London Trip 2022 (October)

So I have just returned from my annual pilgrimage to all things ‘stagey’. As in my yearly trip to the theatre in London.

A slightly longer trip this time. Partially due to the fact they have a tendency to close the M4 on weekends and I can get lost going to the bathroom unless I concentrate 🙂 .

So it’s an early start Thursday 6^th October 2022. I leave Wales and drive to Hounslow West.

I used a new app for parking this time. As with rail strikes announced I wasn’t sure if people would switch to the tube, and I may not be able to get a parking space in the Tube station car park. I needn’t have worried as it turned out as I drove past I could see there were spaces.

Oh and one incident on my way in, I stop at a set of traffic lights and look in my rear view mirror just in time to see the spirit of the lady in the car behind leave her body as she realises I’ve stopped and she hadn’t. I braced myself pushing down on the foot break so hard I surmised that even if I snapped it my foot going through the floor would act as an anchor! Luckily she stopped with inches to spare and we both exhaled a sigh of relief.

Using ‘Your Parking Space’ app I found a driveway being rented out. Which said it had CCTV as well. So I got there and there was a car parked to the left and the space remaining would have meant parking right in front of their door.

I tried ringing, no reply, text and then just knocked on the door. The nice lady said “yes just park here” and even guided me to just in front of her door. So car parked up safely I walk to the tube and travel into London.

During the tube ride I check TodayTix and managed to get a ‘day seat’ for Grease at the Dominion theatre.

A venue so close to my hotel that during one visit years ago, turning my head while in bed and looking out the window I could see the statue of Freddie Mercury (that used to be there while We Will Rock You was in residence).

I get to the St.Giles hotel and find my room isn’t ready, I am early so I leave my cases and adjourn to the nearest pub. The Flying Horse on Oxford Street. Here I have a pint, check my social media a kill about half an hour.

I return to the hotel, still a little before the 2pm check in time and am lucky, my room is ready and they’ve given me a double room with two single beds.

Now I like the St.Giles, it is about as central as you can get without the need to sell a kidney and half a gallbladder to stay a night. This trip cost me £430 for 4 nights. The prices do appear to be using the dynamic pricing system that appears to be taking hold in all sectors at the moment. As when I checked just before leaving Wales the same room cost over £1000.00

So first show of the trip Grease.

 

 

 

Creatives: Book, Music & Lyrics – Jim Jacobs & Warren Casey, Director – Nikolai Foster, Choreographer – Arlene Phillips, Musical Supervisor and Arranger – Sarah Travis, Musical Director – Dan Glover.

(My seat was Stalls Row P Seat 3)

As to the cast, see photo above for the cast list at the performance I saw.

Now the story of Grease will be well known to most people. Set in the summer of 1958, just before the Sixties explosion of youth empowerment, otherwise known as when ‘teenagers’ were invented, or at least became the teens we know today.

It tells of ‘Danny‘ and ‘Sandy‘ who meet a the beach and fall in love. However when summer ends and they return to School. ‘Sandy‘ unexpectedly ends up going to the same school as ‘Danny‘, and all the pressure to fit in puts a wedge between them, as ‘Danny‘ has to put on the bravado of being the leader of the Burger Palace Boys. Yes that’s right not the T-Birds as in the movie.

All the other characters are there, although in a slightly different form or scenarios in some cases

That’s because this is a new production, that is a strange mix of the original 1971 musical and the ‘uber-famous’ movie version which came out in 1978.

Which by way of an aside was the first film I ever went to see on my own (read without my parents) or at least with a group of friends from school.

So most of the songs from the movie are featured together with some from the original show that were sidelined to basically background music or even instrumental versions used as background music in some scenes in the film.

This production has new choreography by Arlene Phillips, excuse me Dame Arlene Phillips. Who choreographed the 1993 version that was the first production to use all the songs from the movie. Which also premiered here at the Dominion Theatre. I really enjoyed that version, (oh and anyone saying they were too young to remember it needs to leave now 😉 ) I also really enjoyed this version too. It’s different. Has a harder edge and tries to ‘iron out’ some of the more “problematic” themes.

Well I say problematic themes, but this is where I disagree with the modern take of “I cannot and must not be offended by anything” and “all art must conform to today’s societal norms”.

