ALADDIN – GRAND OPERA HOUSE YORK 12.12.11 - Another Review from Malcolm Poole

　

York is a City with a rich and diverse history having been influenced in its development by ancient cultures from across the globe. One such influential tradition in the City is the Pantomime, and the Grand Opera House is able to continue that tradition with its production of Aladdin which runs to Sunday 1^st January 2012.

All the essential traditional elements are present, coming together in a glorious pantomime explosion, expertly choreographed by Aiden J Harvey as Wishey Washey and Phil Randel as the magnificently costumed and coiffured Widow Twankey, with some what of a wind problem! Say no more. They both enthusiastically drive the story forward much to the enjoyment of the audience who are so engaged that at times it was hard to hear yourself think above the vociferous audience participation. The "Have a Banana", and "Ghost" routines being particular favourites.

Steve Arnold provides an amiable and engaging, Aladdin with the added bonus that you will believe "Ashley" can dance! He provides an identifiable focal point for those audience members less than familiar with the Pantomime, whilst resisting the temptation to overly reference "The Street"

Daniella Gibb as Princess Yasmin brings just the right mix of innocence and a yearning to engage with the world outside the palace. Her singing voice adding a further element to the traditional mix, reaching it’s zenith during "Silhouette".

Dan Styles’ Abanazer brings the right level of fear and loathing to proceedings, a crying child in the dress circle being testament to his stage presence, engaging the audience and revelling in the mockery which accompanied his every appearance.

The Emperor of China, Jonathan Penton, attempts to bring order to the chaos which is ensuing around him, assisted by the comic cameo which is George Stagnell as Constable Wun Tun. As you would expect they both fail in their endeavours, with the Emperor being rewarded with the loving attention of the Widow Twankey.

Add into the mix 2 genies, no expense spared this year! Lucy Lavelle & John Sagar and you have a recipe for a glorious, colourful and enjoyable family outing.

The Pantomime is the essence of York’s Christmas Tradition and should not be missed.

Time Gentlemen Please! review from Malcolm Poole

The Demon Barbers Roadshow, performed in York last Sunday having created a stir in the leading weeks with participatory workshops at York Dance Works  and morris sides dancing round some of the most famous attractions in the city. Our Malcolm Poole reviewed the show...

 “Time Gentlemen Please”

By Macolm Poole

Sometime, somebody, somewhere, sat down and thought that it would be a

really good idea to mix lager and cider in the same glass.  At first blush, not

the most appetising of mixes, and yet the Snakebite is here to stay as a

refreshing and enlivening heady brew.

In similar vein, Damien Barber sat down one day (probably with a Snakebite)

and thought that traditional folk dancing needed livening up if it was going to

appeal to a wider audience, and decided to blend it with hip hop.  And

amazingly, like Snakebite, it works.

Barber is a highly respected musician with a Radio 2 Folk Award winning

reputation for producing innovative folk music by seamlessly intertwining it

with an electro edge and modern production.  The Demon Barber Roadshow

“Time Gentlemen Please” takes the concept one step further,

The melting pot for all this cultural fusion is the Fighting Cock’s pub where

three hapless hip hop dancers manage to find themselves.  The pub isn’t the

kind of place where you’d expect to find an open mike night and its

customers certainly don’t wear baggy sweats and 110 trainers, favoring

instead sword and clog dancing whilst attired in breaches and waistcoats. 

What follows brings to mind dueling banjos but with clogs and beat box.  As

one side shows off their skills the other retaliates with a display of their own

until both become harmonised and complement one another.

The fusion works so well that at times it’s hard to discern who’s sampling

who; is it a hip hop beat with a folk melody or is it the other was round?  And

that’s the beauty of the show.  As Barber says himself, the more that the

performers worked on the dance, the more the seemingly distinct styles come

to resemble one another, to the point where regardless of whether the stomp

comes from a clog or a Reebok Classic the rhythm is one.

Time Gentlemen Please starts off as a car crash between what appear to be

two hugely different styles of music and culture.  Barber’s skill as a director

and his openness as an performer to embrace differing styles allow him to

pick through the wreckage and build a vehicle that performs well, looks good

and feels good; think Pimp my Ride meets Massey Ferguson tractor.

Anyway, I’m off to the bar for a few Snakebites and to practice my clog steps.

GOHY New(es): The Bleat on the Street, June 2011

Welcome

Yes that's right, I've finally found time to blog, after our very busy May period finally draws to an end. All the Grand Opera House staff have demonstrated their worth over the last few weeks; getting in and out two large scale musicals and numerous one nighters, back to back without a single dark day in well over a fortnight!

