Feb 2nd 2010, and here we go again. Its almost time for the rehearsals to start. 13th February and we will be in full swing. Of course there are lots of things to report since our last entry, but the biggest and most devasting news is that Pippa sadly died on 29th January. Our regular readers will know that Pippa was Colin and Marie's greyhound. Her illness was very sudden and unexpected. Already a massive loss to the Timeless family household. God bless her!!!

On a more jovial note. The cast changes for this season are as follows. Helene Lewis done us a massive favour by going to India to cover a contract out there until April. Her replacement is Katie Scott, from Cambridge. Gemma Edmenson has left us to persue her career in London. Her replacement is Hayley Smith from Sunderland. Jo Campbell is off to do a short term contract, and is replaced by Cordelia Fay from Penistone near Sheffield.

Rehearsals under way, and the cast soon get to know each other, and the personalities are already shining through. Hayley is the party girl, Cordelia the quiet one, and Katie the older/wiser one.

The rehearsal rooms are freezing cold. Thats England in February for you. Alex, our dance captain is teaching all of the dance routines, and the girls soon warm up. The singers meanwhile are learning harmonies, and also welcome Ruby Turner as the new swing singer who will cover Marie for half this season. Ruby is from near Lancaster, and has worked with us before on the Norwegian Cruise line. Ruby replaces Danielle who has landed a fantastic contract with Carnival Cruises and will be travelling the world until October. Good luck Danielle, and welcome back Ruby

Rehearsals go as planned and the only headache is the amount of costumes which are not ready, and just generally wrong. Poor dressmaker Shirley spends the last two days of rehearsals with not one hour of sleep. Working through the night to get everything sorted. Of course by the time the first show comes, she does finish it all, and apart from the odd accident with zips, the costumes do stay on!!! Well most of the time.

And so the first show is upon us.

Saturday 27th Feb. Leicester Little Theatre. A great venue that we get to do just once every two years. Two sell out houses, matinee and evening, and for some reason there are no train crashes (Theatre speak for catastrophe). As it has been a long two weeks of rehearsals working 10 hours per day, the cast are very tired, and a hotel stay over is a good plan, with most of the cast travelling back to Durham on Sunday morning. Of course Jamie Rae has not changed since last season, still loves square sausage, and his own bed at night, so he travels back home after the show.

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 2/3/4th March. Customs House, South Shields.Now we hit our local venue, and its a pleasure to be back. Four shows in three days makes it an easy ride. Ironing to be done just once at the beginning of the run. Two early finishes, and a chance to catch up on some sleep. Cordelia, Katie, and Alex stay with Bill Bill, while Jenni and Jamie stay with Colin and Marie. Colin and Jamie eat while Jenni and Marie talk each other to death. Quite a good arrangement. The shows go well with very good ticket sales. Shows over and a day off before travelling to Rugeley in Staffs.

Saturday 6th March. Roses Theatre, Rugeley. A new venue for us. Quite a small theatre both stage and capacity. Due to the size of the stage we have to leave out quite a few props, which is a bit confusing. Due to the screening of the stage and the fact that Colin was getting changed in the wings, a minor mishap did cause his half naked body to be flashed at the audience. Fortunately nobody was seriously affected and ambulances were not needed for some of the older ladies.

Tuesday 9th March, Dudley Concert Hall. Already the show is becoming second nature, as the cast get used to their roles. Jamie and Colin are getting used to their skirts in Zorba!!! Yes skirts!!! Thats all you need to know until you see the show. A matinee only show, and we are only 20 mins away from Wednesdays venue, and so it is another night off. Alex, who got engaged just months ago, is showing her age by staying in her room and reading wedding books. Hayley is still waiting for her first night out in over three weeks. Cordelia and Katie are settling in to a nice quiet routine of bath, pyjamas, and bed. Jenni and Marie havent changed a bit since last season. They still look after Colin and Bill with the bacon sarni run on a morning, they just talk a bit more as they do it. Back in the office there is a new addition. Joanne. She is assistant to Colin and Marie, and is looking after the general running of the office. Such is the workload that this business brings.

Wednesday 10th March. Assembly Rooms, Tamworth. Everyone suitably refreshed, another matinee only day, trouble free, and soon travelling half way to Skegness for tomorrows show.

Thursday 10th March. Embassy Centre, Skegness. One of the good things about touring our regular theatres is that we get to know the tech staff very well, and we have had a week of catching up with our tech friends. It makes the day very enjoyable. Jenni and Marie nip out for the sarnis and before we know it the show is over and we are travelling the 4 hours back home before just one day off.

Sunday 14th March, Broxbourne Civic Hall. Because of such a long journey the cast set off the day before, except for Jamie who has a cabaret gig on the Saturday night. He travels down after his gig and arrives at the Travelodge at 5.00am. Everyone else is snoring by this point. Well, Bill is!! Earplugs a must for anyone sharing with him. Another trouble free show, except for Jenni's dress in 'Getting to know you'. This dress is enormous and has a mind of its own. At Customs House it decided it was not going to be used and Marie had to dash back on stage and sing it instead of Jenni. Quite amusing seeing as Marie didnt have a clue what the words were. Interesting.......

Monday 15th March, Lifestyle Centre, Winsford. We travel up from London after the show in Broxbourne, so that we can have a little lie in bed this morning. Ruby is called into action earlier than expected as Marie has to attend a family funeral. Apart from forgetting to switch her microphone on at one point, she had a trouble free day. After the show everyone is off home again for a day off. Jenni and Colin are still puzzled by the fact the Ken Bruce on Radio 2 has still not read out Jenni's request. Come on Ken, she has mailed 10 times in 6 days. We want him to play Jamie Rae's hit song from the 80's, as the dancers dont believe he had a hit song in the 80's. There will be more mails coming your way soon Ken. Jenni is like a Rotweiller in these circumstances. Bill now has a dodgy foot after going over on his ankle while loading in.

Wednesday 17th March. Palace Theatre, Redditch. A tedious drive on the M1 for most. Get these roadworks sorted for crying out loud!!!!!!! Two shows today. That is unusual in itself for this run so far. Most days have just been one show. Marie is back in, but only till next week when she bows out and goes back to running the office with the help of Joanne. Most of the cast stay over. Hayley has now planned her long awaited night out for Friday. Katie is off to stay with Cordelia for a night before going home to London. Penni is going back to stay with Colin and Marie as she is volunteering this weekend, using her sign language skills. Colin and Marie have a bit of a special day tomorrow as they are getting their new greyhound. Maisie is being brought up from Nottingham area. The retired greyhound trust do an amazing job trying to re-home ex racing greyhounds. They are the most adorable dogs. Anyone thinking about getting a pet, why not go look at a greyhound. John looked after us so well, and we are looking forward to our new family addition. See the dogs at. http://www.rgtmidlands.co.uk/

Wednesday 24th March, Middlesbrough Theatre. A week off since our last show, and how life can change in such a short time. Devastating news that Colin's mam died suddenly just two days ago. Gladys was much loved by many of the cast over the years, and although her health was failing a little at the tender age of 84, her death was very sudden. She will be sadly missed by all. One of the great unselfish characters of the world. Still, life goes on and the show must go on. Middlesbrough is fast becoming one of our most popular venues, with over 800 tickets sold this time around. A fantastic venue enjoyed by both cast and audience.

Wednesday 31st March. Harlequin Theatre, Redhill. After yet another week off, we set off the day before the show to get to London. Everyone arrives at the Travelodge around 10pm, but most are weary from the journey and head straight for bed. This is the first show for our swing singer Ruby Scott to be involved. Ruby replaces Marie for the next two months in most of the shows, and gets off to a fine start with no major problems in her first show. Not as easy as it sounds as it is over a month since rehearsals finished. From Redhill we travel half way to Salisbury ready for tomorrows show.

Thursday 1st April, Salisbury City Hall. Just an hours drive this morning, and everyone ready for some of the best bacon sarni's in the country. Jenni and Ruby responsible for keeping the boys breakfast ritual going. During the one hour drive we have the pleasure of getting a mention from Ken Bruce on Radio2. The most important part of which was 'does anyone know how to cure separation anxiety in a greyhound'? Yes, Maisie suffers separation anxiety. Getting better over the three weeks since her arrival, but still needs to improve. Jamie and Ruby head home straight after the show, while the other cast members bed down for another night before tackling the journey tomorrow.

Friday 9th April, Hamilton Town House. For those audience members reading this....there really is no business like show business, and what you are about to read is typical of the behind the scenes panic that nobody realises actually does happen. Wednesday, and a text from dancer Haley. Wednesday night and Haley is no longer with us. Until Helene returns from India on 12th we dont have a swing dancer so Alex is now flat out re-arranging the dance routines to work with three dancers instead of four. Alex is an expert when it comes to re-organising, but nothing she does can sort the next problem as Jamie Rae has to bow out of the shows this weekend due to personal reasons. So, one dancer down and one male singer down. The dancer is easy to work around, but the singer situation is a nightmare. Due to how the show is put together to accomodate costume changes etc, this is now a major problem, and the search is on to see if we can replace Jamie for the weekend. As we had just already done auditions in Redhill, we had a thought. a longshot, but hey, we are panicking. We call Neil Patrick who did a great audition for us. Yes, he is free this weekend, and knows some of the songs but he must be in Huddersfield by 11.00am on Monday. Seeing as we are in Inverurie on Sunday night, this is looking impossible. A bit of detective work goes on, and we find a flight from Aberdeen to Durham. Neil Patrick is our man. He drives to Durham airport to ditch his car until Monday. Stays with Colin and Marie, and a late evening shift of song learning begins with Jenni. Many singers would have refused to even tackle the challenge laid down to him, but if ever there was a true pro.....!!! He learned the songs we asked. Tackled one or two dance routines, and put his own solo song into the show. Well done that man, and a great big thank you!!!! The show ends, Neil breathes a sigh of relief, and we all head up to Aberdeen.

Saturday 10th April. Aberdeen Arts Centre. So we are now in our second home. Our regular readers will know that our friends Debbie, Harry, their children Lucy and Rebecca, and their friend Sarah, are second family to us. Marie has known Debbie since childhood, and we are always excited travelling up to Aberdeen. As it happens Debbie and Lucy join us in Hamilton. Debbie does the most amazing charity work in many shapes and forms, and at Hamilton she brought a guest from Debra Scotland. This is a fantastic charity looking after the welfare of children with a rare horrific skin condition. As ever when we get to Aberdeen there is a massive food supply courtesy of Sarah, which keeps cast and kids nourished for the duration of the day.

Sunday 11th April. Inverurie Town Hall. Just north of Aberdeen and only an evening show, so we get a chance to stay and spend some time with our friends during the day before travelling up for the show. The whole cast is out for Sunday lunch along with Debbie Harry, the kids and Sarah, so a table for 13 is organised. This is a rare treat for us to have Sunday lunch together. Faye Katie, and Alex prove that they eat as well as anyone else despite their very trim dancer like figures. Stage manager Bill proves that even though he is the smallest member of the team, he has a bottomless pit of a stomach. In the midst of all the panic it should be mentioned that we have three female singers for this weekend with Marie, Jenni and Ruby. Keeping the line up of a cast of 8. A stay over is needed before we travel back. Alex goes by train Monday morning, Neil catches his flight to Durham, Ruby drives home alone after a long lie in bed, and the rest of the cast set off by car nice and early to drive home to Durham. Joanne in the office has the unusual task of collecting Maisie from the kennels at 8.00am on Monday morning, and dog sitting until Colin and Marie get home mid afternoon. What a star!!!! Next stop Kilmarnock on Thursday, and it looks likely that Jamie Rae will be back with us.

Thursday 15th April. Palace Theatre Kilmarnock. A little quiet spell coming up, with eight days off after this show. Kilmarnock and back in a day. Most of the cast leave from Durham at the stupid o'clock hour of 7.30am, with Jamie and Ruby leaving from Blackpool around the same time. Yes Jamie Rae is definately back, and also looking very slim. That should all change when we get back to Scotland, the land of square sausage. Good ticket sales and two good audiences, and before we know it we are heading back home with an ETA of 1.30am. Breaking news......Helene Lewis our dancer who went to India with UK Dance Mania is coming back into the show to replace Hayley Smith. Cordelia Faye has been given the task of teaching Helene the show as they live quite near each other in Yorkshire. Helene will re-join the show in Exeter on 23rd April. Maisie the greyhound is now on a training schedule to combat her 'separation anxiety'. We will keep you posted as to her progress. She now sleeps through the night, but try leaving her on her own and the problem is still there. Ask the kennels where she goes when Colin and Marie are away, who now only have half a counter because they left her on her own.

Friday 23rd April. Barnfield Theatre, Exeter. The journey is far too long to do this one easily, and so the cast spend two nights in hotels. One before the show and one after. First night of arrival is fun, although everyone arrives quite late. Helene is there to meet everyone and tell some great stories about India. Her tan qualifies her to work in any Indian restaurant in the UK, and is barely recognisable as the pale Helene we last seen in the late part of 2009. Its great to see her again, even if she is a little nervous of her first show tomorrow. Jenni does the bacon sarni run, while our tech friends Thomas and Peter do their thing. One of the joys of Exeter is that it is one of the only venues in the UK where we get a chance to stay behind and have a drink with the staff. We were also joined by Jenni's friends from her safari in Africa. After a 6 hour treck up the M1 etc, everyone is home safe and sound ready for a good rest before next weeks onslaught.

Tuesday 27th April, Broadway Theatre, Catford. Again too long a journey to travel on the day, so the cast set off the night before, ready for the matinee show. Great news when we get there to find that our show is the best selling matinee show in four years, with the exception of just one. Guess who. Val Doonican!! What!!! He is still alive???? We've got 80's pop star Jamie Rae, and we get outsold by Val bleeding Doonican?? No justice in the world. This is becoming a favourite of ours. Not only because of the 650 size audience, but the whole theatre is just a joy to work. Because our next show is near our home town of Durham, we have to pack, eat, tackle the M25, and get back home after the show ready for a matinee in Stanley, County Durham. Jamie and Ruby stay with Colin and Marie (and Jen of course who is almost a full time resident at the Timeless household....and very welcome one too!), and get a chance to meet Maisie. The rest of the girls stay with Bill and Anne as there are a few shows this week.

Wednesday 28th April, Lamplight Arts Centre Stanley/Consett Empire. A bit of a wierd one this one. We do Lamplight Arts Centre Stanley matinee show, and then pack up, drive 8 miles to Consett Empire to do the evening show there. A bit of a killer for Bill and Colin with loading in and out. Thankfully the tech guys are a great help, and make life a lot easier. Consett in particular is also becoming a firm favourite, because of the fantastic audience response. No rest for everyone after this, as we have to be up early tomorrow for an early drive to Penistone in Yorkshire.

Thursday 29th April, Penistone Paramount. An early but not too early drive off time of 9.00am to get to Penistone for 11.00am get in. Today we have the pleasure of having Jenni's dad helping back stage. Its always a pleasure to have Jim with us, and Bill is always grateful for his help moving props around etc. Today is also a little special for Cordelia Faye, as Penistone is her home town. Needless to say, all of her family and friends are there to support her, and she even brings one of her dogs to meet the cast before the show. So much is the support for her that Colin brings her down for a solo bow at the end of the show. One of those great stage moments happened which keeps us all on our toes, when Jenni's zip stuck on her solo dress. This meant that she couldnt make the change into the Drifters outfit, leaving the other three singers on stage. Ok, so whats the big deal I hear you ask. Well, its a fully choreographed routine, based on four people being there. You can see the steam coming from the other singers ears, as they mentally plot how to change the routine.......as they are actually doing it. Great fun, and nobody guessed. So, next port of call is Runcorn next week. Alex is in her glory as her fiancee Graeme works there.

Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday 4/5/6th May. The Brindley, Runcorn. And Runcorn here we are, Alex is smiling, all loved up, and so are the rest of the cast. Not because they are all loved up, but smiling at the fact that this run is so easy. We get to iron the costumes only once in three days, finish early on day one, have a lie in bed on days two and three, and go home at tea time on day three. It doesnt get any better. Tuesdays show is plain sailing, and quite a pleasure on this vast stage. Graeme, Jim and Pete our tech friends do a great job with lighting, and helping our stage manager Bill backstage. Day two, and Jamie brings his dogs to stay with us backstage. Sydney and Maggie are two very excitable labradors. Maggie is the cute Andrex puppy, while Sydney is chocolate, equally cute, weighs 35 stone, and you wouldnt want to fight with him. Beautiful dogs. Day two brings one or two issues. Ruby and Jenni crash into each other in the Drifters section. Fortunately we recorded the show on video, so that little incident gave us a lot to smile about. Jamie's microphone died backstage towards the end of the first half. We juggled the mikes around so that whoever was singing, had one that worked. The mike came back on during the first half finale, and was fine after that. The best thing that happened was that at the end of the show someone threw a pair of socks onto the stage. Wonderful!! Tom Jones gets knickers, others get flowers, and we get a pair of bleeding socks!! On the last day we have Jason with us to 'clean' the show. In theatre speak that means he watches, makes notes, and corrects us on things which need to look a bit better. Only four pages of scribble on his notepad which isnt bad. A few dress labels sticking out here and there, Ruby turning the wrong way in the routine for 'Lets hang on', bless her. The easiest routine in the show, and she has only got it right once. So thats it until next week, where travelling is our game. Felixstowe and Exmouth back to back, with a half a day off and then down to South Wales.

Tuesday 11th May. Spa Pavilion, Felixstowe. A busy week of travel as we head down to Felixstowe the day before the show. A matinee only today, before we head off on another four hour drive to Devon. A typical day at the office today, where we get in, get set up, do the show, get out and set off on our travels. The cast set off for something to eat before the journey to Devon, while Colin and Jenni go back to the Travelodge to collect Colin's laptop which was accidentally left behind in the morning. Its an age thing!!

Wednesday 12th May. Pavilion Theatre, Exmouth. Last night we made good time and got to the Travelodge at Glastonbury around 11.00pm. Just in time to chill for an hour before some hard earned sleep. Its a good day for doing a little something different seeing as we only have an evening show. The dancers do what all girlies like to do....go shopping. Colin and Bill eat. Jamie and Ruby are caught with ice creams. Then Bill and the dancers decide to go on rowing boats down by the sea front. Not every day you get a chance to do something like rowing boats by the sea. After the show Jamie, Alex and Ruby head straight home, while the rest of the cast stay over before travelling home next day.

Saturday 15th May. Blackwood Miners Institute. So after just a half day at home, its off on our travels again. Off to South Wales the night before and just a matinee show to occupy us before travelling home again. Ruby is not available for this one so Marie joins the cast for the first time in a while. Slightly nervous that she wont remember all of the routines, but of course she does, and the show goes very well, with a very lively audience. Before we can blink the show is over and we head back home. Maisie the greyhound has been in kennels and gets a bit excited at the thought of going home. She is still suffering separation anxiety, but getting gradually better. In 2 years time she should be fine. Jenni's cat Fizz has not been too well at the minute but it looks like she is well and truly on the mend.

Wednesday 19th May. St Georges Hall, Bradford. After a couple of days off, this one is a breeze. Only two hours from home so there are no Travelodges today. An early start for most, and when we get there it is a chance to see Vicky (Wicky, as she was nicknamed after being with us in India) Vicky used to be one of our dancers but is now concentrating on teaching, and is in charge of the children who are in todays show. It is great to see her again. She was with us for around 3 years, so still seems like part of the family. The show goes well, with only one potential horror moment. At the beginning of the second half, Jamie and the dancers do Copacabana with the girls in sequin bikinis and feathers. Seconds before the curtain opened the girls discovered a bra hanging from the crotch of Katie's knickers. Safely removed and on with the show. Today is also the day that Jamie finds out he has received fan mail. Two adoring letters arrive by post for his attention. Lucky guy!!!!

Wednesday 26th May, Whitehall Theatre, Dundee. For regular readers of our day to day activities, you may remember that this is the home of the 24 hour bakery that sells everything in the whole world. Clarkes is its name, and the first chance for Jamie to get his square sausage. What is it with the Scots and square sausage. Arent sausages supposed to be long round things??? Anyway, Jamie is happy, and this should be the first of about 12 square sausage sarni's in 4 days. The rest of the cast also pay a visit to Clarks, well, 3 visits actually. One in the morning, one after the matinee show, and one at 11pm on the way to Travelodge. Great stuff, and everyone puts on at least two pounds.

Thursday 27th May. Arts Guild Theatre, Greenock. Fast becoming our major success story of Scotland. Two full houses today with a total of over 800 tickets sold. The atmosphere is fantastic at both shows, and a great day is had by all. Jamie also got another two square sausage sarni's at a local cafe. It doesn't get any better!!!

Friday 28th May, Albert Halls, Stirling. So, we are now hitting our third venue out of four in Scotland this week. Very fitting that the first person we see is our friend Eileen from the box office. Officially our most sales driven box office person, she has been going great guns to get as many tickets sold as possible. Slighly gutted she is though at the fact that she bet Colin £2 that tickets would end up around 325 sold, and that they are currently sitting at 400. Where did that £2 end up???? The cast are there early and there is time for more girlie shopping, and food of course. Setting up is very easy here with the help of techie Paul. The show gets under way, and look out, Ginger Rodgers is at the back of the hall. Sorry, mistake, it was Eileen gyrating to the sounds of the Drifters. You go girl!! One of these days it will catch on and we will get 400 audience members jiving around the hall. That would be great. Marie is in the audience making notes. Also a massive thanks to Jan for Colin's present, its the first present he has ever received and it really made his day!

Saturday 29th May. Theatre Royal, Dumfries. The last of our run in Scotland for this season. Ruby has to fly off to do another show and so Marie steps in again. Tonight is the night that we travel home and everyone is quite excited by the prospect. Next stop Altrincham on Wednesday, and the run is getting every closer towards ending. Only 6 shows remaining before the summer break, and then it all starts again in September.

Wednesday 2nd June, Garrick Playhouse, Altrincham. Two shows to do, a nice short two and a half hour drive home.....easy day. Unfortunately this is Ruby's last show with us for quite a while. Marie comes back in on Saturday to finish the rest of this season. Have a good summer Man Hands. OK, its a private thing. We find out from some friends of ours that Ruby's nickname on the ship she done for us was Manhands, as she has large hands. How cruel can they be? Two very packed houses, lovely audiences, and before we know it we are stopping for sarnis at a service station on the way home. Expected time of getting to bed around 3am, but a lie in awaits.

Saturday 5th June. Whitehaven Civic Hall. Just the one show, and just as well. We arrive at Whitehaven two days after the major shooting incident, where 12 people were killed. Needless to say there is a very sombre mood around the whole area. Not surprising, but strange all the same. Naturally the company expresses its sympathy by those affected by the incident, and a minutes silence is held before the show as a mark of respect. To say that the audiences was not really up for it, and it was a very quiet night. Marie is back in the show now and manages an error free evening, after not doing the show for a while. Everyone heads straight back to their homes, and next stop Hartlepool on Wednesday.

