Men of the World

Men of the World, Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds, 2002

Cast: Dicken Ashworth, Robert Angell, Sarah Parks

Writer & Director: John Godber

More Hull Truck. This seems to be about a coach holiday but beyond that I have no idea at all.

An Inspector Calls

An Inspector Calls, Norwich Theatre Royal, 2005 

Cast: Nicholas Day, Sandra Duncan, David Roper, Timothy Watson, Katherine Tozer, Jamie de Courcey, Diana Payne Myers.

Writer: J B Priestley

Director: Stephen Daldry.

The play test for this is currently in my unread book pile, bought after seeing The Mousetrap and seeing the similarities between them. I know feel quite an idiot for seeing this only once despite having more changes to do so in the meantime. I seem to remember a house on the stage and the walls collapsing to reveal the set but that feels a bit spectacular for a touring production. There's some notes in the programme from Tony Benn MP about the political context of the play, which is something you don't get often.

Stepping Out

Stepping Out, Cambridge Arts Theatre, 2005

Cast: Patsy Palmer, Norma Atallah, Nicky Callahan, Suzie Chard, Yvonne Edgell, Chrissie Furness, Sarah Haynes, Yvonne Newman, Matthew Phillips, Sara Weymouth.

Writer: Richard Harris

Director: Martin Connor

For about fourteen years I did a tap class where I was the only man in a group of woman so this play, about the same thing, is just my cup of tea. There's a film of it of course starring Liza Minelli and Julie Walters but this was I think the first, and so far only, chance I've had to see it on stage. Another production was announced more recently but got cancelled. Surely there are enough people who've done Strictly... to make this viable again? It's very much on my want to see again list.

Dusty

Dusty, Cambridge Arts Theatre, 2000

Cast: Mari Wilson, Chrissie Cotterill, David Streames, Susannah Bray, Jayne Nesbitt, Tim Clarke, Gordon Kenney, Robert Rawles, Debbie Paul, Elizabeth Hill, Alison Burrows, Claire Bryan, Brian Douglas.

Writer: Paul Prescott

Director: Bob Thomson

I have absolutely no recollection of this at all. I'm not surprised it exists because she had an interesting life and of course the songs are great. But I don't suppose they're the kind of songs that will ever make a Mamma Mia type show. Interestingly there's a couple of pages in the programme about her life written by Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys, but if it hadn't said so I'd have never guessed - he writes about her work with them in the third person and there's no personal memories of her in it so it could almost have been written by anyone. I wonder if Mari Wilson, whose early career owed a lot to Dusty, was any good?

September in the Rain

September in the Rain, King's Lynn Arts Centre, 1995

Cast: Andrew Bennett, Barbara Darnley

Writer: John Godber

Director: Zoe Seaton

The Hull Truck theatre company were a really big deal in the nineties. They always seemed to have a play on tour somewhere near me, often written by John Godber who is probably most famous for Bouncers. His stuff could be formulaic but it was a formula that worked. Inside the cover is a list of all the dates this played which numbers nearly sixty venues. Nobody tours that much now. Nobody could afford to and probably some of those venues don't exist any more. And that's a real shame. There are pictures of Blackpool in the programme so I'm guessing the couple on the cover go there for a holiday and it probably isn't as nice as they'd hope (as you'd imagine in September).

Southwark Fair

Southwark Fair, National Theatre, 2006

Cast: Margaret Tyzack, Rory Kinnear, Michael Legge, Rhashan Stone, Simon Gleeson, Con O'Neill, Madelaine Potter

Writer: Samuel Adamson

Director: Nicholas Hytner

I wonder what interested me enough to go and see this? The writer certainly hadn't done anything I'd have known so I guess there were interesting reviews. I think it was the first time I went to the small space at the National Theatre (then called the Cottesloe, now the Dorfman) and I would like to go back to it more often. I remember nothing about the plot but for some reason always remember that Con O'Neill is in it. Turns out it was also my second time of seeing Margaret Tyzack and yet another for Rory Kinnear (plenty more of him to come).

That Day we Sang

That Day we Sang, Manchester Opera House, 2011

Cast: Rachel Bingham, Andy Brady, Lorraine Bruce, Raif Clarke, Ruth Carr, Jemma Drake, Vincent Franklin, Dale Gerrard, Gerard Horan, Ian Marr, Tim Morgan, Alison Pargeter, Jenna Russell, Martin Savage.

Writer & director: Victoria Wood

Musical director: Nigel Lilley

This was the reason for my only overnight stay in Manchester, by coincidence staying in a hotel that had been made from the building where the events in this play took place. It was part of the Manchester International Festival which does really interesting things but wants to mix the local in with the international. I don't remember much about the production although I remember the plot as Victoria Wood later made it into a TV drama (with Imelda Staunton and Michael Ball). It's never been revived.

The musical director gets a mention because I grew up in the road behind the one my family home was in (where my Mum still lives). He was a bit younger than me so I didn't know him but I certainly knew his family: his parents were big in the local AmDram, and his Dad owned a music shop in a nearby town. He worked with Victoria so much that there's a picture of him in the recent biography of her, and since then he's done Sondheim. I strongly suspect I wasn't the only gay in the village.