The Grand Opera House is a recieving venue, and so every time a new show arrives the Technical Department have to lift in tour sets and lights, learn how to tech the show in a day with no dress run to practice, and then pack it all up again after a very long day. It's very touch and go, and an extremely fast turn around, so periods like this can be very demanding.

Up near the rafters in the Marketing department, we've been running around like headless chickens with so many shows to promote in such short space of time. Box Office has also been extremely busy as we programme more and more exciting shows for the winter season; many of the staff having talked themselves horse. Front of House, as ever, have charmed and wooed our audiences, in efforts to make the theatre experience as it should be, a real treat and a grand night out!

With no chance to sit back and take a breath, we throw ourselves into June, excited by the programme. If we ever needed a bit of comic relief to spur us on, this would be the time, and luckily for us we have a funny fortnight ram packed with comedians; Dom Joly, Jimmy Carr, Al Murray, and the legendary Lee Evans!

Last week

We had the pleasure of hosting the long awaited Thriller: Live, returning to touring after a healthy period on The West End.We had an exciting lead up to the show; teaming with Vodka Revolution the Grand Opera House York, for a Michael Jackson dance off:

 Some terriying terrors from StageCoach York wowed unexpectant passersby and shoppers, with a Thriller routine Flashmob:

Whilst the Gallery York hosted the opening night party Monday, and a Michael Jackson fancy dress on the closing night on Saturday, white socks and sparkly gloves were in abundance!
The show was busy busy busy, full of avid MJ fans, by no means disapointed by the fabulous showcase of talent and the extremely funky and elabotate set!
Read Reviews: The Press Jeanette Minns

This Week

As the Thriller tour lorry pulled away from our dock door, we could see the Spirit of the Dance lorry on the horizon, and after these Irish beauties have tiptoed out the stage door we expect the arrival of Shaun Sheep's Big Show. Shaun came for a visit back in May to personally give prizes to the "Draw Shaun" competition winners, chosen from a number of participating local primary schools. While Shaun was here he took the opportunity to visit all of Yorks historical landmarks, and posed for a few press photographs. You might spot Shaun hitchiking a ride on the back of a poor oblivious cyclists bike, on the front of this months Local Link Magazine!  The show opens tomorrow night at 7pm and runs through till Sunday, times and prices are listed here.

There will be arts and crafts session 45 minutes prior to every show if you have budding artist tots that like to get their hands dirty (don't worry, we have wet wipes at the ready, and wont be using paints), special thanks to WHSmiths for providing our crafts bits and pieces!

Industry News

OMG! at last the Legally Blonde  Tour cast has been confirmed! The cast is led by Faye Brookes as 'Elle' (Grease in the West End), Iwan Lewis as 'Emmet' (Fame in the West End, Passion at The Donmar Warehouse), Liz McClarnon as 'Paulette' (former member of girl band Atomic Kitten, The War of the Worlds arena production), Neil Toon as 'Warner' (Channel 4’s Hollyoaks, Les Misérables in the West End) and Dave Willetts as 'Professor Callaghan' (Les Misérables, Phantom of The Opera, Sunset Boulevard all in the West End).

We are also expecting a visit from Alan Carr on 5th of September this year with his new show Speccsy Beast and BalletBoyz has been confirmed for 10th March 2012!

In-House News

Pantomime auditions are afoot...Yes already!...Monday 19^th September, starting at 4.30pm and cast names have been confirmed: Steven Arnold (Ashley in Coronation St) as Aladdin, Aiden J Harvey as Wishey Washy, Phil Randall as Widow Twankey and John Sagar as the Genie of the Lamp

Due to popular demand the School of Wizardry will be returning for yet another season, so all mini Harry Potters, little Derren Browns and young Paul Daniels, email lizzierichards@theambassadors.com to book a place.

In Septemeber to kick off the new accademic year we shall be beginning our very own Writing Workshops for Theatre and Comedy. Local playwrite Chris Bush will be planning and teaching a course that will be tailored very much to meet the needs of the individual. For more information or to book a place please email katesmithson@theambassadors.com

So that's it. Thats my Blog entry for this week. I hope you enjoy it! If you feel inspired to get involved with the Theatre you can keep an eye on our vacancies page on our website, but we also have a Gang of volunteers who lend their services to the theatre in exchange for free tickets, back stage meetings etc. If this sounds like something you might like to be involved with please email rockyklimaszewska@theambassadors.com and join our GOHY Gang!



