Christmas Preview: Stage reviews commissioner Emma Harlen pulls the wraps off this year's premier pantos 
The Stage : 06/12/2001 
EMMA HARLEN 
Much has happened in the industry since last year's festive season - new companies, new theatres and even more star performances.
Only last month the Birmingham Hippodrome reopened, this year home to Dick Whittington starring Brian Conley. The Theatre Royal Stratford East is also back in business after a fouryear closure and a £5.5 million refurbishment.
An array of big names appear this season - including Brian Blessed at the Sunderland Empire, Russ Abbot at the Regent, Stoke and John Inman, Vanessa Feltz and Gary Wilmot in Aladdin at the New Victoria, Woking.
Christopher Biggins stars in and directs Dick Whittington at the Arts, Cambridge.
Past and present soap stars are also out in force, although our homegrown talent seems to outnumber our friends from Down Under.
Familiar faces from EastEnders and Coronation Street tread the boards, including Sid Owen (Bournemouth Pavilion), Letitia Dean (Orchard Theatre, Dartford), Leslie Grantham (Wycombe Swan), Denise Welch (Theatre Royal, Newcastle-upon-Tyne) and Shobu Kapoor (Opera House, Buxton).
Stars from Neighbours and Home and Away braving the cold this winter include Dan Paris, who is in Jack and the Beanstalk at the Hawth in Crawley and Kate Ritchie in Dick Whittington at the Mayflower, Southampton.
TV comedy stars taking a break from the screen include Kulvinder Ghir from Goodness Gracious Me, at the Hexagon, Reading.
This season also witnesses the teaming of husbands and wives on the stage. Linda Lusardi and Sam Kane are in Cardiff, while magician Paul Daniels and Debbie McGee join the impressive cast at the Theatre Royal, Windsor.
As well as welcoming the new faces, panto has lost one of its well-known dames.
Colin Deveraux - alias Dockyard Doris - was due to perform at the Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury but sadly died in October.
Effective Theatrical Productions, which produced London's largest panto last year, also bid farewell in 2001.
However, Jim Davidson was soon back on the scene with a new company - Sound Business Ltd - which has six pantomimes this season in Croydon, Dartford, Manchester, Minehead, Northampton and Skegness.
The London panto from last year Dick Whittington relocates to the Mayflower, Southampton and features some of its original cast, including Davidson himself, Victor Spinetti, John Virgo and John Lyons.
But the clear leader in the race for biggest pantomime producer once more goes to Qdos Entertainment. This year it has 25 pantomimes spread across the country, each of which has at least one star name on the bill.
Celebrities lined up include Lisa Riley (Belfast), Amanda Barrie (Bradford), Paul Nicholas (Bromley), Joe Pasquale (High Wycombe), Su Pollard (Llandudno), Melinda Messenger (Milton Keynes), Cannon and Ball (Nottingham), Britt Ekland (Plymouth), Julian Clary (Richmond), Hale and Pace (Southend), Shane Richie (Wimbledon) and Frank Bruno (Wolverhampton).
Ian Liston's Hiss & Boo company produces six pantos, as does Hammond Productions.
The capital does not have a dominant show this year, although the hottest ticket will be the London debut of the Moscow Stanislavsky Ballet. It presents Swan Lake and The Snow Maiden at the Royal Festival Hall.
Meanwhile Thunderbirds F.A.B. returns to the West End for the festive period, at the Aldwych Theatre.
Sadler's Wells welcomes back CS Lewis' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - with a cast headed by Sylvester McCoy and Stage Edinburgh Best Actress nominee Maureen Beattie.
The Snowman flies back into the capital for the fourth year running, this Christmas at the Peacock.
Among the 260 Christmas shows The Stage will cover this year, Aladdin notches up the most productions, with 36, Cinderella is not far behind with 34, while Jack and the Beanstalk scoops third place with 33 appearances.
Whatever takes your fancy - traditional pantomime or Christmas show - there is sure to be something for you in the listings below. 
