York Barbican on Wednesday
Dance show of the week: Giovanni Pernice: This Is Me!, York Barbican, 7.30pm
AFTER partnering Rose Ayling-Ellis to Glitterball Trophy success in the 2021 series of Strictly Come Dancing, Giovanni Pernice pays homage to the music and dances that inspired his journey from competition dancer to television favourite.
“I just want to try and do something different, something that you haven’t seen before,” says Sicilian stallion Pernice, 31. “I want to challenge myself and show off my hidden talents.” Cue ballroom and Latin dances and more besides. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Peppa Pig in her dressing room, awaiting her call for the Best Day Ever
Children’s show of the week: Peppa Pig’s Best Day Ever, Grand Opera House, York, Wednesday, 1pm and 4pm; Thursday, 10am and 1pm
PEPPA Pig is so excited to be heading off on a special day out with George, Mummy Pig and Daddy Pig in a road trip full of adventures, songs, games and laughter.
From castles to caves, dragons to dinosaurs, ice creams to the obligatory muddy puddles, there will be something for all the family to enjoy. Look out for Miss Rabbit, Mr Bull and Gerald Giraffe too on “the best day ever for Peppa Pig fans”. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or at atgtickets.com/York.
Hair-larious: Buglight Theatre turn the Bronte sisters into salon stylists in Jane Hair
Salon appointment of the week : Buglight Theatre in Jane Hair: The Brontes Restyled, York Theatre Royal, Studio, Thursday, 7.45pm
SIBLING rivalry meets literary debate one explosive evening when stylists Anne, Emily and Charlotte Bronte cut, colour and style while sharing their hopes and dreams in Bradford’s most creative beauty salon.
Buglight Theatre writers Kirsty Smith and Kat Rose-Martin offer this chance to meet the modern-day versions of three determined young women from Yorkshire who set the literary world on fire. For returns only, ring 01904 623568.
Josh Liew and Amy Hawtin: Playing the leads, Melchior Gabor and Wendla Bergman, in Central Hall Musical Society’s Spring Awakening at Theatre@41
Musical of the week: Central Hall Musical Society in Spring Awakening, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Thursday and Friday, 7.30pm; Saturday, 2.30pm, 7.30pm
CENTRAL Hall Musical Society (also known as CHMS, York), from the University of York, present Duncan Sheik and Steven Slater’s 2006 rock musical revamp of a once-banned Frank Wedekind play, directed by Abena Abban.
A group of teenagers in a small German village in 1891 find the oppressive structures upheld by their parents and teachers to be at odds with their own awakening sexuality.
Spring Awakening explores themes of sex, puberty, coming of age and a yearning for a more progressive future, refracting old-fashioned values through a 21st-century lens. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Le Navet Bete’s motley crew of pirates in Treasure Island at York Theatre Royal
Family show of the week; Le Navet Bete in Treasure Island, York Theatre Royal, Thursday, Friday, 7.30pm; Saturday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm.
LAST in York last September to reveal a vampire’ secrets in Dracula: The Bloody Truth, physical comedy company Le Navet Bete now go in search of buried treasure in a swashbuckling family adventure, Treasure Island.
Peepolykus artistic director and writer John Nicholson directs a cast of four, playing 26 characters in a fresh take on Robert Louis Stevenson’s tale laced with contemporary comedic twists, tropical islands, an unusual motley crew of pirates, a parrot called Alexa (straight from the Amazon), a white-bearded fish finger tycoon and unforgettable mermaid. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
David Ford: Living in interesting times at Pocklington Arts Centre on Thursday
Gig of the week outside York: David Ford, Pocklington Arts Centre, Thursday, 8pm
WHAT happens when you shut a creative force in a room for two years? The answer is a tornado blast of a new album from Eastbourne singer-songwriter David Ford documenting the tumultuous events of 2020 and 2021, as he charts the rise of Covid and fall of Trump, although both are still stubbornly refusing to go away.
Ford will air songs from the imminent May You Live In Interesting Times, along with compositions written in two days and recorded in one with American support act Annie Dressner. Look out for their six-track EP on sale at the Pock gig. Box office: 01759 301547 or at pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Michael McIntyre: Road-testing new gags at the Grand Opera House, York
FROM McIntyre to Macbeth, two Aussies to an English celebration, a Ugandan story to a pioneering Welsh icon, Charles Hutchinson spreads his net wide.