Wednesday 9th June. Hartlepool Town Hall Theatre. One of the theatres where our audience numbers are increasing every single time. Very healthy. In times of recession it is nice to see this trend. Having just got the advance ticket sales for Solihull on 17th/18th, we may need some devine intervention to come out of that one smelling of roses. Not a lot to report from Hartlepool. A bit of an emotional night for Colin as his late mothers sister 'Aunt Peggie' comes to see one of the shows for the first time.

Thursday/Friday 17th/18th June. Solihull Arts Centre. Well maybe there is a god. Expecting a very low turn out after the advance ticket sales report, we find that both evening shows have doubled in ticket sales. Wow!! How did that happen? Do we care? Probably not. The result is that we have 4 shows with 4 good audiences. And oh how things can change so soon. We get a call from our friend Debbie in Aberdeen to tell us that her mother had passed away. Debbie is one of the world's great helpers and does anything to help anyone she can. On occasions when major things have gone wrong here and she has jumped on a flight, no questions asked, and arrived to do what she can. It is only right that we pay her the same privelege, and so Marie jumps in the car to go and help in Aberdeen. This means Ruby comes back into the show for two days. And we thought we wouldnt see her for a while. The afternoon shows are held in the Studio Theatre, which is a great source of amusement for the cast. Tiny stage, cramped wings, but fun!! Jamie has a mental block in the 60's section and forgets his words. Once in 40 shows isnt a bad record and we have all done it from time to time. So just one more show and the tour is over. Then what? We know we lose Alex our dance captain. After 3 and a half years, she is going to be missed so badly. Obviously we will keep in touch and Im sure we can tempt her with any reasonable offer of a trip to India etc. Next Saturday, Burton on Trent. Private function, and then a rest.

Next season you will also be able to follow us on http://timelessinternationalproductions.blogspot.com/

Saturday 26th June, Burton Town Hall. Private Function. And so finally the last show of the season is upon us. Boy has this been a long run. Normally we would have finished around the beginning of June, but this time it couldnt be done and we are still travelling as of today. Today is an evening only show for The Oddfellows Society, and their 200 year celebration. A bit of a weird stage to work, and no wings. Bill our stage manager is put down to audience level to do his stuff and as there are no front curtains there are no props being used. Easy night for Bill. Tonight is also Alex's last show with us. After 3 and a half years, she is now going to concentrate on teaching, but will also help us with rehearsals and other bits and pieces. It will be very strange doing a show without her. She is part of the fixtures and fittings. Not only that but she has been the perfect professional since day one, and we will miss her badly backstage. Of course the cast bought her a few gifts, and she was quite emotional all night. Bless her!! Good luck Alex!!!! So that is it for another season. What will next season bring???? Scary! We should know in the next few weeks who the cast will be. Like every other season, we expect that there will be a few changes, as singers and dancers do tend to move around quite a bit in this industry. Hopefully we can keep everyone, as it has been one of the best casts we have had for a long time, with a great atmosphere backstage. Marie and Jenni plan to keep up their horse riding lessons while Colin is undecided. Bill might just get a game of golf under his belt. Joanne will keep the office afloat in a weeks time while Colin and Marie go off on holiday. Jenni is now already in Malta taking a weeks sunshine. Jamie will continue to eat square sausage and work his solo gigs. Most of the dancers will step into temp jobs until rehearsals start at the very end of August.

Its been a tough start to the year both on and off stage with family bereavements, credit crunches, and other stressful events, but we are still here, and still fighting. We are taking a big push on the international front with the launch of our new web site www.timelessinternationalproductions.com. Hopefully this will lead us to more work abroad for our shows, and help while things are tough in the UK. We consider ourselves very lucky that we have such a great following for our theatre shows here. There are many production show companies out there who just haven't survived the recession. We have, and we cross our fingers that this will continue. So that's it for now. A sincere thanks to all our followers and friends out there. Any major events will of course get an emergency mention on here, and dont forget you can now follow our blog on http://timelessinternationalproductions.blogspot.com/

We wish you all a great summer, and look forward to blogging with you when rehearsals start at the end of August. In the words of Colin and Marie's former manager Ralph Barry, 'That's me done....follow that'!!!!

 

 

Last seasons blog below

Hi Everyone. Yes it’s that time of year again. Rehearsals are upon us, and the fun begins. The new show 'A Timeless Collection' is already plotted on paper. Marie is in full flow with new costumes. Colin has prepared the new music, and the cast are gathering for 10 days of sweat and toil. The bad news at the start is that the burger van outside the rehearsal venue has gone. What now!!!!!!!

Alex, in her new role as Dance Captain is teaching the dancers the routines, and we welcome Victoria Brogan, and Shannon Wright as new swing dancers.

So, just to clarify. The new cast looks like this
Colin Francis, Marie Adele (Directors/singers). Jamie Rae, Jenni Tarr (Singers). Danielle Sharp (Swing singer, doing half of the tour in place of Marie)

Alex Lewis (Dance Captain), Helene Lewis, Joanna Campbell, Gemma Edmenson (Dancers). Victoria Brogan and Shannon Wright (Swing Dancers).
Bill Wright, Stage Manager.

Solihull 14th September 2009
All too quickly, today is the premier of ‘A Timeless Collection’ and after ten days of rehearsals and finally finishing the final Dress rehearsal at 8.30pm last night, we were all exhausted.
We started the day by setting off at 7am for the drive to Solihull, and didn’t come across too much traffic on the journey thankfully.  Jen and Colin did quite well in the first Radio 2 Pop Master quiz of this season, getting 21 points.
We always like Solihull because the theatre staff there are really helpful.  We soon were set up, and ironing our costumes, Alex and Jo had a practice on their roller skates to check out the stage and Jamie became acquainted with the new steamer that Marie purchased for this tour.
The time seemed to fly by and we were against the clock to get everything ironed, make-up on and everything ready by show time – but as always we were ready and the curtain went up on time for the first show of this season.
No major disasters thankfully, Jenni and Marie forgot a couple of words in ‘Sunday Clothes’ but nothing too drastic, everyone’s costumes stayed on and Bills debut as a photographer in the movies section went without hitch.  Everyone was relieved that the first show was done and was able to relax and enjoy the evening show, knowing that they would soon be in a Travelodge and getting some much needed sleep.
We were however not in the travelodge as soon as we expected because junction 2 of the m42 was closed and we had a bit of a diversion to get to our resting place, the Sat Nav got confused and we had to resort to using an old fashioned bit of paper that Bill-Bill called a ‘map’– but eventually we got there.

Solihull 15th September 2009
Gosh we all needed the sleep and because we were in the same theatre as yesterday we didn’t have to set off early or do any ironing so everyone had a chance to sleep a little later than the last few weeks.
A few of us went for some breakfast in the shopping centre opposite the theatre and some went for a little look around the shops. 
The Audience seemed to enjoy the show today and so did Marie who whilst moving scenery around behind the curtain before ‘Combined Harvester’ hadn’t realised the curtains had opened so the audience could see her.  Luckily she quickly improvised her own (and quite unique) dance routine and the audience were none the wiser, Jamie however giggled at this so much he found it hard to sing!
After another successful two shows we packed the van and headed off to our next destination – Skegness.

Skegness 16th September 2009                     
A great audience today, the show went well. We had a long drive to Potters Bar after the show today so we all decided we would grab a bite to eat before setting off.  We found a place near the theatre and most of us ordered a healthy bite to eat to keep us going. Some of us were a little unhealthy and ordered a desert!

Potters Bar 17th September 2009
This theatre has a strict policy meaning we have to finish the show at 4pm, so we stared at 2pm today, which meant we all got on with our ironing as soon as we could.  One of the technicians made us a cup of tea, which was much appreciated, and we were soon set up and ready to go.
The show went well and the audience seemed to really enjoy themselves.  All too soon we were at the end of the show and anticipating a really long drive home for a day off before we hit Broxbourne.

Broxbourne Civic Hall, Sunday 20th September.

And off we go back down to London. Slightly more economical to drive up and down again from Potters Bar, even it is a pain in the butt doing 5 hours on the M1. An almost sell out crowd today, and a fantastic crowd too. The cast travelled last night, settled nicely into the Travelodge. Suffered one of their meals, and enjoyed a drink or two together. All too soon the show is over, back in the van for that 5 hour treck back again.

Pavilion Theatre Rhyl 23rd September
Very early start this morning to get us from the North East to Wales for our Matinee show today.   Having set off at 7am we were all ready for a stop on the M62 and so we headed for Colin’s favourite services – the one that sells bacon sarnies! 
Suitably fed and watered (although some of the cast were very good and had brought healthy snacks with them for the day) we carried on and arrived in Rhyl in good time.  Colin paid particular attention to the fact that near the theatre he saw a fish and chip shop, and he made it incredibly clear that he would like chips for his tea on the way home.
Alex and Gemma were getting the train directly to Rhyl so they beat us all there by half an hour.  Alex was doing well on her still swollen ankle but it was still definitely not good enough to skate on so for today’s show she was not going to take part in ‘Happy Days’.
The Ironing was soon done and the show was all set up, just time to put make up on (yes even the boys!) and it was show time. 
The show went well, Colin kept mentioning that it was nearly time for his fish and chips.
The audience seemed to enjoy today’s show and all too soon the curtain came down and it was time to pack up and set off on the journey back to the North East where we would spend the evening before our two shows in Hartlepool tomorrow.  Yes you’ve guessed it there was a Fish and Chip pit stop on the way home for a few of us!

Hartlepool Town Hall Theatre, 24th September
Two shows today and everyone is tired but knowing that we have 4 days off from tomorrow spurred everyone on.  Today’s audiences were fantastic and joined in with all the songs (in all the right places) and clapped along too.  It was great to know that we had a lot of support today, Marie’s Mum and her friend Audrey were in the audience along with Gemma and Jo’s family and friends.
The first show went really well, and the second was soon upon us. Jenni managed to have quite a few bizarre moments during the show and managed to turn in opposite directions to everyone else in the 60’s section and the country section, but hopefully no one could tell!

Soon packed up and ready for our days off, the team all head for home.

Announcement Pre Catford

It is quite a journey from Newcastle to Catford for a 2.30pm show so we wisely arranged to travel down the night before and stay at a Travelodge in Cheshunt.  Gemma was meeting us at the venue as she lives in London, Bill-Bill, Marie and Jo took the car and arranged to pick up Alex at a services near Nottingham and Colin and Pen took the van and arranged to pick up Helene (who was getting a train from Bradford) at Garforth train station near Leeds.

Colin and Pen got to discussing the Blogg and how this season everything seems to be going fairly smoothly and there hadn’t been a lot of backstage gossip so far – to be honest this conversation was triggered by one of our theatre friends in Scotland  pointing out that this blogg was a little on the boring side!  “This blogg is not boring I hear all you loyal readers crying loudly”, it is quite simply a little uneventful so far.  This is perhaps because we have eliminated some of the boring stuff, but seeing as some of our readers want to read the boring stuff too we have compiled a list of events that we believe were originally too boring to make the blogg.

During the first show Pen broke her favourite coat-hanger.

Colin dropped his briefcase in Broxbourne but luckily (breathe a sigh of relief) nothing fell out.

Bill hasn’t as yet bought any new trainers

Marie broke a finger nail at Solihull

Colin opened the van door at one of the venues and the amp fell out, however he caught it with his leg – the amp was saved but he got a graze on his leg. Out comes the first aid box with sticky plasters in.

In Hartlepool Colin didn’t brush his hair properly and he got told off by Marie

Colin dropped his briefcase again in Hartlepool but yet again he was lucky and nothing fell out.

Gemma bought some new tights

Alex got a blister (and rather a bad one) from her roller skates

Helene, Jo and Jenni only had one set of towels in their Travelodge room at Borehamwood but when they asked at Reception this was soon rectified.

Jamie has been making fun of Helene’s accent – have you heard his?

Marie bought a new bra in Solihull

Colin found four out of date chocolate mini-rolls in the van. Bill reckons they last forever.

So now you are up-to date with everything so far this season ……. Back to our journey to Catford and the fact that Pen and Colin having this chat about everything going smoothly seems to have tempted fate !!!!!!!!!

The van arrived at Garforth Train station literally 30 seconds before the phone rang ‘That will be Helene saying she’s arrived’ said Colin.  It was Helene but unfortunately she wasn’t there.  Helene wasn’t even close to being there, infact she was in Seacroft on the A64 !!!!!!  Earlier that day Helene’s friend Ashley kindly offered to drive her to Garforth Train Station to save her buying a ticket and she had greatfully accepted.  Unfortunately they had got lost and ended up on the A64.

No worries, Pen and Colin gave directions and waited patiently for them to make their way down the M1 to meet them at Garforth.  Another phone call later and it was established that they had missed the junction number they needed for Garforth (where Col and Pen were sitting in a layby) and were now nearing Castleford !!!!  Right no problem, we agreed they would get off at the next junction and we would drive down to meet them there.

Colin drove the van straight to the junction but the phone rang just as we were leaving the motorway, having thought they had missed the new junction number we agreed to meet at they had turn around to try and correct their mistake – we tried to establish their exact location yet there were no signs they could see and then ……we lost mobile signal!

By the next phone call it was established that there had been nowhere to turn around and they were now 8 miles from York! Now for those of you with a map in front of you, you will see that this is no where near where Pen and Colin were still sitting in a lay-by!

After quite a lot of telephone calls and Helene worrying that Colin was mad (which he wasn’t at all), and a whole one hour later after Colin and Pen had driven up and down both sides of the M1 several times and Helen and Ashley had been on an unplanned sightseeing trip around Yorkshire we finally met at Garforth and could start our journey to London. 

30th September, Broadway Theatre, Catford

Up bright and early to head off to Catford the Van has the Sat-nav so Jamie and Bill followed behind with the cars.

Today is a 2pm show so we needed to be set up a little earlier than normal, we set off nice and early and the sat-nav showed an arrival time of 10.25am – Pen was not happy this meant she would miss Pop Master on radio 2 which to be honest is the highlight of her day (yes she really needs to get out more) She decided to text message Ken Bruce (having got the number off the website) and ask him to do pop master a little earlier or at least play her new favourite Michael Buble song.

It wasn’t too far to travel but the traffic was dreadful and it got later and later – Pop Master had long since finished (we scored 21 today) and we still weren’t there!
We eventually arrived at gone 11.25am and had to rush to set up.
We managed to fit in a piece of cake to celebrate Helene’s birthday, and then it was show time.  Nice audience and great theatre team meant we had a great show.

Cromer  Pavilion Theatre, 1st October

After staying the night in Peterborough we made the two hour journey to Cromer fully expecting It to be windy and rainy making it all the more difficult to lug all our props and costumes up the pier to the theatre. 
Penni and Colin as usual were looking forward to Pop Master and yet again Pen decided to text Ken Bruce at Radio 2 to ask him to play the new Michael Buble song.  Being that this was the fifth time she had text him to ask he must have taken pity on her and not only played the song but mentioned Timeless Theatre Productions and their journey to Cromer.  This made Pen and Colin very happy and they even did well at Pop Master today – Thanks Ken Bruce.
We arrived, It was Windy (very windy) but not quite raining.  The theatre crew brought a large trolly for all the equipment to be loaded on to for the journey up the pier and Marie Jamie and Pen helpfully decided to sit in a non-windy café and order the boys their bacon sarnies for after their hard work.  Seeing as they were waiting they decided to have a little snack themselves, well Jamie as always ordered the double double big biggest breakfast on the menu with extra toast and extra black pudding and as always he left most of it!  Pen and Mazzie had their usual eggs on toast with beans.
The stage at Cromer is a funny shape so Alex called a quick rehearsal and made sure everyone had room to dance.  There were a few bits needed repositioning but it was soon completed and time to iron, time was tight today and everyone was rushing round trying to set up everything before the show.  The show went well, though it was a little challenging for everyone to stand on the stairs and rostrums (our props) as they were very wobbly due to the uneven stage, but no one fell off, and the audience seemed to enjoy themselves. 
Unfortunately today during ‘Combine Harvester’ the cow fainted!  Yes that’s right, at the end of the song our cow fell over !  We have had him seen by a vet (well Jamie in his wellies!) and it appears he was suffering from exhaustion!  After some rest (and his ear being glued back on) he will be fine thankfully.  We don’t as yet have a name for the cow so if any of you Blogg readers out there could think of a name for our cow we would be grateful.  Please send any name suggestions to colinfrancis@btinternet.com
After another windy walk down the pier (can’t believe people were actually surfing!) we went on our way – via morrisons for supplies, it’s a long drive to Manchester!

Garrick Playhouse, Altrincham 2nd October

Last night we stayed at the Travelodge near the Trafford Centre and we were staying at the same one again tonight so we could leave our cases and not have to pack up !  Altrincham is a theatre we usually only do one show at but this time (due to popular demand) we did both a matinee and evening performance.
The theatre team here gave Bill and Colin a hand to load in the equipment, some of the girls went out for a walk around and yes you have guessed it, Pen Mazzie and Jamie went out on the bacon sarnie run.  Well it was a challenge to find somewhere to eat breakfast in Altrincham, everyone we asked said they didn’t know of any little café’s we could eat in!  Eventually though we did find a little café and ordered our usual, of which Jamie left most of his.  With Bacon Sarnies for the boys they made their way back to find the boys set up and ready for them.  At one point Pen went in the girls dressing rooms to find them all getting ready but wearing rat masks !
Today’s most amusing statement came from Helene when she pointed out that she preferred Nandos to Tescos ! interesting!
In-between the shows everyone did their own thing, and returned to have a rehearsal before the second show.   During the second show one of the zips broke on Jenni’s costumes and she had to be pinned in to it, she only just made it on stage in time for the song!
Jamie was quite near home so he didn’t stay at the travelodge tonight, he went home and would meet us at Lancaster tomorrow.
It was not far to get back to our Travelodge tonight so everyone was looking forward to a night without driving, as it was Helenes birthday tomorrow a few decided to have a glass of wine in celebration and knowing that we didn’t have far to travel to our 7.30pm show in Lancaster tomorrow meant we could plan a nice morning for tomorrow.

3rd October Grand Theatre, Lancaster

It’s Helene’s birthday! Jo and Pen who share a room with her made sure they sang happy birthday first thing (she was of course delighted) and everyone was thrilled that the Travelodge was located so near to the Trafford centre.  Gemma, Alex, Helene and Jo got up early and went over to the cinema to watch ‘Fame’ the movie, Pen and Mazzie went in search of costume inspiration (well that’s what they like to call shopping) and Colin and Bill-Bill did something or other that was probably quite dull!
We all met up later for a bite to eat and then set off to Lancaster.  It’s a fairly small stage in Lancaster and we have to load all the equipment in through the side door so it can take a while.  Again everyone here was helpful and we were soon set up and ready to go.
Downstairs in the dressing rooms we discovered that there was infact only one toilet and amusingly it had a big sign saying ‘Please do not flush during performances’ we found this amusing.
It was a nice audience in tonight, everyone seemed to clap along in almost all the right places and then it was time to head home for a couple of days without shows.  Not everyone gets to have days off though, Jo is busy working for her dad, Alex is teaching routines to three dancers going out on an India contract, Helene and Gemma have lots to do, Marie and Pen are sorting out costumes for the afore mentioned India contract and Colin is so snowed under with paper work that once he gets into his office you can’t see him!!!!!!

6th October Burnley Mechanics

Bill-Bill and Colin set off early in the van today (with Sonya who was coming to help) as they had an errand to run on the way to the theatre so everyone else followed on later in the car.  Today Victoria, one of our swing dancers, was joining us on tour because Alex is running rehearsals for the team going out to India. 
Now you would think that armed with a sat-nav and a print out of the route-finder directions that it would be near impossible to get lost – now that’s where you are wrong.  It is in fact very easy to get lost on the way to Burnley Mechanics Theatre, (we so say Mazzie and Pen) the car finally made an appearance (a long time after everyone else had managed to find the way with no problems!) and we were ready to set up.  Sonya had already started some of the ironing for which we were extremely grateful.  We had a lot to think about in this show because the run-around backstage to get from one side to the other was near impossible to do during the show so we had to set costumes in different places to normal to make sure we made all of the quick changes. Victoria did a fantastic job considering how little rehearsal time she had, and only made one major blunder in the War section. Unfortunately Colin realised the blunder straight away, tried in vain to help, and ended up marching on his own like a lunatic in the middle of the stage.
Again a lovely audience and soon we were packing up again and on the way to South Sheilds, Tyne and Wear, and our local venue the Customs House.

Customs House, South Shields. 7th/8th/9th October

Here we go, our local theatre, and in a way our own little baby. The place that we did our very first show some five years ago. Three days, four shows, most of them sold out and Marie is doing her final shows before retiring for the year underneath a pile of paperwork and new costumes. Danielle Sharp will take over at Runcorn and do most of the remaining shows, with Marie coming in at Middlesbrough and Bradford. Alex is still teaching the India girls. We should I guess give them them their correct new name which is UK Dance Mania. Alex will come back into the show for the Thursday evening show, and Victoria makes her way back home after doing a great job of filling in. Now doubt she will be back with us at some point.

Most of the shows go without a hitch, except one, where a very energetic Gemma got a little too energetic during the 60s routine, only to find that her boobs had managed to come out of her top. Oooooops!! Im sure the guys in the audience loved it. On the final day, Colin's son Craig comes to do the official photo shoot for the new leaflets/posters for next season. As usual Craig gets some great photos. Time for a plug, if anyone is looking for a professional photographer. Their website is www.redstripephotography.co.uk

Helene is staying with Joanna for this run, while Alex and Gemma get spoiled staying with Bill and Anne. Jamie and Penni stay with Colin and Marie, and come the end of the run, everyone goes home for a well earned rest.