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Credit Among The Crisis

The Stage : 15/02/1996 
A week may be a long time in politics as the old saying goes, but blimey to goodness, in the theatre a hell of a lot can happen. A week before penning this article on Marc Joseph, he was full of beans, looking forward to his role in the musical The Fields of Ambrosia. Disastrous critical notices mean the show has announced its closure.
No matter, Marc himself is interesting and I am going to feature him here. Before going into acting Marc was a clinical pathologist but sadly it was nothing like Quincey.
"I worked in a maternity hospital and tested blood from babies to test for jaundice. At the time of my A-Levels I thought I was too young to have the guts to try and make it in theatre. So I spent four years doing my degree in Sheffield."
Marc took work at Kings College Hospital in London and when he arrived in the smoke, threw himself into some serious theatregoing. He also landed himself a job in a record shop specialising in music from the shows.
From there he went to Jersey to take part in a variety show. His worst experience was there. "I was singing and sort of fell down some steps into the front row of the audience on to someone's table and sent all the drinks flying. Very embarrassing."
He won the first Andrew Lloyd Webber scholarship for the musical theatre course at the Arts Educational School. From there he appeared in Les Miserables where he was originally selling ice creams. What? "Yes I was an ice cream vendor and from there I worked my way up, auditioning for the cast and going on to play Claquesous and the Pimp.
He was in the national tour of Little Shop of Horrors in which he played Seymour Krelbourn opposite Su Pollard. More recently he took part in the Tenth Anniversary Concert of Les Miserables at the Royal Albert Hall. "That was just amazing," he tells me. "It is such a fabulous venue and when you go on stage you can see hundreds of people which is a little daunting at first."
It is undoubtedly this wealth of experience which means Marc has been one of the few people to come out of the derision heaped on The Fields of Ambrosia with any credit. 
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Pier Pleasure - Summer Blackpool
The Stage : 13/07/1995 
ROBIN DUKE
Apart from a preseason visit of Tommy Steele's touring show, with no Michael Barrymore to bail out its early season this year, First Leisure had to look elsewhere for something to fill its huge Opera House right through the summer.
And adopting the theory that if it took major money two years ago for a six week Christmas season, starring Phillip Schofield, why shouldn't it do the same for nigh on six months in the summer, starring Aled Jones - along came Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Why not indeed - except that six months is a lot longer than six weeks.
there is a lot more competition in the summer than in the winter and, pleasant though he is, one wondered right from the start whether former choirboy hit maker Jones was qwte the right image for the role. Narrator for the season is Ria Jones.
Sundays at the Opera House see a straight pull from Scarborough's Futurist with Billy Pearce and his full supporting cast of Barnaby, Paul Zenon and Claire Cattini in on a weekly basis.
Still inside the Winter Gardens complex there is the under utilised Pavilion Theatre - but having tried his hand there last year and subsequently lost his regular matinee outlet of the Sandcastle, the resourceful Mike Donohoe has resurfaced with a double package of golden oldies. Every Tuesday and Wednesday he has found a way to capitalise on the VE Day 50th Anniversary celebrations by way of a Bless 'Em All production featuring Gina Lunt, Judy Kent, Mike Terry, Bob Lawrence and himself, with songs and comedy from the wartime years. Then each Thursday he plunges further down the time tunnel for his more usual music hall featuring Mr X, Calum McKinnon, his two female vocalists and again, himself.
Other entertainment in the complex comes courtesy of the Victoria Bar's resident performers. There is the duo Tabu back for six evenings and two lunches each week plus keyboard vocalists Keith Andrews and Michelle.
Still, First Leisure always has the piers. The North Pier is the first to start and usually the last to finish - though these days with different shows at each end. The dubious honour of opening the season went to Wizz Promotions and its Jolson, Formby and Crosby Show.
The low-to-no budget production had already lost its compere Peter Hudson before it transferred from Great Yarmouth. It retained, however, likable Ken Goodwin as Formby, Steve King as Jolson and Dennis Lotis as Crosby (Review, page 18).