Personally I believe if a show was written at a time when opinions and outlooks were different it should be presented as what it is, a piece of art that is ‘of it’s time’, and if people then want to use it as a starting point of discussion on how things have changed so be it. But DO NOT start censoring past works because they do not fit with your current opinions, beliefs or idea of what should and should not be featured in a piece of entertainment.

For me, as in every production I’ve seen of this show, stand out songs were: ‘Sandy’, ‘Hopelessly devoted to you’ and ‘There are worse things I could do’.

A really fun, high energy start to my trip.

Show two, and the only one I pre-booked. As I found out from their website that they make the front row available each Wednesday for the coming week at £29.50, As opposed to the second row which is anything from £89.75 to £169.75 for a few rows further back.

The show was wicked, no really the show was ‘Wicked‘ I wasn’t making a comment on it’s quality, although it was as great as I remembered. 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

Music / Lyrics – Stephen Schwartz, Book – Winnie Holzman, Director – Joe Mantello, Musical Staging – Wayne Cilento. This show is based on the original novel by Gregory Maguire.

Cast:

‘Elphaba’ Lucie Jones, ‘Glinda’ Samantha Thomas, ‘Fiyero‘ Ryan Reid, ‘Madame Morrible‘ Sophie-Louise Dann, ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz‘ Gary Wilmot ‘Nessarose’ Laura Harrison, ‘Boq‘ Nicholas Mclean, ‘Doctor Dillamond‘ Simeon Truby and ensemble.

(My seat was Stalls A32)

Now I’ve seen Wicked a number of times before, including the original West End cast when Idina Menzel came over to open the show. So I knew I was going to enjoy it. For me, and I know this is always a risk. I was hoping for a specific performer, namely Lucie Jones in the lead as ‘Elphaba‘.

I was lucky and Lucie was performing tonight, and what a performance she was brilliant! So I thought I’d completed my Welsh duo. Having seen Sophie Evans play ‘Glinda‘ a few years ago. However, and this is my best guess as upon asking if they had a cast board at the Apollo I was told:

“Yes it’s the.. Oh it’s not loading”

So after checking WestEnd Understudies on twitter I believe I did the double in one night as I think it was Samantha (another Welshie, in fact member of the Welsh in the West End group of performers) playing the role of ‘Glinda‘.

All the cast were excellent and it was lovely to see a stalwart of theatre and musicals the great Gary Wilmot as ‘the Wizard’.

My favourite bits / songs:

“I’m not that girl”, “Defying Gravity” and “For good”.

So we reach the end of day one. I grab a quick meal on the way back to the hotel and crash for the evening.

 

Day 2 – Friday

Now this is the day when I usually have less theatre and more sightseeing. However I’d heard through a nice comment on MTAS (Musical Theatre Appreciation Society, on Facebook) that there was now one or two shows with a Friday matinee. So..

I get up, head out grab breakfast at the Moon under Water in Leicester Square and sit there like a demented digital woodpecker tapping furiously at the screen of my phone as I try to get day seats for ‘& Juliet‘. Unfortunately on this occasion I fail. I do manage to get one for ‘To Kill a Mockingbird‘ for this evening.

So I go to the main ‘& Juliet‘ website and find that there was a third row seat available for £55. So I grab that. So shows sorted. Now what do I do from 10:30am to 3pm when the first show starts.

Well after about 30 years of going to London, in most cases at least once a year. I realise I have never been to Buckingham Palace, or at least not since aged about 8 my parents took us for the day to London and all I remember was having our photo taken outside number 10 Downing Street (yes you could do that back then), visiting said Buck House and getting a gift from a massive toy store in (if memory serves) Oxford Street.

So after all the coverage of the passing of our late Queen I thought I’d wander along and check it out.

So I head to Trafalgar Square and then along the Mall. At this point I realise half the population of a small town had the same idea at the EXACT SAME TIME. There were thousands of people there.

London did seem to me busier than recent visits, even taking into consideration the ‘end’ of covid.

So I head further up, the crowds growing all the time and am greeted with this..

It turns out I’d got there around the time there was some sort of ceremony going on in the courtyard with a military band playing and some guards changing. So all in all a great spectacle.

Back in what I class as ‘central London’ and it’s time for the show. So I head along to the Shaftesbury Theatre. Realise I am still too early and so do a circuit of said venue and find a nice little pub that was almost literally empty. So I have a pint while I wait.

