tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33621894321487349642012-01-31T02:15:55.892ZHome to "The Inspirations Project"Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.comBlogger901100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-75370505081804235682010-10-10T15:07:00.002Z2010-10-10T15:10:09.315Z

Les Miserables Aux Folles As I write, it’s almost a week since I tried to get to the French revolution during a tube strike. OK, that’s a slight exaggeration, I was of course attending the 25th Anniversary concert of “Les Miserables” at Greenwich’s O2, but yes a tube strike was beginning that night, so my mind was possibly more occupied on how one earth I would get home rather than the joys of

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-88742332735902748322010-09-30T19:59:00.003Z2010-09-30T20:01:49.390Z

As anyone who knows me intimately can tell you I have rather a big one. Now, now don’t let you dirty mind get you all carried away, what I am referring to is, of course, my comprehensive collection of CD’s and DVD’s. Barely a week goes by without me having to purchase the latest must have item for my listening or viewing pleasure, and the last week was no exception as I was woken with a thud on

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-41274270140037081982010-04-11T20:11:00.000Z2010-04-11T20:11:53.102Z

In the last few weeks the show-biz forums have been well and truly buzzing. It seems people were well and truly up in arms! How could Andrew Lloyd Webber have the audacity to produce a sequel to “The Phantom of The Opera?” How dare he write a follow up to the greatest musical ever? How dare he re-use a song he had already put in another show? These questions were only the tip of the iceberg as

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-10940517527461483452009-10-04T11:19:00.003Z2009-10-04T11:24:19.679Z

Well, it’s been a while since I introduced you to one of my Really Useful People , so I thought it was high time that we caught up with a couple of my previous subjects and see what they are up to now.Firstly, erstwhile “Rusty”, Adam Ellis has had a successful run in “Pirates Of Penzance” at the Union Theatre and is shortly to make his debut in “Chicago” as Mary Sunshine. So if you want to see

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-68523134609838691972009-09-16T12:48:00.002Z2009-09-16T12:49:06.575Z

High kicks and high fidelity, jock straps and leg warmers, big egos, big talents and sho sho sho shorofsky. Leroy Johnson, Doris Schwartz and Bruno Martelli. Friday night’s gonna be alright, Starmaker and if you don’t know by now what I am talking about the immortal words of Lydia Grant will give you a final clue. “You want fame? Well fame costs, and right here’s where you start paying…in sweat

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-43717957997236719392009-08-30T15:38:00.002Z2009-08-30T15:51:23.596Z

So I left you last time with a family reunion and The Doctor and Martha battling The Master. Well you will be pleased to hear that our intrepid time-travellers outwitted the malicious Time Lord. However, my neighbours were not so lucky. Needless to say they weren’t pitted against an alien megalomaniac….merely the drug squad. Yes, it was somewhat of a surprise to discover that just across the

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-17157085320753799782009-08-23T11:09:00.002Z2009-08-23T11:10:09.475Z

Well, it’s been a long time hasn’t it? I must admit I have been trying to work out why it has taken me quite so much time to write another column. Perhaps it’s the seismic shock of hitting forty? Perhaps the stresses of a new show opening here at the Palladium? Perhaps even the fact that there hasn’t been a series proper of “Doctor Who” this year? Well who knows? I guess I will just have to use

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-21410232777065435782009-02-26T20:51:00.001Z2009-02-26T20:53:52.121Z

This one was rejected from the really useful website - but I guess it IS a tad irreverent...Well, to paraphrase Oscar Hammerstein, our days in the hills have come to an end. Well almost, as 21st February sees “The Sound Of Music” take it’s final bows at the London Palladium after a successful run of over two years. One of the world’s most beloved musicals, it was hardly a surprise that Andrew

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-63457939436791209902009-01-08T18:17:00.001Z2009-01-08T18:19:23.708Z

Well it’s been a little while since I have written an intranet column so I thought it was high time that I thought of something to write for you. After all with all the credit crunchiness of current newspaper articles a little diversion is called for. So, as 2009 begins it gives me a great excuse to look back on 2008.With all the current doom and gloom I think what we most probably need is an “

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-89125975811076266762008-12-04T20:18:00.001Z2008-12-04T20:22:42.503Z

So far my pursuit to find “Really Useful People” has brought you a Welshman, An Australian and an American. This edition sees me heading to Europe (metaphorically) to chat to German born leading man Uwe Kroeger who began his career as the first German speaking “Rusty” in “Starlight Express”. Later roles include the German premier of “Sunset Boulevard” and recording the role of the Phantom for the

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-58188673187077295442008-11-17T20:08:00.001Z2008-11-17T20:10:36.541Z

“I’m Henery The Eighth I Am, Henery The Eighth I Am I Am”. Well, actually I am no such thing and don’t pretend to be. Neither, for that matter, did Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits as he sang the preceding lyric back in the sixties. However, as happens every now and then Henry VIII and indeed all things Tudor seem to be capturing everybody’s imagination once more.Historical fiction both in print

