Dreamscape – Toyah Willcox Fansite

Square Chapel Arts Centre is celebrating LGBTQ+ History Month with a series of live events and special film screenings

During February 2020, Square Chapel Arts Centre is celebrating LGBTQ+ History Month with a series of live events and special film screenings.

LGBT History Month is an annual month-long observance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history, and the history of the gay rights and related civil rights movements. LGBT History Month provides role models, builds community, and represents a civil rights statement about the contributions of the LGBT community.

The programme of events Square Chapel has on for audiences includes:

The Tempest + Christopher Biggins Q&A
On Thursday 13 February from 7:00pm audiences can see The Tempest, a film directed by Derek Jarman and starring Toyah Willcox and Christopher Biggins. The film will be followed by an in conversation with the English stage and screen actor, Christopher Biggins who is best known for his role as Lukewarm in the BBC sitcom Porridge. Fans can expect an entertaining evening from this national treasure.

Jubilee + Toyah Willcox Q&A + Gig
On Saturday 1 February from 4.45pm the arts centre will start will screen the film Jubilee starring Toyah Willcox and directed by Derek Jarman, followed by a Q&A hosted by BBC Radio 6 Music’s Chris Hawkins. The night will end with a live gig from Toyah and her band.

• Continue reading at Square Chapel Arts Centre.

Independent Venue Week: Toyah Willcox, Dan Donnelly & Mik Artistik at Square Chapel

For the second year, Square Chapel Arts Centre will be offering a programme of events as part of Independent Venue Week. A national celebration of live music and comedy, the events are performed in, and organised by, independent venues like the Halifax arts centre. This year’s line-up for gig goers includes the fascinating musician and comedian Mik Artistik, punk princess Toyah Willcox, The Wonder Stuff ‘s Dan Donnelly, and Clinton Baptiste from Peter Kay’s Phoenix Nights.

On Saturday 1 February, Square Chapel welcomes back punk princess and cult stage actress, Toyah Willcox.

Willcox is a uniquely gifted performer and an inextinguishable flame. Charismatic, outspoken and impossible to categorise, she is one of Britain’s beloved household names – an award-winning rock legend, renowned stage and screen actress (Jubilee, Quadrophenia) and music composer. Toyah has amassed thirteen top 40 singles, recorded twenty-five albums, written two books, appeared in over forty stage plays, acted in over twenty feature films and presented hundreds of television programmes.

The film Jubilee, starring Toyah, and directed by Derek Jarman, will commence at 4.45pm, followed by an ‘in conversation’ with Toyah and hosted by BBC 6 Music presenter, Chris Hawkins. The evening will end with a live gig from Toyah and her band. Tickets for all three elements of this event are priced at £30.

• Continue reading at the Yorkshire Times. See more info on the Jubilee film screening, In Conversation with Toyah, and full band gig here.

Look who’s coming to Selby Town Hall’s biggest ever spring season…

Selby Town Hall’s spring season will be its biggest ever with 27 live shows between February and the start of June, plus a trio of Edinburgh Fringe previews in July.

“There’s the usual mix of folk, Americana, stand-up, pop, rock, theatre and more with chart-toppers, cult indie royalty, a Grammy winner, the radio voice who guided my teenage pop dreams, a primetime impersonator tinkling the ivories and even a 13-piece orchestra,” says Selby Town Council arts officer Chris Jones.

“We had a good end to 2019 with a surprise listing in the Guardian as one of the UK’s best tiny venues and that seems to have spilled over into 2020 with strong early sales. It’s full steam ahead.”

The programme’s headline stars include punk princess, actor, television presenter and Top Ten hit maker Toyah with her stripped-back Acoustic, Up Close & Personal show on February 21; Mark Radcliffe: Loser?, a solo show of words and songs from the BBC6 Music and Radio 2 presenter, on April 2, and impersonator Alistair McGowan, in his new-found guise as a classical pianist, in The Piano Show on May 22.

• Continue reading here.

NB: Selby Town Hall at Twitter say: We’ve now sold out for Arabella Weir, Toyah, Paul Sinha, Way Down Wanderer and Lucy Porter – great work people of Selby and environs!

Punk princess and 1980s icon coming to Halifax

Four-time Brit Award nominee and 1980s punk princess Toyah Wilcox is set to play in Halifax on February 1.

The gig comes after Square Chapel Arts Centre will be offering a programme of events as part of Independent Venue Week (IVW) for a second year in a row.

IVW is a national celebration of live music and comedy acts on the notion that events are performed in and ran by independent venues like the Halifax arts centre.

A spokesperson from the venue said: “Willcox is a uniquely gifted performer and an inextinguishable flame.

