
previews, reviews, interviews, and recommendations with Steve Cooke

MIDWEEK COLUMN WEDNESDAY 22 JANUARY 2025
Family events at HOME in 2025
Preview by Steve Cooke

Starting off the year for families at HOME is The Three Little Pigs, by acclaimed theatre company Stuff and Nonsense, to entertain the little ones during February half term.
Directed by Niki McCretton, Music by Jeremy Bradfield.
Enter the incredible world of Stuff and Nonsense.
There’s a wolf coming… but for now, The Three Little Pigs have tricked him onto a bus. If he catches them, he’ll huff and he’ll puff, and we all know how that ends…
On the run and with the need to build a strong shelter, our three problem-solving pigs call on you to save their bacon. Be blown away by the world of Stuff and Nonsense in this joyful retelling of a classic tale. Told in a unique physical style with raucous puppets, this is high-octane family theatre that will make you howl!
Stuff and Nonsense make inspiring shows for families. They unite creativity and imagination, so that children and adults can learn together and inspire each other. The shows are co-created with children and incredible artists.
Stuff and Nonsense have delighted over a quarter of a million people this decade alone.
Invest in your children’s imaginations: join us in the theatre and take playfulness home with you!
Suitable for all the family (recommended for ages 3-10).
Running time 60mins
Tue 18 Feb – Thu 20 Feb at HOME Theatre 1
Tickets from £16.50

In May comes Coraline – The Musical, a stunning new musical, suitable for ages 9+.
A fantastically spooky brand new musical adapted from the novel by Neil Gaiman.
There is something not quite right about the house Coraline and her parents have moved into. The roof leaks, the wallpaper is peeling off the walls, the new neighbours are a little eccentric and her parents are so busy they hardly notice her at all.
As Coraline explores her new home, she discovers a mysterious door, an entrance to a parallel world where all seems perfect. But not everything is as it seems – and everyone has buttons for eyes!
A beautiful new musical about acceptance and finding yourself, adapted by acclaimed writer Zinnie Harris (101 Dalmatians, Regent’s Park; The Duchess (of Malfi), West End with Jodie Whittaker) and composer Louis Barabbas, in a show that reunites Director James Brining and Designer Colin Richmond following the five-star success of Oliver!
Thu 15 May – Sat 7 Jun
HOME Theatre 1
Suitable for ages 9+ Contains some scenes which may be scary for younger children
Tickets from £25Group discount applies: Book 10 tickets, get the 11th ticket free
The Christmas show 2025 will be Freaky Friday, an exciting theatre adaption of the beloved 1972 novel by Mary Rogers, also a hit Disney film.
They also continue a regular Family Film programme - which includes old favourites and new films, every Saturday and Wednesday during term time.
Visit: https://homemcr.org/
2025 STARTED AT TLC WITH VOCI VOICES
Review by Dr Joe Dawson
The first Toad Lane concert of 2025 at St Mary in the Baum coincided with a fiercely cold snap. However, a fair number of brave souls braved the elements to enjoy a feast of singing in the 1,119th concert since taking over from the council in 2001.