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-36933427231083484722008-10-21T13:23:00.003Z2008-10-21T13:24:53.448Z

I have always been a woman who arranges things……no that’s Dolly Levi, what I mean to say is I that I have always been a sucker for nostalgia. Taking that into account 2008 has seen me getting all nostalgic for two television shows that were a huge part of my childhood.Recently I was quite saddened to hear that “Grange Hill” had drawn to an end after thirty years and thirty one series. Of course

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-63695918008336255202008-09-27T09:30:00.002Z2008-09-27T09:35:25.245Z

Once again it’s time to meet another of my Really Useful People, this time I head across the Atlantic (if only the trip was for real!) to talk to Broadway leading lady Liz Callaway.Liz is possibly best known for a Tony nominated performance in the musical “Baby”, being part of the original New York cast of “Miss Saigon”, and “Follies In Concert” at the Lincoln Centre.She has also voiced lead

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-87812710874651945142008-08-19T14:31:00.001Z2008-08-19T14:32:34.243Z

Full frontal nudity. I can’t believe I just said that…….Full frontal nudity. Oops I did it again! Well this column is not usually somewhere you find that sort of thing and no, don’t worry, you are safe to scroll down to the photo – no nudity there. In all honesty just as such a thing is rare here it is also rare on the musical stage – but with some notable exceptions….2008 sees the fortieth

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-65782546726519428432008-08-07T14:39:00.001Z2008-08-07T14:41:54.097Z

So what is it with all the Nazi’s? I worked for years in the West End without a Nazi in sight but in the last few years they seem to be everywhere. It’s ironic really. There were less than a handful of musicals which included them amongst their characters, and now not only have most of them been produced, but more have been created.First we had the comedy Nazi’s of “The Producers” and from then

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-61867292304966123912008-06-26T09:45:00.001Z2008-06-26T09:47:24.427Z

It’s always interesting to keep an eye and ear pointed towards Broadway to see just what is going on there, and to ponder what shows may make their way to the other side of “the pond”. Of course there are those amongst us that make regular forays to the big apple and see all of the new shows at first hand. I am not one of those people. Boo Hoo. However it’s well known that I am a CD addict so I

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-11865545809733187682008-06-13T10:23:00.001Z2008-06-13T10:25:55.498Z

Ten or so years ago the country, well most of the western world, was in shock. The dreaded event had happened. Yes, Take That had split up! This was by no means the first time that the world was “shaken” by events in the pop industry however. For that we have to look back around fifty years ago to the seismic shock that was felt at the news that Elvis Presley was going to do his national service!

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-2855988322473484932008-05-28T09:18:00.002Z2008-05-28T09:21:38.095Z

So what is “Really Useful People” all about? Simply put, it’s a new feature where we get to find out about people connected to Really Useful and/or the musicals of Andrew Lloyd Webber.Our first subject is performer Adam Ellis. Adam graduated from Laine Theatre Arts in 2003 and has been in “Barnum”, “Do I Hear A Waltz” and “The Pirates Of Penzance” over the last few years. Most notably Adam has

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-74286375522654309592008-05-20T15:26:00.002Z2008-05-20T15:27:45.850Z

Small pleasures? Well some things are more of a guilty pleasure. Cream cakes, Marks and Spencer’s crisps, facebook and of course “I’d Do Anything” all definitely fall into that camp. What often amuses me is how much my facebook friends seem to obsess over the television search for “Nancy”. They are joining groups announcing their support of a particular contestant and their status often bemoans

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-2807573015871863882008-05-15T13:07:00.002Z2008-05-15T13:08:17.925Z

A long long time ago in a galaxy far far away……well actually just a short way across the west end…..I set foot in a theatre box office for the first time. Before I say anything else I should probably clarify that I was VERY young. In fact I was just eighteen. It wasn’t the first time I had worked in a theatre either, as I had worked at the Palladium as an attendant for the previous three school

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-63910143883353575392008-04-30T13:45:00.002Z2008-05-02T10:43:17.739Z

Now where was I? Oh yes! I was in Germany with a bar of Suchard’s Milka watching Musical Showstar 2008. Well, the holiday was soon over but I did manage to watch the two further editions of this casting show online. It’s not nearly as comfortable sitting at my PC, and yes I did miss the chocolate, but it was great to be able to log on and see what happened next.As you will remember the point of

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-75306314708816794662008-04-23T14:11:00.002Z2008-04-23T14:12:56.924Z

On the first day the lord created Maria. He soon realised that he had a hit on his hands so it wasn’t long before Joseph followed, and others too got on the bandwagon. Two years on and these reality/talent shows are very much part of the entertainment landscape. Last year saw casting shows for “Grease” both here and in America, and now it seems that it’s gone worldwide. So far this year the trend

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-32972773680127464832008-04-16T14:06:00.001Z2008-04-16T14:10:14.168Z

