“I’m thrilled to be playing Elle Woods,” says Emma Swainston. “It’s a dream role!” Picture: Matthew Kitchen Photography
OMIGOD You Guys! Legally Blonde The Musical is coming to York Theatre Royal in York Light Opera Company’s fabulously pink production from February 13 to 22.
The sassy and stylish award-winning musical comedy with music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin and book by Heather Hach is directed by Martyn Knight.
Emma Swainston will take the role of Elle Woods, a seemingly ditzy sorority girl with a heart of gold, who tackles the strictures and preconceptions of Harvard Law School to win back her man. Along the way, Elle discovers her own strength and intelligence, “proving that you can be both a beautiful blonde and brilliant”.
York Light Opera Company’s full cast for Martyn Knight’s February production of Legally Blonde The Musical. Picture: York Light Opera Company
Based on Amanda Brown’s novel and Australian director Robert Luketic’s 2001 film for MGM, Legally Blonde The Musicalis billed as a fun, feel-good show with a powerful message about staying true to yourself.
Martyn Knight says: “We are so excited to bring this empowering and hilarious show to York. Our production will celebrate Legally Blonde’s joy and energy while highlighting its important message of self-discovery and female empowerment.”
Emma Swainston will be following up her appearances on the York stage in Doctor Doolittle, The Railway Children, Fiddler On The Roof and as Sister Mary Leo in York Light’s Nunsense: The Mega Musical! at Theatre@41, Monkgate, last summer.
“Elle is a really inspiring character and I can’t wait to share her journey with the audience,” says York Light lead actress Emma Swainston
She will be part of a cast of 35, also featuring Zander Fick as Emmett Forrest, Emily Hardy as Paulette Bonafonte, Neil Wood as Professor Callahan, Emily Rockliff as Vivienne Kensington, Helen Miller as Enid Hoopes and Pippa Elmes as Brooke Wyndham.
Emma says: “I’m thrilled to be playing Elle Woods; it’s a dream role! Growing up I watched Reese Witherspoon play Elle in the original in the film on video, on repeat… and she’s such an icon. Elle is a really inspiring character and I can’t wait to share her journey with the audience.”
York Light Opera Company presents Legally Blonde The Musical, York Theatre Royal,February 13 to 22, 7.30pm nightly except February 16; 2.30pm, February 15, 20 and 22. February 17’s performance will be British Sign Language Interpreted. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
York Light Opera Company’s poster for Legally Blonde The Musical at York Theatre Royal
Stewart Lee, left, Tania Caroline Chen and Steve Beresford: Presenting John Cage’s Indeterminacy at the National Centre for Early Music, York, on February 1
AVANT-GARDE North Yorkshire arts impresario Simon Thackray is bringing The Shed out of hibernation for the first time in a decade to stage an experimental gig in York on February 1.
Comedian Stewart Lee, already in the city for a five-night run of Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf at York Theatre Royal that week, will be the narrator for the 3.30pm performance of John Cage’s cult 1959 work Indeterminacy at the National Centre for Early Music, St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate.
“Important note,” says Simon. “This is not a comedy gig. Stewart is keen that people know it is definitely not an extra Stewart Lee tour date.”
Lee will be joining forces with Tania Caroline Chen, piano, and Steve Beresford, piano and objects. Objects? “I don’t know what objects they will be!” admits Stewart.
Tania Caroline Chen: Flying in from San Francisco to play piano at The Shed’s presentation of John Cage’s Indeterminacy at the NCEM
Indeterminacy was a 1959 double LP on the Folkways label by John Cage and David Tudor, where Cage read 90 of his stories, each one, whether long or short, lasting one minute. Unheard by Cage, Tudor simultaneously played the piano and other things in another room.
One day, pianists Chen and Beresford were listening to the record and decided they should do their own version, hitting on Stewart Lee, a deadpan stand-up with a love of experimental music, to be “the voice”.
“It’s Tania and Steve’s show,” says Stewart, who stresses: “It’s not a comedy show, but it is quite funny in its way.
“We’ve been doing it for 15 years now, and there’s a recording we did that David Grubbs, the Cage scholar in America, reckons we really ‘got’ what Cage was seeking to do.
Mark Reynolds’ tour poster illustration for Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf, playing York Theatre Royal from January 28 to February 1
“The piece is for improvising musicians, working with a voice that is not expressive. Cage wrote down these 90 stories of different lengths on cards that he does in a random order. You have to do each story in exactly a minute, whether it’s 50 words or 200 words, letting the words do the work, which is what Tania and Steve spotted I do in my stand-up. The juxtaposition of each story and the music creates different frissons and patterns.”
The trio’s version is usually 40 minutes in length, and unlike Cage and Tudor, the players are in the same room but still “do their best” to not hear Stewart’s reading – done with a stop-watch timer at his side – as they play music on and in a piano and use other small sound sources.
“The musicians are trying to support me and I’m trying to support them but not create a mood, though occasionally it oversteps that, and that’s what’s indeterminable about it. It seems that Cage created this character that doesn’t realise what he’s doing!”
Lee’s comedy has been described as being “characterised by repetition, internal reference and deadpan delivery”. “I think those three elements are there in Cage’s writing too,” says Stewart. “Deadpan is easy with Cage because he specifically says he does not want you to ‘perform’ or ‘interpret’ the story. You have to try not to sell it.”
The Shed’s earlier clash of words and music: Mrs Boyes’ Bingo featuring games of prize bingo to the accompaniment/distraction of Mark Sanders’ percussion ( world premiere 1999, event copyright Simon Thackray. All rights reserved.) Picture: Simon Thackray
Simon notes:: “It has elements of Mrs Boyes’ Bingo that we used to do with legendary Malton bingo caller Mrs Boyes and improvising percussionist Mark Sanders. It’s that collision of words and music, with the spoken word being unrelated to the musicians, who are performing unrelated to anything else that’s going on. You’re putting three people in a box, shaking it up, and seeing what comes out!”
Stewart is delighted to be working with Simon once more, having been a Shed regular, indeed having performed the last official Shed show in Brawby in 2015. “Originally I was going to do a Pump Disco at the Milton Rooms, asking Stewart if he would do a sewage protest gig in Malton,” recalls Simon.
“Simon said, ‘can you do this show?’ and I said ‘Not unless I can do it while I’m on tour’,” says Stewart. The York Theatre Royal run was put in place and, as it happened, the Saturday afternoon was availableat the NCEM. “Now Tania is coming over from San Francisco just to do the show,” he reveals.
The Shed impresario Simon Thackray: Self-portrait in beret in Condom-en-Armagnac, France
On the subject of The Shed, Stewart says: “I was always very grateful to make Simon’s venue a stop on the tour. I used to love his doing shows out on the moors and how he did that thing that the BBC doesn’t believe in any more: where, if you put on weird stuff, people will come because people are more broadminded than they’re given credit for”.
