Coming to terms with loss: Alexa Chaplin ‘s Annie in York Musical Theatre Company’s Calendar Girls The Musical. All pictures: Gareth Jenkins *
WRITTEN by two Honorary Yorkshiremen from the Wirral, friends-since-schooldays Tim Firth and Gary Barlow, Calendar Girls The Musical plays an immediate crowd-pleasing ace card by opening with a song called Yorkshire.
Premiered under the name The Girls at Leeds Grand Theatre in 2015 and first staged in York by York Stage Musicals at the Grand Opera House in 2022, the show now plays out against All In One Productions’ photographic scenery of the rolling Yorkshire Dales at their most green and pleasant pastured. In front is a dry stone wall with a gate. You can almost smell the ‘Yorkshireness’ of it all.
Welcome to director-choreographer Kathryn Addison’s production for York Musical Theatre Company, with musical director John Atkin in the pit to conduct a band wherein Rosie Morris’s piano is to the fore (as to be expected when Take That keyboardist Gary Barlow is the composer), complemented by Cameron McArthur’s keys and guitar, Paul McArthur’s bass, Andy Jennings’ percussion and the emotive Yorkshire brass of Ross Simpson’s trumpet and Martin Farmery’s trombone.
From the Yorkshire-wide grin of that opening number, Firth and Barlow then introduce ‘The Girls’, the Knapely Women’s Institute members who will go on to pose for the fundraising artistic nude calendar that launched so many doppelgangers.
Eve Clark’s Jenny
The new WI chairwoman Marie (Andrea Copeland) may be old-school, all Jam and Jerusalem, dull guest speakers and duller regulations, but as second song Mrs Conventional establishes, these girls can be unconventional, especially Katie Melia’s rebellious Chris, whose sparky individuality so attracted husband Rod (Jack Hooper), who runs a flower shop.
However, the sunshine dims when John ‘Clarkey’ Clarke (Peter Melia), National Park officer, gardener and sunflower-loving husband of best friend Annie (Alexa Chaplin), is diagnosed, spoiler alert, with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Struggling to come to terms with the impending loss of this gentle, gregarious giant, Chaplin’s Annie delivers a beautiful rendition of Barlow and lyricist Firth’s outstanding number, Scarborough, with its devastating closing lyric: “And who will protect me/While telling me lies/If you’re not here.”
Those lines are typical of the observant golden touch of Firth, whose script judges perfectly what the crescendo should be (the stripping off one by one for the calendar), while also introducing three teenage children (James Hepworth’s Danny, Eve Clark’s Jenny and Frankie Jackson’s Tommo), who show another side to their parents.
Alison Taylor’s Ruth performing My Russian Friend And I
Firth applies the right balance of pathos, sadness, northern humour and bloody-minded defiance, the tears and the cheers, all heightened by the piano-led storytelling songs that show off another side to Barlow’s songwriting in modern musical set-pieces such as Yorkshire, the carol-singing Who Wants A Silent Night (led by Amy Greene’s Cora at the piano) and Sunflower, (fronted by Melia’s Chris).
Barlow’s mastery of balladry is affirmed by Chaplin’s performances of not only Scarborough but also Very Slightly Almost and Kilimanjaro, while Firth’s lyrics lend exuberant humour to So I’ve Had A Little Word Done, the big, brassy, belter for Sarah Brown’s Celia, then a darker sting to vodka-swilling Ruth’s My Russian Friend And I, sung with confessional candour by Alison Taylor, bordering on self-loathing.
Melia and Chaplin bring out all sides of Chris and Annie’s friendship, the light and the shade, the highs and the lows , the contrasting temperaments, the fun and the fall-outs, the grief and the renewal. Around them, Greene’s Cora, Brown’s Celia, Taylor’s Ruth, Copeland’s Marie and the ever-wonderful Sandy Nicholson’s former teacher Jessie savour their moment in the spotlight.
So too does Nicola Dawson in her cameo as Knapely show judge Lady Cravenshire, Janie Woolgar’s ill-fated WI lecturer, Brenda Hulse, and Paula Stainton and Samantha Cole’s two Miss Wilsons, a double act forever offering pots of tea and coffee.
Kate Melia’s Chris and Jack Hooper’s Rod in York Musical Theatre Company’s Calendar Girls The Musical
Peter Melia’s John is affable, phlegmatic, humorous, even in the face of a terminal illness, while Jack Hooper’s Rod delivers two homespun homilies on love and marriage that will make even a cynic go all warm and fuzzy.
Hepworth’s disgraced head boy Danny and Clark’s wayward schoolgirl Jenny, who leads him astray, delight in their awkward teenage journey of discovery, joined by Jackson’s ever-cheeky, work-shy Tommo.
No less awkward is Joe Marucci’s Lawrence, the shy photographer who suggests how the traditions of the WI – knitting, baking, piano playing, flower arranging – should be adapted for the calendar shoot featuring the ladies of Knapely in all manner of shapely.
Aside from some technical difficulties with the sound, Wednesday’s opening night reaffirmed what a wonderful celebration of community, Yorkshire, life, flowers, love, humour, humanity and the power of song Calendar Girls remains.
York Musical Theatre Company in Calendar Girls The Musical, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tonight, 7.30pm; tomorrow, 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Box office: 01904 501935 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
In full bloom: Kathryn Addison’s cast in the finale to Calendar Girls The Musical at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre
* Photographer Gareth Jenkins
BASED in Kirkbymoorside, Gareth is “always happy to photograph creative events at no charge”. Any arts organisation in need of a photographer can contact him on 07875 018888 or 01751 430116.
The full cast in John Cleese’s Fawlty Towers The Play, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Hugo Glendinning
FROM the hotel shenanigans of Fawlty Towers to the uplifting Yorkshire tale of Calendar Girls, Pixies’ 40th anniversary tour to Daniel Sloss’s bitter comic bite, Charles Hutchinson locates cultural hotspots aplenty.
Don’t mention the war: John Cleese’s Fawlty Towers: The Play, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm today, tomorrow and Saturday matinees
FIFTY years since John Cleese and Connie Booth’s chaotic hotel sitcom graced British television screens, Monty Python alumnus Cleese has adapted three vintage Fawlty Towers episodes for a stage play.
Following a sold-out West End season, Caroline Jay Ranger directs the 18-strong tour cast featuring Danny Byrne’s calamitous Basil Fawlty, Mia Austen’s exasperated wife Sybil, Joanne Clifton’s stoical chamber maid Polly and Paul Nicholas’s bumbling Major. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Pixies: Making their York debut after 40 years tonight
Recommended but sold out already: Pixies: Pixies 40, Celebrating 40 Years, York Barbican, tonight, doors 7pm
PIXIES are playing York for the first time in their 40-year career, opening the 13-date British and European leg of the Pixies 40 tour at the Barbican, the only Yorkshire show. Celebrating four decades since their formation in Boston, Massachusetts, the American alt.rock band’s founding members, Black Francis, Joey Santiago and David Lovering, are joined by bassist Emma Richardson. Gans support.
Jerron Paxton: Singing the blues at NCEM tonight
The Crescent and Brudenell Presents present Jerron Paxton, National Centre for Early Music, York, tonight, 8pm
SOUTH Central Los Angeles-born singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jerron Paxton’s lived-in voice and California drawl underpin a stripped-down concoction of blues, ragtime, folk and old-time Black music styles that originated nearly a century ago, as heard on his latest album, Things Done Changed, released on Smithsonian Folkways in 2024.
“I write and sing about the culture I come from. It seems a bit neglected,” says New York-based Paxton, who plays guitar, banjo, piano and violin. As journalist Lynell George expresses in the liner notes: “It’s all there…you’ll discover context and background: the history of people and place and the come-what-may gamble of life-altering journeys.” Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
Sandy Nicholson, front, left, Katie Melia and Alexa Chaplin in rehearsal for York Musical Theatre Company’s Calendar Girls The Musical
Yorkshire musical of the week: York Musical Theatre Company in Calendar Girls The Musical, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tonight to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
KATHRYN Addison directs York Musical Theatre Company in Cheshire childhood friends Gary Barlow and Tim Firth’s musical account of the true story of a Yorkshire group of ordinary Women’s Institute members doing something extraordinary after the death of a much-loved husband.
