Sister Josephine Kicks the Habit – Leeds

[SarahW]

Who’s going to the matinee performance of ‘Sister Josephine Kicks the Habit’ in Leeds?

There may be something special laid on for group members after the show, in the form of a ‘meet the cast/director/author’ and question and answer session, but we really need to know how many are likely to want to take part. Has anyone got the figures?

The show has been a huge success, and most of the smaller venues are now sold out. If you’re planning to see it but haven’t got your tickets, it’d be a good idea to book them now. See the website at http://www.sisterjosephine.co.uk for details.

[g8ina]

With many thanks to the David Harris Benevolent Society, I am ! 🙂

Gorra say thanks to Keith, Judith, Pam and Cynthia (and anyone else who was in on the act). See you there.

[thelovelyfiona]

Hello

Hopefully we will make it too, finances prevailing. We saw the show in Helmsley and I was enormously entertained. Hope to see you all soon.

Much Love
Fiona :kiss:

Fantastic performance this afternoon at the City Varieties. I think the Leeds shows will gain excellent reviews which should bring Sister Josephine to the attention of a wider audience.

Everything gells perfectly- supebly written and directed with a talented group of actor-musicians bringing the characters and songs to life. It was emotional hearing Jake’s material on stage again and appreciating the wordplay afresh in the clever new arrangements. The twists and turns of the various relationships was entertainment itself.

Thanks everyone also for the question and answer session which followed the show.

Can’t wait to see it again. I’ve already pencilled in 28th – 30th September 2006 at the Laundry Theatre, Bowness-on-Windermere. Hopefully there will be another before then!

[DerekW]

An excellent review of the Leeds City Varieties performance last Saturday someone has placed on the DineDirect.net website.

The link is http://www.dinedirect.net/venues/reviews.asp?venue_id=cityvariety_ls1&play_id=382

Sister Josephine kicks the habit

This musical comedy, which is one of the funniest I have seen in a long time, is based on the songs and characters made famous by the late, great Jake Thackray. For those unfamiliar with Jake and his works, Jake was born and brought up in Yorkshire (and attended university in Durham), and died in 2002. He was a singer/songwriter from Swaledale in North Yorkshire, and his speciality was comic songs about characters he invented (or, perhaps, met and exaggerated just a bit!). He came to mass public attention through his weekly appearances on BBC Television in the shows of David Frost, Bernard Braden and Esther Rantzen, with such hilarious songs as “The Bantam Cock”, “The Gorilla”, “The Lodger”, “Lah-di-Dah”, “Leopold Alcocks”, “The Blacksmith and the Toffeemaker”, “On Again”, “Miss World”, “The Widow of Bridlington” and, of course, “Sister Josephine”. Before his death, Jake had the idea of putting a group of his character into a stage musical and had started initial plans in which his dales tales and disparate characters from his humorous songs would find a home.

Unfortunately due to his untimely death he was unable to complete this task, but the baton passed to Ian McMillan, the buoyant bard of Barnsley, whose comedy writing I have known and loved for a number of years. Ian has taken some of the songs, their characters and the characters’ stories, and turned them into a superb piece of musical theatre of which Jake would have been proud.

The range of characters Ian has put onstage, a total of nine, played by a cast of six, have one major thing in common: love and/or lust which were the major themes of Jake Thackray’s songs. ‚ÄúI do like the idea that a playwright would like to use my old songs to make up a stage show of his own,‚Äù Jake once said. ‚ÄúLord knows how he‚Äôd string them together to make a fist of it.‚Äù Ian McMillan makes a brilliant fist of it by taking Jake‚Äôs advice to ensure that the group work in a cabaret format and that in addition to their acting they are also competent musicians. Jake suggested that a musical director/arranger and a young band would be important too and so we have Neil Gore and the other five actor-musicians swapping instrumental resources between them.

Jake Thackray thought at least four plots could be created from the many songs that he wrote and this could well be the first of a number of possible stage musicals based on some of these loveable characters. Ian McMillan steers Thackray‚Äôs characters, lyrics and music, on the road map to true love in an imaginary Swaledale community. The play is set in a small Yorkshire Dales town where the following characters live. Firstly there is Billy Kershaw, a young Jack-the-Lad who likes to love ’em and leave ’em; also Isobel, the young daughter of the town’s fierce female butcher; the cleaver-wielding Butcher herself; the Brigadier who wants to find a wife and settle down; Sister Josephine, a "nun" whose real name is Norman; Molly Metcalfe, who has been left on the shelf and hates it; The Toffee-Maker and the Blacksmith whose children want them to go into a home; and the motor-cycling Widow of Bridlington, out for a good time. And also there is a sprinkling of nuns and police officers thrown in, as well as a trio of fearsomely ugly, musical instrument playing, sexually deprived ladies.