Simon, who staged multiple left-field gigs, innovative installations and surrealist arts events in his home village of Brawby, Hovingham, York and on BBC Radio 3 from 1992 to 2015, is a Malton town councillor and environmental campaigner these days.
“The gig is being staged to ‘encourage’ Yorkshire Water to go the extra mile, in waders if necessary, and sort out the sewerage system in Malton and Norton, which is now spilling sewage into the River Derwent SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) with gay abandon,” he says. “Take a look at visitmaltonsewer.co.uk for data on sewage spill.”
After 12 years of kicking up a stink, “the ‘Battle of Brawby Sewer’ has taken a positive turn,” says Simon, who points out the Derwent is also a designated European Special Area of Conservation. “Yorkshire Water is about to pour £1.5 million into the Brawby drainage system to cure the decades-old sewer flooding issue, and I’m now hoping to work with Yorkshire Water to sort out the sewerage system in Malton and Norton.”
Trombonist Alan Tomlinson RIP performing an improvised sewer gig in the Brawby discharge ditch in 2013 to highlight an ongoing dispute with Yorkshire Water about flooding and sewerage in the River Derwent. The Shed promoter Simon Thackray will display (or wear) the waders in tribute to Alan at the February 1 performance of Indeterminacy as “the spirit of The Shed comes to York”. Picture: Kippa Matthews RIP
The NCEM performance will be dedicated to the memory of Leeds College of Music-trained trombonist, improviser and The Shed alumnus Alan Tomlinson, who died on February 13 last year. “He famously performed an ‘awareness-raising’ 20-minute improvised trombone solo standing up to his knees in a thigh-high stream of sewage in the Brawby discharge ditch in 2013,” says Simon.
Stewart adds: “About ten years ago, we did Indeterminacy at the Royal Albert Hall, when Alan did a sequence of three pieces on trombone on the same bill and Harry Hill did Cage’s work Water Walk too.”
Simon rejoins: “I’m hoping to show film of the piece that Harry Hill learned for that show – it’s very funny.”
The Shed presents Indeterminacy, National Centre for Early Music, York, February 1, 3.30pm. Box office: 01904 658338 or at ncem.co.uk.Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf, York Theatre Royal, January 28 to February 1, 7.30pm. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Environmental campaigner Simon Thackray with the “Ryedale Flood Defence Machine” en route to County Bridge, Malton, to hold back the flooding of the River Derwent. “It works!” he says
Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson: Writers of The Psychic, premiering at York Theatre Royal in 2026
YORK Theatre Royal will stage the world premiere of Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman’s twisted thriller The Psychic at York Theatre Royal next year. Tickets go on general sale from 1pm on January 15.
In the wake of the success of Ghost Stories, which spooked the Grand Opera House, York, in March 2020, Dyson and Nyman are to reunite for this electrifying new production. Show dates will be April 29 to May 23 2026, with the first week being previews.
Leeds-born Dyson and Nyman say: “We are so thrilled to have the world premiere of our new play at York Theatre Royal and to be part of their exciting next chapter. We cannot wait to unleash The Psychic at this remarkable venue.”
Theatre Royal chief executive Paul Crewes says: “We are very proud to be producing the world premiere of The Psychic here at York Theatre Royal. Andy and Jeremy have created this wonderful edge-of-your-seat script that we can’t wait to bring to life on our stage in 2026.”
The poster for The Psychic at York Theatre Royal
In The Psychic, popular TV psychic Sheila Gold loses a high-profile court case that brands her a charlatan. It costs her not only her reputation, but also a fortune in legal fees.
When wealthy parents ask Sheila to conduct a séance to attempt to make contact with their late child, Sheila senses an opportunity to bleed them for money. What follows makes her question everything she has ever believed, leading her on a journey into the darkest corners of her life. Cue thrills, shocks…and laughs.
The Psychic adds to York Theatre Royal’s bill of produced and co-produced work in 2025 and 2026. In the diary for this year are the co-production of North By Northwest with Emma Rice’s Wise Children, HOME Manchester and Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse from March 18 to April 5 and erstwhile pantomime cat Gary Oldman’s return to the Theatre Royal in Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape from April 14 to May 17.
To book tickets, ring 01904 623568 or head to yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
The night-watchman on his guard in Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman’s Ghost Stories (pictured in the 2019 London production)
Jeremy Dyson: the back story
Award-winning Leeds-born writer and director.
Writing credits for theatre include Ghost Stories (Lyric Hammersmith, nominated for Olivier Award for Best Entertainment); The League Of Gentlemen Are Behind You (UK tour); The League Of Gentlemen: A Local Show For Local People (UK tour, Theatre Royal Drury Lane – nominated for Olivier Award for Best Entertainment) and The League Of Gentlemen.
Co-writing credits for television include Psychobitches (winner of Rose d’Or for Best TV Comedy and nominated for two British Comedy Awards); The Armstrong & Miller Show (winner of BAFTA Award for Best Comedy); Billy Goat; Funland (nominated for BAFTA Award for Best Drama Serial) and The League Of Gentlemen (winner of BAFTA Award for Best Comedy, Golden Rose of Montreux and RTS Award for Best Entertainment).
Co-writing credits for film include Ghost Stories and The League Of Gentlemen’s Apocalypse.
Andy Nyman: the back story
Award-winning actor, director and writer.
As an actor, his theatre work includes The Producers; Assassins (Menier Chocolate Factory); Fiddler On The Roof (Menier Chocolate Factory and Playhouse Theatre – Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical); Abigail’s Party (Menier Chocolate Factory and Wyndham’s Theatre); Hello, Dolly! (London Palladium); Martin McDonagh’s Hangmen (Wyndham’s Theatre/Broadway), and the original production of Ghost Stories (Duke of York’s Theatre/Arts Theatre), which he starred in, co-wrote and co-directed with Jeremy Dyson. Later adapted into a film, in which he also starred.
Television credits include Lockerbie; Wanderlust; The Eichmann Show; Campus and Dead Set, as well as playing Winston Churchill in Peaky Blinders.
Film credits include Jungle Cruise; Judy; The Commuter; Death At A Funeral; Kick-Ass2; Black Death; The Brother’s Bloom; Severance and Shut Up & Shoot Me, for which he won Best Actor award at Cherbourg Film Festival in 2006.
Collaborated with Derren Brown for almost 20 years, co-writing and co-creating much of Brown’s early TV work. Co-written and directed Brown’s stage shows, winning Olivier Award for Best Entertainment for Derren Brown – Something Wicked This Way Comes and New York Drama Desk Award for Best Unique Theatrical Event 2017 for Derren Brown – Secret.
Taboo-shattering comedy: Ed Byrne in Tragedy Plus Time at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Roslyn Grant
FROM Narnia to ice sculptures, comedy in wolf’s clothing to Ayckbourn’s 91st play, Charles Hutchinson finds plenty to perk up the days and nights ahead.