A Little Nigh Music

A Little Night Music, Garrick Theatre, 2009

Cast: John Addison, Florence Andrews, Laura Armstrong, Katie, Buchholz, Jessie Buckley, Fiona Dunn, Lynden Edwards, Ben Fleetwood Smyth, Holly Hallam, Kaisa Hammarlund, Alexander Hanson, Sian Howard-Jones, Grace Link, Maureen Lipman, Kelly Price, Phil Pritchard, Alistair Robins, Nicola Sloane, Gabriel Vick, Hannah Waddingham.

Music & lyrics: Stephen Sondheim

Book: Hugh Wheeler

Director: Trevor Nunn

I seem to remember this as lots of beige costumes on a fairly blank black stage, and the photos in the programme back that up. I think I found it very grown-up which potentially means not much fun. I saw it more recently and really liked it so I think it might be a work you have to grow into, although even the recent production couldn't persuade me to buy a cast recording.

Two interesting spots in the cast: Jessie Buckley in her first professional role after taking part in the TV show to find someone to take part in one of Andrew Lloyd Webber's shows. And Hannah Waddingham who has had quite the year, absolutely deserved after years of hard work in the theatre.

Hairspray

Hairspray, Shaftesbury Theatre, 2010

Cast: Brian Conley, Micky Dolenz, Sharon D. Clarke, Siobhan McCarthy, Chloe Hart, Lian Tamne, Verity Rushworth, Gavin Alex, Nicola Brazil, Dermot Canavan, Adrian Hansel, Raquel Jones, Wendy Somerville, Keisha Atwell, Chris Barton, Steven Bor, Catherine Greeney, Charlotte Jeffery, Michael Kent, Sia Kiwa, Tania Mathurin, David McMullan, Aki Omoshaybi, Rohan Pinnock-Hamilton, Rachel Sargent, Curtis Lee Scott, Lauren Varnham, Emi Wokoma, Kate Alexander, Curtis Angus, James Bennett, Catherine Cassell, CHris Howell, Elliot Nixon, Amy Ross, Stephanie Trott, Yaa.

Book: Mark O'Donnell & Thomas Meehan

Music & lyrics: Marc Shaiman

Lyrics: Scott Wittman

Director: Jack O'Brien

I think this was the first time I'd been to the Shaftesbury Theatre which I liked and would go back to more often. I'm not sure I've ever really realised that it's straight up the road from Cambridge Circus on Charing Cross Road and instead I've approached if from Holborn, which is possibly a bit stupid.

If you'd asked me I'd have been certain I saw Michael Ball in this but obviously not. And I would never have remembered seeing the only surviving Monkee in it. I think I've seen a touring production of it and would definitely like to again. It's actually on tour next year but not playing locally so I might add it to my list of things I should travel to see again.

Torch Song Trilogy

Torch Song Trilogy, Menier Chocolate Factory, 2012

Cast: David Bedella, Tom Rhys, Sara Kestelman, Joe McFadden, Perry Millward, Laura Pyper

Writer: Harvey Fierstein

Director: Douglas Hodge

I wonder if I've only seen this play once. It's almost a set text for gay men of a certain age so you'd think it would have been performed more often but if it has I either missed it or forgot about it. I do remember that the stage was along one long side of the auditorium, long but narrow, with the seating opposite it also long and narrow, which probably isn't the best way to use that space but I don't suppose the play would work with an audience either side of it.

Wicked

Wicked, Apollo Victoria Theatre, 2007

Cast: Kerry Ellis, Helen Dallimore, Adam Garcia, Miriam Margolyes, Nigel Planer, Martin Ball, James Gillan, Katie Rowley Jones, Shone White, Annalene Beechey, Simon Adkins, Paul Ayres, Elinor Collett, Joseph Connor, Nadine Cox, Sarah Earnshaw, Jye Frasca, Maria Graciano, Nicky Griffiths, Simon Hardwick, Pippa Higgs, Melissa Hunte, Kady-Jo Jackson, Cassidy Janson, Caroline Keiff, Joshua Lacey, Andy Mace, Adam Murray, Dominic Shaw, Philippa Stefani, Craig Stein, Oliver Tompsett, Tim Walton, Kerry Washington

Music & lyrics: Stephen Schwartz

Book: Winnie Holzman

Director: Joe Mantello

I saw this seven months after it opened in London so I missed Idina Menzel as Elphaba but I did get to see Miriam Margolyes as Madame Morrible. I think I'd read the book before seeing it and really liked it, and afterwards bought the cast recording which is just extraordinary. There's no greater pleasure than singing along to Defying Gravity on a car journey. I've meant to go back and see it but there's always something new. Perhaps I'll use it as an excuse to visit somewhere it's touring to. It would be a good thing to do before the film opens next winter.