One o-clock and you're at the gate, Two o-clock and the flight's delayed, When you finally leave it's eight, And what do we do? We fly!Well that’s Stephen Sondheim’s take on air travel “What Do We Do We Fly” from his sixties collaboration with Richard Rodgers – “Do I Hear A Waltz?”Forty years on and it seems the pitfalls of flying have changed relatively little. It was with some trepidation that

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-59717029317744988702008-04-04T14:57:00.001Z2008-04-04T14:59:14.616Z

Regular readers of this column will be very aware of my frequent trips across the channel and my love affair with La Vie Parisienne. However, what may come as a surprise is the fact that I visit Germany just a frequently. It has to be said that my visits to the small town of Kircheim Unter Teck are really quite different to my Paris jaunts though. Staying with an elderly grandmother isn’t quite

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-37667674950746750532008-03-18T12:01:00.002Z2008-03-18T12:01:54.443Z

Saturday 22nd March sees Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber celebrating the occasion of his sixtieth birthday so it only seems fitting that this week I talk about him! Sir Andrew is, of course, best known as a composer of musical theatre. Despite being an art form dominated by the Americans there are a long line of Brit’s who have had success in the field. Ivor Novello, David Heneker, Lionel Bart, Sandy

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-24382070558577711272008-03-18T11:59:00.001Z2008-03-18T12:01:03.569Z

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-85737730557470115812008-03-06T19:36:00.001Z2008-03-06T19:38:52.564Z

To paraphrase the great Eartha Kitt I am just an old fashioned boy. Also like Eartha I am lacking an old fashioned millionaire. Where we differ is in that I can listen to my “Chopin and Bizet and the songs of yesterday” on my brand new second hand mp3 player. No, not an Ipod, as I say, I am old fashioned. I much prefer my music on the old fashioned compact disc. Who could imagine that a time

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-57577038534484483952008-02-26T15:47:00.002Z2008-02-26T15:48:23.596Z

To say I grew up liking Indian music would be an out and out lie. In fact I hated it. Sunday mornings when I was very small I would get out of bed and hope that Hammy The Hamster or Andy Pandy would be on television only to be faced by a be-saried Lady standing in a small circle singing “Nai Zindagi Naya Jeevan” – the opening music to a TV show which ran from 1968 – 1982. My Urdu fails me so I

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-28343012687747765012008-02-15T15:44:00.001Z2008-02-15T15:46:06.476Z

“I don’t know why, I don’t know, but I see a dolphin and it makes me cry”, well actually it doesn’t, but for Martyn Joseph in his early nineties hit single it most certainly did. However, whilst I am rarely moved by aquatic mammals I am often moved by the arts of course. I have stood in front of a great painting and felt it with every inch of my being. I have listened to a song that touched my

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-21692776226968277632008-02-08T15:47:00.000Z2008-02-08T15:49:45.435Z

“When you are as old I my dear, and I hope that you stay as you are….” So sings “The Old Lady” in Stephen Schwartz’s much loved seventies musical “Pippin”. You get a lot of old ladies in musicals. Whether it’s Hattie Walker belting out “Broadway Baby” in “Follies” or any number of gymnastic grandma’s in “The Producers” musical theatre has a plethora of women of a certain age. In my own

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-80296819028544300472008-01-31T16:21:00.000Z2008-01-31T16:22:34.321Z

What’s The Buzz?If you were to run a poll asking what Andrew Lloyd Webber’s greatest work is I have a sneaking suspicion that “The Phantom Of The Opera” would win by a mile. If you asked me I would plump for “Evita”, although I think “Joseph” is the most entertaining. However, if you were to ask, Palladium redcoat, Anthony Bristoe he would say “Jesus Christ Superstar”. Suggest he is mistaken and

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-69853339243911791372008-01-24T20:17:00.000Z2008-01-24T20:20:29.854Z

I had a surreal experience a few days ago. There I was watching Saturday night television and what should I see? Raptors. As in dinosaurs. The weird thing was that they were in Kingston’s Bentall’s centre. Now living relatively close to Kingston for almost twenty years I have often been to the Bentall’s centre and I have seen some strange things there believe me. But Kingston has a surprisingly

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-35108120965398719262008-01-17T15:15:00.000Z2008-01-17T15:28:23.000Z

“So many books!” exclaimed Ilona Ritter, in the 1964 musical “She Loves Me” ,and I know exactly what she meant. Since I was a small child I have been a voracious reader, and given that I have previously touched on other creative forms, such as art and television, I thought it was high time that I mentioned literature.Armistead Maupin, Emily Bronte, David Leavitt, Charles Dickens, Anne Rice (a

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-23332285779675372682008-01-11T16:14:00.000Z2008-01-11T16:18:09.455Z

So said Benny and Bjorn many moons ago. Indeed, it’s true, we are well into January and the party season is truly behind us, but as a colleague of mine is fond of saying, it will soon be Christmas! So anyway, we are back to the business we call “show” and yet again I have to keep my eye open for topics for the column.So far I have drawn a complete blank so I thought I would exclusively reveal

