A wonderful thing happened on the way to Six at the Royal & Derngate. As all six particles in our nuclear family argued about where to grab a bite before the performance we found ourselves strolling along beside the theatre just as the audience from the previous showing spilled out on to the street.
At one point it was just us and then suddenly it was everyone in every direction, smiling post-performance faces milling around, deciding there was time for a quick drink before they went back to the babysitter.
I instructed Sceptical Teenage Daughter to imagine she was in the West End and briefly you could almost imagine it, although it would have been easier if the pandemic had been kinder to one or two of the catering businesses in the vicinity.
But there it was in all its glory like the legendary great herd of buffalo the first people of America waited for in vain: thousands of footfalls in the town centre with a warm fuzzy let’s do something else feeling in their tummies. For sure it all fizzled away, and gosh what do I know, but it really did seem that a cultural attraction was bringing into our town the kind of people we should be selling things to. Maybe we should have more of them.
However it takes a lot more than that kind of pointless dad twaddle to impress Sceptical Teenage Daughter and Six spectacularly fitted the bill.
The idea of the show is a conceit presenting the six wives of Henry VIII as a girl band backed by an all female group of musicians called the Ladies in Waiting. The action is a kind of gig featuring a song showcasing each of the wives.
That idea is good enough on its own but the superb set of songs also wittily challenges the male-centric perception of their stories, delivering food for thought and a feast for the senses as well.
We didn’t know it before we went but Six is already a thing and you could tell that a lot of the packed in Derngate audience knew the songs and knew it was ok to participate. A brave lad on the front row even got up to dance to the delight of the wives.
The wives and musicians demonstrated a complete mastery of the material, especially impressive as they have been belting out multiple performances a day and ours crackled with big Queen energy from the first breath.
I can’t recommend this show highly enough. It’s fun and it’s clever and it reminds you what theatre can really do on so many levels.
A former patient with “high hopes” for her future has completed her challenge to run more than 250km in a month to thank St Andrew’s for helping her.
Emma was discharged from the Northampton hospital in June 2021 after being a patient for two-and-a-half years.
After much dedication and support from Emma herself and also staff from within the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), she is now in sixth form, studying maths, psychology and biology, as she wants to become a paramedic.
Emma, 17, said: “I was in a couple of hospitals before I was admitted to St Andrew’s. This was the first place that actually tried to change things and make me better. The other hospitals just focused on keeping me safe.
“I feel like the staff at St Andrew’s really helped make a difference and now I’ve got high hopes for my future. I decided I wanted to give something back, so my running challenge to raise money is my way of saying ‘thank you’.”
Emma is doing this by running over 8km a day, every day, throughout the month of January, which will eventually total the same distance her parents travelled each time they went to visit her in hospital.
She said: “My target is £500 and I’m hoping the money can be used to give patients more support at the weekends. When I was at St Andrew’s we’d all get bored at the weekend when the Occupational Therapy teams weren’t in. It’s hard being away from home and being in hospital, so I thought the money I raise could be used to fund activities the patients may want to do at the weekend, like baking and colouring.”
Both Emma’s parents are supporting their daughter who is determined to complete this epic challenge.
Her dad, Mark, said: “It was heart-breaking when Emma was first admitted to hospital. It was very difficult for the whole family but we always kept in touch and visited her every week.
“It was a great relief when she was well enough to be discharged and we’re so, so proud of her. She’s persisted through it all and she’s doing so well. It hasn’t always been straightforward though and we’ve had a few setbacks, but Emma has dealt with it.”
In addition to Emma’s dedication to her recovery, Mark said staff at St Andrew’s have played a large part in helping his daughter get back on her feet.
“Dr Lisa Campbell, who was Emma’s psychologist, was fantastic. She was so patient and so professional. She was incredibly supportive of Emma all the way through her stay and this actually continued beyond her discharge. Initially, we struggled to get any support in the community when she was discharged and Lisa offered to see Emma on a weekly basis for six weeks after she was discharged, which was a lifeline. We couldn’t have asked for more. We’re very grateful to the dedication St Andrew’s provided to help treat Emma.”
Dr Campbell said: “To see the difference in Emma, from when she was admitted, to when she was discharged from our care was amazing. She worked so hard, and should be so proud of her progress. It was a pleasure for us all to work with her during her admission.
“It is so thoughtful of her to commit to such a big challenge, in order to raise money for St Andrew’s, both in terms of the money providing more weekend activities, but also in regard to recognising the long journey that her family had to make to visit her.”