Unusually for me I still have the ticket:

£50 is still generally my upper limit for tickets now. I could afford more but I'm also aware that my Mum manages on a state pension and the idea of spending £250 for a theatre ticket feels obscene. The same seat now is £64.75 which given the way costs have risen is very surprising. The best seats are £182.75 which is far less than lots of shows that are nowhere near as good. I think I've talked myself into going again.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, London Palladium, 2004

Cast: Jason Donovan, Tony Adams, Scarlett Strallen, Christopher Biggins, Louise Gold, Stephen Gately, Freddie Lees, Richard Long, Christopher Ryan, David Henry, Justin Barley, Leo Bidwell, Adam Bracegirdle, Cliff Brayshaw, Stephanie Bron, Michael Broughton, Ray C David, Ross Dawes, Jaymz Denning, Kateijane Derbyshire, Emma Dodd, Adrian Edmeades, Catie Marie Entwistle, Ross Fountain, Aaron Francis, Nigel Garton, Chadd Garvie, Samuel Hall, Madelaine Harland, Simon Harvey, Tim Harwood, Graham Hoadly, Robert Kramer, Saskia Lockey, Sarah Meade, Caroline Miller, Claire Morland, Grant Neal, Hayley Reed, Joe Ryan, Ben Stock, Summer Strallen, Robert Traynor, Lisa Walker.

Original author: Ian Fleming

Composers & lyricists: the Sherman brothers

Adaptor: Jeremy Sams

Director: Adrian Noble

I went to see this with friends and their kids as part of a trip organised by someone with kids at the same school but we skipped the coach journey and took a train instead. Apparently we were in the third row which is very impressive for this kind of show.

There's a lot going on in the casting: I suspect my obsession with Jason Donovan was rekindled by this; Tony Adams was most famously Adam Chance in Crossroads; two Strallan sisters (hopefully by the end of this I'll have learned to tell them apart); Biggins; Stephen Gately playing the Child Catcher, possibly in an attempt to shake off his boy band fame; and Christopher Ryan who was one of The Young Ones.

In the same box was a souvenir programme which has pages missing where there was a cardboard model of the car you could make, which I did although it's now thrown away. Souvenir programmes are going to be a bit tricky as they have no casting details in them. I see why they exist and the fact they do made me buy two programmes, but it's a bugger for archiving.

The Watlington Players, the amateur drama group in the village I grew up in, where my Mum still lives, are putting this on next week and I'm really tempted to go just to see how they handle a flying car in a village hall.

Taboo

Taboo, Norwich Theatre Royal, 2004

Cast: Stephen Ashfield, Declan Bennett, Emma Bispham, Jody Butterworth, Julian Clary, Ben Draper, Ashleigh Gray, James Gillan, Gareth Heesom, Michele Hooper, Drew Jaysom, Rebecca McHinnis, Steven Osborne, Jason Pachett, Jacqui Rae, Robert Shelly, James Templeton.

Music & lyrics: Boy George

Book: Mark Davies

Director: Christopher Renshaw

Before the jukebox musical became a thing I feel like musicals were already a potential part of a popstars career and I may have seen quite a few of them. Boy George was inevitable - his life and look were made for the stage. This included Julian Clary as Leigh Bowery which I imagine was clever casting as I doubt either of them could sing properly and were prone to rude messing about. 

The image on the cover of the programme looks familiar - I assume we're supposed to think it's Boy George but it's actually Corinne Drewery from Swing Out Sister and was used on the cover of their single Breakout. I don't suppose she had anything to do with the story so I guess someone just liked the image.

In the same box was another, glossier programme:

I assumed that meant I'd seen it twice but there's no mention of a venue or year in it and the cast list is exactly the same. So I looked on my other blog and it turns out they were selling two different programmes for the same show and like a fool I bought them both and am now recycling them both.

Anything Goes

Anything Goes, Norwich Theatre Royal, 2006

Cast: Michael Starke, Ria Jones, Barry Howard, Chris Ellis-Stanton, Angela Rippon, Ashley Lilley, James Paterson, Antony Reed, Dawn Spence, Nathan Dowling, Alan Bradshaw, Lewis Butler, Emma Francis, Jennifer Owen, Amy Rogers, Vikki Marie Ryan, George Smith, Liam Wrate, Jay Beattie, Holly Dale Spencer.

Music & lyrics: Cole Porter

Original book: PG Wodehouse & Guy Bolton, and Howard Lindsay & Russel Crouse

New Book: Timothy Crouse & John Weidman

Director: Ian Talbot

I've never been sure whether I've seen this or not, maybe muddling it up with some other musical set on a liner. It was most recently a huge hit at the Barbican but I wouldn't go because I hate the theatre there but I did see it at the cinema and regretted missing it. This production included the twin attractions of Barry Howard from Hi-di-Hi, who I probably though was long dead, and Angela Rippon, currently on Strictly... .

There's a couple of pages in the programme about the life of Cole Porter which are identical to those in High Society which really has me thinking about how programmes, which I totally take for granted, are actually put together. I assumed, apparently naively, that they were put together for each production but it seems like they're a lot more cut & paste than that. I wonder if it's still a fun job to have though? There's no credit in the programme for who put it all together. Unsung heroes!

