Last chance to see…

Sleeping Beauty, York Theatre Royal, until Saturday

AFTER executive director Tom Bird’s confirmation on Monday that retired dame Berwick Kaler would no longer be involved as writer or co-director in a new age for a “fabulous, spectacular and really York” pantomime, this will be the last chance to see a Kaler-branded Theatre Royal panto after 41 years.

Amid further Bird confirmation that no contracts are guaranteed for next winter’s show, might this be the final curtain together for the regular panto team of David Leonard, Martin Barrass, Suzy Cooper and AJ Powell?

Hitting the high note of the week

The Best Of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, Grand Opera House, York, Friday, 7.30pm

FROM the creators of The Barricade Boys comes a high-pitched celebration of the career of four New Jersey boys, who started singing under a streetlamp.

Sherry, My Eyes Adored You, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, Walk Like A Man and December 1963 (Oh, What A Night) all feature in a tribute show performed by cast members from Jersey Boys and other West End shows.

Improv show of the week

Right Here, Right Now, Riding Lights, Friargate Theatre, York, Friday, 7.30pm

YORK’S chaotic comedy improv night returns for 2020 with its own brand of “sensational silliness” based on audience suggestions.

Riding Lights’ merry band of improvisers promise music, mayhem and “muppetry” in an absolutely unrepeatable evening of joy-filled nonsense that is funny, foolish and fit for family audiences. Please note, to mark York

Residents Festival, tickets are free for York Residents.

Zombie alert of the week

Night Of The Living Dead - Remix, Courtyard Theatre, Leeds Playhouse, Friday to February 20

LEEDS Playhouse and cutting-edge Leeds company Imitating The Dog unite in a “love song” to George A Romero’s politically charged zombie movie to mark its 50th anniversary.

Seven strangers take refuge from flesh-eating “ghouls” in an isolated farmhouse as the picket-fence American dream is smashed apart. Seven performers enter the stage armed with cameras, a box of props and a rail of costumes. Can they recreate the film, shot-for-shot, before your eyes, using whatever they can lay their hands on?

Tribute return of the week

The Simon & Garfunkel Story, Grand Opera House, York, Saturday, 7.30pm

AFTER a week-long run at London’s Vaudeville Theatre and a worldwide tour, this tribute show to Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel is back on the road with Adam Dickinson’s Simon and Cameron Potts’s Garfunkel.

Using projection photos and original film footage, the 50th anniversary celebration features a full band performing Cecilia, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Mrs Robinson et al.

Burns Night celebration of the week

Hyde Family Jam’s Burns Night Bonanza, John Cooper Studio, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Saturday, 7.30pm

“HUZZAH!” says frontman and guitarist John Holt-Roberts. “We’re back, playing a gig in York to celebrate Burns Night and help you shake off the January blues. Come and stomp, dance and sing along with us.”

Hyde Family Jam, winners of the Outstanding Busker prize in the 2018 York Culture Awards, are likely to sell out. “So, get your tickets early to avoid disappointment,” urges John.

If you love Thin Lizzy…

Limehouse Lizzy, The Crescent, York, Saturday, 7.30pm

AT the invitation of York concert promoter Mr H Presents, Limehouse Lizzy keep the spirit of Celtic rock icon Philip Lynott and Thin Lizzy alive in an “action-packed, pyrotechnic-fuelled explosion of a show”.

A staple sell-out in York for more than 20 years, the band say they are really looking forward to their change in venue to The Crescent.

Premiere of the week

Dr Korczak’s Example, Bramall Rock Void, Leeds Playhouse, Saturday to February 15

LEEDS Playhouse artistic director James Brining directs David Greig’s topical play, timed to premiere just before Holocaust Memorial Day on January 27.

In 1942 in the Warsaw ghetto, Adzio, 16, is invited to escape the streets by educator and children’s author Dr Janusz Korczak, to live in the orphanage with 200 children. Dr Korczak is nervous, however. Rumours are spreading about people being moved out of the city on trains and not coming back.

Want to see a Brexit song getting done? Here’s where…

BlackWaters, The Basement, City Screen, York, Sunday, doors, 8pm

BLACKWATERS, a loud and raucous young indie-punk four-piece from Guildford, like to capture the essence of disaffected youth and politics in their songs, exemplified by debut single So Far Out, their comment on the Brexit vote.

The musical influences range from Los Angeles punks Fidlar and Lambeth garage rock four-piece Palma Violets to the vintage punk of The Clash and Ramones.

Gala of the week

Chinese New Year Gala, York Barbican, Sunday, 7pm

YORK’S annual Chinese New Year Gala is organised by York Chinese Society and Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) at the University of York.

The 2020 extravaganza will herald the lunar year of the Rat, representing the new beginning of the Zodiac circle, in an evening of song and dance, from ancient China to the modern genres, from traditional instrumentals to East-West fusions, featuring a band, orchestra and choir.