Taboo subject of the week: Ed Byrne: Tragedy Plus Time, Grand Opera House, tonight, 7.30pm
MARK Twain, the 19th century American writer, humorist, and essayist, defined humour as Tragedy Plus Time. Irish comedian Ed Byrne tests that formula by mining the most tragic event in his life – the death of his brother Paul from Hodgkin’s lymphoma at 44 – for laughs.
Byrne’s show carries the content warning “Discussions of death”. “But as with any subject I do, there are always digressions into asides,” he says. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Mark Reynolds’ illustration for Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf, on tour at York Theatre Royal for five nights
Comedy and not comedy: Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf, York Theatre Royal, January 28 to February 1, 7.30pm; The Shed presents Indeterminacy with Tania Caroline Chen, piano, Steve Beresford, piano and objects, and Stewart Lee, voice, National Centre for Early Music, York, February 1, 3.30pm
IN Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf, Lee shares the stage with a tough-talking werewolf comedian from the dark forests of the subconscious who hates humanity. The Man-Wulf lays down a ferocious comedy challenge to the “culturally irrelevant and physically enfeebled Lee”: can the beast inside us all be silenced by the silver bullet of Lee’s deadpan stand-up? Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
On John Cage and David Tudor’s 1959 double LP Indeterminacy, Cage read 90 of his stories, each one, whether long or short, lasting precisely one minute. Unheard by Cage, Tudor simultaneously played the piano and other things in another room. Now Stewart Lee joins pianists Tania Caroline Chen and Steve Beresford to do their own version of Cage’s work in a 40-minute performance in one room, where the musicians do their best not to hear Lee’s reading. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
York Ice Trail 2025: Taking the theme of Origins on February 1 and 2
After this week’s deep freeze, here comes York Ice Trail 2025, February 1 and 2
YORK’S “free weekend of frosty fun” returns with a 2025 theme of Origins as York’s streets are turned into an icy wonderland of frozen tableau in this annual event run by Make It York. Among the 30 ice sculptures showcasing 2,000 years of city history will be a Roman shield, a Viking helmet, a chocolate bar, a drifting ghost, a majestic train and a Yorkshire rose, all captured in the language of ice by Icebox. Full details can be found at visityork.org/york-ice-trail.
The book cover for Elizabeth Sharkey’s Why Britain Rocked: Under discussion with musician and environmental campaigner husband Feargal at Pocklington Arts Centre
One-off interview comes into view: Why Britain Rocked: Elizabeth and Feargal Sharkey, Pocklington Arts Centre, February 13, 7.30pm.
FEARGAL Sharkey, former frontman of The Undertones, will interview his wife, author Elizabeth Sharkey, on one night only of her debut book tour: the final show, which just happens to be in Pocklington.
Together they will explore the history of British pop music, as charted in Why Britain Rocked: How Rock Became Roll And Took Over The World, wherein Elizabeth re-writes the established history by uncovering the untold stories behind Britain’s musical evolution and challenges the American claim to have invented rock’n’roll. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
The Corrs: Kicking off the 2025 season at Scarborough Open Air Theatre
Off to the East Coast this summer: Scarborough Open Air Theatre season
IRISH siblings The Corrs lead off Cuffe & Taylor’s 2025 season in Scarborough with support from Natalie Imbruglia on June 11. In the diary too are Gary Barlow, June 13; Shed Seven with special guests Jake Bugg and Cast, June 14; Pendulum, June 15; Basement Jaxx, June 21, and The Human League, plus Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey and Blancmange, June 28.
July opens with The Script and special guest Tom Walker on July 5; UB40 featuring Ali Campbell, with special guest Bitty McLean, July 6; Blossoms, with Inhaler and Apollo Junction, July 10; Rag’n’Bone Man, with Elles Bailey, July 11; McFly, with Twin Atlantic and Devon, July 12; Judas Priest, with Phil Campbell & The Bastard Sons, July 23, and Texas, with Rianne Downey, July 26. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Bunmi Osadolor (Edmund), Jesse Dunbar (Peter), Kudzai Mangombe (Lucy) and Joanna Adaran (Susan) in The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe at Leeds Playhouse. Picture: Brinkhoff-Moegenburg
Touring show of the year: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, Grand Opera House, York, April 22 to 26, 7pm plus 2pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees
STEP through the wardrobe into the kingdom of Narnia for the most mystical of adventures in a faraway land. Join Lucy, Edmund, Susan and Peter as they wave goodbye to wartime Britain and say hello to Mr Tumnus, the talking Faun, Aslan, the Lion, and the coldest, cruellest White Witch.
Running at Leeds Playhouse until January 25 in the most spectacular production of the winter season, this breathtaking stage adaptation of CS Lewis’s allegorical novel then heads out on a new tour with its magical storytelling, bewitching stagecraft and stellar puppets. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Alan Ayckbourn: Directing his 91st play, Earth Angel, at the SJT, Scarborough, in the autumn. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Alan Ayckbourn’s 91st play: Earth Angel, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, September 13 to October 11
STEPHEN Joseph Theatre director emeritus Alan Ayckbourn directs his 91st play, Earth Angel, wherein Gerald has lost his wife of many years. Amy was the light of his life, almost heaven sent. It is tricky thinking about life without her but he is trying his best to put a brave face on things, accepting help from fussy neighbours and muddling along as best he can.
Then a mysterious stranger turns up at Amy’s wake. He seems like a nice enough chap, washing the dishes and offering to do a shop for Gerald, but is he all that he appears? Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
In focus: The Waterboys’ new album and tour dates at York Barbican, May 15; Sheffield City Hall, May 9, and Leeds O2 Academy, June 17
Mike Scott: Leading The Waterboys at York Barbican for the eighth time on May 15. Picture: Paul MacManus
THE Waterboys will showcase “the most audacious album yet” of Mike Scott’s 42-year career, Life, Death And Dennis Hopper, on their latest return to York Barbican, having previously played their “Big Music” brand of folk, rock, soul and blues there in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2021 and 2023.
Released on April 4 on Sun Records, their 16th studio album charts the epic path of the trailblazing American actor and rebel, as told through a song cycle that depicts not only Hopper’s story but also the saga of the last 75 years of western pop culture.
“The arc of his life was the story of our times,” says Scott, “He was at the big bang of youth culture in Rebel Without A Cause with James Dean; and the beginnings of Pop Art with the young Andy Warhol.
“He was part of the counter-culture, hippie, civil rights and psychedelic scenes of the ’60s. In the ’70s and ’80s he went on a wild ten-year rip, almost died, came back, got straight and became a five-movies-a-year character actor without losing the sparkle in his eye or the sense of danger or unpredictability that always gathered around him.”
As a first taste of what lies in store, Hopper’s On Top (Genius) was unveiled on streaming and video this week, capturing the electric, heady moment when Hopper’s Easy Rider became a cultural phenomenon and cemented his place in Hollywood history. Buoyed by Scott’s searing vocals, vibrant instrumentation and a psychedelic edge, the song channels the euphoria and hubris of the 1960s’ counterculture that Hopper epitomised.
