ajhlovestheatre

Hello, and thanks for having a look.

This blog is the result of a certain amount of judicious persuasion (nagging, to put it another way) by some of my nearest and dearest. I suspect they were encouraging me to blog mainly because they were sick of me clogging up their Facebook timelines and Twitter feeds with random ramblings on subjects theatrical. So, yes, basically, this is THEIR FAULT. I might even name names at some point, depends if I’ve had a couple of drinks….

I have been all over the front Stalls since the tender age of eight, when I was taken to see Susannah York and Ron Moody in Peter Pan at the London Casino (now the Prince Edward…..yup, I’m pretty old). It was utterly magical, even down to the strained expressions on the Darling children’s faces when they first took flight, and the fact that Peter was clearly a lady with a husky voice and an unforgiving pudding bowl haircut. I most certainly DID believe in fairies! Still do, as a matter of fact.

My first grown-up show was Evita at the same, but renamed, venue, for a birthday treat. I had been obsessed with the original concept album, the fact that Eva Peron had died young, Elaine Paige in general, and -after much background reading- considered myself something of an expert on Argentine politics in the 1940s. I was nine. Can you even imagine how obnoxious I probably was? The harsh realities of live theatre were brought home to me however when we got there and Elaine Paige was off…… Instead we got the alternate, Susannah Fellows, who was thrilling in the role. My initial disappointment was also tempered by the fact that Ms Fellows looked stunning in the famous ‘white dress’ in her photo outside the theatre. Yes I was gobsmackingly shallow even back then.

My first non-musical was the RSC production of Educating Rita with the first replacement cast of Shirin Taylor and Donald Burton, although Shirin looked so much like Julie Walters on her first entrance that we were checking the programme to see if there hadn’t been some mistake, or an unannounced return guest star appearance. Either way, Willy Russell’s beguiling melancholic comedy was a new type of magic, and further cemented my love for live theatre.

Well, I think that’s enough rambling for now……I’m off to hit the Nutribullet. Mmmmmm…..kale (said no one ever). Thank you for reading this far.

Alun x

(0ne of the photos below is me, and the other one is my first Evita, Susannah Fellows, in full “death” make-up. I’ll leave it up to you to work out which is which.)