Getting into the venue I see I have lucked out with a great seat with good leg room and a great view of the stage.

‘& Juliet‘ is a new ‘Jukebox’ musical that features the music of Max Martin and is written by the writer of the sitcom ‘Schitt’s Creek’ David West Read.

Director – Luke Sheppard, Choreographer Jennifer Webber, Music Supervisor, orchestrator and arranger – Bill Sherman, Musical Director – Patrick Hurley

For cast at this performance, see photo above.

(My Seat Was Stalls C29)

Basically the premise is that ‘Anne Hathaway‘ (Shakespeare’s wife) turns up unannounced in London and tells him she doesn’t like the ending of his latest show ‘Romeo & Juliet’. Saying she can write a better one, which she promptly sets about doing.

The cast in this show were excellent.

I was hoping to see Cassidy Janson, however when I found out she had a week off, I was thinking okay, well it happens. I needn’t have worried though as Collette Guitart as ‘Anne‘ was brilliant. I knew Oliver Tompsett was great after seeing some performances and interviews with him online during lockdown. I also saw Zara Mackintosh in the lead role and she was wonderful.

Now I will say this is a show that was not top of my ‘”must see” list. I had seen clips and knew the cast were talented, but for me the music is pretty much “meh” I mean I know the writer is successful but I won’t be going out to buy the cast recording of this one.

As a piece of live theatre I’d give it a strong 8/10. The cast had fun and this was projected to the audience and we in turn had fun. The story was amusing, with nods to modern social norms, and moved along at such a pace it certainly didn’t drag.

Would I go to see the show again? Well yes if the cast were as good, it’s a fun night out at the theatre. Just not going to the top of my ‘Must see’ more of and buy the music and the merchandise etc.

So after a quick change it is to my second show of the day, and for the first time in a while it’s not a musical or a concert, but a play, and a classic play at that.

 

To Kill a Mockingbird: Original story – Harper Lee, This ‘new play’ by Aaron Sorkin, Directed by Bartlett Sher.

Cast: (I Believe, again no cast board I could see) Richard Coyle ‘Atticus Finch‘, Harry Attwell ‘Mr. Cunningham, Boo Radley, Cover Judge Taylor, Bob Ewell, Sheriff Heck Tate‘, Amanda Boxer ‘Mrs. Henry Dubose‘, Niall Buggy ‘Judge Taylor‘, Poppy Lee Friar ‘Mayella Ewell‘, John Hastings ‘Bailiff, Cover Horace Gilmer‘, Simon Hepworth ‘Mr. Roscoe, Dr. Reynolds, Cover Sheriff Heck Tate, Link Deas‘, Laura Howard ‘Miss Stephanie/Dill’s Mother‘, Lloyd Hutchinson ‘Link Deas‘, Gwyneth Keyworth ‘Scout Finch‘, Tom Mannion ‘Sheriff Heck Tate‘, David Moorst ‘Dill Harris‘, Pamela Nomvete ‘Calpurnia‘, Patrick O’Kane ‘Bob Ewell‘, Jude Owusu ‘Tom Robinson’, Harry Redding ‘Jem Finch‘, David Sturzaker ‘Horace Gilmer’, Natasha Williams ‘Mrs Dubose’s Maid, Cover Calpurnia‘ and Helen Belbin, Laurence Belcher, Paul Birchard, Ryan Ellsworth, Rebecca Hayes, Danny Hetherington, Matthew Jure, Anna Munden, Tiwai Muza, Oyin Orija, Itoya Osagiede, Candida Caldicot Musical Director & Organist, Ciyo Brown Guitarist

(My seat was Stalls Row M seat 6)

Now short of knowing about (but never having seen) the film with Gregory Peck and that it was about racism I knew virtually nothing about this play.

To be totally honest I booked it as I loved ‘The West Wing’ and ‘The Newsroom’ both series by the brilliant Aaron Sorkin. So knowing he’d re-written this version I thought I’d give it a go.

Whoa I was not ready for this. This play is SO powerful and thought provoking, almost physically painful in places to watch as you realise what the people of colour in the US (and many other places, including here in the UK) have had to put up with for so many years, and sadly still do at times.

I loved the way the court case ‘book-ended’ the whole show with other scenes being told in ‘flashback’ form. Returning to the courtroom periodically.

