Theatre and Show Reviews and Previews

The end ?

2011-09-11T13:07:00.000+01:00

Apart from the fact I will cover the occasional amateur production I have probably published my last theatre review on this highly successful blog. It is also quite likely I will close down www.fdpt.org.uk , although as some images are served through that site this might take quite a while to sort out that issue out.

I do, however, want to leave this blog up for archival purposes

Due to recent events I will also not be promoting Eastbourne Theatres apart from going to shows there and even those may be far fewer in number as I am somewhat lacking in theatrical enthusiasm at present and I really can't see that changing.

The Facebook page promoting Eastbourne theatres has already been deleted and my Twitter account will probably be used just to talk about shows seen and general theatre banter.

The Flickr group I set up for Eastbourne Theatres is another matter I have to consider. If the things I do are not appreciated by the same venues I am trying to promote, for free, then perhaps it's time to just call it a day with spreading love of theatre once and for all?

I will still review the amateur productions and I already owe the Eastbourne Stagers a great review for Our House at the Devonshire Park Theatre in Eastbourne. I apologize that this isn't here yet but sadly now I have a personal crisis that's dominating matters, that has to be my priority at the current time.

Ken Dodd, Congress Theatre, Eastbourne

2011-08-07T22:45:00.000+01:00

Ken Dodd,

Congress Theatre,

Eastbourne

7th August 2011

Having reviewed the fabulous Ken Dodd not so long ago click here at Tunbridge Wells I won't repeat myself as the show was just as great as it was then. In true Ken Dodd style just as long too at 5 hours, including the interval.

Illusionists Amethyst and excellent lady trumpeter, Joan Hind, made for much betters support acts though.

The main surprise for me was that I half expected Doddy to repeat the same jokes I had heard a year ago. Yet barely a pun was repeated.

Ken's 83 years of age now and to perform such incredibly long shows and to keep them fresh with new material is just outstanding.

There are many much younger artists who would never cope with the constant touring or the long hours he performs for each and every time. As variety shows go he must surely represent the best value for money in theatrical productions?

A packed Congress theatre thoroughly enjoyed this and the standing ovation was just a formality.

A truly amazing veteran entertainer.

Anything Goes, The Rattonians, Congress Theatre, Eastbourne

2011-07-21T22:20:00.000+01:00

Anything Goes

The Rattonians

Congress Theatre

Eastbourne

20-30 July 2011

Performance seen 21st July

Cast

The Rattonians Company
As always I will publish the massive cast in due course
but I don't want to use the programme listing until the run is over

Well at the time of writing this I have to say that Eastbourne has it made at the moment having two superb summer shows within a couple of minutes walking distance of each other. Murder by Misadventure at the Devonshire Park and this wonderful staging of Anything Goes here at the Congress Theatre.

You could quite easily have a fantastic day of theatre catching a matinee of one show and then having a quick break before seeing the evening performance of the other.

It's always pleasurable, going to see a musical you've never seen before. A situation where you may be familiar with the odd song but you haven't got a clue about the subject matter. A tad of cultural ignorance can be a good thing at times.

For me this was the situation with Anything Goes. Apart from being aware that the music and lyrics are by Cole Porter, that it's a comedy and that it's based on a ship I knew nothing of the subject matter.

So for the likewise uninitiated here is a vague synopsis so avoid spoiling anything. The tale is based on board an ocean liner sailing from New York to London. Madly in love with heiress Hope Harcourt, Billy Crocker is a stowaway desperately trying to stop her marrying her eccentric fiance Lord Evelyn Oakleigh. Famous nightclub singer Reno Sweeney and gangster Moonface Martin aid (and abet) Billy in his search for his one true love.

The set is both impressive and ingenious. The, always marvellous, musicians were all dressed in appropriate sailor suits on the top deck. Meanwhile action amongst the cast can also occur on the top deck, the lower deck and in two "pull out" cabins which can be changed for various locations as the story unfolds. On occasions we even see gangplanks bringing 'guests' aboard from the auditorium.

Funny? Incredibly so. I smiled and laughed so much during the two and a quarter hour show that my mouth practically ached at the sides. There is just so much great humour that I could name so many of the cast members but Peter Gurr as Sir Evelyn Oakleigh played one of the best comedy roles I have ever seen. He is honestly almost worth going to see the show for in his own right.

Vocally, well The Rattonians have never disappointed on this front and they didn't fail tonight. Alex Adams and Chloe Shearer play Billy and Hope and work together beautifully.

James Hookway is always great in a comedy role and there could not have been a better choice to play public enemy number thirteen Moonface Martin.

I don't think I've mentioned her in a Rattonians review before but Jade Powers as Mrs Evangeline Harcourt was screechingly hysterical as she searched for missing dog Cheeky (played by sweet little Lola) . Also never mentioned before Roger Tomlinson who made a wonderful job of portraying the ship's captain as he desperately tried to find a famous guest to impress those on board.

The whole cast, as far as I was concerned were perfect. But I really think I owe a mention to Lucy Anderson who plays a girlfriend in this show. Now I don't know quite how she did it but only 3 weeks ago we watched Lucy's incredible performance in the BLODS production of Copacabana in Bexhill. Yet here she is undertaking the demanding vocal and choreography routines of Anything goes without a care in the world and without a foot out of place or a note out of tune. That is commitment and a huge well done to her!

The costumes were, as they always are just perfect but I'm going to end on the choreography. I have always been impressed with the routines in previous productions such as 42nd Street, Copacabana, Fame etc. But the routines in Anything Goes are really something else. Leading into the interval there is a massive routine to the title tune "Anything Goes". It seems to go on for an eternity. It has most, if not all, of the company on the stage and it appeared step perfect from everybody involved. The routine received a massive reaction from the audience and it leaves you going into the break on a real high.

Jan Lynton I have reviewed many of the shows you have quite wonderfully choreographed in Eastbourne yet I don't think I've ever given you the credit you deserve. So I think I'd better make up for it be saying this lady works so hard and takes so much pride in her work that you know you are always going to get a well produced dance routine. She also commands a huge respect from the theatrical companies she works with and from those involved in Eastbourne's theatres. Jan is a huge asset for so many shows, so well done your work is incredible and appreciated by so many.

That's it on Anything Goes now except to say do pick up a programme - they are complimentary this year - but please make a donation in the buckets for the Rattonians chosen charities. Because in addition to staging some of the best musicals you could see in Eastbourne they raise a heck of a lot of money for good causes.

Thanks Rattonians for Anything Goes and a thoroughly great evening's entertainment.

I am ensuring this is published well before the end of the run because I want others to appreciate this production. With top price tickets at just £15 and matinees at just £12.50 you will not find a better musical for so little money at the Congress Theatre this year.

Murder by Misadventure , Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne

2011-07-19T22:38:00.003+01:00

Murder by Misadventure

Devonshire Park Theatre

Eastbourne

14th July -13th August
show seen 19th July

Cast
appearance order

Harold Kent - Norman Pace
Paul Riggs - Gareth Hale
Emma Kent - Sabina Franklyn
Inspector Egan - Tony O'Callaghan

Any drama that has to attract an audience for a month, even in a popular seaside tourist resort in the height of summer, has got to be worth seeing and be good enough for recommendations to be passed on.

Fortunately Murder by Misadventure is well worth getting yourself out of a hotel room or b&b for. Overhearing a well known Eastbourne theatre critic saying he enjoyed it so much he was thinking of going again made me realise I wasn't alone in my feelings.

In fact, if we can afford a second viewing ourselves, we are thinking of taking an elderly friend who would absolutely love this superbly entertaining play.

From the phenomenal applause, cheers, screams and whistles at the end of this production I'd be surprised if anybody in the very large audience did not enjoy this great thriller penned by Edward Taylor.

On that subject this was quite a special night for everybody involved in the show as Edward Taylor was actually present for the night's performance. He must have been delighted to see his play get such a rapturous response.

Harold Kent and Paul Riggs are writing partners specializing in murder mysteries. Their aim is always to come up with a tale that has the perfect, seemingly unsolvable, murder. Their working relationship is however showing considerable signs of strain with one partner doing far better than the other both financially and in love.

With the under performing partner refusing to go quietly the murder motive is in place. But as you may be able to imagine if we are talking about a murder plot involving writers on the same subject the opportunity is there for many a twist in the tale.

All the action takes place in a luxury penthouse on the top floor of a high rise apartment block, overlooking the sea.

It has to be said that despite the fact production budgets must be tight at the moment the set is marvellous. A luxury penthouse needs luxury gadgets. As a result it seems there is a lot of scope for 'gadget failure' here but as far as I could see everything worked perfectly on the night.

This is an 'in house' production by Eastbourne Theatres under the supervision of Chris Jordan their artistic director.

With comedy duo Hale and Pace leading the cast Jordan hasn't missed the opportunity to ensure the story proceeds with plenty of laughs throughout. Gareth Hale and Norman Pace have, despite doing some solo work, continued their longstanding partnership with tours abroad including being incredibly popular in Australia.

As a double act the two still feed off each other brilliantly. Although I guess with 10 UK series of Hale and Pace under their belts you wouldn't expect them to have lost their touch. This was a brilliant casting. Using a well known duo to play an on stage partnership just seems right.

But we mustn't forget this really is an all star cast in every sense. Renowned and respected actress Sabina Franklyn plays a wonderful Emma Kent. Tony O'Callaghan ,who had 12 incredible years starring in The Bill, completes the cast perfectly in his impressive role as the seemingly hapless, hilarious, but none the less ruthless Inspector Egan.

This is a play which could have you thinking from beginning to end as you try to guess who will die? How? When? Who will be responsible for the deed? Take it from me you may as well not bother with wasting brain power. There are so many clever deviations built into the tale the odds are stacked well against you guessing correctly anyway.

You are better off sitting back comfortably and just appreciating what is an ingenious piece of writing and a very impressive show for Eastbourne's summer season.

See it, enjoy it and then tell somebody else how entertaining Murder by Misadventure actually is.
Or go and see it again !!

My Dog's Got No Nose, Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne

2011-07-07T21:30:00.001+01:00

My Dog's Got No Nose

Devonshire Park Theatre

Eastbourne

7-9 July 2011
performance seen 7th July

Cast
Damian Williams

I'm glad I didn't read any of the reviews on this before seeing it as I think any form of write-up covering the story could have detracted from the enjoyment of this comedy/drama. Perhaps this is one of those occasions when just glancing at a rating alone is of some benefit?

Seeing the words "Damian Williams" and "comedy" on the advertising literature I had just assumed this was just that - a comedy.

Having seen Damian numerous times now , a guy who never fails to make you laugh, I think I just associated him with humour alone.

It was a surprise then that this 'Comedy' by Ron Aldridge and staged by Bruce James production turned out to be very different than expected.

It's the tale of a former furniture salesman who's aim has always been to be a successful stand up comedian. He now has his debut looming and we hear all the trials and tribulations, the highlights and lowlights of how he got to this stage. Our potential new comedy star also tells us how his wife Judy, her sister Sarah and his brother-in-law Roger all come into the equation in affecting his career.

To say any more would simply ruin the experience for those who will see this tale played out on stage in the future. It is a very clever piece of writing by Aldridge. Yes the great comedy is there and there are plenty of ad-libbing opportunities with audience interraction, something which Williams has always been a complete master of. But in equal measure to the comedy there is serious drama. It's much more of a 'Comedy with substance' than a comedy alone.

It's a really good play actually. A much lighter first half compared to the more serious, darker, second half. A play which pleasingly let's us see Damian, who to me is a brilliant comedy actor, be seen acting in a far more serious role and doing a mighty fine job of it too.

There's even some murder mystery type twists and turns thrown in. Just when you think the story is over there's another chapter to be told.

A thoroughly enjoyable play with Damian Williams once again delivering a wonderful performance.

Copacabana BLODS De La Warr Pavilion Bexhill on Sea

2011-06-29T22:48:00.002+01:00

Copacabana
Bexhill Light Operatic and Dramatic Society (BLODS)
De La Warr Pavilion Bexhill on Sea

29 Jun - 2nd July 2011

Show seen 29th

This was our first encounter with the BLODS. A production only brought to our attention as we had a friend in the band.

So how was this amateur presentation of Barry Manilow's flamboyant musical?

Actually it was a very good value and enjoyable show. About 1/3 the price of a professional musical but certainly not 1/3 of the quality.

Under the direction of Carl Greenwood the band were great. This was no great surprise as the band members are the same ones who usually support the Eastbourne Stagers and the (also Eastbourne based) Rattonians.

The costumes were impressive and the set basic, but functional. You can't expect more from an amateur presentation.

Acting wise, like most amateur groups, the BLODS clearly know where their strengths and weaknesses lie. Nice choreography, although some of the older gentlemen didn't look like natural dancers. A little 'wooden' in movement I suspect these may be a few of our mature singers rather than specialists in dance.

However, from an acting point of view everybody seemed to be in a role that suited them. Bernard Simon made a fine job of the very comical Sam Silver whilst Kate Dyer took well to the equally humorous Gladys Murphy.

Joao Rei Villar was a believable rogue and hard man in the role of club Tropicana owner Rico Castelli.

However 3 of the cast really stood out in this show.

Lesley Van Egmond was the perfect choice for showgirl 'has been' Conchita Alvarez. With a gutsy, feisty performance she was impressive and continued professionally when she somehow recovered her footing after nearly falling down the stairs on set.

The remaining 2 artists I have to say simply stole this production for me. Fortunately those are the lead roles. Charlie Legg as Stephen/Tony Forte and Hannah Bates as Samantha/Lola la Mar.

I don't know about an amateur production. I am sure both Charlie and Hannah could easily appear in a professional production and I'm sure few would notice any lack of experience or ability.

Confident, convincing actors and both vocally impressive I would be really surprised if these two didn't go on to appear in the West End in due course.

However, from my point of view this great amateur production was marred by the most clumsy, noisy set changes I have ever seen, anywhere, in any production, amateur or professional.

Set changes are normally practically seamless with the curtain being brought down whilst props are taken on and off peacefully. Often action takes place on the apron whilst this is being done.

But what a fiasco this was time and time again as the curtain remained up whilst the acting stopped. The voices of the stage hands could easily be heard giving directions, I've heard cast members talk quieter. Bangs and thumps as the larger props were brought on echoed round the auditorium. Props were often forgotten and as they were brought on again voices could be heard even though the stage scene had restarted. Microphones were forgotten to be switched off and "excuse me" requests could be heard in the wings as actors tried to get back on stage.

I understand that the band were positioned in the right wing (looking at the stage). I don't know if this was causing some of the awkwardness in set changes. But if it was I hope it's reconsidered for future productions.

Sadly such unnecessary disruption to what is meant to appear like an interruption free presentation has resulted in me removing a complete star from the enjoyment rating. I've never seen any other theatre or company handle set changes so badly and I hope this is a one-off experience.

However the BLODS themselves did impress us and whilst this was our first viewing of them it certainly won't be the last.

Tony Christie 50th Anniversary Tour Assembly Hall Theatre Tunbridge Wells

2011-06-26T22:30:00.000+01:00

Tony Christie

50th Anniversary Tour

Assembly Hall Theatre

Tunbridge Wells

26th June 2011

For a guy who thought his UK career was over about 7 years ago Tony Christie is doing pretty well for himself these days. OK it had to have a bit of a kick start back in 2005 when Peter Kay and he collaborated to re release Is This The Way To Amarillo for Comic Relief. This is one event in his life that Christie is very grateful for and he's not ashamed to admit this one record gave him a new lease of life in show business.

I have to admit that before this gig it really had been 'one of those days' for me. I really wasn't in the mood for theatre. It was going to take a great concert to make me feel like like I was glad we'd made the journey.

So thank you Tony Christie it was a fabulous gig. With no support act he performs the whole approximate 2 and a half hour show accompanied by his excellent band.

This production is of course celebrating Christie's 50 years of performing and I have to say at 68 years young he looks incredibly fit. He really does look and sound like your typical smart, suave, vocally excellent, gentleman crooner!

With a new album out (which he cheekily refers to many times as it's on sale at the venues) the play list is a selection from this, some of his classic hits and a few cover versions.

It's a nice balance. There were a couple of tracks that didn't appeal to me but I am sure even the most ardent fans don't like the occasional track from their idol.

Interspersed with the music Tony recounts his biography covering the good times, the bad and even how his stage name came about.

As regards to the old favourites be belts out beautifully Las Vegas, I Did What I Did For Maria, Is This The Way To Amarillo and Walk Like A Panther. Artists included in the cover versions include one of his favourite 80's groups The Human League.

There's a nice touch that this 50th Anniversary Tour is covering 50 venues of various shapes, sizes and locations. Big cities, small towns there's lots of variety and Tony admits he's visiting plenty of new and interesting places as a result.

But with a sound system that has to cater for all those venues this leads to the only fault I can find with the whole show. Myself and others thought the sound system far too powerful and loud for the Assembly Hall Theatre. This was not much of an issue during ballads but boy it was horrendously loud in the more uptempo tracks. Loud to the extent that it detracted from the lyrics on several songs.

The programme at £10 may have seemed at face value to be expensive. However many didn't realise that Tony had actually autographed all of these making the publication much better value.

A marvellous, outstanding value, concert from a great entertainer. I just hope that sound levels can be tweaked for the remaining smaller venues.

Rock 'n' Roll Paradise Congress Theatre Eastbourne

2011-06-23T22:20:00.001+01:00

Rock 'n' Roll Paradise

Congress Theatre

Eastbourne

23rd June 2011

Cast (programme featured order)

Richard Atkins as Elvis Presley

Nick Player as Buddy Holly
Johnny Curtiss as Roy Orbison
Darren Green as Jerry Lee Lewis
John-Simon Rawlings as The Big Bopper
Peter Jackson - Eddie Cochran

This review must kick off with some clarification. This should at least help a little with ensuring the artists in this production recover some of the fans back who used to follow them around the UK.

The bulk of these tribute artists used to be in a very successful tribute show Rockin' on Heaven's Door.

Prior to May 2010 countrywide reviews of that production were excellent. After May 2010 the feedback began to turn from being very positive into negative territory. Those reviews have remained mixed ever since.

Why? Because the cast split. Most went into this production Rock 'n' Roll Paradise (RARP) but a former member carried on with a touring production retaining the Rockin' On Heaven's Door (ROHD) name.