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-2627688565232098192007-12-30T10:09:00.000Z2008-01-02T22:42:08.885Z

“Save the cheerleader save the world!”Well that got your attention!So the year is almost over which means there is no better time for me to take a (slightly tongue in cheek) look back,and also forward into 2008.Hmmmmmmmmmm 2007, well it’s been an eventful year I guess. Gordon Brown was voted king of the jungle. Christopher Biggins became our new prime minister after the resignation of Lionel

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-70915283781206129892007-12-17T16:21:00.000Z2007-12-17T16:22:36.724Z

There are many things that sum up Christmas. Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. The weather men talking of that elusive white Christmas. Small terraced houses covered with thousand of pounds worth of flashing lights. Perhaps, even going through the advent calendar and eating all the chocolates before the first week of December has passed. For many of us though, much of what sums up Christmas is

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-88113155103181827452007-12-07T15:04:00.000Z2007-12-07T15:10:34.492Z

Approximately three years ago I was surfing the web and read that I could go to a particular web page and download ten tracks from the, then current, Off Broadway musical “Bare”. I knew absolutely nothing about the show but found myself bowled over by these energetic and compelling songs and was determined to find out more. I then discovered a site on the show and also set about telling friends

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-11292182919835464822007-11-29T17:08:00.000Z2007-11-29T17:10:47.027Z

Well in the last month or so you have endured all sorts of witterings from me and, with the exception of my piece on “Curtains”, it’s been a while since I have focussed on a particular show. Well today is where that all changes as I finally look at another of my personal essential musicals.So what is the show in question? If I mention popping pussies into pies or piccolo player being served

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-58105124447082408952007-11-22T15:18:00.001Z2007-11-22T15:19:19.198Z

Well, another day another Musee and this time I had company.I daresay there are a few of you who have been around long enough to remember Australian born Leah Chambers who worked for “Stoll Moss” (as it was back then) for a couple of lengthy periods in the late nineties. She finally returned home to Australia for good in 1999. No doubt Leah is best remembered for her Adam Garcia obsession during

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-27454388801639507292007-11-15T15:11:00.001Z2007-11-15T15:12:22.745Z

Jacques Brel is alive and well and living in Paris. Allegedly. Well, I couldn’t find him.. An evening of Brel’s music seemed like the perfect theatrical experience to enjoy on last weeks Paris trip. But alas the Brel show wasn’t playing that week. This wasn’t even my first choice of show. I had read about a small musical called “Panique Au Bord” and had also been recommended another – “Coups De

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-75056094023465735732007-11-02T15:13:00.000Z2007-11-02T15:16:42.632Z

Well, how lucky can you get? 2007 has been a particularly lucky year for John Kander and Fred Ebb. Chicago celebrates its tenth birthday in London, and continues it’s successful Broadway run, as well as various productions worldwide. Rufus Norris’ production of Cabaret continues to thrive at London’s Lyric and Sam Mendes’ take on the show has had its run extended at Paris’ Folies Bergere. Last,

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-17400244543205761642007-10-19T14:01:00.001Z2007-10-19T14:02:13.778Z

Friends Reunited can be a great website. I have had a few friends get in touch over the years and even managed to re-establish my closest friendship after having lost touch. However it does also bring the oddest people out of the woodwork. Three times now I have had a message from a girl called Julie saying “You were a monkey and I was a pony, get in touch” Naturally I was perplexed. What an odd

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-13781887977203473582007-10-12T14:11:00.000Z2007-10-12T14:15:47.643Z

60.Something Right (Fordham) JULIA FORDHAMThis is for Jackie and Sarah, who are planning a civil ceremony for later in the year. When they got together I had my doubts as Jackie was leaving a long standing relationship to embark on a new one with Sarah. However, as soon as I met Sarah I knew that Jackie really was doing something right. I am sure that they will be very happy together – after all

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-59011057092693507202007-10-05T19:15:00.000Z2007-10-05T19:16:53.110Z

“Who wants their teeth done by the Marquis De Sade?”Well not me! It also has to be said that the song I have taken that quote from is not a good one to listen to when awaiting dental treatment. The song is, of course, “Dentist” from “The Little Shop Of Horrors” which is frankly enough to put anyone of having a filling for life.However, although I stay clear of this particular show, musicals have

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-70560860362721889112007-09-21T14:24:00.000Z2007-09-21T14:29:17.030Z

59.Fields Of Gold (Sting) STINGThis song is featured as it was played at the funeral of a dear family friend, Violet – and It remnunded me of a piece of writing I wrote shortly after her death so have included it here – A little longer than the normal I’m afraid!I must have been little more than three years old. I had just been given the Fisher-Price family houseboat, and in my excitement there

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-75127678974079905182007-09-14T21:49:00.000Z2007-09-14T21:50:58.857Z