Runcorn 14th/15th/16th October 2009
Off to Runcorn today and we are looking forward to performing in the same theatre for three days (mainly to be honest because once we have set up and ironed the costumes we don’t have to iron again until the next theatre!).
Early start from Newcastle (7am) and with the obligatory stop on the M62 for a bacon sarnie we arrived at Runcorn around 11.00am.  The technical crew and theatre staff here are fantastic and so the set up was fairly painless.  Today is our first show without Marie who is frantically running around organising the dance contract going out to India and catching up with all the paper work in the office.  We are joined by Danielle who has the task of remembering the show which she learned a month ago and hasn’t yet perfomed.
We were also joined today by Jason Taylor, who is the Production Note Captain, his qualifications in dance and his varied performance experience mean he is the perfect person to assist with production so he sits in the audience and make notes of things that we may need to correct or change in order to improve the show.  (so if you were in the audience and saw a tall blonde Australian man writing in a note pad he was not infact a spy!) 
Danielle did great in her first show of this season and has a good memory, she remembered everything.  The audience were lovely and everything went well in the show. Helene did well as she is full of cold and felt rather unwell, no one would have known as she soldiered on regardless.   Afterwards we had a break for something to eat and then arranged to meet Jason on stage to go through the notes he had made on the show.
We must have done a great show because he didn’t have any notes ! (okay so maybe there were a few things we could improve on but not many).  We then surprised Alex with a cake and pressie as it was her birthday on Monday.
Jamie brought his dog Sydney to see us today as Runcorn is not too far from where he lives.  Sydney was very excited and enjoyed fussing everyone.  (especially the children from the local dance school!)
Our Travelodge tonight is not far away from the Theatre so we were soon back in our rooms relaxing and catching up on sleep before the show tomorrow.
The following day we just had a matinee show, the girls had planned a night out to celebrate Alex’s Birthday (and Helenes which was last week and Gemma’s which is next week) so were looking forward to enjoying a visit to Liverpool with a group of the theatre technicians and staff.
Helene was still feeling unwell for todays show but by now it would appear that she is being generous and sharing it with others too, Pen has been following everyone around making them take vitamin C.
In the opener of todays show Pen got her heel stuck in the bottom of her dress and tripped only to be caught and held up by Colin (thankfully), but mostly everything else went according to plan and we were soon taking off our make-up and heading back to the Travelodge.
Opposite the Travelodge there was a little pub serving a Carvery for just £5.  The girls all decided that this was a bargain so they went across before they got ready for their night out for their dinner, whilst Colin, Bill-Bill and Pen went across to Morrisons for Pen to get a new book and Colin to get an all important corkscrew for his bottle of wine!  They returned to find a Parking Warden slapping a ticket on the car window – Why? We had bought a ticket, however, it had slipped on the dashboard and the Parking Warden couldn’t quite make out the date ……………… so he issued a ticket !!!!!
Helene and Jo highly recommended the carvery to make Colin feel better about getting a parking ticket so whilst the girls got ready to go out Col, Bill and Pen went for Carvery and returned to find them all out on the town.  (Pen tried yet another new food and has now added turnip to the list of food she likes!) So whilst the others where partying, Pen settled in for the night to relax, dye her hair and read her new book, Bill-Bill went to read his book and Colin stayed up till 3am trying to sort out his laptop which appears to have downloaded a virus (a worm apparently!).
The following morning again we had a bit of a lie in because the costumes were already set up and ready for our last show at Runcorn.  Helene was feeling a little better thankfully and other than everyone being tired (and Colin sulking because his computer worm was still bugging his laptop!) we were all in good spirits.  Bill-Bill lost his glasses but after searching everywhere found them in the car door!
The show went well, however in war we had a little bit of a giggle because quite randomly when we were all doing our box step, Jo stood still and saluted which was the wrong bit of the routine, upon doing this she completely blanked and decided to stay where she was saluting and let everyone move around her!  To the audience to be honest it was probably hardly noticeable but to us this was amusing (especially to the singers as it is normally them that get it wrong!).
The children from today’s dance school all really enjoyed themselves and bought programmes which we all signed for them, some even asked for Sydney’s autograph! 
Packed up and ready to do the four and a bit hour drive to London, we all decided to visit the local Wetherspoons for food before setting off.  Gemma gave us this weeks statement of the week when after waiting a long while for her meal (the service was very slow but it was busy) she exclaimed loudly that “I love bread and butter, so simple but so nice!”
Danielle and Jamie where travelling together down to London, Pen was in the van with Colin as usual, Helene and Jo were in the car with Bill-Bill (and Marie’s neck brace which they shared!) Alex took her own car on this trip and Gemma joined her.  We all set off after Jamie but half a mile down the dual carriageway saw Jamie’s car stopped on the opposite side of the road with it’s hazard lights on !!!!!
We were all rightly worried but we need not have been, Jamie and Danielle were both fine.  What had actually happened was that before setting off Jamie had been chatting and had put his mobile phone on the roof of the car!  Yes you guessed it – he left it there and drove off, as he hit the dual carriageway it flew off, hit the window and then bounced on the road!
Not only did he find it, it was laying on a white line (which was lucky cause no cars had driven over it) but there was not a scratch on it and it still worked fine!  How lucky was that!

Secombe Theatre, Sutton 17th October
We arrived at the Sycombe Theatre in plenty of time so we all decided to let Bill-Bill and Colin set up while we all went for a healthy breakfast (well as usual Jamie’s wasn’t that healthy to be fair!)
Today was a rather quiet but appreciative audience and the show went fairly well only now Jo has caught Helene’s lergie and felt really poorly.  She carried on regardless just like everyone as we were all tired.
During Danielles solo song there was a power cut leaving her on stage with no lights or music !  Soon sorted out though and she duly started her solo again to great applause.
It was a long drive home which seemed to take forever but we made it eventually and in need of sleep.

Middlesbrough Theatre 21st October
Well we were soon at the Middlesbrough show and everyone was there in plenty of time, however two people were missing – Pen and Mazzie????? It soon became apparent that even though they were armed with a sat-nav, an atlas, an A-Z of Teeside, and a print out of directions from the RAC website – they were infact lost !!!!!
After telephoning Colin for further directions and stopping to ask several unsuspecting pedestrians they finally arrived.
Colin was struggling today as he had put his back out (when he sneezed!) he was having difficulty even walking, so the possibility of him ‘twisting and shaking’ in the 60’s section was quite unlikely. Marie was doing todays show instead of Danielle as there was a charity presentation in the interval but Danielle had come along to support us before she re-joined the shows for the Scotland tour.
The show went well, we had a lovely audience who seemed to appreciate the songs.  Colin did remarkably well considering his spine was shaped like a letter ‘S’ and he was in pain just walking – none of the cast laughed at him trying to walk up on to the podium at all.
In between shows everyone relaxed, and we presented Gemma with her birthday cake (a chocolate caterpillar) Jamie and Pen went for a coffee (they seem to be spending a bit of time together???) and Colin and Bill-Bill went out in search of chips!  Jamie started learning his Panto script and successfully master his first line “it’s behind you”.  Helen really enjoyed her piece of cake and after eating it all she put down her plate and exclaimed “I really enjoyed that Pizza” ?????  We know thats weird but seriously you get used to her! 
In the interval of the evening show, we were thrilled to present a cheque for £3,000 to Mr Andy Burns the Head and Neck Surgeon from Sunderland Hospital.  This money was raised from the sale of our programmes and is donated to help patients with oral and facial cancer in memory of Marie’s dad.
Marie and Colin presented the Cheque and both made a speech, having noticed that someone in the audience was using sign language to communicate Pen went  out on stage with them and attempted to interpret what was being said during the presentation – she managed some of it but can’t guarantee that her sign-language was 100% accurate – she tried anyway.
After two great shows we were soon packed up and ready for a good nights sleep before we start our ten day tour of Scotland (which Jamie is excited about not only because he is from Scotland but because he is obsessed with ‘square sausage, whatever that is? !!!!!)

Albert Halls, Stirling 22nd October 2009
We seem to spend a lot of time on the road and this next ten days is going to cover a lot of miles.  Our drive to Stirling took us just on 3 hours and we were soon set up and ready to go.   Pen and Danielle liked there dressing room here because it has a wide screen TV in it – unfortunately there wasn’t really anything they wanted to watch while they were putting their make up on!  They didn’t seem bothered though because they had both drank a cup of coffee and became rather giddy – just how much caffine!!!!!!!!
There is always a nice audience here and tonight was no exception, some of the cast did mention that they could see two people dancing around at the back obviously enjoying themselves – we do believe this may have been Eileen and Shona, two of the theatre staff. We did think that Eileen might have just been a great sales person, but boy those hips could move a bit!!!!
Jamie had family in the show this evening and was looking forward to it, and even put down his Panto script long enough to say hello to them. (he has learned another panto line now:  “oh no it isn’t”)
We stayed in a Travelodge just outside of Stirling tonight, well we arrived at 3pm and some of us immediately put our PJ’s on and then stayed there hardly moving until the next morning (except to go to reception to collect another toilet roll and get a four-finger Kit Kat from the vending machine!! (we always stay in Travelodge’s which is inspiring Jamie’s new musical that he is writing – ‘Travelodge the Musical) and set off the next day to drive up to Aberdeen which is where our extended ‘Timeless’ family are.

Aberdeen Arts Centre 23rd October
Colin and Maries favourite part of the tour as they get to meet their friends Debbie, Harry, and their lovely daughters Rebecca and Lucy. Not forgetting Benji the dog. Unfortunately though Marie is missing. The plan was for Marie to come up to Scotland, spend the weekend with Debbie and gang, before travelling home from Greenock on Monday. Unfortunately the work situation in the office is crazy and the last minute bits and pieces that need doing for the UK Dance Mania troupe travelling to India prove too much and Marie is forced to stay home to look after it all. Marie is gutted, Debbie and Harry disappointed, Lucy...... ready to kill someone.

Still, not all doom and gloom. A night at Jimmy Chungs Chinese buffet leaves Debbie and family, along with Colin, Bill, and Penni, in a brighter mood after between them eating more than Jamie Rae does in a week. Its always great to see Debbie, Harry and the kids, along with her friend Sarah who, along with her mother, feeds the whole of Aberdeen on show days. Bill always takes home a doggy bag to feed 5000, and still there is food to spare. Colin reckons that Sarahs corned beef sarnis should be on the shelves of Tesco. The cast are eternally gratefull for all the food, kindness, generousity and support we get when we venuture into the coldest part of the UK.

After a night in the Travelodge at Aberdeen Airport Bill-Bill decided to take Danielle, Helene and Pen out for a nature walk along the river.  We all met in reception at 9am wearing our winter clothes (it’s cold up here!) and went for a brisk walk along the river.
Helene was rather excited when in the distance she saw a Heron.  She squeeled quite excitedly at the thought of seeing a Heron up close, but was bitterly disappointed when she discovered it was in fact a Tesco carrier bag caught on a bush by the river. (she had said she didn’t think Heron had blue stripes!)
Some of the cast went off to Morrisons for supplies (Lucy- came too) and of course to collect Colin and Bill’s Bacon sarnies. Jamie was almost uncontrollable when he found out that the café made ‘square sausage’ sandwiches, so he introduced the cast to this Scottish delicacy. Now for those of you that have never ventured up to Scotland, they do in fact have square sausage which they call ‘lorne’! Jamie ate two of these ! 
Jo-Jo went to buy Gemma a bottle of wine for her birthday but was asked for ID which she didn’t have with her (she is old enough honest) so she sent Helene to get it.  Helene also was asked for ID and she too didn’t have any with her so being that Pen is older (not by much - ha) she was sent to purchase the wine – imagine Pen’s joy when she too was asked for ID, For this reason alone Scotland is Pen’s favourite place.
Alex and Gemma have started reading their new books today.
The cast ate so much food that Sarah provided for us which was immense (Jo-Jo’s new word for amazing).

Day Off 24th October 2009 (Yes repeat.....Day off)
It’s Raining. After a wonderful lie in we left the Travelodge at around midday and met Debbie, Harry and Lucy for a Sunday lunch.  Jo-Jo enjoyed her all you can eat Carvery even though she is vegetarian (her plate consisted of roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, boiled potatoes and one stuffing ball  she was given an evil look when she asked for two stuffing balls), Jamie also had a vegetarian lunch to appease Jo-Jo who was harping on about saving turkey’s, Helene asked the Chef for some of the Chicken, he wasted no time in explaining to her that it was infact a Turkey ! The team were a little disappointed that they had to wait until 12.30pm until they could be served alcohol and on the strike of 12.30pm all enjoyed their drink except Danielle who ended up with a vodka-less vodka and cranberry!
After lunch we set off on the drive to Glasgow Braehead Travelodge where we were spending the night ahead of our show in Greenock.  When we arrived and checked in it turned out that Colin was assigned room number 1 right near the reception, the bar and with no stairs to climb. Being that he still had a bad back he was thrilled and promptly did a little jig of joy. (which unfortunately made his bad back worse)
Amy Bruce (who some of you may remember from our previous shows)  has now moved up to Scotland and lives in Glasgow so she arranged with some of the girls to come and pick them up from the Travelodge and take them to see her new apartment .  This evening included a little cheeky glass of wine (or two) a buffet and the screening of the X Factor results show.
The buffet was lovely (immense according to Jo-Jo) and everyone enjoyed themselves the only thing that spoiled the evening was that the twins were still not voted out of the X Factor.

Arts Guild Theatre, Greenock 25th October 2009
We all arrived at the theatre (some with a fuzzy head) and started to get ready for the show – a couple of us went out on the bacon sarnie run (while Gemma and Alex read some more of their books).
Today Jamie had two ‘square sausage’ sandwiches and is showing no sign of getting bored with them.
The show went well, the audience were lovely and Danielle and Pen managed to time their jacket potatoes in the microwave perfectly for their dinner – it turns out that if they put them in the microwave for 15 minutes on the second chorus of Colin’s solo then they will be ready when the show finishes.  They were quite excited about this discovery.
The cast enjoyed the Jammie Dodgers that Pen bought from the shop and were therefore thoroughly energised for the next show, which also went well and we were soon packed up and ready for our drive back to the Travelodge.

Rutherglen Town Hall, 26th October 2009
It is raining again (oh such a familiar story) today the stage does not have any front curtains so we spent a little time organising the entrances and exits from some of our routines.  This also means we can’t use props – Bill-Bill was not unhappy with this situation because he is the one that runs around behind the curtains while Colin is telling his jokes, moving all the props back and forward!
Jamie went out in search of his new obsession (Square Sausage Sandwiches of course) and succeeded in finding three large sandwiches, which he devoured. 
We were soon set up and organised, the show went well and everyone seemed to enjoy it.  In between shows Colin , Bill and Jamie got Chips for their tea, the others all queued up for the chance to use the microwave.
After a light lunch Jo-Jo, Danielle and Penni plugged the laptop into the sound system and took advantage of the empty stage to do some exercise – they did a Tae Bo DVD workout.  Jamie was going to join in but said he was too busy finishing his Chips!
Alex and Gemma are doing well with their books and now it appears that the dressing room is becoming a Library!
The second show went well too Jamie had some family in to see the show and was thrilled that they enjoyed it.  We were soon finished and on our way to the next Travelodge which was two hours away in Dundee.
Everyone finally arrived at the Travelodge at around 1am to discover that the Travelodge had overbooked the rooms and only had three rooms available.  After much confusion and a half an hour wait in reception they managed to find enough rooms for everyone. 
Alex, Gemma and Helen got to their rooms and were soon tucked up in bed.
Danielle, Jo and Pen went to their room to find there was not enough towels and bedding so Pen went down to reception to collect some and bumped in to Jamie who was on his way back to reception to say that his key doesn’t work!
The man on reception said he would take bedding up to the girls room and check Jamie’s key at the same time, when they all got in the lift they met Colin who was on his way to reception to say that his key did work but it turned out there was a little old lady already asleep in that room. 
After several attempts and finding rooms already occupied they decided that there was no room at the inn and sent Colin, Bill-Bill and Jamie to a different Travelodge 20 minutes away.
Eventually everyone got to bed around 2.30am – thanks Travelodge.

Whitehall Theatre, Dundee Wednesday 28th October
Well After a few hours sleep Colin, Bill and Jamie returned to the original Travelodge to collect the girls and we all made our way to the theatre where the theatre staff were waiting to help us get everything set up.
First things first, whilst Colin and Bill-Bill were setting up Alex and Gemma went for a walk into town and everyone else went to our favourite 24 hour bakery (well we don’t actually know any other 24 hour bakeries – however if we did I think this may be our favourite).  Pen collected Bill and Colin’s Bacon Sarnies, and yes you have guessed it, Jamie found out that they served square sausage!  Now we can’t be sure however it would appear that he ordered more than one Square sausage sandwich.
Soon ready for show time and yet again the audience seemed to enjoy the show, there must have been a bus leaving early though as a few people put their coats on during the finale and started making their way to the exit whilst we were still singing and dancing, probably to beat the rush eh?
In-between shows Jamie, Bill-Bill and Colin yet again purchased something from the bakery (Can you guess what Jamie had for lunch? – answers on a post card please!)  Alex and Gemma read more of their books  and everyone relaxed a little. 
Meanwhile back in the North East of England Marie who was holed up in the office doing paperwork has had to give up and go to bed – with flu symptoms, and a rather nasty chest infection.
It was soon time to get ready for the next show and we were soon all standing in position on stage waiting for the ‘curtain-up’.  Bill-Bill called “clearence” Colin gave the thumbs up when all of a sudden  Gemma realised she was not wearing her white gloves, she suddenly shouted ‘Colin, I’m not ready’ and ran off to find her gloves, leaving everyone else laughing!!!!!
We had a good show again, and we were soon packed up and ready for the long drive back to Glasgow where we were staying before our show in Kilmarnock tomorrow.  We had a little stop at the bakery one last time to pick up supplies for the journey home of course – rumour has it that today alone Jamie has had not one, not even two but five square sausage sandwiches!!!!!!!!!

Palace Theatre, Kilmarnock Thursday 29th 2009
After a bit of a drive we arrived at the theatre to set up in plenty of time.  We were soon set up and had finished ironing all the costumes so all too soon we were in the dressing rooms getting ready for show time.  Jo-Jo started doing her warm up exercises in the corridor (the dressing rooms aren’t big enough to warm up thoroughly) and looked up to find all of todays children copying her exercises and doing their own warm up!
Colin has started getting a bad cold and cough to go with Alex’s cough which seems to be lingering  and Jamie said he was feeling a little sniffly this morning too – Pen started following everyone around making them take vitamin C suppliments.
Both shows went well today, and it was soon time to get back to the Travelodge for a good nights sleep before the long journey up north to Inverurie tomorrow.

Town Hall, Inverurie Friday 30th 2009
Boy what a long drive !  By the time we arrived at Inverurie for the evening performance of ‘A Timeless Collection’ we were all shattered.  Debbie, Sarah and the gang were waiting for us with boxes full of sandwiches, sausage rolls, crisps, cakes and cups of tea and coffee to keep us going.  Funny what make-up can hide as once on stage of course we all looked fit and well, full of energy and well rested, in reality, everyone is tired, aching, some have colds or coughs, and becoming slightly insane (which would account for the giggling at allsorts of things that we wouldn’t necessarily find funny!)
At one point Jamie and Helene tried to run away (taking all of the boxes of sandwiches and cakes with them), Pen and Danielle almost lost the plot during ‘Lullaby of Broadway’, Helene had a minor hat issue , Colin so nearly sang the first song of the second half wearing his glasses (which he never wears on stage!) and even our stage cow got a bit of the routine wrong during ‘combine harvester’  - (luckily no one noticed) The stage here is on such a slant that everyone was having difficulty with their balance especially when standing on the podiums and all everyone could think about was the long drive back to Stirling when the show was over.
The show did go well (there were possibly a few little errors that we are sure went undetected) and the audience were lovely, immediately that the curtain went down however, we were packing up and setting off in the rain to Stirling for some rest. (some of us concentrated on packing up food though!). A bit sad that this is the last time we will see Debbie and squad until next year, and think Lucy might be ready to kill someone again.

Theatre Royal, Dumfries Saturday 31st October
From the travelodge in Stirling it took a little while to drive to Dumfries for the last show of our Scotland tour this season – everyone is looking forward to going home and sleeping in their own beds.  The stage here at Dumfries is lovely though it is small and there is no run-around meaning that some of the routines have to be thought about carefully and changed to allow people to exit stage on the right sides for costume changes.  This is the oldest working theatre in Scotland and has a lovely atmosphere – everyone makes sure to look after us well and we are soon set up after popping in to town for a little breakfast (and for Jamie to have his last Square Sausage sandwich of the tour.)
We were all surprised and pleased when the curtain opened to see Jan (one of Jamies fan’s) on the front row, she had already seen our show in Stirling and had travelled to Dumfries to see it again.  By now she knows all the words to the songs and led the audience to join in.
Although quite a small audience this afternoon it was a friendly one, The evening performance did see a much larger audience and possibly the loudest crowd of the tour – they sang and clapped along in all the right places, with Jan again in the audience leading them on.
After packing up, we celebrated the end of the tour by treating ourselves to chips from a nearby takeaway and then were on our way back to England in the, by now tourential rain.  Some of the cast will go home tonight, Pen will stay at Col and Maries house and Helene will stay at Jamie’s house whilst Gemma and Alex stay at Bill-Bill’s, they will all continue home on Sunday Morning, and enjoy a couple of days before our next show in Dudley.  Danielle however will be busy preparing for her job as Bridesmaid next week, just hope Marie is better in time for the show in Dudley.

Dudley Concert Hall, Tuesday 3rd November 2009
It was quite a novelty not driving in the rain to a venue, Pen and Colin were a little disappointed with their pop master score this morning (won’t tell you what is was cause it was poor!) but they were difficult questions today.
Marie is thankfully much better and has climbed over the ever increasing pile of paperwork in the office to be able to join us for the show today (Danielle is off being a bridesmaid), She does still however have a bad cough along with Alex and Colin who are both still coughing and spluttering.
Jamie seems a little quiet today and we all decide he is probably missing Scotland, don’t misunderstand, it isn’t homesickness or anything, he is simply suffering withdrawl from Square Sausage!
Dudley is similar to Rutherglen in the fact that they do not have stage curtains so we are unable to use any props and have to think about our entrances and exits carefully before showtime. This is also useful as we are running late. Bill’s set up is done within minutes and he looks forward to an easy show.
There is only one show today and they we are all off home until our shows on Friday in Bradford.  It was soon showtime and The audience were really nice today they sang along with all the songs too.  It was a good show today and all too soon it was time to pack up again – it seems like no sooner are the costumes ironed then they go back in the van to get creased again, so we can iron them at the next venue!
We are always on the lookout for some humour and so any of our blog readers who have any good clean gags, please feel free to email them to us. Eileen from Stirling is in the lead at the moment with both the funniest gag. Cheers Eileen. Just wonder if our audiences will know John and Edward????? Cant believe that there are only seven shows left and the tour is over. Where did all that time go??? The cast are now plottiing what they will do over the winter months. Jamie and Pen are off to do Panto for sure. The three week tour of India for the rest of the cast is still in the discussion stage. Hopefully that will be resolved in the very near future so that everyone can plot their Christmas, and other work plans. Very soon we will find February upon us and we will be rehearsing the new 'All our Yesterdays2' show. This starts touring on 27th Feb until 18th June. The date sheet is now on the web site for those who are interested.