It was a welcome return of award-winning troupe, Voci Voices. There was an international flavour too, with performers’ roots in Poland, Ghana, Scotland, and Wales, accompanied by English pianist Jonathan Ellis (who managed to reproduce a full orchestra or provide sensitive support of voices as necessary).
This splendid quartet opened with a moving arrangement of Britten’s A New Year Carol, before exploring a Viennese vibe with The Blue Danube by Johann Strauss II and Vienna, City of My Dreams by Sieczynski. Vienna is synonymous with New Year musical extravaganzas and Voci Voices brought this to Rochdale.
A set in more popular style, A Morning Star by Lloyd Larson, Bethlehem from Martin Guerre, and Mary, Did You Know? by Lowry & Greene, led to the delicately balanced Cantique de Jean Racine by Fauré.
Duets followed, firstly with Eric and Mackenzie in Donizetti’s Ave Maria followed by a beautiful O Lovely Peace (Judas Maccabeus) by Handel from Elizabeth and Margaret. Both pairs complemented each other superbly.
The final strains of Christmas, Bring us Hope by Ruth Elaine Schram and The Snow Waltz by Goff Richards led us back to a Viennese-style celebration with Tales from the Vienna Woods by Johann Strauss and The Merry Widow Waltz by Lehár.
An encore was demanded and granted with a stirring arrangement of I wish you love, which is fast becoming their signature tune, rounding off an enthusiastic and packed songfest admirably suited to the acoustics of St Mary in the Baum. Happy New Year!
The Queen’s Award-winning Toad Lane Concerts every Wednesday at 12.30pm at the Grade 1 listed church of St Mary in the Baum, Toad Lane, Rochdale, OL16 1DZ. Entrance fee is £6. Contact 01706 648872 for further information.
ORTOA Celebrity recitals at the Rochdale Town Hall organ - Sat 25 January 2025 at 3 pm - distinguished virtuoso Gordon Stewart
Preview by Dr Joe Dawson
ORTOA (Oldham, Rochdale and Tameside Organists’ Association, est. 1908) are back at the town hall. The double whammy of Covid restrictions and extensive restoration meant that ORTOA’s Town Hall celebrity organ recitals had to be mothballed.

Exceptionally, there was an ORTOA town hall concert during Covid, played by Paul Carr (10 Oct 2020), one of the few concerts to go ahead in the whole country during the Lockdown ‘easings.’
So, ORTOA became itinerant and explored other worthy organs in its patch. Now, following some restoration and re-opening performances by Darius Battiwalla (with Black Dyke Band), Aaron Hawthorne (Nosferatu horror film accompaniment), and Jonathan Scott (Opening ceremony and Christmas Concert), ORTOA is back with a superb season of recitals.
Firstly, Saturday 25 January at 3 pm one of the leading organists of his generation, the celebrated Scottish organ virtuoso, Gordon Stewart, who knows Rochdale’s JJ Binns instrument well.