Sgt Pepper taught the band to play…..Actually it wasn’t – it was more like forty. However it’s with great personal shock that I realise it’s twenty years ago today (14th September 1987) that I started work for Stoll Moss Theatres (as it was then) in box office……I did start very young!I remember that morning quite clearly. I knocked on the side door of the box office at Her Majesty’s and nervously

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-32275167753935987532007-09-04T14:25:00.000Z2007-09-04T14:26:36.543Z

56.”I Will Be Waiting” (Joseph ) MARTYN JOSEPH“I will never give up on anyone except maybe me” well that would a tad dramatic I think – but I have found that there are times when I should really have been more focussed on my own problems but instead have become involved in sorting a friends out and just hoping things would sort themselves out as far as I am concerned. However that’s not why I

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-58807580504163476542007-08-31T17:02:00.000Z2007-08-31T17:04:12.757Z

Well this years Big Brother is finally drawing to a close. Somehow I can’t help wondering what it would be like if it hadn’t been the likes of Chanelle, Charley, Samanda and Brian who had been in the house this year…..what if the housemates were more……well……musical?Day OneDay one in the Big Brother house. The first housemate to enter is, former nun, Maria Von Trapp. She is bursting with

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-9061108458311108792007-08-24T14:47:00.001Z2007-08-24T14:48:48.316Z

Since I first heard the CD of Rent it has always been a favourite of mine. I even went to an open audition for the original London production believe it or not! I suspect the show itself needs little introduction to you but, for the uninitiated, I present a brief summing up. Basically the story updates La Boheme which told the tale of a group of “artists” as their dealt with the traumas of love,

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-16914527740708223712007-08-20T17:32:00.000Z2007-08-20T17:33:04.363Z

53.“Love Don’t Need A Reason” (Malamet/Allen/Callen ) BARBARA COOKIf I didn’t manage to sneak a Barbara Cook track into this project then something would definitely be very wrong with the world! Of all the performers I love (and there are many) there is nobody I have seen perform live as often as Barbara Cook. It must be at least a dozen times, maybe even more. So many of her songs have touched

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-76795499547767173662007-08-17T16:40:00.000Z2007-08-17T16:42:03.616Z

As this week sees the release of a new recording to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of West Side Story it seems a good time to dip my toes into the world of the Jets and the Sharks. The show is, of course, an updating of William Shakespeare’s Romeo And Juliet. For Big Brother’s Brian (“So who is this Shakespeare geezer?”) I should point out that Shakespeare is regarded as Britain’s greatest

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-57468014408700132952007-08-13T20:16:00.000Z2007-08-13T20:17:22.332Z

50.“Being Alive” (Sondheim) from “Company” BARBRA STREISAND“Someone to hold me too close, someone to hurt me too deep” This is the song that possibly explains what I hope for more than anything. In a relationship I just want it all! The good stuff, the bad stuff – just stuff! Sondheim wrote it for a character who is still single in his mid thirties whilst all his friends seem to have couple off!

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-60888111248397136242007-08-10T19:10:00.001Z2007-08-10T19:10:38.954Z

Well, for those musical theatre aficionados amongst you I suspect you think I am going to be writing about “Sweet Charity”. In fact this is one of those very rare columns when I don’t mention musical theatre at all. So what then is the subject you may ask? It’s what I got up to last weekend.I have known, my friend, Jackie for over twenty years. Back in our teens we would do that thing which

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-70874195361864603102007-08-07T13:38:00.000Z2007-08-07T13:45:12.678Z

Well it's been a while but I am back with more from "The Soundtrack of My Life" ......46.“I Love Paris” (Porter) DORIS DAYAnd I really do! I would sing this to myself as I wandered the streets of Paris in November 1992 – the first time I visited. It really was the winter went it drizzles…which really didn’t matter as I felt immediately at home there, as I still do. I have since returned around

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-89637727436117391162007-08-03T15:26:00.000Z2007-08-03T15:28:10.253Z

Well I have seen the future. Frankly it’s frightening. The year is 2037 and I am sitting alone in my flat. On the antique CD player is my battered old copy of Chess and in my mind I see Murray Head and Elaine Paige dramatically performing an argument set to music as dirndl clad chess pieces polka behind them like whirling dervishes…….Hmmmmm.As you may suspect the truth is in fact that I have

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-23306880308570436582007-07-26T15:05:00.000Z2007-07-26T15:07:02.563Z

“Memories, light the corners of my mind, misty water coloured memories of “Barbra Streisand, OK, I admit, it I have been a Barbra Streisand fan for about twenty two years. A closet fan? Well it’s difficult to be a closet fan when Babs is the subject of your adoration……. Anyway as we are in the midst of her London concerts it seems an apt time to discuss all things Barbra.As a child and early

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-70379532165002862942007-07-20T17:24:00.000Z2007-07-20T17:28:00.407Z

Well I don’t usually write a review of a show after I have seen it, but having seen a preview of “Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat” I feel compelled to write about it. But “Joseph’s” special.The first time I saw “Joseph” I must have been eight or nine. I went on a school trip to Leicester Haymarket to see the show and we all had a whale of a time. I remember, during the finale, the

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-82159476828573918762007-07-13T09:35:00.000Z2007-07-13T09:37:18.936Z

The most common question I am currently asked at work is not, as you may think, if I would like a cup of tea. It is of course “can you tell me if Connie is on tonight?” However, we do get asked the most odd questions on occasion…..Today my first customer informed me that she was going to ask me a really unusual question, so naturally I braced myself and prepared for the worst. What could it be?