Fans just assumed that Rockin' On Heaven's Door had the same cast and have gone along to their shows only to be very disappointed. How do I know? Because most of them were at this show having finally found out where their favourite tribute artists had gone. It was very much the main topic of conversation in the interval.

It is taking time for audience levels to get back to the size that these singers are used to. A few hundred saw this show but for those that missed this great show you can have a second bite of the cherry on 15th July at exactly the same venue.

I believe that show has sold many more tickets already. It seems that as word gets around that the previous favourites in ROHD are now in RARP the fans are returning.

For those of you who like another tribute production that has toured for years on end, That'll Be The Day, I can assure you that Rock 'n' Roll Paradise will leave you just as impressed.

From the moment Darren Green starts the evening with Jerry Lee Lewis's hits you know this is going to be no slouch of a production. Impressive vocally and a demon on the piano, which even gets played with his feet, he is a true indication of the quality of his fellow performers to come.

In fact Darren is the performer who gets the most exposure as he remains on stage to play for the other artists.

I'll throw in here that a large screen of the on-stage action is particularly well used in RARP. It's not simply a projection of what the front rows can see but views from many different and unusual angles, including along the piano keys! A very clever use of technology with fades and dual displays that add interest to an already lively gig.

So from Jerry and his Great Balls Of Fire we move on to the likes of The Big Bopper. John-Simon Rawlings covers all the tracks the Bopper was known for including Chantilly Lace and Johnny Preston's Running Bear. He also acts as show compere a role that works rather well.

Nick Player is Buddy Holly at his energetic best. I would think that any avid Holly fan would be impressed with him, but not simply for the vocals. In the act you can appreciate the attention to detail he has paid to every little movement and leap Holly used to make on stage. If Nick fancied another tribute act I don't think it would take much effort on his part to take on the late Freddie Garrity (Freddie and The Dreamers). For me he'd be great in the role of the great singer and his comical routines.

We calm things down a little as Johnny Curtiss is an understandably much more calm and serious act as the legendary 'Man In Black' Roy Orbison. The classics Crying and Pretty Woman are of course performed by Johnny. I have to wonder if he is slowly turning into Roy Orbison as he was the only performer still in his act's costume after show - yes sunglasses as well!

We also have Peter Jackson as Eddie Cochran. Forgetting his superb sound if there is to be a best lookalike it's a close call between Peter and Nick Player. Peter's performing on top of the piano at the end of the first half if a fabulous way to enter an interval, leaving the audience on a high.

Last but certainly not least is Richard Atkins as the King himself. Yes Elvis is most certainly in the building for numerous solo numbers before we move on to the all cast finale. I know Richard already has a huge number of fans who loyally follow his career and his 'romantic', scarf handing out sessions have become his trademark and those Elvis loving ladies just love it.

I'm always wary about tribute acts as they vary so wildly in quality but I can see why the fans who preciously followed the members of this cast in Rockin' on Heaven's Door have scoured the country trying to find them.

The artists are accompanied by the fabulous Paradise band comprising
Spencer Lingwood (drums)
Chris Kane (keyboards/sax)
John O'Malley (lead guitar)
Dave Robson (lead guitar)
Mark Fisher (double bass/bass guitar)

As tributes go this must be one of the very best in the UK and it gets my maximum rating for entertainment value.

If we were able to we would attend again for the July 15th performance. If you like great, lively, fun tributes this show is for you.

Showstopper The Improvised Musical, Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne

2011-06-22T22:01:00.003+01:00

Showstopper!
The Improvised Musical,
Devonshire Park Theatre,
Eastbourne

22-23 June 2011
show seen 22 June

Touring Cast
(names in bold are the actors I believe were in this show)

Ruth Bratt
Julie Clare
Dylan Emery
Pippa Evans*
Sean McCann

Adam Meggido
Philip Pellew
Nigel Pilkington
Andrew Pugsley
Oliver Senton
Lucy Trodd

Sarah-Louise Young

Touring Musicians

Duncan Walsh-Atkins

Chris Ash

Rachel Perrin

*Pippa acted as the narrator in this musical.
She also collated and formulated the audience input.

Magic Tabletop - The story of Media, a story of love
and a young woman's desire to climb one last mountain.

Over the years there have been many TV and theatrical improvisational hit shows. The Channel 4 series Whose Line Is It Anyway, which ran for 10 years from 1988, was probably the most iconic. Clips from the series, which was presented by Clive Anderson, continue to receive a massive number of visitors on You Tube.

Theatre wise Paul Merton's Impro Chums and Jack Dee's I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue have regularly attracted large audiences in recent years. Like the hit Channel 4 programme both shows get their laughs from short, entertaining scenes.

Showstopper, The Improvised Musical is as it sounds. A genuine off-the-cuff creation of a full, unique, 90+ minute musical.

The setting is decided by the audience as are the musical and acting styles employed throughout the tale. Any characteristics specific to characters are also chosen in this random manner. The challenge for the cast is made even more difficult by the narrator coming up with additional tasks during the performance.

The only items the actors have to assist them are those that are seen on stage at the beginning of the performance. Essentially these consisted only of a selection of different coloured hats and jackets and a few props including some sticks, a couple of pieces of cloth , an umbrella and a couple of padded stools.

This type of show can also give rise to something quite unique when your friends ask what you are going to see at the theatre. You can honestly say "I don't know" because until the audience have decided the type of musical they want to see and its content not even the cast have any idea what is in store for you.

In fact every element of this show is made up on the fly. None of the cast know what their fellow actors will do or say next. Lyrics have to sound as though they were rehearsed beforehand and group numbers have to sound harmonious. Dancing has to appear as though a choreographer has been involved somewhere in the planning. But no choreographer exists because there is no such planning.

Each cast member has to pay close attention not only to what they are going to do next but what they have just done also. Why? Well this was demonstrated when the narrator cleverly decided to add an additional part to a scene and asked the cast to "rewind" to where they were a minute or two before in their improvised script.

That's all hard enough but it's also got to come across as a seamless production, without pregnant pauses and with a story that makes complete sense.

It's all a recipe for complete disaster.

But, for me at least, this is one of the funniest, most creative, clever pieces of theatre I have ever seen. I know Showstopper has received good feedback from public and press everywhere it has visited. Everybody involved in this show deserves every one of those positive comments.

I know many purists would prefer a traditional musical and I know I've got a sense of humour which many wouldn't share. However, I could watch every show these talented people put on just to see what they come up with next.

I wasn't the only one enjoying this by any means. The laughter, encouragement and appreciation came forth from the Devonshire Park Theatre audience from beginning to end.

If anybody has seen Showstopper and wondered if the suggestions are from audience 'plants' they are most definitely not. No, with one of my suggestions being used for the stammering God of speech I can confirm this is certainly not the case. I did like the touch that the narrator (Pippa Evans) even asked if anybody in the audience would be offended by a stammer being used.

And so we had our story with our heroine Media (Ruth Bratt) and her companions heading to South Africa to climb Table Mountain. Given a lucky charm to protect her from the demons of the flat topped mountain she eventually reaches the peak. Exhausted she finds she cannot descend until she has appeased the Gods including our Stammering God of speech (Philip Pellew) who handled his speech impediment sensitively but with very humorous lines. There was also the sexy juggling God (Lucy Trod) and the pregnant man God too! (Sarah-Louise Young)

I mean where else could you get a musical with characters called Tungsten and Lumbago?

Having appeased the Gods with an offering of her choice Media then heads back to the UK having to decide whether she was still in love with her, stay at home, agoraphobic lover (Adam Meggido) or whether she preferred her rugged climbing companion (Dylan Emery).

The musical parts were impressive to say the least including numbers based on 42nd Street, Les Miserables and Chicago amongst others. We even had a scene in the style of Alan Ayckbourn thrown in for good measure (of course another audience suggestion). If you thought improvisation meant a lack of singing ability these performers would have surprised you with their vocals. With the most involved role, leading lady Ruth Bratt delivered a wonderful vocal performance.

If you look at the biographies of the touring cast you will find that these are some of the most experienced stars of improvisation in the business. Philip Pellew, for example, has been improvising for over 20 years.

I think good improvisational skills are a gift, especially when it comes to staging a full length production.

I am so glad we booked to see Showstopper and I look forward to it making a return to the South-East. It was a show that made me laugh yet also impressed me in so many ways.

Innovative, clever, different, impressive and above all very, very funny! This should be seen by everybody who has a sense of humour!

The Ghost and Mrs Muir, Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne 14th-18th June 2011

2011-06-14T22:00:00.006+01:00

The Ghost and Mrs Muir,

Devonshire Park Theatre,

Eastbourne

14th-18th June 2011

Show seen 14th June

Cast

Lucy Muir - Anna Brecon
Miles Fairley - Marcus Hutton
Daniel Gregg - George Telfer
Martha/Eva - Julia Binns
Mr Coombe/Pawnbroker/Cyril - Ben Roddy

The year is 1900. Lucy Muir, a strong willed widow, is determined to live in the haunted Gull Cottage. The ghost is that of the former property owner Captain Daniel Gregg . He refuses to leave the house he is so proud of and which he built with his own hands.

Unlike previous occupants, Lucy is not frightened by grumpy Gregg and in due course they become close. But what will happen when a handsome, charming and living man appears on the scene? Will she fall for the dashing gentleman or will she have the strength to resist?

So is this a chiller of a spooky ghost story ? No not at all. If it fits any genre it's that of a romantic comedy.

An original story by R A Dick (pen name of Josephine Leslie) the original 1947 movie starred Gene Tierney (Lucy) Rex Harrison (Daniel Gregg) and George Sanders (Miles Fairley).

This version is directed and was adapted for the stage by Patric Kearns.

A fabulous job Karns has done as I thought this to be a brilliant production from curtain up to the very end.

Perhaps I am just getting old but I thought the story was sentimentally charming. Yes it is like so many 'romcoms' in that the ending is somewhat predictable. However, getting to that finale is a total pleasure.

Anna Brecon is probably best known for her long stint in Emmerdale playing "posh totty" Lady Tara Oakwell/Thornfield (nee Cockburn). Now I'm not a huge TV watcher but, for me, Anna was one very good reason to watch the soap. Yes, as a bloke, I admit she is very easy on the eye (actor Stephen Beckett has a lovely, friendly wife) but for me Anna was always so effective in the role bringing a believable "Tamara Beckwith" like "IT Girl" character into the rural village setting.

I have waited some 9 years or so to appreciate this actress live and it was fully worth the long wait. It is Lucy Muir that graces the stage first and I can think of nobody else who could have played this not-so-grieving widow better. In fact Lucy's determination to live in the haunted property is not unlike the ruthless 'Lady Tara'. She was used to getting her own way too!

Marcus Hutton who plays Lucy's tempting love interest, Miles Fairley, is known to TV viewers for numerous roles including parts in Doctor Who, Love Hurts and Lovejoy. But he will be recognized most often for his portrayal of Nathan Cuddington in Brookside.

Although he took a break from acting (theatre and TV) from 2002-2007 he continued his 'second career' as an established and respected voice over artist.

Hutton's time on stage as smarmy charmer Miles Fairley is nowhere near as long as Anna's and George Telfer's. But he's a gem to watch for the time he does appear as he tries to impress Lucy Muir with his suave manner, slicked back hair ,pass the sick bucket inducing chat-up lines and some controversial suggestions on how he can make their life together perfect.

The other main role, the ghost of Captain Daniel Gregg ,is played by George Telfer.

George who? Well George may not be the household name that the previously mentioned artists are but he equals them in theatrical talent. Most of his time on stage he is, understandably, accompanied by Anna Brecon. It's a pairing that works so well and you can truly believe how Mrs Muir would be impressed by the headstrong, eloquent, handsome naval man even if he is, literally, just there in spirit. I loved George's portrayal of the ghost and his delivery of the mammoth script that goes along with it!

Actress Julia Binns takes on two roles. Firstly that of Martha, Lucy's very loyal housekeeper. Martha always has her employer's well being at the forefront of her mind. In total contrast she also plays Lucy's obnoxious domineering, patronising, interfering sister-in-law Eva. She tries to control Mrs Muir's life because it's apparently what her late husband would have wanted.

Last, but definitely not least, is Ben Roddy. Ben is no stranger to the Devonshire Park Theatre. In fact he appeared at the venue only 7 months ago (November 2010) in the excellent comedy Don't Dress For Dinner.

Like Julia, Ben also undertakes multiple roles. There's Mr Coombe the estate agent who does his hapless best to try to persuade Lucy Muir why she doesn't want Gull Cottage and should look elsewhere for a property.

He's also a less than generous pawnbroker and also a man of the cloth in the shape of Cyril, Lucy's son.

Ben and Julia, our multi-taskers, complete this impressive cast of five.

Whilst I'd love to find fault with something I can't. The single location set - the lounge of Gull Cottage works perfectly. On the odd occasion a scene takes place elsewhere it is performed on the 'apron'. Being short scenes this works well. Besides, I think the quality of the acting is such that you are more engrossed in the characters and the story than the set.

I thought that there was just enough humour to give that romantic comedy feeling without it masking the fine dialogues and emotions delivered by the cast. Director Kearns even has an almost constant musical underscore playing throughout the production. Now I'm not normally one to get sentimental about things like this but this musical score fits both the haunting and romantic aspects of the play perfectly.

I will mention that somebody in the grand circle said some of the dialogue was a little difficult to hear over the music.From the stalls I had no such issue but should somebody from the production team see this they may wish to check this out.

This is one of a minority of plays I could quite easily have watched again in the same week I thought it was a beautifully presented production and deserves to be appreciated.

If you can catch this before it leaves Eastbourne I think it's well worth a visit. Otherwise try to catch The Ghost and Mrs Muir if it's in a town near you.

See and enjoy!

From back left (lady partly hidden unknown)
Patric Kearns (director)
Marcus Hutton (left) and Ben Roddy
Front row from left Julia Binns, Anna Brecon, George Telfer

I Met A Man Who Wasn't There , White Rock Theatre ,Hastings

2011-06-09T22:41:00.210+01:00

I Met A Man Who Wasn't There

Cast

Amanda Schilling (Journalist) - Cathy Shipton

Edgar Ryme (Clairvoyant) - Brian Capron

9-11 June 2011

performance seen 9th June

Or I could rename this I Sat In An Audience Who Weren't There

Now I have sat in some pitifully small audiences lately but this was small to the extent that I am surprised Brian and Cathy went ahead with this. There were 4 of us in the front row followed by row after row of empty seats with just an odd person dotted here and there and a couple of small groups at the back.

If there were as many as 50 people I'd be surprised. It really did seem truly weird sitting in such an empty, cold feeling, auditorium.

I guess it may not be helped that the White Rock Theatre haven't used Twitter for almost 2 months (Twitter ID @The_White_Rock) to keep their followers updated. I honestly don't know how much effect social networking has with putting a few bums on seats but, when it costs zero to do so, surely you try anything?

Other than the price of tickets, I honestly can't fathom why the figures were that appalling. Here are people who I consider to be very fine actors and who are performing for Bruce James Productions who have been respected over many years for staging many popular shows to suit all tastes.

OK there was one recently I didn't enjoy, OK hated actually, but people aren't going to rave over every show they see and to be fair I've still not found a soul who did like it.

I met a man who wasn't there is a totally different kettle of fish. Journalist Amanda Schilling is visiting clairvoyant Edgar Ryme to undertake an interview. Unsurprisingly it's not as simple as that and Schilling gets far more than she bargained for from the very mysterious Ryme. But does Cathy Shipton end up being a casualty? (I know terrible pun) Does she deserves what she gets?

It's a spooky tale with a good balance of humour and drama. The story is believable (especially if you believe in ghosts) and easy to follow. Capron and Shipton deliver the fine performances you would expect.

For me there were just two issues. One is something that happens in so many plays and I hasten to add not specific to James productions. That is that the first half leading the audience to the traditional interval cliffhanger seems very drawn out.

There are plays that can have you gripped from the off, you find yourself just absorbed in proceedings. Indeed my next review will be of a show that is just that. Then there are those, like this one, where it takes quite a while for the 'scene setting' to take place.

My second issue is lack of atmosphere but this was purely down to the lack of audience. I think any play suffers from a lack of viewers and this was no exception. No oooohs, no aaahs , nobody jumping at moments when they are meant to. Between sets you are never quite sure whether to applaud or not because there's a danger somebody might just throw you a fish for your efforts. Then there's laughter - you laugh at a line and believe you're the only one that did - was it meant to be funny? Do I have a warped sense of humour? Or did the joke just go over the heads of everybody else?

Back to that first half and it showed that the initial build up was failing to hold the attention when from high above the stage a rectangular piece of paper about 2"x1" slowly descended into the auditorium. A slow decent it was indeed because being the shape it was it just rolled over and over and fluttered gently down. It caught my eye, but when it was about half way down I remembered it was not part of the show and looked around and everybody was doing the same. I thought I was bad getting distracted by such a small thing but by sheer fluke it landed at the feet of one of the few audience members. Clearly the temptation to look at it outweighed the onstage action as she bent down to pick it up and examined it.

I know I laughed at this point. Here we are watching a ghost story involving clairvoyancy and I had to wonder if she was expecting a message from the other side?

Anyway, the few of us that were there got back to reality. Once you know who's who and Schilling's and Ryme's backgrounds have been explained this is actually an extremely enjoyable drama. As with all similar tales things are never what they seem with the characters and there are the twists and turns you expect to keep you fascinated. This makes the second half very entertaining indeed.

These are really hard times for theatre and it was somewhat heartbreaking seeing two well known 'household' names such as Brian Capron and Cathy Shipton unable to attract even a moderate audience. Even describing it as a small audience seems an exaggeration.

It really is getting to a stage where whoever decides on ticket prices has to think about whether they can be justified to continue at current levels. Not just for this show but for all shows, everywhere.

Audience levels are getting down to pathetic numbers. Take this production as an example. Prices ranged from £13.50 to £18.50. I'm no marketing or economics expert but if a price cut of approx 30% was set making tickets £9.50 to £13.50 I'm sure the under £10 tickets would have filled a darned site more of the auditorium then we experienced and I daresay net takings would have been much higher.