For anyone who would like to donate to Emma’s cause, use the link below:
Review: Hairspray. Royal and Derngate, Northampton (opening night January 31)
I had never seen Hairspray before. Yes, I know, I know. It’s one of the most popular musicals in the world, an award-winning tour de force combining fantastic music and storytelling and genuine social commentary that, although set in 1962 Baltimore, certainly still resonates today.
But musicals…? You either love ‘em or hate ‘em, right?
“Just admit that you loved it Mum and write ‘It was great’ over and over until you hit the word count,” suggested my 13-year-old, musical-theatre fan daughter.
“And don’t call me a fan, I’m not a fanatic.” (This is what you get bringing up four kids with two journalist parents). “And don’t call me a kid…”
photography by Mark Senior
OK, so it was great. Really great. You don’t need to go to the West End when the West End comes to Northampton. I was blown away by the skill of the huge cast – more than 20 on stage for complex yet seamless dance sequences, belting out song after song from the best known You Can’t stop the Beat finale to the intricate Mama I’m a Big Girl Now and I Know Where I’ve Been.
The show opens in ‘60s Baltimore, Maryland, with ‘gently plump’ schoolgirl Tracy Turnblad (Katie Brace) belting out Good Morning Baltimore with her trademark black flick beehive, observing the flashers, rats and alcoholics before heading home to agoraphobic mum Edna (a drag role played by Alex Bourne) and joke-shop owner dad Wilbur (Norman Pace, yes, the one from Hale and Pace, all you people of a certain age).
photography by Mark Senior
Tracy and her best pal, Penny (Rebecca Jayne-Davies, aforementioned daughter’s favourite actor of the night), tune in their TV to the Corny Collins Show, a teen dance programme, based a on a real, American Bandstand-esque show of the time. Tracy and Penny yearn to get on the show, but detention, mean girl Amber (Jessica Croll) and her pushy TV producer mother Velma (Rebecca Thornhill), plus a massive dollop of classism, racism and body-shaming, look like killing their dream.
photography by Mark Senior
But Tracy bunks off school, meets heartthrob Link (understudy Joshua Pearson did an excellent job on first night) and makes a big impression on show host Corny (Richard Meek), as well as winning the show lots more fans and a plus size clothing contract. Cue loads of amazing costume changes (bravo Takis).
photography by Mark Senior
But Tracy’s stardom is short-lived. With and with the help of Motormouth Maybelle (the extraordinary Brenda Edwards), her kids Seaweed (Reece Richards) and Little Inez (the very talented Charlotte St Croix) and others segregated by their race (despite it being over 100 years since slavery was abolished in the southern states), they storm the show and a riot sees everyone locked up. (Locked up for protesting? How very now…) Cue a race to escape and get everyone live on air for the TV show finale.
photography by Mark Senior
Hairspray the Musical came after John Water’s cult film of 1988, which starred Ricki Lake as Tracy, Debbie Harry as Amber and drag icon Divine (in his last role) as Edna. Waters was to cut through the discrimination of the 60s still evident in the 80s, from racism to gay rights.
Today’s Hairspray does the same, skewering the biases and bigotry with a riotously funny musical. Bourne and Pace have a hilarious chemistry and comic timing as Edna and Wilbur, while Brenda Edwards’ voice during Maybelle’s protest ballad I Know Where I’ve Been moved many to tears – such is her power (and yes, she’s the one off Loose Women, The X-Factor and Songs of Praise). Newcomer Katie Brace as Tracy is a total star – from her voice to her movement and acting with every inch of her face. You also can’t take your eyes off Charlotte St Croix (Little Inez), who I’m confident will be one to watch.
Brenda Edwards as Maybelle
There’s not enough space here to name them all but it’s an incredible cast at the top of their game – from the skill of the dancers on a relatively small stage to the live band who sometimes appear as part of the show – we’re really very lucky to have the Royal and Derngate for these top-of-their-game touring shows.
It WAS great!
Book now if you can, it’s on until Saturday (February 5) with tickets from Derngate Box Office or on 01604 624811.
If Saints had more wins behind them this would have felt closer than it did. Ulster got a good start but Saints ducked and dived their way back into it.
It even looked like we had survived the sin binning of scrum-half Alex Mitchell but an Ulster score sent Saints into the last 15 minutes needing two scores for a result.
The fact that one of those scores came with time left on the clock for a restart added an unexpected shot of adrenaline to the final seconds but it was not to be.
Click here for Northampton Saints report of the match
A mounted Guard of Honour accompanied the stunning funeral procession of historian and NQ writer Mike Ingram in Northampton.
