The producer Paul Elliott celebrated fifty years in showbusiness — to the very day — by throwing a great party in the Prince of Wales Theatre last night. And, as he was paying, he was fully entitled to regale us with memories for nigh on fifty minutes.

I thought he only spoke for thirty minutes. But his long standing producing partner, Duncan Weldon, was timing him. “It was fifty,” he said grimly, stroking his beard. Paul had described Duncan as the only man he knew who could make good news sound like bad news.

And what a cast turned up. One table alone was host to Eric Sykes, Russ Abbot, Leslie Phillips, Michael Barrymore, Donald Sinden and producers Bill Kenwright and Nica Burns. 

Danny La Rue, very frail now, sat opposite the lustrous Rula Lenska, Lionel Blair sat nearest the stage (surprise, surprise), Barbara Windsor chirruped away at the back, John Barrowman cheered from the sidelines, and the room glittered with the light entertainment aristocracy ousted from national television by the talent and reality shows: Brian Conley, Lesley Joseph, Rolf Harris, Jeffrey Holland, Matthew Kelly. 

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On Wednesday night 150 Theatregoers attended our sell out Outing to see Peter Hall’s acclaimed production of Pygmalion at the Old Vic Theatre in Waterloo. The production of George Bernard Shaw’s 1916 classic started life with a highly successful, Whatsonstage.com Award winning run at the Theatre Royal, Bath last year.

 Original stars Michelle Dockery and Tim Pigott-Smith star as Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle. All of our Theatregoers were given a free programme as they settled down to watch the classic rags to riches tale of a cockney flower girl transformed into a society duchess by a phonetics teacher. The cast also features James Laurenson (as Colonel Pickering), Una Stubbs (Mrs Pearce), Tony Haygarth (Alfred Doolittle) and Barbara Jefford (Mrs Higgins). During the interval Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers claimed their free drink in the Old Vic’s sumptuous Pit Bar. (more…)

Tonight’s opening of The Revenger’s Tragedy at the National is a reminder of the spontaneous combustion that often leads to the the most exciting theatre.

This is the play that in 1966 made Trevor Nunn’s reputation overnight and convinced Peter Hall that the young Turk should succeed him as head of the RSC.

In fact, Peter Hall is alleged to have said at the Stratford dress rehearsal that Nunn’s production marked the most exciting directorial debut in the town since his own.

And it was virtually a stop gap at the end of depressing season. It was Nunn’s first solo RSC production, mounted on a minimal budget on the set being used for David Warner’s Hamlet with only one well known actor in the leading roles, Ian Richardson.

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It was the week of the big blow-out: Neil LaBute’s Fat Pig proved size was a big tissue, the television series Super-sizers revealed two presenters, Giles Coren and Sue Perkins, eating for England down the ages until they were sick, and big Jodie from Blackpool (says she’s size 14; make that an 18) won the role of Nancy in Oliver! despite the fact that neither Cameron Mackintosh the producer, nor Andrew Lloyd Webber, the theatre owner, wanted her to.

Will Jodie manage eight shows a week? Will she do anything at all surprising as Nancy? Will director Rupert Goold be thrilled that she’s won the role ahead of my favourites, Rachel and Niamh, not to mention Jessie who came on strong towards the end?

I guess the answer is no to all three questions. One thing’s for certain: it’s the time of the big girl in the West End at the moment, what with Leanne Jones in Hairspray, the wonderful Ella Smith in Fat Pig and next up Jodie in Oliver!

On top of which fatty food for thought I had lunch in Joe Allen with an old friend and scoffed Eggs Benedict and hash browns just to keep Sir Derek Jacobi company; he was doing exactly the same at the next table but arose and made his exit with his customary grace and agility. Mind you, he did have broccoli on the side. I had extra fries and chocolate dessert.

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The Lord kept mentioning that he wasn’t sure if said Nancy has the stamina to do eight shows a week. Seems like none of them are allowed to! See below before you book, expecting to see the winning lass!

This is from the see tickets website:

Performance Schedule – Nancy & Oliver

As performances do not commence until 12 December, we do not yet have a full confirmed performance schedule for Nancy and Oliver.

Due to licensing issues we cannot decide which Oliver will perform until shortly before the performance starts.

Sickness and holiday permitting, we have decided that the winning Nancy is scheduled to perform on Monday and Tuesday evenings, Wednesday matinees and Friday evenings. Until the show opens in December we cannot make a final decision on any additional performances.

Cameron Mackintosh Ltd

There’s a lot of drama in sport. So why, I wonder, is there so little sport in drama? The thought came to me while watching Richard Bean’s The English Game on tour at Guildford. This cracking play (it arrives at Kingston’s Rose Theatre this month) uses cricket as a metaphor for the splits and fissures in English life. Yet, as I watched a Surrey audience lapping up Bean’s joke-filled state-of-the-nation play, I found myself puzzling over why theatre still takes a slightly sniffy attitude to sport.

Cricket hasn’t done too badly. Richard Harris’ Outside Edge caught the tension amongst the tea-making wives on the boundary: I remember my old sports journalist mate, Frank Keating, coming up to me on the first night and wittily describing it as “Ayckbourn off a shorter run”. And the great Ayckbourn himself included an off-stage cricket-match in Time and Time Again. You could also add to the list Terrence Rattigan’s TV play and film The Final Test, and the cricketing metaphors that pepper Pinter’s work. But it’s taken Bean to realise that cricket has a lot to tell us about who we are: just as the spirit of cricket is being eroded, so, Bean suggests, our native tradition of tolerance is being capsized by saloon-bar racism and the anti-Islamist stance of bullying media pundits.

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Well, now that the dust has settled and you have had time to pick yourself up off the floor, or maybe you have just finished watching Britain’s Got Talent on Skyplus; what a final!

I must admit I didn’t have the pleasure of watching the results show live, as I was at a gig, but I did see the three girls battle it out to begin with. Then I blocked all media coverage and watched the results at midnight, braced for a bad result. But what of the final three?

Firstly, Sam handled herself with real grace. I know I have given her some stick on here as she did seem slightly too driven for me and lacking in emotion. Her performances again, lacked the pizzazz yesterday needed to win, but she was a really gracious third place contestant. Not once did she resemble a spoilt brat like many do who get so close.

If you saw Britain’s Got Talent on the other side, you probably know what I mean. I’m sure this lass has a future, she could end up in Chicago, although I can see Bill Kenwright rubbing his hands with glee as he may just have found another narrator for his Joseph tour; an ideal role for Sam. If Tara can do it! (more…)