The main season honours this year go to another triumvirate - the seemingly unlikely combination of Les Dennis (making his first appearance in the resort since the death of former comedy partner Dustin Gee), Su Pollard and Roy Walker all as you have never seen them before." It is a hold promise but it is backed up with a big budget.
Completing that bill is regular visitor, master illusionist Richard de Vere. The show runs on to Sundays leaving Mondays clear for the first season in town of That'll Be the Day. Fronted by Trevor Payne and cramming more than 80 songs into a 20 years of rock retrospective, it is looking to establish a firmer foothold in the resort.
At the opposite end of the pier from the theatre is the Merrie England Bar. After its failed comedy store experiments of a couple of years ago, it has now firmly returned to a usually free admission more clubland approach. To that end, who better to host the night than the self-appointed Mad Maori Junior Jonsen. He is joined by duo Midnight Blues plus the disco sounds of Joey Blower's Madhouse.
Sundays see another return of the excellent funtime band the Muldoon Brothers and the veteran organist Raymond Wallbank can be heard daily in the Sun Lounge, notching up his 30th year - for which he was recently awarded the OBE (Order of the Blackpool Empire - courtesy of the Principality of Fun!).
Working out exactly what is on when at Central Pier requires the skill of a train timetable translator this summer. Each Monday to Thursday sees the Laugh Inn show which brings back Blackpool based comedian Mick Miller to his favourite pier and his tenth Blackpool season. Joining him is Johnnie Casson - another firm Blackpool favourite making his second successive summer appearance at Maggie Mays.
Completing the comedy picture is Crissy Rock already a favourite from her one night stands, but this year given the chance of her first full season. Casson drops out of the line-up on Saturdays and Sundays to be replaced by Albie Senior big in girth and loud in attire, he is just about everywhere this summer. Completing the nightly bill is male/female duo Nu Attitude. The missing Friday night is filled by hypnotist Andrew Newton.
Peak week matinees come courtesy of the continuously touring Aubrey Phillips' pantomime Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
The UK Centrefolds will also be making illuminations weekend appearances together with the ubiquitous Senior while the ladies get their own back with the Centurions Male Revue show through September and October. The Centrefolds start their season with a Tuesday residency in Central Pier's Oz nightspot.
And so to the South Pier where last year's Rosie O'Grady's All Star Music Hall was such a success its repeat visit was confirmed before the final curtain went down on 1994.
This time it is officially the Frank Carson Show.
Fellow comic Duncan Norvelle transfers his attentions from the Grand Theatre last year to South Pier this time and they are joined by those ton-up terpsichorean, the Roly Polys. Completing the bill is Linda Nolan as Rosie O'Grady herself.
Weekends as ever belong to Roy 'Chubby' Brown, who could probably fill the theatre every night but wisely gambles against it - preferring to guarantee full houses on his more limited appearances.
The South Pier Lounge sees the welcome return of duo Me and Him - combining comedy and music and fresh from a successful winter at Blackpool"s Alabama Showboat. 

Show People 
The Stage : 08/11/2001 
With a name like his, could Joshua Dallas have been anything other than a musical theatre star?
Hailing from Louisville, Kentucky, Dallas crossed the Atlantic to attend the musical theatre course at Mountview after auditioning at an American theatre festival. He graduated in April 2000 and went straight into Richard Jordan's adaptation of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd.
From there it was on to the RSC for a part in its doomed West End musical The Secret Garden. Now he is on tour with Olivier Awardwinning New Shakespeare Company's Pirates of Penzance, which stars Gary Wilmot and Su Pollard.
Not a bad start, as he admits, although he was disappointed The Secret Garden failed in the West End.
"I think there were many factors - we opened in January, it was all foot-andmouth happening, people didn't want to come."
He feels his education is continuing now through Joe Papp's revamp of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta and his two co-stars.
He says: "Working with Gary and Su, they both are sweet guys. Not only are they extremely talented people, they are, down to the core, professionals."