Scott worked for four years on Life, Death And Dennis Hopper. Produced with Waterboys bandmates Famous James and Brother Paul, the album spans 25 tracks that trace the trace the extraordinary ups and downs of Hopper’s life, from his youth in Kansas to his long rise, five wives, tumultuous fall and ultimate redemption.
The album cover artwork for The Waterboys’ Life, Death And Dennis Hopper, set for release on April 4
Every song has its own special place and fascinating, deep-rooted story. “It begins in his childhood, ends the morning after his death, and I get to say a whole lot along the way, not just about Dennis, but about the whole strange adventure of being a human soul on planet Earth,” says Scott.
The album will be The Waterboys’ first for Sun Records. “Hey, we’re label mates with Howlin’ Wolf and young Elvis,”says Scott, who is joined by a stellar line-up of guests, ranging from Bruce Springsteen, Fiona Apple and Steve Earle to Nashville-based Alt Americana artist Anana Kaye, English singer Barny Fletcher, Norwegian country-rockers Sugarfoot, Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes, Kathy Valentine of The Go-Go’s and punk arch-priestess Patti Palladin.
The 31-date UK and Ireland tour will run from May 1 to June 19. Box office: York, yorkbarbican.co.uk; Sheffield, sheffieldcityhall.co.uk; Leeds, academymusicgroup.com.
Life, Death And Dennis Hopper track listing:
1. Kansas (featuring Steve Earle) 2. Hollywood ’55 3. Live In The Moment, Baby 4. Brooke/1712 North Crescent Heights 5. Andy (A Guy Like You) 6. The Tourist (featuring Barny Fletcher) 7. Freaks On Wheels 8. Blues For Terry Southern 9. Memories Of Monterey 10. Riding Down To Mardi Gras 11. Hopper’s On Top (Genius) 12. Transcendental Peruvian Blues 13. Michelle (Always Stay) 14. Freakout At The Mud Palace 15. Daria 16. Ten Years Gone (featuring Bruce Springsteen) 17. Letter From An Unknown Girlfriend (featuring Fiona Apple) 18. Rock Bottom 19. I Don’t Know How I Made It (featuring Taylor Goldsmith) 20. Frank (Let’s F**k) 21. Katherine (featuring Anana Kaye) 22. Everybody Loves Dennis Hopper 23. Golf, They Say 24. Venice, California (Victoria)/The Passing Of Hopper 25. Aftermath
Laura Fraser’s DI Bea Metcalf on the York waterfront in Channel 4’s crime drama Patience. Picture: Channel 4
FROM a neurodiverse TV crime drama to an Oscar winner’s stage return, Charles Hutchinson picks highlights of the year ahead.
Seeing York through a different lens: Patience, Channel 4 from January 8, 9pm
CHANNEL 4’s six-part police procedural drama Patience, set in York, opens with the two-part Paper Mountain Girl, on January 8 and 9, wherein autistic Police Records Office civilian worker Patience Evans (Ella Maisy Purvis) brings her unique investigative insight to helping DI Bea Metcalf (Laura Fraser) and her team.
Written for Eagle Eye Drama by Matt Baker, from Pocklington, Patience is as much a celebration of neurodiversity as a crime puzzle-solver. “The centre of York itself is a little bit like a puzzle,” he says.
Lara McClure: Atmospheric storytelling at A Feast Of Fools II at the Black Swan Inn
Out with the old, in with the new: Navigators Art presents A Feast Of Fools II, Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green, York, Sunday, 7pm to 10.30pm; doors, 6pm
YORK collective Navigators Art presents a last gasp of mischief in an alternative end-of-season celebration of Twelfth Night and Old Christmas, packed with live folk music, spoken word and a nod to the pagan and the impish.
Dr Lara McClure sets the scene with atmospheric storytelling, joined by York musicians Oli Collier, singer, guitarist and rising star Henry Parker, York alt-folk legends White Sail and poet and experimental musician Thomas Pearson. Book tickets at bit.ly/nav-feast2.
Seeing eye to eye: Rob Auton in his new touring comedy vehicle The Eyes Open And Shut Show
The eyes have it: Rob Auton: The Eyes Open And Shut Show, Burning Duck Comedy Club at The Crescent, York, March 5, 7.30pm; Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, May 3, 7.30pm
“THE Eyes Open And Shut Show is a show about eyes when they are open and eyes when they are shut,” says surrealist York/Barmby Moor comedian, writer, artist, podcaster and actor Rob Auton. “With this show I wanted to explore what I could do to myself and others with language when eyes are open and shut…thinking about what makes me open my eyes and what makes me shut them.”
On the back of last summer’s Edinburgh Fringe trial run, Auton goes on the road from January 27 to May 4 with his eyes very much open. Box office: York, thecrescentyork.com; Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.
York-raised artist Harland Miller with his title work for the XXX exhibition at York Art Gallery. Picture: courtesy of White Cube (Ollie Hammick), 2019
No stopping him this time, please: Harland Miller: XXX, York Art Gallery, March 14 to August 31, Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm
AFTER the first Covid lockdown curtailed his York, So Good They Named It Once show only a month into its 2020 run, international artist and writer Harland Miller returns to the city where he was raised to present XXX, a new exhibition that showcases paintings and works on paper from his Letter Paintings series.
Coinciding with the release of a book of the same title by Phaidon, XXX features several new Miller works, including one that celebrates his home city, in a hard-edged series that melds the sacred seamlessly with the everyday. The exhibition will be accompanied by a Q&A with the artist plus community activities to “inspire, inform and involve all”. Tickets: yorkartgallery.org.uk/tickets.
Gary Oldman in the dressing room when visiting York Theatre Royal last March to plan this spring’s production of Krapp’s Last Tape
Theatre event of the year: Gary Oldman in Krapp’s Last Tape, York Theatre Royal, April 14 to May 17
ONCE the pantomime Cat that fainted thrice in Dick Whittington in his 1979 cub days on the professional circuit, Oscar winner Gary Oldman returns to the Theatre Royal to perform Samuel Beckett’s melancholic, tragicomic slice of theatre of the absurd Krapp’s Last Tape in his first stage appearance since the late-1980s.
“York, for me, is the completion of a cycle,” says the Slow Horses leading man. “It is the place ‘where it all began’. York, in a very real sense, for me, is coming home. The combination of York and Krapp’s Last Tape is all the more poignant because it is ‘a play about a man returning to his past of 30 years earlier’.” Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Suzy Cooper and Mark Holgate: Teaming up as Titania and Oberon – and Hippolyta and Theseus too – in York Stage’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Look who’s back too: Suzy Cooper in York Stage’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Grand Opera House, York, May 6 to 11
GARY Oldman will not be the only former Berwick Kaler co-star returning to a York stage in 2025. Suzy Cooper, for more than 20 years the ditzy, posh-voiced, jolly super principal gal in the grand dame’s pantomimes, will lead Nik Briggs’s cast alongside York actor Mark Holgate as the quarrelling Queen and King of the Fairies, Titania and Oberon.
