A musical badger, dinosaurs, a singer called Art, two Ugly Sisters, a king of puns, a misunderstood worm, zombie donkeys and a chart-topping Ball catch CHARLES HUTCHINSON’S attention for April 15 to April 21

Musical of the week

In The Willows, York Theatre Royal, Tuesday to Saturday, except Good Friday

KENNETH Grahame’s evergreen story leaps into the 21st century with ballads, beats and backflips in an “explosive new British family musical”.

Featuring street dance choreographed by Zoo Nation’s Rhimes Lecointe, the show stars Olivier Award winner Clive Rowe as Badger, alongside deaf street dancer Chris Fonseca, from The Greatest Dancer, and The X Factor’s Seann Miley Moore.

York Press:

Worm words: Lucy Pearman in Fruit Loop

Fruitful pursuit of laughs

Lucy Pearman: Fruit Loop, Burning Duck Comedy Club, The Basement, City Screen, York, Thursday

LUCY Pearman revisits the Burning Duck with her story of a worm who has completely misunderstood her existence.

“I’m very excited about Lucy’s return to The Basement after she performed a preview of this show at our inaugural Big Egg Comedy festival last year,” says promoter Al Greaves.”That followed her appearance here with her debut Edinburgh Fringe show, Crack In Progress, when she spent half an hour performing as an egg, before being hatched and singing a Dolly Parton song.”

York Press:

Ready to roar: Dinosaur World Live roams around York Barbican  for two days

Prehistoric monster show of the week

Dinosaur World Live!, York Barbican, Monday and Tuesday

SCHOOL holiday entertainment comes in the form of four performances of a “mind-expanding Jurassic adventure” full of dinosaur dangers and delights.

“Grab your compass and join our intrepid explorer across unchartered territories to discover a pre-historic world of astonishing and remarkably life-like dinosaur,” reads the Barbican invitation to meet the flesh-eating Tyrannosaurus Rex, a Triceratops, Giraffatitan, Microraptor and Segnosaurus.

York Press:

Bright eyed: Art Garfunkel presents songs and stories at York Barbican

Only Living Boy In Old York gig of the week

Art Garfunkel, York Barbican, Thursday

SPARRING partner Paul Simon may have played his farewell concerts last year, but Art Garfunkel is back on the road at 77, swapping New York for York.

Details are brief on the Barbican website: “The legendary Art Garfunkel is coming to York Barbican with An Evening of Songs and Stories,” it states. Succinct, but accurate! Only a handful of tickets are still available.

York Press:

Giving it both barrels: pun-slinger Gary Delaney at Selby Town Hall

Quickfire gags of the week

Gary Delaney: Gagster’s Paradise, Selby Town Hall, Thursday

MASTER of the one-liner Gary Delaney has extended his 2018 Gagster’s Paradise tour all the way through to October 2019. Expect “another onslaught of lean, expertly crafted gaggery” from the Mock The Week regular, whose past tours have included Purist, There’s Something About Gary and Gary Delaney 2: This Time It’s Not Personal.

Folk fiddler of the week

Peter Knight’s Gigspanner, National Centre for Early Music, York, Wednesday

SINCE leaving folk-rockers Steeleye Span, fiddler Peter Knight has focused on Gigspanner, where his playing is complimented by the guitar of Roger Flack and the hand drums and percussion of Sacha Trochet.

British folk music forms the bedrock of their innovative repertoire, but their arrangements bring in multicultural influences from French, Cajun, Cuban, East European and other traditions.

York Press:

Turning ugly: Luke Adamson in Oh No It Isn't

A pantomime in April?

Oh No It Isn’t,York Theatre Royal Studio, Wednesday and Thursday

WRITTEN by and starring York actor and Great British Pantomime Award nominee Luke Adamson, this funny and moving new play explores the highs and lows of life in the theatre. Using true anecdotes and stories, this impassioned yet tender love letter to the world of performance revolves around two Ugly Sisters in Cinderella who are the worst of friends off stage.

York Press:

Ice cream chills: Odd Doll's nerve-shattering show Seaside Terror

Puppet show of the week

Odd Doll in Seaside Terror, York Theatre Royal Studio, Saturday

MEET Evil Seagulls, Zombie Donkeys and Bingo Hairballs in this funny, nostalgic celebration of British horror and British holidays of the 1970s as Odd Doll use puppetry, clowning and specially composed music to fill the stage with nerve-shattering shocks. The show is devised and performed by Kathleen Yore, from York, and Rebekah Caputo.

York Press:

Coming home to you: Michael Ball showcases new album at York Barbican

Chart-topper of the week

Michael Ball, Come Home To You Tour, York Barbican, Sunday

DOUBLE Olivier Award winner Michael Ball plays York on the back of his new album of self-penned songs, Come Home To You, hitting the top spot. The West End and Broadway leading man promises “an evening of entertainment”.

Obsessive show of the week

Summer Winos, Pocklington Arts Centre, Tuesday

TWO men, 295 episodes, one obsession add up to Summer Winos after Andrew and Bob’s gentle love of Last Of The Summer Wine became a seven-year quest to watch every episode, in order, while visiting locations, making films, meeting the cast and boozing with the writer. There will be dressing up, audience participation, overly-earnest reminiscing and, brace yourself, kazoos.