When they decide to make an artistic nude calendar for a cancer charity, upturning preconceptions is a dangerous business, leading to emotional and personal ramifications that no-one could anticipate but bringing each woman unexpectedly into flower. Katie Melia’s Chris and Alexa Chaplin’s Annie lead the cast. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Dan Crawfurd-Porter in the role of Melchior in Inspired By Theatre’s Spring Awakening. Picture: Dan Crawfurd-Porter
American musical of the week: Inspired By Theatre in Spring Awakening, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
YORK company Inspired By Theatre marks the 20th anniversary of Spring Awakening’s off-Broadway debut in New York City by staging Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater’s raw, explosive coming-of-age musical in the matching week.
Cutting straight to the heart of youth, desire, repression and rebellion in 1890s’ Germany, Mikhail Lim’s actor-musician production follows a group of young people navigating sex, love and identity in a society that refuses to educate or protect them, drawing on German Expressionism and folkloric imagery to boot. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
1812 Theatre Company’s poster for Goodnight Mister Tom at Helmsley Arts Centre
Ryedale play of the week: 1812 Theatre Company in Goodnight Mister Tom, Helmsley Arts Centre, tonight until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
JULIE Wilson directs Helmsley Arts Centre’s resident troupe, 1812 Theatre Company, in Goodnight Mister Tom. Adapted by David Wood from Michelle Magorian’s novel, the play is set during the Second World War, when sad, young William Beech is evacuated to the idyllic English countryside and builds a remarkable and moving friendship with the elderly recluse Tom Oakley. All seems perfect until William is devastatingly summoned by his mother back to London. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Crumb of discomfort: Can castigated TV baking celebrity Petronella Parfait (Ellen Carnazza) mount a comeback in Badapple Theatre’s Crumbs? Picture: Karl Andre Photography
Bake-off of the week: Badapple Theatre Company in Crumbs, York Theatre Royal Studio, today until Saturday, 7,45pm, plus 2.30pm Thursday & Friday and 2pm Saturday matinees
FORMER TV baking celebrity Petronella Parfait is out of a job and out of her depth, trying to reinvent herself in the cut-throat world of social influencers. Can she keep the lights – and the oven – on as her live comeback show descends into delicious disaster? Expect big laughs, bold flavours, live bread making and a tasty treat for the audience at the end of Kate Bramley’s play as Green Hammerton’s Badapple Theatre Company returns to the Theatre Royal Studio. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Daniel Sloss: Acidic comedy at York Barbican tomorrow
Snappiest show title of the week gig of the week: Daniel Sloss, Bitter, York Barbican, tomorrow, 8pm
ACERBIC Scottish wit Daniel Sloss likes to keep his titles brief. After Jigsaw, Dark, X, Socio, Hubris, Now and Can’t, Sloss is Bitter in his 13th tour show, visiting York this weekend after playing 55 countries so far.
He has performed stand-up for more than half of his lifetime, sold out nine New York theatre seasons off-Broadway, appeared on the Conan show ten times on American television, broken Edinburgh Fringe box-office records and published his book Everyone You Hate Is Going To Die (Knopf/Penguin Random House) in 2021. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
The Wizard of York welcoming one and all to the magical WizardFest in York. Picture: The Story Of You
Magical event of the week: WizardFest, York, May 23 to 25
WIZARDFEST, York’s official Festival of Wizardry, waves its magic wand over the Spring Bank Holiday weekend as The Wizard of York conjures up spellbinding events, tours, trails, workshops, shows and fantastical food and drink.
Wizardry fans can book for the Wizard Walk of York, Brick Magic LEGO workshop, Wizard Family Rave, Giant Bubble Show or Wicked at City Screen Picturehouse. Expect owl appearances, dragons and the new Wizard Activity Zone on Parliament Street with wand making, face painting and more. Dress to impress for the free fancy dress parade from St Helen’s Square on Monday at 3pm. A digital map and full list of events with booking links can be found at wizardwalkofyork.com/wizardfest.
The Lightning Threads: Playing Ryedale Blues Club at Milton Rooms, Malton
Blues gig of the week: Ryedale Blues Club presents The Lightning Threads, Milton Rooms, Malton, May 28, 8pm
FORMED in 2019, The Lightning Threads are an energetic electronic blues-rock power trio from Sheffield, influenced by The Black Keys, Gary Clark Jr, Cream and The Doors. They feature face-melting guitars, groove-ridden basslines and a multi-instrumentalist drummer simultaneously playing keys. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Katie Melia’s Chris, centre, and Alexa Chaplin’s Annie, right, in rehearsal with Sandy Nicholson’s Jessie in York Musical Theatre Company’s Calendar Girls The Musical
KATHYRN Addison is directing York Musical Theatre Company in Cheshire childhood friends Gary Barlow and Tim Firth’s musical account of a thoroughly Yorkshire true story, Calendar Girls, from Wednesday to Saturday at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York.
After the death of a much-loved husband, aYorkshire Dales group of Women’s Institute ordinary women decides to do an extraordinary thing. Led by Katie Melia’s Chris and Alexa Chaplin’s Annie, the friends vow to make an artistic nude calendar for a cancer charity, but discover that upturning preconceptions is a dangerous business, leading to emotional and personal ramifications that no-one could anticipate.
Yet their bold front brings each woman unexpectedly into flower in a tale that became a global phenomenon, spawning a million copycat calendars, Nigel Cole’s 2003 record-breaking film, Tim Firth’s stage play and Firth and Barlow’s musical (premiered under the title The Girls at Leeds Grand Theatre in November 2015).
Matching Chris and Annie’s friendship, Katie and Alexa have been friends since 2010. “We met when appearing in York Light Opera Company’s Crazy For You,” says Katie.
“We last worked together in Disenchanted, doing it for the second time last October,” says Alexa. “That time it was for Steve Coates Music Productions, which was cast and directed by Katie. We both played the same parts that we did for Pick Me Up Theatre [Katie’s Snow White and Alexa’s Cinderella] and got two of the original Princesses back, having first done it with Robert Readman in 2016. We’ve done such shows as Little Shop Of Horrors and Oliver!, and Calendar Girls must be about our seventh show together.”
Calendar Girls The Musical director Kathryn Addison
It turns out that Katie and Alexa are no strangers to a state of deshabille on stage. “We did Gypsy with Robert for Pick Me Up as two of the three strippers,” recalls Katie. “Neither of us had very much on in that one.”
Alexa was “very keen” to do Calendar Girls. Katie was “umming and ahhing”. “But only because it’s my 40th birthday on the Sunday after the show finishes, but when I realised who was going to be doing it, I thought, ‘I can’t miss out as it’s an amazing show with amazing people in it, like Alexa’.”
Addison’s cast also will feature Katie’s husband, who has stepped in to replace Ryan Stocks in the role of Annie’s husband, John Clarke. “That’s brilliant because they’ve been friends for 16 years,” says Katie, whose husband in Calendar Girls, Rod, will be played by Jack Hooper.
“It does help in this show because they’re such long-standing friendships, and we have to build something authentic and believable,” says Alexa.
Analysing her character Chris, Katie says: “She’s the more happy-go-lucky and feisty of the two, and she’s definitely Annie’s right-hand woman, keeping her grounded. She’s there as her relief, her support, her friend, with everything that Annie’s going through with losing her husband.
Alexa Chaplin’s Annie, front, in the rehearsal room for Kathryn Addison’s production
“You also see the vulnerable side of Chris through the struggles of her son, where she wants him to be everything she isn’t, but feels she is losing control of him because he’s being led astray by this rebellious girl when he’s on the path to be head boy.”
Assessing Annie’s character, Alexa says: “It’s a really emotional role. This is the most real character I’ve ever played and the most touching, and that’s quite a responsibility, but it’s also a fantastic stage role and I’ve been really enjoying the acting challenge of Annie being more of an introvert than Katie’s Chris, where she responds to Chris’s energy and humour. They’re quite a counterpart to each other, and above all Annie has to carry the show’s emotional load.”