In essence there are three love stories. The first is the innocent young love of cheeky Billy Kershaw who also acts as the narrator and is played by Colin Kilbride and the blossoming butcher’s daughter Isobel played by Charley Desborough, forever chased by her cleaver-wielding mother (Jackie Drew). Secondly we have Sir Nigel, the Brigadier (Neil Gore), and his pursuit of the leather-jacketed Widow of Bridlington (Elizabeth Eves) whilst also fancying the cross-dressing Sister Josephine (William Wolfe Hogan), although the brigadier is unaware that Josephine is actually called Norman! Finally there is the gentle, autumnal love of the Blacksmith (Wolfe Hogan) and Toffee-maker again played by Jackie Drew. These stories overlap in a similar manner to those in Dylan Thomas’s, Under Milk Wood. The songs are “knocked around” (Jake’s description again) with wonderful vigour to take on a new life, particularly in the haunting lullaby of Old Molly Metcalfe (Drew again).

The excellent production by Fine Time Fontayne is a lively, lovely production and is ‚Äúgreat fun and larks‚Äù, just as Jake said it would be. Jake‚Äôs songs were almost always funny with a few exceptions, such as the delightful song about the River Swale which ends the show. They were often satirical, generally wry, sometimes winsome, but always very perceptive and gentle about human weaknesses, and Ian McMillan’s plot and storyline captures their mood perfectly. At times, such as the scenes between the Toffee-Maker and the Blacksmith, he treads a very delicate line between sentiment and sentimentality, but always manages to stay on the right side, so that we are nearly in tears but still actually laughing.

The play makes great demands on the cast, as many of them have to swap characters frequently, going off-stage as one character and returning, sometimes within seconds, as another. Also, musically, they have to be multi-talented as they play a variety of instruments between them, including guitars, violins, flute, accordion and drums. Similarly they are all fine singers, sometimes accompanied, sometimes a Capella.
All six gave excellent performances but I feel that the outstanding ones were by Colin Kilbride who plays the very appealing Billy and Charley Desborough is Isabel, the girl who makes him abandon his philandering ways. With her gorgeous looks, who would not! Charley has great enthusiasm as the teenage girl besotted with Billy. She also plays the part of a policewoman and the convent’s Mother Superior. Neil Gore as the Brigadier initially starts off as a pompous stereotype but, as he reveals more and more of himself to us, we warm to and feel for him, as we do with most of Thackray’s characters. Elizabeth Eves as the Widow of Bridlington undergoes a similar transformation from hardness to sensitivity, while William Wolfe Hogan swaps effortlessly between his characters of Sister Josephine and the tottering, sweet-natured Blacksmith. Finally there is Jackie Drew who was extremely scary as the Butcher but also heart-rending as Molly Metcalfe on the shelf. However, the highlight of her performance was as the doddering Toffee-Maker, which was an absolute joy.

The show is set to tour the UK over the next eighteen months and whilst there are obvious local references, they are no more esoteric than the Welsh references in “Under Milk Wood”, and, like the inhabitants of Llareggub, the characters are human beings first and Dales men and women second. Without doubt, wherever this show is performed it will be recognised for what it is, a musical that it is very funny and yet very human.

Reviewed: 11th June 2005

[Judith]

DerekW wrote:

An excellent review of the Leeds City Varieties performance last Saturday someone has placed on the DineDirect.net website.

Thanks for posting that very thorough review, Derek. It would be nice to know who wrote it. Do you happen to know?

Judith

[DerekW]

Hi Judith – Peter Lathan wrote the review as I’ve just realised it’s the same one that appeared on the British Theatre Guide website!

I really enjoyed Saturday’s performance. Colin Kilbride was an inspired choice to play Billy, his infectious enthusiasm providing an effective centrepiece for the comings and goings of all the other characters. However, it’s unfair to single out any actor as all roles were strongly played and the musical content was first rate. I had a lump in my throat when Billy sang "The Rain On The Mountainside" .

Surprised there hasn’t been more comments on the discussion area. What did others think of "Sister Josephine Kicks The Habit" ?

[g8ina]

Well, as much as I enjoyed the show,. the reviewer did get a few bits wrong din’t he (wiv acknowledgements to the other place for pointing out Moilly on the shelf) –

"Before his death, Jake had the idea of putting a group of his character into a stage musical and had started initial plans in which his dales tales and disparate characters from his humorous songs would find a home. Unfortunately due to his untimely death he was unable to complete this task, but the baton passed to Ian McMillan" – Was this really Jakes idea ?

Molly waiting on the shelf !! – oops.

"… trio of fearsomely ugly, musical instrument playing, sexually deprived ladies." – nah, these were Billy’s successes surely !

" … haunting lullaby of Old Molly Metcalfe" – lullaby ?? good grief !

Missed the point a bit, but obviously enjoyed him/herself, so is not in the minority there. Brilliant show 😉

[SarahW]

Yes, please do tell us! From the point of view of the production team, feedback is just what we want at this stage. It’ll help us to sell the show to national venues if we can quote the comments of many satisfied customers.