Briggs relocates his debut Shakespeare production from the court of Athens to Athens Court, a northern council estate, where magic is fuelled with mayhem and true love’s path still does not run smooth. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Beach hut five, Shed Seven: York band to make Scarborough Open Air Theatre debut in June
“Biggest ever headline show in their home county”: Shed Seven, TK Maxx Presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, June 14
IN the aftermath of their 30th anniversary celebrations and two number one albums in 2024, refulgent York band Shed Seven will focus on the great outdoors in the summer ahead, fulfilling a dream by making a long-overdue Scarborough OAT debut, when Jake Bugg and Cast will be their special guests. “It’s a stunning and historic venue…Yorkshire’s very own Hollywood Bowl!” enthuses lead singer Rick Witter.
The Sheds also return to Leeds Millennium Square on July 11, supported by Lightning Seeds and The Sherlocks. Box office: Scarborough, scarboroughopenairtheatre.co.uk or ticketmaster.co.uk; Leeds,gigsandtours.com and ticketmaster.co.uk.
Bridget Foreman: Co-writer of York Theatre Royal and Riding Lights’ community play His Last Report
Community play of the year: York Theatre Royal and Riding Lights Theatre Company in His Last Report, York Theatre Royal, July 22 to August 3
YORK Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster and York company Riding Lights artistic director Paul Birch will co-direct a large-scale community project that focuses on pioneering York social reformer Seebohm Rowntree and his groundbreaking 1900s’ investigation into the harsh realities of poverty.
Told through the voices of York’s residents, both past and present, Misha Duncan-Barry and Bridget Foreman’s play will ask “What is Seebohm’s real legacy as the Ministry begins to dismantle the very structures he championed?” Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Sario Solomon’s Aladdin in a scene with Evie Pickerill’s Genie of the Lamp in Aladdin at York Theatre Royal. Picture: SR Taylor Photography
SARIO Solomon is starring in the title role in Aladdin, this winter’s pantomime at York Theatre Royal, and is no stranger to the role.
“I played the part in Telford a few years ago. He’s full of energy and youthful exuberance, and he’s jokey and fun too,” he says.
“I had a really good time there, so I thought, ‘let’s give it another go, this time in York’. But I’m surprised I got it because I’m hopeless at the ‘self-tapes’ you have to send in and I’m not really tech savvy. It’s always hard to come across on camera as you want to be perceived, but luckily Juliet [creative director Juliet Forster] said ‘yes’.”
He had to miss the official pantomime launch on account of his acting commitments elsewhere that day but he did make a Sario solo trip to meet the media.
“I was playing the American-Italian Sonny, one of the Burger Palace Boys, on tour. I first played the part in London at the Dominion Theatre and then on the long UK tour – 18 months altogether, but I liked playing him. He’s funny, stupid and silly, so you can get away with things you can’t in other shows.
“It was wonderful to work with choreographer Arlene Phillips and director Nikolai Foster, who I’d done West Side Story with at the National Youth Music Theatre. That’s how he remembered me when he was casting for Grease.
“I was still on the Grease tour in the first week of rehearsals for Aladdin when I was able to commute from Sheffield each day and so we worked schedules around that.”
Does Sario prefer singing and dancing in musicals or acting in plays? “I just love musicals,” he says. “I knew I wanted to do musical theatre. I’m quite a silly, stupid person so straight acting is less appealing.
“It’s the same with panto. I like to have fun. It’s not meant to be serious! It’s meant to be funny. I like going over the top and having fun. It’s a very English institution, so trying to describe it to my German friends is always difficult!”
Like so many, Sario first attended a pantomime in his childhood. “Jack And The Beanstalk, probably with my grandmother, at a theatre in North London, where I grew up,” he recalls. “I was intrigued.
“Straightaway I just loved anything on stage. I knew it was something I wanted to be in and be part of, partly because I remember how much joy it gave me as a child. I was told the importance of A levels and exams, but I went to the National Youth Music Theatre in the summer holidays.”
Among his career highlights, Sario has worked with Take That’s Gary Barlow. “After A-levels I entered the BBC talent contest Let It Shine to find four young men to form a boy band for a musical called The Band featuring Take That’s music. I was one of the winners, which got me into the industry and an agent.
Sario Solomon outside York Theatre Royal when promoting his role as Aladdin. Picture: Ant Robling
“My mother loves Take That very much, so I knew a lot of their 90s’ classics and really enjoyed their music. It was cool to meet Take That and have them as mentors, giving notes and their wisdom in rehearsals. Gary was often there.
“That show basically got me into performing, having done a few things as a kid. I realised I loved performing more than anything else, so Mum let me pursue that after GCSEs and A-levels.”
Sario did not attend drama school. “Sometimes I wish I had because there’s a certain level of dance I can’t do straight off to West End-trained standards. It takes me longer to learn, whereas there’s repetition built into drama school training, but once I’ve nailed it, I’m fine,” he says.
Sario’s mother is from Tokyo, his father, from Newcastle – they met in London – and he is as fluent in Japanese as he is in English. “I write in Japanese too,” he says. “I grew up in North London and went to Japanese school on Saturdays. I love Japan and Newcastle too.”
He is breaking new ground in his career by performing in York. “I’ve never been to York before, even though I’ve toured in theatre shows for four or five years, but I have seen photos and it looks very pretty,” he said at his June press day.
“It will be especially lovely to be here at Christmas. I hear York has a fantastic Christmas market and I do love a German Christmas market!”
Sario lives on a 54ft-long narrowboat in London, moored at Stamford Hill. “I have always loved streams and rivers, it’s very much in the Japanese culture,” he says. “Living on a boat appealed to me. You wake up seeing swans on the river and the wood burner alight. It’s also nice to live on my own rather than flat-sharing.
“I’ve always wanted to buy a place, but in London it’s nigh on impossible to do that, so the narrowboat was the best bet. I’ve been living on it for three or four years but I’m always so busy touring that in reality I’ve only been on it for about a year – though it was lovely to be there during the Covid lockdown.”
Home is where he will be headed once Aladdin and his magic carpet have come to rest one final time on January 5. “The carpet does acrobatics! You feel quite queasy after a while,” he reveals.
Post Aladdin, Sario promises himself: “I’ll eat, rest and prepare audition pieces if necessary. I need a bit of a holiday after being on the road for 18 months. I’m not 21 any more, I’m 27 and need a holiday.”
Sario Solomon plays Aladdin in Aladdin, York Theatre Royal, until January 5 2025. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk
Born to pun: Robin Simpson’s Dame Dolly in Aladdin at York Theatre Royal. Picture: S R Taylor Photography
PANTOMIMES, theatrical family adventures and a Wonderland experience are still delighting in 2024 as Charles Hutchinson also looks ahead to 2025.
