Preview By Gay Pirrie Weir

December

PREVIEW

Trumpeter Chris Hodgkins leads the Salute to Humph at the Marine in Lyme Regis

Remembering Humph

LYME REGIS A LINE-UP of 10 top UK and US jazz musicians, led by trumpeter Chris Hodgkins will give a Salute to Humph, the late, great Humphrey Lyttelton, at the Marine Theatre, Lyme Regis, on Friday 3rd December.

With sound, spoken words and pictures, Salute to Humph celebrates the life and music of the great jazz musician, and matchless chairman of BBC Radio 4’s anarchic I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue, on what would have been his 100th birthday.

Humph, as he was affectionately known, led the revival of 40s and 50s jazz. He was the first jazzer to have a Top 20 hit with his Bad Penny Blues.

Kora and guitar duo

PORTESHAM A CHANCE encounter between Senegalese kora player Amadou Diagne and French-American guitarist Cory Seznec in the streets of Bath in 2007 led to a new musical adventure in 2021, coming to Portesham village hall on Saturday 11th December.

Following rehearsals in Paris and a recording session at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios in Somerset, Diagne and Seznec created their latest album, Touki - Rights of Passage.

Drawing heavily on the traditional music and rhythms of West Africa, the kora dances playfully around banjo and the guitar, the calabash and other percussion add powerful, driving beats, and silky voices entrance.

The influences are many, and rather than remaining in any one tradition, the touki—the musical voyage itself—is the destination.

Festive favourites

SOUTH PETHERTON WEST Country favourites the Stanchester Choir and the perennially popular St Agnes Fountain come to the David Hall at South Petherton with Christmas concerts which are sure to raise the spirits at the end of this difficult year.

The Stanchester Quire, at the hall on Monday 6th December, are a community quire who sing in four-part harmony. They will be performing a selection of old village carols and songs from the South West of England, from the far west of Cornwall back to very near home with some of the unique Odcombe carols. There will be plenty of opportunity for audience participation! All proceeds will go towards the Support The Hall campaign.

St Agnes Fountain, as always with two dates because it’s standing room only for this brilliant band, on Friday 10th December and Saturday 11th, bring sparkling musicianship and, humour to their heartfelt renderings of traditional and familiar Christmas tunes.

This stellar line-up of founder member Chris Leslie (Fairport Convention) and Chris While and Julie Matthews (Radio 2 Folk Award Winners), has been bringing joy, laughter and a few tears to their performances for the last 20 years.

The year at the David Hall ends with a New Year’s Eve Celebration Ceilidh with Crooked Furrow, on Friday 31st December from 8.30pm. Crooked Furrow have been around for many years performing ceilidhs through Devon, Somerset, Dorset and beyond. The band is Derek, who is the caller and also plays bass guitar, banjo and guitar; Judy, playing fiddle and whistle, and Mark, on accordion.

Gypsy, jazz, world and swing

DORCHESTER THERE is Christmas music with a difference in the Dorchester Arts programme for December, beginning on Saturday 4th with those stylish performers, Moscow Drug Club, and their new show, Transcendent Troubadours of Gypsy Latin & Swing.

The performance, at 8pm at Dorchester Corn Exchange, ranges from 1930s Berlin Cabaret, Hot Club de France, Nuevo Tango and Gypsy Campfire, with the band’s original material, and songs from some of the great wordsmiths of the past century, including Jacques Brel and Leonard Cohen. Imagine Django Reinhardt and Tom Waits having an after-hours jam with the local gypsy band!

On Wednesday 8th, St Mary’s Church is the venue for an evening of medieval carols, by Opus Anglicanum. The concert includes readings performed by BBC Radio’s Zeb Soanes.

Mad Dog Mcrea will ramp up the heat at the Corn Exchange on Friday 10th, with their infectious mixture of folk rock, pop, gypsy jazz, bluegrass and ‘shake your ass’ music. The themes range from original songs of adventure, drinking, love and life, to traditional tales of gypsies, fairies, legless pirates and black flies.

Swing into the last few days of shopping and cooking with Five Star Swing at the Corn Exchange on Friday 17th.