The performances were outstanding. For me the stand out was the young actress who played ‘Scout‘ Gwyneth Keyworth. Who I honestly did not know was Welsh before I formulated my thought she was my standout performance. I mean also Richard Coyle, David Moorst, Pamela Nomvete and Harry Redding were excellent, but, even in naming them I feel guilty as the whole cast were phenomenal.

I would return to see this show again and again if I had the chance, but I would need some time to get over it between each visit.

As it turned out I had planned this quite well as after this show I had booked a seat for the ‘Top Secret Comedy Club’ a new venue (for me) for stand up comedy. The tickets were cheaper than the Comedy Store, probably as the show was shorter.

This meant I could wind down after such a powerful and moving night at the theatre.

So I trek across central London to just behind the Gillian Lynne theatre and after a quick drink opposite as the venue was over-running with the previous show (they have up to 4 a night), it was into the tiniest of performance spaces I think I have ever been in, in London, and also one of the coldest. As I was sat directly below the type of air con unit that I believe you would usually be reserved for industrial cold storage units. Even as I sat there shivering I felt guilty, as I spend 98% of my theatre going life complaining that venues are too hot!

Now unfortunately I can’t tell you the name of most of the comedians who appeared in this show. As they said there would be a QR code on your way out which would give you their details, but I couldn’t find it. The only one I know is Anuvab Pal, and the reason I know him is he was doing one of the slots in the Comedy Store the night after so I saw him twice in two nights. They were all very funny, and I will definitely be adding this venue to future trips.

 

Day 3 – Saturday.

So at just before 9am I am stood outside the box office of the Phoenix Theatre so I can buy a day seat for my chosen show of the evening Come From Away. Now this was a lonely wait this time as I was the only person there right up to and including 10:00am when the box office opened and I had my choice of the front row.

It was quite amusing though to see people crossing the street not to walk in front of me, no I’m not that intimidating, (at least I think I’m not) it was the fact I was stood there laughing to myself as I was listening to the great Billy Connolly narrating his biography on my phone 😉

Then I head to the Moon under Water and have a breakfast. Having to sit outside this time as the inside was packed by 10:20am.

There really did seem to be a heck of a lot more people in London this trip. Not sure if it was just people coming back out in numbers after the lockdowns or if there were events on. I believe a few football matches for example. But it was BUSY.

*Edit – * Since writing the first draft of this I’ve been told there was a NFL match on up there that weekend as well

So I had decided to give a walking tour a miss this time, in the hope of saving my feet, and it worked. So I booked an open top bus ride. Now I know I could technically DRIVE this the amount of times I’ve done it. However it’s a fun, informative and relaxing way of seeing central London and in nice weather (as I was blessed with again this trip, no rain at all whenever I was outside the whole time) it can’t be beaten.

Now I booked this after I managed to get a reduced seat for Only Fools and Horses the Musical. This not being available on the TodayTix app I had to go to their website direct. So with the shows for the day sorted it was head for the edge of Leicester Square near to Trafalgar Square to try and find my bus.

It was at this point I had started to wonder if I had bitten off more than I could fit into a day (to mix a metaphor) 🙂 As I had just under two and a half hours till the show started and these tours usually take about two hours.

I was lucky as there was a bus there when I arrived and I managed to get a seat outside but right by the enclosed overhang at the front of the bus upstairs.

So I thought, worst case scenario I may have to jump off ¾ way round and make my way to the theatre. Luckily it didn’t come to this, although only just. As after a very pleasant about 110 minutes we hit the mother of all traffic jams. Apparently caused by protestors for a variety of causes marching down the middle of various central London roads.

Anyway I get back to where we started about 15 minutes before the show is due to start, luckily we had passed the theatre during the bus ride and I realised it was a five minute walk.

Only Fools and Horses – The Musical

 

Book, Lyrics & original score: Paul Whitehouse & Jim Sullivan, Director: Caroline Jay Ranger, Musical Supervisor, Orchestrator & Arranger: Stuart Morley

Cast –

Les Dennis – ‘Grandad‘, Tom Bennett ‘Del Boy‘, Ryan Hutton ‘Rodney‘, Nicola Munns ‘Cassandra’ / ‘Marlene‘, Lee VG ‘Trigger‘, Leanne Garretty ‘Raquel‘, Craig Berry ‘Boycie‘, Andrew Bryant ‘Mike the Barman’ / ‘Tony‘ / ‘Cripps‘, Danny Bayne ‘Mickey Pearce‘ / ‘Danny Driscoll‘, Adrian Irvine ‘Denzil’, Marion Campbell ‘Mrs Obooka‘, Danny Lane ‘Dating Agent’ / ‘Sid‘, Plus supporting cast.