Mike Ingram
In bright winter sunshine, the cortege made its way down Park Avenue South to the Church of St Peter and St Paul in Abington Park, led by members of historical re-enactment society The Troop, in Civil War uniform, and accompanied by members on horseback.
Around 100 mourners were at the service on Wednesday (January 12), as well as many more following the service online, keen to show their respects to Mike, who was an expert on, among other historical periods, the English Civil War and the history of Northamptonshire.
English Civil war soldiers formed a guard of honour
Mike was passionate about preserving the county’s history and led tours, wrote several books, as well as submitting columns for the Nenequirer.
As the coffin entered the church, the quiet birdsong and gentle clip-clop of horses’ hooves was replaced by the blast of ‘September’ by Earth, Wind and Fire, booming out of a large sound system.
The service was led by the Rev Byung Jun Kim and the hymns were I vow to thee my country and Jerusalem. A reading of Ecclesiastes was given by Amanda Burrell and a moving eulogy to her dad by Ellen Ingram on behalf of the family.
The cortege on Park Road South (Photo – Hilary Scott)
A tribute written by Mike’s friend Lee (or Mick, as Lee always called him) was read, detailing how the pair had been friends since school at Cliftonville and Northampton School for Boys. His memories included blasting music out of a bedroom at Mike’s grandma’s house and a car he hadn’t yet learned to drive, before actually becoming a mobile DJ. Stories of holidays in Weymouth and a touching moment of thanks to Mike’s mum and dad Jill and Terry, before “…looking forward to one day driving down Mike Ingram Way.” A point hopefully taken on by West Northants Council leader, Conservative Jonathan Nunn, who was present, along with Mayor of Northampton, Labour’s Rufia Ashraf.
As the coffin was taken from the church onwards to the Counties Crematorium, the music, hilariously breaking the sombre mood, was the Osmonds’ Crazy Horses.
Michael Richard Ingram (February 19, 1962 – December 10, 2021) was born and bred in Northampton and could trace his family back to the Cross Keys pub in Sheep Street in the early 1800s. His love of history was fired when he took up photography as a young man, and he went on to study a Masters degree in History at the University of Birmingham.
He became the chair of the Northamptonshire Battlefields Society and a founder of Northampton Together: the new Civic Society for Northampton. His book Northampton: 5000 years of history won the Northamptonshire Heritage Forum best publication in 2021.
Many who knew Mike and how he worked to save Northamptonshire’s history over the decades will undoubtedly be determined to continue his legacy. RIP Mike.
Funeral of Mike Ingram in Northampton, January 2021 (Hilary Scott)
Just before the breakup at Christmas, NLive Radio brought together young people, their families and local decision makers to celebrate its Nexus Youth Project. Nexus was funded by the Northamptonshire Community Foundation as part of #IWill Youth Action Projects and saw NLive Radio staff, presenters and volunteers train and coach young people in being presenters, producers, and journalists and encouraging them to engage with social action topics.
Station Manager, Martin Steers “As the local radio station for everyone in Northampton, we are passionate about engaging with young people, and especially training and empowering them to have a voice, and talk about the issues that matter to them.”
The project was a combination of weekly workshops and two week-long courses during the summer holidays, across the entire Nexus Project around 25 young people between the ages of 13 18 took part, the groups worked to produce shows on issues such as mental health, careers and aspirations, and social media.
Martin Steers, Rufia Ashraf, Paul Giffney
One of the participants Jasumin Whitehead, “I really enjoyed the course and want to do more. The project taught me lots – thank you!” another participant Saranshri Ramamurthy, “Thank you so much for this opportunity to work with others and learn lots. I can see how these skills will be helpful later.”
The celebration event took place at the University of Northampton Waterside Campus, included a short presentation about the project, and the live broadcasting of a special Nexus Youth Show on NLive Radio including interviews with Jane Birch, Councillor from Northampton Town Council and Rufia Ashraf the Mayor of Northampton who were both in attendance.
Martin Steers, Jane Birch, Paul Giffney
Cllr Jane Birch “I was absolutely delighted to be part of the event to celebrate the work and achievements of the young people involved in the Nexus Youth project in conjunction with NLive radio.
The project provides a great opportunity for young people to come together to investigate matters which affect their schools , their friends, families and the wider communities. The pandemic and lockdowns along with home schooling have presented this age group with unforeseen challenges. To be able to work as part of a team to discuss all these matters, produce content and broadcast on NLive requires a huge range of skills, not only technical, but of research, analysis and presentation – all transferable skills which make them confident and effective communicators.”