Enjoy favourite songs from Glenn Miller, Sinatra, Basie and Nat King Cole as Five Star Swing jazz up those Jingle Bells! The band features Simone from the Ivy Benson Orchestra and Chris Smith (Jnr) composer and arranger for the BBC Radio Big Band and Herb Miller Big Band (Glenn’s brother).

Away in a manger

DORCHESTER AND LYME REGIS LIVING Spit—Howard Coggins and Stu Mcloughlin—are back in Dorset this Christmas with performances of their uniquely touching and pathetically laughable version of The Nativity, at Dorchester Corn Exchange on Saturday 8th December and the Marine Theatre, Lyme Regis on Friday 10th.

A huge hit with audiences on its previous tour, Living Spit’s Nativity tells the story (sort of), with the duo’s usual mix of silly songs, pitiful puppetry and biblical befuddlement. After sitting in their underpants for too much of the last 18 months, Howard and Stu can’t wait to strap their sandals back on and head out into the cold winter night ...

The Little Match Girl

LYME REGIS NOT all Christmas tales are happy—The Little Match Girl comes from a sad place, but the timeless story, coming to the Marine Theatre at Lyme Regis on Thursday 16th December, is full of surprising warmth.

The Little Match Girl wanders the street on New Year’s Eve, trying to sell her match-sticks. Everyone is busy celebrating with blazing fires, Christmas trees and delicious food. Outside, the little girl is cold, sad and alone ... until she lights one of her matches to keep warm and visions come to life before her eyes!

It’s a family Christmas show that takes the audience on a magical journey, filled with live music, puppetry and multimedia.

It’s Christmas magic

DORCHESTER ALL round spiffing chaps, with their twirling moustaches and fetching tweeds, Morgan and West bring their unique mix of magic, maths and comedy to Dorchester Corn Exchange with their Great Big Christmas Magic Show on Saturday 18th December, at 2.30 and 7pm.

The time-travelling magicians, whose tricks and illusions baffle audiences of all ages, have created a wonderful family show full of fun and festive frolics, magic, mystery, and merriment.

Richard Digance believes in Christmas

SOUTH PETHERTON SINGER-songwriter and award-winning all-round entertainer Richard Digance brings a very special Christmas show to the David Hall at South Petherton on Friday 3rd

Snow Angel in Honiton

THE Beehive in Honiton presents Charlie Bicknell and Louise Innes in the popular and unique Snow Angel. A shamelessly festive show celebrating all that is Christmassy.

From Michael Bublé and Tiny Tim to Frozen mashups and the return of the small and ever-popular Eskimo. Mad-capped, joyous and at times preposterous, this is an evening of festive frivolity with a tiny sparkle of magic that will delight the unhinged and charm the pants off everyone else.

Charlie Bicknell became a household name playing ‘Delilah’ in BBC2’s This Life and subsequently starred as ‘Scout’ in Ben Elton’s West End hit Popcorn. Continuing to work as an actress for the National Theatre and rep around the UK, Charlie then moved into cabaret and circus, performing all over the world.

Louise Innes is a versatile operatic mezzo soprano, who has sung at Covent Garden Opera House, Scottish Opera, La Scala, Festival Hall, and 10 Downing Street to name but a few. She has recently been performing with Charlie in Londons’ Crazy Coq, Chelsea Arts Club, St James Theatre and all over the South West.

Suitable for age 15 and above. December 17th at The Beehive, Honiton.

December. He promises there is nothing rude—but it’s nothing like a school Christmas concert!

The BAFTA-nominated entertainer, who is Sony Awardwinner and a gold award winner from the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters, is one of only three British folk singers mentioned in The Virgin Anthology of Songwriters for his contribution to comedy songwriting.

Richard has released 31 albums, written 14 books and has had nearly five million visits on YouTube. He composed the songs and music for Bill Bryson’s best-selling audio CD book, The Road To Little Dribbling. He has worked in America with movie star Steve Martin and describes two of his greatest moments as playing the London Palladium with Robin Williams and a guitar duet on TV with Queen guitarist, Brian May.

Richard ends another year of touring with what he calls a special Christmas show for grown-ups who still believe— an evening of festive merriment and audience participation to celebrate the end of more than 50 years of touring the country without Santa’s magical sleigh!

