It was down to the Capital this afternoon to catch the National Theatre’s 2018 production of Amadeus. But before all that, we headed for the Royal Academy to see the time-limited ‘Charles I: King and Collector’ exhibition. Wow! This was impressive! It featured a collection of around 100 works of art (classical sculptures, Baroque paintings, …
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Category:Theatre
A Bunch of Amateurs
The Stratford Players desperately need King Lear to be a success or it will be their last ever production, and their theatre will be demolished for redevelopment. Maybe a big box office star can help? Enter from stage-left, one Jefferson Steele: Hollywood action hero, currently between his film-franchises and encouraged to play his very first …
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Twelfth on Twelfth at 12!
More by happy accident than perfect timing, we headed off to Stratford-upon-Avon today with Chris and Gill to see the RSC’s matinee performance of Twelfth Night – actually on twelfth night! Continuing the ‘12’ theme, we sat down for lunch just before Noon! What are the chances ehh? I remember studying this Play at school …
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Long Weekend with Ralph & Karen
Ralph and Karen are staying with us until Sunday! Yay!!! Thursday Ralph and Karen arrived just before lunch and after a quick nibble, it was off for a sight-seeing afternoon around picturesque Stratford-upon-Avon… …we dropped into Rick’s place – Hathaway Tea Rooms for a quick nibble, but no sign of Rick though! (That, unbeknown to …
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London Calling!
It’s been a while since we did this – and we’re certainly packing it in – a short two-day break to the Capital! Deep breath, and here we go! …Train from Bedford… …a brief meeting with Chris, our Financial Adviser… …dump our bags at the Hotel… …Champagne Lunch at the Ritz (thanks Roger, Jane and …
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Top Haturday & Sunday
Another family & friends get-together today as we headed for Kilworth Theatre and their final performance of Irving Berlin‘s Top Hat. It was obviously a popular choice, having run for a whole month – 16th August until 17th September. Roger, Jane and Oliver are with us for the weekend and joined us for the event, …
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Caesar and Salad
A puntastic mix! We set off for Gill and Chris’ today and then onto Stratford-upon-Avon to see the matinee performance of – you guessed it – Julius Salad Caesar. In spite of it being the day before Good Friday (where we were expecting a lot of traffic) we had a good journey there and soon …
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Russians in Northamptonshire!
We picked up David and Valerie and headed off to The Derngate to see Russian Masters performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The journey there was straightforward, but parking near the Theatre was a nightmare – even the multi-storey was full! Eventually, we found a space in a nearby street, but I think if we …
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Weekend Ware
We drove down to Roger, Jane and Oliver’s on Friday night for a weekend of all sorts of things! These days, I’m never far away form a technology projects – and happily, this weekend was no different! First job was to reset Oliver’s Tablet and re-install everything because it had become slower and slower over …
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Chicken and Mice
We drove over to Milton Keynes this evening to meet up with Chris, Gill, Abi and Denise. Bizarrely, it was nothing to do with my extended birthday celebrations! First stop was Carluccio’s in the Shopping Mall with our table booked for 5.30. The food was tasty – I had chicken – but with the Barman’s …
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Chilled-out Saturday – Friends, Friends, Friends
SATURDAYThis was a weekend focussed on friends. Ann picked up Lee on Friday as she was staying with us until Sunday afternoon. Nicki joined us later on Saturday and we all piled off to the ever reliable Thornhill Arms for lunch. You can’t go wrong with prices like that! and although the food was its …
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Family Bond!
Having left Christmas behind at ours on the 27th (after a great day with Nicki), we headed off in the XKR, to spend a couple of very nice days with Roger, Jane and Oliver. We arrived just after 4.30 and spent the rest of the evening chilling-out – the big day was tomorrow, the 28th, …
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Big Nose!
After yesterday’s trip into London for possibly my final informal School event as Chairman, it was a quick turn-around, and then off to Stratford-upon-Avon and Second Thoughts’ 7.30pm production of Cyrano De Bergerac. Unusually, it played at The Bear Pit, rather than the Civic Hall – but that didn’t diminish the attendance, as it was …
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Life’s a Breach
Lee, Ann and I travelled up to Tolethorpe Hall today and met Jo, Janet and Carol there. Nothing like a bit of Shakespeare to send you to sleep stir the soul, and the ‘band of sisters’ bought tickets for a solid dose of culture – an ‘outdoor’ production of The Life of Henry V. Perfect …
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Short Fat Hairy Legs!