“Charismatic, outspoken and impossible to categorise, she is one of Britain’s beloved household names – an award-winning rock legend as well as a much-loved stage and screen actress (Jubilee, Quadrophenia) and music composer.”

• Continue reading at the Halifax Courier.

As recently posted, and following this year’s Quadrophenia screening/Q&A + Gig, Toyah will return to Square Chapel Arts Centre in early 2020 for a Jubilee screening/Q&A and a new full-band electric concert.

As well as this, Square Chapel Arts Centre are also screening The Tempest, along with a Q&A with Christopher Biggins.

All of these events are taking place in February 2020 as part of LGBT History Month – We are delighted to be celebrating LGBT History Month with a series of live events and special film screenings.

• Browse details of the Jubilee and The Tempest screening events, as well as the full diary for LGBT History Month, at the Square Chapel Arts Centre website.

Toyah chats about Halifax gig and Jubilee Q&A – Featuring a live on stage Q&A with Toyah Willcox, hosted by BBC Radio 6 Music presenter, Chris Hawkins. See our previous post on this here.

Toyah is taking part in a special Jubilee event at Square Chapel Arts Centre, Halifax in early 2020.

The event consists of a screening of the film, an onstage Q&A with Toyah – who played pyromaniac Mad in Derek Jarman’s late 1970’s epic – and later, a full band Toyah gig.

GIG, JUBILEE SCREENING + Q&A
1st February 2020
Square Chapel Arts Centre, Halifax

This special evening at Square Chapel Arts Centre includes a special screening of Derek Jarman’s cult classic punk movie Jubilee.

Featuring a live on stage Q&A with Toyah Willcox, hosted by BBC Radio 6 Music presenter, Chris Hawkins.

Toyah will then perform a live gig with her band spanning over 40 years of her music career. Ticket deal available for both screening and the gig.

• Full details of the Jubilee screening + Q&A event here, and details of the Toyah gig which follows it, here.

The Quadrophenia celebrations continue! Toyah will take part in the Skamouth Weekender Event on Saturday 23rd November doing a Q&A and a few songs (playback). On stage at 10am. Tickets are available by clicking below. See the official tweet about this here.

Toyah will appear at the London Film Fair on Sunday 15th September 2019, alongside many of the actors from Quadrophenia.

The Film Fair will be held at the Congress Centre (Great Russell Street, WC1B 3UB)

The London Film Fair will appeal to avid film buffs, collectors, archivists researchers and students. A must for anyone with an interest in cinema and cult television!

• Further info at the London Film Fair website. (Thanks to Graham Bashford) – See our previous news on this here.

Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of one of Britain’s greatest cult movies, Sky Arts presents one-off night brings the stars of Quadrophenia together on stage for a unique table read. Hosted by Lauren Laverne it will also feature a series of interviews with the cast, some special surprises and an audience Q&A.

Sunday 14 July 2019 | Shepherd’s Bush O2 Empire

The event will be filmed for a special TV broadcast. Click below to book tickets.

Toyah will be appearing at the London Film Fair, a Showmasters event, on Sunday 15th September at the Royal National Hotel in Russell Square. Leslie Ash is also guesting.

This event is the continuation of a legacy that started back in the early seventies. The conventions presents dealers from all over the UK, Europe, US, Canada, Australia and South America that specializes in vintage and modern film memorabilia. Items cover the history of cinema from the silents to the present day blockbusters.

The London Film Fair will appeal to avid film buffs, collectors, archivists researchers and students. A must for anyone with an interest in cinema and cult television!

• Further info at the London Film Fair website. (Thanks to Graham Bashford)

As previously posted, Toyah plays the Holt Festival 2019 on Friday 26th July – at the Theatre In The Woods.

An addition to the festival schedule that day is a screening of The Tempest, at the Britten Building.

New this year, we’re delighted to introduce Festival Extras – a series of events in addition to the main programme.

The Tempest: Friday 26 July, 4.00pm Britten Building
Tickets available on the door | Running time: 1h 35min
Derek Jarman’s magical 1979 film version of The Tempest starring Toyah Willcox. This screening will be introduced by the film’s producer Don Boyd and Toyah will make a guest appearance.

Each July the festival, whose media partners are the Eastern Daily Press and North Norfolk News, sets the Georgian country town alight with performers, musicians, art exhibitions and literary events. The early announcements include two music stars with many weeks in the charts between them.

• Visit the Holt Festival website. Browse all of our Holt Festival news.

Gary Shail Brings You Quadrophenia 40th Birthday Party

We are delighted to announce that our latest confirmed guest for Quad 40 is the fantastic Toyah Willcox who played the part of Monkey. Toyah joins Gary Shail, Trevor Laird, Leslie Ash and Carol Harrison (so far!) confirmed names – with more to follow!