Still time for pantomime: Aladdin, York Theatre Royal, until January 5 2025
LOOK out for CBeebies’ Evie Pickerill at the double, dashing between the Spirit of the Ring and the Genie of the Lamp in the fifth collaboration between Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster and Evolution Productions script writer Paul Hendy.
Paul Hawkyard’s villain returns to York after a winter away doing panto in Dubai to renew his Theatre Royal double act with Robin Simpson’s dame, playing bad-lad Ivan Tobebooed to Simpson’s Dolly (not Widow Twankey, note). Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
In the frame: Phil Atkinson’s bodacious baddie, Hugo Pompidou, in UK Productions’ Beauty And The Beast at the Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
Still time for pantomime part two: Beauty And The Beast, Grand Opera House, York, until January 5 2025
THE jokes are as cheesy as the French setting of the village of Camembert, brassier and fruitier too in Jon Monie’s script, as George Ure directs the Grand Opera House pantomime for the first time.
Tracy Beaker star Dani Harmer is a magically bouncy Fairy Bon Bon; Jennifer Caldwell delights as Belle; Samuel Wyn-Morris is a stentorian-voiced Beast/Prince; comedian Phil Reid’s Louis La Plonk and Leon Craig’s towering dame, Polly La Plonk lead the comic japes with gusto and Phil Atkinson sends up his French-accented dastardly hunk, Hugo Pompidou, to the max. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Bea Clancy’s Harrietty Clock and Marc Akinfolarin’s Pod Clock in The Borrowers at Hull Truck Theatre
“Perfect alternative to pantomime”: The Borrowers, Hull Truck Theatre, until January 4 2025
SET against a backdrop of Christmas in the East Riding of Yorkshire during the 1940s’ Blitz, artistic director Mark Babych’s enchanting production explores themes of adventure, friendship and the joy of love and togetherness in the tale of adventurous, spritely Borrower Arrietty Clock, who lives secretly under the floorboards of a country house.
Her small but perfectly formed family borrows from the humans above, but Arrietty longs for freedom and fresh air. However, the Borrowers have one simple rule: to remain hidden from the “human-beans”, especially bad-tempered housekeeper Mrs Driver and rebellious gardener Crampfurl. When an evacuee, a human boy from neighbouring Hull, arrives in the main house, Arrietty becomes curious… and starts making mistakes. Box office: 01482 323638 or hulltruck.co.uk.
Checks and stripes: Alice’s Christmas Wonderland at Castle Howard. Picture: Charlotte Graham
Madder than the Mad Hatter if you don’t see: Alice’s Christmas Wonderland, Castle Howard, near Malton, until January 5 2025
FALL down the rabbit hall into “an experience like no other”: Lewis Carroll’s Alice in her Christmas Wonderland at Castle Howard, where the CLW Event Design creative team, headed by Charlotte Lloyd Webber and Adrian Lillie, has worked on the spectacular project since January.
The stately home has been transformed into an immersive Christmas experience, dressed in set pieces, decorations and floristry, coupled with projections, lighting and sound by Leeds theatre company imitating the dog. Box office: castlehoward.co.uk.
Casting a shadow: James Willstrop’s villainous bruiser, Bill Sikes, in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Oliver Twist at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York
Dickens of a good show: Pick Me Up Theatre in Oliver Twist, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, 7.30pm on December 28 and 30, plus 2.30pm, December 28 and 29
HELEN Spencer takes the director’s reins and plays Fagin in York company Pick Me Up Theatre’s staging of Deborah McAndrew’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’s 1838 novel, described as a “a new version of Oliver with a festive twist”.
Not to be confused with Lionel Bart’s musical Oliver!, it does feature John Biddle’s musical arrangements to complement Dickens’s fable of Oliver Twist being born in a workhouse, sold into an apprenticeship and recruited by Fagin’s band of pickpockets and thieves as he sinks into London’s grimy underworld on his search for a home, a family and love. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Party invitation: The poster for Irie Vibes Sound System’s New Year’s Eve Party at The Crescent, York
New Year’s Eve Party: Irie Vibes Sound System, The Crescent, York, December 31, 8pm to 2am
IRIE Vibes Sound System bring the full rig and crew for a joyous night of reggae, roots, dancehall, dub and jungle to the closing hours of 2024 and beyond midnight. MC Sherlock Art will be on hosting duties, bringing the fire, while Lines Of Duty will be delivering their brand of dance music in Room 2, “manipulating long- playing micro-grooves for a full frequency audio experience”. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Music talk to note: The Arts Society, Helmsley presents Christmas In Bach’s Leipzig: The Christmas Oratorio of 1734/5, Helmsley Arts Centre, January 6 2025, 7.30pm
IN his illustrated talk, commentator, broadcaster, performer and lecturer Sandy Burnett explores how Johann Sebastian Bach brings the Christmas story alive in his Weihnachtsoratorium or Christmas Oratorio, written for Lutheran congregations in 1730s Leipzig.
An overview of Bach’s life and achievement precedes a close look at this magnificent work, where the German composer draws on various forms, ranging from recitative, arioso, aria, chorale and instrumental sinfonia through to full-blown choruses infused with the joyous spirit of the dance. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Malton & Norton Musical Theatre’s poster for January’s production of Jack And The Beanstalk
First big show of the New Year at Milton Rooms, Malton: Malton & Norton Musical Theatre in Jack & The Beanstalk, January 18 to 25. Performances: January 18, 1pm and 5.15pm; January 19, 2pm; January 21 to 24, 7.15pm; January 25, 1pm and 5.15pm
MALTON & Norton Musical Theatre pantomime stars promise a family-friendly giant adventure packed with laughs, toe-tapping songs and plenty of audience participation.
Jack, his brave mother and their quirky friends will face off against the towering giant in a magical world full of comedy and surprises in an enchanting tale of bravery and beanstalks. Box office: 07833 759263 or yourboxoffice.co.uk.
Paul Hawkyard’s villain Ivan Tobebooed and Robin Simpson’s Dame Dolly in York Theatre Royal’s Aladdin. Picture: S R Taylor Photography
OUT with the old, in with the new, as the pantomimes season concludes and Charles Hutchinson’s 2025 diary starts to take shape.
Still time for pantomime: Aladdin, York Theatre Royal, until January 5 2025
LOOK out for CBeebies’ Evie Pickerill at the double, dashing between the Spirit of the Ring and the Genie of the Lamp in the fifth collaboration between Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster and Evolution Productions script writer Paul Hendy.
Paul Hawkyard’s villain returns to York after a winter away doing panto in Dubai to renew his Theatre Royal double act with Robin Simpson’s dame, playing bad-lad Ivan Tobebooed to Simpson’s Dolly (not Widow Twankey, note). Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Samuel Wyn-Morris’s Beast and Jennifer Caldwell’s Belle in Beauty And The Beast at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
Still time for pantomime part two: Beauty And The Beast, Grand Opera House, York, until January 5 2025
THE jokes are as cheesy as the French setting of the village of Camembert, brassier and fruitier too, in Jon Monie’s script, as George Ure directs the Grand Opera House pantomime for the first time.