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-17823062517168902412007-06-22T11:08:00.000Z2007-06-22T11:10:10.681Z

Over the preceding months I have, amongst other things, written about my (personal) essential musicals and a handful of essential performers. Today’s column is a little different in that it features an essential performer and an essential musical. The reason for this is that the two are so inextricably linked that it would be impossible to separate the two.So who is my essential performer? Well

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-69124529319367830302007-06-14T16:43:00.001Z2007-06-14T16:46:20.479Z

Above sees me reflected in the odd mirrors at The louvre, below are views of The Petit palaisWell for those of you who have been reading my column for a while you will be aware already that I love Paris in the fall. So following last weeks column, where I told you about seeing “Cabaret” at the Folies Bergere, I thought I would tell you of a few more highlights from my trip. After all, I love

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-9881551405354598572007-06-08T17:16:00.000Z2007-06-08T17:19:33.597Z

When I knew that I would be visiting Paris again I knew that the opportunity to see Kander and Ebb’s ‘Cabare’t at the Folies Bergere was too delicious to miss. Although he did present a version at the Donmar Warehouse, in 1993, the Sam Mendes Broadway production has never made it to London, so I was pleased to finally get the chance to see it. Albeit in Paris. Albeit in French.The Folies Bergere

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-33450524569932320132007-06-01T14:43:00.000Z2007-06-01T14:46:10.231Z

It was back in 1986 that I saw this weeks essential performer live in concert for the first time. I had seen Barbara Cook in the BBC’s Arena special “Follies In Concert”, a documentary taking us behind the scenes of the historic all-star concert version of Stephen Sondheim’s classic 1971 musical “Follies” at New York’s Avery fisher Hall (at The Lincoln Centre). A few months later whilst I was

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-68957625731456287722007-05-26T15:08:00.001Z2007-05-26T15:09:16.053Z

Perpetual sunset is rather an unsettling thing. Well yes, I expect it is. Its often said that Scandinavia’s long summer days can drive people mad with there being so few hours of darkness. Not necessarily the most obvious choice of subject matter for a musical, but as suggested by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles Of A Summer Night this did indeed become the subject matter for Stephen Sondheim’s

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-74999221960616243342007-05-18T14:55:00.000Z2007-05-18T14:58:04.272Z

Matt Harrop as Riff Raff/Susan Egan As Sally Bowles (with Michael Hall)“Discipline, Trust, Focus, Honesty, Passion, Being, Experiencing the birthing process of a theatrical living organism every night, Joy. Despair, Joy, again. The air we breathe.” So Says Maureen McGovern as she describes what musical theatre means to her, and we begin the final instalment of The Inspirations Project (for now!)

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-2853394345122854462007-05-10T21:20:00.001Z2007-05-10T21:20:53.857Z

“It's a vehicle to communicate. It might be a way to make someone forget their worries, laugh and hum a few bars. It might be a way to get someone to think about an issue. You can do things and say things with music and dance that you can't say with text alone”. (Susan Egan) Last week we touched upon the shows and performers that first got our contributors interested in musical theatre. As we

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-60848827313185898392007-05-03T15:12:00.000Z2007-05-03T15:20:44.319Z

The Inspirations Project - part one – let’s start at the very beginning!“Joy, colour, passion, poignancy, richness, humour, and LOVE being offered to the audience with spectacle and light to transport them into another world for a few hours. The audience then has an emotional "hang-over" long after the show is over. A great musical stays with you for a long time.”So says Anne Kerry Ford as she

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-31332583451057125762007-04-27T06:32:00.000Z2007-04-27T06:35:14.653Z

Soon! I promise. Soon I won’t shy away from publishing the first instalment, but for now I am very pleased to announce that Broadway leading lady Susan Egan has joined The Inspirations Project.Susan is possibly best known for originating the (Tony nominated) role of Belle in Disney’s stage production of The Beauty And The Beast and also voicing the character of Meg in the animated feature

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-72719468453474255262007-04-20T17:39:00.000Z2007-04-21T22:42:36.420Z

Clockwise from left – Maureen McGovern, AJ O’Neill, Anne Kerry Ford, Matt Harrop, Caroline Sheen and DC AndersonThe Inspirations Project – An IntroductionLast year I conducted a number of interviews with colleagues under the heading of “The Show That Changed My Life”, the idea behind these features was to look at the show that first got the interviewee interested in musical theatre along with a

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-11603015187832749682007-04-14T21:06:00.000Z2007-04-14T21:07:14.772Z