It's about supply and demand. When petrol prices reached their peak and people stopped filling tanks the oil companies reduced prices. Wake up theatre land the Government is slashing arts budgets enough and if you don't start getting folks enjoying live entertainment at a price they can afford they are not going to come and once they stop it's going to be harder than ever to get them back.

Don't people in the theatre industry get together to discuss audience numbers, prices and current issues? If they don't it's high time they started otherwise we will see theatres going the same way the Public Houses have - closed, sold off, demolished or converted into trendy wine bars or housing.

If you ask anyone who goes to the theatre why they don't go so much the answer is always price of tickets. So powers that be in theatre wake up and smell the coffee because it's starting to get cold.

Shaolin Warriors Assemby Hall Theatre Tunbridge Wells

2011-06-07T15:15:00.000+01:00

Shaolin Warriors

Assembly Hall Theatre

Tunbridge Wells

7th June 2011

Word of mouth recommendation is always a great way to find out about a great show of any kind. We missed the Shaolin Warriors at Eastbourne's Congress Theatre thinking a martial arts show might not be our cup of tea.

Then a member of staff at the Congress asked if we'd seen it and said we'd missed a tremendous show.

Well with the Assembly Hall at Tunbridge Wells also on the tour list there was still an opportunity to right a wrong decision.

I think a packed house gave us a pretty good idea that we had made a good decision.

A good mix of ages in the crowd too. Plenty of kids amongst them and not just teens, many under 10's were taking a great interest in this. There was one thing I did notice with all the kids at this show. They were so incredibly well behaved. Whether that's down to respect for the martial art displays or that there is so much always going on to entertain them I don't know but it was nice to see so many youngsters appreciating a live show.

They get their reward too in the form of the chance to go on stage performing with the Shaolins in the first half. No they don't get to lay on razor sharp swords, have a bed of nails and great weights on their chests or have wooden bars cracked over their heads but they do get the chance to copy many impressive moves.

About 40-50 kids went up on stage for this experience, a few girls amongst them. Only a few of these had last minute nerves and decided to come off. I must say the Shaolins were amazing at spotting any children who were showing signs of stage fright.

The kids were keen, determined and yes, often hilarious. They all gave every move 100% including the grunts that went along with the actions. My wife spoke to one little girl in the interval who said she really enjoyed it. This must inspire a lot of kids to take up martial arts as a hobby.

In fact I have to say I thought the kids put a lot more energy into their attempts than the couple of adults did in the second half. It was a bit of a lacklustre effort to say the least.

But the Shaolins? Outstanding. Again they have all ages in their line-up with the 2 youngest children having just as much skill and dedication as their elders. An incredible display of strength, precision and stamina by all the Chinese masters of kung fu.

The beautiful music, always playing in the background, just adds to the tremendous atmosphere.

The other thing noticeable was the vocal appreciation these masters of their art received throughout the 1 hour 40 minute show (excludes interval). Martial arts is clearly hugely popular as a stage act if it is sufficiently entertaining and there is no doubt that this production is engrossing throughout.

A show of strength, of incredible physical stamina and of power yet at all times the Shaolin Warrior monks keep this a deeply humbling experience too.

Even if you thing martial arts is really not your thing give the Shaolin Warriors your consideration. You may just be surprised.

Jekyll and Hyde, Assembly Hall Theatre, Tunbridge Wells

2011-06-01T22:00:00.015+01:00

Jekyll and Hyde

Assembly Hall Theatre

Tunbridge Wells

30 May - 4 June 2011

(show seen 1st June)

Cast

Dr Henry Jekyll & Mr Edward Hyde - Marti Pellow

Lucy - Sabrina Carter

Emma - Sarah Earnshaw

Sir Danvers - David Delve

Utterson - Mark McGee

Lady Beaconsfield - Amira Matthews

Simon Stride - Michael Taibi

General Glossop - Martin Dickinson

Sir Archibald Proops - Matt Stevens

Lord Savage/Spider - Jacob Chapman

Bishop Of Basingstoke - Jon De Ville

Poole - James Gant

Bisset - Daniel Robinson

Ensemble - Carolyn Maitland

Ensemble - Alexandra Grierson

Ensemble - Grace Gardner

Ensemble/Swing - Rob Copeland

Ensemble/Swing - Kerri Watt

The thing about having severe short term memory problems is that, in contrast, my long term memory is pretty vivid. I thought it was only a couple of years ago we thoroughly enjoyed Paul Nicholas starring in Jekyll and Hyde at the Congress Theatre in Eastbourne. I can still picture Nicholas on stage mixing his steaming colourful concoction to drink. It therefore came as a bit of a shock to find it was 7 years ago (August/Sept 2004).

Now I already know just how well Marti Pellow can act and sing having seen him star in the 2009 production of The Witches Of Eastwick but I still couldn't see that he could equal Paul Nicholas's amazing portrayal of the characters created by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Well, he didn't equal the performance given by Nicholas. No he exceeded it in every aspect. As Jekyll I found him to be a total believable doctor. Confident in his career yet disillusioned by those in power who put barriers in the way of his research. And as Hyde? Well what a transformation. A simple ruffle of the hair is all that was required to turn Pellow from gentleman to total monster. I've got to be honest but he was also great as Mr nasty, Darryl Van Horne, in The Witches Of Eastwick but J&H is a far superior production.

As for the vocals well Marti delivers nothing but power and perfection throughout the show, as you may expect. But what you may not anticipate is the two incredible leading ladies in this show. Sabrina Carter as 'lady of the night' Lucy and Sarah Earnshaw as the much more refined fiancee of Jekyll, Emma both perform impeccably.

I find it hard to recall a production with 3 so incredibly talented lead vocals heading the cast. Also how Sabrina manages to remain in her tight corset as Pellow slings her around stage and bed is anybodys guess.

My mentioning of those 3 leads does not detract from the fabulous performances given by all the other cast members all of whom are perfectly suited to their roles. I feel duty bound to give Jacob Chapman a mention for his brilliant undertaking of 2 characters, Lord Savage and Spider. It is he who provides the little humour which exists in this dark tale and he does it so well.

After the utter disappointment of The Wizard Of Oz at this same venue it was great to see a traditional musical performed so wonderfully.

The sad thing for this production in Tunbridge Wells was that it clashed with the TV semi finals and final of Britain's Got Talent. It was very evident, having seen which seats were prebooked, that not only was the audience relatively small but so many people who had paid for tickets did not turn up. I think its the only time we have been to a major production to find we were the only couple in the whole front row.

I have to say, especially in these days of digital recorders, I find that attitude a little sad. Also a little ironic that many are choosing to stay at home watching a show which is promoting acts which will hopefully go on to be successful theatre acts themselves but foregoing a stunning theatrical production they have paid good money to see. To quote an occasional Britain's Got Talent judge, Louis Walsh, "I really don't get it!".

Anyway for those of you around the country who are yet to see Jekyll and Hyde with Marti Pellow I would thoroughly recommend that you see it and record anything on TV that is so important.

Well done to all involved, including the band of course, Jekyll and Hyde is a fantastic musical!

(The photo was a signing Marti kindly provided for Great Ormond Street Hospital for children. Click the image for more details)

Meals in the Limelight by Tom Roberts a recommendation for a great cause

2011-05-28T22:02:00.089+01:00

For a great cause it is my pleasure to highly recommend a fantastic cookbook for those of us who love food, love the stars of stage and screen and love helping those in more need than ourselves.

The name Tom Roberts probably won't mean much to many but so many huge artists now not only know who Tom is but have given up their time and their favourite personal recipes for a very unique cookbook.

Tom is the son of actor Neil Roberts (Charmed, Beverley Hills 90210, Doctors, Holby etc). The book only exists after a lot of hard work on Tom's part and the generosity of so many people and companies.

I don't want to go into too much detail myself as I would rather you read about this fabulous book on Tom's own site mealsinthelimelight.com but what I will say, having purchased the book, is that it is 160 pages and beautifully presented throughout.

Keira Knightley, Melanie Chisholm, Sir Ian McKellen, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Louise Jameson, Richard E. Grant, Colin Baker, Emma Thompson, Joseph Fiennes, Raymond Blanc, Stephen Fry - all these and dozens of other huge (household name) stars have contributed. They would not have supported Tom if the cause hadn't been a worthwhile one.

Please consider buying this cookbook which is so refreshingly different from anything else you will find in a bookstore.

I've now got a side aim - to see over the coming years how many artists I can get to sign their recipe. Well I've started with one - Tom's dad - wonder if Jeremy Irons and Dame Judi Dench have a moment to spare for starters?

Julian Smith Assembly Hall Theatre Tunbridge Wells

2011-05-27T22:46:00.019+01:00

Julian Smith

Assembly Hall Theatre

Tunbridge Wells

27th May 2011

No the Assembly Hall Theatre was nowhere near capacity but these days it's somewhat par for the course and not a reflection on the quality of the artist.

It was only 6 months ago that Julian Smith supported the Stylistics on their tour (review here) yet here he is in his own solo show. He performs for both halves of the production.

Although it's a solo tour Julian does have some superb band members giving him instrumental and vocal accompaniment on many of the tracks.

Geoff Ockenden is on bass whilst on keys and vocals is Martin Trotman. Julian has had drummer problems having recently lost his regular player. However at Tunbridge Wells he was lucky enough to have a well known, world class, drummer assisting him, the one and only Sticky Wicket.

Julian was, as always, phenomenal. There are few single instrument specialists I can imagine wanting to see perform in their own show. It needs something more than a gifted player to hold the attention for 90-120 minutes.

Whatever is required though Julian Smith has it in bucketloads. I think it helps that the Saxophone is such a beautiful, clean, even relaxing sounding instrument. His musical genres fit well, mainly themed around classical and jazz. However, for variety, he's not averse to deviating from these by tackling modern tracks such as George Michael's Careless Whisper. I should add that Martin Trotman's vocals on this track were excellent helped considerably by the fact he didn't try to be a George Michael impersonator, instead giving it his personal touch.

Julian remains the quietly spoken, charming, guy we all 'met' on Britain's Got Talent back in 2009. You may remember that Julian finished 3rd in the final only being beaten by Diversity and Susan Boyle. I think it's an incredible achievement for any musician to get that far in the competition.

Fame hasn't changed him though. He is still down to earth and is very humbled that many of the people going to his concerts are doing so on the strength of hearing just a couple of tracks on BGT.

Many of those who have heard more of his music are going to his concerts for a second or 3rd time. It is also clear he has begun to build up a core of very loyal fans who travel as far as they can to see him perform.

Julian may be one of the more quietly spoken artists but it doesn't stop him having more audience interaction than artists who have been around for much, much longer. The question and answers sessions worked incredibly well at Tunbridge Wells. In fact the clip you see below was the unscheduled result of one such question posed to Julian.

He's also as cool as a cucumber when things don't quite go according to plan. At this show there was a technical issue that needed sorting out. Julian swiftly moved on to something else while it was rectified. He also remained apparently unfazed when the drummer went missing in the second half.

Yes that was something a little different. I've grown used to the occasional audience member failing to return after the interval but it's rare to see a performer go AWOL.

But Julian Smith didn't worry. No after asking the audience if they'd seen the drummer he Geoff and Martin performed one track without him. He then brought forward one of the Q&A sessions. Then, as if nothing had happened and to huge applause, Sticky Wicket wandered back on the stage with a bongo and what looked like a mug of tea. One of those wonderful unforgettable theatrical moments that makes live theatre special.

Mr Smith also achieved something I have only ever seen Chas and Dave manage before. That is to have virtually ALL the members of the audience stay behind to buy CDs and other merchandise for signing. Yes the man who has made beanie hats his trademark shifted plenty of them in addition to personal pictures and, of course, CDs. Yes albums like his Christmas Songs and Lullabies, Somewhere and Ibiza Summer Sax were flying off the ~~shelves~~ table. I'm pleased to admit that we added two of those three albums to our collection on the night and the 3rd has been an iTunes purchase

That must be so rewarding for a performer. That you have the talent to impress so many people on the strength of one show that they have the confidence to buy your material.

If it's of any help to fans here are links to Julian's albums on iTunes

Somewhere - Julian Smith

Christmas Songs & Lullaby's - Julian Smith

Ibiza Summer Sax - Julian Smith

An outstanding musical talent and I hope Julian tours down south again very soon.

Who Killed 'Agatha' Christie? Devonshire Park Theatre Eastbourne

2011-05-24T21:30:00.004+01:00

Who Killed 'Agatha' Christie?

Devonshire Park Theatre

Eastbourne

24-28 May 2011

Starring (appearance order)

Stephen Rashbrook
Neil Roberts

Performance seen 24 May

This is a thriller that has had very good reviews as it has toured the UK. However there has been a lot of talk about the title of the production.

On the occasions when audiences have been small it has been questioned whether the production has lost avid Agatha Christie fans when they find out this is actually nothing to do with their favourite author. It is in fact just based on the nickname of one character, Arthur Christie.

I don't actually think it's anything of the sort. Firstly just about every type of production is struggling to fill a theatre at the moment. Musicals, dramas, musicians, comedians - they all have their work cut out to fill seats. A year ago 400-500 would have seemed a reasonable sized audience (about half full) for a theatre the size of the Devonshire Park. Today 200 is almost a crowd. With the current high cost of living and fuel prices being extortionate a night at the theatre is looking more and more like a luxury item.

Besides if the Agatha Christie fan theory were true there would probably be an equal number of people, aware of all the Agatha Christie storylines, who would like to see a production where they don't know the ending or just fancy something different. There may even be some who can't abide Christie's work.

So no, I don't think low numbers have anything to do with the production's name. It's just a sign of the times and it's just down to the theatre industry itself to come up with ideas about how more bums can be put on seats in these challenging times. Like so many other theatre goers I believe the price of tickets and lack of incentives (like buy one get one free) and loyalty schemes would be good starting points. I have lost track of the number of actors I have spoken to about dwindling audiences for them all confirm it's the price of tickets that is inhibiting. If prices are set fair people will go. A full theatre with people paying less is a better advert for live entertainment than 200 people paying high prices. But is anybody listening?

Anyway what exactly is Who Killed Agatha Christie? (WKAC) Is it a murder mystery? Is it a comedy? An intense drama?

Well, in truth, it ticks all those boxes and should really have a category all of its own. It is quite unlike any other murder mystery I've seen before.

I will try and be constructive here but to be too informative would be a spoiler for those who are to see this.

It takes a great writer to produce any play that can hold the audience's attention throughout with just 2 actors. The author in this case was Tudor Gates and a terrific job he did too. He not only came up with a script that holds attention but the writing is such that you can actually picture in your mind others in the plot who are never seen on stage.

For a thriller the humour is unusually plentiful- but it works here. Jokey humour, sarcastic humour even humour of the macabre type is present. It really is somewhat unusual that you can laugh so much during a play and still leave feeling you've watched a really intense thriller.

If the title of this was ever changed Truth or Lies is a good alternative. One reason this play remains gripping is that you are constantly wondering whether the characters, John Terry in particular, are quoting fact or fiction.

By doing this the viewer just starts believe they know which way the tale is going and perhaps how it's going to end only to have the rug pulled out from under them as they are sent right back to the beginning of their deliberations.

But with this particular thriller try as you might, unless you already know the story, I think it highly unlikely you will guess the eventual ending.

The stars? Stephen Rashbrook and Neil Roberts both deliver incredible performances of their very different characters.

Rashbrook as John Terry is required to start strong and get more deceptive and evil by the minute. Back in the days when the likes of Joe Sugden, Amos Brearly and Henry "Mr' Wilks were in Emmerdale Stephen was playing God loving Rev Tony Charlton for 40 episodes. God would certainly not approve of John Terry though. Rashbrook who has also been in TV productions like 'Allo 'Allo and Doctors also has a formidable theatrical CV dating back many years and covering the UK, including the West End.

Stephen never falters from his marathon script and the man who used to play a man of God is thoroughly convincing playing a gift from the Devil.

In complete contrast we have Neil Roberts playing Arthur Christie. Christie starts off a confident, somewhat cocky, figure but his confidence is required to diminish as the role progresses. Requiring every type of emotion available we see theatrical reviewer Christie doing everything possible to try to compete with the manipulative power of John Terry.

It was only a year ago that Roberts was at the Devonshire Park Theatre in another great thriller Nighfright (the nightmare of your life). That was great but WKAC is better! (refer to my Nightfright review here).

On TV there are thousands and thousands of fans of Aaron Spelling's Charmed who will remember Neil's performances as Rex Buckland in the first series. In fact he spent several years in the States with more credits in popular programmes like Diagnosis Murder and Beverley Hills 90210.

Back in the UK, in addition to many other shows, he was a regular in the popular Privates and has recently appeared in Life Bites, Doctors and Holby (as cardiothoracic specialist Dr Philip Lawlor). True Dr Who fans, especially convention attending regulars, I am sure will know the name of Neil Roberts. He regularly works on the audio versions of the series with the 'Old' Doctors playing the likes of Sylvester McCoy's sidekick in Kingdom Of Silver a Cyberman tale.

Add to all that the West End and regional theatre performances and you end up with another superbly strong actor to team up with Rashbrook for this engrossing play.

I found this to be a brilliant drama with clever humour enacted by two excellent actors.

I really can't fault the acting, the play itself or the drawing-room style set.

If there's anything to find wrong with it the production does seem a little on the short side. Excluding the interval you are looking at about 80 minutes of entertainment. Whilst excellent it does leave you aware that this is shorter than the vast majority of plays.

However, I have to admit I would rather have 80 minutes of excellence than 105 minutes where 15-20 minutes has been dead boring.

Well done to Stephen Rashbrook and Neil Roberts. An excellent production. We hope to see both these fine, amiable, actors again very soon.

The Good Old Days (of music hall and variety) Assembly Hall Theatre Tunbridge Wells

2011-05-24T17:00:00.001+01:00

The Good Old Days

(of music hall and variety)

Assembly Hall Theatre

Tunbridge Wells

Top of the the bill

Stu Francis

24 May 2011

With the TV series ending in 1983 I guess there surely aren't many folks under 40 who would now remember The Good Old Days?

Although I love variety acts for some reason I never particularly enjoyed the series. Perhaps it was more of a case that I had parents who always decided what we were going to watch and this was always on the viewing list?