Now after reading the programme I can see that John Sullivan creator and writer of Only Fools started working on this with Paul Whitehouse shortly before he passed away.

This is a musical based on the massively successful TV series of the same name, it features all the well known characters and a lot of the ‘classic moments’ as well.

It basically tells the story of when ‘Del’ meets ‘Raquel‘ and switches the order of some other classic ‘bits of business’ from the various series around this.

The cast are great, really inhabiting their characters, whether it be ‘Boycie’s’ laugh or ‘Del Boy’s withering put down of his “plonker” younger brother ‘Rodney‘ The actor playing the younger brother was in my opinion the closest to the TV version.

The songs were fun if not instantly memorable, and they manage to include the theme song into the production which always goes down well with the faithful in the audience.

For this show I was in stalls seat A11 (front row and does come with a “limited view” warning). Now even for someone of my height this really is a raised stage and I did feel I was looking up a LOT during the show. I can’t say I missed anything specific but it would have been a better view from further back.

So after this comedy it was a return to “the Rock” as in another visit to Come From Away, my favourite show currently running in the West End and one of my top two favourite shows in over 30 years of theatre going.

I have posted a photo of the cast board from when I attended.

I have written numerous other reviews of what I thought of this show, so won’t add another here. It’s enough to say it was as funny, moving and life affirming as the first time I saw it. Oh and I have a ticket for both shows on the last day in early January!

One thing I did notice this time being sat a little closer to centre in the front row seat I obtained was seeing the tear rolling down the face of Jonathan Andrew Hume, wow what a performance. All the cast were wonderful, featuring a lot of swings at this performance. Everyone deserving of their place on a West End stage.

From here it was a quick hop across Leicester Square to The Comedy Store, where I managed to get ‘my seat’ and was treated to a great night’s comedy.

Day 4 Sunday

I personally love the fact that certain West End shows now do Sunday matinee’s. As a result now usually not having Monday evening performances. So I knew I could see a show today.

I get up and with some trepidation walk into the bathroom and enter the small cubicle of pain. Otherwise known as ‘The Shower’.

Cubicle of pain I hear you wonder? Well yes dear reader let me explain, for someone my size these ever so tiny enclosures can be an issue. I mean I felt sorry for the neighbours in the adjoining room who must have thought there were next to the Drum corps of the Royal Marines rehearsing.

As I .. turn left ‘CRACK’ Elbow to lower wall one, turn ‘SMACK’ right knee to opposing wall, swift turn counter-clockwise and bow head to add water to hair and ‘CRUNCH’ forehead into higher wall three! All in all a drum solo Ronnie Wood would have been proud of.

All the time looking, should anyone have seen me, like a rather rotund Tarzan fighting the giant river snake in the Amazon as I went 6 rounds with the shower head which each time it was taken out of it’s restraints attacked me trying, and succeeding on two occasions to wrap itself around me! Battle concluded we call it a draw.

This being my final day I did a bit of forward planning as to which show I could see. I really wanted to see Tina – The Tina Turner Musical, and was looking to see if there were any others that ran after it, so I could finish on a high and do another two show day, meaning in 4 days I’d seen 10 shows.

After trying and succeeding to get a ticket for Tina I head out to go for a wander, and see if there are any theatres near the home of this show that had performances around the time it finished.

I walk along the Strand and see a Greggs had opened there, So feeling like a change I decide to pop in for some breakfast.

Continuing my stroll I see that Six – The Musical is a few minutes away, Frozen around the corner and The Play that goes wrong just opposite Frozen.

So, I do my homework, Frozen starts 30 minutes before Tina ends. Now I’m good but even I’m not THAT good! I pop to Six and they have a seat but want £65 for it. Now as I’ve seen this show recently and the seat was in the middle of a row so I knew would be tight leg room wise I decided against it.

I call to the box office for The Play that Goes Wrong and ask if they do ‘day seats’ the nice gentleman there says:

“no .. but I have a single seat in the stalls online for £53 and I can do it for £25 for you”

So good times, an evening with Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society it is.