Seth’s only local date

HONITON FANS of the Devon-based folk singer-songwriter Seth Lakeman have only one local date to catch the multiinstrumentalist’s tour, marking the release of his new studio album, at the Beehive Centre in Honiton on Wednesday 8th December.

Make Your Mark features 14 new songs including Lakeman’s first single, Higher We Aspire. It was recorded at Middle Farm Studios in Devon and is released on the singer’s own label Honour Oak Records.

Later in the month, on Friday 17th, the Beehive hosts a visit by singers and performers Charlie Bicknell and Louisa Innes, with their Snow Angel Cabaret, combining a gloriously dark sense of humour with amazing voices.

Drop in the Ocean, on Saturday 18th are a relatively new name on the south-west music scene, bringing an infectious blend of reggae, ska and dub fusion which add up to an energetic live show.

Seussical the Musical

BRIDPORT BRIDPORT Young Performers are staging the fantastical, magical, musical extravaganza Seussical at the town’s Electric Palace on 21st and 22nd December.

Bringing to life favourite Dr. Seuss characters, including Horton The Elephant, the Cat in the Hat, Gertrude McFuzz, lazy Mayzie, and a little boy with a big imagination Jojo, the show transports the audience from the Jungle of Nool to the Circus McGurkus to the invisible world of the Whos.

It’s an exciting story with the characters facing ridicule, danger, kidnapping and a trial, before the powers of friendship, loyalty, family and community finally emerge triumphant.

Bridport Young Performers is a youth theatre group with everyone involved being 25 or under! Seussical is their

Folk singer-songwriter Seth Lakeman sings from his latest album at Honiton, the only West Country date on his tour. Photograph by Matt Austin

The Ridgeway Singers and Band celebrate Christmas with West Gallery carols, folk songs and some new songs. fifth full-scale musical, helping to raise money to provide scholarships for young performers for tuition in the performing arts.

Singing the West Gallery carols

VILLAGES THE Ridgeway Singers and Band make their nowtraditional Christmas tour, singing folk songs and West Gallery carols, as well as new songs, at churches and halls across Dorset, starting at Stalbridge village hall on Saturday 11th December at 4pm.

With their roots in the South Dorset Ridgeway and inspired by the rich sources of locally collected folk songs and West Gallery carols, the Ridgeway Singers and Band, led by Tim Laycock and Phil Humphries, have tuned their fiddles and voices to present a joyous celebration of Christmas past and present.

This year’s programme includes works from the Puddletown and Bridport manuscripts together with newly composed carols in the Dorset tradition including Tim Laycock’s joyful, tuneful One Bright Star.

The Ridgeway Singers are also at Alderholt village hall on Sunday 12th at 3.30pm, at St Swithun’s Church, Bridport, on Sunday 19th at 7pm, and at the Dorford Centre, Dorchester, on Wednesday 22nd at 7pm.

Retelling a familiar tale

BRIDPORT YOU might think there is nothing new to say or do with Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol—yet every year, inventive performers find different and exciting ways of telling the story. The Storyteller and The Musician bring their version to Bridport on 2nd and 3rd December.

Adapted by writer Adam Z Robinson and performed in the company’s storytelling style with live music, this production explores the gothic and ghostly aspects, presenting Dickens’ remarkable story as you’ve never seen it before.

Join Ebenezer Scrooge, and a whole host of characters, as he journeys into the past, present and yet-to-come on a supernatural journey to redemption. The show manages that special Dickensian balance of cosy and hair-raising. bringing to vivid life the atmosphere of Victorian London, as the ghosts of Christmas return, through the spellbinding medium of storytelling.

Using their signature combination of a live violin score, engaging narration, recorded voices and eerie sound effects, the show transports audiences to the offices of Scrooge and Marley, the humble Cratchit household and the fearful, final resting place of that infamous miser.

This Bridport Arts Centre event will be performed in the unique atmosphere of the town’s United Church.

The perfect family Christmas show

PLYMOUTH CHRISTMAS doesn’t have to just be about pantomime— there are some great entertainments which also celebrate the festive season, and they don’t get more festive or fun than White Christmas, coming to Plymouth Theatre Royal from 7th to 11th December.