A couple of weeks ago I was watching the fifties comedy How To Marry A Millionaire starring Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall. It’s quite a slight film although very entertaining, and strangely it has the feel of a musical. Other than the odd choral outburst – and strangely a full length overture by Alfred Newman which is an odd thing to watch on film, it doesn’t feature any songs

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-47988222909354909192007-04-10T13:58:00.000Z2007-04-10T13:59:04.882Z

42.Didn’t I (Simon) CARLY SIMONCarly’s album “Have I Told You Lately” was playing on the occasion of (blush) my first time! This song sums up the relationship that followed in some of its sentiment “didn’t I give you midnight, didn’t I give you the month of June” although it was February and some of March……When Valentine’s day came around I played the romance card and bought him this CD. He

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-28674879225684667222007-04-06T17:10:00.001Z2007-04-06T17:10:56.055Z

Believe it or not the fourth of April marks the first anniversary of my writing this column. I am not going to bore you with a retrospective look at the last year however – I think I did that at Christmas so that’s done and dusted. But what of the next year? What do I have in store for you? Well this may quite possibly be one of my last “regular” columns for a few weeks as my page is about to

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-47395366664662081212007-04-02T17:48:00.001Z2007-04-02T17:48:55.512Z

38.Old Friend (Cryer/Ford) from “I’m Getting My Act Together And Taking It Out On The Road” SEAN RAYFrom the first time I heard this song ….every time I lose another lover, I call up my old friend…..I have felt that it’s mine and Jackie’s song. We lost touch for around eight years so it seemed that the sentiments of the song were no longer true. Then through the miracle of the internet and ”

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-60489181452908736732007-03-30T17:59:00.001Z2007-03-30T17:59:51.569Z

Well it’s almost time for a new series of Doctor Who, so I thought I would stretch my “entertainment based” remit a little and talk about the first of my (occasional) essential television shows. I am of an age that I can remember John Noakes climbing up Nelsons Column on Blue Peter, Todd Carty when he was Tucker Jenkins and Meg Mortimer’s husband being killed by international terrorists in

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-54209815320818212422007-03-27T14:26:00.001Z2007-03-27T14:26:46.441Z

34.Grateful (Buchinno) DAVID CAMPBELLAnother song that (like “Another Hundred People”) mentions a city of strangers – but follows it up with “I’ve found a family of friends” . I have made some great friendships, some have been intense and short termed, yet friendships that have seemed slight and weak have grown stronger with time. Strangely it’s not always the people you expect to have the

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-79974445271764767522007-03-23T18:41:00.000Z2007-03-23T18:42:28.975Z

In My Easter Bonnet With All The Frills Upon It When asked what place Irving Berlin had in American popular music, Jerome Kern (composer of Showboat) simply stated Irving Berlin is American popular music. From early compositions such as Alexander’s Ragtime Band to the best of his Broadway shows, Annie Get Your Gun, the Russian immigrant Isaiah Baline (as he was born) was and remains one of the

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-87559469318941787002007-03-19T18:53:00.000Z2007-03-19T18:54:27.061Z

30."My Fathers Song" ( Holmes) BARBRA STREISAND31."Song For My Father" (Darrow/Cohen) JANE OLIVORI had a pretty bad week all in all. At the weekend I had a call saying my mum had collapsed and was in hospital with an abscess on her ovary. On the Wednesday I returned home to find the police in attendance, as my flat mate had covered herself on petrol and was about to set fire to herself. The

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-84765743640167606602007-03-16T19:10:00.000Z2007-03-16T19:12:27.363Z

This Is The Moment!Well a month or so ago I promised to write about some of my essential performers you may be less familiar with. Then promptly I wrote about Petula Clark and Liza Minnelli. Well, now is the time that I redress the balance and tell you about Anthony Warlow. I am sure many of you know of Anthony as, simply put, he is possibly the best male musical theatre voice in the world today

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-35763752422035170062007-03-12T10:16:00.000Z2007-03-12T10:20:03.442Z

26.Love In The First Degree (Stock/Aitken/Waterman/Fahey/Dallin/Woodward ) BANANARAMAI am quite surprised to discover one Bananarama song makes the soundtrack never mind two! Anyway this reminds me of a guy I worked with on "Phantom" called Colin. You know what it's like in the gossipy world of theatre.... Everyone wondered "Is he or isn't he?" like it was anybody's business but his....anyway he

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-37814034937739591532007-03-09T11:17:00.000Z2007-03-09T11:18:21.780Z

As I watched The Devil Wears Prada, for a second time, and Meryl Streep made her first entrance as Miranda Priestley, I half expected her to unroll a swathe of magenta fabric and cry …."To the womenof America..."-no, make it to the women everywhere: "banish the black, burnthe blue, and bury the beige! From now ongirls..."Think pink! think pink! when you shop for summer clothes.Think pink! think

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-79570514224065412982007-03-05T09:04:00.000Z2007-03-05T09:05:27.731Z

22.Itchykoo Park (Marriot/Lane) THE SMALL FACESAnother song that doesn't make good copy, yet again a crazy sixth form song. The first time I heard this was as I witnessed Melanie Gurley leaping around like a mad woman and shrieking "What did we do there? We got hiiiiiiiiiiigh!". Did we ever go to classes? Well occasionally we did, but I can remember people hiding in cupboards to avoid lessons.