Talking point gig of the week: Michael McIntyre: Work In Progress, Grand Opera House, York, Monday, 8pm
COMEDIAN Michael McIntyre will put new material to the test in a “York In Progress” show hastily arranged mid-month for February 28.
Tickets sold out within two hours of going on sale on February 15 for the 45-year-old Londoner’s latest dollops of observational comedy, wherein he turns everyday situations into outpourings of startled exasperation.
The jovial Big Show and The Wheel host previously played a three-night run of Work In Progress gigs at the Grand Opera House in July 2012. For returns only, 0844 871 7615.
Tachia Newall and Jessica Baglow in a masked rehearsal for their roles as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth at Leeds Playhouse
Play of the week outside York: Macbeth, Leeds Playhouse, tonight until March 19
DIRECTOR Amy Leach and designer Hayley Grindle have created a vibrant, raw and visceral vision of Shakespeare’s thrilling tragedy, Macbeth.
Tachia Newall plays the ambitious northern warrior, who does whatever it takes to gain power and, ultimately, the throne, propelled further into darkness by his wife, Jessica Baglow’s Lady Macbeth, whose hands bear witness to her own greed and corruption. Look out for York actress Ashleigh Wilder as one of the witches. Box office: 0113 213 7700 or at leedsplayhouse.org.uk.
She Drew The Gun: Songs decrying corruption, abuse and division at The Crescent, York
York indie gig of the week: She Drew The Gun, The Crescent, York, tonight, 7.30pm
PASSIONATE, principled, and refreshingly plain-spoken, proud socialist, feminist, bi-sexual mother of one Louisa Roach will not be cowed into silence.
As She Drew The Gun, the Wirral singer-songwriter uses punk-infused psych-pop as a vehicle for exposing injustice and for advocating a fairer and more tolerant society.
Written in lockdown and recorded at McCall Sound Studios in Sheffield, latest album Behave Myself decries corruption, abuse and the continued divisions between rich and poor that have only worsened in the pandemic. Annabel Allum supports. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Jason Donovan: So many reasons to celebrate his York Barbican concert
Third time lucky: Jason Donovan, Even More Good Reasons, York Barbican, Monday, 8pm
AFTER postponements in September 2020 and November 2021, Aussie heartthrob Jason Donovan’s 52-date tour to mark the 30th anniversary of his debut album, Ten Good Reasons, is finally happening. That anniversary actually passed as long ago as May 2019 on a faraway pre-pandemic planet!
“Having not done my own live shows for a while, I can’t wait to get out there again among my fans and deliver a new energetic show that is both personal, creative and reflective – something that is both nostalgic and just a good night out,” says the one-time Neighbours soap pin-up turned star of pop, stage musicals and theatre. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Writer-performer John Rwothomack in his one-man show Far Gone at York Theatre Royal Studio
Solo show of the week, John Rwothomack in Far Gone, York Theatre Royal Studio, Thursday and Friday, 7.45pm
WRITTEN and performed by John Rwothomack, Far Gone is set in northern Uganda, where Okumu’s village is attacked by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), changing Okumu and his brother’s lives forever.
The story of a young boy’s journey from childhood innocence to child soldier is seen through the eyes of those that love him and those that betray him, as presented by Ugandan-born, London-trained and Sheffield-based Rwothomack in his debut play as writer and performer, prompted by himself nearly being kidnapped by the LRA guerrilla rebel group.
He explores complex issues of war, religion and power, drawing on the contrast between his experiences as a child in Uganda and as a young black man in Britain, and how perceptions of “Africa” have affected his own narrative. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Tommy Emmanuel: Playing his best “Tommysongs” at the Grand Opera House, York
Guitar virtuoso of the week: Tommy Emmanuel, Grand Opera House, York, March 6, 8pm
LAST seen in Britain performing on the Transatlantic Sessions Tour, Australian guitarist Tommy Emmanuel returns for 13 dates in February and March with dobro master Jerry Douglas as his special guest.
Emmanuel, 66, who improvises big chunks of each concert, will be showcasing The Best Of Tommysongs, a double album of re-recordings of his best original songs from the past 30 years with new modern arrangements.