Anyway we decided to see this show, not because of the acts featured, but purely because we have an elderly friend who we thought may enjoy this touring recreation of the iconic programme.

We didn't go expecting to enjoy this very much by way of show satisfaction. But 2 hours and 20 minutes later (excluding interval) we left the Assembly Hall pleasantly surprised.

In true Good Old Days tradition the show had the on-stage chairman overseeing proceedings. This honour fell to Mr Ian Moore who rather brilliantly acted as compere, crowd-warm-up, accompanying singer and patriotic flag waver.

Topping the bill was Crackerjack legend and comedian Stu Francis. How utterly refreshing to have a comedian who does 2 long presentations without doing a single piece of comedy I have heard other comedians do time and time again. With jokes and funny stories which are never offensive he covers everything from Saga Holidays to the British immigration policy. He's still like a hyperactive child, unable to stand still, and I thought he was hilarious.

My next favourite was Mark Walsh - the most entertaining ukulele player and singer I have encountered in theatre land. As with all the artists Mark did a stint both in the first and second halves of this show and in each case I really enjoyed watching his hugely impressive skill on his instrument. The speeds this guy can achieve on the small strings is phenomenal. I think a lot of the female audience members had a bit of a soft spot for his cheeky face and manner too.

Talking of charmers, Singer Mark Andrews, winner of the 2011 Encore Theatre Magazine "Best Family Producer", is not only a big part of this show but he produced this show under his Mark Andrews Productions company name. Celebrating his birthday on the day of this show Mark covered a number of 'easy listening' tracks to a great reception from what was a very large audience for this one-off matinee show.

That leaves just 2 acts. A female singer who sang Vera Lynn style hits. In fact she covered Vera's White Cliffs Of Dover. She was very good with a terrific voice, stage presence and vocal range so I apologise that I can't find her name for this article.

Finally the juggler. A lad that never dropped anything delivering a faultless double bill of throwing various combinations of 3 or 4 objects in the air and catching them again. The trouble is juggling can only keep you entertained for so long.... and this was too long... especially having to deliver 2 routines. Balls, bigger balls, clubs, glowing clubs, 'knives', rings and a 'thing on a string' and probably something I've forgotten. Very good but also very boring when all that's actually happening is one item is being substituted for another.

As a quick act juggling is fine but perhaps in the second half a quick magic act would have been a good alternative?

However, for a show we didn't particularly see for our own pleasure, we came away from The Good Old Days feeling entertained. With 2 huge milestone birthdays being celebrated in the audience by a 90 and a 100 year old for once I felt incredibly young in the packed auditorium. We may have been a tad younger than most but I think we enjoyed this as much as the rest of the crowd.

Oh and our elderly friend?............ she loved it!

Annie by The Eastbourne Stagers Devonshire Park Theatre Eastbourne

2011-05-19T22:25:00.039+01:00

Annie

The Eastbourne Stagers

Devonshire Park Theatre

Eastbourne

17-21 May 2011

Performance seen 19th May

Cast

As always I do like to credit the full company where possible for the amateur productions

in Eastbourne. This slideshow has been created from the

Eastbourne Stagers programme and the material is their Copyright

You don't get a great oak tree without planting an acorn. Equally, professional performers don't just appear out of thin air. They all have to be amateur performers beforehand. I don't really like the word amateur though. It always has that 'not very good' sound to it even though this is never the case with either The Eastbourne Stagers or The Rattonians.

The price of a ticket to this musical was a maximum of £14. Less than half the price of a comparable 'professional' production. I often wonder if people think the price level is directly related to the amount of enjoyment they will get from a show? If I am being honest up to about 4 years ago I had never seen any 'amateur' production, probably thinking along the same lines. Having now enjoyed so many great musicals staged by Eastbourne's talented 'amateurs' I now feel like I've been theatrically deprived for many years.

I think I raise this subject on every Stagers or Rattonians review. But if you think that amateur in name means a lack of entertainment value what I would say is "don't knock it unless you've tried it". If you miss Annie then the next Eastbourne Stagers show is going to be the music of Madness based musical Our House in September. Anybody who is familiar with Our House and saw what the Eastbourne Stagers did with their previous shows Footloose and Summer Holiday must know this should suit them down to the ground.

So Annie is yet another musical by The Stagers that I had never seen before (that won't be the case with Our House though!). Set in the 1920's, in New York, we have our young cute, curly redhead Annie in her lucky 'escape' from a nightmare orphanage to live in the lap of luxury with a billionaire. Meanwhile a search is undertaken for her natural parents.

This evenings performance was so close to getting 5 stars but sadly much of the spoken dialogue was drowned out by the orchestra, especially in the first half.

The lead characters all have microphones and these were fine at being heard over the music. Equally the group musical numbers were heard without a hitch. However many of the young ensemble, who had spoken lines, had to rely on their small voices projecting around the auditorium whilst competing with an almost continuously playing band. Even with just a keyboard playing spoken paragraphs were lost in full. The lips moved but not a word could be identified.

This wasn't a case of not enough gain on the microphones, just a case of not enough microphones. I noticed a few cast members trying to share mikes, that didn't work either.

Obviously it all comes down to the funds The Stagers have available for productions together with any goodwill companies can give. If these reviews do happen to be read by anybody in Eastbourne who can help these hard working youngsters be heard better and therefore appreciated more I'm sure they'd appreciate any help.

I know I wasn't isolated in feeling this was the one major issue of the evening. Our elderly guest who we took along mentioned it and from conversations with others I am aware this was raised on the Monday performance too.

I'll get my other, supremely trivial but none the less annoying, moan out of the way now also. Not down to the equipment or cast this time but down to the simple act of a knock on a door. Please when the door is on the far left of the stage could the knocking please not come from the far right? Even the cast member who is due to enter the door could surely knock on something for the sound?

But that's the only things I have problems with - equipment and knockers!

Everything else was utterly excellent entertainment and I have to say the sound issue was far less evident in the second half both because of more group singing or the lead characters, wearing the microphones, were performing the numbers.

Like The Rattonians the Eastbourne Stagers are a huge company yet they made very good use of the relatively small Devonshire Park Theatre stage and even in the most populated scenes it never appeared overcrowded.

As always there are plenty of laughs in this Stagers show and it is always refreshing to hear the huge cheers this cast receives from friends, family and appreciative visitors as the show progresses.

Once again every cast member knows their strengths and weaknesses . Those that wouldn't want a major acting role are quite happy to be dancing and singing in the ensemble. Those who have had lead roles in other productions happily letting others have a turn in this show.

Notable performances? I hate picking out anybody as it really is down to a great performance and sheer hard work by all involved. But this was so well cast I feel duty bound to give a few mentions.

Dave Nicholles is always a star and tonight was no exception as he plays tycoon Daddy Warbucks. He was also all we heard about on the 15 or so mile journey home from our elderly friend. What a nice smile he has, how handsome he is, what a lovely man he is.......... I did wonder if she was actually paying attention to anything else for two and a half hours? But hey she's a happy theatregoer and Dave has at least one groupie!

Jane James, what a great nasty, evil Miss Hannigan she was. I thought if there was ever a musical version of Matilda she'd be a fab Miss Trunchball ! And Jane in the nicest possible way that is a compliment. I love that movie and I'd be fussy about who had that role!

Having just done a bit of Googling I see that somebody has at last decided to bring Matilda to the stage.

I make no apologies for embedding the preview at the end of this review as I not only look forward to seeing the West End or touring production but also which of The Rattonians or The Stagers manages to put this on first. I'd imagine getting performing rights might be more than a few years down the road though. Wonders.... who would want to play the fat lad who gets to devour the mountainous chocolate cake every night?

Anyway I digress. Tiffany Da Silva is terrific as she takes the role of sweet Grace this time. Gareth Brighton as alleged hard man (but really hapless man) Rooster is hilarious. Good also to see Nikki Brook having much more of a leading role as Rooster's chick (pun purely a fluke) Lily St Regis.

Julian Message I thought looked great as President Roosevelt. I thought this quirky character brought a lot of fun into the second half. The 'cabinet' scene will be remembered as one of the funniest of the show.

A canine moment now. In the last few years I have seen many dogs on stage and none of them have looked particularly comfortable at being there. Except for Sandy who is played by Jonah in Annie. Now I don't know who owns Jonah but what a well behaved, tolerant, obedient dog! Often just sitting or laying down he stayed calm even in very active scenes with shouting when many a dog would have barked. A real star - give that dog a bone!

The orphans (not including Annie yet) , bless them, they are all wonderful and super little singers. But there was a little scene stealer who I think captured the heart of everybody watching and incredibly this was her first Stagers production. Referring back to Matilda young Josie Mead reminded me so much of a young Mara Wilson who played the lead role in the 1996 movie. Similar in looks, confidence in performing, excellent presentation and that same cheeky charm I could see a little star in the making tonight.

I can't run through all the company but, as they always do , everybody worked really hard and fully deserved their loud applause and cheers at the end.

The band are rarely mentioned in reviews but I just wanted to say well done to conductor Daniel Goodger and the rest of the musicians as you are always brilliant and there would be no show without you.

But the name of the musical is Annie and the outstanding star of this show is Hannah Turner. For a young performer this must surely be one of the most demanding roles in any musical?

Hannah you looked the part completely, you sang your heart out note perfect for over 2 hours and you remained perfectly audible at all times. In short I think you put in an incredible performance. Well done! You impressed many people this week and you must have some very proud parents!

Finally well done to The Stagers directors, Luisa Veitch and Nathan Morris and to everybody else behind the scenes for once again demonstrating the great talent , young and old, that exists in and around Eastbourne.

We will see you in September for Our House and I hope that many others will read this and join us!

Solid Silver 60's Show Congress Theatre Eastbourne and Assembly Hall Tunbridge Wells

2011-05-15T22:56:00.007+01:00

Solid Silver 60's Show

Congress Theatre Eastbourne (12th May)

and Assembly Hall Tunbridge Wells (15th May)

Artists in appearance order

Vanity Fare
Wayne Fontana

Chris Farlowe

Dave Berry

Terry Sylvester

The Merseybeats

I haven't completely lost the plot in seeing the same production twice within a few days. We decided to book the Tunbridge Wells show as a birthday celebration for my wife and despite a gap of only 72 hours we couldn't have picked a better repeat. You can't beat decent live music.

Both the Solid Silver and Sixties Gold productions have never failed to be fabulous shows and this one is no exception.

A few of the well known acts in this show are regulars on the 'Silver' and 'Gold' tours so I won't dwell on Vanity Fare, Wayne Fontana and Dave Berry. Although you can refer back to my previous Solid Silver review for greater details if required. So here's just a brief summary of those great acts.

They may back most of the other performers but Vanity Fare are such a good band I'd gladly watch them perform a solo show given the opportunity.

Dave Berry may be the oldest performer on the current tour but he certainly looks the fittest and I have to say he got a rousing reception, especially at Tunbridge Wells where the audience got to their feet in appreciation.

Wayne Fontana may have a reputation as a bit of a naughty boy but I am convinced he gets more and more impressive every time we see him. Both audiences certainly seem to love a 'bad lad' and in both foyers he was certainly the act most people wanted an autograph from first.

I don't blame them either as he really comes across as a genuine friendly guy who always makes you laugh and smile (unless you are in law enforcement in which case your view may be slightly different).

Chris Farlowe was a new experience for me. However I did enjoy his hits especially Handbags and Gladrags and Out Of Time. I will admit I had never heard of Chris Farlowe and The Thunderbirds as his band was known in the 60's but at the time they were legendary with their R&B sound.

I think Chris went down well with both audiences too. Although I think his humour went down better at Eastbourne than Tunbridge Wells. His story about his nightmare requesting half a dozen chicken nuggets at McDonalds in Eastbourne got laughs aloud. However expressing that it was hotter on the Assembly Hall Stage than a "Japanese power station" resulted in what I can only describe as embarrassed groans rather than laughter. Adding a quip about 'Parkinson's disease' didn't help either. I did notice that as Wayne and Chris signed in the interval Wayne appeared to have far more demand from fans.

Former vocalist with The Hollies, Terry Sylvester ,was very popular in both venues especially as just about every Hollies track is a number you can sing along to. "Just one look" and the classic "He ain't heavy (he's my brother)" to name just a couple.

With vocals I could listen to any day Terry is a great addition to the Solid Silver tour and I hope he appears again in future productions.

That just leaves The Merseybeats with Tony Crane and Billy Kinsley still appearing together since they were first known as The Mavericks back in the early 60's. Accompanied by Bob Packham (bass guitar/vocals), Lou Rosenthal (drums) and Toni Baker (keys/vocals) 50 years on they remain one of Liverpool's greatest musical exports.

Back in the era of The Mavericks the hits of the Everly Brothers were the order of the day. It is therefore only appropriate that in this Solid Silver show those same hits are revisited together with the Merseybeats own hits such as "Sorrow" and Wishin' and Hopin'".

The Merseybeats are the ideal hand-clapping, arm swaying final act for this excellent touring 60's show and like all the other acts they joined in by staying behind to sign autographs for all who wanted them.

Best performance? Well you'd think it would naturally be a draw but it wasn't quite that simple because Tunbridge Wells got rewarded with a brilliant all-act-finale which Eastbourne missed out on as at least one act had to leave for home early. So Tunbridge Wells wins on this front as it was a fitting ending to a fantastic show.

Best venue? That one I'll give to Eastbourne because the larger foyer makes life far simpler when you have a number of acts made up of multiple members signing at the same time.

Best audience? For some strange reason the Tunbridge Wells audience were far more vocal and enthusiastic and more keen to get to their feet earlier. Although I don't really know why this should be as age wise both audiences were similar.

However whether you get an all act finale or not in the show you see it doesn't matter. This is still, as is always the case, a tremendous night out revisiting all those original 60's artists you love and their hits of the time.

Verdict Devonshire Park Theatre Eastbourne

2011-05-09T22:38:00.010+01:00

Agatha Christie's
Verdict

Devonshire Park Theatre

Eastbourne

9th-14th May 2011

Performance seen 9th May

Cast

(appearance order)

Lester Cole - Matthew Lewis

Mrs Roper - Elizabeth Power

Lisa Koletzky - Susan Penhaligon

Professor Karl Hendryk - Robert Duncan

Doctor Stoner - Mark Wynter

Anya Hendryk - Cassie Raine

Hellen Rollander - Holly Goss

Sir William Rollander - Peter Byrne

Det Inspector Ogden - Andrew Malkin

Police Sgt Pearce - Mark Martin

There are are at least 3 regular 'official' critics who cover the shows at Eastbourne's theatres. Two of those have always appeared to give balanced reviews giving the reader a fair insight as to whether a show is worth seeing. And then there's the Eastbourne Herald who's critic rarely has a good thing to say about anything.

Fortunately this undue criticism has become so regular that I know of no regular theatregoer (or even member of theatre staff) who actually treats any of the reviews seriously. In fact it's more a case that regulars go to the shows and then just wait to see what the Herald finds to moan about.

Now we attended Verdict the same night as the critics. Once again the Agatha Christie Theatre Company staged a superb production. It received a rapturous response from the audience. Everybody who attended The Friends of the Devonshire Park Theatre after show event said they thought it was great and left you thinking. The Eastbourne Herald? "Verdict has some fine performances, one wavering accent and a layered, restrained - yet not exactly thrilling - story".

Fair enough. A review is an individual verdict (no pun intended) on a production. But I don't think the term 'theatre critic' should mean criticising things that nobody else in the audience seems to have a problem with time after time.

"Wavering accent"? Whose?

"Some fine performances"? Who was bad then? We have a cast of 10 and yet only some were 'fine' This implies the majority of the 10 were not fine - were they bad, adequate or what?

"Yet not exactly thrilling story"? What was wrong with it then?

I sincerely hope holiday makers in Eastbourne don't pay too much attention to the reviews in the local paper because writing like this does little to promote the arts in what is already a very difficult financial time. Yes there are a few shows (and I mean a FEW, a real minority,over many years) I haven't enjoyed and I don't hide the fact at the time but I refuse to believe that one person can really have such a low opinion of almost every show they see in Eastbourne. Heck they don't even have to pay for the ticket either for themselves or their companion!!

As you may have gathered I ,together with everybody I spoke to, thoroughly enjoyed this production.

A story that is very different from your usual Agatha Christie murder mystery. No its not a 'whodunnit,' not even a 'whytheydidit'. Its more like a 'willtheygetawaywithit' and even then there's unforeseen twists and turns leading to a thought provoking ending.

If, unlike the Herald critic, you are prepared to pay a little more respect to the story you will notice that there are several important subjects that are raised in the script. Questions about theft, severe disability, about the rights of immigrants and on race and persecution. About whether the rich get a more favourable treatment from our legal system than the poor. Questions about love, temptation and faithfulness.

No it's got no gunshots, no sudden jumpy moments and no pyrotechnics all things that our official critic seemed to want. But I didn't need this to class a story as thrilling. This is a story that is a thought provoker from beginning to end and I simply don't expect every murder mystery to be a 'jumpy shocker'.

Dodgy accent? For me there wasn't one. In fact Agatha Christie wrote this story in that the country of origin of the main characters is NEVER mentioned. Many assume that they are Germans that were persecuted by the Nazis however Christie gave the characters names that could originate from a multitude of European nations. This just adds to the mystery. So how can somebody identify a waver in an accent that we quite honestly don't know in the first place? The answer is you can't. Besides whatever accent it was Susan Penhaligon, Cassie Raine and Robert Duncan maintained it admirably throughout. Those were the 3 actors who needed to worry about an accent.

The set must get a mention because it is an amazing recreation of a huge study. With props-a-plenty it's typical of the really high standard we've come to expect from the Agatha Christie Theatre Company. It really adds to the enjoyment of a play if the scene looks realistic.

The cast? Well what a cast this is. The top billboard poster headline 'celebrities' are probably Elizabeth Power and Susan Penhaligon. However, celebrity status has little to do with the enjoyment of this show however as I found all performances to be formidable. Power's comical but key character ,the nosey Mrs Roper, is a clever contrast by Christie to the other more serious parts.

However, there is one 'celebrity' who has received little mention in publicity material. I would have thought for those who follow their idols he would be worthy of a mention?