Alexa lost a close friend to cancer. “But even without that, I’m moved sentimentally and empathetically by the music, so I find it very moving, because the script and lyrics are so well written,” she says.
“In the face of something tragic, you do still have to go to the supermarket and cook meals. It’s brilliantly observed [by Tim Firth] with ordinary life motoring on, amid the tragedy, with all the undercutting of emotion with wry quips being so Yorkshire.”
Katie adds: “John will make a quip at the most emotional moment, which is so relatable because that’s how we react to loss or pre-emptive loss.”
York Musical Theatre Company’s cast for Calendar Girls The Musical. Peter Melia will be replacing Ryan Stocks in the role of John Clarke
At the epicentre of Calendar Girls is the photo-shoot for the nude calendar. “I had a wobble a few weeks ago because of the reality of what’s required. You agree to do the show, knowing you will have to strip, then rehearsing in a dressing gown, but you’re aware there’ll be no clothing beneath that dressing gown when you get on stage!
“You also know that Chris is the one who champions doing the calendar and she’s the one who won’t be protected by props. I’ll just have some strategically placed ‘bunting’. I have to walk to the front of the stage, which I’d forgotten , so when it was all laid out to me, I thought, ‘I can’t do this’. At which point [husband] Peter said, ‘you signed up for it, it’s too late to back out now’!
“The thing is, the audience will not be judging on body type. It’s all about female empowerment.”
Alexa’s Annie will be “comfortably hidden behind watering cans and pot plants”. “Working together, it’s about thinking about sight lines and making everyone feel comfortable with the props and the solidarity of all doing it together: that teamwork and moral support,” she says.
York Musical Theatre Company’s line-up of Women’s Institute members for the Calendar Girls calendar
Katie adds: “We’ll be responsible for each other’s props for the photo shoot, so we’ve run the scene many times, thinking about ‘bigger buns’ or whatever. It’s not salacious or about ‘being sexy’. It’s about real women getting their kit off for a good cause – and we’ll have safety in numbers, where you can cover your ‘major modesty’!”
“And thankfully, unlike the original Calendar Girls, we will not be in the papers,” notes Alexa.
Addison’s directorial style will see Calendar Girls being ‘stripped back’ too, like a Yorkshire dry stone wall. “”It feels even more real because there’ll be no ‘jazz hands’,” says Katie.
York Musical Theatre Company in Calendar Girls The Musical, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Wednesday to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Christopher Cross: Sailing into York Barbican tonight
FROM the hotel shenanigans of Fawlty Towers to the uplifting Yorkshire tale of Calendar Girls, Pixies’ 40th anniversary tour to Daniel Sloss’s bitter comic bite, Charles Hutchinson locates cultural hotspots aplenty.
Grammy winner of the week: Christopher Cross, supported by Chris Difford, York Barbican, tonight, doors 7pm
AMERICAN singer-songwriter Christopher Cross plays York Barbican as the only Yorkshire venue on his nine-date UK tour. The multi-Grammy-winning artist, from San Antonio, Texas, now 75, is best known for Sailing, Ride Like The Wind and Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do). His special guest will be Chris Difford, co-founder of Squeeze. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Ebor Singers soloists Alisun Russell Pawley, top, left, Caroline Smith, Jason Darnell, bottom, left, and Jonty Ward
Classical concert of the week: Ebor Singers & Manchester Baroque, Baroque Gala Concert, Dixit Dominus, York Minster, tonight, 7,30pm
THE Ebor Singers unite with period instrument specialists Manchester Baroque to perform Purcell, Handel and Bach works in tonight’s two-hour Baroque Gala Concert in York Minster’s Quire. The soloists will be Alisun Russell Pawley (soprano), Caroline Smith (mezzo-soprano), Jason Darnell (tenor) and Jonty Ward (bass-baritone). Box office: 01904 557200 or yorkminster.org.
Tom Stade: Canadian mischief-maker
Mischievous comedy gig of the week: Tom Stade, Naughty By Nature, Helmsley Arts Centre, tonight, 8pm
CANADIAN stand-up Tom Stade is back on the road with his 2025 Edinburgh Fringe hit, wherein he playfully dishes out more of his insightful observations in a night of mischievous and uncompromising comedy. His credits include the Have A Word Pod podcast, Channel 4’s Comedy Gala, Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow, The John Bishop Show and Live At The Apollo. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Willy Mason: Songs full of heart, philosophy and hope for humanity. Picture: Ebru Yildiz
The Crescent & Brudenell Presents gig of the week: Willy Mason, National Centre for Early Music, York, tomorrow, 6.30pm (doors 6pm)
MARTHA’S Vineyard, Massachusetts singer-songwriter Willy Mason has been writing, recording and touring for 25 years, ever since his home demo of breakout single Oxygen became an unexpected hit. Treading a meandering path, he frequently shuns the limelight in favour of odd jobs and unexpected company.
When he does appear, however, it is always worth the wait to hear songs full of heart, philosophy and hope for humanity that draw on a deep well of melody and story passed on from songwriter parents. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/1173675325.
Chris McCausland: “Doing comedy for Yonks”
Scouse humour of the week: Chris McCausland, Yonks, Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow, 8pm
YOU might have spotted him latterly on Strictly Come Dancing (2024 winner, no less), Would I Lie To You, Have I Got News For You, QI, Blankety Blank or The Last Leg, but this is no overnight success story. Liverpool humorist Chris McCausland has been doing comedy for Yonks. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Jonny Best: Leading Frame Ensemble at Magic and Motion: Georges Méliès and Buster Keaton In Concertat NCEM. Picture: Chris Payne
Film event of the week: Magic and Motion: Georges Méliès and Buster Keaton In Concert, with Frame Ensemble, National Centre for Early Music, York, May 19, 7.30pm
STEP into the cinematic dreamworlds of George Méliès and Buster Keaton with the improvised, spontaneous music of Northern Silents’ resident quartet Frame Ensemble (Jonny Best, piano, Susannah Simmons, violin, Liz Hanks,cello, and Trevor Bartlett, percussion) as two pioneers of visual fantasy meet in a specially created cine‑concert.
French filmmaker and actor Méliès’s technical ingenuity in his extravagant Théâtre Robert‑Houdin illusion shows in Paris carried cinema beyond the simple recording of everyday life, opening up its magical possibilities. A quarter of a century later, in 1924’s Sherlock Jr., vaudeville performer Buster Keaton plays a humble projectionist who steps into the film he is showing, tumbling through a world where the laws of physics yield to the imagination. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
Paul Nicholas as the Major in John Cleese’s Fawlty Towers: The Play
Don’t mention the war: John Cleese’s Fawlty Towers: The Play, Grand Opera House, York, May 19 to 23, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees
FIFTY years since John Cleese and Connie Booth’s chaotic hotel sitcom graced British television screens, Monty Python alumnus Cleese has adapted three vintage Fawlty Towers episodes for a stage play.
Following a sold-out West End season, Caroline Jay Ranger directs the 18-strong tour cast featuring Danny Byrne’s calamitous Basil Fawlty, Mia Austen’s exasperated wife Sybil, Joanne Clifton’s stoical chamber maid Polly and Paul Nicholas’s bumbling Major. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Pixies: Making York debut after 40 years
Recommended but sold out already: Pixies: Pixies 40, Celebrating 40 Years, York Barbican, May 20, doors 7pm
PIXIES are playing York for the first time in their 40-year career, opening the 13-date British and European leg of the Pixies 40 tour at the Barbican, the only Yorkshire show. Celebrating four decades since their formation in Boston, Massachusetts, the American alt.rock band’s founding members, Black Francis, Joey Santiago and David Lovering, are joined by bassist Emma Richardson. Gans support.
In full bloom: York Musical Theatre Company in the sunflower-power musical Calendar Girls
Yorkshire musical of the week: York Musical Theatre Company in Calendar Girls The Musical, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, May 20 to 23, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
KATHRYN Addison directs York Musical Theatre Company in Cheshire childhood friends Gary Barlow and Tim Firth’s musical account of the true story of a Yorkshire group of ordinary Women’s Institute members doing something extraordinary after the death of a much-loved husband.