As part of their UK tour, we saw ‘Eric and Little Ern’ at The Royal Theatre in Northampton. Almost a full-house – and what a performance! The physical, visual and aural similarities to this iconic comedy duo were amazing – almost bordering on creepy. They had the all the mannerisms, the ad-libs and the rapport …
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The Derngate – Michael Palin
Fresh from the ‘jolly’ in Birmingham this weekend, tonight we drove over to The Derngate in the evening, to see ‘Travelling to Work’ with Michael Palin. By a spooky coincidence, our friend Sue was there with her son Ben. The evening was pretty good – part one covered his travels as seen through the many …
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Birthday 2014 – Steve Serenaded/Men with Pikes/High Points/Low Points/Swans on the Bed/Pigeon Paranoia/East v West/Wow Factor 11
As the title suggests, this year’s birthday celebrations have been especially memorable. Loyal reader, read on… Even before the celebrations began today, I had a rather unexpected birthday-call the previous evening. The phone rang, and I didn’t recognise the number that came up, nor the voice at the other end. The mystery voice immediately sprang …
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Sister! Horse is the Word!!
Our busiest weekend of the year so far – in a good way! FRIDAYFirst stop was our return visit to the hidden gem of outdoor theatrical productions – Kilworth House Theatre Group in err, Kilworth – and their production of Sister Act. Jo, Janet, Carol, Nick and Celina joined us for an evening of superb …
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Theatre: South Pacific
Another superb performance from the Kilworth House Theatre tonight as they sang their hearts out performing South Pacific. It wasn’t quite a packed house (only about 99% full), but everyone clearly enjoyed themselves (including us – Ann, Jo, Janet, Carol, Chris and Pete) on one of those rare very warm evenings (that inevitably turned to …
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Omid Djalili – The Castle, Wellingborough
Val, Ann and I headed off to see Omid Djalili tonight. Luckily, Ann pointed out at the last moment that it was at The Castle, Wellingborough, as I almost sailed past the A14 turning for Wellingborough, thinking it was at The Derngate – another ‘senior moment’! He’s not everyone’s ‘cup-of-tea’, but he was certainly ours …
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The Weekend Starts Here
After the significant events of this week, it was good to chill-out this weekend. Ralph and Karen came to stay, and arrived around tea-time on Friday. After a quick catch-up, it was off to the Shuckburgh Arms in Stoke Doyle for a meal – the photos below say it all! – a fantastic meal all …
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Play: The 39 Steps
It was off to London today, to meet up with Angela C. Our destination was the Criterion Theatre to see the Play: The 39 Steps. I was hoping to try out my new camera-phone and snap a photograph of Eros, but the statue was covered in scaffolding and hidden from view, so I had to …
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Theatre Trip – ‘Hello Sailor’
As part of their Christmas present, we took Lee and Denis to see HMS Pinafore at the Royal Auditorium at the Derngate. First stop though was ASK (the Italian restaurant chain), just round the corner. It was pretty busy when arrived just before 1pm, but as we’d pre-booked, we had no trouble getting a table. …
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A Date with ‘Calendar Girls’
Lee, Ann and I drove over to Stratford-upon-Avon tonight to see Second Thoughts’ production of Calendar Girls. After a slow drive there because of congestion on the A14, on arrival it wasn’t the warmest of nights, and so not an ideal evening to ask the cast to dis-robe! Second Thoughts always punches above its weight, and …
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A Dent in Derngate!
I haven’t been to the Derngate Theatre since November, last year, so it was good to make the return journey for a couple of reasons: First up, they were showing a performance of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy – Live and second, it starred my good friend, Susan Sheridan, who played the part of the …
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The (Bank Holiday) Weekend Starts Here…
FridayDenis joined us in the afternoon. He’s staying until Sunday. He’d had a good trip down and was already at ours when I got back from Trish and John’s after sorting out a few bits & pieces with Trish’s phone and tablet. Ann was working from home and after a(nother) frantic week at work, we …
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Weekend with Roger, Jane and Oliver
FridayRoger, Jane and Oliver arrived around 8.30. Lee joined us too, so we’re all set for a great weekend. The weather looks like it’s finally switched to ‘summer-mode’ and the only thing that’s tainting the enjoyment is the fact that Bon-Bon is still missing. SaturdayThe Sun came out as promised – big time! It looks …
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Review: Jeff Wayne’s ‘The War of the Worlds’
We drove over to the NIA tonight to see the new re-scored performance of the War of the Worlds album by Jeff Wayne. Background Since the Album’s launch in 1978, it had become a big hit for fans ‘of a certain age’ who also enjoy concept albums (that’ll be me then!). If you liked Albums …
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Handel with a Candle
I was stuck for a title for this blog, but Ralph came to the rescue – cheers Dude! If ever they re-invent Cluedo using famous musicians, Colonel Mustard now has a rival! 🙂 Lee, Ann and I drove over to the Royal and Derngate Theatre in Northampton tonight to see the Handel by Candlelight concert. …
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A Fan for All Reasons
It’s ‘cultural Saturday’ here(nothing wrong with that!). Lee stayed over and the three of us headed into town to see Brass for Africa 3 – a rather excellent concert of brass band music and singing. In spite of the atrocious weather, the event, at Kettering Citadel, was very well supported with standing room only. What …
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