The name Matthew Lewis may not mean much to the older generation but millions of fans of J. K. Rowlings's novels will know Matthew as Neville Longbottom in the Harry Potter movies. It's not as if he's only done a couple. He's been in all eight (including the one coming up). It does seem a bit of a waste that Matt's teen idol status hasn't been put to good use with getting some younger people to the theatre. In fact I know he has more than a few female fans who are now aged "double teenager" or greater!

In fact it is Matt we see first on stage and it his fine dramatic performance that kicks off this brilliant drama with one fine actor following another.

Whilst I can appreciate there will be some who will prefer the more action packed, blood and gore murder mysteries for me Verdict hit the mark completely. Yet I honestly believe that even those who prefer a more intense drama will not find this production as bad as some would have you believe.

A final footnote - This is the third consecutive show I have seen at the Devonshire Park Theatre where some inconsiderate idiot has had a mobile phone ring during the performance. I think we really have got to the stage where a standard recorded announcement is made before curtain up to ensure the bloody things are switched off!

The glares from both the cast and the other audience members on this occasion sadly cannot reverse these irritating interruptions.

Pam Ayres Assembly Hall Theatre Tunbridge Wells

2011-05-06T22:42:00.000+01:00

Pam Ayres

Assembly Hall Theatre

Tunbridge Wells

6th May 2011

I realize that many people would rather do just about anything else rather than go to the theatre to watch a poet for two hours. I would imagine that those who admit to friends they are going to see Pam Ayres may be greeted with a certain amount of ridicule.

However for those that feel this way it is Pam who has the last laugh as her successful tour of the UK continues. At Tunbridge Wells Assembly Hall she managed to do what so many others cannot and that is to fill the place.

I can remember at 10 years old watching Pam Ayres on Hughie Green's Opportunity Knocks in 1975 as week after week she beat so many other more traditional acts. Her distinctive 'country bumkin' accent adding to the enjoyment of her humorous odes. An accent that some have even asked if she exaggerates - she doesn't.

In 2010 Pam passed 35 years in show business and she has made the current tour to be an event to celebrate this milestone.

She talks about her experiences during those 35 years including some fascinating details from those Opportunity Knocks days. She covers everything from the early auditions to whether that 'clapometer' was a genuine piece of equipment or whether it was all faked.

She includes some great and regularly very funny details of her appearances onboard cruise ships.Together with things that have happened to her and her family in various exotic countries as her career has taken her around the world. This is a very honest biographical presentation though and Pam has no qualms detailing how her family had a financial disaster at one point and practically lost everything.

All these details are cleverly interspersed in between her hilarious poems and they aren't just randomly inserted, they all seem to fit the script.

Talking of script she never has to look at any notes. I can imagine Pam as one of those people you'd invite round for elevenses and she'd still be chatting away at 5pm. She is just a natural talker, an interesting one at that, and that's why she fills theatres.

A true what-you-see-is-what-you-get personality. She is still hugely successful with her range of DVDs CDs, theatre appearances, cruises, numerous poetry books, TV chat shows and a regular contributor to Radio 4's entertainment schedule.

What I also liked was the fact she said she makes notes after each venue as regards to the content used in that performance. This is so that she can endeavor not to use repeat material in the next visit to that theatre.

On top of this Pam is a huge lover of animals and has spent much of her life supporting animal charities and fostering needy animals. Her charity support even included us 'human animals' kindly helping me out with a Great Ormond Street Hospital signing on the night. (Click the image for further details on that)

All in all she just comes across as being a very pleasant entertaining lady and I look forward to some more hilarity of rhyme on her next tour.

Ladies of Country Congress Theatre Eastbourne

2011-05-04T22:30:00.002+01:00

Ladies of Country

Congress Theatre

Eastbourne

4th May 2011

Starring

(appearance order in Eastbourne)

Janey Kirk

Lena Martell

Philomena Begley

Billie Jo Spears

I am surprised this show did not sell out in Eastbourne, or at least get very close to it. With Lena Martell and Billie Jo Spears in the same production I would have thought this would have appealed to any country music lover?

There must have been around 1000, perhaps a few more, in the audience. In these hard times that is still a respectable size crowd but it is still far from the near 1800 capacity of the Congress Theatre.

There are 4 queens of country music in this show which kicked off with the delightful Scot Janey Kirk impressively covering many famous country music favourites. From what I have read I know Janey has a huge fan base who are looking forward to seeing her on this tour.

Janey then handed over to the legendary Lena Martell. Lena was not just great vocally she was also extremely humorous. Having forgotten her glasses she couldn't read her own playlist so had to keep asking the band what came next.

In addition to, of course, singing her own hits like "One day at a time" she too covered the tracks of other artists.

Just 3 years ago (2008) Lena had a heart valve replacement operation but is apparently now in excellent health for the tour. I have to say apparently because as she and Janey were kindly signing autographs in the interval she was sweating excessively and looked absolutely exhausted.

I understand that as far as gigs go this is a relatively short tour running until the end of May. I hope that Lena doesn't do more than her GP would recommend because 3 years isn't all that long since such a major operation.

After the interval Ireland's country star Philomena Begley takes to the stage. Bursting with Irish charm and wit and best friend of Billie Jo Spears she is a true asset to this production.

Last, but certainly not least, 74 year old USA country music star Billie Jo Spears emerged to perform her quarter of the show.

What a fantastic performance it was too. As many of the audience members commented if at her age she can still dance and sing so clearly live then it puts to shame those young artists of today who have to lip sync, even on TV.

I thought she performed every hit, including her biggest Blanket On The Ground, as well as she ever did in her younger days.

But what I hadn't expected was her wonderful sense of humour and strength of character. I have often commented on the excessive strength of the spotlights in the Congress Theatre. Regularly they are so bright , rather than highlight the artist, they cause complete artist "white out" obliterating facial features. I've always said they must be bright for the performer.

Good to see Billie Jo wasn't going to take being blinded for granted as she constantly had to order the lighting crew to dim the lights slightly. At one time she threatened, forming her hand in the shape of a gun, "If you don't turn them down, I'll shoot you down!". A determination which received strong appreciate applause and laughter from her audience.

It was actually surpising to see how much better you can appreciate the artist with a slighly less bright light. Billie Jo then looked far more natural and relaxed as she performed a load more country favourites ending with all 4 artists appearing to sing the finale together.

For me, this wasn't just a show I found thoroughly entertaining. I found it somewhat humbling and emotional too. Watching one country music legend determined to perform when she has relatively recently inherited the aortic valve of a pig (and no I'm not joking) and another who is capable of still captivating an appreciative audience in her mid 70's was something very special.

After the show as all 4 artists signed autographs in the foyer of the Congress Theatre several people commented that many of the tracks and respect for the artists had made them quite emotional. From my own experience on the night I can relate to this feeling completely. A very special show from 4 very special and friendly country music stars.

Finally the ladies kindly each signed a charity playing card to raise funds for Great Ormond Street Hospital for children. As they are all queens of country music each has signed a queen. At some point in the future there will be a very special item up for auction in support of GOSH. The 4 signed cards will be framed along with the snapshot taken on the night. Out of all the millions of country music fans worldwide there can only be one owner. Clicking on my image will give you more details if this very unique auction lot is of interest.

Midge Ure Trinity Theatre Royal Tunbridge Wells

2011-04-27T22:01:00.000+01:00

Midge Ure

Trinity Theatre

Royal Tunbridge Wells

27th April 2011

Before I get on to Mr Ures performance I will give a mention to Midge's support act.

Like Midge singer Laura Kidd, who goes under the act named She Makes War, was performing acoustically. But that's just about where any similarity ends.

I don't know how to describe her type of music although some have described it as gloom-pop or punk-pop.

I have to be honest and say whatever this sound actually is it didn't exactly rock my boat. But then again I hadn't actually gone to see Laura in the first place.

That isn't to say she isn't extremely talented. In fact she is, as far as I know, pretty unique. Vocally and on the guitar she was excellent, even if I didn't particularly like the tracks. But her forte is the unique way she provides her own backing by recording her own lyrics at the time and building up a backing track.

I found this very clever and interesting because it's not as if she diverts away from the song to do this. It's a gradual build up to a multiple Laura Kidd vocal backing.

Laura was friendly and actually quite confident with crowd dialogue too. But the one thing we thought strange was that she never actually introduced herself. She said she had her CD's on sale in the interval but never said who she actually was. Whether this was an oversight I have no idea but I do think that as an artist you are probably more likely to shift your merchandise and get remembered if people know who you are.

So whilst I didn't like Laura's music I am sure many, especially those far younger than me, will appreciate her unique style. Why not give check her music out at http://www.shemakeswar.com/ ?

Midge Ure

Absolutely bloody brilliant - the end!

OK I suppose I'd better write a little more.

The ex-church building, The Trinity Theatre could have been purpose built for Midge's vocals. Everything seemed to have been fine tuned to give the best acoustics I have ever heard in any venue. I think it helps that Midge can deliver some of the best loud, never shouted and immaculately clear lyrics of any performer. Vocals that sounded perfect in a setting that once only got to appreciate churchgoers singing Sunday hymns!

With Midge performing a good variety of his solo tracks, cover versions and Ultravox hits this show had plenty of content.

Ultravox will always be the group with which he is associated with but in his solo show he proves that he does not need anybody else to entertain you 110%.

Sticking with the theme of Ultravox work is underway for a new album to be released in the next couple of years. It was refreshing to hear that this is to be made up of new material rather than just rehashing the old hits. The group don't want to do what so many come-back acts have done and just resurrect what they left 25 odd years ago.

If you can impress somebody who wasn't even a fan of Ultravox in the first place it's a good sign. My wife was convinced she wasn't going to enjoy this but now can't wait for him to do a return visit. She assures me this is down to the vocal performance rather than the hug she got from Midge after the show.

One thing I did notice as Midge progressed from track to track was how his lyrics are mostly about the very negative things in life. As most artists get their lyrics from personal experiences I am sure there must be a Midge Ure track buried somewhere that reflects brighter times. Not that I care, as long as the music is good and the lyrics impressive that's all that's important.

In this case it wasn't good, it was all absolutely bloody incredible and all the better for being performed in such a wonderful building in an intimate atmosphere with the sell-out 350 strong crowd.

Come back down south soon Midge!

Incidentally if you are interested in what those autographed playing cards are all about click the image and look at the details on Flickr

April In Paris, Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne

2011-04-26T22:00:00.005+01:00

April In Paris,

Devonshire Park Theatre,

Eastbourne

Cast

Al - Rob Angell

Bet - Wendi Peters

26-30th April 2011

Performance seen 26th April

Produced by the Hull Truck Theatre Company April In Paris was written by John Godber. It is the story of a Hull couple, Al and Bet, who have been married 25 years and who have become very much stuck in their ways and somewhat hostile towards each other. They appear to be together for reasons of habit rather than love or affection.

Bet then goes and wins a trip to Paris by entering a magazine competition. Al scoffed at the initial entry and then makes excuses about why he can't go but eventually, yet still reluctantly, he comes round to the idea.

Will the short break bring the magic back into their lackluster marriage? Well to find that out you need to go and see this very pleasing production.

It very much a gradual crescendo of a comedy. In fact I could understand some may have doubts about how much enjoyment this play will provide as the first 15-20 minutes or so are very much setting the scene, somewhat dark in fact. You could sitting there thinking it will be like this throughout.

All I can say is stick with it as Godber has written it this way for a reason.

The set on this one is interesting to say the least. To go into too much detail would be a spoiler for those who haven't seen this. But this is one production where the props and background have all been put to very good use and are very much just as important as the actual characters. The use of colour in the set is very clever indeed.

All prop changes between scenes are undertaken by the two cast members, unusual but it works.

The story-line itself is actually completely believable and one I expect anybody who has been married a number of years can relate to. Put it this way, coincidentally my wife and I have been married 25 years also and there were a number of aspects of this production we could relate to. I dare say with the 'older' Eastbourne audience who sat with us on this opening night we were not alone in feeling this way at times.

Wendi Peters (former Corrie loudmouth Cilla Battersby) plays long suffering Bet. Rob Angell meanwhile (who was at the Devonshire Park Theatre not so long ago in Up 'n' Under') plays Al whose argument would be that he is more long-suffering than his wife. Combined these 2 make a very believable stuck-in-the-quagmire married couple.

I don't want to deceive people into thinking this is a rolling-in-the aisles comedy - it isn't. Instead it's a 'dry' sort of humour which keeps you chucking along nicely and I don't think Godber set out to make it anything else. Making it too hysterical would have detracted from the couple's underlying relationship problems.

For me this is the right balance of humour and the more serious aspects of the story. With a terrific cast, interesting set and the unusual use of colour this is my favourite Hull Truck production to date. From the audience reaction and good turnout at the Friends Of The Devonshire Park Theatre first night meet the cast event I don't think I was alone in thoroughly enjoying this.

Catch it on tour if you can!

Beauty and The Beast, The Rattonians, Congress Theatre Eastbourne

2011-04-21T22:00:00.002+01:00

Beauty and The Beast

The Rattonians

Congress Theatre

Eastbourne

20-23 April 2011

Performance seen 21st April

Main cast (appearance order)

Narrator David Morley

Belle Chloe Shearer

Gaston Damon Willer

Lefou Jonathon Stephens

Silly Girl Aimee Worrall

Silly Girl Louise Bateman

Silly Girl Nikki Brook

Cogsworth James Bell

Lumiere Thomas Hackett

Babette Emma Collins

Mrs Potts Melanie Adams

Chip Arlie Gurney Finian Hackett

The Beast Alex Adams

Madame de la Grande Bouche Kathryn Greenwood

Monsieur D'Arque Paul Eccles

plus Company and live band

"It's excellent isn't it? It's as good as any West End production".

Not my words but those uttered by some visitors to Eastbourne, seated behind me, during the interval.

Once again The Rattonians did not disappoint delivering a lavish musical. The quality of these shows is such that you occasionally have to remind yourself that theirs are amateur productions.

The cast and huge company were superb, as always. Alex Adams was always going to be an amazing Beast and I expect that being cast as Belle was one of Chloe Shearer's most important roles yet for The Rattonians.

She was a great casting and vocally very impressive.

With over 100 in The Rattonians Company there were many, many more in this show than those named above each playing a thoroughly entertaining part.

There was some very clever use of scaffolding to create a temporary extension to the Congress Theatre Stage (giving the band partial cover). This worked really well. Often when The Rattonians have a large number on stage even the Congress's already large stage can appear crowded. This was certainly not the case tonight and even in the busiest of scenes, especially in the finale and whilst taking the final bows, there was never any shortage of space. The extension also meant that there were never any issues with lyrics not being heard as all voices carried well over the band and into the auditorium.

The very youngest members of The Company provided plenty of 'aaah' moments particularly at the end when these young performers had the chance to shine with some comical stuff too.

I've got accustomed to expecting greatness from the acting in The Rattonians and it was faultless as usual. So I turned my attention a little more to the set. Having seen the professional touring production of Beauty and The Beast at the same theatre 2 years previously I can honestly say this set was no less than impressive than the one used in that show.

For me, it was all spot on. From The Beast's mansion to Chip's (the young boy in a cup) body-less box illusion everything had been recreated in exacting detail.

With The Rattonians traditional attention to detail with perfect costumes and impressive, entertaining, choreography I am once again unable to pick any holes in this show whatsoever. It therefore gets the same maximum mark that the touring professional production received in 2009.

The Wizard Of Oz Assembly Hall Tunbridge Wells

2011-04-21T21:00:00.008+01:00

The Wizard Of Oz

Assembly Hall

Royal Tunbridge Wells

21-23 April 2011

Cast

Scarecrow - Bobby Davro

Glinda - Sarah-Jane Honeywell

Dorothy - Stephanie Fearon

Tinman - Ben Hanson

Lion - Jimmy Burton Iles

Wizard Of Oz - Robert Forknall

Wicked Witch Of The West - Kate Richards

Squeaker - Danny Mills

Dancers - Jane Tullett, Jessica Pease, Lauryn Campbell, Bruno da Silva, Conan Anton Nicholas, Sam Patrick

Performance seen 21st April

I honestly don't know where to start with this 'musical'. I find it very difficult reviewing a show that is so radically different than what is expected or advertised.

The Wizard Of Oz is one of the few musicals I hadn't seen (only on the TV) but I was really looking forward to seeing accomplished singer and 'Over the Rainbow' semi finalist Steph Fearon portraying Dorothy and singing all the traditional Oz songs especially "Somewhere Over The Rainbow".

It is therefore a crying shame that you get to see and hear absolutely none (yes zero) of the Wizard Of Oz songs performed because this is anything but The Wizard Of Oz.

Apparently for reasons of copyright and because Lloyd-Webber's Oz is currently in the West End they cannot perform any Oz tracks - not one. I don't quite 'get this' myself because Over The Rainbow is sung in numerous touring shows (for example regularly in Forever in Blue Jeans) so either they are all breaching copyright or this can't be the true reason.

'An Original Production' the official leaflet says. And this is where the problem lies with this show. It is with the deceit that has gone into the marketing of the production.

The programme states "The Wizard Of Oz - One of the best loved stories ever told".

It's such a shame this isn't it.

So what is it?

Well if those behind the publicity for this production had been honest rather than deceitful a better description would have been "The Wizard Of Oz - A panto style take on an old time musical classic. Featuring your favourite characters, your favourite pop songs, slapstick comedy. A show that the kids will love and keep parents chuckling."

There being honest wouldn't have been that difficult would it?

The trouble is this marketing and the show's 'surprising' content has led to so many complaints that it was all too late to do anything about it. But the number of people, particularly those without kids, who were saying "This isn't the Wizard Of Oz", "Harry Hill wasn't in Oz" or "This is awful" was unbelievable. Facts echoed by the number of empty seats which appeared after the interval.

Bobby Davro is still a very funny entertaining guy, there is no doubting that. He is hilarious in this show too but it doesn't fix the fact that most of us were sitting watching something totally different than we had anticipated.

Yes the Oz characters are all there and amongst the impressions of Harry Hill , Bruce Forsythe, Ozzy Osbourne and fighting bacon and eggs (no I'm not joking) there is a vague following of a story following the Yellow Brick Road.

OK for a moment let's forget the fact this is not the show we expected and judge the cast.