When they decide to make an artistic nude calendar for a cancer charity, upturning preconceptions is a dangerous business, leading to emotional and personal ramifications that no-one could anticipate but bringing each woman unexpectedly into flower. Katie Melia’s Chris and Alexa Chaplin’s Annie lead the cast. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Skye Pickford’s Ilse in Inspired By Theatre’s Spring Awakening. Picture: Dan Crawfurd-Porter
American musical of the week: Inspired By Theatre in Spring Awakening, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, May 20 to 23, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
YORK company Inspired By Theatre marks the 20th anniversary of Spring Awakening’s off-Broadway debut in New York City by staging Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater’s raw, explosive coming-of-age musical in the matching week.
Cutting straight to the heart of youth, desire, repression and rebellion in 1890s’ Germany, Mikhail Lim’s actor-musician production follows a group of young people navigating sex, love and identity in a society that refuses to educate or protect them, drawing on German Expressionism and folkloric imagery to boot. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Daniel Sloss: Acidic comedy at York Barbican
Snappiest show title of the week gig of the week: Daniel Sloss, Bitter, York Barbican, May 21, 8pm
ACERBIC Scottish wit Daniel Sloss likes to keep his titles brief. After Jigsaw, Dark, X, Socio, Hubris, Now and Can’t, Sloss is Bitter in his 13th tour show, visiting York this weekend after playing 55 countries so far.
He has performed stand-up for more than half of his lifetime, sold out nine New York theatre seasons off-Broadway, appeared on the Conan show ten times on American television, broken Edinburgh Fringe box-office records and published his book Everyone You Hate Is Going To Die (Knopf/Penguin Random House) in 2021. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Freida Nipples: Baps & Buns Burlesque bounces into view once more at Rise at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb
Freida Nipples presents: Baps & Buns Burlesque, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, May 22, 8pm, doors 7pm
JOIN York’s burlesque queen, Freida Nipples, for a night of cabaret, drag, comedy and beyond at her latest Rise residency. Hosted by Ebony Silk, Friday’s bill features Sucre A La Creme, Cherie Bebe, Molly Ouse, Kiwi Adore and Freida herself. Box office: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/baps-buns-burlesque-tickets-1987497655991
Cheesy humour at Scarcroft Alllotments: Mikron Theatre Company’s James McLean, left, and Robert Took in Wensleydale Whey
In Focus: Mikron Theatre Company in Wensleydale Whey, Scarcroft Allotments, Scarcroft Road, York, Sunday (17/5/2026), 2pm to 4pm
IN its 54th year of touring, Marsden’s Mikron Theatre Company will be conducting the Grate Cheese Quest in Lucy Raine’s new play Wensleydale Whey.
On the road and water until October 24, this legen-dairy tale will transport audiences to the Yorkshire Dales, where the stakes are high. Monks from the Abbey are desperately seeking a living soul to resurrect their traditional Wensleydale cheese.
Raine’s fromage-fuelled musical journey delves into the rich history of cheese, featuring a whey-out cast of characters, ghosts, and grievances. True to Mikron’s signature style, the show promises a gouda time with a cheesy plot and a sprinkle of drama.
Artistic director Marianne McNamara says: “2026 is a milestone year for Mikron. The company remains one of the UK’s most prolific touring theatre companies, performing over 5,000 shows since 1972 by canal, river and road.
“We’re all big foodies here at Mikron, so a pitch for a show about cheese is not a hard sell for writer Lucie [who also wrote Mikron’s show Hush Hush last year]!”
Over five decades, Mikron has been delivering professional theatre to 137 different venues annually, from allotments and fish & chip shops to pubs, village greens and even the odd theatre.
Wensleydale Whey’s cast of actor-musicians James McLean, Georgina Liley, Robert Took and Catherine Warnock is directed by Elvi Pipe, with musical direction and arrangements of Amal El-Sawad’s original music by Robert Cooper and set and costume design by Celia Perkins.
BASED in Marsden, West Yorkshire, Mikron travels the country by van and narrow-boat [called Tyseley]. Over 54 years, the company has performed thousands of times to nearly half a million people.
Mikron is famous for performing in unconventional venues, including youth hostels, lifeboat stations and hives.
A significant portion of Mikron’s performances remain “pay what you feel” to ensure theatre remains accessible to everyone.
In Focus too: Pocklington Area Open Studios, today and tomorrow, 10am to 5pm
CREATIVES from around the heart of East Yorkshire are opening their doors to the public for a weekend celebration of the arts.
Pocklington Area Open Studios (PAOS) has rapidly become one of the premier events of its kind, this year featuring 30 artists at 19 locations, drawing visitors from far and wide.
This weekend’s art trail celebrates quality craftsmanship in its many forms, including painting, ceramics, printmaking, textiles, jewellery, sculpture and photography.
Visitors can meet a diverse and welcoming group of makers and painters in person, many in their own studios and creative surroundings.
Printed free brochures are available from The Feathers Hotel and Costa Coffee in Market Place, Pocklington, as well as shops, cafes and libraries and from participating artists.
The brochure and venue map can be downloaded at https://www.pocklingtonareaopenstudios.co.uk/info.html.
Bull: “Reverse headlining” Sunday’s bill at the By The Blue Bridge Festival on the Arts Barge
First published on May 17 2025
AS the Arts Barge launches a new season and Mikron head to an allotment, Charles Hutchinson welcomes signs of the summer season ahead.
Festival of the week: By The Blue Bridge, Arts Barge, Foss Basin, York, today (17/5/2025) and tomorrow
BULL bassist, illustrator and designer Kai West and Rowan & Friends curator and frontman Rowan Evans launch the Arts Barge’s 2025 season with the By The Blue Bridge festival of music and art.
Today features free workshops from 11am to 2pm, including Water Poetry with Becca Drake, Digital Plotting with Des Clarke and a Sound Workshop led by a collective from the Hague. Musical acts from 3pm will be Sinead Una, Rowan & Friends, Captain Starlet, Gaia Blandina, Slagroom, Des Clarke, Gabriella Hunzinger and The Rattlers.
Sunday’s theme is “Folky and Weird”, kicking off with an open-mic session from 12 noon to 2pm, followed by “reverse headliners” Bull at 4pm, plus Oli, We Are Hannah, Mugwort, Kirk, Big Rain In The Morning, The Caterpillars and headliners Milkweed. Box office https://wegottickets.com/f/13779/.
Bella Gaffney: The Magpies’ folk musician plays solo at Rise@Bluebird Bakery tonight. Picture: Esme Mai
Folk gig of the week: Bella Gaffney, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, tonight (17/5/2025), 7.30pm
FOLK troubadour and guitarist Bella Gaffney, one third of The Magpies, weaves together original compositions and traditional tunes from British folk and Americana traditions, as heard on her 2023 album Reflections. Support act Jake Robinson sings soulful interpretations of folk classics and jazz-inspired originals. Box office: eventbrite.com/e/bella-gaffney.
This summer, The Magpies will be hosting their annual festival at Sutton Park, Sutton on the Forest, near York, on August 8 and 9. Tickets are on sale at themagpiesfestival.co.uk.
Mikron Theatre Company actor-musicians Georgina Liley, left, James McLean, Robert Took and Catherine Warnock in Operation Beach Hut, on tour at Scarcroft Allotments, York, on Sunday. Picture: Robling Photography
Outdoor entertainment of the week: Mikron Theatre Company in Operation Beach Hut, Scarcroft Allotments, Scarcroft Road, York, Sunday (18/5/2025), 2pm
HARVEY Badger’s Operation Beach Hut whisks Sunday afternoon’s audience away to the golden sands of Fiddling-On-Sea for the annual Best Beach Hut competition as stressed-out city dweller seeks solace by the sea. As the competition day draws closer, the history of the seaside floats to the surface, washing up a host of characters and stories from centuries gone by. Soon Holly realises far more is at stake than a prize for best beach hut.
Marianne McNamara’s cast of four actor-musicians, Georgina Liley, Robert Took, Catherine Warnock and returnee James McLean, combine Marsden company Mikron’s theatrical trademarks of storytelling, original songs and live music with the guarantee of a whale of a time. No tickets required; a pay-what –you-feel collection will be taken post-show.