The new production of Irving Berlin’s classic musical comes to Devon direct from the West End. Join veterans Bob Wallace and Phil Davis as the all-singing, all-dancing duo who follow the stunning Haynes Sisters, Betty and Judy to a Vermont lodge for a special Christmas show.

Their journey takes a misstep, and their rhythm is thrown off when they discover the lodge happens to be owned by their former general and is in desperate need of their help.

White Christmas features many famous songs, including Blue Skies, Sisters and the most famous festive song of all, White Christmas.

The Young’Uns - three time winners of the BBC Folk Awards

The Young’Uns

LYME REGIS THREE time winners of the BBC Folk Awards, The Young’uns are one of the hottest properties on the UK folk and acoustic scene. The three young singers, who are coming to the Marine Theatre at Lyme Regis on Sunday 19th December, sing folk songs for our times with heart and humour.

After winning Best Group in 2015 and 2016, their album Strangers was voted Best Album at the 2018 BBC Folk Awards.

Their live performances achieve one of the trickiest balancing acts—an ability to truly “make ‘em laugh and make ‘em cry,” while cutting straight to the heart of some of today’s most topical issues.

Their latest release, The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff, is a musical account of the life of an extraordinary man from their native North East England. Soon to be a theatre show, it tells the story of a working class hero’s journey through some of the most tumultuous events of the early 20th century—hunger marches, anti-fascism demos, the Spanish Civil War—with warmth, passion and humour and movingly features the voice of the eponymous hero.

Panto is Back!

YOU could be forgiven for thinking that the whole of the past 21 months has been a pantomime of mistaken identities, inflated promises and false starts, and certainly masks are de rigeur accessories to our theatre-going lives, but as I write this on 16th November 2021, all is set for a return to (almost) normal on the Christmas show front, with our local theatres ready for the happy shouts of “It’s behind you” and “Oh no it isn’t” ringing out from children and their adults.

Once again the annual “banker” pantomimes are in rehearsal, and celebrities, TV stars and local favourites are preparing to meet their public in that most English of seasonal entertainment.

Here in the South West, there are shows to suit most tastes, from the traditional to the quirkily modern. Expect jokes about PCR tests, bumbling brokers men called Track and Trace, and (if I have my way) badly-thatched, pompously blustering landowners promising the moon and demanding more for less.

This year’s biggest names are at Plymouth (Joe Pasquale as Wishee Washee in Aladdin), Bristol Hippodrome (Lesley Joseph and Rob Rinder in Snow White) and Poole, where Michelle Collins stars in Beauty and the Beast. Or travel further east to see Craig Revel Horwood in Cinderella at Southampton Mayflower.

Many families are deciding to stay nearer to home for their pantomimes this year, and the theatres in Dorset, Somerset and Devon are offering an exciting menu of shows for all the family.

Yeovil’s Octagon audiences are delighted that three of the venue’s favourite panto stars are back on stage for Mother Goose, which runs from 3rd December to 2nd January. Gordon Cooper, Jack Glanville and Lizzie Frances star in Paul Hendy’s new version of the story of the woman who was so worried about how she looked that she (almost) lost all her friends. But it’s a pantomime and that means we all live happily ever after.

At Weymouth Pavilion from 11th December to 2nd January, audiences will get taken for a ride—on Aladdin’s magic carpet from Old Peking. Our hero escapes the clutches of his wicked uncle Abanazar and rubs the magic lamp, but all is not well until the very end of the show, when riches and happiness come to him and his mother, the redoubtable Widow Twankey.

Exeter’s Northcott Theatre has a new adaptation of Charles Dickens’ favourite seasonal story, A Christmas Carol from Le Navet Bete, on stage from 1st December to 1st January 2022. It’s described as a joyful, comic, retelling for all the family.

At Bath this holiday season you can see the all time favourite show Cinderella in the magical traditional theatre, or Five Children and It in ‘the egg’, the adjoining children’s performance space. Bristol Old Vic has Robin Hood with the Wardrobe Ensemble, and the city’s “alternative” show, always at the Tobacco Factory, is OZ.

Children have missed so much “normal life” during the pandemic lockdowns and restrictions, and there are few things more heartening than to watch their faces at their first pantomime, where the magic comes to life at the same time as they are encouraged to shout, squeal and join in the fun.

GPW