Rufia Ashraf, Mayor of Northampton “Young people are our future and it is our duty to guide them to make decisions how to shape their future careers. The NEXUS project enables young people to grasp opportunities to gain experience and knowledge which they can go onto make them excell at whatever they want to aspire to become.”
NLive Radio is currently reviewing the project and have applied for additional funding with hopes to relaunch Nexus early this year with additional courses, a drop in radio club and a dedicated show and podcasts for Northampton’s young people.
Copy provided by NLive Radio broadcasting on 106.9fm across Northampton, online at nliveradio.com, it’s own dedicated smart phone app, as well as on smart speakers via “Launch N Live Radio”
The Prime Minister stopped by at Weston Favell Police Station where he met members of the Neighbourhood Policing Team led by Inspector Beth Warren and was shown around one of the two new mobile ‘Beat Buses’, which is allowing Northamptonshire Police to increase its presence in some of the county’s most rural and remote areas.
Mr Johnson also met with Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Stephen Mold, Assistant Chief Constable Simon Blatchly and Northampton North MP Michael Ellis.
This is the second visit to Northamptonshire the Prime Minister has made in the last 15 months and gave the opportunity to highlight the positive journey Northamptonshire Police has been on since Mr Johnson’s last visit.
Since then, work has been ongoing to double the number of Neighbourhood Police Officers in the county – made possible by the uplift in police numbers that will see Northamptonshire Police grow in size to 1,500 officers by March 2023. The latest HMICFRS report published in November praised the improvements made at the Force since its last inspection.
ACC Simon Blatchly said: “I was delighted to welcome the Prime Minister to Weston Favell today. The fact that it is his second visit to our Force in just over a year shows that the work we are doing here in Northamptonshire is not going unnoticed nationally.
“This was an excellent opportunity to highlight to the Prime Minister how we are implementing the new Beating Crime Plan and cutting down on serious violence and neighbourhood crime such as burglary and anti-social behaviour.
“There was also a chance to discuss our work on tackling drugs and serious organised crime and highlight the positive journey that we are on as a Force.”
As well as meeting the Neighbourhood Policing Team, the Prime Minister shared a cup of tea with response officers and was also shown around the new Safer Nights Out (SNOvan).
The SNOvan, along with the two Beat Buses, have been funded by the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Stephen Mold. The mobile van is parked in Northampton town centre to help those enjoying the night-time economy, and it has already helped hundreds of people in its first few weeks of operation.
Stephen Mold said: “It was an honour to welcome the Prime Minister back to Northamptonshire Police again. I was delighted to help show him around one of the new Beat Buses and the SNOvan, and these have proved hugely successful since we introduced them in terms of offering a vital service but also improving our visibility in the community.
“I was delighted to speak with Mr Johnson about the important steps forward the Force is taking and that we are well on track to have more police officers on our streets than ever before.
“It was also a chance to discuss the impact of COVID on justice. We know that court delays have had an impact on the victims of crime and making sure we can deliver effective justice is a key part of my new Police, Fire and Crime Plan for the next three years.
“The visit also gave me the opportunity to highlight to the Prime Minister how effective the new collaboration and joint working between Northamptonshire Police and Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue Service has been since I took on the governance of the Fire Service from the County Council, and I was delighted to tell him about the positive steps that have been taken since then.”
Copy provided by the Officeof the Northamptonshire Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner
If a scoreline ever didn’t tell the full story it was this one. Six points versus 30 makes it sound like the whole 80 minutes were as one sided as the last ten but it wasn’t quite like that.
The first half was tight and the teams went in 6-6 but Saracens pulled away in the second-half. You could wag the finger at Saints for conceding unnecessary penalties but the Saracens machine was so good at exploiting them that it didn’t take many to make the advantage count.
Lozowski, Woolstencroft and Itoje crossed the whitewash for the visitors and their defence denied Saints the pleasure of scoring tries at home at a packed Franklin’s Gardens in the pouring rain.
It was heart breaking for Piers Francis to pick up an injury in only his second start for Saints this season. The bench was so stretched by the end of the game that the home side were reduced to 13 after an injury to Paul Hill.
Racing, Ulster, Quins and now Saracens have left Saints fans scratching around for things to celebrate over the festive season. It’s been an arm wrestle where across the games it felt like we were clawing our way back to something and then Sarries slammed it down in the second half.
We can attack, we can defend, we can set piece but can we do them all together enough to be dull and efficient? Boringly competent? Tediously effective? Would we want that anyway?
As part of an arts scene audience starved of live interaction for just short of two years, it was almost pleasant to be in a chilly queue waiting for Covid protocols to be observed at Northampton’s Derngate Theatre.