Harry Hill: New Bits & Greatest Hits shake up the Grand Opera Houseon Sundayfun day
Get on board the laughter train: Harry Hill, New Bits & Greatest Hits, Grand Opera House, York, Sunday (18/5/2025), 7.30pm
JOIN Harry Hill on his on his Diamond Jubilee lap of honour in celebration of 60 glorious years of fun, laughter and low-level disruption. Marvel as he offers new insights into the hot topics of the day from the culture wars to the origins of Tiramisu.
Guffaw with delight as big-collared Harry delves into his back catalogue, using his patented Old Bit Randomiser tom reactivate old favourites. Look out for son Gary, Stouffer The Cat, the Badger Parade with guest appearances from The Knitted Character and Abu Hamster, plus the chance for one lucky audience member to join Harry in a double act. Box office: for returns only, atgtickets.com/york.
Nikita Kuzmin: From Strictly Come Dancing star to Cinderella-style dance drama of star-crossed lovers in Midnight Dancer
Dance drama of the week: Nikita Kuzmin in Midnight Dancer, Grand Opera House, York, May 20, 7.30pm
STRICTLY Come Dancing’s Ukrainian star dancer and choreographer Nikita Kuzmin leaps into York in his debut British and Irish solo tour: “a fairytale ball like no other and a night full of music, sequins, and world- class dancing”.
A company of dancers and West End singer Rebecca Lisewski join him in a classic romance story as two star-crossed lovers meet only to be torn apart in this modern-day Cinderella dance drama. Will they reunite at the masked ball, or will real life put an end to their fairytale fantasy? Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Sisters doing it for themselves: Hayley Bamford’s Deloris Van Cartier, centre, leading the nuns in song in Sister Act: A Divine Musical Comedy
Nun better musical of the week: York Musical Theatre Company in Sister Act: A Divine Musical Company, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, May 21 to 24, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
KATHRYN Addison directs York Musical Theatre Company in Alan Menken’s American musical with Hayley Bamford in the sassy role of “novice nun” Deloris Van Cartier.
When club singer Deloris witnesses nightclub owner Curtis Jackson (Zander Fick), commit murder, the police hide her in a convent, where she meets the Mother Superior (Kirstin Grififths) and an ensemble of 22 nuns. Cue multiple upbeat numbers as friendships grow and the convent is saved from financial ruin. Hallelujah! Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Switch way now? Thomas Frere and Cal Stockbridge in Clap Trap Theatre’s Switcheroo, the play told two ways, as comedy, then in serious mode. Picture: Jay Sillence
Role-swapping play of the week: Clap Trap Theatre in Switcheroo, York Theatre Royal Studio, May 22 to 24, 7.45pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Post-show discussion, May 23.Also Hemsley Arts Centre, May 31, 7.30pm
TOM Needham’s play Switcheroo is based on the simple premise that “it’s not what you say, it’s the way that you say it”. Presented by Ryedale company Clap Trap Theatre, the story follows three siblings who, when it comes to scattering their mother’s ashes, are hit with a bombshell revelation that turns their world upside down.
The first act is a full-blown, larger-than-life comedy, whereupon the actors swap characters to repeat it as a serious drama. Paul Birch directs a cast of Thomas Frere (Alex/Sam), Clap Trap co-founder Cal Stockbridge (Sam/Pat) and Dominic Goodwin (Pat/Alex). Box office: York, 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk; Helmsley, 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Paul Chowdhry: On tour in Englandia at York Barbican on Friday
Comedy gig of the week: Paul Chowdhry, Englandia, York Barbican, May 23, 7.30pm
PAUL Chowdhry, the most successful British Indian stand-up comedian in British history, heads to York on his 41-date itinerary. “After more than a quarter of a century and half my
life on comedy stages, it’s time for my biggest tour ever,” says The Paul Chowdhry PudCast podcaster. “I hope to see you there. If not, I’ll be in massive debt and doing benefit gigs for the foreseeable future.” To help Chowdhry avoid that scenario, book tickets at yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Neigh sayer: Elf Lyons horsing around at Theatre@41, Monkgate
Horse show of the year: Elf Lyons: Horses, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, May 23, 8pm
WELCOME to the first ever comedy show performed entirely by a horse. Made by award-winning comedian, clown, theatre practitioner and teacher Elf Lyons, performed by Treacle. Horse box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk
Hayley Bamford’s Deloris Van Cartier, now hiding as Sister Mary Clarence, centre, in York Musical Theatre Company’s Sister Act, A Divine Musical Comedy. Picture Lucy Baines, Joy Photography
AFTER York Stage Musicals’ York premiere in 2014 and Coronation Street star Sue Cleaver’s Mother Superior and Landi Oshinowo’s Deloris Van Cartier on tour at the Grand Opera House in 2024, Sister Act, A Divine Musical Comedy returns to the city in Kathryn Addison’s hands in 2025.
You can see why companies are making a habit of staging Alan Menken’s Broadway and West End musical spin on Emile Ardolino’s 1992 movie. We know nuns en masse are fun from the film, so full of cheery daftness.
Then add Motown, funk, soul and disco pastiches and even a brief burst of rap by Little Shop Of Horrors’ maestro Menken, lyrics by Glenn Slater and a sassy book by Cheri and Bill Steinkellener, steeped in the original spirit and re-booted with theatrical camp sparkle.
Jack Hooper’s Eddie Souther performing I Could Be That Guy. Picture: Lucy Baines, Joy Photography
It has been the norm for the likes of Alexandra Burke at Leeds Grand Theatre and Cleopatra Rey for York Stage to whoop up the lead role of lounge singer Deloris in the Whoopi Goldberg manner, but the movie part was first offered to Bette Midler.
Step forward Hayley Bamford, and, wham-bam, Bamford still stands out from her fellow wimple wearers, on account of her height, her strut and her soul-filled lung power.
We lose the nods to Richard Roundtree movies, Pam Grier and Shaft, but Addison’s smart production still echoes the American Seventies of Studio 54, Saturday Night Fever and Telly Savalas’s Kojak (although the programme states Act I is set at Christmas 1997 in Philadelphia, New Jersey).
Director Kathryn Addison, right, in rehearsal with Kirsten Griffiths (Mother Superior), right, and Hayley Bamford (Deloris Van Cartier)
Bamford’s Deloris has been placed in protective custody by gun-shy, profusely sweaty cop Eddie Souther (Jack Hooper) after witnessing her cool but cruel mobster lover Curtis Jackson (Zander Fick) commit murder.
She may sing Take Me To Heaven, but Curtis has taken her closer to hell. Now she must flee from the Mafia’s clutches into the safety and sanctity of the Queen Of Angels convent, whose stained glass frames double as the nightclub decor.
Bamford’s irrepressible Deloris kicks the habits into shape, transferring the sisters’ hapless, off-key singing from doleful into soulful and herself into a divine diva. In doing so, she impresses Monsignor O’Hara (Rob Davies); exasperates the earnest Mother Superior (Kirsten Griffiths, whose singing hits the spectacular heights); re-invigorates the rundown neighbourhood’s church services and coffers, and rekindles the flame in Eddie’s schooldays crush.
Philadelphia mobster Curtis Jackson (Zander Fick, second from left) and his hoodlums, Eddie (Jonathan Wells), TJ (James Dickinson), Pablo (Adam Gill) and Joey (Joe Marucci). Picture: Lucy Baines, Joy Photography
Addison directs with an eye to both individual expression and collective impact, bringing an irreverent edge to the comedy and fabulous flair and fun to the choreography, while musical director John Atkin’s11-strong orchestra are as soulful as James Brown’s band The J.B.’s.
Bamford is feisty, lippy, funny and a natural show leader; Hopper’s amusing Eddie pulls at the heart strings; Eve Clark, in her gap year after A-levels, announces her singing talent as Sister Mary Robert; Fick’s Curtis, with his cigarette-card moustache, is a matine-idol villain, and Katie Melia, so “super excited to be playing Sister Mary Patrick”, is exactly that in her scene-stealing role.
Look out too for Sandy Nicholson’s Sister Mary Lazarus, rapping in shades, and the bungling badinage of Curtis’s hoodlums, Joe Marucci’s Joey, James Dickinson’s TJ, Adam Gill’s Pablo and Jonathan Wells’s soon-to-be-deadie Eddie. All’s well that ends up Wells, however, as he has three further cameos, topped by a camp flurry as a drag queen.