Well that's the funniest part they are all excellent which is a great shame because you are always watching this farce thinking "I didn't book to see this".

Bobby Davro is at his funniest. In fact he's taken a bit of flack in the national press for some of the innuendo and tongue-in-cheek content. To be fair to him though, unless the show has been altered, whilst there are a few sexual connotations there's nothing offensive and that you wouldn't expect in a modern panto (I know this isn't one).

Steph Fearon has a beautiful voice but I didn't go to see her sing the latest pop hits that, for me at least, was particularly disappointing.

Cbeebies kids favourite Sarah-Jane Honeywell is a cute, bubbly, roller blading Glinda and is sweet, somewhat scatty and funny in the role.

Kate Richards is the best Wicked Witch of the West you could imagine and I can easily see her performing in Wicked in the West End. She looked incredible and sounded wonderful.

I can't fault the rest of the cast either.

For the panto-esque production this is it is actually a very good, very funny piece of family entertainment. In fact in the second half whilst Davro was riding his Kangaroo (no I don't remember this sport in Oz either) I spent a long time looking around at the kids in the auditorium. They were having a whale of a time. It equalled the kiddie hysteria that any decent pantomime can muster.

If it had been advertised with complete honesty as a pantomime style Easter production with none of the original tracks from Oz chances are we would have still gone for the laugh and come away feeling we had seen what we booked for.

But it wasn't and like somebody else muttered on the way out of the auditorium "What the heck was that?..... it certainly wasn't Oz" is the feeling you are left with.

Rating? How do you rate something you didn't expect to see?

Well if you were expecting nothing but an authentic Wizard of Oz experience and would settle for nothing less 2/5 would be reasonable, perhaps even generous.

If, like us, you thought you were seeing Oz but had a few unexpected laughs from 'The Bobby Davro and Friends' show then 3/5. If it had been marketed honestly it would probably be a 4/5 for good comedy mayhem.

For kids aged up to 12 and their parents (glad that something has kept them fully entertained for a while) who may have got an even better reaction from their kids compared the traditional musical it would probably be a 5/5

I don't feel it's right to totally trash a production, as most reviewers have done, without taking in to account that a vast number of people had a fab time. Those were the families with their kids in hysterics at Davro, loving their pretty and entertaining Cbeebies star, booing the Wicked Witch and enjoying Steph's vocals on their favourite pop songs.

For this the producers should be congratulated but I hope a lesson has been learned that theatre goers and the theatres themselves should be better advised when a show has been so substantially reworked from the original.

If this show had been promoted just a little differently I am sure some of those scathing national reviews would have been very, very different.

The first take-your-pick rating depending on your age, expectations and sense of humour

(see above)

Rollermania Les McKeown and his legendary Bay City Rollers

2011-04-15T22:45:00.007+01:00

Rollermania

Les McKeown and his legendary Bay City Rollers

Congress Theatre

Eastbourne

16th April 2011

OK I'll be honest I'm not a huge fan of the Bay City Rollers and I went along more because my wife has been a fan for as long as she can remember.

But sometimes you can go to a production not expecting too much and come away pleasantly surprised.

This was certainly one of those occasions.

Somewhat predictably the women to men ratio was heavily biased to advantage of the females of our species. I wouldn't be surprised if , like me, the majority of the other men there were also out more for the enjoyment of their partner.

This isn't a huge budget gig by the former Bay City Roller by any means. No large articulated truck wheeling tons of acoustic equipment round the country. No a transit van will do the job and, for me, that was perfectly adequate as so many gigs have sound equipment that is just too powerful for the size of venue.

There aren't many people who can send an audience into hysteria from the first note but despite the fact we have only one genuine 'Roller' in this line up, Les McKeown, his female fans were on their feet from the off.

And that's the way it continued throughout the show. Many of the audience on their feet dancing, either where they were seated or at the front of the stage.

The 'Tartan Army' of Eastbourne did Les McKeown proud with many turning up in tartan adorned outfits and topping this up with more tartan merchandising at the show. Les even handed out many small tartan scarves during the gig.

Rollermania is a slightly different sort of gig. It's not all music by any means. No, with the assistance of a laptop autocue Les leads us through the full, and I have to admit interesting, full history of The Bay City Rollers. And I mean FULL history, not just the time he spent in the group from 1973 but the times he was not part of the line up too. It certainly is not a Les McKeown biography but a genuine Roller history.

The Rollers classic hits interspersed with these interesting snippets of musical history make for a great show.

But there was one thing about the presentation of this history that I particularly liked. Unlike many bands that have split over time this was not a verbal trashing of his former band members. Quite the opposite in fact, and whilst I am sure it must be tempting to 'bitch', he is actually quite complimentary. We learn what all the Rollers have gone on to do ante-Rollers and how he ended up in the group in the first place. If Les McKeown has a loathing for any former colleague it certainly does not come across in this script and I think that was the right way to go. There's no doubt about it the Rollers music is light-hearted and having a script that is all doom and gloom would have retracted from this.

Some may describe the Rollers music as cheesy and you could say there are definitely some exceptionally cheesy moments in this show as love struck devoted fans come up to the stage. Some have Les sing to them others seeking a kiss or cuddle. In fact I can not recollect any show, with any artist, quite managing to come up to such a high cheese rating. Alexander O'Neal had cheesy moments but he is barely a Dairylea cheese triangle compared to Les who is a humongous block of strong cheddar in comparison.

If there is any downside to the show it isn't the longest gig ever with around 100 minutes of performance time. But you can't really complain as the whole of the show is entertaining and Les went front-of-house after the show to sign memorabilia for anybody who wanted to stay. From what I could see, judging from the length of the queue, this was most of the audience! You can't knock an artist who finishes a great show at 9.40pm and who is still signing at 10.45 and the power of the Bay City Rollers is such that his female fans adore him.

Am I now a converted BCR fan? No I wouldn't say that but I have to admit I thoroughly enjoyed the show. This was much to my wife's amusement as I kept 'singing' Shang-a-lang for at least the next 24 hours!

The Haunting Assembly Hall Theatre Royal Tunbridge Wells

2011-04-07T22:08:00.009+01:00

The Haunting

Assembly Hall Theatre

Royal Tunbridge Wells

4-9 April 2011

Performance seen 7 April

Cast

Lord Gray : Paul Nicholas
David Filde : Charlie Clements
Mary : Emily Altneu

Understudies: Matthew Medhurst & Sophie Wilkins

As you may know I have already seen this show in Eastbourne. I do not intend doing a full review in this case so please refer to the original by clicking here

We enjoyed this so much the first time round that we thought it warranted a revisit to see how Charlie Clements fares in the role of David Filde. It would also be a good opportunity to see if he was willing to join Paul Nicholas and Sean Maguire (David Filde in previous production) in signing a 'Starcard' for Great Ormond Street.

As you can see from the picture achieving the latter was no problem with Charlie more than happy to oblige in the charity signing. So what about the show?

Well there is no doubt Charlie's willingness to really get into the soul of his Dickensian character by growing that marvellous moustache and magnificent sideburns was a fantastic idea.

It just added polish to his excellent portrayal of Filde's character. I found the former Eastenders star approached the role with a far more 'serious yet concerned' approach compared to Maguire's 'scared stiff' stance.

Who came out best? Neither. Both artists impressed equally in the spooky tale and Emily Altneu is great as the spook having taken over from Hannah Steele.

Having seen the production before I was determined not to jump - but failed - twice!

The Haunting is a Bill Kenwright production and everybody involved in this should be proud of a mighty fine play.

For me this is everything a staged ghost story should be. A fabulous set, a story that is interesting yet easy to follow, dialogue that does not become tedious, lots of surprises and things to make you jump ,a few laughs and above all well acted. To warrant going twice to see the same play it has to be something a little special, something which The Haunting is.

What did the Tunbridge Wells audience think? Well if anything the reception was longer , far louder and more enthusiastic than was achieved on that 1st night in Eastbourne.

Tunbridge Wells audiences don't give reactions like this to every show, believe me. In fact we have never heard screams of appreciation and demands for 'more' at any play to compare with the reaction achieved here.

Although I'm none too sure how one would do an encore with a horror play!

I do wonder one thing though. If there is a further tour of The Haunting if the ex-Eastenders casting continues for David Filde who's next for the role?

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Congress Theate Eastbourne

2011-04-06T22:30:00.006+01:00

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Congress Theate

Eastbourne

5th-10th April 2011

(show seen 6th April)

Cast

Joseph - Keith Jack
Narrator - Jennifer Potts
Jacob/Potiphar - Henry Metcalfe
Pharaoh - Adam Jarrell
Benjamin - Kevin Grogan
Mrs Potiphar - Camilla Rowland
Butler - Fabian Hartwell
Baker - Richard J Hunt
Reuben - Will Tyler
Gad - Michael Ward
Judah - Richard J Hunt
Asher - David Gwyn
Zebulun - Nathan Vaughan-Harris
Simeon - Fabian Hartwell
Issacher - James Jacob-Lomas
Dan - Scott Matson
Napthali - Stiofan O'Doherty
Levi - Adam Jarrell
Handmaidens - Collette Coleman, Anouska Eaton, Camilla Rowland

Swing - Craig Creelman

Joseph was last in Eastbourne just 2 years ago. It is normally a popular musical in the town, however this audience was unusually small at around 500.

Whether the relatively low head count was down to the economy, a fear that the show would be the same as last time or some other factor I don't know. What I do know is that I thought this was a much better show than the 2009 offering.

Keith Jack, who was runner up in the BBC's Any Dream Will Do, made an excellent Joseph and I thought that vocally he was more impressive than Craig Chalmers who undertook the earlier tour.

In my view it is the narrator who has the major role in Joseph and Jennifer Potts was outstanding. With beautiful clear vocals and 2 very proud grandparents watching in the audience she was a real star in this show.

A good advert for Eastbourne tourism too that her grandparents had chosen to see her in Eastbourne rather than at several venues more local to their home (Nottingham I think) because it is a nicer place to stay in.

Adam Jarrell made a good Pharaoh. Not the most spot-on Elvis impersonator I've seen in Joseph but perfectly adequate and entertaining.

And where would Joseph tours be without dear Henry Metcalfe? Henry's CV goes back many, many years and covers a wide range of TV and theatrical shows in which he has continually demonstrated not only his acting skills but also his expertise in choreography and directing.

These days Henry is almost permanently 'married' to Joseph and he is like part of the furniture. The roles of Jacob and Potiphar are perfect for the oldest cast member and of course he is responsible for the great choreography as always.

The rest of the cast were excellent with all Jacob's sons putting on a great show. Collette Coleman deserves a mention not only for her great voice but also for doing some stunning choreography including some really impressive moving splits!

I've now seen several of these Joseph tours and it's a mistake not to go because 'you have seen it before' because it is always different in so many aspects.

In this case in addition to the cast change there was new choreography, a new bright colourful set and I thought the lighting was extremely good. I had issues with the sound quality back in 2009 but the band sounded great tonight.

The Congress Theatre's programme priced at £2 was good value, interesting and informative.

Highly recommended and look forward to seeing Joseph's return in a couple of years to see what has changed once again.

Incidentally not all musicals reult in us going home and downloading the lead artist's albums off iTunes but in Keith Jack's case this has happened. A terrific voice and 2 great albums both of which have very good reviews. The button on the right will give you all his material on iTunes.

Columbo, Prescription Murder, Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne

2011-03-29T22:30:00.009+01:00

Columbo

'Prescription Murder'

Devonshire Park Theatre

Eastbourne

29 Mar - 2 April 2011

Performance seen 29 March

Cast
(appearance order)

Miss Petrie - Karen Winchester
Doctor Ray Flemming - Brian Capron
Claire Flemming - Alexandra Boyd
Susan Hudson - Elizabeth Lowe
Lieutenant Columbo - John Guerrasio
Dave Gordon - Richard Walsh
Delivery Man/ Detective - Kasper Michaels

TV to stage 'conversions' have become quite the fashion in the last few years. And why not? If you get a popular programme and do a good job of the production it may just get many people into the theatre who are normally professional couch potatoes.

Getting it right though is the difficult part. The characters we relate to on our TV screens become so familiar, their mannerisms so etched in our minds, that you expect any actor to replicate them flawlessly.

Dad's Army, Dinner Ladies, Last Of The Summer Wine, Inspector Morse - just a few examples of recent noble attempts at recreating iconic series. They got close, but no cigar..... bringing us appropriately onto our cigar loving detective and his appearance of a member of the 'dirty mac brigade' - lieutenant Columbo.

My wife and I may not watch much TV but we do like 'the old favourites' Columbo being one of them. We have watched every programme from every series umpteen times including the spin off movies and the pilot episode on which this show, Prescription Murder is based.

Just to be really picky we made a point of watching the TV version 24 hours before this performance.

We couldn't see how this was going to work. Especially with this episode having a variety of locations including an airport, on board a plane, Acapulco, Universal Studios, the Flemmings' apartment, the police station and Susan Hudson's home with its pool.

But that was a minor concern the main one being how was anybody going to do justice to a role played so distinctively by the one and only Peter Falk. Demonstrating comical aspects of the character, yet retaining the ability to switch to 'bad cop' mode, the scruffy appearance, the facial expressions, cigar smoking, bad eating habits, odd manners and the numerous other quirks that any fan knows and loves.

Anybody familiar with Columbo looking to enjoy this theatrical edition of Prescription Murder is not going to accept anything less than brilliance.

When the Middle Ground Theatre Company first toured this production Dirk Benedict starred as the lieutenant. Whilst reviews were extremely favourable many thought that Dirk could have made more use of the stage and opportunities to demonstrate Columbo's quirks and mannerisms.

Enter stage left .... John Guerrasio. From the moment Guerrasio appears you know how much research he must have put in to study Peter Falk's actions. The appearance is brilliant - the tousled hair, the badly buttoned raincoat, the voice, even John's face resembles Falk's, he's also of similar stature. You have the feeling that if Falk told you John was his brother in real life you would believe it.

I read a tweet on Twitter the other day which said something along the lines of "Who is this John Guerrasio bloke playing Columbo? I would have rather have seen Dirk Benedict when he was in it!" My answer would be "Don't knock it if you haven't seen it!"

Acccomplished actor John Guerrasio may not be the well known 'household name' that Benedict is but I would rather watch a lesser known actor who can do the job 100% rather than a well known one who is nearly there.

So how does the Prescription Murder plot and script get carried over to the stage and how do we cope with all those locations? With some of the most clever scriptwriting is the answer together with some brilliant additional actions mainly from Guerrasio.

Because of this extremely clever adaptation we can make do with a very functional 3 location set. The locations being the Flemmings' apartment, Dr Flemmings office and reception area and Columbo's interrogation room. That's it.

So we've lost several key locations but does it affect the story or the enjoyment of it? Not in the slightest. Instead of Dr Flemming and Miss Hudson flying off to Acapulco where he is to dump the 'stolen goods' on a fishing trip spoken references are made for plans of a trip 'up north' to drop them in a lake on a fishing trip. The same goes for Flemmings and Hudson's staged argument on the plane. The plans are made clear but you don't need to see it happen to keep up with the plot. In fact references are left in which could easily have been taken out. Whilst we don't see 'Tommy' who falsely admits to the crime the subject is raised with Flemming whilst Columbo is with the doctor in his apartment, the script from the show perfect in it's transition.

On the subject of the script it impressed me greatly. Just how much of the original was able to be lifted and transferred word for word into this show is an outstanding achievement. Mind you I am also aware that Prescription Murder was penned as a play 'Enough Rope' before the TV pilot show was made. The writers were Richard Levinson and William Dunk. This earlier writing could explain some other small but otherwise curious changes from the pilot TV show. Burt Gordon becomes Dave Gordon in this performance. Carol Flemming becomes Claire. They are so trivial these changes do not affect enjoyment in the slightest, they just leave me curious.

John Guerrasio has mastered Peter Falk's art of being able to switch from an apparently bumbling, meddling, cop to harsh interrogator. He also adds so many classic actions which were not demonstrated by Falk in the TV version, but which were truly typical of the character. I won't spoil them as it will detract from your enjoyment of the show. What I do know is that John inserted many of these actions himself, they were not scripted, but they give polish to what is already a first class performance.

So the lead character is great but how do his fellow actors match up? I'll go in programme order.

Miss Petrie, Doctor Flemming's secretary, is impressively played by Karren Winchester. I like the way that Petrie's character has been made a light hearted, somewhat eccentric character in this production. It works. In fact Karens role seems to be the one role which probably has more to do in this play than it did in the actual TV show. This is especially vital in the end scene. Whilst I won't ruin the ending it was clearly impossible to have a house and swimming pool on stage. But the alternative ending, same outcome different location, keeps Miss Petrie involved.

The role of Dr Roy Flemming was played on screen by Gene Barry. It needs an actor who can do cold, calculated, devious, smug, selfish, self-centred and some would even say slimy. The perfect job in fact for Coronation Street's serial killer Richard Hillman and that's why he has the part!

The last time Brian was at the Devonshire Park Theatre he was a funny bumbling idiot learning to dance in Stepping Out.

In Prescription Murder he's doing what he does so brilliantly - killing again! Nobody does creepy and chilling better than Capron. However, fortunately his off screen and stage persona is much, much nicer. This always very friendly actor brought wife Jacqueline and son Louis along to see this great production and to attend the first night reception. I think all could see that Brian is very proud indeed of his family. I always find him a pleasure to talk to. I find it so funny how 'murderers' can so often turn out to be friendlier than comedians!

Alexandra Boyd (another ex Corrie Star) plays Claire Flemming whilst it may be a short-lived appearance she does her death completely justice. It was also good to see that unlike the corpse in The Black Veil she stayed still in death!

I thought Elizabeth Lowe did an incredible job as mistress Susan Hudson. She had the characteristics of Hudson just right. The glamorous babe. The woman so incredibly in love with 'her man' she is oblivious to the fact she is being used. The woman who gives the impression she is confident in her accomplice role yet inside is gradually having doubts and feeling insecure. I think this is the one role which could so easily have been "over-acted" but Lowe does just what is needed to be viewed as 'the other woman' leaving the audience to concentrate on the developments between Columbo and the murderer.