2019 is the 40th anniversary of the movie Quadrophenia. The 25th August heralds the biggest single collection of cast and crew to celebrate this seminal movie. Gary Shail ( Spider) is proud to present the ultimate “Quadrophenia Experience” at Brighton’s Palace Pier.

• Further info/Book tickets at the Quad 40 website. (Thanks to Layne Patterson)

Fashion icon Mary Quant is the subject of a new V&A exhibition, opening on Saturday. Toyah is quoted on the V&A’s The Story Of Mary Quant make-up page:

In this edited extract from the Mary Quant exhibition book, Beatrice Behlen explores why Quant’s make-up range was as revolutionary as her clothing.

Singer Toyah Willcox was only eight years old and living in Birmingham when Quant’s cosmetics hit the market. Unsurprisingly she was’t allowed to wear make-up, but her older sister:

would bring home beautiful round Mary Quant bottles of nail varnish in amazing colours such as canary yellow, shimmery green and night time black. I could stare at these beautiful bottles for hours, the design was one of the best things I have ever seen. Mary Quant celebrated colour in all its spectrum and this had a huge influence on how I saw make up as an instrument of self-discovery and self-expression. Toyah Willcox, 2018

• Continue reading at the V&A website. See further info on the Mary Quant exhibition here.

Full details of the VIP Passes for Quadrophenia at 40 – taking place at Cov Con (Coventry Comic Con) in September – have been made available.

We are really excited to be able to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the 1979 release of Quadrophenia!

Join us and meet cast members from the film. Grab an autograph or take part in our amazing Quadrophenia cast group photoshoot. There is also a free Q&A session with the Quad guests which is not to be missed!

Entry costs just £10 to get into the show and you can then choose if you want to purchase autographs, photoshoots, selfies etc.

We also sell optional VIP passes which give you extra discount on buying stuff individually. The following VIP passes will be available to purchase on Saturday 30th March from 10am on our website:

Hell on Wheels – Save at least £20 on the full set of Quadrophenia guest autographs and receive a limited edition show lanyard with VIP pass. You can either bring your own item to be signed or use one of our cast group 10″ x 8″ photos for signing. Event entry is not included in the pass. Price is £70 and only 50 will be available.

Bell Boy – As Hell on Wheels but in addition you also get the meet/greet group photoshoot with the Quadrophenia guests. The photoshoot will include the Ace Face replica scooter that you can sit on with the guests around you for an amazing picture! Event entry is not included in the pass. Price is £160 and only 20 will be available.

We Are The Mods – In addition to Hell on Wheels you also get selfies with all our Quadrophenia guests, early entry into the event from 9am and a queue jump pass which will get you to the front of any guest queue (including non Quad guests). Early event entry is included in this pass. Price £250 and only 10 available.

A Way of Life – All the benefits of the We Are The Mods pass but you also get a meet/greet photo shoot with all individual Quad guests and reserved front row seating for the Quad Q&A. Early event entry is included in this pass. Price is £400 and only 5 are available.

The Real Me – Our ultimate VIP pass! Get all the benefits of our Way of Life pass and you also get a limited edition 14″ x 12″ print signed by all our Quad guests, a personal birthday/Christmas card from Toyah, green room access with food and drink available throughout the day, a hotel room on Friday 27th in the same hotel as our guests, safe luggage space at the venue, a personal assistant to help you meet guests and plan your day and private transport laid on from/to railway station, hotel and venue. Early event entry is included in this pass. Price is £800 and only 3 are available.

• Continue reading for further details of the VIP Passes at coventrycomiccom.com.

The centrepiece of this years event is a Quadrophenia 40th Anniversary reunion

Stars of retro TV and film will be descending on Coventry later this year as Covcon returns.

Coventry’s very own Comic Con will be back for a third year this September. The centrepiece of this years event is a Quadrophenia 40th Anniversary reunion where a number of the cast will appear to sign autographs and take part in photo opportunities.

Guests already confirmed include Mark Wingett, Toyah Willcox and Garry Cooper with more to be announced over the coming weeks.

The event will also pay homage to British classics such as Dad’s Army, Yes, Minister, Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads, Doctor Who and more with guests such as Ian Lavender, Derek Fowlds, James Bolam and John Leeson set to appear. Organisers say many more famous names will be announced before the show opens.

• Continue reading at the Coventry Telegraph.