I’d been telling my three teenage girl companions that the show had indeed gone on, despite a case of the dreaded virus hitting the cast just before opening night, and that I wasn’t sure if we were getting the understudy cast. “Nope,” chirped up the couple in front of us. “We’re the understudies, and we did our last show yesterday!”
After 28 consecutive years of reviewing, only broken by Covid last December, I thought I knew what to expect: cheesy predictability, inappropriate gags and tired costumes, reused year on year as the ‘Big Panto Companies’ roll out the same stuff with different B-listers and reality stars on the bill. I’ve also been that exhausted parent chaperoning kids who were part of the junior chorus, who were (sorry-not-sorry) thankfully absent from this show due to coronavirus.
This year though, it all looked shiny and new (for a panto at least). Enter high above Stage Right, the glamorous Fairy Bowbells (Deborah Tracey) belting out ‘Richard Whittington’ to the tune of ‘Alexander Hamilton’, much to the delight of the three musical theatre-mad teenage girls with me. To be honest, I’d been unsure whether at 13 and 14 they’d be shoulder-shruggily, eye-rollingly too cool for panto, but they were on their feet, waving and joining in as much as the pre-schoolers.
Fairy Bowbells (Deborah Tracey) pic by Pamela Raith
It always felt like a massive leap of faith for families to pre-book panto tickets sometimes a year in advance, never really knowing which celebrity turns would be later rolled out. But this year is different – it’s a whole new company bringing the Derngate to life with the ‘He’s behind yous’ and ‘oh no he didn’ts’, along with a much needed nod to 2021 attitudes without the lazy shoehorning in of contemporary culture so overused by previous productions.
Paul Hendy and Emily Wood of Evolution Productions are new to collaborating with Derngate but they’ve done a sterling job to make this a traditional panto without the out-of-date, 70’s style innuendo which can put off a modern audience. Panto has to be so many things to so many different ages – the jokes have to be good enough to engage all ages and the slapstick so beloved of the under-tens also has to impress the grandparents too. And they had their work cut out with Dick Whittington, which, let’s face it, is the dullest of all the panto stories. Bloke goes to London, gets chucked out of London, goes back to London, somehow ends up on a ship, falls in love and eventually becomes Lord Mayor. Oh shush, that’s not a spoiler, that’s history.
Ricky Champ as King Rat
The ‘names’ in this production were Ricky Champ (known as one of Eastenders’ most manipulative villains, Stuart) as the baddie King Rat. Champ does a knockout job as the leather clad rat boss, with some amusing lines delivered with the knowing glance of an actor comfortable with breaking the fourth wall.
Stepping boldly into the roll of the Dame, Bob Golding, known for his award-winning delivery of a convincing Eric Morecambe, actually channels a Dame Dolly more akin to a funnier Matt Lucas. His bikini scene is delivered with Madonna-esque self confidence that had my companions, and most of the audience, agog. When his random ‘audience-participant dad’ refused to play and swapped seats, he hilariously ad-libbed skilfully throughout (was he a plant or a stooge? Who cares!)
Bob Golding is Dame Dolly the Cook
The glue that keeps the chaos together is Children’s TV favourite Phil Gallagher (Mister Maker to those of you with Cbeebies flashbacks) who endures not only the most pies-in-the-face I’ve ever seen by one human (with many, many to come through the show’s run) but also had to contend with a comically slippery stage and a failing head-mic that saw him have to use a handheld microphone for the second half.
Mister Maker? No, it’s Billy (Phil Gallagher)
The romantic young leads Alex Lodge (as Dick) and Anna Unwin (as Alice Fitzwarren) play it dutifully straight (well, as straight as a panto can manage) and there’s an impressively gymnastic, albeit wordless, turn by Jessie Adams as ‘Tommy (or is it Caroline) the Cat.’
Alex Lodge and Anna Unwin as Dick and Alice
The costumes are lavish, the sets are impressive and, for a jaded old panto stalwart, I found myself enjoying the chaos and vibrancy of the whole thing – ‘You’re actually laughing Mum!’ commented my daughter at the interval. Credit too, to the always-visible live band crammed into a circle box and given the task of keeping up with the mayhem below.
After the interminable pain and uncertainty of the last two years, Dick Whittington is a genuine boost for the soul – an uncomplicated, funny release into utter silliness for all ages. We’ve got more pandemic pain to come, so go and embrace the family fun of this show while you can. Dick Whittington runs at Royal and Derngate until January 2, 2022. Tickets and info from Royal and Derngate or call 01604 624811.
Jessie Adams is the catFinale Naughty King RatSomehow at seaTurn again Dick Whittington