The Pirates of Penzance is at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth, until November 10, then the Theatre Royal, Brighton, Richmond Theatre, De Montfort Hall, Leicester, and Milton Keynes Theatre. 
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Flop Spells End For Bournemouth Farce

The Stage 03/08/2000 
Producer Brian Hewitt-Jones has claimed end of the pier farce is dead in its traditional home of Bournemouth after poor box office forced him to close No Sex Please, We're British a month early.
Now Hewitt-Jones, who has produced similar shows at the resort's Pier Theatre for the past three years, says he will not bring a farce back there again.
"It is highly unlikely. I will have to discuss with the entertainment people here what the possibilities would be. Maybe farce isn't the thing for Bournemouth anymore. Maybe we should be looking at something different, " he said.
Directed by Michael Latimer, the farce by Anthony Marriot and Alistair Foot starred Linda Lusardi, Barry Howard, Tim Marriot, Jan Hunt and Allan Stewart. It opened in June and was due to play until the end of this month.
Previously, Hewitt-Jones, who runs BHJ Productions, has brought Su Pollard to the seaside town in See How They Run and Bobby Davro in Run for Your Wife. He said audiences fell each year.
"It is a good show. Everybody is good in it. But they won't come to see it. It is the traditional home of farce - the pier at Bournemouth - it has been for the last 20 years, " he said.
Britain's resorts are to be targeted in a new initiative by tourism minister Janet Anderson in a bid to boost seaside towns.
Anderson has this week been on a five-day fact-finding tour of some of the nation's coastal areas that will form the basis of a plan to improve the fortunes of seaside towns.
Speaking in advance of her visit, Anderson said: "Seaside resorts are facing new challenges. Competition within the UK and abroad is growing and the expectations of tourists are changing, especially as the Internet opens up a new world of information and services to tourists."
Anderson's tour takes in Blackpool, Great Yarmouth, Scarborough, Minehead and Newquay. She will be meeting tourism organisations and holidaymakers to hear what they think can be done to ensure the future of resorts as well as spelling out Government initiatives to help boost deprived areas.
These have included discussions with Lottery bodies to better distribute funds to areas that have been overlooked, an investigation by the English Tourism Council into what holidaymakers want from resorts, and support for bids for European funding. 
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Chit Chat : Party On Down

The Stage 24/09/1998 
November 11 may be most famous as the anniversary of the ending of the First World War. This year it also marks the centenary of a happier event - the founding of the Actors' Church Union.
By neat coincidence, it would also have been the 100th birthday of a greatly- missed stalwart of the ACU, the much loved Frances Yorke Batley. She died two years ago but is very much alive in the memory of hundreds if not thousands of actors and actresses who have appeared at Bournemouth Pavilion since 1949.
Together with her husband, Pavilion chaplain the Reverend William Yorke Batley, she hosted Friday afternoon tea parties for the casts; with croquet in good weather and a game of Oh Hell! (don't ask) if raining. Every guest received a group photograph of the event and today those pictures adorn the foyer walls of the Pavilion. And there are some surprising appearances: Rolf Harris, Spike Milligan and the young Sean Connery - not everyone's idea of a tea and croquet man.
William died in 1960, but thanks to persuasion from Leslie Crowther, Frances maintained the tradition for three decades. Recently, her own contribution was recognised with a plaque at the Pavilion unveiled by Su Pollard.
Matthew Kelly, who attended one of the last parties as part of the 1988 Jack and the Beanstalk cast and returned to pay his respects recalled: "A touring actor's life is never very stable and her unique parties used to give us normality." 
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Whose Hour Is It Anyway?

The Stage : 17/10/1996
LISA MARTLAND
When Woman's Hour was born on Monday, October 7, 1946, listeners were told there would be talks by experts on "keeping house, health, children, furnishing, beauty care - in fact, on everything concerned with all sorts of problems in the home."