Sister Act, A Divine Musical Comedy, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, until Saturday, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: limited availability on 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Hayley Bamford in rehearsal for the lead role of Deloris Van Cartier in York Musical Theatre Company’s Sister Act The Musical
First published on May 15 2025
YORK Musical Theatre Company will perform Sister Act The Musical at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, next Wednesday (21/5/2025) to Saturday under the direction of Kathryn Addison with Hayley Bamford in the sassy role of “novice nun” Deloris Van Cartier.
As you will recall from Emile Ardolino’s 1992 film, the story is centred on club singer Deloris, who witnesses her partner, nightclub owner Curtis Jackson (Zander Fick), commit murder, forcing the police to hide her in a convent where she meets the Mother Superior (Kirstin Grififths) and an ensemble of 22 nuns. Cue multiple upbeat numbers as friendships grow and the convent is saved from financial ruin. Hallelujah!
“The company chose this show, and they did ask me for my thoughts,” says Kathryn of Alan Menken’s musical with its 1970s-inspired score. “I think it’s a super piece of theatre that’s even better than the film. It’s ideal for this company. It has everything in it you want in a musical.
“There’s a real depth to it, beyond the music, with real emotion to Deloris’s story, but it’s also fun and the music is fabulous. The voices are phenomenal. It has a beautiful original score for a show that needs the right style vocally and physically to retain the essence of the movie’s jukebox musical hits.”
Deloris Von Cartier will forever be associated with Whoopi Goldberg’s tour-de-force movie performance and was played by Cleopatra girl group singer, I’d Do Anything finalist and West End musical actress Cleopatra Rey in York Stage Musicals’ York premiere at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre: a September 2014 production on which Kathryn worked.
Sister Act The Musical director Kathryn Addison
Explaining her choice of Hayley for the role, she says: “Hayley never stops. From the moment she rocks up, it’s an absolute powerhouse performance.
“We had some amazing auditions for the part, and they all really delivered. I had no preconceived ideas about who should play Deloris, but I needed a special spark and that’s what Hayley brought to the room. That energy.
“It’s an instinct. You can’t necessarily say what it is, but there’s a combination of things that strike you. It’s about having the right style and being able to adapt to the demands of this part, understand what you have to do, and Hayley has done that.”
Singer, children’s party entertainer and Hay Jays Disco boss Hayley has long contemplated auditioning for Deloris. “I saw that production at the Opera House, and had considered doing the show with Ripon Operatic Society,” she says. “I thought, ‘I’d love to audition for it’, but the timing wasn’t right, but now it’s come about naturally for me to do it in York, as if it was meant to be.”
Hayley auditioned last autumn and began singing rehearsals in January, followed by floor rehearsals since March. “It’s been such good fun to do,” she says. “It’s a dream come true. I’ve toyed with it for some time now, because I’ve had it in my mind that Deloris is played by a very famous black actress [Whoopi Goldberg].
Hayley Bamford, front, centre, with fellow cast members for York Musical Theatre Company’s production of Sister Act The Musical
“But when John [musical director John Atkin] said it wasn’t written specifically for a black actress, but was first offered to Bette Midler, then I could see Deloris as just a club singer where you have to put your own take on it.
“Deloris is a woman with dreams, and she has her ups and downs as we all do, but it’s what she learns from her experience that’s important.”
Hayley has loved the challenge of playing Hayley. “I played Morticia in The Addams Family a few years ago, but it wasn’t as big a role as this. It’s been good for my brain. Teaching myself things again. Like Deloris, we all have dreams to fulfil to work in theatre.
“Luckily my voice is naturally quite a low voice, the Whoopi Goldberg level, so I can do the American voice like that, but I think I’m camper than Whoopi – and you don’t want to be a copycat.”
Kathryn concludes: “What Hayley is very good at is being able to use her physicality in scenes, and it’s very definitely not like Whoopi! It’s Hayley’s interpretation; we get the whole character because she gets the movement right. Hayley is tall with long limbs and that brings individuality to her performance.”
York Musical Theatre Company in Sister Act The Musical, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, May 21 to 24, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Hayley Bamford in rehearsal for her lead role as Deloris Van Cartier in York Musical Theatre Company’s production of Sister Act The Musical
FROM Holmes & Watson to Wright & Grainger, a play told two contrasting ways to funny nun business, Charles Hutchinson fills diaries for arty times ahead.
Nun better musical of the week: York Musical Theatre Company in Sister Act The Musical, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tonight to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
KATHRYN Addison directs York Musical Theatre Company in Alan Menken’s American musical with Hayley Bamford in the sassy role of “novice nun” Deloris Van Cartier.
When club singer Deloris witnesses nightclub owner Curtis Jackson (Zander Fick), commit murder, the police hide her in a convent, where she meets the Mother Superior (Kirstin Grififths) and an ensemble of 22 nuns. Cue multiple upbeat numbers as friendships grow and the convent is saved from financial ruin. Hallelujah! Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Improv show of the week: Unwritten, The Literary Improv Show, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York, tomorrow, doors 7.30pm, show 8.30pm
EVER wondered what Whose Line Is It Anyway? would be like with a literary twist? The Bluffs take classic short-form improv games, then infuse them with storytelling flair. Every show is unique, shaped by audience suggestions and spontaneous creativity. An evening of humour, surprises and plot twists awaits. Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.
Dominic Goodwin, left, and Thomas Frere in Clap Trap Theatre’s Switcheroo, the play told as comedy and then seriously seriously
Role-swapping play of the week: Clap Trap Theatre in Switcheroo, York Theatre Royal Studio, tomorrow to Saturday, 7.45pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Post-show discussion, Friday. Also Helmsley Arts Centre, May 31, 7.30pm
TOM Needham’s play Switcheroo is based on the simple premise that “it’s not what you say, it’s the way that you say it”. Presented by Ryedale company Clap Trap Theatre, the story follows three siblings who, when it comes to scattering their mother’s ashes, are hit with a bombshell revelation that turns their world upside down.
The first act is a full-blown, larger-than-life comedy, whereupon the actors swap characters to repeat it as a serious drama. Paul Birch directs a cast of Thomas Frere (Alex/Sam), Clap Trap co-founder Cal Stockbridge (Sam/Pat) and Dominic Goodwin (Pat/Alex). Box office: York, 01904 623568 or yorktheratreroyal.co.uk; Helmsley, 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
The poster artwork for ACT’s production of Ken Ludwig’s Moriarty at Helmsley Arts Centre
Ryedale play of the week: ACT in Ken Ludwig’s Moriarty, Helmsley Arts Centre, tomorrow, 7pm
SHERLOCK Holmes and Dr Watson are back on the case as ACT (Ampleforth College Theatre) presents Ken Ludwig’s Moriarty, an investigation into the Bohemian king’s stolen letters that cascades into an international mystery filled with spies, blackmail and intrigue.
Faced with world peace at stake, Holmes and Watson join forces with American actress Irene Adler to take down cunning criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty and his network of devious henchmen. Box office: Helmsley, 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Paul Chowdhry: Heading for York Barbican with his Englandia show
Comedy gig of the week: Paul Chowdhry, Englandia, York Barbican, Friday, 7.30pm
PAUL Chowdhry, the most successful British Indian stand-up comedian in British history, heads to York on his 41-date itinerary. “After more than a quarter of a century and half my life on comedy stages, it’s time for my biggest tour ever,” says The Paul Chowdhry PudCast podcaster.
“I hope to see you there. If not, I’ll be in massive debt and doing benefit gigs for the foreseeable future.” To help Chowdhry avoid that scenario, book tickets at yorkbarbican.co.uk.
The Dunwells: Returning to Pocklington on Friday
The boys done well: The Dunwells, All Saints Church, Pocklington, Friday, 7.30pm
LEEDS duo The Dunwells continue their working relationship with Hurricane Promotions’ James Duffy, who has promoted brothers Joe and David’s indie-folk/Americana band across Yorkshire, not least at the market town’s Platform Festival and Pocklington Arts Centre, where he worked for many years. Box office: thedunwells.com.
