Joe Wilson, the North East concert and music hall star, is to be commemorated again by popular demand after last year’s hugely successful concert to celebrate the 175th anniversary of his birth date.
A regular bill topper at the 4,000-capacity Wear Music Hall in Sunderland, Wilson wrote at least 360 popular songs and poems about working class life before he died in February 1875, aged just 33.
Wilson, who penned the perennial favourite Keep Your Feet Still, Geordie Hinny, was born in Gallowgate, Newcastle, on November 29, 1841.
Last year Newcastle City Council marked Wilson’s cultural contribution to the area by placing a blue plaque on his birthplace in Stowell Street in today’s Chinatown.
Ed Waugh, who produced the show last year and this year has had massive regional hits with his plays Hadaway Harryand Mr Corvan’s Music Hall, is delighted with the response and demand for Joe Wilson Night 2017.
He explained: “I curated last year’s tribute to Joe thinking it would be a one-off. The show included songs by Joe and other regional singers, comedy and poetry. Such is the demand we are staging another tribute with all-new songs, poems and comedy.
“Hopefully it will become an annual event to mark our bard, just as the Scots celebrate Rabbie Burns. There is a wonderful untapped well of thousands of brilliant songs and poems, and comedy that stand the test of time and that can and should be shared today.”
He continued: “Such is the demand for the show, we have only 50 of the 175 tickets left and we haven’t even produced a leaflet or poster! Entry will be strictly by ticket only.
“Billy Mitchell from Lindisfarne and a member of the Pitmen Poets will compere again and we have a brilliant cast.”
Ed added: “This is a celebration of North East culture at its best.”
Joe Wilson Night 2017 will be held at the Irish Centre, Stowell Street, Newcastle on Wednesday, November 29 from 7.30pm. Tickets cost only £15 from box office (0191) 4247788. Or via Tyneside Irish Centre or Grainger CDs in the Grainger Market, Newcastle.
For further details visit https://www.wisecrackproductions.co.uk/