St Georges Hall, Bradford Friday 6th November
Bradford isn’t too far from the North East so most of us didn’t have to get up too early this morning.  We arrived at Bradford to set up in plenty of time and were pleased to see our friend Vicki Johnson who toured with us in India earlier this year, and also the teacher at today’s dance school.
Helene and Pen both had relatives and friends in today’s audience so were looking forward to a good show.  Jo-Jo and Jamie were a little apprehensive about the Cutains after last years incident where they got engulfed in them!
One of the off-putting things today of all things was the presence of Colin’s son David, and his friends who live in Leeds, all 9 of them. Stage lights being what they are mean that normally we can’t see any of the audience. It is more like a blank blanket in front of your eyes. Tonight however we could see one row, which included David and all of his friends, all under the age of 30. For those who know our normal audience age, it will not surprise you to know that to see a group of under 30s is quite a surprise and quite off putting for us. David assures us that they did in fact enjoy the show despite some confused looks from them as we sang some of the older songs.
The show went well although it is a big stage so ‘Do You Love Me’ meant we had a lot of ground to cover in the dance routine.
In between shows one of the theatre staff brought his new puppy in to meet us and as we are a cast of animal lovers so everyone spent time fussing her.
Second show was soon over and we were packing the van and on our way home for a few days off – yippee.

Assembly Rooms, Tamworth. Wednesday 11th November
We arrive this morning after a fairly early start, Helene and Jo-Jo were in the dressing cubicle (yes that’s right they have cubicles here!) discussing how they are quite tired today and they thought it would be a long day with two shows and then a long drive home,  after overhearing this conversation Pen joined in and mentioned to them that it was in fact only a matinee show today! This caused much screaming of joy, and both of them to jump up and down with glee!
Today the cast start discussing what we are going to do on our time off in Pontypool before our show in Cwmbran next week.  On researching the options on the internet the best we can come up with is a visit to the National Coal Museum (which is probably excellent if you like coal!) we suggest this to Jamie (it is his birthday on that day) and he seems relatively enthusiastic about this.  We will continue our research  I think.
The show went well, a lovely audience today and everyone enjoyed performing the show ,  we had Alex’s family in the audience today, Lucy (4yrs) enjoyed the show and watching her auntie dance, Thomas (2yrs) did some excellent clapping along and also kept his mum on her toes .
Graeme (from Runcorn) came along today and was a great help even though it was his day off he ended up doing lots to help us, thanks Graeme.
Soon packed and ready to go we set off to drive home in the hope of finding a KFC on the way – we settled for a Burger King and carried on our journey.

Penistone Paramount, Friday 13th November
Today we were joined by Jim (Penni’s Dad) who was helping Bill-Bill back stage.  Two shows today and again Pen had relatives in to watch, as did Danielle.
Jamie is missing his square sausages but managed to find a little café that did normal sausage sandwiches so he was ok.
During this afternoons show, Gemma had another incident with her 60’s costume as yet again it flew undone and she just caught it in time to stop showing the audience that she was not infact wearing a bra!
During the break in between a couple of us decided to treat ourselves to Chips from the chip shop down the road.  Pen and Danielle walked at the other side of the road to Col, Jim and Bill-Bill as they were all wearing odd baseball caps – they tried to pretend they didn’t know them!
Good shows today and soon all packed up (in the rain) and ready to head off for a couple of hours sleep before we head on up to Whitehaven in Cumbria.

Whitehaven Civic Hall, Saturday 14th November

For the first time ever today we had a slightly unusual situation, where Danielle was standing in for Marie, and Marie was in the audience watching and taking notes. A short 2 1/2 hour journey got us there for a 7.30pm show, and after a very difficult get in (Yes, a carry from the Van to a lift. Up the lift, then a 100 yard walk to the stage) we were eventually set up and ready to go. Marie found it strange to be out front watching, and the rest of the cast spent most of the show trying to spot where the hell she was, as well as making sure there were no mistakes that she could kick our butts for. Everyone was both surprised and pleased to hear that Marie was suitably impressed with most things, and with the show over everyone headed in different directions to spend a few days at home before the last run of the tour next week. Quite a lot of travelling to do, but there is light at the end of the tunnel for those tired dancers limbs, and tired singers voices. We are sad to learn that we probably wont have Gemma for the Spring tour. Although it was expected, it is now almost certain that she will be returning to London, and get to work on landing a cruise contract or something similar. Good luck Gemma, we will miss you, and you are welcome back anytime. As for the rest of the cast for next spring. Watch this space!!!!! We may have an enormous superstar name on our cast list. All top secret at the moment, so cant say anymore.

Salisbury City Hall, 18th November 2009

Well today is the start of the last run on this tour and it seems to have come round so quickly.  It doesn’t seem too minutes since we were in rehearsals.
We travelled down south last night because it is quite a long drive so after a night in a Travelodge we all arrived at the theatre in plenty of time.  While the boys were unpacking the van, everyone went out for a walk around the town, of course Pen brought the boys back their bacon sarnies and Jamie bought a selection of consumable items to make up for the lack of Square Sausage in Salisbury.
We were soon set up, Ironed and make-up done, the afternoon show was well attended and went without hitch, everyone seemed tired afterwards so in between shows Gemma found a comfortable sofa to have a nap on, Col had a nap in the van, Bill in the auditorium and Pen fell asleep…. under a table !!!! The joys of show business!!
The evening show wasn’t as well attended unfortunately however, it was still a lovely audience and other than Pen having a Migraine all seemed to go well.  Jamie is increasingly upset that the wheel keeps falling off his costume rail, but as yet he hasn’t lost it!
After packing the van, we set off on the long drive to Okehampton where we are staying tonight before our shows tomorrow in Exeter.

Barnfield Theatre, Exeter 19th November 2009
Gosh it is cold today,  whilst the van was being unpacked Pen and Jo-Jo went in to town to locate the boys bacon sarnies, after 20 minutes of trying every shop we discovered that no-one does normal bacon sandwiches in Exeter.  Bacon and Brie panninis, Bacon and cheese pasties, Bacon and cheese croixants but no normal bacon sarnies. Is Devon now still part of the UK, or has it gone continental?
Pen returned to break the sad news to the boys only to be advised by Peter (one of the theatre staff) that they infact make bacon sarnies to order in the café at the front of the theatre!
We always enjoy our show at Exeter. Good audiences, great staff, and a lovely feel to the place. A nice place to be doing your second last show of the tour.

Day off!! 20th November. Yes, that’s twice a day off has been reported in the blog. A shortish treck to South Wales today from Devon. Alex gets dropped off at some relatives house en route, while the rest of the cast make their way to Pontypool Travelodge where we bed down for two nights. The night of is a casual affair. No major parties, just a civilised meal in the Harvester pub across the road from the Hotel. Not bad food, a couple of drinks and everyone is ready for a good nights sleep. The only thing not quite decided is what to do during the day tomorrow before the show at Cwmbran. It seems that Helene’s desire to learn more about coal might just come true!!!!!

Congress Theatre, Cwmbran. Saturday 21st November.

The cast have agreed to meet in the lobby at 11.00am, and the first task is to wish Jamie happy birthday. Poor soul, stuck in the middle of South Wales on his birthday, and worse yet to come as the cast decide that ‘Big Pit’ is the place to be while here. What is ‘Big Pit’ we hear you ask? Well believe it or not it is a big pit, as in Coal mining pit. We are in South Wales of course. So the cast find ‘Big Pit’, some 20 minutes away from the Travelodge, and everyone makes their way in for the guided tour underground. Except for one. Yes, there is always one! Colin being very claustrophobic  (thank you spellchecker), decides that going into pitch black tiny tunnels is not a dream come true and stays on the surface where sausage sarni’s and coffee are available without tunnels. By now there is torrential rain, and gales, a perfect reception for the rest of the cast as they emerge from the depths of the earth. Feedback from cast…..Very interesting, and on a serious note, hats off to all the miners across the UK who suffered these working conditions. And we complain when there is not enough space in the wings to get changed, and a wheel falls off our costume rail………
From Big Pit to hotel, to venue. One of the worst ‘get ins’ ever. With a tiny lift to get all of the show into. The trunks have to be left on the ground floor, and costumes carried upstairs. 4 or 5 trips are made before the props and tupperwares are finally at the stage area. Everybody set, curtains open, and we face one of the best crowds we have had during the tour. This left us on a major high for our last night. Thank you Cwmbran.
So back to the Travelodge for most, except Jamie who drives straight home. Poor soul has one day off and then starts Panto rehearsals. As for the rest of the cast. Gemma goes home to London, and as this was her last show, will we see her again?? Who knows, we hope so. Alex goes first to her home in Nottingham, and then will no doubt globe trot around the UK until rehearsals in February. Helene gets dropped off near Bradford, with a few work options, which may be about to change. Watch this space!!!! Jo travels back to the North East and go back to her other job until Feb. Penni jumps in the car at Leeds to go back to stay with Colin and Marie for a couple of days to help out with paperwork etc. Colin calls into Leeds to have lunch with his son David who lives there, and eventually everyone is home and the tour is officially over!! Phew!!! Penni starts Panto soon, so a little rest before the work begins again for her.
That’s it then viewers, all over. We will post any developments over the winter on the blog. We feel there might be quite a few!!  Is India happening for the cast?? No one knows. Yet. India are still trying to plot dates for the tour, but this credit crunch  is worldwide, and the three week tour may or may not happen. What will be the cast line up for ‘All our Yesterdays2’?? So many things happening, some of which we cant print yet.
Take care everyone, thanks to all our audiences for your fantastic support, letters of thanks, and most of all for coming to see our shows. Theatres are being hit hard by the credit crunch, and thanks to the people who have come to see our shows, we have survived better than most, and live to fight another day. Colin and Marie will be at work creating the new ‘All our Yesterdays2’ show, and promise to make every effort to make this one even better than previous shows. We are always open to suggestions for songs, and always appreciate any audience feedback or comments. Feel free to email us at any time. Until next time God bless!!!

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Update prior to Memory Lane2 tour starting March 3rd 2009.

Hi again to all our blog readers. We thought we would give you an update prior to starting our theatre tour. So much has happened since we finished our 'Rolling back the years' tour in November, and it is frightening to think that rehearsals are upon us starting Thursday 19th Feb.

To start with, here are the cast changes. Andy Kellett has moved to London and has now left us, as has Gemma Edmenson, both wanting to try their hand at new things. We wish them both the very best of luck wherever their career may take them and hope to see them again soon. As you know, Melanie our dance captain has already planned to work abroad this year, however she is teaching our new dancers the routines for Memory Lane, and also going to do one final show for us in March.

The big breaking news is that the company have aquired a short contract in Goa, India, to perform 3 shows. More on that as the time gets nearer. A cast of seven will perform a show based on a movies and musicals theme at 2 prestigious venues, and needless to say, everyone is quite excited at the prospect.

We are delighted to announce that our new male singer is the superbly talented Jamie Rae. Having spent most of his professional career working on Cruise Ships and in Las Vegas, we are delighted to welcome Jamie aboard for the new tour and the trip to India.

Our new dancers are Phillipa Burt and Helene Lewis, along with swing dancer Joanna Campbell. All are a welcome addition to our cast for the forthcoming tour.

We have decided to leave last years blog on this page, just for any newcomers who want to catch up on last years events, and the new blog will start immediately below as we hit rehearsals and hit the road.

Welcome back!!

And we are off !!!!!!

To clarify for those already confused, the new cast is as follows.

Colin Francis (Director/Singer/Comedian). Marie Adele (Director/Singer)

Jamie Rae (Singer), Jenni Tarr (Singer), Danielle Sharp (Swing singer)

Amy Bruce (Dance Captain), Alex Lewis (Asst Dance Captain), Phillipa Burt (Dancer)

Helene Lewis (Dancer), Joanna Campbell (Swing Dancer), Melanie Watkins (Swing Dancer), Helen Grant (Swing Dancer).

Bill Wright (Stage Manager) All nicknames will be explained as we go.

Memory Lane 2 is now officially on the road. The rehearsals are over, and boy is that a blessing, The costumes are sorted, props are painted, harmonies are clarified, dance routines are finalised, and the Customs House at South Shields have sampled the new show. Audience reaction is fantastic and the comments received are better than anyone could have anticipated.

The only person sorry to see rehearsals finishing is the guy at the 'Burger Van', Cafe Latte, outside the rehearsal venue. His trade trebled with the presence of the cast, to the point that he would call in and ask what we would like for a lunchtime special next day. Lovely guy and good food to go with it. Many thanks from all the cast for keeping us well nourished.

The new cast are now starting to gel, as everyone gets to know each others personalities. Jamie the new singer is from Glasgow, nobody understands a word he says, and he understands nobody else apart from the phrase 'Okey Dokey'. His time is now spent wandering around theatre buildings uttering his new found phrase to anyone who will listen. He also likes the fact that there is plenty of Greggs around. Two cheese pasties and a couple of sausage rolls is a great way to keep energy levels high. Phillipa should fit in well, with a love of fish and chips. Helene is quiet for now, but we get the impression that will change, and she is still finding her feet. Amy is doing well in her new role as Dance Captain, keeping the girls in shape, and Alex is her normal cheery self, always having a smile on her face.

Marie is now starting to de-stress, after all the costume nightmares that happened during dress rehearsals. Colin is delighted that Jamie loves pasties, but gutted that nobody is into red wine. Jenni is looking forward to doing the 'pop master' quiz in the van with Colin. Bill Bill, stage manager, and Jamie are both worried that either will snore too loud and keep each other awake in Travelodge rooms.

Tuesday 2nd March 2009. Customs House, South Shields. A full house. Nerves are jangling like mad in the dressing room as the first show gets ever closer. 2.30 curtain up and at 2.25 there isnt a lot of chat happening, especially after such a bad dress rehearsal yesterday. The curtain goes up, the show goes amazingly well and everyone gets to breathe a sigh of relief when the show finishes at 4.50pm

Wednesday, 3rd March, Customs House. Two shows today. 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Two good houses, a few minor mistakes, but in general things are looking very good for the new show.

Thursday, 4th March. Customs House. Just a matinee. Suzanne the choreographer is in. The first half goes well, but Suzanne's face is a different picture at the end of the show as she spots a lot of mistakes in the second half. Fortunately ones that the audience wouldnt notice. Early night tonight and Hartlepool Town Hall theatre tomorrow for two shows.

Friday 5th March. Hartlepool Town Hall Theatre.

A busy week draws to a close with two shows today. Everyone seems to be coping with the tiring last two weeks really well. Phillipa is looking forward to her parents coming to see the show for the first time. Jamie and Amy are going home to Blackpool. Amy by the way is now a temporary resident of Blackpool. Her boyfriend Graham is a footballer playing for Middlesborough, but is currently on loan at Blackpool, so Amy is now spending a lot of time over there. Alex and Helene travel home tomorrow. Jenni also goes home tonight and is excited about seeing her cat Fizz.

Hartlepool very kindly supply a few sandwiches which Colin and Bill duly eat, forgetting to tell the cast that they are there in case of mass hunger later in the day. Marie looks forward to her mother and sister coming to see the show. She regrets this in the 70's section when she tucks her dress into her tights and her butt is on show for all to see. Great hilarity for all except Marie of course.Shows go well, and its a well earned two day rest until Monday.

Monday 9th March. Winsford Civic Hall.

A 7.00am departure from Durham. Jenni has had a busy weekend. It is Phillipa's 21st birthday today and Jen took the job of buying presents from a whipround, and baking a cake for the occasion. She does a great job and gets some excellent presents which are presented to Phillipa on stage during the set up process. We all tuck into the cake which was superb. Well done Penni (Jen's nickname).

In the van on the way down, Jenni boasts about trying 'stuffing' for the first time last week. Yippee. She is then gutted to find out that it contains onions. No more stuffing for Jenni then. She hates onions. Helene is initiated to 'Pop Master' on Radio 2, and proves reasonably useful on her first attempt with a few good correct answers.

It is first show for Danielle (Swing singer) today. Replacing Marie who is now frantic about getting the costumes sorted for the cast going to India in just over a week. Danielle is a real pro, and gives a perfect performance. Well, apart from one fluffed line on 'Stand by your man'. The audience wouldn't notice though.

Amy was a true pro today too. Ill with cold and feeling sick she ploughed her way through everything with her normal perfect standard.

The numbers were up by 100 on our last visit there. The show goes well, nothing really to report. Everyone is looking forward to getting back home before 9.00pm, a luxury even if a bit of a long day. Not a Travelodge in sight, for now. That will change soon. Jamie can leave the crumbs from his cheese pasties for the cleaner and he and Bill our stage manager can start their snoring competition.

Jenni squishes a rabbit on the way home, and gets home to find her cat is throwing up all over her house. Maybe a Travelodge might have been a good idea for her. Bless her.

Wednesday 11th March. Gala Theatre Durham. Another of our local venues, and fortunately another sell out crowd. Only an evening show, which goes well.

Sunday 15th March, Broxbourne Civic Hall. We drive to London the day before. Danielle is with us all this week now as Marie prepares costumes for India which is fast looming. Yet another full house, and an excellent show. The tech guys are fantastic as usual.

Wednesday 18th March. Middlesbrough Theatre. Far too much excitement about India now, as this is the last show that Amy, Alex and Jenni do before departing for Goa. Quite a few family and friends in today especially for Phillipa who is the local girl today. Great crowds as usual here, and everything goes without a hitch.

Thursday 19th March. Lamplight Arts Centre, Stanley, and Consett Empire. Yes both on the same day. We do a show at Stanley in the afternoon and then drive 8 miles to Consett to do the evening show. This should prove fun, and with lots of potential train crashes. Two new dancers in today. Mel, who was last years dance captain, and Joanna who is the new swing dancer doing her first show. Not only is she doing her first dance show, but also covering some of Jenni's vocals. Both girls do a fantastic job, and the audience is blissfully unaware of all the changes. Sonya is on hand tonight to help Colin pack for India.

Thursday 19th March, Start of The India Blog

And we are off, well, some of us are for now. A cast flies to Goa today on what is a very important contract. 5 shows in 6 days doing a show called 'A night of Musicals'. The cast flying out are (from the regualr cast) Colin, Marie, Jenni, Amy and Alex. They are joined by Vicky Johnson who has worked for the company for appx 3years but no longer full time in the theatre show. As a lot of material being performed out there is a compilation from the 4 theatre shows, Vicky was an obvious choice as the third dancer. The forth singer is Kieron Boston. Unfortunately due to circumstances beyond our control, Jamie Rae was not available to do the India contract.

Everyone except Colin starts the journey down to Heathrow for the flight to Goa. Colin has to stay behind to do the show at Consett and Stanley and flies out alone tomorrow. Some lovely photo's are taken both now and throughout the tour and we will create a link to a 'My Space' page so that anyone who would like to see them all can do so. Watch this space

They all leave at 11.30am, for a 8.00pm flight. The journey goes smooth for all, and the two flights get everyone into Goa around 3.30pm local time the next day. Christopher Biggins was sat in front of the cast from Heathrow to Mumbai. He was off doing some charity work in India. Nice guy.
The cast are met at the airport by Melwyn, Director of the Company in Goa who have organised the tour schedule. He is very welcoming, and gets the cast off to their Hotel, the Riviera de Goa, so that they can rest for a while and prepare for dinner. The Hotel is five star, and for those who have experienced travelling in entertainment abroad, this is a nice gesture. Normally a 3 or 4 star hotel is provided, but this is real 5 star, and the cast happily settle for the night. Melwyn, his wife Maureen, their son Rhys, and his business partner Neil, who is to be our companion for the whole tour take the cast for a meal, and prove to be superb hosts. They really are genuinely friendly, and lovely people. Naturally they are nervous as we are that the tour goes well, and that remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, while the cast are basking in the vast heat of Goa, Colin is in the theatre show at Consett and Stanley. Sonya the company assistant, is there to pack the remaining costumes that need to travel to Goa, and which Colin is taking. The show finishes at 10.00pm and Colin drives straight to Heathrow for a 8.00am flight to Mumbai. It is easier to book a Hotel with a car parking package, and so to allow for at least two hours sleep, that is the plan. He arrives at the Hotel at 3.30am, and arranges a wake up call at 5.00am, to get to Heathrow for 6.00am. A decent flight, and Colin is in Mumbai. Melwyn has arranged a car to take him to a hotel before the flight to Goa next morning. He checks into the Hotel at 1.00am, calls Marie to check everything is ok, and is collected by a driver at 4.30am to take the final flight from Mumbai to Goa.
Neil is waiting at the airport and the two spot each other at the main exit. Quite incredible, none had a description of each other, or a name card, they just knew. Very weird. Neil decides to take Colin to the first venue, an ampi theatre in Goa, called the Kala Academy. Wow!!!! Quite hard to describe. The stage is very similar to a theatre stage in the UK, and then looking out onto the auditorium is just an open air arena capable of seating 1200 people, again similar to a UK theatre but with no roof, and stone slabs for seats, onto which are to be added something like garden chairs. Apparently the hype about the show is incredible. It is advertised on local radio, in the local press, and even on the plane over to India, one Indian guy found out that the cast of the show were on his flight and immediately text his wife to tell her so. All of the local politicians are booked into the first row of seats, and both shows their and now more or less sold out. People are screaming to get tickets but there are none left.

After seeing the venue, Neil takes Colin to the Hotel where the cast are to stay after the first show. It is now 9.30 in the morning, Colin sleeps till 2.00pm when the rest of the cast arrive to go and prepare for the first show. Now everyone is together, excited, nervous and wanting to get the first show over with. We have lunch at the Hotel and then get to the venue for around 3.00pm. Some shocked looks on the faces of everyone as they see the venue.

Melwyn, Neil and their company has spared no expense when it came to sound and lights, and it looked like Rod Stewart was coming to play. A special set had been built from scratch with 'Night of Musicals' theme, and looked stunning. The sound rig was massive, and the lighting was vast.
The heat was incredible, and we did wonder how we would cope with all of the costume changes, and just breathing while singing and dancing. To make life as easy as possible, Melwyn had organised people to come in to iron all of the costumes before every show, and we had at least 5 assistant dressers backstage to help everyone in and out of costumes. This was to prove invaluable, especially at the Kala Academy.

So we unpacked the costumes out of the suitcases. Yes the costumes had to be taken in suitcases, and so to a certain extent the show was written with this in mind. They were then handed to the 'Ironing men', who set about their task of getting through something like 100 garments.
We are then introduced to Chip, our American lighting technician, who is going to be with us for the whole tour, and Chris, our sound technician who has the same task to accompany us to all the venues. Lighting requirements are now instructed in detail so that Chip can do his stuff, and Chris goes to work with the singers and Amy to set the mikes and sound system. At appx 5.00pm this is all done and now the cast can just wait until showtime at 7.30pm, and it would be true to say that even the more experienced cast members are showing touches of nerves. Colin, Marie, and Jenni probably have something like 70 years experience of shows between them, but such is the hype in Goa, such is the heat, and bear in mind that although rehearsals suggest that this show is very strong, it has not yet been seen by an audience.

