Went to see the Buddy Holly 50th Anniversary Commemorative Tour last night.

A bit of a strange one this. The original line up all those years ago was Ronnie Keene and his Orchestra (anyone remember him?), The Tanner Sisters (yes, I do remember them), Gary Miller (he's vaguley familiar) and Des O'Connor (never heard of him!!) plus Buddy Holly, of course.

So, who did we get last night with "Buddy Holly"? Well, first of all we had "Billy Fury" (who surely only came to prominence right at the end of Buddy Holly's life), "Connie Francis" - right era, but again only just becoming famours in 1958 and "Dusty Springfield" who certainly wasn't performing as a solo artist in 1958. So a lot of the songs they sang were certainly later than 1958.

The show itself was a bit of a mixture. The stage was bare apart from the excellent musicians and their instruments so didn't really create the scene for me. The first half consisted entirely of the support acts - two spots of 4 or 5 songs each from "Billy Fury" interspersed with spots from "Connie Francis" and "Dusty Springfield" (who was the same vocalist) Quite entertaining but just one song after another with no banter or interaction with the audience.

The second half was an entirely different matter. Marc Robinson really had "Buddy Holly" to a tee. His singing, movement, phrasing, etc really took you back to 1958. An excellent interpretation and he really had the audience in the palm of his hand. The show is well worth seeing just for the second half.

And a nice touch was that the cast came out into the foyer at the end of the performance to chat with the audience and sign the programmes.

I agree with you that we have loads of venues in the east lancs area, but the seats in the royal exchange (except for the stage level) leave a lot to be desired. The Lowry theatre is much better seat wise. We have also seen quite a lot of the Studio productions which are much more reasonably priced at the Royal Exchange and even though you are on hard chairs they are preferable to those ridiculous bar chairs in the main theatre. I also like the blues festival at the Mechanics in Burnley and the Library Theatre is quite comfy and does some modern [productions.

I went to see "And Then There Were None" last week in Nottingham. This was a production by the Agatha Christie Theatre Company.

There was a magnificent cast, including Gerald Harper, Peter Byrne, Denis Lill, Jennifer Wilson, Chloe Newsome, Alex Ferns and Mark Wynter (remember him, girls, a real heart-throb singer from the Sixties and now a very good actor with a lovely speaking voice)

This was a very professional production at a very reasonable cost, so well worth a visit.

Yesterday I went to see Black Watch, by the National Theatre of Scotland, staged at a performance space called the Old Pie Factory (which is what it is!), part of the Lowry in Salford. This production has won loads of awards and swept all before it at the Edinburgh Festival two years ago. It's based on interviews with members of the Black Watch Regiment about their experience in Iraq, and is a look at the history of the regiment and at the way soldiers are in those circumstances, and how basically they are fighting for each other. You saw all the macho posturing, but also saw them as young and vulnerable men in a terrifying situation. Brilliantly written, acted and staged. Absolutely mesmerising; I came out feeling as if I had gone 15 rounds with Mohammed Ali and wondering if I could remember how to breathe. An added frisson for me is that the director went to the school I used to teach at and I taught him Latin about twenty years ago.

Saw the Carl Rosa Opera Company last evening at Sheffield Lyceum Theatre performing The Mikado. It was claimed to be a recreation of the 1885 performance and was a wonderful experience. Everyone was in good voice, articulation was clear, important in Gilbert & Sullivan! costumes and sets so colourful and evocative. There was lots of humour and in the appropriate places really topical allusions. Nichola McAuliffe was a wonderful Katisha, bringing all the wit to her acting that I, for one, so enjoyed when she featured in the TV series Surgical Spirit - and an amazing singing voice to boot. A thoroughly enjoyable evening.

I'm a huge Kander and Ebb fan, and made the effort to go to London to see this production with the original cast a couple of years ago. I thought it was a so so production with some highlights. Sheila Hancock's scenes with Geoffrey Hutchings' diminutive Herr Schultz were genuinely touching.

The young man who sang Tomorrow Belongs to Me made a salt water tear leave my eye.

The orchestrations were fantastic.

Did anyone here see Idina Menzel in Wicked? Now, that's entertainment! I loved it and saw it twice...

Will Jane Fonda Work Out In London!

For anyone who may be interested...


Jane Fonda is close to signing a deal that will bring her to London in the new play by Moises Kaufman, '33 Variations.

She is currently starring in the production on Broadway until Next Thursday!
When all is signed it will open at a smallish West End house in October. Two theatres are under offer.

Hi
I went to my local theatre on saturday and saw Beauty & The Beast. It was fantastic straight from the WestEnd. I went on my own as it was a last minuet decision, there was lots of nans/grandkids/lots of little girls dressed up as Bella. (SHOUTS) I need a grandchild lol.

"Hello Dolly" is on at the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park this summer - it is one of my favourite musicals, so I hope this stage version lives up to it! I meet up every year with an old friend to see whatever musical they put on, but particularly looking forward to this one.

Oh for a perfect balmy summer's evening to sit out in an open air theatre and enjoy a pic-nic. Couldn't risk it this summer, or last, or the one before. I did see South Pacific in the open air theatre many years ago in Scarborough.