Tracy Beaker star Dani Harmer is a magically bouncy Fairy Bon Bon; Jennifer Caldwell delights as Belle; Samuel Wyn-Morris is a stentorian-voiced Beast/Prince; comedian Phil Reid’s Louis La Plonk and Leon Craig’s towering dame, Polly La Plonk lead the comic japes with gusto and Phil Atkinson sends up his French-accented dastardly hunk, Hugo Pompidou, to the max. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Marc Akinfolarin’s Pod Clock in The Borrowers at Hull Truck Theatre
“Perfect alternative to pantomime”: The Borrowers, Hull Truck Theatre, until January 4 2025
SET against a backdrop of Christmas in the East Riding of Yorkshire during the 1940s’ Blitz, artistic director Mark Babych’s enchanting production explores themes of adventure, friendship and the joy of love and togetherness in the tale of adventurous, spritely Borrower Arrietty Clock, who lives secretly under the floorboards of a country house.
Her small but perfectly formed family borrows from the humans above, but Arrietty longs for freedom and fresh air. However, the Borrowers have one simple rule: to remain hidden from the “human-beans”, especially bad-tempered housekeeper Mrs Driver and rebellious gardener Crampfurl. When an evacuee, a human boy from neighbouring Hull, arrives in the main house, Arrietty becomes curious… and starts making mistakes. Box office: 01482 323638 or hulltruck.co.uk.
The poster for Irie Vibes Sound System’s New Year’s Eve Party at The Crescent, York
New Year’s Eve Party: Irie Vibes Sound System, The Crescent, York, December 31, 8pm to 2am
IRIE Vibes Sound System bring the full rig and crew for a joyous night of reggae, roots, dancehall, dub and jungle to the closing hours of 2024 and beyond midnight. MC Sherlock Art will be on hosting duties, bringing the fire, while Lines Of Duty will be delivering their brand of dance music in Room 2, “manipulating long- playing micro-grooves for a full frequency audio experience”. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Professor Kettlestring: Launching a new attraction in York next month
First grand opening of the New Year: The Puzzling World Of Professor Kettlestring, Merchantgate, York, from January 10 2025
WELCOME to Matthew and Marianne Tritton-Hughes’s new attraction, The Puzzling World Of Professor Kettlestring, an immersive, educational world of more than 20 optical illusions, interactive exhibits and brain-bending challenges designed for curious minds of all ages.
Visitors can walk into the Professor’s sideways living room, disappear into his incognito chamber and discover a kitchen parlour where heads appear severed on platters. Box office: puzzlingworldyork.co.uk.
Jessica Steel: Performing at The Crescent in aid of Millie Wright’s Children’s Charity
Fundraiser of the month ahead: Lindow Man and Jessica Steel & Stuart Allan, The Crescent, York, January 11 2025, 7.30pm
ELECTRIFYING York soul, blues and rock’n’roll trio Lindow Man and York blues and soul singer Jessica Steel and guitarist Stuart Allan will play in aid of Millie Wright’s Children’s Charity.
Based at Leeds General Infirmary, the charity is committed to addressing inequalities in hands-on charitable support for families looking after children with life-threatening conditions by working towards providing practical and emotional help to parents and carers via Family Support Workers. Pizzas from Curious Pizza Company will be available on the night. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Chris McCausland: Playing the Grand Opera House in 2025 and 2026
Comedy gig announcement of the week: Chris McCausland, Yonks!, Grand Opera House, York, February 3 2025 and May 17 2026
AFTER lifting the glitterball trophy as the ground-breaking first blind contestant on Strictly Come Dancing, Liverpool comedian Chris McCausland will return to his “day job” on his Yonks! tour, now to be extended into 2026.
Appearing on Sky Max over Christmas with fellow comic Lee Mack as sparring neighbours who must take on a gang of thieves in the festive film Bad Tidings, McCausland has added a second York date after selling out the first. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Public Service Broadcasting: Heading to York Barbican in March
Belated York debut announced: Public Service Broadcasting, York Barbican, March 27 2025, doors 7pm
AFTER 15 years of “teaching the lessons of the past through the music of the future”, London archivist art rock pioneers Public Service Broadcasting will make their York Barbican debut next spring with a line-up of corduroy-clad J Willgoose Esq., drummer companion Wrigglesworth, flugelhorn player J F Abraham and Mr B, specialist in visuals and set design for live performances.
Last October’s fifth studio album, The Last Flight, was built around the ill-fated final flight of American aviator Amelia Earhart on July 2 1937, when she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to become the first woman to fly around the world. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
George Ure: Director of Beauty And The Beast at the Grand Opera House, York
GEORGE Ure has returned to a York rehearsal room for the first time since 2012 to direct the Grand Opera House pantomime Beauty And The Beast.
“I was last here to play Tom, one of the pilots in The Guinea Pig Club, the play by Susan Watkins, the wife of neurosurgeon Professor Sid Watkins, about the Second World War pilots who became the “guinea pig club” for pioneering plastic surgeon Archibald McIndoe,” says the Scotsman, recalling artistic director Damian Cruden’s premiere at York Theatre Royal in October that year.
The Guinea Pig Club, by the way, was set up as an exclusive club for Battle of Britain pilots with extensive burns injuries who had been operated on by Sir Archibald. “We all stayed in touch with the Guinea Pig Club and got invited to their Christmas party,” recalls George.
“Fiona [Fiona Dolman, who played Sister O’Donnell] stayed the best of friends with one or two of the families.”
Born In Airdrie, 13 miles from Glasgow, George moved south in 2005 to study at Mountview [Academy of Theatre Arts]. “I’ve been based in London for nearly 20 years now, but York is my favourite place in the UK outside of Scotland, it really is,” he says of a city that has drawn him here for the joy of a “romantic weekend with my other half”.
“I love this city; it is a bit of me now, so when UK Productions asked me to do this pantomime, they didn’t have to ask me twice. I was contacted in the summertime by Anthony Williams, the executive pantomime director, who manages all 11 of their pantomimes.
Phil Atkinson’s villainous Hugo Pompidou performing his mash-up of Work Of Art and Da Ya Think I’m Sexy? in Beauty And The Beast. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
“We were reconnecting after not seeing each other for many years. He asked me what I was up to and I said I was looking for a show to direct. We discussed my ideas and I’ve been on the project since August.”
George brings directorial experience aplenty to staging Beauty And The Beast. “I’ve been working in drama schools for a long time: I’ve just finished a ten-year run at Urdang Academy, and I’m now working with one of my graduates, Hattie Dibb, who’s in the ensemble here after playing my leading lady in her leaving musical, Anne Pornick in Kipps.”