The Winslow Boy

The Winslow Boy, Cambridge Arts Theatre, 2009

Cast: Hugh Wyld, Sarah Flind, Timothy West, Diane Fletcher, Thomas Howes, Claire Cox, John Sackville, Roger May, Rachel Edwards, Tom Jude, Adrian Lukis.

Writer: Terence Rattigan

Director: Stephen Unwin

Rattigan wrote twenty-five plays. I think I've seen four of them. He's one of those writers whose name people know but whose work isn't that often performed, and it's interesting how some people fall out of fashion and others don't for seemingly no good reason. This is one of his most famous plays I suppose but I'm not going to embarrass myself by hazarding a guess at the plot. I think it was only one of two times I've seen Timothy West on stage although it would be nice to discover there was more.

The Vagina Monologues

The Vagina Monologues, Cambridge Arts Theatre. 2002

Cast: Lesley Joseph, Tanya Moodie, Nina Wadia

Writer: Eve Ensler

Director: Irina Brown

An unlikely choice for an evening out for a gay man who has never come anywhere near close to having sex with a woman. I guess this was a big deal at the time and I probably felt it was more to do with feminism than just the vagina. I have a recollection of being in an audience of almost entirely woman and rightly not joining in when they were all encouraged to shout something, probably "vagina/". It would have been weird to do so. I don't think I'd go now if something similar happened, it would feel wrong to be in a female space like that. It's interesting looking at the list of names on the cover, which I'm guessing are other performers on the tour, and it's hard not to feel that Cambridge was slightly short-changed cast-wise.

Bent

Bent, Trafalgar Studios, 2006 

Cast: Alan Cuming, Kevin Trainor, Benjamin Wilkin, Charles Mayer, Richard Bremmer, Hugh Ross, Matthew Spencer, Chris New, Ricky Champ, Laurence Spellman

Writer: Martin Sherman

Director: Daniel Kramer

I remembered this as a two-hander between Alan Cuming and Chris New (who was later so good in the film Weekend) but there was a lot more cast than that. I wonder what they did? There's a song in the play and apparently each production gets someone new to work on it and this time it was Chris Lowe from Pet Shop Boys. Astonishingly it doesn't seem to exist online.

The programme has five two page articles about Germany and WW2 which relate to the production, although I only got through three of them this time - the other two felt too much. When I started the first I thought the quote it began with was familiar but it turns out the whole thing was also used in the programme for Cabaret with Will Young. I don't suppose there's any reason why they shouldn't do that but I guess I'd just not though of it before now.

Singin' in the Rain

Singin' in the Rain, Palace Theatre, 2012

Cast: Adam Cooper, Daniel Crossley, Scarlett Strallen, Katherine Kingsley, Michael Brandon, Sandra Dickinson, Peter Forbes, David Lucas, Ebony Molina, Brendan Cull, Nancy Wei George, David Birch, Danielle Crockford, Matthew Croke, Jennifer Davison, Flora Dawson, Jaye Juliette Elster, Luke Fetherston, Gemma Fuller, Francis Haugen, Daniel Ioannou, Peter le Brun, Charlie Martin, Scott Mobley, Gillian Parkhouse, Sherrie Pennington, Lisa Richie, Jack Wilcox..

Screenplay: Betty Comden & Adolph Green

Songs: Nacio Herb Brown & Arthur Freed

Director: Jonathan Church

I remember seeing this on Easter Saturday back when my plan for not wasting a bank holiday weekend was to plan something cultural for the Saturday. I met a friend before then saw this and caught up again afterwards. Of course it was spectacular, how could it not be? Just being in that big theatre helps. Adam Cooper had previously been the prince/swan in Matthew Bourne's extraordinary Swan Lake, Michael Brandon was in Dempsey & Makepiece, and Sandra Dickinson was Sandra Dickinson! It's never come to Norwich on tour, presumably because it needs a big stage and water is just a nightmare for everyone. I'd see this again.

The History Boys

The History Boys, National Theatre, 2004

Cast: Sacha Dhawan, Samuel Anderson, Dominic Cooper, Andrew Knott, Samuel Barnett, Russell Tovey, Jamie Parker, James Corden, Clive Merrison, Frances de la Tour, Richard Griffiths, Geoffrey Streatfield, Joseph Attenborough, Tom Attwood, Rudi Dharmalingham, Colin Hague, Pamela Merrick.

Writer: Alan Bennett

Director: Nicholas Hytner

My first viewing of this. The interesting thing about it is to see what the cast have gone on to do since, some more than others. My personal favourite is when I saw Assassins at the Menier Chocolate Factory and during the final number Jamie Parker pointed a gun in my face. Id like to see this again just to see how well it's aged - I can't help thinking Hector groping the boys would now be a bit problematic.

Blue/Orange

Blue/Orange, Cambridge Arts Theatre, 2005

Cast: Jimmy Akingbola, Shaun Evans, Roger Lloyd Pack

Writer: Joe Penhall

Director: Kathy Burke

I imagine I went to see this because Kathy Burke directed it and she's always interesting. If pushed I'd have said it was a two-hander on a fairly bare stage, but it turns out there were three people in it so I could have got the staging wrong too. I think it was one of those things I thought I ought to see because it would be good for me rather than because it was fun.