Angelina, Lewis & Clark, It’s Never Too Late, fan favourites Mombasa and Train To Dusseldorf and new compositions Fuel and Song For A Rainy Morning will be aired in York. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or at atgtickets.com/York.
Simon Wright: Conducting York Guildhall Orchestra’s St George’s Day debut at the JoRo
Bring out the flags: York Guildhall Orchestra, St George’s Day Concert, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, April 23,7.30pm
YORK Guildhall Orchestra and conductor Simon Wright make their Joseph Rowntree Theatre debut with a celebration of patron saint St George in an evening of light music with the spotlight on English composers.
Expect a variety of favourite pieces alongside some lesser-known gems, but not a dragon in sight in this joyful springtime programme. Box office: 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Going Underground: Velvet pioneer John Cale to play York Barbican at 80
Gig announcement of the week: John Cale, York Barbican, July 19
VELVET Underground icon John Cale will play York as the only Yorkshire gig of his seven-date summer tour, his first British itinerary in a decade, with tickets going on sale on Wednesday at 10am.
The Welsh multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer, who turns 80 on March 9, will perform songs from a career that began in classical and avant-garde music before he formed The Velvet Underground with Lou Reed in New York in 1965.
Over six pioneering decades, Cale has released 16 solo studio albums, most recently M:Fans in 2016, while also collaborating with Brian Eno, Patti Smith, The Stooges, Squeeze, Happy Mondays, Siouxsie And The Banshees, Super Furry Animals and Manic Street Preachers. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
TWO Big Egos In A Small Car arts podcasters Graham Chalmers and Charles Hutchinson compare notes on their separate interviewing experiences with Marti Pellow, smarty fellow of pop, ahead of his York Barbican greatest hits show on May 3.
Prompted by his Wet Wet Wet exit, Chalmers & Hutch then discuss famous bands’ substitute singers, from Genesis to AC/DC, Black Sabbath to Buzzcocks.
Plus why Kenneth Branagh’s second Agatha Christie revamp, Death On The Nile, bristles with much more than Poirot’s monumental moustache; Harry Sword’s deep dive of a book on drone music, Monolithic Undertow – In search Of Sonic Oblivion… and a Sting in the tail end.
The Stylistics: “We can’t wait to be back in the UK”
PHILADELPHIA soul veterans The Stylistics will play York Barbican on November 27 on their 27-date autumn tour.
Further Yorkshire dates will follow at Halifax Victoria Theatre on November 29 and Sheffield City on November 30, each starting at 7.30pm.
The Stylistics will tour with founder members Airrion Love and Herb Murrell, both 72, alongside ‘Bo’ Henderson and Jason Sharp.
“We can’t wait to back in the UK performing all our hits, bringing back great memories and having a great evening with you all,” they say.
Formed in 1968 with a line-up of Russell Thompkins Jr, Love, Murrell, James Smith and James Dunn, they notched Seventies’ hits with such harmonious highs as I’m Stone In Love With You, You Make Me Feel Brand New, Let’s Put It All Together, Betcha By Golly Wow, Break Up To Make Up, You’ll Never Get To Heaven (If You Break My Heart) and You Are Everything.
Tickets for the October 28 to December 2 tour go on sale at 9am on Friday on 0844 888 9991 or at ticketline.co.uk. For York, yorkbarbican.co.uk; Sheffield, sheffieldcityhall.co.uk; Halifax, victoriatheatre.co.uk.
The Stylistics, the statistics
Seven Gold albums; five Gold singles; two Double Gold singles; eight Platinum albums; one Double Platinum album; four Platinum singles; Grammy nomination in 1974 for You Make Me Feel Brand New; plaque on Walk Of Fame, Center City, Philadelphia, 1994; inductees into Vocal Group Hall Of Fame, May 2004.
Amy Hall, left, Victoria Delaney and Neil Vincent in masked rehearsals at Southlands Methodist Church for York Settlement Community Players’ production of Woman In Mind. Picture: John Saunders
CLASSIC Ayckbourn, club classics, a homecoming songwriter, a Dracula discovery and choirs galore make Charles Hutchinson’s list of recommendations, any way the wind blows.