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-31794780087434630992007-03-02T15:17:00.000Z2007-03-02T15:18:19.507Z

Seven and a half cents doesn’t mean a hell of a lot….Well that may be so, but to the employees of the Sleep-Tite factory, the setting for “The Pajama Game” (this weeks essential musical) it was very important indeed.Based on the New York Times bestseller (“Seven And A Half Cents”) by Richard Bissell, “The Pajama Game” was one of the big hits of the 1954 Broadway Season. After previously

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-71504122496733041482007-02-26T20:38:00.000Z2007-02-26T20:40:35.378Z

18.Thank You For The Music (Andersson/Ulvaeus) ABBAAnother song of the sixth form, this reminds me of my old friend Fay. Fay wasn't good with song titles and would say things like "play woosh" ("Nothing" from " A Chorus Line") or "When I Saw You In Glasgow" (Super Trouper) or in this case "Mother Can't Walk Anymore" - quite bizarre and unforgettable! It very strongly conjures up images of myself,

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-75482064044374322152007-02-24T21:00:00.000Z2007-02-24T21:01:27.882Z

These days most media coverage of Liza Minnelli focuses on her private life. It’s easy to forget what a great talent she has been through most of her life when stories of her marriage to David Gest and her health problems of recent years take precedence in the press. However, having recently watched the DVD of her “Liza With A Z” special, I thought I would talk about Liza and her successes. I am

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-23564239269786255412007-02-19T11:26:00.001Z2007-02-19T11:33:25.019Z

13.Evergreen (Streisand/Williams) BARBRA STREISANDI never liked Streisand when growing up. Then I heard this song (in 1985) sung by someone else and by chance discovered that my mum had the original single. So began an interest in Barbra! In 1994 she announced her London concerts and sadly I knew that I just couldn't afford to go. Well, at some point my friend Plum told me that I had to keep a

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-11676305189486999072007-02-17T20:36:00.001Z2007-02-17T20:36:49.618Z

Well its time for an essential musical with a difference. “No songs?” You ask. No, don’t be ridiculous, this time it will be a movie musical from the golden age of MGM. “An American In Paris”.With a ravishing score taken from the back catalogue of George and Ira Gershwin, the central performance of MGM wunderkind Gene Kelly and the direction of the legendary Vincente Minnelli, “An American In

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-56225841965228541292007-02-12T20:10:00.000Z2007-02-12T20:17:53.930Z

9.99 Luftballons (Kerner/Brendel/Karges/Fahrenkrog-Petersen) NENABack in the early eighties "Top Of The Pops" included a run down of the European top ten, so I had heard this song before I went to visit my German relatives at Easter 1983. I remember there being some confusion when I was in the record shop asking for the single. But the story my Oma (German for Grandma!) tells is that I told her I

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-43213520345763575552007-02-09T09:10:00.000Z2007-02-05T20:31:13.343Z

Well valentines day is just around the corner so what better excuse to wax lyrical on romance and the stage!Love and passion play a big part in musical theatre from the closing moments of “South Pacific”, when Nellie Forbush and Emile DeBecque clasp hands under the table, to the joyous celebration that is Collins’ and Angel’s “I’ll Cover You” in the more contemporary “Rent”. To quote Daisy Gamble

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-30593757978707513752007-02-05T20:30:00.000Z2007-02-05T20:31:13.417Z

5.”Pity The Child” (Rice/Andersson/Ulvaeus) MURRAY HEAD from the musical “Chess”Well, I did say in the introduction that I would seek out songs that I felt I related to, although in retrospect this choice does make me sound like I live a life full of self pity! (I don’t!!!) Never the less, when I first heard this song, aged fifteen, it really felt like it had been written with me in mind,

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-84118499769799290622007-02-02T07:38:00.000Z2007-02-02T07:39:40.623Z

Last night I woke up in a cold sweat! I was being chased by three walnut whips and a curly wurly. I just thought I was getting away when a whole lorry load of gym ball sized Ferrero Rocher came rolling down the street towards me….and that’s when I woke up.An odd dream I agree, but you see I have deprived myself of chocolate since January the first. I am pretty good at this healthy eating thing,

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362189432148734964.post-17800325574030234872007-01-30T16:27:00.000Z2007-01-30T22:40:50.418Z

1."In My Life" (Lennon/McCartney) THE BEATLESWell this is as good a place to start as any. Lyrically "there are places I remember…." This could fit into the tapestry of most peoples lives, describing the moments and the lovers and friends that went before, and I can even remember the specific occasion that it was stitched into the fabric for me! I think the year was 1991, and I was off to a

Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725268741508370063noreply@blogger.com0