Sweeney Todd

Sweeney Todd, Adelphi Theatre, 2012

Cast: Michael Ball, Imelda Staunton, John Bowe, Peter Polycarpou, Robert Burt, Gillian Kirkpatrick, Lucy May Baker, Luke Brady, James McConville, Simeon Truby, Valda Aviks, Will Barratt, Josie Benson, Kimberley Blake, Emily Bull, John Coates, Helen Colby. Matthew Gent, Daniel Graham, Robert Irons, Robine Landi, John McManus, Tim Morgan, Aoife Nally, Adam Pearce, Wendy Somerville, Robert Traynor, Adam Vaughan, Kerry Washington, Annabelle Williams, 

Muisc & lyrics: Stephen Sondheim

Book: Hugh Wheeler

Director: Jonathan Kent

I'd had two days off work with a cold when I saw this so apologies to the people who I sat near and maybe gave a cold to. Perhaps post-Covid I might not do that now although as theatres remain resistant to exchanges of any kind perhaps not. This was probably the first time I'd seen Michael Ball and having associated him with endless Andrew Lloyd Webber things it was a good surprise. Maybe now The Crown is finished Imelda can do the Hello Dolly we were promised.

Up for Grabs

Up for Grabs, Wyndhams Theatre, 2002

Cast: Madonna Ritchie, Tom Irwin, Megan Dodds, Daniel Pino, Sian Thomas, Michael Lerner, Debora Weston.

Writer: David Williamson

Director: Laurence Boswell

Madonna is currently on tour to celebrate forty years of being an absolute fucking legend. Her acting is an interesting aside to that. As this is the only time she's performed in a play in the West End, and is very unlikely to do so ever again, now would be the time for my Madonna acting theory. I don't think she's a great actress so she's at her best when she plays versions of the person we think she is, so Desperately Seeking Susan, Evita, and A League of their Own. Everything else is rubbish. The fact that she's listed as Madonna Ritchie in the programme makes me laugh. All I remember about the play is that the set included sliding screens. I didn't expect to go then somebody I was romantically interested in got tickets. He was one of those big and beefy men who are only interested in people of exactly the opposite body shape which is disappointing, and in my more resentful moments makes me wonder if they actually hate their own bodies.

Sister Act

Sister Act, Norwich Theatre Royal, 2012

Cast: Denise Black, Michael Starke, Cynthia Eriyo, Julie Atherton, Edward Baruwa, Gavin Cornwall, Gavin Alex, Jaqueline Clarke, Tyrone Huntley, Laurie Scarth, Daniel Stockton, Deon Adams, Donovan F Blackwood, Livvy Evans, Nolan Frederick, Grace Gardner, Allison Harding, Sarah Harlington, Natalie Hope, Shirley Jameson, Dean John-Wilson, Kadiff Kirwin, Gemma Knight Jones, Katie Lavelli, Hannah Levane, Kathryn Martin, Joel Montague, Lucie-Mae Sumner, Laura Thorogood, Dina Tree.

Music: Alan Menken

Lyrics: Glenn Slater

Book: Cheri & Bill Steinkellner

Additional Book material: Douglas Carter Beane

Director: Jerry Zaks

While I don't remember the specifics of this I do remember it being a fun evening out. How could it not be? A central character previously played on screen by Whoopi Goldberg, lots of nuns, and singing and dancing. I should probably see it again next time it tours.

The History Boys

The History Boys, Norwich Theatre Royal, 2005

Cast: Marc Elliott, Kenny Thompson, Jamie King, Matt Smith, Steven Webb, Philip Correia, Thomas Morrison, James Cartwright, Bruce Alexander, Diane Fletcher, Desmond Barrit, Tobias Menzies, Derek Howard, Julia West, Leyland O'Brien, David Poynor, Samuel Yates.

Writer: Alan Bennett

Director: Nicholas Hytner

I saw this when it was on at the National Theatre and of course loved it. It was right up my street so I was glad when it toured. I have no memory of if they recreated the big set that seemed to fill the National Theatre stage with slabs of concrete and lots of cheers. Looking through the cast list I'm amazed to discover I saw Matt Smith before he was Doctor Who or even famous really - at that point he'd done nothing I'd seen or heard of. More recognisable is Steven Webb who I later say in As Is, where he was on stage as the audience took their seats and I think he winked and me (in character) and I lost my nerve and looked away. I'd forgotten he was Stephen Fry's boyfriend at some point too.

Cabaret

Cabaret, Norwich Theatre Royal, 2012

Cast: Will Young, Michelle Ryan, Sian Phillips, Henry Luxemburg, Linal Haft, Harriet Thorpe, Nicholas Tizzard, John Brannoch, Jessica Ellen, Alessia Lugoboni, Edd Mitton, Ian Parsons, Nuno Silva, Rebecca Sutherland, Shahla Tarrant, Laura Tyrer, Cydney Uffindell-Phillips, Matthew Wesley.