Play of the week: York Settlement Community Players in Alan Ayckbourn’s Woman In Mind, York Theatre Royal Studio, tonight (19/2/2022) until February 26, 7.45pm and 2.45pm last-day matinee
HOUSEWIFE Susan’s growing disillusionment with everyday life in her humdrum marriage is brought to a head when she steps on a garden rake and is knocked unconscious.
Such is the impact of her minor concussion, suddenly she finds herself surrounded by the ideal fantasy family, handsomely dressed in tennis whites as they sip champagne.
When her real and imaginary worlds collide, however, those fantasies take on a nightmarish life of their own as Alan Ayckbourn applies both humour and pathos to his 1985 portrait of a woman on the verge. Victoria Delaney, on stage throughout as Susan, leads Angie Millard’s cast. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
James Gaddas: Digging deeper into Bram Stoker’s Dracula in his one-man show at the Grand Opera House, York
So much at stake: James Gaddas in Dracula – One Man’s Search For The Truth, Grand Opera House, York, Monday, 7.30pm
WHEN actor James Gaddas comes across Bram Stoker’s original handwritten copy of Dracula while working on a satellite channel television show, he finds it contains pages never published, leading him to a terrifying discovery.
What if everything we thought we knew was only the beginning? What if it is not so much a story as a warning? What if the legend is real?
Gaddas brings the original version to life before sharing his discovery on a night of one actor, 15 characters and one monumental decision: are some things better left buried? Box office: 0844 871 7615 or at atgtickets.com/York.
Babybird’s Stephen Jones: Revisiting his landmark Ugly Beautiful album in full at Leeds Brudenell Social Club
Yorkshire gig of the week: Babybird, Ugly Beautiful 25th Anniversary, Leeds Brudenell Social Club, February 23, doors, 7.30pm
MARKING the silver anniversary of his smart, piercing pop album Ugly Beautiful and its misunderstood ubiquitous single You’re Beautiful – pay attention to its dark criticism of men’s behaviour beyond the shiny chorus – Babybird is taking to the road for four shows built around that pioneering record. The one he said had “songs to annoy, enjoy and employ God with”.
Up front as ever will be Stephen Jones, 59, the songwriter, singer, musician and novelist who first emerged as a purveyor of low-fi recordings made in his Sheffield bedroom over six years for release in 1995-96. Box office: seetickets.com/event/babybird/Brudenell
Benjamin Francis Leftwich: Heading home to York to perform at The Citadel for the first time. Picture: Harvey Pearson
Homecoming of the week: Benjamin Francis Leftwich, The Citadel, Gillygate, York, February 25, 7.30pm
NOW living in Tottenham, North London, singer-songwriter Benjamin Francis Leftwich heads back home to play The Citadel, his second church gig in York after his sold-out Minster concert in 2019.
Last June he released his fourth album, To Carry A Whale, and he has been song-writing as prolifically as ever since then, so maybe a new number will be aired. Support comes from Elanor Moss and Wounded Bear. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Soul II Soul: Rolling out the Club Classics at York Barbican
Club night of the week: Soul II Soul, Club Classics, York Barbican, February 25, 7.30pm
SOUL II Soul’s postponed York gig comes back to life on Friday, with tickets still valid from the original October 2020 date.
Jazzie B’s London soul, R&B and rap collective will be reviving the vibe of their 1989 number one Back To Life, top five hit Keep On Movin and their debut album Club Classics Vol. One. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
That singing feeling at York Community Choir Festival
On song at large: York Community Choir Festival 2022, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, February 27 to March 5
EIGHT shows, with a different line-up every time, go into York’s celebration of community choral music.
Taking part will be three primary school choirs (Osbaldwick, Robert Wilkinson and Headlands), Huntington Secondary School gents and ladies’ choirs and 30 adult choirs.
Despite there being close to 200 song choices, in only one concert will the same song be sung by two choirs, in very different styles. Each concert ends with everyone singing I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing. Box office: 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Madness: Playing York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend for a second time in July
Under starter’s orders: York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend, Madness, July 22, evening; Sugababes, July 23, late-afternoon
CAMDEN’S Nutty Boys, Madness, are on course for the Music Showcase Weekend for the second time this summer, having first played the Knavesmire track in July 2010.