Wandering around the area for a few hours I find myself in Covent Garden and as the weather is lovely, I head into the Punch & Judy pub, as it has a balcony that overlooks where the street performers are and I’d always wanted to have a pint there.

I was lucky as there was a seat there, not at the front of the balcony but just behind, So I can sit in the sun, sip my lager and enjoy the “ambience” as Micky Flanningan would say.

Heading out the the pub a little later I walk down the central ‘row’ of shops in the covered interior of the Garden, passing one window there is a group of young men all huddled around a window of a shop. The first thing that springs to mind is “like kids in a sweet shop” (only older) then I look a little closer and IT IS A SWEET SHOP! Guess no matter how old we get we’re all still kids at heart when we see sweeties. 😉

So it is 3pm and I enter the Aldwych theatre.

Tina – The Tina Turner Musical

Book – Katori Hall, Frank Ketelaar, Kees Prins, Director – Phyllida Lloyd, Choreographer Anthony Van Laast, Musical Supervisor, arrangements and additional Music – Nicholas Skilbeck,

Cast – See Photo above

Tina Turner is one of the Rock and Roll (or Soul, if you want a sub genre as well) greats. Performing since the 1960’s she has had a career unrivalled in it’s breadth of styles and longevity.

She also had her demons to overcome, sadly the main one being her ex-husband Ike Turner, who after discovering her was physically and mentally abusive to her for many years.

I knew a little of her background, and career, all the main bullet points you may say. However I was not ready for this show. The way it tells her story, the visceral performances of the leads, and indeed the whole cast was moving in the extreme. I found myself moved to tears on occasions. This could have been partly due to my proximity to the action, my seat being row AZ2 in the stalls, which was the front row.

I felt I was ‘in the action’, feeling fearful and uncomfortable, and then at different times uplifted and empowered. The ferocity of the fights, the sheer will to survive of Tina and the raw power of the singing and acting of Aisha Jawando playing Tina (at her last performance as it turned out) was one of the greatest moments I’ve ever had in the theatre.

I didn’t know it was Aisha’s last performance when I booked but I was blessed to be there and see her play this role. Apparently the first non-American to do so.

The only let down was that they had run out of programmes, So I am (hopefully) indebted to a lady on a Facebook group I am a member of who said she had a spare one and would send it to me.

I really can’t pick stand out moments in this show, as it was a tour de force on all sides, the performances as previously mentioned, the band, the staging everything.

A great ‘last musical’ of the trip.

So to the final show of the trip and a return visit (number 3 or 4 if memory serves) to The Play that Goes Wrong. The original show by the Mischief Theatre company.

Director – Mark Bell, Writers – Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, Henry Shields,

Cast (again from the programme as no cast board I could see)

‘Trevor‘ Tomisin Ajani, ‘Annie‘ Ashh Blackwood, ‘Chris‘ Mikhail Sen, ‘Jonathan‘ Oliver Mott, ‘Robert‘ Tendai Humphrey Sitima, ‘Dennis‘ Jaouhar Ben Ayed, ‘Sandra‘ Anya De Villiers, ‘Max‘ Scott Hunter, ‘Jack Brad‘ Stuart Vincent, ‘Simon Butterworth‘ Jack Whittle, ‘Toby Richardson‘ Charlie Richards, ‘Nina Robson‘ Emily Waters, ‘Sadie Smith‘ Roisin Fahey

(My seat was Stalls D3)

This is a modern take on the classic Farce type of theatrical show. First performed 3 September 2014 it has (I believe) run here ever since. With Mischief theatre going on to do other shows: ‘Peter Pan goes wrong’, ‘The Comedy about a bank robbery’, ‘Magic goes wrong’ a number of TV series and there is a new show premiering soon as well.

It’s your classic farce premise, where by anything that can go wrong, does go wrong, with split second timing. The current cast are great, the humour continues to land on every beat, and it’s a hilarious night at the theatre.

It would be spoilers in the extreme if I was to give examples of what happens. All I will say is if you get the chance go and see it.

So another trip ends with me the proud owner of a load of programmes and fridge magnets, a severely depleted wallet and two aching, but on this occasion not totally wrecked feet!

I have a concert (non-musical related) so new for me, next when I see The Proclaimers. Then it’s Blood Brothers the last day of November and The Welsh of the West End Christmas Concert early December.

So shows to see, stay Stagey folks.