7.30pm arrives, and there are two local young female singers doing a 15 minute warm up spot. We can see through the curtains that the arena is crammed full. They get to their last song and we know that we only have a minute before we are out there.
OK, this is it, the intro is playing, moment of truth time, Colin goes out to sing the first lines of the show, the dancers make their first entrance and we are on our way. The end of the opening song 'No business like show business' is met with medium applause and we plough on. We are told that the audiences here like to join in and clap along etc, so when it comes to our 'Grease' section we go for it and when we get them clapping along we finally feel like we have now got them on our side. Cheers ring out as we finish the last song. Thank god for that. We have already had some sound feedback problems but we kind of expected the odd hitch like this, it is quite common. We get a couple more during the first half, but as we finish 'Lord of the Dance' at the end of the first half, the audience are cheering, and we are feeling comfortable with everything so far. We don't really get a chance to see Neil or Melwyn during the interval, and presume that they are happy so far.
We plough through the second half, finishing with our Abba medley, the crowd are cheering reasonably well and we are delighted to get the first one over. Costume changes had been particularly tough because of the heat, most of the cast had gone through 3 litres of water during the show and the costumes were dripping with sweat.
We get our costumes packed in the suitcases, and get ready for the short journey back to the Hotel. We are informed that we will be taken for a meal first, which is good news as we are all starving, but that is as good as the news gets as we find out that Melwyn and Neil are not happy at all.

As far as we could tell it had been a good show, especially as it was our first show, and bearing in mind the heat out there. Wrong, Wrong Wrong. Apparently the sound out front had been awful. We were unaware of this as we only hear the on stage monitors. The music was apparently distorted, as were our voices while singing. Everyone is a bit down, and not looking forward to getting up at 4.00am to take a flight to Hyderabad to do the next show. We had so hoped that everyone would be so happy after the first show

Sunday 22nd March. We are collected from the Hotel at 4.00am after just 3 hours sleep. Nobody can contact Kieron to get him out of bed. Reception have made the requested early morning call, but no answer. Colin and Marie continue to ring his phone and bang like crazy on his door. Colin finally gets him on his mobile, and we discover that his room phone isn't working, or is on silent. Everyone is in the foyer ready to be picked up. The night porter comes sprinting downstairs just before we leave waiving Kierons passport at him. He had left it on the bed. The first of a few blonde moments for our youngest cast member.

We get to the Novotel in Hyderabad after the 1 hour flight, and find that tonight's venue is even bigger than last night. A fantastic 5 star complex, with function rooms capable of holding probably 1500 people. We are told that our function is for a very important Event Organiser and is a charity fund raising concert for Wildlife preservation.

Melwyn is not with us for this venue, his wife Maureen looks after us along with Neil.
We get on stage and still with that natural tinge of nerves in our system. The audience seems to respond the same way as the night before. They go crazy for 'Grease, 'Lord of the dance' and Abba, but there is one massive difference tonight. At the end of the show, one by one the whole audience stood up. Result!!! A full standing ovation, and in our situation there could not have been a better result. The audience will always tell you, all over the world, how good a show is, and a standing ovation is the highest accolade. Now we know that although there could be some improvements, the show is good. Melwyn receives a call from Meher the organiser in Hyderabad and tells him that she loved the show, to the point that she was crying to him over the phone for a half an hour telling him so. Boy how the mood has changed. We later find out that Melwyn and Neil  were livid at the sound problems, as they were a lot worse that we had known, and the local press were bound to give them a hard time.

Big changes were about to be made to the sound system for the next day where we were going back to do the same ampi theatre in Goa. Lets hope that this will solve the problem as the show was another sell out and we didn't want to let Melwyn and Neil down this time. After the luxury of the air conditioning in the Hotel at Hyderabad, we were not looking forward to the heat of Goa again.

Colin and Alex are in competition as to who has the most mosquito bites, and the rest of the cast make sure that they take the Malaria tablets just in case. Vicky and Jenni are struggling to cope with the food as neither likes Indian food. Vicky is also dying for a good nights sleep. Amy has promised to send Melwyn's son a signed photo of her boyfriend as the lad loves English soccer and is excited at the fact that her boyfriend plays for Middlesbrough. Marie has also promised to try to get a photo of Fabregas who plays for Arsenal, as this is his favourite player.

Monday 23rd March. Another 4.00am get up, to take a flight back to Goa. Everyone is tired, but a lot happier now. Kieron remembers all his belongings. Bonus.  Everyone is also a little nervous about tonight’s show. We arrived at the Ampi Theatre and when the sound guys finish their set up we do a sound check. Again it sounds fine on stage through the monitors, and we are in the lap of the gods as far as the sound out front. The heat is again unbearable, we get ready for showtime, grit our teeth, and fortunately all goes well. One or two sound problems, but all in all, much better than the first night. Melwyn and Neil are happy, and that is the main thing.

Tuesday 24th March. Yet another early start as we fly to a place called Bangalore. This is in Central and Southern India. We know very little about this venue, but we are taken straight there before we go to the hotel. First appearance is that it is identical to Blackpool North Pier, except Blackpool doesn’t have sunshine. A 1200 seater venue which we are told is sold out. Well, it wasn’t quite sold out by the time showtime came. Around 700 tonight. Again there were sound problems, and Chip on lights made a couple of howlers, but another standing ovation from a lovely crowd. Now we are really starting to settle, and enjoy a little. All that is apart from the dressers in Bangalore have a habit of putting costumes away before they have been used. This makes life a little tricky. Kieron keeps leaving his bag in various places around the venue, and Neil keeps finding it. Neil has a quite word with Colin, and Kieron suffers a minor tounge lashing.

Wednesday 25th March. Our last show, and at the same venue in Bangalore. This time it is a full house, and this time another full standing ovation. Before the show, the local TV station is there and want to interview some cast members. Colin, Marie and Alex get volunteered. The local press and radio stations are also there, and the radio station has organised a party afterwards at a local pub, where the press are there taking photos of everyone connected with the show.

Thursday 26th March. Our last day in India. We fly back to Goa, yes, yet another early morning rise, and we are taken straight back to our hotel. We breakfast, we lie by the pool, we get a doctor for Kieron who, bless him, has suffered badly the last 3 days with severe mouth ulcers. Everyone has a totally lazy day, before Melwyn, Neil and all of the family pick us up to take us for our final dinner. We go to a traditional Goan restaurant on the beach. Fantastic food, a few drinks, and then Neil takes us to a floating casino for our final hour. Amy is the only one who wins, and Kieron doesn’t leave anything. We say our goodbyes to everyone, and although we thank them for their hospitality, it doesn’t even come close to our true thoughts. These people hadn’t met us before, but treat us like family. Nothing was a problem, and they did everything to make our stay more than comfortable. They are genuine 100% fantastic people, and we would like to think that they are now more than business colleagues, and are true friends. There is a possibility that Melwyn will be coming to England in May, and hopefully we can return some of his hospitality.

Friday 27th March. Surprise, surprise another early rise, but this time for the airport to fly home. Kieron remembers his passport. Poor guy has had so much stick from us about leaving things, but for such a young guy, has done so well to fit into the show and perform as well as he did, especially with his ulcers etc. We fly to Mumbai first of all, and then to Heathrow. Colin has to fly with a separate airline but everyone meets up back in Heathrow, and then has the task of driving home, finally hitting beds at something like 2.00am.

Was the trip worthwhile. You bet. One of the most exhausting things any of the cast has ever done, but an experience that you don’t get the chance of every day. Seeing elephants in the street, cows in the street. Seeing beggars on street corners. Being interviewed on national TV, having photos randomly taken like some pop star, and most of all getting to enjoy some of India while meeting a lot of lovely people.

India yesterday, East Kilbride, Glasgow tomorrow night.

Saturday 28th March. Village Theatre, East Kilbride. Jamie Rae's home ground this one, and quite of few of his fans and family are in to watch. The Goa people are all flagging, and some still with Deli Belly. Dressing rooms arent a good place to be. Jenni and Colin both get in a mess while setting costumes. Jenni frantic about not being able to find her Boa for the opening number only to be told that she doesnt need one. That was India. Colin does the same with his white bolero jacket. Blonde moments indeed. Great show. Fantastic people, and everyone off home for a well earned two day rest before Dudley on Tuesday.

Tuesday 31st March. Dudley Concert Hall. An early start for this one as most of the cast leave their homes around 7.00am, which is the middle of the night for anyone in this business. A major roadworks delay on the A1 south means that the cast is very late getting there. Fortunately there are no children in todays show, and because there are no front curtains on stage there are no props being used. Stage manager Bill Bill has a very easy time of it. Only a matinee today, but then a drive to London, well, Surrey to be precise, for two shows in Redhill. A great crowd today, with over 600 crammed in. Touch wood, the credit crunch isn't hitting too hard, and a massive thank you to our audiences for turning out in such great numbers in hard times. Show goes well, and the convoy is off to find the M25 and our Travelodge for the night. Most get lost trying to find the damn Travelodge, which is visible but barely reachable thanks to some stupid one way systems that only London could have. Bill and Jamie get prepared for the 'snore-out' competition, only to wake next morning that neither heard a thing during the night. Not sure who is the most relieved. Helene is quite used to the Travelodge thing now and is no longer excited by the fact that there are towels to use, and soap in little cute packets. Amy still manages to sleep at the drop of a hat, whether in a moving vehicle or even just standing upright in a lift. Still some of the Goa squad have a 'Deli Belly' happening and there are constant strange noises. Colin and Bill enjoy a quick pint before bedtime, and the world is fine.

Wednesday 1st April. Harlequin Theatre, Redhill. Two shows today, matinee and evening, and the major news of the day is that Andy Kellett (Singer for the last 2 years), and Gemma Edmenson (Dancer last tour) are coming to see the show. They duly arrive, sample quite a few cheeky glasses of red wine, and proceed in vain to try to get the audience up dancing at the end of the show. Needless to say it didn't work, but it was great to see them both. Gemma is off working on a cruise very soon, and Andy is keeping busy with a mixture of solo and theatre work. Jeff, Amy and Daniellle are travelling home tonight after the show. The rest are staying over and then travelling back on Thursday. Then its two days off before Pitlochry in Scotland.

Saturday 4th April. Festival Theatre, Pitlochry. Our first time at this venue, arranged through Stage Right Promotions. A theatre not normally associated with touring musical shows, but with 330 tickets sold, it looks like being a good night. Just a 7.30pm show, and again thanks to a major traffic jam 20 miles from the venue, the cast are late. Again though there are no stage props as the theatre has no front curtains, and Bill has another easy night. Marie is back in the show today, and has a major blonde moment in the opener where she is nearly trampled by the dancers as she goes wandering around the stage when she shouldnt. At least all of the India cast have now made some major boobs while re-adjusting to the Memory Lane show from the Movies and Musicals show of Goa. Everyone travelling home tonight. Jamie is driving on his own, and the rest driving back to Durham where they will disperse in the morning. At last a decent break with the next shows on Wednesday next week at Altrincham.

Wednesday 8th April. Garrick Playhouse, Altrincham. Only an evening show today, so the cast leave their humble abodes at lunchtime to take the short journey. En route Jamie left his credit card in a McDonalds, Amy bailed him out by ringing and arranging for them to hold it till tomorrow when he could pick it up. An excellent crowd, and the show was going great until Phillipa took ill just before the end of the show. Looking really ill she did manage to get through the finale after missing the 1970's section. Show over and a short journey to Tamworth in the Midlands, ready for two shows tomorrow. Jamie is excited as his son is coming to the show tomorrow night, he has never seen his dad sing before.

Thursday 9th April. Assembly Rooms, Tamworth. A good nights sleep is had by all, pop master quiz on Radio 2 is done by Colin and Jenni in the van. We get to the theatre nicely on time and start the get in. Jamie is even more excited about his son coming tonight. Then a slight disaster, well, for Jamie it was. Colin is chatting to the theatre manager, discussing all things theatre, as well as ticket sales for both shows. Dave the theatre manager has a bemused look, and advises that although the leaflets and posters advertised the shows as 2.30pm and 7.30pm, the theatre decided in their wisdom only to do a 2.30pm show, which thankfully was sold out. Colin is delighted at the fact of being finished by 5.00pm, Jamie is gutted and has to re-arrange his sons planned visit.

Wednesday 15th April Palace Theatre Redditch.  Amy, Alex, Jenni, Colin and Bill-Bill travelled to the travelodge last night in the hope of having a good nights sleep before the show.  Unfortunately when we arrived it became apparent that Colin and Bill had the last available room which was a double room !!!!!  They were going to have to share a double bed !  After a little negotiating with the reception staff Colin managed to get them to agree to provide him with a camp bed – this pleased Bill-Bill cause Colin had forgotten his Pyjamas!!!!!  Amy was very excited about the lunch she had brought for in-between shows, a Chilli-Con-Carne, Because they were jealous, Jenni and Alex got up extra early so they could go buy something nice from Sainsburys, including 2 apple turnovers for Colin and Bill

Jamie, Danielle, Helene and Phillipa met us all at the theatre, Marie is at home busy busy busy in the office, with plenty to do. Jamie had brought his son Jacob with him – he was finally going to get to see his Dad sing and was excited until he realised that Memory Lane two does not contain any songs by 'Slipknott', 'Metallica' or anything from today's pop charts!!!

The show went well, Jamie re-choreographed his routine in Elvis (although this was not strictly on purpose) Amy enjoyed her lunch, Jacob enjoyed the show and we were all sad to realise that this would be Danielle's last two days with us, we are however thrilled for her as she will be going off on a Cruise Ship for two months. She will of course be welcome back anytime.

Show over and we travel one and a half hours in the direction of Salisbury, where tomorrow we do the City Hall.

Thursday 16th April. Salisbury City Hall. Not too early to rise this morning. 9.30am and we leave the travelodge for another one and a half hour drive. Two shows again today. All goes according to plan. Jamie travels home after the show with Danielle and Helene. The rest of the cast stay over and make the 5 hour journey home next day. Next week is the busiest of the tour, with 5 shows in 6 days. Starting at Solihull on Monday, ending in Aberdeen on Saturday. Bottles of Red Bull at the ready.

Monday 20th April. Solihull Arts Complex
Everyone set off early this morning to get us to Solihull in plenty of time and the journey went without any holds ups.  Today we were joined on tour by Joanna Campbell one of our swing dancers, she will be singing some of the show today because Marie is very busy in the office meeting important print deadlines and Danielle is Rehearsing for her cruise.
As always at Solihull we were met by the backstage crew and technicians who are extremely helpful and we all set about, setting up, ironing and preparing for our afternoon show which is in the studio, we then transfer to the main theatre for the evening show.  Phillipa was constantly checking her mobile phone for news of her Sister-in-law who went in to labour last night!
Ticket sales have been good at Solihull so we were expecting good audiences, they turned out to be great audiences and in the first show we received a standing ovation which was lovely.  We almost had a disaster when during the second half a light bulb backstage exploded above Bill-Bill’s head, luckily it just made everyone jump and no one was hurt!  The show was unaffected and the audience were none-the-wiser.  Alex had a minor hitch with her hairpiece  when it fell on the floor in the 1950’s section, the girls all ended up dancing around it for a short while!
The evening show in the main theatre started on time and was going very well until disaster struck. Jamie, walked out front of the curtains to sing his solo ‘Over the Rainbow’ and suddenly just as he took a breath to sing a big note…………. The entire auditorium plunged into darkness !!!!!!  Jamie dealt with this situation professionally and managed to make the audience laugh.
Unfortunately, Jamie was unable to finish his solo, the power was soon restored and we continued with the 60’s section of the show.   The rest of the first half went without further hitch and then in the second half, Jenni  took her place in front of the juke box for her solo ‘Who’s Sorry Now’ when …….yes,  you’ve guessed it…….. the power went off again!!!!  The audience found this incredibly funny and yet again were very supportive.
After a short investigation it became apparent that one of the sockets backstage had fused and caused a short in the circuit – the technicians did a great job restoring the power and assisting Bill-Bill and Colin to get the show back on track.
After the show, some of the team returned to the Travelodge to get some well earned rest, Alex met with her friend to go for a drink and Jenni, Joanna, Colin and Bill-Bill went for something to eat with Jenni’s friends who had come along to see the show.  Phillipa sat waiting beside her mobile phone waiting for news of her sister-in-law who was in labour!

Tuesday 21st April 2009, Solihull Arts Complex
A bit of a lie in today because we were in the same theatre today as yesterday.    Today’s great news is that Phillipa is now an Auntie,  baby Poppy was born in the early hours of this morning,  Phillipa is quite rightly thrilled and takes great delight in hitting the shops and using her credit card to its max buying cute clothes for her new niece. (this is just before loosing her credit card and phone – luckily Jamie rescued them!)
The whole day went extremely well and everyone enjoyed two successful shows without any power cuts.  After packing everything away in to the van we made the two hour drive to Huddersfield where we were staying in a Travelodge.

Wednesday 22nd April 2009, St Georges Hall, Bradford
Set up was soon complete and everyone set about their ironing and getting ready for showtime.  The children that were performing today are taught by our India cast member Vicki Johnson and it was lovely for us all to see her and swap photos and stories from our India trip.
This is Helene’s home theatre so she was very excited about all her family and friends coming to see the show.
The afternoon show started well and with a lovely audience  we were all enjoying the show.  The Carpenters section proves to be very popular with our audiences and we enjoy performing it too, After ‘Top of the World’ the four singers made their way to the front of the stage as usual for the curtain to close behind us to allow props to be set.  Today however, as the curtain closed a huge draft from backstage caused one of the curtains to billow outwards totally engulfing both Jamie and Joanna and leaving Colin and Penni standing in front on their own looking bemused and wondering where the other two had gone?
The audience found this very funny indeed, but not quite as funny as the cast who were then unable to sing another word without collapsing in to fits of giggles.   This has to be one of the funniest things that have ever happened to us all on stage.
The rest of the show went well though Jamie, Joanna, Colin and Penni were unable to look at each other without almost bursting in to fits of giggles. 
Thankfully during the second show no one was wiped out by the curtains and as over 80% of the audience were members of Helene’s family and friends there were lots of cheering and applause.  Joanna lost her hairpiece on her final bow which resulted in Colin picking it up and drop kicking it off stage! Beckham would have been impressed!
Another tour over and a chance for a much needed day off before we head up to Inverurie and Aberdeen on Friday.

Friday 24th April, Inverurie Town Hall. And off we treck the six and a half hours of driving to get to this wonderfull place, just north of Aberdeen. Colin and Marie are very excited about seeing their friends Debbie, Harry and their two children Rebecca (Bacca), and Lucy (Loosey Loose). Oops and of course dog Benji. A change of sleeping arrangements too for this trip. Only very expensive rooms left at the Travelodge and so a local B&B is chosen for the cast, while Colin and Marie stay with Debbie and family. Jenni gets a room to herself and believes she is now royalty, loving every second of it. Debbie's friend Sarah is one of the first to greet us, and in normal fashion is carrying 35 carrier bags full of sandwiches, fruit, crisps, cakes, sausage rolls. Again a million thanks to both Sarah and her mother Carol for their generousity. Bill Bill even manages to get some left overs for his journey home on Sunday morning. An hour before showtime we do the kids rehearsal to find that two of our microphones are not working. Blinking hec!!!! Or words to that effect. Marie is on hand this time to test some leads, and eventually the sound is restored. A good crowd a good show and we are all back to Debbie's house for a late supper and some liquid refreshment. Unfortunately the dancers had a night out in Newcastle the night before and looked decidedly green when the thought of alcohol was mentioned. Harry had very kindly cooked a spaghetti bolognese, and bearing in mind he is a trained chef, it was stunning, as was the garlic bread that came with it. Jenni watched!! Not too late to bed and although a long day, it was a good day.

Saturday 25th April, Aberdeen Arts Centre. Normal set up, although it takes a bit longer as everything has to go up in a lift. Debbie had fed half of the cast for breakfast, Jamie made a B-line for Greggs and had numerous day dreams throughout the day about seeing his new car tomorrow. A BMW convertible no less!!! Phillipa is still daydreaming about her new niece, Alex has a new interest in life which we wont go into detail about, while Amy continues to be able to go to sleep on a postage stamp. Quite handy on a six hour drive. Bill is still on cloud nine about how many sandwiches are still left, and must be the only person in the world who eats more than Jamie. Two fantastic audiences today, both houses more or less full, then its back to Debbie's for a snack and more alcohol. One or two of the girls tentatively try a little snifter. Sunday morning at 9am is the set off time, we say goodbye to our dearest friends until they come to Durham for a holiday in Summer which Lucy insists on. Colin has promised her a tent in the garden this year, but she doesnt seem too impressed. Next show in Newcastle on Thursday. Pippa the greyhound goes in for an operation on Monday AM with a severe gum infection, and some teeth extraction is fairly certain.

Monday 27th April. Breaking news. Pippa has 17 teeth removed. Now the only greyhound in Durham that cant bite but could suck you to death. Bless her cottons. She is back groggy from the vet, and on a diet of scrambled egg, fish and chicken. Please send any get well wishes via here and we will pass them to Pippa.

Thursday 30th April. Journal Tyne Theatre, Newcastle
After a lovely few days at home (although busy for some of us) we were performing today at the Newcastle Tyne Theatre – this is a new venue for us this year and we were all looking forward to it.  The van arrived at the Theatre with plenty of time to spare, Marie and Penni however took a little longer to arrive as they drove around and around Newcastle in various one way systems looking for the Theatre, Once the Theatre had been successfully located they then drove around and around again looking for somewhere to park!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Finally everyone arrived but, Phillipa was no where to be seen. Eventually she came in and explained that she would have been in the theatre 20 minutes earlier, had the stage door security man not refused her entry.  He said children were not allowed in and she had a job to convince him that she was infact 21 and part of the cast! 
Sonya came to video the show today but unfortunately there was a problem with the camera so it couldn’t be done.  We were pleased though because that meant she could help us backstage.
Not a huge audience tonight but they seemed to enjoy the show and one group even started dancing !

Friday 1st May. Penistone Paramount
It is always lovely to come back to Penistone Paramount Theatre and today we have two shows here.  We were today again joined by Sonia who was going to video the show for us now the video camera was working.
We were also joined by Jim (Penni’s Dad) who was going to help Bill-Bill backstage.
The Bacon Sarnie run was of course a must for some of us today as it had been an early start from the North East.  We always go to the same little café when we are here and it is becoming one of our favourites.
The first show went really well and we were all soon relaxing in between shows, reading magazines and eating lunch.  A few of us went for lunch in a local pub and then we were soon getting ready for the second show of the day.
Penni was extremely excited today as her Three Nieces, were coming to watch the show for the very first time.  They really enjoyed the show, loved coming backstage to meet the cast and were fascinated by all the costumes.  Their favourite thing was the programme that the entire cast signed for them.
So after a very busy day it was time to load the van and get back home.  Sure we had everything packed up we went on our way.

Wednesday 6th May. Whitehall Theatre, Dundee.