Toyah in Halifax to mark Quadrophenia’s 40th anniversary

Stage, screen and music star Toyah Willcox will be in Halifax on Saturday (February 16) for an exclusive 40th anniversary screening of the mod classic Quadrophenia. Toyah, who plays Monkey in the film version of The Who’s rock opera, will also take part in a Q&A at Square Chapel arts centre, talk about the movie and her career in music – and perform a live acoustic gig with her band.

The cult classic film also starred Sting, Phil Daniels, Leslie Ash and Ray Winstone at the start of their careers with the action set in Brighton during clashes between rival gangs of Mods and Rockers. The film will be shown at 6pm, followed by the live Q&A hosted by radio presenter Alex Cann. Following that will be Toyah’s live set at 9pm. This year also marks the 40th anniversary of her music career as she released her first single and album in 1979.

This acoustic concert will include hit singles, album classics and fan favourites.The Q&A has sold out but there are still a handful of tickets left for Toyah’s live set. Go to www.squarechapel.co.uk for more information and booking.

• Continue reading at the Halifax Courier.

Quadrophenia is being screened at the University of West London on Friday, by Ealing Classic Cinema Club, as part of Ealing Music & Film Festival 2019.

The Festival will take place from 13th–17th February 2019 with both free and paid for events happening across Ealing at venues including the University of West London, St Barnabas Church, The Brentham Club, St Mary’s Church and The Met Film School.

On the evening of 15 February, 7pm at Weston Hall, University of West London, we are delighted to announce a screening in association with Ealing Classic Cinema Club of the iconic 1979 film Quadrophenia from Pete Townshend and Franc Roddam starring Sting, Phil Daniels, Leslie Ash and Toyah Willcox, with music by The Who.

• See further info at Ealing Music & Film Festival 2019.

Toyah will co-compère at Rewind South 2019 in August.

Michael Bolton, the Four Tops, Lulu and Grandmaster Flash are to perform at this summer’s Rewind South festival for the first time. The event, now in its 11th year, will take place on Temple Island Meadows in Remenham from Friday to Sunday, August 16 to 18 with a line-up described by organisers as the most diverse yet.

… It will be compered by Doctor and the Medics frontman Clive “The Doctor” Jackson and Eighties singer Toyah Willcox.

Other attractions will include comedy performers such as Milton Jones, DJ sets, family sports days, circus skills workshops and giant bubble parties with more to be confirmed over the coming months.

• Continue reading at the Henley Standard.

Toyah’s Q&A at Square Chapel Arts Centre, Halifax has now Sold Out!

Some tickets for Toyah’s Acoustic, Up Close & Personal gig, taking place after the film screening/Q&A on Saturday 16th February, are still available.

Quadrophenia plus a Q&A and live music with Toyah Willcox

Here’s a brilliant evening’s entertainment with not only an anniversary screening of iconic movie Quadrophenia, but a Q&A with one of its stars, the legendary Toyah Willcox and a live music set with her too. Toyah who went on to be a music, film and TV star and an author played the character Monkey in the 1979 Who album-inspired film which depicts the Mods and Rockers era of the late 1960s and which is celebrating its 40th year. The film will be screened before Toyah takes the stage to talk about the movie and her career at Square Chapel. The film stars Phil Daniels as Jimmy, a young 1960s London-based Mod who escapes from his dead-end job as a mailroom boy by dancing, partying, taking amphetamines, riding his scooter, and brawling with the motorcycle-riding Rockers. After he and his friends participate in a huge brawl with the Rockers by the seaside in Brighton, he is arrested and his life starts to spiral out of control. Toyah has had eight Top 40 singles and released over 20 albums, Her biggest hits were “It’s a Mystery”, “Thunder in the Mountains” and “I Want to Be Free”.  She has written two books, appeared in over forty stage plays and ten feature films.

• Further info, and ticket booking for Toyah’s acoustic gig, available here.

2019 is a very special anniversary year. It marks 40 years since Toyah’s first recordings – Victims Of The Riddle and the Sheep Farming in Barnet AP were both released by Safari Records in 1979.

The genesis of an astonishing, and ridiculously underrated, music career. Did Toyah record and release even one duff song during five years at Safari?

Even tracks that were given away free by Flexipop magazine – Sphinx, For You – were far superior to actual single releases by other bands at the time.

Post-Safari saw Toyah become really experimental and release albums and music that are now considered works of genius – Prostitute, Ophelia’s Shadow, In The Court Of The Crimson Queen – Toyah’s 40 year discography is one of the finest of any artist/musician/pop star, with incredible song after song after song. Soaring choruses, unforgettable melodies, wonderful lyrics – Each album is a completely different experience. For sure, the past 40 years of music would have been far less of an adventure without Toyah!

Stay tuned to Dreamscape for sporadic anniversary updates to mark Toyah’s 40 years of music.