Oh, how dated it all sounds to us nineties women, but Woman's Hour has come a long way since it advised ladies on what to do with their old blackout curtains. It has tackled all kinds of issues head on, and not just those related to women. Even when the BBC hierarchy felt embarrassed by words like menopause and cancer, the programme's team would not hesitate from bringing them up in open discussion.
Woman's Hour's 50th anniversary has not only been a cause for celebration, but also an opportunity for debate as well. A number of former contributors and listeners have suggested the show's strong feminist politics have alienated the ordinary female listener - the woman happy to call herself married and content not to pursue a career. Not only that, but they also suggest male guests are conspicuous by their absence. Indeed Jenni Murray, who has presented the programme since 1987, has openly described marriage as "legalised prostitution," and nowadays no woman is interviewed simply because she is a wife - only someone with a career is thought to be interesting.
It is hard for me to judge, not having tuned in very much before Murray began her term in office, but I suppose the special Woman's Hour quiz (R4, Monday, October 7) certainly fits the above description. Putting the debate aside for a moment though, it is fair to say this was an entertaining and original way of dipping into the programme's archives.
The panel, chaired by Murray, consisted of six women who have also reached the golden age of 50, with MPs Edwina Curry and Clare Short as the captains. My favourite round was the one entitled 'Prize insults from men' which included the gem: "It's not women's bodies that are the problem, they don't seem to be able to concentrate as well as men, which is why they'll never break into the male preserve of championship snooker," so said Steve Davis.
It is questionable, though, whether there was a great deal in the quiz for that down to earth, ordinary listener I hinted at earlier. In 1991, Woman's Hour was forced to move slots from 2pm to 10.30am - surely many 'career women' are out at work by then? Perhaps those left at home want to hear more from people experiencing the same kind of problems they do. And so the debate continues...
I cannot imagine Cole Porter's classic Kiss Me, Kate (R2, Saturday, October 5), based around a musical version of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, would be much of a hit with feminists. It is horrible to think what kind of effect Where Is the Life That Late I Led?, a song sung by the character Fred Graham in the show, could have on those living in their politically correct worlds. Graham, on this occasion, was well played by James Smillie, Julia Migenes was Lili Vanessi, and the rest of the cast included Catherine Porter, John Barr, Don Fellows, John Challis and Bryan Pringle. It was a pleasant, if somewhat slow paced, production. I just felt it lacked punch and the delivery of dialogue could have been sharper.
Not a comment I would make about MP Ken Livingstone as he took on the role of chairman in And I'm the Queen of Sheba (R4, from Thursday, October 3), a new panel game all about telling fibs. Livingstone had a great time asking general knowledge questions about acts of lying and deceit - strange for a politician that. These are the funniest kind of radio quiz shows, when no one is really bothered about who is winning, and there is plenty of time for the panel - Jeremy Hardy, Rebecca Front, Jim Sweeney, Fred MacAuley - to relax, have fun and improvise.
There were also laughs to be had with Danny La Rue, Paul Callan's guest on Celebrity Choice (Classic FM, Sunday, October 13), although the great female impersonator was serious about the music he wanted to play. These choices included Mahler's Symphony No.5 from Death in Venice and Bess, You Is My Woman from Porgy and Bess. Topics of conversation ranged from La Rue's feelings about his home town of Cork to frocks and religion.
Callan had better watch out, though, if he ever has to chat with Su Pollard or Jonathan King, because it is unlikely he would ever get a word in. Both have recently appeared on Radio 2. Pollard presented Opportunity Knocked (Bona Little Productions for R2, Tuesday, October 15), a pretty interesting exploration into the world of TV talent shows which mainly focused on the success of Opportunity Knocks and New Faces. Pollard herself appeared on the former and was beaten by a performing dog, but of course she is not bitter.
King took charge of Bubblegum King! (Rewind Productions for R2, Saturday, October 5), in which he put a case in favour of "enormously superficial and wonderful instant" disposable pop music. I might have stuck around to listen to more, but I do not think my radio was big enough for his ego. This is one man I could quite easily live without hearing on any radio programme - and not just Woman's Hour. 