The Cast had all travelled up to Scotland last night to stay at a Travelodge so that we were ready to arrive at Dundee Theatre for set up bright and breezy.  Unfortunately due to a knee injury, we do not have Amy with us this tour, we are hoping she gets better soon but in the meantime we are pleased to have Jo Campbell back with us (able to step in at last minute)This of course is one of the venues that Colin most looks forward to as the theatre is round the corner from Clarkes the 24 hour Bakery. Infact Colin has been telling Jamie all about it for weeks now.

Whilst Bill-Bill and Colin set up at the theatre Marie, Pen, Jo, Jamie and Helen went to the famous bakery to collect bacon sarnies for the boys and maybe a little something for themselves too.  Jamie thought he was in heaven when he saw the choice in the Bakery!

The 1st show went without hitch and it was soon time for something to eat – yes you have guessed it, we went to the 24 hour bakery for a little snack (well we don’t get to Dundee very often.) Fed and happy we all went back to the theatre for the second show and again a lovely audience and a good show.  All too soon we were packing up again and ready for the three hour drive to our next Travelodge – Sure our energy levels were flagging we made one last visit to the 24 hour bakery for supplies for the journey ahead!

Thursday 7th May. Palace Theatre, Kilmarnock

Two good shows here in Kilmarnock today – good to see our friend Margaret Bunton (the dance teacher) again. 

Only one minor slip up on stage today and it was actually a slip up!  Penni fell over in the final Elvis song and actually ended up sitting on her bottom, this of course got quite a laugh. Bill-Bill and the girls made the journey home in the car whilst Marie, Colin and Pen were in the van.  The journey was going really well and we were making good time, the car was about ten minutes ahead of the Van when there was a problem with the van.  The nearside rear tyre blew, luckily Colins skilful driving brought the van safely to rest on the hard shoulder (so skilful was his driving Marie didn’t even wake up!)

The RAC was contacted and were soon on their way to our rescue. Two hours later we were back on the road and looking forward to our beds.

Tuesday 12th to 14th May. The Brindley Runcorn
We like going to Runcorn, the technicians and theatre staff here are always very friendly and helpful and this time we are here for three days.  This is great for Jamie as he isn’t too far from home so he can go home every night, and the rest of us, well we get to stay in the same travelodge for a couple of nights so nice and easy for us.
Tuesday was a matinee only show and as we are here tomorrow we don’t need to pack away the costumes or equipment so after the show we were able to leave the theatre, check in to the travelodge and then go for a meal.  We followed the advice of the lady at the travelodge and went to a lovely pub that served delicious meals.  Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the evening – it is a rare opportunity for us to have time out together.
Wednesday there were two shows, but as all the equipment was already set up we didn’t have to have an early start, so after a lie in (and a hearty service station breakfast for some of us) we got to the theatre refreshed and ready for a full day.  Unfortunately we had some sound problems during the matinee which caused some concern, thankfully Jim and Graeme the theatre technicians managed to help us and even spent their break time in-between shows helping Marie and Colin to adjust the sound.
Thursday we again had just a matinee show, and again had a nice long lie in (and yes you’ve guessed it some of us had breakfast – again!)  The show went well again with a lovely audience.  Today the theatre had arranged to have audio description and captioning of ‘Memory Lane’ and this enabled those audience members with a hearing or visual impairment to enjoy the show too.
All too soon the show was finished, our three day stay in Runcorn was over, the van was packed and we all set off to our next travelodge destination Worcester.
Thankfully the drive was not such a long one and we were checked in nice and early. Now I wonder what that could mean – surely not another nice pub meal? 

Friday 15th May Malvern Theatre. This is a new theatre for us and after a 30 minute drive from the travelodge we arrived in plenty of time for the evening performance.  Unfortunately we were too early to unpack all the equipment so we had to go for a walk in the town and stumbled upon a little café which conveniently served breakfasts and light lunches! After a little light refreshment we all split up and had a wander round looking in the shop windows and some of us relaxed with a magazine and a coffee.  We were soon unpacking the van and ironing the costumes (which does take a while as we have lots of costumes) once set up we rehearsed our entrances and exits as this theatre does not have curtains that close, and got ready for show time.
We were a little worried as when we arrived at the theatre there hadn’t been any of our posters on display and we thought perhaps no one would have known the show was on,  although not full there was a healthy number of people in the audience and they were lovely .
Not far to tonight’s travelodge, then around a 4 hour drive home tomorrow.  A few days off now until our next show on Wednesday, in Potters Bar.

Wednesday 19th May 2009. Wyllyots Centre, Potters Bar. It’s quite a drive to Potters Bar, and with a matinee show  to do on the 19th, Colin had planned to travel down at around 6pm the night before and stay in the travelodge.  That is until the cast (mainly encouraged by Penni!) nagged him to arrange to travel down earlier the day before so that we could all get a train into London to see a show.  
So we all checked into the travelodge, got changed and set off on train to London to see a musical.  We were torn between two musicals but decided to see ‘Wicked’ at Shaftsbury Theatre and we were not disappointed. It was a great show and we all enjoyed being able to sit in the audience for a change.
After a great evening in London we were all ready for the matinee show today in Potters Bar, we were soon set up and getting ready for the performance which we were thrilled to discover was sold out.  No major disasters in the show today, it was a lovely audience and Marie was pleased to have her friends Clem and Ann watching the show.
We were soon packed up at the end of the show and ready to set off on our long drive to Exeter where we have two shows tomorrow.  Jamie was thrilled that it was sunny, this meant that his convertible car was used to its full potential and he drove Phillipa, Jo and Helene to Exeter with the roof down!
Pen elected to travel in the van to keep Colin company (he was thrilled!) and Alex accompanied Bill-Bill and Marie in the car.

Thursday 20th May 2009, Barnfield Theatre, Exeter. The Barnfield theatre in Exeter is always a pleasure to return to, we usually have lovely audiences and the Technicians and Theatre staff are always great to work with.
Upon arrival Pen and Marie went off to get Bill-Bill and Colin their bacon sarnies, some went for a walk around the shops for half an hour while the van was unloaded, and others went for a quick coffee. 
We were soon ironed and set up ready for show time, Alex, Phillipa, Helene and Jo spent a little time re-spacing some of the dance routines as this stage is fairly small.  Alex is settling into her new role as Dance Captain (Head Girl) whilst Amy is away and has been making sure the singers remember their routines too.  Amy has to wait two weeks before getting the results of the scan on her knee. Fingers crossed that she wont need the operation they keep threatening.
Jamie was thrilled today as he has been given a promotion and now has additional responsibility with Timeless Theatre Productions.  He had been feeling a little left out because from this season, Jen-Pen is now looking after the dance schools and the children that appear in our shows, Alex is currently in-charge of the dancers and Bill-Bill looks after backstage management.  So now (although this is only a trial position and Jamie has to prove himself) Jamie is now in charge of plastic cups.  Yes that’s right, he is now the ‘Plastic Cup Captain’ So from now on all the plastic cups that appear on stage are the sole responsibility of Jamie Rae and he is to ensure their safety, well-being and correct storage.  I am sure all of our Blogg readers are pleased for Jamie, please feel free to email your congratulations to him as he starts out in his exciting new position.
Today’s afternoon show has a few minor setbacks as one of the microphones stopped working but it was soon sorted with the help of the theatre technicians and the audience enjoyed the show.  Our evening show was very well attended and we were delighted to have the company of Melwyn, Maureen and their son Rhys. Regular blog readers may know that Melwyn is the promoter from Goa, India,  who took one of our shows out there in March. This world is so full of surprises sometimes. Who would have thought that from a speculative email back in January, we would be looking forward to seeing people who we now class as good friends from the other side of the world. After the show we all congregated in a travelodge room, shared a bite to eat, and a drink or two. We had already given Rhys a present which he looked delighted at. A signed Arsenal shirt. Poor guy is struggling with the English food though, and who can blame him. In Goa it is possible to go to a number of restaurants at 11.00pm and get a nice meal. As you know, here is a little different, and mostly on offer is a stale sarni, a sausage roll, and two packets of Walkers cheese and onion crisps. We did feel a touch guilty about our stodgy offerings. Melwyn gave all of the cast a gift. The man is a true gentleman, and it was a pleasure to see him and his family again. Hopefully this will be in December, when we plan to take more shows out to Goa.
So another week of touring draws to a close, unfortunately bank holiday weekend traffic meant that our journey home was over nine hours long and we are all now in need of some sleep before we return to Scotland next week.  Not much time to rest though as Colin and Marie have lots of office work to catch up on, Alex is teaching classes, Jenni is singing at Nidd Hall, and everyone else has lots of plans for the weekend.

Wednesday 27th May 2009. Arts Guild Theatre, Greenock
Quite an early start this morning, we set off from the North East at around 7am and after a couple of coffee stops arrived at Greenock at around 11.15am.  Straight away we unpacked the van and started setting up – well some of us went to go get bacon sarnies (who?  Answers on an email please).  The team at Greenock were really helpful and even arranged for cups of tea and biscuits in the dressing rooms at the interval – that was lovely.
We didn’t have any children in the performance today so Colin had to fill a lot of time for us all to take our bow at the end.  So he decided at last minute, to call the dancers down for their bows individually – however, Jo hadn’t realised that sometimes this happens and so when Colin called Helene for her bow, Jo ran forward too and stole Helene’s thunder!
The audiences today in both shows were lovely, especially in the Country section when they were all shouting ‘yeeehaw’.  Jamie had some relatives in who really enjoyed the show and cheered for him loads.
Off to the travelodge for a good nights sleep before the short drive to Lochgelly in the morning.

Thursday 28th May. Lochgelly Centre, After a good nights sleep we all set off to find Lochgelly Theatre.  We arrived there in record time and needed something to eat so we decided to go find a little café ………… this proved a little difficult as there wasn’t much near the theatre so we took the advice of a local person and drove to a place called Cowdenbeath!
We parked up, found the main street and a little café that did a good selection of healthy and non healthy snacks, we placed our orders and then relaxed waiting for our lunch.
After a little while our drinks arrived, the four of us that ordered a cup of tea were a little confused as a mug of hot water was placed on the table in front of each of us!  We all looked at each other then back at the mugs then at Jamie in the hope that him being Scottish he would be able to explain this unusual occurance – he couldn’t.  After a little while we gave up and asked the waitress who explained that the teabags, milk and sugar were on the table………………..  they weren’t!  It was soon established that they had forgotten to bring the teabags and this was soon remedied!
Eventually (after asking again – twice) they remembered to bring Jamie’s Latte (well coffee with extra milk) and Jo’s diet coke!
At one point Bill-Bill, Colin, Pen and Jamie were planning to eat the table because they were still waiting for their breakfasts whilst everyone else had nearly finished their meals.  Alex only received part of her meal when she had nearly finished eating it and Bill-Bill’s toast arrived 10 minutes after the rest of his breakfast. 
A couple of us thought about desert but would have hated to miss tomorrows show whilst waiting for it to arrive, so we decided against it and paid the bill.
The waitress thanked us for our patience by giving us a bag of penny sweets to share (between 8 of us).
There was £2 remaining after paying the bill and leaving a little tip (why?) so we decided to do a group lottery ticket for Saturdays lottery.
Please note:  if there are no further entries in this blogg after Saturday we are too busy sunning ourselves in Accapulco with our lottery winnings.

Friday 29th May. Albert Halls, Stirling. Just an evening show today and with the prospect of a three and a half hour drive home later tonight we all took advantage of the travelodge and stayed in bed till late!
We arrived at Stirling in plenty of time, we always like coming to this theatre as the people are lovely (Eileen in the box office has been a star and has helped beat previous ticket sales figures, which is fantastic), and the town centre is nice to go for a wander.  So wander we did, we all split up and had a lovely afternoon getting back to the theatre to set up for show time.
Todays show went well for most of us – but not Marie, first of all she was unable to take part in the sing-a-long section because her zip broke on her black and white dress, then unfortunately during her solo her blue dress came undone and she nearly showed the audience more than she was intending! Then, at  the interval it was established that Marie had done the entire first half wearing  odd earrings .  Jamie was a little upset at the way Bill-Bill treated the cups today,  the incorrect number of cups was placed upon each table – as you can tell, he is taking his new responsibility very seriously.

The cast were thrilled today to see Jan in the audience.  Jan has been a member of the Jamie Rae fan club for a number of years and has now been to several performances of Memory Lane.  She always sits on the front row and we can see her smiling and clapping along throughout the performance.  Today Jamie came back to the dressing room after packing up to show off his lovely new Adidas jacket, Jan had chosen it especially for him as a gift and he was thrilled – Colin only showed a touch of jealousy as he has never had a fan.
After the show we packed up and started on the long drive home.  Next week we are heading for Felixstowe and Exmouth.

Tuesday 2nd June, Spa Pavilion Theatre, Felixstowe

It was quite a drive to Felixstowe so we drove some of the way last night, stayed in Peterborough and then continued the drive this morning.

Felixstowe is a lovely theatre right on the seafront – thankfully the weather was beautiful so whilst Colin and Bill unpacked the van the rest of us went for a walk in the sunshine. (And of course to collect bacon sarnies for the boys.)

The afternoon show was a great success and we all enjoyed it.  Marie made a big entrance for ‘Its not Unusual’ however she made it at totally the wrong time and had to do her own little dance routine behind the dancers to try and make it look like she should be there.  (To be fair she did a great job but can’t say it looked like she should have been there).  Alex had to make a quick exit during the 1950’s section as her hairpiece was hanging on by a thread – she soon made it back on stage with her hair re-attached and carried on with the rest of the routine.

Jamie has started to take his role as ‘Cup Captain’ a little too seriously as today he was inspecting the condition of Marie’s bra ????

After the show we had a bite to eat before making the 5 hour drive to Tiverton ahead of our show tomorrow in Exmouth.  During the journey we were all chatting and trying to keep the drivers entertained.  Jamie described ‘Fever’ one of his previous routines to the girls – in which the dancers all spelled out the word ‘Fever’ at the end. Phillipa liked the sound of this and said she would have liked to be the letter ‘I’ ?? It took a while to explain! So from now on that popular swing song ‘Fever’ will now be known as ‘Fiver’.

Helen, Jen and Mazzie amused themselves on the journey by playing the A-Z game and in taking turns to name foreign places in alphabetical order.  Helen’s contribution for the letter ‘O’ was …….. ‘Austria’  it took her a while to realise that it wasn’t spelled with an ‘O’.  This made us all laugh so much that we struggled to keep the car on the road!

Arriving at the travelodge at around 1am we all went straight to bed – seems weird to think that tomorrow is our last show of this tour.  Time to plan who is doing what over the summer.

Wednesday June 3rd, Pavilion Theatre, Exmouth
We only have an evening show today so we all decided that rather than leave the Travelodge late we would get up and drive the 45 minutes to Exmouth and spend the day there. 

It turned out to be a lovely day, the weather was terrific and we were all up bright and early.  Jen, Maz, Helene and Jo took the car, Jamie took Phillipa and Alex in his car and Bill-Bill and Colin took the van.  (Bill was looking forward to Exmouth because his daughter and her two children live near Exmouth so they were coming to spend the day with him.)

As always we use our Sat-Nav to help up find the theatres that were are performing in and today was no exception.  Jenni programmed her sat nav for the Pavilion theatre in Exmouth and they set off.

After driving 45 minutes they passed a sign for Exmouth yet the sat-nav said to carry on in the opposite direction, Sat-Navs are always right so although Colin and Jamie had taken notice of the signs Jen-Pen trusted her sat-nav and continued on.

After ignoring a further two signs, Pen and Maz got out the map thinking that maybe they were a little off course!  Yet still they followed the sat-nav.

Eventually they arrived at the Pavilion Theatre …………….. in Sidmouth!  Yes – Sidmouth, approximately 35 minutes south of Exmouth! It would appear that Jen-Pen had entered the wrong postcode in to the sat-nav!

About 40 minutes later Jen, Maz, Helene and Jo arrived in Exmouth to meet the others (who were all sitting out in the sun waiting for them) and then we all went our separate ways to enjoy the day.  The girls ended up on the beach (after buying some bargain beach mats) and whilst Colin staying in the theatre to catch up on work on his laptop, Jen, Maz and Jamie went for a walk.  We all met up later for an ice cream and a cuppa and then set up for showtime.

It was a good show tonight, none of us could quite believe that this was the last show of the season.  Everything went well and the audience were lovely tonight.  All too soon we were packing up the van and heading back to the travelodge for some sleep (or to harvest their ‘facebook’ farms!).

And so that brings us to the end of the blog for this season. It seems only weeks ago that rehearsals started and now the tour is over. So what happens now?? Well first the good news. Amy had the result from the scan on her knee and she does not need an operation. She is off to Mexico on holiday on Monday, and no doubt will keep herself busy until rehearsals start. Alex will continue with her teaching, and might still find time for a holiday, Phillipa is off back down to Essex to be with her boyfriend, and maybe find some part time work. Helene is off on holiday on Sunday to top up her tan, and when she comes back is helping out at her friends farm shop. That should help her with her facebook farm too. Jamie is soon to start a 6 week tour with a new company for the summer. Those going to a Centerparks resort look out for him and say hi. When Danielle comes back from her cruise, she will be in the same cast as Jamie too. Joanna is off doing the audition rounds and secretly hoping that one of the regular dancers leaves this summer so that she can come into the cast full time.
Bill will finally get to the golf course, and maybe Colin might join him now and then. Jenni has some ‘signing’ work planned. She signs for deaf children and has a few activity weekends etc in the diary. Enjoy your rock climbing!!!!! Madness.
For Colin and Marie the work continues. Preparing the new show ‘A Timeless Collection’. Doing the marketing, costumes, music etc. A short holiday is planned to take Pippa the greyhound on a break. The latest breaking news is that there has been some interest from some companies in Spain, and so a business trip out there might have to be planned before the end of June. It also looks as though the show India in December is going to happen, and so that will need some work done on it during the summer months.

The response and continued support from our audiences has been absolutely fantastic. In the era of the credit crunch, it is worrying for every company that they may not survive these hard times. Our audiences have attended in record numbers, which means that we live to fight another day, and for that we are eternally grateful. We hope that you have enjoyed reading our blog, and hope that we can continue to count on your support for our new tour which starts September 14th in Solihull.

Our thanks also go to the staff and technicians of our theatres who often go beyond the call of duty. To Graham in Runcorn for his help and advice on technical matters, to Eileen in Stirling, who has to be our salesperson of the year. These are to name just a few.

We will keep you informed of any breaking news as it happens, and look forward to seeing you all again in the autumn. From all of the cast, and the directors we wish you all health and happiness.

 

Last years blog below

18th September 2008

For those either interested, or bored, here is the start of the Timeless Theatre Productions behind the scenes blog. A chance to hear all about the mayhem that goes with a touring theatre company.

Written at the start of the ‘Rolling back the Years’ tour, September 2008, and in theory to be updated on a weekly basis during the tour, which runs until the end of November.

To fill you in on the company, here is a run down on the cast at the start of rehearsals

Colin Francis (Colmate - Director/Singer/Comedian)

Marie Adele (Maz - Director/Singer)

Andy Kellett, (Scoops or Andy Pandy - Singer)

Jenni Tarr (Penni - Singer)

Danielle Sharp (Swing singer)

Melanie Watkins (Mel-Dance Captain)

Alex Lewis (Dancer)

Gemma Edmunson (Dancer)

Amy Bruce (Nanna Bruce – Dancer)

Vicky Johnson (Wicky – Swing Dancer)

Helen Grant (Swing  - Dancer)

Bill Wright (Bill Bill – Stage Manager)

 

And so the fun begins. Friday 29th August, and the first day of 10 hour day rehearsals. Everyone is in good spirits, meeting up again after a two month break at the end of the ‘All our Yesterday’ tour.

All goes extremely well in the dancers department, they are picking up routines way quicker than expected, and the singers aren’t too far behind. Largely due to the fact that Colin Marie and Andy have done the show before. Danielle and Jenni are picking up harmonies a lot quicker than they are picking up the talent of handling a 6 foot boa. Alex starts to have a groin problem, and a local physio is contacted. 3 visits and she is still able to dance. Smiling quite a bit too as the physio was reported to be ‘a bit fit’.

 

First show at Blackpool North Pier on Wed 10th September is approaching fast and dress rehearsals go too well for comfort on the Monday and Tuesday. Something has to go pear shaped soon. The initial good spirits are dipping a touch, but only because of tired limbs and voices. Not surprising with 10 shows in 7 days coming straight after rehearsals. Oh, and no posh hotels for the cast. Whoever isn’t staying with Bill and his wife Ann, is staying with Colin and Marie (and Pippa the greyhound of course)

 

So Blackpool comes. A treck down the pier with all the equipment props and costumes. Two hours later the set up is complete and the curtain is about to rise for the first time. A mediocre size audience of a couple of hundred witness the first show, and without any train crashes. (Theatre speak for major cock-ups)

The show goes well, we pack up without leaving anything behind and set off for Potters Bar, London at 11.30pm. There was a possibility that Penni may have lost control of a costume trunk half way down the pier, and now one of the lampposts is not quite functional. The local chippy, specializing in cheesy chips, has been a great source of energy during our summer shows and a visit for old time sake is a must, so its now midnight.

 

Due to the late booking of the Blackpool show, we are at two separate Travelodges. Alex, Mel, and Amy get to their lodge at 4 in the morning only to be told that their rooms have been sold. Thanks for nothing Travelodge. They get taxied to the Lodge that the rest of the cast are staying. Bed at 5am. Just what you need when you are doing a 2.00pm matinee next day.

 

Next day comes, up at 9.00am, need to be at Potters Bar at 10.30am for set up. Good news is on its way because Maz and Penni are on the bacon sarni run. The good news is short lived though. They return with the news that Penni has a blistering migraine and cant see anything. Thought things were going too well. Luckily Amy Bruce is on hand and is quickly instructed to learn the words to 2 songs. The show is plotted with just 3 singers and everyones fingers are crossed that Penni recovers in time for curtain up.

30 mins before curtain up and Penni appears to help with the ironing of some costumes. Not well at all, but the true pro tells everyone that she is going on stage, and we all breathe a sigh of relief. With a sell out theatre that was just what we needed.

The theatre manager tells us 5 mins before showtime that we must finish at 4 pm. That means only 30 mins for the second half instead of 50mins. The cast are delighted. All goes well, and just one show today. Peterborough Travelodge here we come. Most of the cast are shattered and stay in their rooms. Colmate, Maz, Alex, Penni and Bill Bill decide food and a drink are in order and go to the pub. Bliss.

 

Friday 12th September and its Broadway Theatre, Peterborough. Not a bad crowd in and again just a matinee show. No major problems today. Finish at 5pm and travel to Spalding Travelodge ready for the Princess Theatre, Hunstanton next day. Low and behold another pub close by and the whole cast are out except for Scoops and Gemma who go back to London to their flat. Mel, Amy and Alex stay for a lock in, and next day Alex’s phone is constantly making a noise, with the bar manager asking for a date. She declines, well he was South African. The girls are a little fragile on the short journey, but Penni has a Tesco bag at the ready in case it gets too much for Alex.

