WC JUNE 1
On Monday night I attended the press night of The Importance of Being Ernest at the Mayflower, Southampton. What an amazing production and definately a feel-good show. There was such a buzz in the theatre and the applause just kept on coming during their curtain calls. A night of brilliant entertainment. David Suchet, as Lady Bracknell, was billed as the star of the show – and did so well in a relatively small role. He was so clever but for me the real stars were the rest of the supporting company. What a feast of talent! So many of their scenes were applauded wildly be the audience – and it was fully deserved. I have seen a few amateur productions of the Oscar Wilde play but this pre-West End production is in a class of its own. It proves the huge gap between amateur and pro shows.
When I attended the London Memorial Service for Shaw Taylor, in Covent Garden, I met a very famous pianist, Kenny Clayton, who has played for so many real stars. He actually played at Shaw’s celebration. I managed to have a quick chat with him and, subsequently, went to his Hove home on Tuesday to record a fascinating interview. His career really started on the Isle of Wight and since then his career has included working with Petula Clark, Shirley Bassey, Charles Aznavour, Sacha Distel, Matt Monro, John Barry, Robin Gibb and Cilla Black, amongst others. What a fascinating guy and listen out for him soon on John Hannam Meets.
I have always had such great admiration for the Island’s very talented theatre director Joe Plumb and have been delighted to have chosen him for past theatre awards. On Thursday night I went to see his all-female cast of Macbeth in Ryde.
This will not go down as one of Joe’s finest couple of hours – and I would rather leave it there!
I have been watching shows at Warner Holiday centres since the mid 70s. I have also interviewed hundreds of stars at their various Island venues. On Friday night at Warner’s, Yarmouth, I went to see my long term friend, comedian Jeff Stevenson, perform his cabaret spot. I saw him at Warner’s, Bembridge Coast, a few weeks ago and he brought the house down with a great performance – and the punters loved him. At Yarmouth he faced one of the worst audiences I have ever seen at one of their great local centres. Experienced comics like Jeff can easily deal with hecklers but when they are intoxicated and shouting out the same rude remarks it comes beyond a joke. A few of the audience spoilt it for the rest. One women who came in late walked straight across the cabaret floor in front of Jeff and had no idea of stage etiquette. A table of ladies, no doubt fuelled by alcohol, decided to make their own conversations which were louder than Jeff – and he had the mic. These days life can be tough for real professionals who have grown up in the business and know their trade. Too many tacky TV talent shows and the endless line of sub-standard tribute acts are not helping the live entertainment industry.
I went to London’s St James Theatre on Saturday to see the great new show called McQueen, which stars Stephen Wight, who grew upon the Isle of Wight and began acting at Medina High School. I was so proud to see his electrifying performance and he got the wonderful curtain call reception he deserved. It was far from a one-man show and his supporting cast were also quite brilliant and the dance routines were so refreshing and beautifully perfected. I was also so impressed with Glee and movie star Dianna Agron in the role of Dahlia. McQueen, which runs until June 27, is the story of the late fashion designer Alexander McQueen.
Ended the week with a great Sunday night at Newport’s Medina Theatre watching a real comedy legend – Jimmy Tarbuck. He was given a great welcome and produced a marvellous night which brought a fantastic finale reception. Had a nice pre-show chat with my friend of some 36 years – and we had fun, as ever. Went home and watched the Sunday at the Palladium TV show, on ITV Player. Not quite in the class of the TV Palladium Jimmy hosted for 6 seasons – and, of course, it’s not live anymore. Modern TV stars don’t know how lucky they are.