Book: Joe Masteroff

Composer & Lyricist: John Kander & Fred Ebb

Director: Rufus Norris

Despite being a big fan of Will Young I didn't see this when it was on at the Savoy theatre, which was pretty stupid of me. I made up for it when it toured, seeing it in Norwich with a seat very close to the front of the stalls, and also I think later in the tour in Peterborough. This was a big deal with Rufus Norris directing, who is now in charge of the National Theatre, and Michelle Ryan fresh from Eastenders, and of course Sian Phillips is something of a legend. I guess the bit that stayed with me was the end where the whole cast lined up, naked, against the back wall as if they were in a gas chamber. Someone wold-whistled. Twat.

Journey's End

Journey's End, Norwich Theatre Royal, 2005

Cast: Stephen Casey, Philip Franks, Edward Fulton, Richard Glaves, William Gregory, Stephen Hudson, Christopher Knott, Simon Shackleton, James Staddon, Roger Walker, Tom Wisdom.

Writer: R C Sherriff

Director: David Grindley

This is apparently a classic in its field - it was mentioned in a boo I read recently - but I have no recollection of it. It's set over three days in March 1918 and is two hours forty minutes long, which I imagine wasn't much fun, as indeed it shouldn't be.

Top Hat

Top Hat, Norwich Theatre Royal, 2011

Cast: Tom Chambers, Summer Strallen, Martin Ball, Vivien Parry, Ricardo Afonso, Stephen Boswell, Lucy Jane Adcock, Lauren Appleby, Caroline Dateson, Jeremy Batt, Hannah Cauchi, Ed Currie, Jennifer Davison, Russell-Leighton Dixon, Luke Fetherston, Charlotte Gale, IanGoss, Fenton Gray, Alyn Hawke, Daniel Ioannou, Paul Kemble, Jenny Legg, Martin McCarthy.

Music & lyrics: Irving Berlin

Adapted for the stage by Matthew White & Howard Jacques

Director: Matthew White.

I'm beginning to wonder if every successful film musical has been revived for the stage in my lifetime and I've seen them all. Tom Chambers was making the most of his Strictly... win. I remember nothing about this. Is it the one where, in the film, Fred Astaire dances around the furniture in the living room, or is that something else? 

Chicago

Chicago, Norwich Theatre Royal, 2002

Cast: Emma Clifford, Lisa Donnall, John Altman, Martin Callaghan, Debra Michaels, Morgan Crowley, Phillip Aiden, Jennifer Ashton, Verity Bentham, Claire Coates, Natalie Edmunds, Haley Flaherty, Aaron Francis, Rebecca Primus, Sam Hall, Robert Kelly, Lee Thomas, Steven Paling, Bonnie Parker, Jake Samuels, Spencer Stafford, Barnaby Thompson, Jayde Westaby.

Lyrics: Fred Ebb

Music: John Kander

Book: Fred Ebb & Bob Fosse

Director: Walter Bobbie

I've seen this a few times but I doubt this was the first time. It really is the perfect show - the songs! the dancing! the choreography! I'd seen it again but now I've looked it seems to have stopped touring the UK, which is disappointing.

What the Butler Saw

What the Butler Saw, Criterion Theatre, 2005

Cast: Jonathan Coy, Joanna Page, Belinda Lang, Geoff Breton, Malcolm Sinclair, Huw Higginson

Writer: Joe Orton

Director: David Grindley

This is probably the only production of this play I've seen although it's my favourite of Orton's work. There was a brilliant version on television when I still lived at home starring Timothy West and Prunella Scales. There are so many reason to love Pru but my favourite memory of her is in that production, in a fake fur coat, telling her husband, "My uterine contractions have been bogus for some time!" It turns out I went to a screening of that at the BFI some years later, which I'd forgotten about. I wish they'd show it on TV again. All I seem to remember about this production is that it had sold so poorly that they closed the circle and I was upgraded to the stalls. I still think that Orton needs to be rested for a generation.

Privates on Parade

Privates on Parade, Noel Coward Theatre, 2013

Cast: Chris Chan, Davina Perera, Harry Hepple, Mark Lewis Jones, John Marquez, Brodie Ross, Simon Rusell Beale, Sam Swainsbury, Joseph Timms, Sadao Ueda, Angus Wright.

Writer: Peter Nichols

Music: Denis King

Director: Michael Grandage

For fifteen months in 2012-14 Michael Grandage and his theatre company took over the Noel Coward Theatre to stage five different productions. I think in the end I saw all of them, but I hadn't originally planned to see this one until a friend tempted me to be spontaneous. I probably thought it would be too much like Aint Half Hot Mum, which would have been bad, but by all accounts I enjoyed it. I'd forgotten there were songs in it, which was stupid of me as it's about entertainment, but rather predictably I remembered there was nudity.

High Society

 

High Society, Theatre Royal Norwich, 2005

Cast: Liza Goddard, Graham Bickley, Katherine Kingsley, Royston Kean, Lara Pulver, Bryan Torfeh, Paul Robinson, Ria Jones, James Jordan, David Alder, Giles Alderson, Cara Elston, Andrew Hutchings, Gary Jordan, Nina Kristofferson, Brenda Moore, Julia J Nagel, Tony Stansfield, Julie-Ann Dixon, Thomas Aldridge, Nigel Watson.