Once more, Suggs and co will roll out such ska-flavoured music-hall hits as Our House, One Step Beyond, Baggy Trousers, It Must Be Love, House Of Fun and Michael Caine.
The original Sugababes line-up of Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena and Siobhán Donaghy will perform chart toppers as Freak Like Me, Round Round, Hole In The Head and Push The Button and plenty more. The London girl group last played York in a Barbican Centre show in 2003. For race-day tickets, go to: yorkracecourse.co.uk
Guvnor’s rules: Al Murray puts the world to rights through the bottom of an English glass or two in the Pub Landlord’s new tirade, Gig For Victory
Bar-room bawl: Al Murray, The Pub Landlord, Gig For Victory, Grand Opera House, York, September 1, 7.30pm
THE Guvnor, Al Murray, sets off on his 86-date tour on February 24 and will still be having a word on November 13. York will play host to the first show after a summer re-charge for the Pub Landlord, whose Gig for Victory agenda promises answers to questions that the “men and women of this great country never knew existed”.
“Who better to show the way than the people’s man of the people, steeped in the deep and ancient bar-room wisdom of countless slock-ins,” says Murray, ever ready to offer a full pint of the good stuff to a nation thirsty for common sense. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or at atgtickets.com/York.
Terpsichorean twirlers Anton du Beke and Erin Boag toast their return to the dancefloor in their first tour since early 2020
LONGSTANDING, long-dancing ballroom couple Anton du Beke and Erin Boag are reunited in Showtime at York Barbican tomorrow night (18/2/2022).
After a fallow 2021, when the pandemic put paid to their tour plans, the Strictly Come Dancing alumni have been on the road since January 28 this winter, playing 30 dates that will take in further shows in Yorkshire at Hull New Theatre on February 22 and 23.
“Not only 2021 was lost,” says Strictly judge Anton. “We lost shows in 2020 as well; we were into the last week of our tour, when were going to play York and then go onto Scotland, so it’s been a while since we danced together.”
Sevenoaks-born Anton, 55, and New Zealander Erin, 46, are taking to the dance floor in Showtime, a “glittering tribute to some of the world’s greatest icons of entertainment”: Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Charlie Chaplin, Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones, Liza Minelli, Elton John and more besides.
Glittering tribute: Anton and Erin are ready to dazzle in Showtime
Returning to dancing after sitting down through the 2021 series of Strictly on the judging panel, Anton says: “To be honest with you. it’s been like ‘wow, I only feel like I’m 28’ because there’s a lot of experience to fall back on.
“We did a few special shows at the back end of last year, like one night in Leeds, where we were only there to do a couple of numbers, and my biggest concern was ‘would the suit still fit’. It did! Then Erin asked, ‘would you do up my zip’, and her dress fitted perfectly too.”
Erin says: “I’m fit! There aren’t many dancers at my age still going strong, but I am, though I’m not the same [dancer] as I was 20 years ago – or even two years ago. But keeping fit is the easiest part. The hardest part is the technical side, but I’ve been really looking forward to the tour as I don’t think anyone will notice that!
“Maybe adrenaline can get you through the first few shows and the presence of an audience can do that too, as well as working with people again, performing with a big orchestra. It’s all about the enjoyment of getting back to dancing again.”
“It’s all about the enjoyment of getting back to dancing again,” says Erin Boag
Six months of preparation have gone into Showtime, a show produced by Raymond Gubbay that combines the dazzle of ballroom couple Anton and Erin with “stunning costumes, fabulous live vocals, a high-energy dance ensemble and a sensational 23-piece orchestra”.
“We have a new sound company working with us, great lighting and costumes,” says Anton. “When there has been no shows, it’s been so much more than Erin and me not being able to put on a show. No shows means no frocks, no work for sound engineers. That’s why it’s important that now that shows are back, the message is clear that people can feel safe to come into a theatre.
“It’s also important that people work harder to make the experience enjoyable, with venues going the extra mile. We get that venues need to be safe, but their job is to make it enjoyable within the safety guidelines. Don’t be officious, be welcoming!”
Anton And Erin in Showtime, York Barbican, tomorrow (18/2/2022), 7.30pm; Hull New Theatre, February 22 and 23, 7.30pm. Box office: York, yorkbarbican.co.uk; Hull, hulltheatres.co.uk.