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New Radio Series

The Stage : 18/01/1996 
For Better or for Worse - BBC Radio 2 comedy series (7-7.33pm)
Production company: Mike Craig Enterprises. Cast includes: Su Pollard, Gorden Kaye, Julie Higginson, Paula Tilbrook, David Ross, Peter Wheeler. Writers: Vince Powell, Mike Craig.
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Pantomime Preview

The Stage : 07/12/1995
Jack & The Beanstalk
Southampton - Mayflower Theatre
Paul Elliott presents JACK AND THE BEANSTALK, with Su Pollard, Michael Elphick, Don Maclean, Ray Meagher, Scorpio, Mike Osman, Zippy, George and Bungle, Cheryl Taylor, Julia Chittenden School of Dance. Produced by Carole Todd. Directed by Lisa Kent. Designed by Hugh Durrant. Associate producers, Brian Hewitt-Jones, Chris Moreno (December 15 to February 4)
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New BBC Series
The Stage : 26/06/1997
Oh, Doctor Beeching! - BBC1 comedy series (6.45 - 7.15pm)
Cast: Su Pollard, Paul Shane, Julia Deakin, Jeffrey Holland, Paul Aspen, Stephen Lewis, Lindsay Grimshaw, Ivor Roberts, Perry Benson, Barbara New, Terry John, Tara Daniels. Writers: David Croft, Richard Spendlove. Director: Roy Gould. Producer: David Croft.

Emma Harlen looks at the feast of Christmas fare flooding the country's theatres and finds a high influx of screen stars 
The Stage : 07/12/2000 
EMMA HARLEN 
With just over a fortnight to go until Christmas it is that time of year again when men don dresses and make-up, and women wear the trousers.
Yes, it is panto time and this season - as with many others - sees the return of the soap stars who traditionally grace our stages during the festive season.
As usual the Aussies are out in force, but our own talent is not far behind. There is the usual round of actors from Neighbours and Home and Away, including Alan Fletcher, Ray Meagher, Kym Valentine and Jansen Spencer, plus favourites from Coronation Street and EastEnders. Almost all of the Di Marco clan make appearances (Carly Hillman, Dartford; Leila Birch, Canterbury; Marc Bannerman, Eastbourne and Louise Jameson, High Wycombe) with the exception of Michael Greco, who is the only family member still in the soap.
Various DJs return as well with many local stations represented throughout the UK. And, of course, panto wouldn't be panto nowadays without the children's characters. Mr Blobby makes three appearances, BBC TV's Otis the Aardvark, two, Noddy, five, and Postman Pat, five.
Who can forget Channel 4's major summer hit which had the nation gripped - Big Brother? It seemed pretty obvious that 'Nasty' Nick Bateman had the ideal opportunity to make people hate him even more in the role of the villain. If anyone, surely he would have guaranteed full houses with audiences itching to boo him off the stage. But where is he?
The only BB participant we have the pleasure of seeing is Claire Strutton, drafted into the programme at the last minute to replace Bateman when he was booted out. She appears in an all-star line-up at Windsor Theatre Royal with the likes of Eric Sykes, John Challis, Christopher Beeny and Trevor Bannister.
Even the game show's infamous chicken Marjorie puts in a performance at the Queen's Hornchurch, which hosts Cinderella.
Christmas entertainment returns with a bang at the Birmingham Alexandra after an absence of 12 years, Leslie Grantham and Joe Pasquale heading the cast. Elsewhere in the Midlands city, it is a shame to see the Hippodrome closed for refurbishment. Last year it played host to arguably the best of the season, Snow White, when Lily Savage and Kriss Akabusi drew the crowds. All is not lost, though; Savage and Akabusi have been joined by Sherrie Hewson as the production relocates to the Mayflower Theatre, Southampton.
Further north, the Liverpool Playhouse reopens with A Christmas Carol and, astonishingly, the Plaza in Stockport has its first pantomime for 36 years, Cinderella. Sadly, in London, the Westminster Theatre stages its last ever panto with performances of Sleeping Beauty.