Music & lyrics: Cole Porter

Book: Arthur Kopit

Director: Ian Talbot

I have friends who think that a musical version of The Philadelphia Story is an appalling idea but I really liked it. I remember nothing about this but I suspect it might have been a bit lacking in star power. 

Acorn Antiques the musical!

Acorn Antiques the musical!, Theatre Royal Haymarket, 2005

Cast: Julie Walters, Celia Imrie, Duncan Preston, Josie Lawrence, Neil Morrissey, Sally Ann Triplett, Jenna Boyd, Gareth Bryn, Lorraine Chappell, Daniele Coombe, Paul Grunert, Shaun Henson, Sidney Livingstone, Jill Martin, Hilary O'Neil, Carl Sanderson, Myra Sands, David Shaw Parker, Nicola Sloane, John Stacey.

Bok, music & lyrics: Victoria Wood

Director: Trevor Nunn

In retrospect it seems stupid not to have also seen on of the shows when Victoria Wood played Mrs Overall, but I guess at the time I thought there'd be loads more opportunities to see her. It also makes me realise how uncritical I am with people I really like: I really enjoyed this, but Victoria clearly didn't because by the time it went on tour she'd rewritten quite a lot of it. Stupidly I didn't see it on tour. At least I was smart enough to buy the DVD which I must watch again soon.

The Last of the Haussmans

The Last of the Haussmans, National Theatre, 2012

Cast: Helen McCrory, Rory Kinnear, Isabella Laughland, Julie Walters, Matthew Marsh, Taron Egerton

Writer: Stephen Beresford

Director: Howard Davies

I obviously went to see this for Julie Walters, who I imagine was back on stage for the first time in ages, and now she's in semi-retirement will probably never do it again. Helen and Rory were a nice bonus. Taron Egerton made his professional debut in this and if I said I spotted a star in the making I'd be lying - the blog I wrote at the time makes no mention of him, but it does describe the play as average and too long.

Edmond

Edmond, David Mamet, 2003

Cast: Carol Macready, Kenneth Branagh, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Tony Haygarth, Elli Garnett, Robert Horwell, David Kennedy, Nicola Stephenson, Adam Levy, Andrew Dolan, Jude Akuwudike, Iain Mitchell, Andrew Westfield, Rebecca Johnson, Stephen Greif, Tom Marshall, Harry Towb, Nicola Walker, Jospeh Mydell, Nonso Anozie.

Writer: David Mamet

Director: Edward Hall

David Mamet is one of those directors you're supposed to like if you're serious about theatre - Madonna did his play Speed the Plow on Broadway when she wanted everyone to take her seriously as an actress, because apparently being an amazing popstar wasn't enough - but what little of it I've seen I've found serious, dull and self-important. If I'm lucky I won't see anymore. I only went to see Kenneth Branagh who was back on stage for the first time in ages. It was on the big stage at the National Theatre and I remember nothing about it, although perhaps it was about a man reaching the end of his tether. Turns out Nicola Walker, now a staple of all evening TV drama, was in it too.

The Judas Kiss

The Judas Kiss, Cambridge Arts Theatre, 2012.

Cast: Ben Hardy, Kirsty Oswald, Alister Cameron, Cal Macaninch, Rupert Everett, Freddie Fox, Tom Colley.

Writer: David Hare

Director: Neil Armfield

I write this a couple of days before going to see Rupert in something else. I find him a bit complicated and he doesn't always help himself, which probably makes him ideal for playing Oscar Wilde. I struggle with Oscar as a gay icon as he brought it all on himself by showing off and yet as I write that I just think, "closet" and perhaps he did us all a favour. In Rupert's book about the film he made about Oscar he says this play was part of the long term plan to get it made, an audition to financial people really to show that he could do it. I like it and thought he was very good, although I suppose what I remember most was how naked the rest of the cast were.

Cabaret

Cabaret, Lyric Theatre, 2006

Cast: Anna Maxwell Martin, James Dreyfus, Sheila Hancock, Michael Hayden, Geoffrey Hutchings, Harriet Thorpe, Andrew Maud, Christopher Akrill, Rebecca Bainbridge, Alastair Brookshaw, Michael Camp, Josephine Carvill-Mills, Kaisa Hammarlund, Alexandra James, Jack Jefferson, Benny Maslov, Jason Rowe, Rebecca Sutherland, Clemmie Sveass, 

Book: Joe Masteroff

Composer & Lyricist: John Kander & Fred Ebb

Director: Rufus Norris

An absolute classic but the first time I was saw it was an amateur production in Cambridge in which someone I was trying to woo had a role. Actually I saw a bit of it before when the drama group in the village I grew up in included Money, Money from  the film (Elaine Haynes doing her best Liza Minelli). So this must have been the first time I saw a professional version of it. A lot of fuss was made about how it was a bit darker, and I think the fact that Anna Maxwell Martin hadn't sung on stage before played into that, but I expect every production since has got darker still. I prefer it to the film which, despite Liza being absolutely incredible, is a bit uneven, but I'm warming to the film too. Always a pleasure to see this.

