On Saturday 24th June at 11am - A Celebration of Victoria Wood with the Hallé can be seen at the Bridgewater Hall.

Karen Ryder reflects on one of the greatest comedians as she looks forward to this weekend's event...


“A bur bur bur!”

If those seemingly meaningless few words have you chuckling away to yourself, then I’ve found my kindred spirits, for any Victoria Wood fan will be instantly hooked in by this infamous opening to one of the best characters of all time.  You are most likely already visualising a yellow beret and orange pac-a-mac, and have launched into a tidal wave of quotes featuring Kimberley, suitcases, wardrobes and red cabbages to anyone who happens to be nearby.  That is the pure, untouched, never matched genius that is Victoria Wood! 


I have nothing but love for this impressive lady.  Growing up in Bury myself, I simply can’t remember a time that I wasn’t quoting her work.  I was mesmerised that even as a young child, I understood much of her humour.  That is the beauty of what she created.  It is entirely accessible for it is rooted in every day, normal, bog-standard life and she tapped into something so truthful that I never doubted for a minute that this was someone who would directly inspire the course of my life.  And she did.  As a child, one of my favourite past times was running round the corner to my friends house who played the piano, and we would learn those complex Vic Wood songs inside out and upside down, with nothing but laughter as our guide.  We would perform sketches from the books we had, or just from memory, and try to emulate the tapestry of characters available at our fingertips.  As life moved on, strangers have become friends simply by quoting an appropriate Vic Wood line in a random moment of conversation, and then being unable to stop!  When you meet a fellow Victoria Wood fan, it’s an addiction.  You can’t help yourself.  Even last night, out of the blue, a friend messaged me nothing more than “Red cabbage, how much?”  And I instantly replied, “Red cabbage, no idea!”  And that was that.  It’s a special world to belong to, and once you’re in, you’re a lifer.

Victoria Wood rose to fame in 1974 by winning the 1970’s version of BGT, namely New Faces.  This led to guest appearances on another popular show at the time called That’s Life, and a theatre revue called In At The Death.  This proved to be an important revue because not only did it ignite the commission of her first play which we now all know and love as Talent, but it also reintroduced her to long time friend and showbiz partner, Julie Walters.  Granada came knocking, wanting to adapt Talent for TV and Julie Walters was cast alongside Victoria.  A couple more plays later and Wood And Walters was born.  A change over to the BBC brought us Victoria Wood:  As Seen On TV, with her handpicked cast of actors that became synonymous with her work, including of course Julie Walters, Duncan Preston, Celia Imrie, Susie Blake, and Anne Reid but to name a few.  This is the era that brought us Acorn Antiques, the mock soap opera that poked fun at Crossroads with the brilliantly wobbly scenery, mistimed cues, wooden acting and dodgy camera work.  I will keep using this word, but it was genius!  Loving, cheeky and so accurate that people originally mistook its spoof nature for it being a genuine soap!  Acorn Antiques has developed a cult following and Mrs. Overall took the world by storm, with her slightly stooped walk, crumpled tights, hairnet, and utter belief that there is nothing that can’t be fixed with a nice cup of tea and a coconut macaroon!  Such was the fan base of Acorn Antiques that Victoria even turned it into a successful Olivier Award winning West End musical!  Victoria also wrote six self contained half hour sitcoms, including “We’d Quite Like To Apologise”, had a BAFTA award winning An Audience With Victoria Wood, record breaking UK and international stand up tours, Comic Relief records, Christmas Day specials, animation voice over work, the bittersweet comedy drama film Pat & Margaret, and all of that plus the million other things I’ve missed out before she hooked in fans old and new with the phenomenal dinnerladies!  But Victoria still hadn’t finished proving her endless skills and talents and set about writing her first drama Housewife, 49 which she deservedly won a rare double BAFTA for both writing and starring in.  Then came That Day We Sang, a magnificent musical written for the Manchester International Festival, including The Hallé Children’s Choir and Manchester’s much loved and missed Free Trade Hall, which was later turned into a film starring Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton.  That has to be one of my favourite Boxing Days ever – watching one idol Michael Ball perform the work of another idol Victoria Wood!  All my Christmases really had come at once! 