Those of us who are old enough will remember Richard Walsh fondly for his long term role in TV's London's Burning as "Sicknote". Here in Prescription Murder Richard is given the task of playing Dave Gordon. Gordon is a friend of Flemming's and he helps by pulling a few strings with a view to getting Columbo pulled off the case.

It isn't the most involved role by any means but Walsh does a mighty fine job of the crucial scenes he does appear in. Leaving such a pivotal role out of this production would not have worked.

Last but not least is Kasper Michaels who has a couple of key appearances as laundry delivery man and a detective. Again they may not be the most involved roles , however but for the plot to work on stage they are vital.

I must thank Kasper for his interesting facts on the history of this production after the performance. Not having read the programme at that stage I wondered why this episode had been chosen over so many others which may have been easier to produce based on locations required. It was Kasper that explained that Prescription Murder was a play originally and then it made sense.

It's rare I give any play 5/5, even long established favourites, so to give it to a 'TV adaptation' is especially unusual.

A superb production all round. Great sets, excellent cast, fine acting and John Guerrasio's take on Columbo is sublime.

It is such a tragedy and great shame that Peter Falk has suffered from Alzheimer's since a series of dental operations in 2007 and that he can no longer even remember playing the iconic role of Columbo. I think even the great man himself would be impressed by John Guerrasio's portrayal of him.

Incidentally the usual applies if you are interested in any of the signed celebrity playing cards in support of Great Ormond Street Hospital for children. Click any 'card' image to get further details from my photo description on Flickr

Joe Brown in Concert

2011-03-27T22:37:00.007+01:00

Joe Brown

in Concert

Assembly Hall Theatre

Royal Tunbridge Wells

27th March 2011

A theatrical virtual sell-out is hard for many shows to achieve these days but Mr Brown can still manage to fill an auditorium easily.

But it's not surprising because as a recording artist he is somewhat unique.

Who else could cover everything from an Italian Wedding Waltz from the 1930s to a U2 Cover (I still haven't found what I'm looking for) and get away with it?

The variety and quality of the material are factors which make Joe's shows special. The master of all stringed instruments, including ukulele and banjo, Joe can tackle any type of music and turn it into a string masterpiece. With his incredible collection of guitars, ukuleles, banjos and even a violin at hand you never know what to expect next.

What helps Joe's shows no end though is the quality of the people he surrounds himself with on stage. It's often a family thing with Joe. In the past his daughter and 80's star, Sam, has joined him on stage. This show is no exception as we have son Pete on vocals and strings. He also performs several solo numbers in this gig.

I certainly wasn't complaining about this either. Musical talent definitely runs in the Brown family. Whilst he reminded me of Noel Gallagher , both in looks and sound, I enjoyed Pete a darned site more than I like Oasis!

As for drummer, percussionist and vocalist Phil Capaldi Joe's shows just wouldn't be the same without him. He's been performing with Joe over 20 years now. With the ability to impersonate Elvis Presley brilliantly yet with a vocal range that can even stretch to a spot of yodelling he's a really multi-talented guy.

Completing Joe's current band members are talented vocalists and instrumentalists Roland Jones and Mike Nichols.

This is a good value for money show lasting over 2 and a half hours, including the 20 min interval. With those old hit's from decades long gone, modern cover versions and Joe's own classics including I'm Henry the Eighth I am and surprisingly his only #1 hit Picture of You there's plenty to enjoy.

With a show like this and the loyalty of thousands of fans Joe Brown remains one of the country's most popular regular performers.

Spamalot Congress Theatre Eastbourne

2011-03-23T22:03:00.014Z

Spamalot

Congress Theatre

Eastbourne

22-26 March 2011

Show seen 23 March

Cast

King Arthur - Phil Jupitus
Patsy - Todd Carty
The Lady Of The Lake - Jessica Martin

also

Robin Armstrong
Samuel Holmes
David Langham
Simon Lipkin
Graham MacDuff
Eric Idle (video)
Philip Catchpole
Rachel Knowles
Kit Orton
Amy Papa
Tim Bonser

Paul Bullion

Persephone Fitzpatrick

Well I think most people must be aware that this is the musical version of Monty Python and The Holy Grail? Monty Python was a controversial TV series you either loved or loathed. It was screened by the BBC from 1969 to 1974 and has resulted in spin offs such as the 'Holy Grail' and 'Life of Brian' movies, books and even this tour!

Only 500 or so people in the Eastbourne audience for this performance. But I don't think that has much to do with the shows quality but more with Eastbourne's demographics. Put it this way I can't see many of Eastbourne's more devout elderly churchgoers going along to pay homage to Eric Idle!

However if, like me, you're an atheist or despite being religious you are equipped with a good sense of humour then this is a great show just to have a bloody good laugh. I even suspect that many in the audience were a bit like my wife - going along to keep the other half happy and swearing they wouldn't like it.

I think it's always a good thing if a show can get an "I enjoyed that" comment from somebody who swears they are going to hate every minute! This production managed it though.

'Holy Grail' is certainly not the most controversial God-mocking tale that could be told on stage. 'Life of Brian' is far more likely to cause offence. Personally I'd love to see this happen. Thanks to being the victim of a car-keying pastor together with his strange beliefs including that council flower beds are God's provision for people who can't afford florists (he was the final cause of my non-belief) I'm always up for a bit of religious humour.

In this production we have King Arthur in his hilarious search from the 'Holy Grail'. The Spamalot tour has four well known personalities covering the role and Eastbourne was rewarded with comedian Phil Jupitus.

I have to be honest I don't watch a lot of telly and I wasn't too familiar with Jupitus but I thought he was excellent as the monarch as he trekked from country to country in search of his quest.

Most of his time on stage he is accompanied by former Eastenders and Dancing On Ice star Todd Carty. Carty couldn't be any better in playing the ruler's assistant Patsy. With quite possibly the funniest role in the whole show everything about Patsy raises a laugh. The script, the facial expressions and of course those unforgettable coconuts! Whilst he may be touring with 4 different Arthurs and 3 ladies of the lake Todd is more than happy to be undertaking the whole tour. He has been quoted as saying this is his favourite role since he played 'Tucker Jenkins' in Grange Hill.

Todd also gets the privilege of singing the key track "Always look on the bright side of life" and a key Patsy moment has to be his hysterical performance during the company's delivery of "I'm all alone".

The multi talented Jessica Martin plays King Arthur's love interest, The Lady Of The Lake. This actress, comedienne and former Spitting image impressionist is great and 'The song that goes like this' and its reprise has to be one of her highlights.

Those may be the 'stars' but let's not forget the others who all contribute to make this a great show. Samuel Holmes, David Langham, Simon Lipkin and Graham MacDuff are all perfectly suited to their respective roles and very, very funny.

The set is simple, yet colourful and functional as the castle gateway represents the entrance to many different locations in the story.

The orchestra is located behind the set (sometimes visible, sometimes not). This always helps with all lyrics being able to be heard clearly in the auditorium.

I wouldn't go as far as to say that Spamalot is the greatest musical of all time but it is a really good excuse to forget any troubles you may have and to go and have a really good laugh which is what we had in Eastbourne.

With a cast as good as this one was I'd gladly enjoy this tale again including those wonderful Knights who say 'Ni!' and their desire for a 'shwubbery' together with all the other historical nonsense.

Incidentally all 3 of the main stars kindly did a Great Ormond Street Hospital charity signing for me - for further details click any picture above and view the details on the appropriate image in my GOSH gallery. You may wish to bid on some quite unique items to support this worthy cause.

The Black Veil Devonshire Park Theatre

2011-03-22T22:00:00.006Z

The Black Veil

"a chilling thriller"

Devonshire Park Theatre

Eastbourne

22-26 March 2011

Show seen 22 March

Cast

The Man - Nick Murphy
The Woman - Jen Holt
Luke - Toby Trimby **

** Understudy appearing in place of indisposed Nick Barclay

I have always thoroughly enjoyed the numerous Bruce James productions we have seen over many, many years................. until now.

If you have come here expecting anything different than the views of the 'official' critics I'm afraid you are about to encounter more of the same. To be honest because we only see shows we think we will enjoy as opposed to being paid to watch anything that comes along you would think my verdict may be more favourable.

It isn't.

In this Dickens short story a mysterious old woman wearing a black veil and completely clad in black clothing seeks the services of a new doctor, who she knows is looking for new patients, to save her dying grandson.

The whole of the first half is dialogue between the doctor and the veiled woman covering her apparent situation and his colourful background and it goes on...... and on .... and on. It rambles on to such an extent that you actually switch off altogether. When you know the show is a very short one anyway and people are still looking at watches long before the interval you know all is not well.

On a slightly different subject what is your pet hate in the theatre? People coughing continually, phones ringing, watches beeping, the constant rustling of sweet bags?

Well whatever you prefer this predominantly elderly Eastbourne audience inconsiderately served us the full monty in the first half. However, given that there was more action in the audience than on the stage perhaps we should have all joined in?

You've heard of a no expense spared set? Well welcome to the no expense spent set. The 'settings' include the doctor's reception room with him in front of a warm fire, the dirty streets of Victorian London, a grotty London flat and a watermill. At least this is what you have to imagine because asides for some board supports, a chair and a bed this is one empty set.

Not so much as a front door or a picture of the warm fire - zilch!

This results in a production where you can never really sense that Victorian London atmosphere and I have to wonder if just a little effort may have made this seem very different indeed?

The corpse just wouldn't stay still, a point noticed by so many. No you can't stay totally motionless but hey this body was even behind a curtain and it was still seen to move. If you can't find an extra who can lay still for goodness sake go to Debenhams and borrow a mannequin.

The programme is £2.50 and very poor value compared to others with not even a picture of the current cast members. Along the road at the Congress Theatre Spamalot's programme is £2 much thicker and with great content for the price. In fact you could justify £2.50 for Spamalot's publication.

As for cast members that's another subject. Fair enough Eastbourne Theatres quite rightly point out that the pictures on its web site are of a previous cast but look at Bruce James official website and the previous "star cast" is still listed.

Last years production had a 'star' in the lead, former Eastenders star, James Alexandrou (played Martin Fowler) to provide some interest. He is still on James website with his co-stars at the time Beatrice Curnew and Andrew Ryan.

This cast is totally different and even the programme credited cast couldn't be achieved as understudy Toby Trimby was forced to fill the shoes of Nick Barclay as Luke.

My stars awarded at the end of this review are for the cast and the cast alone Nick Murphy does nothing wrong in his role as the doctor, Jen Holt maintains her London accent and mysteriousness perfectly and whilst Toby stumbled over several lines as bad boy Luke it was nothing that he didn't recover from quickly. Besides, we all stumble with language in real life and I admire any understudy that has to step in.

No cast you are not the problem but just about everything else is. The first half is nothing short of mind numbingly boring and whilst the second half does liven things up the lack of a set and by that time a rather predictable outcome means that at no stage is this the chiller promised. If this ever was a chiller it's time we called in the refrigeration engineer to give this production a well overdue service.

I enjoy promoting theatre but I will not promote theatre for the sake of it when a production is simply not good enough and this isn't.

"I don't like theatre" is a common reason from those who don't go. The trouble is if you took a theatre doubter along to see The Black Veil as it is you would do nothing whatsoever to change their mind.

It's funny but we saw the very amusing Spamalot the following evening with the adapted song "You won't succeed in Eastbourne without a star". I couldn't help but sit there listening to that song and relating back to this show. This is a show without a celebrity star, yet wherever you look the previously featured celebrity is still advertised. I find that to be a little deceptive to be honest and I think that any advertising promoting the booking of this show should either feature the actual cast or just the Black Veil image as featured on programmes.

As it stands it just looks as though the producers are desperately keeping their previous 'star' pictured in the hope this may bring a few additional people to see a production that is already getting many poor reviews.

That is not fair on theatre goers as it is misleading, it is not complimentary to the current cast, who are trying to do their very best with an awful play and it is not fair on James Alexandrou either who may just be anticipated at each venue by some.

This is a very rare below average mark from me but. once again it's not directed at a hard working cast but the poor material and set they are having to work with.

The Naked Truth, Assembly Hall Theatre, Royal Tunbridge Wells

2011-03-21T22:30:00.000Z

The Naked Truth

Assembly Hall Theatre

Royal Tunbridge Wells

21st March 2011

Cast (Programme listed order)

Claire King - Rita

Maureen Nolan - Sarah

Michelle Heaton - Gabby

Leanne Jones - Bev
Julie Buckfield - Tricia
Alison Young - Faith

"If you liked Calendar Girls & Stepping Out then you'll LOVE the Naked Truth"

Not my words but those of the Manchester Evening News and for me this quote is spot on.

It's a very apt comparison to make. The cancer themed background story bears more than a striking resemblance to that of Calendar Girls (which was of course a true story). In addition the characters' desire to do something different to liven up their troubled lives, in this case pole-dancing, is very similar to the characters in Stepping Out wanting to be great dancers.

Stepping out I enjoyed. Calendar Girls was OK but it really didn't rock my boat.

The Naked Truth?

Absolutely brilliant! Very funny, yet continually thought provoking and above all very well acted with an amazing cast.

What a line up Claire King (ex Emmerdale) Leanne Jones (West End Hairspray) Michelle Heaton (Liberty X) Julie Buckfield (Hollyoaks, Grange Hill) Maureen Nolan (The Nolan Sisters) and Alison Young.

Hold on.......... Alison who?

Well I doubt if many will have heard of Alison but believe me you will remember her after seeing The Naked Truth. I feel for her a little because she's not on the leaflet cover or the programme cover yet I think she is likely to be one of the main talking points when the show ends.

Her character, Faith, is the scatty, ditzy one of the group. In the low moments, as Sarah deals with her cancer diagnosis, clever writing ensures Faith is normally the one who lightens a sad time with her innocently naive misinterpretations of the English language and limited sexual knowledge.

On her CV Alison has actually done a lot of theatre and TV work and directed a play. She has also played Faith on 2 previous tours of the Naked Truth. I'm not surprised. This lovely young lady is perfectly suited to this most hilarious of roles. But come on producers if Alison does another tour stick her on the cover! She's just as important as the other 5 actresses! This does bug me slightly when they stick the better known names on a cover but leave off a central , important, character just because he or she doesn't have the same level of fame!

How about our more well known names?

Claire King - Playing Rita, the victim of a troubled marriage, Claire is great in this role as a "bit of a mouthy cow". Boy this fine and well known actress has kept herself fit!! You'll enjoy her performance throughout but when it comes to the finale with the pole-dance routine she is really impressive too.

Maureen Nolan - Sarah is our cancer victim. Let's be honest , although she is very modest about it, I think Maureen is very brave to play such a role with a subject so close to her heart for personal family reasons. But this personal experience of confronting cancer Maureen admits has helped her in this role and she is playing Sarah in her own determined way. The result is a very believable portrayal of how a middle aged woman may cope with breast cancer. She demonstrates effectively both the emotional lows yet maintaining a strong willpower to get through each and every day.

Leanne Jones - She's big, bubbly, warm and extremely lovable, both on stage and off. As the large lady, Bev, aspiring to pole dance she is clearly the obvious candidate for a spot of bitchy bullying and I'll come to this later. There are laughs throughout with her pole dance 'skills' but Bev is also a strong character with a complicated love life. Leanne delivers the great performance that would be expected from a West End star.

Michelle Heaton - "here we go...", many will say, "a singer trying her hand at acting". Often it doesn't work. But what many may not know though was that friendly Michelle was acting long before her Liberty X and Popstars days. With appearances on Heartbeat, Byker Grove and Crimewatch under her belt she had a good start in front of the camera.

Her desire was always to go back to her first love, acting, and here she is fulfilling that ambition. Gabby is the pole-dancing teacher, and of course Gabby has her own personal troubles. But whilst dealing with those she has to try and get 5 women with varying characters and physical abilities to pole-dance convincingly for a cancer fund raising performance. I thought she played the part really well and as one of the minority of blokes in a female dominated audience watching this very fit young lady do her finale pole-dance routine was just the icing on the cake.

Julie Buckfield. I've seen both Julie and her twin sister Claire so many times now it is often difficult to recall who was in which show. But here we have Julie who has a stack of theatrical credits to her name together with appearances in TV shows like Hollyoaks, Grange Hill, London's Burning, The Bill and Casualty. In her character as Tricia she is the insensitive bully, gloating on her perfect life, perfect man and picking on the apparent flaws she sees in others - including Bev and her weight. But is Tricia's life really so great? Julie tells Tricia's story flawlessly and like Michelle she is a pole-dancing diva! She is to the pole what her sister was to the ice, an expert! Perhaps a new combined venture for them beckons pole-dancing-on-ice?

I should just point something out here. Ladies for goodness sake take your fella to this show! This is in no way a male-bashing-production. It is also not planned to have a female only audience. It is a very funny and very thought provoking play about a disease that affects the lives of all it touches. Women do not go through cancer on their own they need the support and love of those around them. So get your old man or partner off his backside and take him to a show which he will laugh at a lot and he may just learn something about the consequences of breast cancer! Besides aren't men supposed to appreciate pole-dancing? I certainly did, especially the performance the girls put on at the end.

All 6 actresses are extremely professional and this was demonstrated admirably in the second half whilst theatre staff ejected rowdy audience members from the auditorium. I'm glad they stepped in quickly as eyes were beginning to deviate from the stage and as we all tried to spot the idiots who had drunk one too many in the interval and those around the group went "Shhhhhhhhh!" in a vain attempt to shut them up.

After the pole-dancing finale this Breast Cancer Care awareness/fund raising show received a massive loud reception from this Tunbridge Wells crowd. This was fully deserved for a fabulous show which deals with such a serious subject in such a light hearted, yet at the same time very sensitive, way.

The appreciation did not end there though. The charity buckets came out and I can honestly say that I have been to many a charity fundraiser at theatres and this is the most money I have ever seen going in to buckets as the audience leaves. Whether this was appreciation for a super show or simply a contribution for such a worthy cause who cares? As long as money keeps going in those buckets we may soon have the hope that a cure for breast cancer is imminent!

Finally the pictures on this review are possible because, with thanks to the Julie Buckfield and her agent for the arrangement, I was able to do one of my Starcards signing in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital for children before this show.

Clicking any image and viewing the image description will give you information on how you can support another worthy cause by bidding on future auctions of these autographed charity playing cards.