 

Saturday 13th September. Princess Theatre, Hunstanton. Our first visit here. Lovely people, lovely theatre, but with only minimal space in the wings, costume changes are tricky. In this show, the costume changes are so quick there just isn’t time to make it to the normal changing rooms and so everything is done in the wings. Its cramped to say the least. Show goes well, and in a seaside resort like this it would be wrong not to sample the local fish and chips. So the van is loaded and we stroll around to sample some haddock and the like. The wall beside the van acts as a table as we have our evening meal. Oh the joy of show business. Food gone, time to make a 3 hour journey to Ramsgate. Colin had a blonde moment when booking the Travelodges and we now find that there are only two rooms booked instead of four. Not an emergency as Scoops and Gemma have gone home to London, but phone calls are made and we get another room in a different hotel. Penni and Maz are dropped off after Maz examines the damage to her car after Bill Bill had fought with the bumper of an artic on the M25.

 

Sunday 14th Ramsgate. Granville Theatre. This is the first day we have had to do both matinee and evening shows. We are beside the sea again, and therefore Fish and Chips are a must during the break. The microwave is in the van and Amy and Mel make use of it while the others forget about calories for just one more day. A very long day. The carry in and out of the theatre is a nightmare and we finally get out around 11.30pm at night. Now we drive back up to Kettering Travelodge for the second time this week. We arrive at 2.00am, and need to be at Solihull for 11.00am. Not too bad a deal.

 

Monday 15th September. Solihull Arts Centre. One of our favourite venues, and we are here for two days. This has the advantage of not having to pack up on the first night, and also being able to have a lie in on the second day. Two of the regular tech guys are still there. Ian and Richard are two of the best. We’ve known them for about 4 years now. Great to see them. Only problem with Solihull is that for safety reasons we now have to do our matinees in the Studio Theatre. A postage stamp stage, no front curtains, and a bit of a nightmare. Once the matinee is finished we have to move everything into the main theatre for the evening show. All seems to be going well until the finale on the first afternoon, and Gemma doesn’t appear. Scoops tells me that she is in tears in the dressing room. Not surprising when you see the blisters on her feet. Enormous and possibly infected. Luckily there is a wheelchair to hand and we get her to the local pharmacist. He says she needs antibiotics. Next day she is at hospital, gets antibiotics, but is out of the show for the duration of Solihull. Mel gets to work on plotting the show with only 3 dancers. No problem, these things happen!!!

 

Tuesday 16th September. Still at Solihull. Penni drops the first major boob of the tour. At the end of the Scottish section she gets it in her head that the first half is now finished. Wrong!!! There is still the ‘Lord of the dance’ to go, and she starts it. Luckily she wears a big cloak costume. The fact that she was ¾ naked 20 seconds before due to sing, meant that the cloak worked perfectly. If only the audience knew.

The best bit is that we are going home tonight. Ok so we wont get in till 2.30am, but its home after 7 days away. Even better. Next day is a day off. Scoops, Gemma, Amy and Mel go home. Alex goes to stay with Bill Bill. Penni goes with Colmate and Maz. Pippa the greyhound comes out of kennels and is delighted.

 

Wednesday 17th September. Day off, but Scoops and Gemma need to be in Durham to travel to Kilmarnock next day.

 

Thursday 18th September. Palace Theatre Kilmarnock. Its Maz’s birthday. Gemma is not back to full fitness but is in the show. Anything in heals is good. Anything in flat shoes is a no no. That means she is out of the Irish Tap, Grease and a few others, but its great to have her back.

Leave Durham 7.30am, and its two shows today. Good chance to get out for a meal in between shows. Everyone takes advantage of 2 courses for £10 at a local recommended pub. Amy stocks up on carbs with side order of chunky chips. 7 stone wet through and eats for England. Mind you Penni did the same. Audiences are great as they always are in Kilmarnock. Colin had a blonde moment. After introducing the Glen Miller section he should have gone off stage, waited 10 seconds and then led the 4 singers out. Instead he went into the wings and started to get changed for the next section. After being screamed at by the other 3 singers quickly realised his error and sprinted back to the line up. A sign of old age????

Penni now has the giggles. God help us. She cant help breaking into a laugh in her duet with Colin (Something Stupid). Needless to say Colin winds her up and she cant even look at him for breaking into fits of laughter. Off stage jokingly refuses to sing with him ever again. 

Scoops looks like he is coming down with cold. Not good. Maz has a cold sore. Amy is like a kid at xmas, full of excitement. Its her 21st party on Saturday. All the cast are going. All gossip will be posted. Sounds like its going to be a very posh affair. Suit and tie effort.

Kilmarnock Travelodge is home for the night before setting off for Hamilton Town House tomorrow afternoon. The local service station is the only food option. Colin and Bill Bill discuss the possibility of a crisp sandwich. Its been a while. Crisps are bought but no bread, so it’s a supper of Crisps, caramel bar, and a glass or two of red wine. Only an evening show tomorrow. Bliss, and then home for a few days rest.

 

Friday 19th September. Town House Hamilton. Excellent crowd, show went well. Gemma not back to full fitness yet. Time to sign off for 3 days rest. Next week sees Danielle do her first show at Skegness, and Helen Grant fills in for Amy as she celebrates her real 21st.

 

Saturday 20th September. Amy’s 21st party. The whole cast is there as well as Becci Morrell who was principle singer in previous shows. A great night had by all. Not much is printable really. By all accounts  Andy Kellett had a really good night. Everyone had a great time, even though the old timers left before the going got a bit rough. More on this when all the secrets come out.

 

Wednesday 24th September. Embassy Theatre, Skegness. Its Helen and Danielle's first show, and the ladies are as calm as you like. Whatever happened to first show nerves?? Gemma is now fully fit and back in all of the routines. More gossip is learned about Amy's party, but still not printable. We travel down the night before staying in Newark. Only Danielle, Mel, Colin, Bill and Helen make the journey. The rest are following on the day. The tech guys are great and set up is complete in record time. Danielle and Helen run a few of the routines before showtime. The show goes without a hitch, sort of, and because we are at the seaside, it has to be a fish and chips day. Danielle proves to be a sausage chips and gravy fan, Helen opts for the sausage only (She cant do potatoes for medical reasons). Haddock a must for Colin and Bill Bill. Mel is determined to do a chicken sarni later and so opts for chips and curry sauce. How exotic this cast is. We travel home after the 2.30pm show. 460 people in so it was a good turnout. Day off tomorrow and then off to Southport on Friday.

 

Friday 26th September. Southport Theatre. Rotary Conference. Private function. First things first. Penni makes noises that her first attempt at driving the van has not been mentioned in our blog. Sorry Penni, we will correct that. Yes, she made the journey from Kettering to Solihull driving the company van, and we should add that she managed to play 'Pop master' at the same time. This is another ritual which deserves a mention. In the van it is a rule that god made that BBC radio 2 is listened to and at 10.30am everything stops to hear Ken Bruce's quiz 'Pop master'. Normally its Jenni and Colin who raises their excitement levels at this point while everyone else wonders what the hell all of the fuss is about. Anyway, Jenni drove the van and wants a Yorkie bar, except it would kill her as she is allergic to chocolate, poor soul. She also thinks that mushrooms are the root of all evil. Hmmmmmmmmm. Back to Southport. Nice people, but does anyone know the words to the national anthem????? We were asked to play this at the end of the show. We duly obliged. The cast led by a mumbling Colin started the thing, Penni mumbled a little quieter out of sympathy. Andy and Danielle must have switched their microphones off and the dancers smiled a lot. The audience didn't sound that excited by the tune either, come to think of it. Is it no longer in the charts??

Off to the travelodge in Blackburn for the night. The whole cast are there for a change, and everyone is starving. Unlike most Travelodges this one has no garage nearby so there is no chance of a crisp sarni. Until, that is, Mr Miserable on reception advises us that there is a garage about a mile away. Fantastic!!!! 3 mins later we are faced with Mrs Miserable who wont open the door to let us inspect their fantastic array of Ginsters, but did try to inform us by shouting out the menu from the middle of the shop. Not really able to comprehend the fact that the double glazing was quite effective and we couldn't hear a word. Most of us took pot luck, shared what they didn't like and nobody got food poisoning. Quite a result really.

 

Saturday 27th September. Grand Theatre, Lancaster. Our 3rd visit here, and a good turnout compared with our previous two visits. We arrive in Lancaster at 1.00pm after yet another queue on the M6. The whole cast goes to the pub for lunch. Nothing exciting, but edible. Scoops persuades all of the girls that Starbucks is a great idea. Colin and Bill go back to the van to get the football on the radio. Great news after 10mins, Sunderland are 1-0 up away to Aston Villa, but in the great tradition of Sunderland football club, this lasts about 3 mins and we end up getting beat 2-1. The show goes well, no major probs, we video the thing for the first time tonight. Everyone goes home for a well deserved rest. Next show at Blackpool on Wednesday, and guess what. The weather forecast is wind and rain!!! What a surprise!!!!

October 2008

Wednesday 1st October. Whoever said that the world of showbiz is full of glitz and glamour needs therapy. Blackpool North Pier Theatre is our venue and the weather forecast is spot on. Wind, rain and lots of it.. Our 'get in' is a nightmare. Cookie our 'helper' brings what can only be described as a golf buggy with a trailer to load the light stuff, while the 3 costume trunks have to be pushed appx 400 yards from the van, along the pier to the theatre which is perched in the middle of the sea. In sunshine its a pain, in gales with rain its a task which prompts whether this is a good profession to be in. We arrive late due to the closure of the A66. We are getting used to detours during this run. Jenni, Andy, Gemma and Alex are also delayed coming from London. 'Get in' complete and everyone is happy?????? NO!! Blackpool is closed!! Well, it feels like it, and we are informed that our audience is a grand total of 35. Our worst audience ever in the history of the company. There is just nobody around in Blackpool. The cast do their thing, show over, and being our last Blackpool date this year, a trip to the chippy on the way home is a must. The whole cast descends upon the man who Jenni has affectionately named 'The muppet' (Due to the fact that he has never got an order correct yet). Food delivered and 'The muppet' has done it again, as we wait for him to correct Bill's order. All of the cast are coming back to the north east to do Hartlepool tomorrow. We arrive back home at 2.00am.

 

Thursday 2nd October. Hartlepool Town Hall Theatre. After a marginal amount of 'kip', the cast arrive at 11.00am to do both a matinee and an evening show. Amy (Nana Bruce), is a bit nervous as her boyfriend is coming to watch the show. He's coming to the evening show, so the afternoon is a breeze for all, and the show goes well. As evening showtime approaches Amy gets more nervous by the minute. Graham has arrived with his pal. Just to keep you fully informed of the picture. Graham plays for Middlesbrough football club, and yes that must make Amy a WAG. Show starts, and Amy has the worst possible start. She doesn't make her first costume change, and therefore leaves Mel to do the second dance routine on her own. Some of the costume changes for the dancers are lightening quick at the side of stage, and the slightest hitch can make it all go pear shaped. Amy's went pear shaped! In the next routine, the singalong or 'Bench medley' as we call it, Amy loses her hat just before coming on stage. Another mare, as she looks like an obvious 'odd one out'. The sweat is pouring out of her, bless her. Fortunately it picks up for Amy and the rest of the show goes well. Graham is suitably impressed we think, and we believe he particularly likes the bikini she wears in 'Itsy Bitsy, Teeny Weeny. mmmmmmmm. We think that there may have been a few more howlers for some of the other dancers. We will add them when we get the full info. We think that Gemma had a good show, which was nice, as she is from Hartlepool originally. This meant that her parents, brothers, neighbours, aunties, and pet rabbits were all in the audience to see her. That's where all the shouting came from when she took her bow! Everyone staying over tonight as we travel very early in the morning to do a matinee show in Winsford, Cheshire. Andy and Colin sample a couple of cheeky glasses of red when they get home.

 

Friday 3rd October. Winsford Civic Hall. After watching a video last night of the Hartlepool show it was around 1.30am when everyone shut their weary eyes. At 7.15am, those eyes need to open again, and hit the road by 7.45am. For a change the M62 is not a car park, and everyone is early. Good news for those expecting bacon sarni's. A couple of little problems with the set up as Colin left a 'lead' at Hartlepool, but the job gets sorted, show goes on, no major blips and back in the van by 5.45pm. Thats a quick get out. Everyone going their separate ways now. Jenni going back to Hull, Andy and Gemma going to Stockport so that Andy can do his solo gig on Saturday night. Alex on her way back to Nottingham, and we did hear that her train got cancelled. Bless her. Mel and Amy in the car with Marie and Bill Bill. Colin is 'Billy nomates' in the van, again! Mel is excited as her boyfriend has just been offered a job as 'Postman Pat', which is a bit of a contrast to his previous job as nightclub doorman. Good luck in your new job John. Amy is very excited as she is meeting Graham tonight when we get home around 9.00pm. Surprisingly the M62 is still not a car park, and all of the roads are clear back to Durham, until 200 yards from Colin and Marie's house where the road is closed due to an accident. Ha, the great British transport network. Just what you need at the end of a 3 hour treck. The line up for the next few weeks is a bit hectic. 4 days next week, 5 the week after, and 5 the week after that.

 

Tuesday 8th October. Burnley Mechanics. Only an evening show so a nice easy day. We leave at 1.00pm, no major traffic problems. Everything goes well, good crowd of 300 in and only Andy has a bit of a mare getting dressed into his solo. Backstage he cant find his white DJ, so in a last minute panic grabs his white Bolero jacket which makes him look like a right penguin. The rest of the cast are highly amused as he walks through them to front of stage. Muchos giggling under breath. Show over, everyone starving and no garages open till we get to Scotch Corner, which is almost home anyway. Home at 1.30am, Pippa the greyhound being looked after by Colin's mam, and is happy now that Andy and Jenni are here. That means more treats and rich tea biscuits.

 

Wednesday/Thursday 8th/9th October. Customs House, South Shields. Our local venue, and with everybody already here from last night its a chance for a minor lie in bed. Get there for 11am is plenty enough. We get there to find that Ali, our friend and lighting tech, has just come out of hospital and is not on duty. Get well soon Ali. Chris and Nick look after us as they always do. Three almost full houses is a great result, and all shows go mainly without a hitch. Almost everyone has friends and family for the last show on Thursday night. In fact we think that Mel and Amy have secured most of the circle for their nearest and dearest. Happy days, its nice to be on home turf.

 

Friday 10th October. Pavilion Theatre Whitby. Again just an evening show and so quite an easy day. Leave in convoy at 2.30pm, and an hour and a half later arrive in Whitby. What a lovely seaside resort. Weather is good too. All goes well, show over and everyone going home to recover before travelling to Wales on Sunday night in preparation for Blackwood on Monday afternoon. Then disaster strikes. Andy has left his car in a car park in Leeds and returned at 12.30am to find some 'low life dog turd' has smashed one of his car windows. Don't you just hate some of the pieces of 'scum' that are part of our country. Nothing stolen but the inconvenience and cost of it all!! Find the culprit, and bring back hanging!!!!

 

Monday 13th October. Blackwood in Gwent. No show yet, but devastating news. Jenni rings to tell us the news we have all been dreading. Her mam was diagnosed with cancer just a few short months ago, and sadly passed away. Although we were somewhat expecting the news, it still comes as a massive shock. The whole cast are devastated for her and her father. We only had the pleasure of meeting her once at Bradford, after the show in June. A lovely, lovely genuine woman who will be sadly missed.             Naturally that takes Jenni out of this weeks shows. Everyone is shell shocked and the mood is very quiet. Colin, Bill, Mel and Amy have travelled the night before and enjoy a lie in before the hectic travelling begins. Alex is celebrating her birthday, yesterday, and is travelling to Wales this morning nursing just a minor hangover. Gemma rings to say that her tube is stranded in London and if she is lucky she will get there around 2pm. Not great news when it is a 2.30pm show. This week Marie is not in the show, and Danielle is taking over. Both Danielle and Amy are locked in dressing rooms learning words to cover Jenni's songs. Gemma gets a taxi from Newport to speed things up and arrives at 1.40pm. A quick meeting re-plots the show and at 2.30pm off we go. 

 

Tuesday 14th October. Leatherhead Theatre. As yesterday was only a matinee we took the opportunity to travel to Leatherhead after the show, so the services on the end of the M3 was home for the night. A short drive to Leatherhead. Nice easy get in, no piers to walk down or get blown off. Again just a matinee show. Amy and Danielle have mastered their stuff and the show goes well. Hats off to them for covering everything at such short notice. Not an easy task. Off to Hatfield tonight to drive to Broxbourne next day. Chinese takeaway and a glass of red should do the job to fill the time in.

 

Wednesday 15th October. Broxbourne Civic Hall. One of our regulars, great tech guys who help us in and out with great speed, and who also managed to smash our microwave this time. Oh Well!! The dancers are gutted as they have brought a load of food for the microwave. They might have to flash their eyelashes at the guy behind the counter at the next Travelodge, who incidentally haven't yet given us a refund for the rooms they double booked at Potters Bar. If anyone knows the customer service number could you please let us know colinfrancis@btinternet.com It would be easier to get the phone number of the Pope than the Travelodge Customer services. Another matinee only day today and then off to Peterborough before trecking over to Cromer tomorrow.

 

Thursday 16th October. Cromer Pavilion. Yes its on the end of the bleeding pier, and guess what, it is blowing a gale. What a shock!!!!! Still there is an audience of 320 making the same trek along the pier, only they dont have a Transit Van full of stuff to carry with them. Maybe we should organise a discount for audience members willing to push a costume trunk 400 yards to its destination. Show goes well despite a tiny stage. Mel is struggling with a leg injury and its getting worse. Its been a heavy week and we are in Stockport tomorrow for two shows. The journey over there is 4.5 hours says the Sat Nav, and after a couple of stops on the way for some garage forecourt rip off goodies we get there around 10.30pm. We dont need fed, we used the Morrisons at Cromer to spoil ourselves with salad, hot chicken things, and Alex decided to treat herself to a couple of cans of Gin and tonic. Colin very jealous when she opens them in the Van.

 

Friday 17th October. Plaza Theatre Stockport. Last one of the week and home to our own beds tonight. Pre booked tickets were terrible for this one but in the last week they have shot up. A sigh of relief for the bank manager. A long carry but the staff are great and we get help in and out. Very much appreciated when a lot of the staff are volunteers. All goes well until the end of the last show and then we noticed that Mel had gone missing and was at the side of the stage nursing a very sore let.  It looks bad, a pulled muscle for sure but hopefully nothing more. An ice pack helps and a session with the Physio should help. Scoops and Gemma are going back down to London, Alex's mam and dad come to see the show and are taking her home to Nottingham. The rest of the cast make their way home to relax for a few days before  another five day run next week. Mel and Amy have Friday, Saturday and Sunday off to see Lee Evans, so Vicky and Helen are filling their shoes. Hopefully Mel will be ok for Runcorn. Marie makes a valid point that we didn't mention the fact that she fell flat on her butt while walking up Blackpool pier in the rain. Sorry Maz, hope your bruises are now long gone.

 

Wednesday 22nd October. The Brindley, Runcorn. Jenni is back, great to see her again. Runcorn is one of our great success stories and we are very proud of it. A beautiful 400 seater venue where we now do 3 shows over a two day period. Two shows on the first day and a matinee next day. All shows sold out, making this our most popular venue in the UK. Graeme and Big Jim are the ‘techies’, and they are well worthy of a special mention. Two of the nicest guys in the world and exceptionally good at their job. It is always a pleasure to see them. Unfortunately due to another funeral, Amy is not with us, and so Vicky is with us for the first time this season. Vicky has done this show before, two years ago, managed to make most of the original rehearsals, and only needs a little rehearsal before breaking her in gently by slowly increasing the number of routines she does over the two days. Marie practices her zip sowing technique, and is fast becoming an expert. She manages 3 whole zips.

We stay at Widnes Travelodge, and just for comfort there is a pub next door. As we are finished at 9.30pm and no gear to move, we get to the pub by 9.40pm. A couple of cheeky drinks sets us up well for a good nights rest. Breakfast follows next day at the local Morrisons, with the exception of Colin, who spends the morning catching up on paperwork and emails. Bearing in mind how sensitive Jenni is right now, the last thing anyone needed was for the local village idiot to sit next to the cast and keep singing repeatedly the line ‘this will be day that I die’ from the song ‘American Pie’. If only he knew. Everyone travels back to Durham to Colin and Marie’s, and Bill’s house on the Thursday. A 6 hour treck tomorrow so lots of rest needed. Pippa the greyhound is happy to see Penni and Scoops, more treats and rich tea biscuits. It’s a dogs life.

 

Friday 24th October. Inverurie Town Hall. This is where we get to meet some of our dearest friends in the whole world. Allow us to introduce you to Debbie, Harry, and their two children Lucy and Rebecca. Although living in Aberdeen Debbie has been a friend of Marie since they were 10 year old doing talent competitions at Butlins. We can safely put on record that if ever we win the lottery, we will send an enormous cheque to these people, who are the most generous and caring people and if the truth was known, we would not be where we are today without them. Debbie is a bigger workaholic than Colin and Marie, and most of it is for charity organisations. (Check out her websiet at www.m4u.org.uk. Debbie also organises all of the children for our shows as we tour. Thats no simple task when you see that there were 80 venues this year. Thanks to Debbie and Harry, Inverurie has become a success story too. This is a venue that does not have touring shows like ours. Our first visit there brought us around 130 ticket sales. This visit seen 320 people in there. The first person we see is Sarah. Who is Sarah we here you ask. Sarah is another person who would get a share of any lottery winnings, just for being the sort of person that you like to call a friend. Every time we go to Aberdeen she is there with enough Sarni's to feed 5000, Salad bowls, fruit bowls, biscuits, crisps, and everything else needed to keep cast and kids nourished during the day. She's not paid to do it nor asked to do it. These people are just the salt of the earth. Debbie, Harry, Rebecca and Lucy (along with Benji the dog) soon appear, and after a quick catch up on world events, its down to business, rehearse the kids and get the show on the road. Both Amy and Mel are missing for these next three days and we have Helen and Vicky in the line up. Helen proves to have an eventfull weekend as you will see. It starts tonight as she loses her skirt in 'La Bamba'. Not off stage, but on it. Thank god for stage tights, and big black knickers. Needless to say she makes a run for the wings when it happens, and with a bright red face tells the rest of the cast backstage who missed it. A quiet night after that, as we retire to the travelodge to make sure Sarah's food is not wasted, and we make sure that there is plenty enough of the red and white fluids that keep us going at times. Andy, Gemma, Vicky, and Alex go to the pub first before coming back to the room to help demolish some of the wine.