Once again E&B Productions is the leader of the pack with 30 shows, fronted by an array of household names including Su Pollard in Aberdeen, Cannon and Ball (Bradford), Russ Abbot in Bromley, Frank Bruno hitting Milton Keynes, Lesley Joseph (Newcastle), Anita Dobson in Richmond, Vicki Michelle (St Albans), Lionel Blair in Wimbledon and Melinda Messenger in Woking. Other highlights include Julian Clary's pantomime debut in Cinderella at Brighton Theatre Royal.
However, as predicted last year, Effective Theatrical Productions is hot on E&B's heels. It has drafted in top name stars, including Julie Goodyear in Manchester, Darren Day in Northampton, Brian Blessed (Bristol), Kate Ritchie in Croydon and George Sewell (Dartford).
But the jewel in its crown must be the spectacular £1.5 million production of Dick Whittington at the Apollo, Hammersmith. It stars Effective's main man Jim Davidson alongside regular sidekick John Virgo, Victor Spinetti and John Lyons, and it has the right ingredients for a sure-fire success.
Other major shows include the world premiere of A Christmas Carol, which has been re-created as a dance show (choreography by Christopher Hampson) at the Royal Festival Hall, while Hackney Empire is home to Mother Goose, starring Clive Rowe.
For the fourth time in five years Cinderella is top of the list of the most performed pantomimes with a recordbreaking 44 productions being staged. Second is Aladdin with 32 and third is Dick Whit-tington which has managed 24.
But whichever of the 291 shows listed below you choose to see, be they traditional, modern or plain crude, you are sure to have a magical time. 
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News Exclusive : Sitcom Legend Perry Backs Own Musical

The Stage 30/10/1997 
BY PHIL GIBBY 
Television comedy legend Jimmy Perry is to turn theatre producer by backing a new production that he has written himself.
Perry has written stage shows before in collaboration with David Croft, creating live versions of Dad's Army and Hi-De-Hi!. But his new venture, That's Showbiz - book and lyrics by Perry, music by Roy Moore - marks Perry's first excursion into producing.
The show, a musical starring Ted Rogers, Carmen Silvera and Su Pollard, will be showcased at Wimbledon Theatre next week. Most leading theatre managers are expected to attend with a view to taking the show on.
If it proves a hit, however, it seems that the production will have to wait until next year before it is seen on a wider scale as most cast members are about to take on pantomime commitments.
"I'm not working in television at the moment, so I thought it was the right time to get That's Showbiz on stage," Perry said. "I know it's difficult in theatre at the moment, but I've been in the business 47 years and they've always said 'theatre's dying'. My view is that if you don't try something, you'll never know whether or not it will work. Bob Monkhouse reckons I'm the bravest man in showbusiness!"
Perry said that he first had the idea for the show, about the life of a fading comic, 20 years ago, but had only come to write it over the last three years.
"It's got a bit of everything," he said. "It's tough, it's funny, it's sad. I hope audiences will like it." 
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News - Heatwave Hits Summer Shows
The Stage : 31/08/1995
ADRIAN DAWSON
Attendances at Britain's summer shows have been scorched by the recent heatwave.
Top stars, such as Su Pollard and Aled Jones, are appearing nightly in front of paltry audiences.
Shows at Britain's flagship resort of Blackpool have been getting audiences of as little as 35 per cent capacity.
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is playing at The Opera House and a cast member told The Stage: "The audiences have been very bad. On average it has been about a third full and one night there were only 200 people in."
Brian Crompton, from entertainment giant First Leisure, which is promoting the Blackpool shows, admitted it had not been a good summer.
"There have been some nights this year when it has been very hot and sticky," he said. "What the cast of something like Joseph have to remember is when the Opera House is half full that means there are more than 1,500 people in there. "The audiences are down on last year, but then we had Brian Conley who was the person of the moment."