George has performed in panto on several occasions. “I played Peter Pan twice, once at Milton Keynes Theatre, then at New Wimbledon Theatre in 2015 [with Marcus Brigstocks as Captain Hook and Verne Troyer as Lofty the Pirate], and then I did Jack And The Beanstalk, back in Scotland at Perth Theatre, where I was Angus.” Angus, who is he? “Jack’s brother, the ‘dafty’. It was a brilliant show!”
George was raised on Scottish pantomimes. “I used to go to the King’s Theatre, Glasgow, where Gerard Kelly played the ‘Silly Billy’ role for 20 years. Stanley Baxter was a legend there too, and Elaine C Smith is still doing the show there after so many years [playing Mrs Smee in Peter Pan this winter],” he says.
“My aunt’s brother, Edward O’Toole, was the stage manager there for more than 20 years and he used to get us in to watch the preview, and my dad did a bit of shift work there at Christmas.”
George loves panto. “It’s such a cliché to say it’s a child’s first experience of theatre, but it’s true, and panto doesn’t have to be naff! I believe that if you can find the balance of humour and heart, it has the power to speak to everyone. At some point in the show it will touch everyone – and it has to have really good storytelling too.”
Directing a commercial pantomime is a flat-out experience, ‘hothousing’ a show in less than a fortnight. “I started on the Monday and ran the full show by Saturday morning; the next Monday was the tech day with a producer’s run, followed by notes, and then we flew over to the theatre to work towards opening on Saturday that week [December 7],” says George.
Jennifer Caldwell’s Belle and Samuel Wyn-Morris’s Beast in a pas de deux in Beauty And The Beast. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
“I’m a meticulous planner. Working in a drama school, you get used to tight schedules, so I had to plan ahead with a wish list for every department, and I’m happy to say that we were ahead of the game after the first week of rehearsals.”
George first met up with choreographer Alex Codd and musical director Arlene McNaught in September. “We talked through everyone’s music choices. I’m a collaborator; I don’t think there should be a dictator; I’m a team person as you can only succeed like that – though fundamentally I did have some strong feelings on what the music should be as I didn’t want it to be just chart hits.
“Beauty And The Beast is all about the plot, and the music should match that, and not just become an excuse to change lyrics of a pop hit to make it work.
“We’ve gone for pop music from many decades, from Carole King to Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off in a mash-up with Chappell Roan’s Hot To Go!; Lovin’ Spoonful’s Do You Believe In Magic for Fairy Bon Bon to Meat Loaf’s I’d Do Anything For Love (But I won’t Do That), plus songs from Wicked and Les Miserables.
“We also have Work Of Art from Everybody’s Talking About Jamie mashed up with Rod Stewart’s Da Ya Think I’m Sexy? for the baddie, Phil Atkinson’s Hugo Pompidou, who’s really like an anti-baddie because he’s so funny.
“The music was really important to me because it has to serve the plot and you have to have the balance right, and thankfully the producers were very welcoming of all my nonsense!”
Beauty And The Beast runs at Grand Opera House, York, until January 5 2025. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Evie Pickerill’s Spirit of the Ring in York Theatre Royal’s Aladdin. Picture: S R Taylor Photography
CBBC host Evie Pickerill is not only dashing around in two roles in Aladdin at York Theatre Royal this festive season, she also is popping up in the CBeebies pantomime, Beauty And The Beast.
“I’m playing the Robin,” she says. Not the first role that springs to mind in that story. “She’s Belle’s best friend, who’s a bird, so I got to fly! I’ve never flown across a stage before, so I was quite nervous about it but I loved it – and the costume was incredible! Now I’d love to do it again, maybe playing Tinkerbell.”
Evie headed up to Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre to record the televised pantomime before starting rehearsals for Aladdin. “We performed it live for two days at this huge, wonderful theatre. It’s been running in cinemas and you can see it on iPlayer in December as well as on CBeebies.”
The Theatre Royal rehearsals reunited Evie with choreographer Hayley Del Harrison, who had choreographed the CBeebies pantomime too. “She worked on my arm movements for the Robin, and it’s been lovely to work with her again in York, and with Juliet [director Juliet Forster] too, after she directed me in CBeebies’ Romeo And Juliet in 2021, when I played Juliet,” she says.
“Working for Evolution Productions at York Theatre Royal is big-boy panto; they’re the king of panto,” says Evie Pickerill
A principal presenter on the children’s television channel since 2018, she is the fourth CBeebies participant in the Theatre Royal and Evolution Productions co-production, following in the steps of Andy Day, Mandy Moate and James “Raven” McKenzie.
“That’s big shoes to fill,” she says. “Playing the Spirit of the Ring and the Genie of the Lamp is my first time on the York stage but I’ve been to York a handful of times and love it here.”
Her previous pantomimes were in her native Midlands. “I played Cinderella at The Grand, Wolverhampton, and Leicester de Montford Hall and Snow White at Wolverhampton, where everything was made locally for the show and we had an eight-piece orchestra and an ice rink with skating, though my Snow White escaped having to skate,” recalls Evie.
“To play the title role in my home town was a pinch-me moment. I’ve been watching shows there since I was young, so I’ve come full circle. I only wish my grandparents could have been there as they used to take me to shows, but my old teachers did come.”
Lift-off: Evie Pickerill’s Genie of the Lamp with the ensemble in Aladdin at York Theatre Royal. Picture: S R Taylor Photography
Aladdin has presented differences aplenty from her past shows, not least “the luxury” of much longer rehearsals. “After doing panto for Imagine at Leicester and in-house at Wolverhampton, working for Evolution at York Theatre Royal is big-boy panto; they’re the king of panto. We’ve done a lot of character work, which is different from the other pantos I’ve done,” says Evie.
“I’m playing a different kind of role too: with the Spirit of the Ring, there’s a bit comedy, a bit of silliness. It’s also been nice to have the ‘safety blanket’ of Juliet and Hayley being there, but everyone has been so inviting.
“Robin [dame Robin Simpson] is so funny and Paul [villain Paul Hawkyard] is a delight to work with. I do lots of scenes with him.”
Evie Pickerill’s Genie of the Lamp with Sario Solomon’s Aladdin in a scene from Aladdin. Picture: S R Taylor Photography
In addition to the CBeebies pantomime, Evie has filmed Dodge’s Christmas Wish at Thursford, the home of the Christmas Spectacular in Norfolk. “It’ll be on CBeebies and iPlayer,” says Evie. “I play myself in this one. The synopsis is that Dodge, the dog in the CBeebies’ house, would like to give Father Christmas a present because no-one ever does that.
“So, we head off to the North Pole, but I won’t reveal who’ll be playing Father Christmas as it’s so exciting!”
Settled into York for the festive season, Evie feels very much at home in pantomime. “I first went when I was seven or eight and straightaway I said to my parents, ‘that’s what I want to do’,” she says. “I left home at 18 to go to drama school in Liverpool, doing the acting course at LIPA, and I’ve never looked back.”
Aladdin runs at York Theatre Royal until January 5 2025. No performances on December 19, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