Thank you so much to Claire, Leanne, Michelle, Julie, Maureen and Alison for taking part in this especially when you are raising funds for Breast Cancer Care.

So people if you are wondering whether The Naked Truth is any good it's actually far better than good. So go and see it, take your other half and take some extra money to buy some fun fund raising souvenirs and to fill those all important buckets !!!

The sad death of former Shadows member Jet Harris

2011-03-18T22:24:00.003Z

It was only 5 months ago we saw the very entertaining Jet Harris when he was part of Marty Wilde's touring show. The picture above was taken at that event (by my wife) at the Assembly Hall Theatre in Royal Tunbridge Wells.

When she asked the man who said "I never smile" if he would smile for a picture he replied "only if you give me a kiss". A master of bribery he got his wish.

We will always remember that he was the only artist that was missing from a tour poster which we had got autographed that evening. Then by sheer fluke as we got into our car he prepared to get into the car parked in front. So there we were late at night with Jet Harris signing a poster spread over the bonnet of our car!

A fond memory of the former Shadow indeed and we extend our sympathy to the friends and family of a very talented and friendly man.

My previous show review is here Marty Wilde Tour

Mary Wilson and the Chi-Lites Assembly Hall Theatre, Royal Tunbridge Wells

2011-03-15T22:57:00.005Z

Mary Wilson

with Special Guests The Chi-Lites

Assemby Hall Theatre

Royal Tunbridge Wells

15th March 2011

The Chi-Lites

2011 must be the year of the great gig at the Assembly Hall Theatre in Royal Tunbridge Wells. Chas and Dave, Ben E King with Gary US Bonds and now Mary Wilson and the Chi-Lites all receiving massive standing ovations from appreciative Tunbridge Wells audiences.

OK lets be honest, unlike many of the soul loving Tunbridge Wells audience, I had never heard of the Chi-Lites and even when they sung their greatest hits I can't say I was familiar with them.

Marshall Thompson, Frank Reed and Fred Simon make up this super harmonious soul group with Marshall being the only original member in the line-up.

I have to be honest though but despite the fact I had never appreciated the tracks of the Chi-Lites like "Have You Seen Her" and "Oh Girl" before it didn't stop me thoroughly enjoying this initiation.

Fred has been with the group a couple of years whilst Frank who's vocal range is formidable as lead singer joined around 23 years ago. Marshall who has more energy than many a man 20 years his junior is the only original member of the Chi-Lites still performing. After an incredible 51 years with the group his energy and enthusiasm really is something to behold.

With a beautiful sound and Frank even coming down into the auditorium to sing they deserved every single moment of the massive ovation they received from the Tunbridge Wells crowd as we got to the interval.

On a footnote here the Chi-Lites signed albums and photos during the interval and they stayed behind after the show to provide autographs for any fans who missed them in the break. Marshall continuing to defy his age by being the only artist I have ever seen signing autographs standing on a table and chair. A quite amazing group with a remarkable founder member.

Mary Wilson

The ex member of The Supremes got a loud, appreciate reception the moment she walked on the stage and this was an enthusiasm that was not to diminish for the rest of the show.

Mary's incredible, powerful vocals were accompanied by her wonderful backing singers Parnell Marcano and Lucy Shropshire. Her band were, perhaps inevitably, using some of the most impressive instruments I have seen on one stage in quite a while and as a result the sound was perfect.

It was actually refreshing to be able to see the whole of the magnificent, large, Assembly Hall stage in this show. It seems a shame that the council have plans to demolish this theatre and the adjoining buildings soon, although an alternative is planned.

Diva? Well yes and no. The traditional use of diva was applied to somebody with exceptional talent. If we are using this meaning of the word then Ms Wilson is indeed a worthy recipient of the diva title. However if we are looking at the now well used derogatory use of the word for an artist who is unreasonably demanding and full of themselves I don't think we can apply this to Mary. Not in the slightest.

I don't think the "derogatory diva" would be seen inviting the "commoners" of Royal Tunbridge Wells on stage with her and letting them demonstrate their Stop in the name of love dancing 'skills'

Nor do I think such a diva would hang around in the theatre for as long as is required after the show to sign anything fans required and pose for photos too. Diva's certainly charge more than £6 for a programme and normally sneak out of a theatre via a side door to avoid meeting the 'ordinary' people (recollections of a certain artist from last year come to mind).

With a show in excess of 2 hours and a further 45 minutes getting autographs and photos done together with a signing for Great Ormond Street by Starcards.org (thank you so much Mary and Marshall) this was a very long day for all involved. Yet at no times did the artists show any signs of being frustrated by such a late finish. American artists always seem to be amongst the friendliest performers.

This was yet another huge night to remember in the current season at the Assembly Hall Theatre. Music fans have really been spoiled lately in Tunbridge Wells.

Tonight was the icing on the cake with classic hits from her group days of course being featured together with many other popular tracks. So every track went down incredibly well from the classic Floy Joy to the great 'singalong' track River Deep Mountain High.

This wasn't just a good gig at the Assembly Hall - it was SUPREME!

Peter Pan On Ice - The Russian Ice Stars

2011-03-10T22:41:00.006Z

Peter Pan On Ice

The Russian Ice Stars

Congress Theatre

Eastbourne

9-13 March 2011

Show Seen 10th March

Cast: The Russian Ice Stars

Once again the team behind The Russian Ice Stars have transformed the Congress Theatre, Eastbourne into a magnificent, temporary, ice rink for their latest production, Peter Pan.

I always enjoy these shows. The costumes are lavish and colourful, the skaters are all highly skilled professionals and there is something to impress an audience member of every age group.

Impressive jumps at speed, juggling with fire, superb lifts and wonderful choreography it's all in there with so much more.

The large cast are pretty much consistent from year to year and for those of us who go every year these silent stars become very familiar faces.

Peter Pan is tackled from a different, but clever, approach. The story is seen through the eyes of the story's author, J M Barrie, who is played by the hugely talented Valdis Mintals. I thought this made a nice change from simply looking at the story being played out as it conveys, by expression and actions alone, the thoughts of Mr Barrie as his tale progresses from one chapter to the next.

Tall Valdis, who started skating at age 4, is always impressive especially with his speed and complicated jumps. However my wife who would go to see him even if he had the skating talent of Todd Carty! I really wanted to tell her she is old enough to be his mother, but she isn't (quite).

Valdis's partner between 1998-2002 in the World Championships, European Championships and many other top international competitions was Viktoriya Shklover who plays the marvellous, petite and very sweet Wendy in this production.

Pan is portrayed by Dmitri Naumkin who's accolades include winning the World Junior Championship in 1995.

My personal favourite is Ekaterina Murugova because I think she is such a brilliantly expressive performer, every expression clearly conveying thoughts and emotions. In Peter Pan she dons the wings to play Tinkerbell.

The villain, Hook, is the responsibility of Andrey Chuvilyaev. The former member of the Russian Senior team really deserved to have some kids in the audience to boo him, panto style, as he and his shipmates took great pleasure on tying young Wendy up with nice thick rope.

I love the subtle humour that is built into these productions such as Mr Darling (Denis Sorokin) who when he can't find his 3 kids even looks under a pillow (the boys are about 6' tall wearing awful brightly coloured traditional striped pajamas) the poor man clearly needs help! Or watching little Tiger Lilly (Olga Balandina) pathetically trying to gnaw her way through 1" thick rope.

I find these shows refreshing. The one show I watch each year where you interpret a show without language. Yes in Peter Pan there is a little narration to "hand hold" those who really cannot follow a story through expression and interpretation but it is quite minimal. I think this is mainly for the benefit of any kids in attendance.

Incidentally at £4 the programme for Peter Pan is extremely good value. Wildrose Productions always produce a high quality publication that contains good photographs, cast biographies and a full explanation of what occurs in each scene. With so many programmes now priced at between £5 and £10 containing far less this is a souvenir worth buying.

So was everything perfect in Neverland? Did Tinkerbell work her magic on the feet of our all professional skaters? Well their feet seemed to be fine but she seemed to have put a curse on one particular section of the icy stage.

The very front, right section of the Congress Theatre stage must have had a problem. When one skater, perhaps two, take a fall in the same place you can put it down to bad luck and coincidence. But when the figure hits at least 5 falls and 2 very close escapes you have to wonder if there's a problem with the ice?

It must be difficult. Every stage is different in levelness and "bounce" and no matter how these temporary rinks are laid I don't think you are ever going to recreate the perfection of a purpose built rink. Even sitting where we were you can see undulations in the surface and this must have an effect.

I did notice as the show progressed jumps were being landed more centre stage rather than at the front perhaps to avoid this dodgy area?

I know the Dancing On Ice judge, Jason Gardiner, would not agree but what is important is not the falls in these shows but how professionally the recovery is. In every case if you had blinked and missed the fall you would never have known it happened. Up in an instant, smiling and on with the show as true pros do.

Probably thinking "s**t that bloody hurt!" or whatever the Russian equivalent is but never conveying that to a sympathetic audience. And sympathetic I was, particularly to the first lad who came a cropper. He was wearing little more than a loincloth as his chest thumped down on to the ice. Ouch! Waxing is probably less painful!

It does highlight ,seeing these falls, that no matter how impressive these productions are they are never a walk in the park, even for seasoned professionals.

Two shows in a day plus an additional 3 hours rehearsal time can never assure you a flawless performance. One small imperfection in the ice is all it needs to raise the audible gasps from the audience.

I'm of the opinion that when you go to see an ice show you are rarely going to get a flawless skate and it's how the show entertains overall which should be judged.

In a play if the script is forgotten or ad libbed we laugh. It doesn't stop it being a great play. When skaters fall down OK we don't laugh but it should be judged like an 'outtake' in a play.

At the end of the day we enjoyed yet another great show by the fabulous Russian Ice Stars and should they return in 2012 we'll be back again!

Spare a thought for the crew after the last show in Eastbourne on 13th March when they will be taking 7 hours breaking up all that ice and removing it from the stage only to have to do it all again at the next venue. A lot of hard work goes on behind the scenes and sometimes as the audience member I don't think we always appreciate that.

Many thanks to the show's production manager, Sam Clarkson and production co-ordinator, Julian Deplidge for allowing me to get some unique views of an icy Congress Theatre stage.

Finally If you get the chance to see The Russian Ice Stars on tour please do so. Like us, with Peter Pan you may just become "Hooked"!

Ben E King and Gary U S Bonds Great American Soulbook

2011-03-09T22:23:00.011Z

The Great American Soulbook

starring

BEN E KING

GARY U S BONDS

Assembly Hall Theatre

Royal Tunbridge Wells

9th March 2011

There was a good size audience in Royal Tunbridge Wells, but this wasn't a complete sellout. This is a shame because fans of soul missed a tremendous nights entertainment. A very good length show it is too, in excess of 2 hours and that excludes the interval.

I wonder if people thought this was a tribute to the artists rather than the genuine article?

Many people may not have heard of Gary U.S. Bonds who is probably best known for his hits New Orleans and Quarter To Three but whether you were familiar with him or not hardly mattered. Covering his own tracks and those of other well known artists (most of whom are now long gone) he was vocally enthralling throughout. Not only this the guy has a side talent as a very funny man. He knows how to get the best from an audience by way of comedy, audience participation and generally doing the totally unpredictable.

His enthusiasm and energy makes it all the more amazing that he is 71 years of age.

Having to deal with whatever humorous additions Gary U S Bonds decides to make to the scheduled performance is the legendary star of soul Ben E. King. Yes it seemed somewhat humbling that such a respected gentleman of soul is performing in the UK here at Tunbridge Wells, Gravesend and loads of other places, including Butlins, when he is accustomed to huge international auditoriums.

But Ben is loving every minute if it and speaking to him after the show he is hoping to tour again next year.
From the massive total standing ovation both artists received at the end of this performance I hope that word of mouth recommendation and good reviews would ensure decent audiences should materialize another tour happen.

As with Gary, Ben covered his own hits including, naturally, Stand By Me but he also gave some beautiful renditions of other artists hits such as a lovely cover version of the late John Lennon's Imagine

72 year old King can still belt the soul out however for appreciating this we should thank a knowledgeable audience member behind me for interrupting the show early on. He politely pointed out to Ben (or rather "Mr King" as he was being diplomatic) that the gain on his microphone was not high enough for many of the audience to hear him. It did raise the question as to whether a decent sound check had been performed by the crew beforehand as the difference with a small change was phenomenal.

Fortunately this was only 2 tracks into the show and there was still loads more to come.

This is a 50/50 show too. Ben may be the better known name but he does not dominate the schedule. In the first half Ben performs, then Gary takes the stage. Interval over Ben returns for another stint ending with a massive, loud standing ovation. Gary returns until he takes his own ovation and eventually both stars take to the stage for an extremely entertaining (and with Gary around still very funny) finale with the audience on their feet until the curtain falls.

Gary signed his CDs and posed for pics both in the interval and after the show in the auditorium. Understandably, taking things a bit easier Ben left by the stage door, but not without taking all the time needed to meet those who had stayed to see him.

Having met so many artists now at the stage door there are so many different egos and attitudes demonstrated after performances. They fall into 4 main groups. Fortunately there have been very few blatantly rude people but even when you politely ask if they'll do a charity signing some performers still take you by surprise with their arrogance. Then there's the "reluctant signer". They'll stay with you only long enough to sign and perhaps pose for a quick picture, the greater priority being to get to the pub. The majority fall into the "happy signers". They'll have a nice little bit of banter with everybody and whilst they may wish to get away they'll make sure everybody has got their autographs first.

Finally you have your "super signers" who really know how important it is to come across to fans off stage as nice as they do on it. Ben E King and Gary U S Bonds are now permanently ingrained in my long term memory as two of the most charming performers I have ever met. In the picture below of a grinning Ben and Gary you can see how relaxed they still are. This is after a very long show and all the time Gary had taken signing indoors when the show ended. Ben even kindly did an unplanned signing for Great Ormond Street Childrens' Hospital for Starcards.org and I also have a flyer signed by both artists for Starcards to auction.

So Soulbook in my book goes down as a great, memorable experience which will be remembered for great music, a lot of laughter and two extremely friendy, warm and down to earth, American stars.

Should they do a future tour I'd gladly see it again and I'd recommend that if The Great Americal Soulbook is visiting yout town or city that you see it too.

Chas and Dave Assembly Hall Theatre Tunbridge Wells

2011-03-06T22:50:00.008Z

Chas and Dave

Final Tour

Assembly Hall Theatre

Royal Tunbridge Wells

6th March 2011

Chas and Dave "The Final Tour" it is billed as........ but will it be?

If tonight's fabulous reception in Royal Tunbridge Wells is anything to go by Charles Hodges and David Peacock will have to wonder whether it really is time to call it a day.

We have not seen Chas and Dave for many years but they are as entertaining as ever and even though many years have passed by they never look any older. I think it's the beard thing. They may make a young person look much older but equally they can keep an older man looking seemingly locked in middle age.

The playlist for this particular tour has been well thought out with the first half consisting of the tracks the lads played in the pubs and clubs of London as their career built in the 1970s including their smash hit Gertcha. After the interval comes the more well know material from the 80's and 90's including, of course, Rabbit.

The audiences in Tunbridge Wells are never an easy to please crowd but Chas and Dave seemed to have what it takes to awaken the people of this historic spa town. They had the capacity audience on their feet and even had a couple of enthusiastic groupies who, seemingly slightly the worse for wear following one drink too many, danced at the front of the auditorium constantly apologising to the poor fellow in the front row they kept falling into. Well I say danced it was more of an alcohol assisted wild arm waving and sway session. Quite funny to watch really but aggravating at the same time for anybody whose view they were blocking without consideration.

Merchandise? CDs at £10 and T-Shirts at £20 (or multi buy at 2 for £30) were selling by the box load at the end as Chas and Dave stayed behind for anybody who wanted their purchase signed.

This is the longest queue I can remember for any artist and after a show lasting about 105 minutes they then spent a further 45 minutes signing and posing for pics.

I joined the end of the queue hoping for a further Great Ormond Street signing and they did not let me or the charity down.

If you are interested in bidding on the eventual completely one-off signed product please click the image with the playing cards for further details.

So an extremely popular show with the Tunbridge Wells crowd and if this is the reception they are getting everywhere will they really want to pack it in? I have noticed that in many cases Final Tour is being replaced with Reunion Tour and I wonder if this means Chas & Dave may be having second thoughts?

I couldn't blame them if they did.

Lenny Henry Cradle To Rave Assembly Hall Theatre Royal Tunbridge Wells

2011-02-17T22:22:00.002Z

Lenny Henry

Cradle To Rave

Assembly Hall Theatre

Royal Tunbridge Wells

17th February 2011

This is a super show from Lenny. Over two hours of excellent entertainment!

I'm not going to go into too much depth or reveal exactly what happens in this production. I feel it would completely ruin the experience for anybody who is booked to see Lenny on this rather hectic tour which is visiting places all over the UK.

What I will say is that that this is different from Lenny's usual stand-up routines, but don't worry die-hard Lenny comedy fans you'll still be laughing in this show - a heck of a lot!

In a nutshell Lenny is recounting how music has had such a profound influence on his life. The artists that inspired (and still inspire) him, how he had a desire to be a huge recording artist, how he has a long standing wish to be able to play the piano properly (yes seriously!). A shiny piano joins him on stage just longing to be played... but does he?

I can honestly say that even if you're not a devout Lenny Henry stand-up fan but you love your music, especially from the 60's and 70's, then you may still come away from this experience very impressed. You may even see Mr Henry in a whole new light.

So can he sing? Can he play the piano? Who are those artists who have had such a massive effect on his life?

The only way you are going to find out is by seeing Cradle to Rave.

The one thing I will say is that anybody seeing the show will discover there is a lot more to Lenny Henry than a stand-up comedian.

Book it, enjoy it and watch Lenny entertain and if Tunbridge Wells is anything to go by sweat in a way you have never seen before!

Incidentally many thanks to Lenny for undertaking an unscheduled signing to support great Ormond Street Childrens Hospital. I know he'd had a VERY long day having been on breakfast TV that morning. Those of you who are interested in bidding sometime in the future for Lenny's unique memorabilia can click my photo for further details.