Alexander Flanagan Wright in Wright & Grainger’s Helios at Helmsley Arts Centre
Storytelling show of the week: Wright & Grainger present Helios, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm
A LAD lives halfway up an historic hill. A teenager is on a road trip to the city in a stolen car. A boy is driving a chariot, pulling the sun across the sky. Welcome to Wright & Grainger’s story of the son of the god of the sun that transplants the Ancient Greek tale into a modern-day myth wound around the winding roads of rural England and into the everyday living of a towering city.
“It’s a story about life, the invisible monuments we build into it, and the little things that leave big marks,” say friends since Easingwold schooldays Alexander Flanagan Wright and Phil Grainger. “Join us in a little room with a tape player and a delicate tale to tell.” Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Jed Potts: Playing with The Hillman Hunters at the Milton Rooms, Malton
Blues gig of the week: Ryedale Blues Club presents Jed Potts & The Hillman Hunters, Milton Rooms, Malton, May 29,
EDINBURGH guitarist and vocalist Jed Potts fronts Jed Potts & The Hillman Hunters and Under-Volt and also plays with The Katet, The Blueswater, Nicole Smit and occasionally with American blues artist Brandon Santini too. This time he has The Hillman Hunters for company.
Potts first picked up a guitar at nine and performed his first gig at 16.”Blues is my musical first language and it infuses everything I play,” he says. “Even when I’m playing with The Katet or Thunkfish, the blues is always there. I don’t think I could hide it even if I wanted to.” Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
In Focus: Francesca Simon’s exhibition, The Spaces Between, at Ryedale Folk Museum, until June 29, and Platform A Gallery, Middlesbrough, until June 19
Check C, by Francesca Simon, 2022, at Ryedale Folk Museum
FRANCESCA Simon’s bold new art exhibition is running simultaneously at two venues: her series Check Works at Ryedale Folk Museum’s Art Gallery, Hutton-le-Hole, and Goaf Works at Platform A Gallery in Middlesbrough.
The Spaces Between invites visitors to experience vibrant geometric abstractions, made in and engendered partly by the landscape of the North York Moors that surrounds Francesca’s Glaisdale studio.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity to be able to exhibit across these two galleries simultaneously. The paintings and drawings shown here originally grew out of the hours I spent walking in Glaisdale during lockdown,” says Francesca.
“These works feature intense, bright colours, which I used consciously to create uplifting works. I wanted people to feel their spirits rise when they looked at them. The more austere later works demand an intense analysis of structure.”
Glaisdale artist Francesca Simon
Ryedale Folk Museum director Jennifer Smith says: “We’re delighted to share this exhibition with visitors. Francesca’s work resonates deeply in this region. Through precise, geometric artworks, Francesca has distilled our beautiful North York Moors and brought her unique perspective to the landscape we know and love.”
Francesca’s relationship with both galleries spans more than ten years, beginning with her involvement in the group show Making Matters at Platform A Gallery in 2014.
Gallery director Tony Charles says: “A decade ago, Francesca delighted audiences inourregion, showcasing her characteristic and beautiful precision. Now, in The Spaces Between, we see her rigorous investigations endure and the strong identification with the landscape continuing to be so significant within her work”.
Working within the distinctive moorland setting, Francesca acknowledges a visual filtering process where the organic colours, lines and textures around her are translated into bold, structured compositions.
In Check Works, arrangements of right-angled or half-square triangles are disrupted by horizontal bars to create playful, almost musical compositions.
Goaf 1, by Francesca Simon, 2025, at Platform A Gallery, Middlesbrough
The body of work at Platform A, monochrome in tone apart from dashes of colour in the horizontal bars, is a development from the work at Ryedale. In these paintings, her particular focus includes the goaf or void remaining after the collapse of mined-out areas, a feature of 19th-century ironstone mining in North Yorkshire, and, latterly, the triangles observed in Indian stepwells. Works such as Cross Cut, Sky Seam and Cobalt Base 1 and 2 explore these themes.
Describing the new exhibition as “exciting contemporary art”, Jennifer says: “What Francesca does in such a compelling way is to translate experiences that are familiar to us – like a walk on the moors, light on trees – into striking abstract forms.”
Francesca holds a BA from the University of Cambridge and an MA in Fine Art Painting from Central Saint Martins. Her art is held in prestigious collections such as the Government Art Collection, Newnham College, Cambridge, and the Tim Sayer Collection, bequeathed to the Hepworth Wakefield. Her work has been exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition on several occasions..
Both venues offer free admission to The Spaces Between. Ryedale Folk Museum’s Art Gallery is open Saturday to Thursday, from 10am to 5pm (closed on Fridays); Platform A Gallery, Tuesday to Friday, 11am to 4pm, or by appointment (www.platformagallery.net).
Toto puppeteer Adam Gill, left, Rachel Higgs’s Scarecrow, Zander Fick’s Tin Man, Sadie Sorensen’s Dorothy and Daan Janssen’s Lion in York Musical Theatre Company’s The Wizard Of Oz. Picture: Lucy Baines, Joy Photography
BY day, Sadie Sorensen teaches A-level Biology. By night and weekend matinee this week, she is “very excited to take on the bucket list role” of Dorothy in only her second show for York Musical Theatre Company (YMTC).
She is relatively new to the York am-dram scene, having relocated here two years ago, but brings bags of experience, having performed in many shows in her Hull past.
What a good talent spot by director and choreographer Kathryn Addison, who is rewarded with a super lead performance by Sorensen.
At 26, she is ten years older than Judy Garland’s iconic Dorothy Gale in Victor Fleming’s 1939 film – much older too than Eleanor Leaper’s Dorothy, aged 13, in YMTC’s 2010 production at York Theatre Royal – but she utterly evokes the tearaway teenager. Pitch of Kansas voice, spot on. Her singing, both powerful and emotive, especially in Over The Rainbow.
Addison’s cast has plenty more hits too, not least casting York stage stalwart Jeanette Hunter into the dark side for the first time as the mean-spirited Miss Gulch and the grouchy villain, the Wicked Witch of the West. Hunter is as entertaining as ever, such a good sport as the baddie.
Fellow “veteran” Martyn Hunter is on good form too, both as the kindly Professor Marvel and the “humbug” Wizard of Oz; Ben Caswell’s Emerald City Guard is full of comic panache; Elizabeth Gardner glitters as Glinda and Marlena Kellie’s Aunty Em is suitably homely.
Full of green energy: Ben Caswell’s Emerald City Guard. Picture: Lucy Baines, Joy Photography
Addison’s cast has an international flavour too. Zander Fick, classically trained in opera and jazz singing, moved to York from South Africa in April 2023 and now follows his scene-stealing Chef Louis in York Light Opera Company’s The Little Mermaid with a Tin Man replete with squeaky, robotic movement and, ironically, plenty of heart.
Better still is Dutch-born Daan Janssen, who honed his musical theatre-inspired drag performing skills while studying for his PhD in Germany and now turns in a terrific Lion. From his arch American accent to his timid yet proud demeanour and supreme singing voice, so deep and playful, he is a roaring success.
JoRo regular Rachel Higgs is an appealing Scarecrow and the Yellow Brick Road travelling troupe is completed by canine puppeteer Adam Gill’s ever attentive Toto in a show with two Totos for the price of one. Cast member Helen Barugh’s dog Daisy takes the role in the opening and closing Kansas farmhouse scenes; Elanor Kitchen’s puppet in Oz.
Addison’s choreography makes splendid use of both the adult ensemble and young Munchkins, while Helen Barugh, Katie Crossley and Kirsty Farrow’s Trees and Rob Davies and Caswell’s Crows have their moments too.
Musical director John Atkin’s ten-piece orchestra feels at home in all those familiar Harold Arlen and E Y Harburg songs, the playing light on its feet, the energy infectious. Julie Fisher’s costumes are a delight, for principals, ensemble and children alike, combining with UK Productions’ set design, Ollie Nash’s sound and Nick Lay’s lighting to complete a high- quality production in the merry old land of Oz. Time to follow the Yellow Brick Road to the box office.