Up and Coming

May looks to be a very exciting month for the Grand Opera House York, with two full scale touring musical productions, and the debut of Verdict an Agatha Christie Novel Stage adaptation, gracing our stage.

We are trying out some new and innovative promotional tactics - ways to get the word out about what's on at the theatre, in a fun, exciting and entertaining manner.

Members of the GOHY Gang and myself had a brilliant time last Thursday promoting Verdict by way of Street Theatre. We all dressed up in 1950's garb and took to the streets, chalk in hand, to create mini montages, which we drew around (hense the chalk) so that the memory of the event would reside long after we had moved on.

There are more photo's on the Grand Opera House Facebook page...

We are currently organising a Thriller Routine FlashMob in York City Centre, all ages are welcome. We have pencilled in Wednesday 25th of May as the date...
Vodka Revolution will be hosting a dance off on the 20th of May...
And Gallery have teamed up with us in order to inspire shape shifters and group busters to get dressed up for the show, and then take to the dance floor, bashing out all the routines they have just learnt on the 4th of June.

If you are interested in any of these activities and want to know more please feel free to send enquiries to rockyklimaszewska@theambassadors.com

The Big Ballet...

Don't miss The Big Ballet elegantly swanning about  our stage this very evening at the Grand Opera House York. This show has such a charming sense of humour, with talented performers demonstrating that bigger is more often better!

This world-wide famous unique ballet troupe comes from the Russian town of Perm - a beautiful city with over two million inhabitants in the Urals. The city boasts a long tradition of music and ballet. The training and work at the Perm Ballet Academy are decisively influenced by the works of Peter Tchaikovsky and by Serge Diaghlev, the genius of the "Ballets Russes“.

The Big Ballet was created by the famous Russian choreographer Evgenii Panfilov, an influential leader of Russian ballet until his tragic murder in 2002. As a young man, Panfilov had secured a reputation as being one of the best choreographers in ballet. It was he who showed the world the grace and beauty of large women

How it all started?

Back in 1993, local media reported that female dance enthusiasts - each weighing more than 85kg – were being enrolled to the new dance team. Many of those auditioning were ordinary women who were tired of the taunts about their size and were suffering from low self-esteem. Evgenii Panfilov gave them the training and confidence to become a proudly professional dance troupe. As their grace, elegance and abilities developed, it was his wish to share it with the world. Since that time, the minimum weight requirement has increased to 16 stone due to fierce competition between Big Ballet hopefuls.

There are still tickets left and there is a secret special offer in place that we are willing to share with yours truly, the loyal GOHY fans and followers!

In order to recieve 2 tickets for the price of 1 simply quote "Russia" in our box office, or if you follow the link below, you simply enter the password into the offer dialogue box!

http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/The-Big-Ballet-tickets/artist/1081738

Legally Blonde at The Grand Opera House York

Legally Blonde went on sale at the Grand Opera House York last Monday and sold nearly 800 tickets on its first day alone! We, here at the GOHY, are really excited and thrilled to be hosting the show this summer (August the 9th to the 20th).

If you want to book tickets for this production you can do online, you can follow this link: http://www.grandoperahouseyork.org.uk/prod-productions_details.asp?VenueID=94&pid=2983

College sweetheart and homecoming queen Elle Woods doesn't take no for an answer. So when her boyfriend, Warner, dumps her for someone serious, Elle puts down the credit card, hits the books, and heads for Harvard Law School. Legally Blonde The Musical will take you from the social whirl of California Campus life to Harvard's Halls of Justice with the brightest new heroine (and of course, her Chihuahua, Bruiser).

This all singing, all dancing, feel-good musical comedy will be the highlight of your year and the most fashionable ticket in town. The verdict? This much fun shouldn't be legal!

Cast is yet to be confirmed...

Our Very First Blog!

Welcome to the first official blog from the Grand Opera House York. Our intention is to give all interested parties an insight into what actually takes place in a theatre from day to day.
The blog will contain:

Exclusive Behind the Scenes Material; Quotes, interviews, photographs from touring artists.

Industry Announcements; local and abroad, its important to keep abreast to what is occuring in the entertainment industry.

Casting News; for our shows and other ATG Venues

Show Reviews; past and future

Job Vacancies

In House Events; Stage Experience, School of Wizardry, The New Premium Package, Technical Workshops, Writing workshops and much much more.

...and of course any news from the lovely employees of the GOHY!