Wednesday 19 May 2021.

Wednesday 19 May 2021. In the afternoon I had a nice little trip down memory lane. I had five great years working in Nine Elms Lane 1993 to 1998. It is the area situated from Vauxhall Cross to Battersea Power Station. Situated by The River Thames, with Pimlico on the other side of the water. It was a pretty gloomy area back then , with just some huge spaces taken over by The Royal Mail, Securicor, HMSO, a nightclub, a couple of pubs and not much more. Now there are at least FIFTY blocks of flats/offices here all along Nine Elms Lane. There is even a Waitrose and trendy restaurants & bars. There is an amazing see-through swimming pool, suspended ten floors up between two blocks. See my Facebook page for a nice photo of it. ----------------------- 7.30pm - THE MOUSETRAP re-opens at St Martin's Theatre, West Street, London WC2. The world's longest running play re-opens in the West End with an all-star cast. Performances now on-sale from 17 May 2021 – 30 January 2022. The first four week's will be socially distanced, just 25% of full capacity allowed. Facece coverings must be worn during the show. The Mousetrap is a murder mystery play by Agatha Christie. The Mousetrap opened in London's West End in 1952 and ran continuously until 16 March 2020, when the stage performances had to be discontinued due to the COVID-19 pandemic.....it has sold over a staggering 10 million tickets....over 28,000 performances. I have seen it a couple of times before. Every other row has been left unsold and spare seats between all groups of ticket buyers. Only eight in the cast , and no need for an orchestra so hopefully they can still make a small profit. Two sets of around 60 mins each. It was enjoyable to see it again. ------------------- Thursday 20 May 2021. KISS have finally confirmed the postponement of their 2021 European Tour to 2022. ---------- Happy Birthday to CHER who is 75 today. Cher did not play live much in the UK so i only saw her the once. It was at Wembley Arena, where we also went to the aftershow party. We walked past Chers dressing room and the room next door said "Chers Wig Room". ---------- 7.30pm - EVERYBODY'S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE, The Apollo Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London W1. Everybody's Talking About Jamie will return to the Apollo Theatre in The West End , with Shane Richie reprising the role of Hugo/Loco Chanelle. ... Richie first played Hugo/Loco Chanelle from 28 January - 4 May 2019, but he's best known for playing Alfie Moon in BBC's Eastenders. Jamie is a musical with music by Dan Gillespie Sells (The Feeling) and book and lyrics by Tom MacRae. The musical is inspired by the 2011 television documentary Jamie: Drag Queen at 16 directed by Jenny Popplewe.There is a full length feature film due out in 2021. The show features a twenty-five strong company and a nine-piece band that will ‘sweep you away on a tide of mischief, warmth and exuberance’ (Financial Times). When it first premiered a couple of years ago it got five star reviews from The Times, The Financial Times, The Independent, Time Out and Daily Express. The first four week's will be socially distanced, and face coverings must be worn. Tonight's show feels around 75% capacity, with just one empty seat between each booking. The venue actually said they were selling shows at 50 % capacity. The show is on for around 2 hours 25 mins over two sets of 85 mins and 60 mins. I have a perfect view as I am just four rows from the stage. Jamie is the 16 year school boy from Sheffield who overcomes hurdles to be a drag queen. Plenty of great songs & dance routines and camp humour from the superb cast. Great to see Shane Richie dress up in full drag. It is an excellent , heartwarming and genuinely uplifting show , that is a perfect tonic to help you get over those lockdown blues. --------- Happy Birthday to tv presenter & comedian NOEL FIELDING who is 48 today. I worked with Noel's dad in the 1990s so saw a couple of his very early shows. One was at Riverside Studios and i surprised Noel at The Melbourne Comedy Festival. Later on I would see him at Brixton Academy (The Mighty Boosh) and The Royal Albert Hall. --------- Happy Birthday to LEO SAYER who 73 today. I have seen him live several times since 1975 , he had a few hits in the 1970s.

Posted 20th May 2021