York Musical Theatre Company in The Wiard Of Oz,Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Jeanette Hunter’s Wicked Witch, right, in rehearsal for York Musical Theatre Company’s The Wizard Of Oz with Daan Janssen’s Lion, left, Rachel Higgs’s Scarecrow, Zander Fick’s Tin Man, Sadie Sorensen’s Dorothy and Toto puppeteer Adam Gill
FOOD for thought for the cultural week ahead, from the Yellow Brick Road to Heaven revisited, a foodie festival to Laurie Lee, seascapes to coastal Dexys, as Charles Hutchinson reports.
Musical of the week: York Musical Theatre Company in The Wizard Of Oz, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
YORK stage stalwart Jeanette Hunter will play a villain for the first time next week, starring as the Wicked Witch in York Musical Theatre Company’s The Wizard Of Oz.
Following the Yellow Brick Road will be Sadie Sorensen’s Dorothy, Rachel Higgs’s Scarecrow, Zander Fick’s Tin Man and Daan Janssen’s Lion, while further principal roles will go to Liz Gardner as Glinda, Marlena Kellie as Auntie Em and Martin Hunter as the Wizard. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Velma Celli’s Show Queen: Celebrating the best of London’s West End and Broadway musical theatre hits at York Theatre Royal
Cabaret celebration of the week: Velma Celli’s Show Queen, York Theatre Royal, tomorrow (23/5/2024), 7.30pm
DRAG diva Velma Celli, the alter ego of York actor Ian Stroughair, goes back to Ian’s roots in Cats, Chicago, Fame and Rent for a new celebration of the best of London’s West End and Broadway musical theatre hits.
The show “takes us to every corner of the fabulous genre, from Kander & Ebb and Lloyd Webber to Stephen Schwartz’s Wicked and Schönberg’s Les Miserables and many more,” says Velma. “Like, more than Six!”. Special guests will be burlesque star Miss Betsy Rose and belting York singer Jessica Steel. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Rebecca Ferguson: Liverpool soul singer’s last album and tour at 37
Soul gig of the week: Rebecca Ferguson, Heaven Part II Tour, York Barbican, Friday, 7.30pm
LIVERPOOL soul singer and The X Factor alumna Rebecca Ferguson is touring her fifth and final album, Heaven Part II, released last December 12 years to the day since her debut, Heaven.
Working with new contributors and original Heaven writers and producers, Ferguson sings of love, family, joy, liberation and her journey to happiness over the past seven years. She is, however, calling time on recording and touring to “find a way to have a relationship with music which is positive”. Friday’s support acts will be York country singer Twinnie and Eloise Viola. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Malton Spring Food Lovers Festival: Look out for the festival guide and map on site
Festival of the week: Malton Spring Food Lovers Festival, Saturday, from 9am; Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday, from 10am
ON the streets of “Yorkshire’s Food Capital”, Malton Food Lovers Festival celebrates Yorkshire’s supreme produce and cooking over three days of 120 artisan stalls and street food vendors, talks, tastings, chef demonstrations, brass bands and buskers, festival bar, food shops, sculpture trail, entertainment, blacksmith workshops, vintage funfair and family fun with Be Amazing Arts’ Creativitent, Environmental Art’s Creative Chaos and Magical Quests North.
The live musicians will be: Saturday, Malton White Star Band, 11am to 1pm, The Rackateers, 1pm to 3pm, and Oz Ward, 6pm to 8pm; Sunday, White Star Training Band, 11.30am to 12.30pm, and The Rackateers, 1pm to 3pm, and Monday, The Acoustic Buddies, 11am to 12pm and 2pm to 3pm. Festival entry is free.
Kirkby Soul: Playing outdoors at Hemsley Walled Garden on Saturday
Fundraiser of the week: Kirkby Soul, Helmsley Walled Garden, Helmsley, Saturday, 7.30pm
RYEDALE eight-piece band Kirkby Soul present an evening of soul music in aid of Helmsley Arts Centre and Helmsley Walled Garden. Bring chairs, cushions, blankets, dancing shoes and picnics. A paying bar will be operation in the orchid house. Come prepared for the British weather! A marquee will be erected just in case. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Anton Lesser: Performing in Red Sky At Sunrise, Laurie Lee in Words and Music at Grand Opera House, York
Literary event of the week: Red Sky At Sunrise, Laurie Lee in Words and Music, Grand Opera House, York, May 26, 7.30pm
AUTHOR Laurie Lee’s extraordinary story is told in a captivating weave of music and his own words in Red Sky At Sunrise, performed by actors Anton Lesser and Charlie Hamblett, accompanied by David Le Page’s musical programme for Orchestra Of The Swan.
Together they celebrate Lee’s engaging humour, as well as portraying his darker side, in a performance that has startling resonance with modern events, tracing Lee’s path through Cider With Rosie, As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning and A Moment Of War as he ended up fighting with the International Brigades against General Franco’s forces in the Spanish Civil War. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Jo’s Place, seascape, by Carolyn Coles, from her Home Is Where The Heart Is exhibition at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb
Exhibition launch: Carolyn Coles, Home Is Where The Heart Is, Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, May 30 to August 1
CREATING atmospheric, impressionistic and abstract seascapes, South Bank Studios artist Carolyn Coles paints mostly with acrylics on stretched canvasses, using an array of techniques and implements.
Known for evoking emotional responses, Carolyn reflects her love for the Yorkshire landscape, offering a direct response to the feelings and connections to places that feel like home. Everyone is welcome at the 6pm to 9pm launch on May 30, when Carolyn will be happy to answer questions.
Dirty Ruby: Ryedale Blues’ headliners at Milton Rooms, Malton
Blues gig of the week: Ryedale Blues presents Dirty Ruby, Milton Rooms, Malton, May 30, 8pm
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE five-piece Dirty Ruby have drawn comparisons with Seventies’ bands Stone The Crows and Vinegar Joe in their energetic, sharp-edged blues rock, combining Hammond organ and bluesy guitar with soulful lead vocals. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Dexys: Showcasing The Feminine Divine at Scarborough Spa
Coastal trip of the week: Dexys, Scarborough Spa Grand Hall, May 30, doors 7pm
AFTER playing York for the first time in their 45-year career last September, Dexys return to North Yorkshire on the latest leg of The Feminine Divine Live!
Led as ever by Kevin Rowland, Dexys open with a theatrical presentation of last year’s album, The Feminine Divine, to be followed by a second soulful set of beloved hits, from Come On Eileen and Jackie Wilson Said to The Celtic Soul Brothers and Geno. Box office: 01723 376774 or scarboroughspa.co.uk.
In Focus: The 1879 FA Cup clash of Darwen FC and the Old Etonians in The Giant Killers at Milton Rooms, Malton
The tour poster for Long Lane Theatre Club’s The Giant Killers
MANCHESTER United meet “noisy neighbours” Manchester City in the 143rd FA Cup final on Saturday, coinciding with the tour launch of a fitting theatrical tribute to the competition’s early days.
Staged by Long Lane Theatre Club, The Giant Killers tells the story of how Darwen FC came to the public’s attention in 1870s’ Lancashire to proclaim Association Football as a people’s game and not only the preserve of the upper classes.
Good news for Malton, the story of Darwen’s FA Cup clashes with the toffs of the Old Etonians is booked to appear at the Milton Rooms on July 4 (now confirmed as the date for another battle, the 2024 General Election).
The Giant Killers recounts how a ragtag bunch of mill workers in Darwen took on the amateur gentlemen’s club of the Old Etonians in the FA Cup quarter-final in 1879. The Old Etonians were winning 5-1 but Darwen rallied to force a replay after a 5-5 draw.
One replay turned into three, with one abandoned through bad light. Forced to travel to London a very expensive three times and with team members losing a day’s work, Darwen eventually succumbed 6-2, but their story of working-class men inspiring a nation enabled the top hats in football crowds to turn into ‘’a sea of flat caps’’.
Kick-off – or kick-toff! – will be at 7.30pm for Andrew Pearson-Wright & Eve Pearson-Wright’s story of how Darwen FC rose up against prevailing social prejudice and the might of the Football Association to earn a place in history as the first real ‘‘giant killers’’ in English football. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