Speaking for myself, I just loved it. I’d happily have gone back to see it again the following night, and probably the night after that too, if it hadn’t been several hundred miles from my home. I’m hoping to persuade The Plough (scene of the Devon Jakefest) to take it for several nights next year, so that I can indulge my craving to the full. :woohoo:

[Pam]

Loved it! Thought it was well produced, well written, great jokes, and wonderful interpretations of the songs. All the Jakefests had shown that it was possible to sing Jake’s songs without being Jake or trying to emulate him, and these were performed by true professionals. (But if Elizabeth Eves isn’t available for the tour, you could do worse than offer it to our very own Frankie………….). I think I’d have had two singers doing Over to Isabel (as we’ve seen at a Jakefest) though.

It would be really interesting to know the thoughts of people who aren’t avid Jake fans. I am convinced that this production will bring Jake to the attention of lots of people who don’t know him – which was one of it’s objectives, wasn’t it? Clever the way the story lines all intertwined. The production team had a real job on their hands – aren’t the songs in musicals usually written to support the story rather than the other way round?

Nice to know Sheila approved. Ian, you’ve done a brilliant job; have a couple of weeks off now lad, and then get going on selling this to the rest of the country! (I’m doing my best for Solihull – I even told Jasper Carrott about it the other day!)

Let’s have more comments!

Pam

Just to be a pendant, the DineDirect review quoted in full above was NOT by Peter Lathan of British Theatre Guide, but by John Burland, a young man who tells me he is an ace fund raiser and who wants to book Sister Jo to raise large sums of money for his local church, between Leeds and Bradford. Mmmm, weasel see! The reason the mistake was made about Peter was quite simply that John B quoted large chunks of the British Theatre Guide review, without attribution, in his own piece. Very naughty, but since he wasn’t bad-mouthing us I’m generously making no complaint! Thanks to everyone for comments, incidentally: we’re just emerging from shell-shock to start the next long haul – so please keep talking to, or even just writing to, your local theatre managers to encourage them to make that booking.

Ian W

[Paul]

Jenny Thompson (aged 9) writes:

The show worked very well surprisingly enough.
I wasn’t sure it would work because of the big changes e.g. female butcher

Plot:
Billy Kershaw has fallen in love with Isabelle the girl from the kiss
And her mother isn’t pleased about it.
The brigadier in love can’t decide between Margaret (widow of Bridlington)
& sister Jo .
The blacksmith and the toffee–maker’s children want them to go in to a home for the elderly.
My favourite bit was Billy Kershaw’s song.

I recommend this to people of all ages as it is really funny and gives a good introduction to Jake and is very enjoyable e.g. the Brigadier song
Jenny T

[avelana]

I’m going to be blunt, your review is wrong (if its not yours, well someone else is wrong). Jake wasn’t from Swaledale – I’m from that picturesque/wet locale and we’d boast about it if he did.

It’s an interesting point, which nobody has yet managed to nail down – and that includes Sheila, the family and the people of Swaledale! Jake was certainly not born in Swaledale: he was born on the border between the North and West Ridings in Clifford, near Tadcaster, where his father was the village policeman. The family was, however, moved around a lot by the police service, and Jake always said that they moved to Swaledale and that was where he was brought up. However, making the television documentary on Jake, we found no trace of the family in Swaledale and no memory of his childhood there from people who were there at the time. Nor could we find any trace of his father as the police presence in Reeth – to which Jake referred several times in his stage show. What is very clear, however, is that he had a deep knowledge and a deep love of Swaledale; and I suspect, from the evidence of at least one of his columns in the Yorkshire Post after he had withdrawn from performing, that it was his maternal grandmother, whose surname was Armitage, who lived in Swaledale, and that he was farmed out to stay with her for significant periods in his childhood. But the hunt continues…
Ian W

It’s an interesting point, which nobody has yet managed to nail down – and that includes Sheila, the family and the people of Swaledale! Jake was certainly not born in Swaledale: he was born on the border between the North and West Ridings in Clifford, near Tadcaster, where his father was the village policeman. The family was, however, moved around a lot by the police service, and Jake always said that they moved to Swaledale and that was where he was brought up. However, making the television documentary on Jake, we found no trace of the family in Swaledale and no memory of his childhood there from people who were there at the time. Nor could we find any trace of his father as the police presence in Reeth – to which Jake referred several times in his stage show. What is very clear, however, is that he had a deep knowledge and a deep love of Swaledale; and I suspect, from the evidence of at least one of his columns in the Yorkshire Post after he had withdrawn from performing, that it was his maternal grandmother, whose surname was Armitage, who lived in Swaledale, and that he was farmed out to stay with her for significant periods in his childhood. But the hunt continues…
Ian W

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