Wonderful Town

Wonderful Town, Norwich Theatre Royal, 2012

Cast: Connie Fisher, Michael Xavier, Lucy van Gasse, Joseph Alessi, Emily Goodenough, Tiffany Graves, Nic Greenshields, Katy Hards, Bob Harms, Paul Hawkyard, Lucy James, Frankie Jenna, Lucinda Lawrence, Peter McPherson, Michael Matus, Natalie Moore-Williams, Haydn Oakley, Oliver Roll, Giovanni Spano, Sevan Stephen, Alain Terzoli, Matt Wilman, Liam Wrate, Annette Yeo.

Music: Leonard Bernstein

Book: Joseph Fields & Jerome Chodorov

Lyrics: Betty Comden & Adolph Green

I've got no recollection of this but it does make me think of On the Town, which is no surprise as it was created by the same people. There's even photos of sailors in the programme so it was probably more of the same.

La Cage aux Folles

La Cage aux Folles, Playhouse Theatre, 2008

Cast: Douglas Hodge, Denis Lawson, Paula Wilcox, Tracie Bennett, Stuart Neal, Iain Mitchell, Nolan Frederick, Adrian der Gregorian, Alicia Davies, Ben Bunce, Darren Carnall, Nicholas Cunningham, Matt Krzan, Gary Murphy, Dane Quixall, Zoe Ann Bown, Ben Deery, Leanne Harwood, Robert Maskell, Duncan Smith, Scott Spreadbury, Jason Pennycooke

Composer/lyricist: Jerry Herman

Book: Harvey Fierstein

Director: Terry Johnson

At some point Graham Norton was in this production but as he's not in the programme I guess it wasn't when I went, which is a pity as I doubt he'll do acting again. This might have been the first production of this I saw, although if it wasn't I'm sure the boxes will reveal what was. Subsequently I saw a touring production with him from Eastenders, and most recently a production at the Regent's Park Open Theatre, and between those a production of the play it's based on. It's definitely a show I'd see again.

In the programme there's interviews with Harvey Fierstein and Jerry Herman who seem to disagree about everything which makes you wonder how the show came to exist in the first place. 

The Tempest

The Tempest, Norwich Theatre Royal, 2002

Cast: Leon Tanner, Paul Benzing, Michael Gaunt, Crispin Redman, William Russell, Tristram Wymark, Mark Baylis, Madelaine Worrall, Richard Briers, Ben Silverstone, Rory Kinnear, Orlando Wells, Carsten Hayes, Oliver le Sueur, Darren Tunstall, Stephen Casey, Caoimhe Harvey, Lisa Reeves.

Writer: William Shakespeare

Director: Patrick Mason

All I remember about this is Richard Briers being alone on stage in some kind of modern metal frame raging against a storm, but that could be a dream. I imagine it was the only time I ever saw him on stage, and I think it's the only time I've seen The Tempest (once was probably enough). It was interesting to spot Orlando Wells in the cast - he was quite the thing for a while, possibly because he was handsome and his mother is Susannah York. And it turns out Rory Kinnear was in this, who I've seen more recently, but this was only his second stage performance.

Beautiful Thing

Beautiful Thing, Arts Theatre, 2013

Cast: Jake Davies, Zaraah Abrahams, Suranne Jones, Danny-Boy Hatchard, Oliver Farnworth

Writer: Jonathan Harvey

Director: Nikolai Foster

The second production of this I saw. The Arts Theatre is small so I remember standing outside on the pavement during the interval and it was warm, just like in the play which is set in summer. Apparently at the time I thought Suranne Jones wasn't quite right for the part but couldn't put my finger on why. 

Gatz

Gatz, Noel Coward Theatre, 2012

Cast: Scott Shepherd, Jim Fletcher, Kate Scelsa, Susie Sokol, Lucy Taylor, Gary Wilmes, Aaron Landsman, Laurena Allan, Lindsay Hockaday, Vin Knight, Ben Williams, Mike Ivson, Ross Fletcher.

Writer: F Scott Fitzgerald

Director: John Collins

Some plays really stay with you and this is one of those. The premise is that an office full of bored workers start reading The Great Gatsby to entertain themselves and because they enjoy it so much they keep reading until they finish it. So the play is basically a live reading of the book. I'd never seen anything like it before. It was in four parts: two hours then an interval before another hour and fifteen minutes, then a dinner break before two more parts of an hour and thirty minutes with an interval between them. I'm sure it got a standing ovation at the end, because it absolutely deserved it, but I wonder if it also wasn't partly for ourselves in the audience for getting through it as well. Amazing.

The Great Gatsby is one of those books that people never lose interest in. I've read it a couple of times, seen the film, seen a ballet version of it, and I wonder if I might have seen a play too - I'm sure I'll find the programme at some point if I have. I'm not keen on the book but can't keep away from adaptations.

Judging by the logos on the cover this was part of some cultural programme around the Olympics. We really were a better country that year.