Following studies in Manchester and Geneva he was for 15 years a cathedral organist, first in Manchester then in Blackburn. For 30 years he was Borough Organist of Kirklees.
He has recorded on organs in the UK and in South Africa on and has played concertos with major orchestras. For over 20 years he broadcast regularly as organist and conductor on BBC radio and television, chiefly as a musical director on Daily Service, Sunday Half Hour and Songs of Praise. He has taught for several years at the Royal Northern College of Music, Cambridge University and courses for the Royal College of Organists. He has played concerts throughout the UK and Europe, in the United States, South Africa and Australia.
Gordon is a former president of the Incorporated Association of Organists. He holds honorary fellowships of the Royal College of Organists, the Royal School of Church Music and the Guild of Church Musicians, and an honorary doctorate by the University of Huddersfield. He was awarded the British Empire Medal in the King’s first birthday honours.
His wide-ranging programme promises to put the JJ Binns instrument at the town hall through its paces with Montague Phillips, Böhm, William Felton, JS Bach, Norman Cocker, Gabriel Pierné, Dan Miller and Bossi. This should appeal to organ enthusiasts and a wider audience alike.
ORTOA 2025 forthcoming events
Sat Feb 22nd at 3 pm PAUL HALE Concert organist, consultant, ex Southwell Minster Tues May 20th at 1 pm KEITH HEARNSHAW Concert organist
Tues June 17th at 1 pm EDWARD TAYLOR Carlisle Cathedral
Tues July 15th at 1 pm LEE LONGDEN Cinema Organist
Tues Sept 16th at 1 pm ALEX FISHBURN Liverpool Cathedral
Admission £10 (concessions £8) concerts last one hour. Card or cash at the door or visit www.rochdaletownhall.co.uk/events or iao.org.uk/ortoa.
RECOMMENDED
Wednesday 22 January 2025
Toad Lane Concerts - Rochdale's Weekly Music at Lunchtime
This week we have - Imogen Garner mezzo soprano (RNCM) John Gough piano (RNCM staff).
The concert series has been held at St Mary’s since 2001 and was granted the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in 2020… during the pandemic!
Running every Wednesday, Music at Lunchtime is a weekly live classical music concert series that has been going since the 1960s. The sessions were initially run at the old Rochdale Art Gallery by the local authority, but since May 2001 have been run by volunteer-enthusiasts and artistic director, Dr Joe Dawson.
£6
Phone: Dr Joe Dawson 01706 648872
Doors open 12noon, concert starts 12.30pm - 1.30pm
St Mary in the Baum, Toad Lane/St Mary's Gate, Rochdale OL16 1DZ
Wednesday 22 January 2025
Rochdale Photographic Society
Tonight's session - Rebecca Entwistle – The Art of Portraiture (A practical evening bring your camera).
We meet every Wednesday at Rochdale Unitarian Church, starting at 7.30pm prompt (doors open from 7.15pm). The door is kept locked so please ring the bell on arrival.
If you would like to see the club for yourself and meet our members, you are welcome to attend as our guest for up to 3 weeks before committing to membership. Annual subscription is £36 for single or £46 for joint membership.
A weekly room fee of £2.50 is also payable on arrival at the meeting. Refreshments are 50p.
Visit https://www.rochdaleps.org.uk/syllabus for a full 2024 syllabus.
Doors open 7.15pm, 7.30pm start
Rochdale Unitarian Church, Clover Street, Rochdale OL12 6TP
Thursday 23 January 2025
Conservation talk - stained glass (January
Join our stained glass conservation specialist for an exclusive insight into the processes involved in conserving the stained glass of Rochdale Town Hall.
You will be taken around the rooms in which the stained glass was conserved, as well as having a look at the specialist on-site conservation studio. You can bring binoculars to look at windows at a distance.
Booking required: please book your place by 12noon, Thursday, 23 January 2025.
£8
2pm - 3pm
Rochdale Town Hall, The Esplanade, Rochdale OL16 1AZ
Friday 24 January 2025
Hello Again – The Neil Diamond Songbook
Join us for the world’s greatest celebration of the life and work of one of the best-selling singer-songwriters of all-time, Neil Diamond.
Using evocative imagery, video and narration to enhance the magic, this acclaimed production will take you on a musical journey through Neil Diamond’s glittering 50-year career.
In this exciting live show, you’ll be transported from The Bang Years to the present day, and you’ll soon be singing along to all the hits including Sweet Caroline, Cracklin’ Rosie, Forever in Blue Jeans, Song Sung Blue, Hello Again, Love on the Rocks, America and many more.
From £28.00
7:30pm Doors open: 7:00pm
Middleton Arena, Lance Corporal Joel Halliwell VC Way, Middleton, Manchester M24 1AG
Thursday 23 January 2025 - Saturday 25 January 2025
Visit Fireground Museum
Join us at Fireground this week to discover Greater Manchester's firefighting story.
Fire museum attractions are on show inside the museum including our collection of historic firefighting artefacts from the 18th century to present day, plus home-made refreshments in the new Fireground Café, and souvenirs from our fantastic new gift shop! We have a wide choice ranging from toddler to collector.
Under 4s are free, Children (aged 4-15) and Concessions £5, Adults £7 and Family (4 people) £20.
Phone: Fireground 01706 341219
Open Thursday, Friday & Saturday from 10am - 4pm
Fireground, Maclure Road, Rochdale OL11 1DN
Friday 24 January 2025
Castleton Literary and Scientific Society
An Adventure on Wheels.
A mobile home year on the road to the U.S.A. - a talk by Yvonne and Matt Pinder.
Entry fee: Annual Membership £25 ; Visitors welcome £3 per meeting
Phone: Barry Hobson 07724 135099
7pm
Castleton Community Centre, Manchester Road, Castleton, Rochdale OL11 3AF

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