Despite that This Is Your Life style reel above, I have barely touched the sides of the wonder that is Victoria Wood.  Everyone will have their favourite character, song, and quote whether it be Modelling Marilyn, Kimberley, Mrs. Gupta, “Barry And Freda,” “At The Chippy,” or “It Would Never Have Worked.”  And I can’t tell you how many times I’ve edited this piece to take out what is basically a mish mash of quotes, because us diehard fans just can’t help ourselves!  Because the list is endless and the second you think you’ve settled on a favourite, someone will mention another one and you’ll change your mind again as everything she did was legendary.  And that is why I am beyond delighted that a family concert has been commissioned by The Victoria Wood Foundation to be performed by the Hallé Children’s Choir and the full forces of the Hallé.

Part of the mcr: classical series, Celebrating Victoria Wood will showcase some of her most delicious songs for loyal fans, and for an entirely new generation.  Howard Goodall CBE and Victoria’s long long-term Musical Director and friend, Nigel Lilley have re-orchestrated the songs especially for the occasion.  I am sure this will be a moving, yet hilarious event that Victoria would have loved (had it not been about her of course, shy as she was.)  The collaboration with the Hallé Children’s Choir holds particular poignance, for it was widely known that Victoria passionately believed in the integration of music and the arts as a staple to every child’s education.  This belief even runs through the heart of That Day We Sang, and I’m sure we might even hear a song or two from the show itself!  As the title suggests, it will be a celebration of Victoria’s legacy, the joy she has brought to us all, and the inspiration she placed in the heart of so many of us, myself included.  She will never know, but I credit Victoria Wood for so much of who I am and what I do today, and it saddens me that I’ll never get to say thank you.  But I hope that a little bit of her lives on in my work of using the arts to encourage both shy and talented children to find their voice through the arts.  So, when I got wind of this concert at The Bridgewater Hall on Saturday 24^th June at 11am, I dusted off my beret, steamed my pac-a-mac, booked myself in for a perm that you could go trick or treating in, touched up my chevrons and put the date in my calendar as one not to be missed.  Rumour has is we might even be celebrating with a little help from Henry Purcell and a Dinner Lady…


The Victoria Wood Foundation is a registered charity and was set up after the devastatingly premature passing of Victoria in 2016.  In what would have been Victoria’s 70^th birthday year, it seems the perfect time for the foundation to allow us all to relive the happiness she gifted us all.  Set up by her friends, the Foundation aims to continue Victoria’s legacy by supporting the arts, particularly causes that Victoria herself would have been passionate about.  So, it makes perfect sense to collaborate with the Hallé Children’s Choir who offer children the chance to have the very best possible introduction to singing at the highest level in a range of singing styles.  Made up of over 90 members from across Greater Manchester, it was inevitable that they would be the choir to perform in Victoria’s That Day We Sang.  Following this meeting of minds, Victoria became their Patron and they have dedicated their rehearsal base in the Oglesby Centre at Hallé St Peter’s to her.

There is no denying the incredible impact Victoria Wood has created.  From the breadth and scope of her work, the undeniable humour, the empathy, knowledge of human behaviour, and the unbreakable bonds it creates between friends.  But even more than all of this, Victoria always did it with such humility, such grace, and such raw and honest Northern class that it is no wonder so many like me look up to her legacy with a sparkle in our eyes.  A girl from Bury took the world by storm and gave us her heart, yet she remained paradoxically private until the end.  I implore everyone to come along to The Bridgewater Hall to celebrate the legacy of Victoria Wood with the Hallé Children’s Choir and allow your funny bones to be ignited by the best person I’ll never meet. 
   

A CELEBRATION OF VICTORIA WOOD TAKES PLACE ON SATURDAY 24TH JUNE AT 11AM AT THE BRIDGEWATER HALL.

Featuring Josie Lawrence & Alex Jennings.

BOOK YOUR TICKETS HERE!