The company has been offering special promotions with coupons in localnewspapers. Crompton denied Blackpool's Biggest Show starring Les Dennis, Pollard and Roy Walker, had played to a house of only 50 people and that Joseph had attracted an audience of 200.
Meanwhile in Folkestone, Mike Atkin, manager of the Leas Cliff Hall has had a bad summer too. He said: "It has not been good. Val Doonican was almost a sell-out but with people like Procol Harum and Ray Davies we were struggling to pull in 50 per cent audiences.
"The trouble is the day-trippers come down, sit on the beach all day, then go home without coming to the shows."
Norwich's Theatre Royal has also had a thin time. Spokeswoman Catriona Macrae-Gibson said: "It has been very bad this year. As soon as the clocks change in early summer, attendances fall. People go off to enjoy the sun. Our lowest attendance has been around the 400 mark in a 1,300 capacity theatre.
"We've had touring companies come in and we expect them to be appalled, but they say we are giving them their biggest audiences "
But in Bournemouth the number of punters flocking to the beach has paidhandsomely.
Tony Hardman, from the Pier and Pavilion, said: "In places like Blackpool people come for a couple of nights then go somewhere else.
"But here when people arrive they tend to stay for a few days. There are many more people coming to the town and we are benefiting from that."
And Nigel Stewart from Cromer Pavilion said the annual summer seaside special has been attracting regular 90 per cent capacity houses. 
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News - Time To Party With The Stars
The Stage : 27/07/1995
Nearly 600 artists turned out for the showbusiness event of the year, The Stage 1995 Blackpool Party.
Present were comics Joe Pasquale, Les Dennis and Su Pollard, plus entertainer Roy Walker and singer Aled Jones.
Joining them were producer Jon Conway, top agents including Trevor and Billie George and leading Equity figures including general secretary Ian McGarry, variety chief Eddie Saville, president Freddie Pyne and former vice-president Dave Eager.
Also there were cast members from shows including Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, the Hot Ice Show, the popular Tower and Superdome circuses and many more.
The bumper turnout for the event, hosted at First Leisure's Savoy Hotel, topped even last year's impressive figure.
Proof indeed that the summer season is alive and well in the capital of light entertainment.
Pictured on this page are just a few of the many summer season stars, producers and Stage contributors enjoying the party atmosphere. 
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News - It Just Gets Sillier & Sillier At Blackpool

The Stage : 11/05/1995 
Having already established itself as the Principality of Fun, Blackpool has now taken the joke one step further by appointing a Clown Prince and Princess in the shape of Frank Carson and Su Pollard.
Complete with crowns and ermine trimmed robes, the summer season stars made their first titled public appearance to bewildered passers-by and bemused tourists outside Buckingham Palace.
Blackpool declared itself an independent principality last year after figures were published showing more people wanted to travel abroad for their holidays.
Tourism bosses decided on the spot that, if that was the case, the best way to attract visitors would be to make Blackpool a foreign country.
Carson, topping the bill along the promenade at South Pier said: "I hope to be on the throne for a very long time!" 
 

News : Nottingham Campaign
The Stage 22/06/2000 
Nottingham Arts Theatre members have launched a desperate campaign for sponsorship after being told that their 321-seat venue is being sold and they are to lose funding after 52 years.
The combined producing and receiving house is the only British theatre to be founded on co-operative principles and has Ken Loach, Michael Jayston, Su Pollard and Peter Bowles among former members.
Its committee now faces a battle to raise an estimated £500,000 by next June, when owner the Co-operative Wholesale Society has said it will sell the building and withdraw support in favour of its retail interests.
Chair of the theatre's drama and joint committees Campbell Kay told The Stage: "We hope £500,000 will be enough to acquire and refurbish the theatre.
We have a professional theatre surveyor valuing the building soon, so that figure is a purely ball-park one at the moment."
The theatre's 180 active members have now set up Nottingham Arts Theatre Ltd, a non-profit-making company which is seeking charitable status. Kay said he planned to approach all 700 season ticket members for help.