 

Saturday 25th October, Aberdeen Arts Centre. Bacon Sarni's start the day. Its a custom that needs to be upheld. Great ticket sales again, with over 600 for the two performances. All is going well in the afternoon until Helen's major boob. And that's exactly what it was. Not being the next Dolly Parton, she was wearing Amy's costumes. Now Amy could well be the next Dolly Parton. Therefore there is quite a gap in the chest area when Helen is wearing some of the costumes. Yes, her boob managed not only to find the gap, but pop out of it. Another red face in the dressing room as she explains why she made a hasty exit off stage. All goes ok till the end of the night when we were packing up. Bill tripped while carrying one of the big wooden boxes which holds our floor cans. Heavy and big. He kept hold of it as he fell and managed to smash his nose against it as it landed on the lift door. OUCH!!!! One very red and bleeding nose. We finish packing to find that there is nobody left in the building and end up calling into the local police station to advise them that we have left and cant do anything about the fact that one of the fire exit doors is still open.

Sunday 26th October. Woodend Barn. Banchory 

So, after two successful days in Scotland we all awoke on Sunday morning ready for a third however, this time we were performing at a venue we had never been to, ‘Wood End Barn’, which Debbie had reliably informed us was near Aberdeen. Lucy, Penny and Colin set off in the van, Bill, Marie and Helen in the Car all following Debbie and Rebecca as they shot off in their Corsa. Scoops, Alex and Gemma opt for an extra 10 minutes in bed and follow later. Most are suffering minor hangovers as the ‘cast meeting’ in room 29 lasted till 4.30am. A very interesting cast meeting too. More to follow in weeks ahead. Unfortunately at the first round-about we came to we lost them so we resorted to following the instructions barked impatiently at us by the Sat Nav. (Lucy assured us we needn’t worry because she would know where it was when we got there !!!!!!) 

After several twisting and winding roads which seemed to go deeper and deeper into a forest, a few hairpin bends and quite a number of fields full of sheep suddenly in the middle of nowhere, the Sat-Nav informed us that we were to ‘turn left and arrive at our destination’. We turned left on to a narrow country track and to our surprise found ‘Wood End Barn’ Now, the intelligent among us should perhaps have realised that this was infact not the name of a city, town or even a village it was in fact, simply the name of a Barn.  Yes you read that correctly – A Barn!!!!!! 

This beautiful Barn conversion was now an arts venue that seats just under 200 people and whilst very nice it bares a huge resemblance to something from the Little House on the Prairie or The Waltons. Andy arrived at the venue with the others and after being in the venue around 30 minutes suddenly shouted in a loud voice, ‘Oh My God – is this an Actual Barn?’ (very perceptive!)   As you can imagine we found this amusing! The show went well, although there were a few giggles when we first went on stage and felt a little like we were in an episode of ‘the Vicar or Dibley’!  Knowing we were in a ‘Barn’ everyone expected a cow or sheep to suddenly wander across the stage – please be assured however, that this did not happen on this occasion. Nothing else to report really, although in the Seaside Scene, Gemma and Alex successfully made Jen-Pen laugh by changing the ‘ooohs’ and ‘aaahhs’ to ‘Moos’ and ‘Bahhhs’,. Marie forgot the words to ‘look what they did to my brain Ma’ (quite appropriate really!) Gemma managed to put her foot through her can-can skirt and all the cast ended up feeling a little unwell in the shared dressing room as Andy may have eaten a few too many sprouts the day before !!!!!!      Still an enjoyable day for everyone – just a 6 hour drive home to contend with but that was ok, we were sharing the driving.  Jenni and Marie split the driving in the car, Bill and Colin shared the driving in the van and Andy shared the driving with Vicki  (but Vicki only drives on roads without ‘round-a-bouts!!!!).  We did hear a rumour that Andy, Vicki, Gemma and Alex stopped off on route for a MacDonalds and had an unfortunate incident in the car park when an strange man dropped his trousers, enough to put anyone off their chicken nuggets eh? We say goodbye and thank you to Debbie, Harry, Rebecca and Lucy, and Sarah, who for the third day running has done us proud with the food. The corned beef sarni's were the best if ever you read this Sarah.

 

Wednesday 29th October. Middlesbrough Theatre. Most of the cast have stayed in the North East, and Andy has a hot date the night before Middlesbrough. He arrives with a spring in his step and a smile on his face. There must be something in the air. Mel then receives a bouquet of flowers sent to Stage Door. Signed by a 'Maurice' who says thank you for both shows in Middlesbrough and Hartlepool. If you are out there Maurice we would love to know who you are. The intrigue of it all. Two shows, both go well, and the cast are staying in the North East to travel to Greenock, Scotland first thing tomorrow morning. We thought Maurice might have turned up at the Stage Door after the show but he didnt. 

 

Thursday 30th October. Arts Guild Theatre, Greenock. We leave at 7.30am to get there for the get in. Another one of our regular venues, and both shows are more or less sold out. Fantastic news. What is it with the flowers thing. Both Marie and Jenni both get flowers delivered to Stage Door, from a lady in the audience. Both girls are thrilled to bits. The girls add that if anyone else would like to send them gifts, then white chocolate is a favourite. Andy and Gemma travel back to Stockport after the show as Andy has a solo gig on Friday. The rest of the cast are in a Travelodge in Glasgow. Greenock is just a little too far to travel there and back in a day. A good nights rest and we travel back home on Friday morning. Alex is staying with Mel until we travel to Altrincham on Saturday lunchtime, and Penni goes to stay with Marie and Colin. Penni is also doing a solo gig on Friday night at her previous job at Nidd Hall in Harrogate. The regular band singer has lost her voice so Pen steps in and saves the day. Mel is having one of them 'girlie' parties on Friday night, hence Alex is staying with her instead of Bill. Two thirds of this run completed now, only a month to go and then we have three months gap from touring. Altricham on Saturday, only an evening show, hopefully everyone will be refreshed and raring to go. We'll see..

 

Saturday 1st November. Garrick Playhouse, Altrincham. An easy day in comparison with some. Only an evening show and only 2 hours drive from home. We leave at 1pm, arrive in time to get nicely set up ready for showtime, only to find that 2 minutes before showtime we have no sound going into the auditorium. Techies and Colin wizz around trying to find the fault, and thank god its only a simple case of a lead being plugged into the wrong socket. Job done, show on the road, tickets are sold out and a great night had by all. Andy is off on a 4 day break to Barcelona in the morning, and so has to travel to London after the gig, ready for his flight next day. The rest of the cast head home for a few days break before a Scotland run starting on Thursday.

 

Thursday 6th November. Whitehall Theatre, Dundee. Andy lands back in sunny England at lunchtime yesterday and has the task of an 8 hour drive to Dundee. The cast all travel the day before because of the fact that Dundee is almost on the north pole. We arrive at the Travelodge at 10pm. Some indulge in a kebab, some retire for a peaceful night in front of the TV. Travelodge still havent coughed up the refund for the September blunder and we still cant find a telephone number for customer services. A strong letter is sent, and no doubt Travelodge will ignore this one too. At Dundee we meet more friends of ours, in techies Raymond, Ben and Ian. Raymond has been our stage manager there from our first visit. A great guy, 78yr old, with a wealth of experience in theatre. Now retired but likes to keep active by managing one or two shows here and there. We always request his services and it is great to see the boys again. Set up complete, the show is going well until disaster hits during the 'Can Can'. Colin and Bill are watching on a TV monitor side of stage. One minute there are four dancers and the next there are three. Over the course of the next 5 mins we find that Gemma has injured her back and is in a bad way. She is now out of the show until we find out how bad it is. A physio is booked for Friday morning. Fingers crossed that it is not too serious. Danielle is in for Marie on this run. Marie is busy in the office getting ready the new leaflets and posters for 'Memory Lane' in Spring of next year. One of the great things about Dundee is a place called Clarke's Bakery. This is a gem of a place. A bakery open 24 hours a day, serving a million different sarni's, pies, cakes. Fantastic. Two visits, first on the morning, and then again at tea time. We stay at the same Travelodge tonight before setting off for Stirling tomorrow. Jenni and Danielle have requested a change of room due to the fact that when you are on the road, the last thing you want to hear is the bellow of a construction site outside your bedroom window. Travelodge oblige with a change of room. Pity they cant oblige with a refund when they double book a room. The cast also discover that there is no 'Starbucks' here. That's a coffee shop for those who arent up to date with the in place to sit and relax with a very expensive cup of Nescafe.

 

Friday 7th November. Albert Halls, Stirling. This morning Jenni and Danielle are not woken by the sound of the construction site, but by a joiner drilling holes outside their room. At 8.00am, Jenni very kindly advises the joiner that if he would like to father children at some point in his life, it might be a good idea to take a 2 hour tea break right now. He wisely takes her advice and is never seen again. Like everyone else we are kicked out of the Travelodge at 12 noon. A slow wander over to Stirling leaves us chance to have a wander around town, get a bite to eat before doing an easy get in. Gemma sees a physio, and is advised that the problem is not just a back problem but also attached to her hip. She is feeling a bit better today and is going back into the show, but only on the easier dance routines. Only an evening show, but then we have to drive to Dumfries after the show, ready for two shows tomorrow. All goes well with the show, but the weather and roadworks are another story. Throwing it down with rain, blowing a gale, and the M8 is closed. Follow the diversion. Great. Two hours later at 1 am we arrive at the hotel. No double bookings thank god and we are here for two nights. No 'Starbucks' here either. What is going on.

 

Saturday 8th November. Theatre Royal, Dumfries. Our first time here, and greeted by a lovely lady called Liz who kindly presents us with a tray of tea, coffee and biscuits. We start to like this place already. A very old theatre, and trying to lift itself out of the recession by Nigel, who is giving it his best shot to save the place and build it back up again. Dave the 'techie', a volunteer we might add, is a cross between 'Del boy' and Mr Angry. 'Why do you need all this f***n stuff' is one of his expressions. Great guy, and considering the limited amount of lighting available, does a great job. Not massive audiences today but probably just enough to try a return visit next spring. The afternoon audience was a little thin on the ground and the audience is very very close to the stage. I little intimidating, but amusing when you see that one young guy on the front row has had enough of us by the time we reach the finale, and is now reading his 'Beano' comic. On the evening show, a much bigger house, but we are confused by the new fashion in Dumfries of glowing arbands and sticks. Have we missed the news with all the current trends?? During the break between shows, the cast have a wander around town. Andy, the dancers, and Danielle invest in a bottle of wine each. God help the residents of the Travelodge. The kids in the show today are from a dance school called Razamataz. They managed to get funding from 'The Dragons Den'. A very professional outfit who look like they are expanding very well, and they deserve it. Very well behaved children who are being taught this business in the correct way. Very talented too. They very kindly made us a thank you card, signed by all of the children with some great pictures on it. Andy is dressed up in a wig during the break, as are all the dancers. A lovely gesture. Still no 'Starbucks'!!!!

 

Sunday 9th November. Bellfields Theatre, Largs. The last day of our run, but our first visit to this theatre. As expected, the party did happen at the Travelodge, not ending till 4.30am. Colin, Bill, Jenni and Mel travel first. Colin's phone is not working and he needs to buy a new one, Mel is visiting relatives who live in Largs. Shopping for a phone is scrapped due to bad weather and the option of Sunday lunch is a much better idea. The rest of the cast appear looking very worse for wear. Alex's eyes are only just open as she gets out of the car. Gemma's back is much better, but Andy looks shattered. Bless his little cottons. From Barcelona to 4 days in Scotland. Are there any 'Starbucks' in Scotland?????? As Jenni is driving Marie's car, the cast have the luxury of listening to the Ipod (another new technical device for listening to music) and play the musical 'Wicked' constantly on their journeys. Show over. Andy and Gemma travel back to Stockport. The rest of the cast head to Durham. Alex has to be up at 7am to get a train home to Nottingham. Penni stays with Colin and Marie before driving back to Hull on Monday. Amy's mam is there to collect her on the A69 at Newcastle at 2am. Three days off now before Penistone on Thursday.

 

Wednesday 12th November. A new venture for Colin as he is asked to give a 'Talk' on running a theatre company, and performing to a local Salvation Army group of appx 20. Different, but very enjoyable he says. Plenty tea and biscuits. They ask if Marie will do something similar next year, and Colin agrees that it will be no problem.

 

Thursday 13th November, Penistone Paramount. Only one show this week, well, two shows one theatre. Matinee and Evening show at Penistone, which is a very small town situated in between Barnsley and Sheffield. A little out in the sticks but another one of our little success stories where we have built up a customer base and for the first time we are facing a full house in the afternoon and a very decent evening house. Great news. Today has a few little events, the first of which is that Jenni's dad has come to watch and help. Jim, a fellow musician, has come to support his daughter and decides to watch one show from out front, and help backstage in the other. One of his first comments is how different the backstage looks compared with the view of the show from the auditorium.

Today is also Amy's last day for this season. Amy and some of the other girls do Panto every year, and Amy's rehearsals start early, meaning she has to miss the rest of autumn run for us. Next week we lose Mel too. Helen is Amy's replacement, and having done a few shows already this year, she only needs to refresh a few routines before going on stage.

The first show goes well. Colin discovered that it was Bill Bills birthday yesterday, and so Jenni decides to make her first chocolate cake and bring it for Bill. The cast gather downstairs, light the candles, and proceed upstairs where Bill is on stage preparing for the second show. Everyone bursts into song singing happy birthday as they arrive on stage, only to find that Bill is no longer there and has nipped to the loo. Silence looms and only when he gets back on stage does everyone pick up where they left off. Penni did a great job with the cake, and plenty was had by all except Colin, who somehow managed to miss out.

 

Tuesday 18th November. Showcase in Crewe. Back on the road again, and cant believe that a week on Saturday we will have finished the autumn run. 44 shows in 3 months. Yes, everyone is getting ready for their deserved winter break. Today is an odd day. We are doing a 'Showcase' in Crewe. Let us explain for those who don't know. Some agents occasionally have a 'Showcase', where they invite acts/shows to perform, and invite potential bookers of these acts to attend with the hope that the bookers will like some of what they see, and employ the acts/shows for various venues. We agreed to do this showcase for an agent in Blackpool called Big Foot. Jenni had previously spoken to and met the directors, and to cut a long story short we prepared a 12 minute performance from 'Rolling back the Years'. The 50's Rock and Roll section, and the 'Lord of the dance' section.. We arrive at the 'club' in Crewe, discover that the 'stage' area is tiny, and start plotting to re-choreograph as there is not quite enough room to do what we normally do. The sound guy is very helpful, that's a novelty at a showcase, and we get prepared to go on towards the end of the first half. There are around 8 acts performing this afternoon. A few bands, a Beatles tribute band, and a couple of Solo acts. The standard was very good, although there was not a lot of agents/bookers in the audience. We do our stuff, get packed and head off towards Felixstowe where we have an afternoon show tomorrow.

 

Wednesday 19th November. Spa Pavilion Theatre, Felixstowe. Last night we stayed at the Travelodge near Ipswich. Gemma, Andy and Alex went back to Andy and Gemma's pad in London. As it is Mel's last week, we decided to go out for a meal when we get to Capel St Mary, just outside Ipswich. Dont ever try this for yourself after 9.00pm. It is closed. The whole place is closed apart from a 24 hour Tesco. Even the local Pizza Hut throws the towel in at 10pm. So after grabbing a couple of bottles of liquid refreshment at Tesco's, we head back to the Travelodge to ask if they have a take away menu for someone who might be kind enough to deliver some hot food to our hotel. Result, a Pizza menu. Order placed, delivered by a very nice man, just a pity that the food wasn't as nice as him. Pure garbage, but it was hot food. Gratefull for small mercies at 11pm. Our first time at this theatre, and it is obviously a well supported theatre. We have 530 people in for a matinee. Hopefully the credit crunch is not about to reduce us to cut price beans at Aldi. We travel towards a place called Lyndhurst near Salisbury ready for two shows at the City Hall tomorrow. Andy kindly tips us off that the A12 is a car park and so we would do well to avoid it. Penni is in the van with Colin and tells the Sat Nav to avoid that road. It quickly amends the route as we ignore the signpost for the A12 just in time. After 10 mins we find that this sat nav won't re route us and we end up in the queue along with 5000 other motorists who move over occasionally to let the fire engines through. We dont have a clue what the hold up was because the fire engines disappeared off into the distance, the traffic cleared and nobody spots why there was a 45 minute hold up. Andy and Gemma again go back to their pad in London. Everyone is at Lyndhurst Travelodge. Early nights all round ready for a hard day tomorrow.

 

Thursday 20th November. Salisbury City Hall. Up bright and early today to get to Salisbury – the Sat Nav says that it should take only 18 minutes to get to the theatre from the travelodge so why did we set off bright and early we hear you cry?  The answer to that question is simple; Col-Mate and Penni need to be in the van, en route, in time to participate in ‘Pop Master’ on Radio 2.  A score of 32 put Col-mate in a jubilant mood however, this mood was soon to disappear when the Sat Nav took us (and Bill-Bill who was following in the car) on a short cut through the New Forest extending our journey by approximately 35 minutes!!!!!  The only consolation being that Penni, Helen and Mel got to see some lovely horses, beautiful cottages and lots of lovely scenery marred only slightly but the various insults being shouted at the Sat Nav by Col-Mate who seemed to have been developing the condition Tourettes?

We did arrive at Salisbury to find as always the tea urn was turned on and waiting for us, Anton the tech guy was as always ready to help with the set up and whilst Bill-Bill and Col-Mate started to unload the van Penni, Alex and Mel went in search of Bacon Sandwiches.  All fed and watered we were ready to start the show.

The shows both went well, the audiences seemed to enjoy the show, and sang admirably in ‘Antonio’ much to Penni’s relief as she needs the help in that one, mainly because since Felixstowe she has been singing all the female songs alone, because the mounds and mounds of paper work piling up on top of the office desk meant Marie had to go and be efficient in the office.  (And walk Pippa the dog who was very pleased to have her home) Alex did a great job helping with the vocals in Grease, and Andy sang an extra solo too.  The whole team enjoyed the challenged and adapted to having three singers instead of four very well indeed – that said, we all missed Marie a great deal and look forward to her rejoining the tour next week, (and we discovered that no-one else can fix zips either???) 

So another great day in Salisbury, looking forward to our return already, we packed up and set off for our next destination, Andy with the girls in his car (with his new sat nav), Bill-Bill and Helen in the other car and Col-Mate and Penni in the van (poor Colin had the privilege of being re-educated in the world of country music by Pen who constantly played him lots of songs from her ipod that he had never heard before (and by his reaction is not bothered about hearing again !!!!!)  For Colin, The Travelodge was not near enough !!!!!!

   

Friday 21st November. Barnfield Theatre, Exeter. A theatre we thought was a massive gamble the first time we went there, and this time around we have a full house for the evening show and 550 tickets sold all day. The gamble paid off. We are greeted by father and son techies Peter and Thomas who have been there at every visit. A small theatre, both off stage and on. Bill Bill has a problem storing all of the props side of stage and backstage. Drama before the show as we are told that a lady stepped out of a mini bus, tripped on the pavement and crashed her head into a brick wall. Ambulance on its way. We hope this lady is ok. We then hear a clatter and discover that an elderly lady has tripped on her way into the the theatre, and is now looking at the stage from the ochestra pit area. She is soon up on her feet and shaken but not stirred. We hear a lot of 'shouting' just before curtain up, and hear a lot more of it during the show. We are told afterwards that there is at least one person with 'Tourettes' in the audience. Is Colin's condition catching? On the intro to 'Get Happy' in the second half, Jenni is convinced that she is advised to 'F**k off' by the sufferer of this condition. The guy must have a great set of lungs as both Andy and Colin struggle to get their voices heard doing intros and they both have microphones which should have been an advantage. No!! We just hope that he did really enjoy the show. Andy also had an extra job in this show. The theatre stage manager Peter does not make it to the back stage area as the show starts which means there is nobody to open the curtains at the correct time. Andy steps in, gets the curtains open on cue, and now claims quite rightly to be a semi qualified stage manager. Well done Scoops. Helen is also claiming the same qualification for help with one of the 'get ins'. OK, deal!!

It's Mel's last day today before leaving the company for good. First of all into Panto, and then off abroad at the beginning of next year. Destination not yet known, although Dubai has been mentioned. The cast chip in and buy her some earrings and champagne as a leaving gift. The evening show is without any 'Tourettes' people. Andy announces that he has now bought a pair of white boxer shorts. Marie will be delighted. Its a costume thing!!! Andrea White is the dance teacher supplying the children for the show. Andrea has been working with us since we started, and does both Exmouth and Exeter. Its her husband Richard's 50th birthday and so she brings him along for the ride. After the show, Peter organises a drink for all of the cast. Hospitality like this is always very much appreciated after a long day. Mel and Alex enjoy more than a couple of glasses of rose wine, and then insist on organising a Pizza delivery when we get back to the Travelodge. We stay over and tackle the the 6 hour drive next day. Off till Tuesday now, and tackle the last leg of our tour next week with 8 shows in 5 days, starting at one of our local venues in Stanley, County Durham. That means that our next entry will be the last show entry of the season. Marie is back with us for the final run, and Vicky comes in to replace Mel. Hope you have been keeping fit Vic!!!

Tuesday 25th November. Lamplight Arts Centre, Stanley, County Durham

Well all too soon it is the last week of this seasons shows so we all set off early for our last six days of ‘Rolling Back the Years’, including Pippa the Greyhound who is having a holiday and spending  five days at the doggy equivilent of a Travelodge. (she wasn’t too keen on this idea and was very reluctant to get out of the car when Mazzie and Penni took her to the Kennels). Hard to believe that ten weeks ago we were faced with the prospect of 44 days of shows.

Set up was fairly painless and once things were sorted, Helen took up her usual residence next to the sewing box and sorted out the hole in the ‘itsy bitsy bikini’ and the tail coat.  Marie and Pen went on the Bacon Sarnie run (and tried to work out how to use Maries new iPhone!), Alex and Andy set up their laptops in the dressing room so they didn’t miss any emails or Facebook updates and gradually everyone got ready for showtime. 

Mazzie and Pen returned after successfully purchasing bacon sarnies for Bill-Bill and Colin only to be greeted by a sight so shocking that it left them rooted to the spot, and almost caused Maz to faint in disbelieve – yes, Colin was doing his own ironing.!!!!!!!

It was lovely to see our friend Claire (who used to be a singer in the show when the company first started out.) who came backstage to visit us, and the show went well.  There were no major incidents except we discovered that Grisabella (the fur coat that Andy wears in the music hall section) had developed a large rip! Oh and during the ‘sea-side’ section the stage curtains developed a fault and wouldn’t close so the stage technicians had to run across the stage dragging the curtains behind them!  They managed to fix them in the interval and then everything went without a hitch.  Helen did a little more sewing in the interval, whilst Marie pressed various buttons on her new iPhone yet was still unable to actually answer it when it rang! In total since getting this new phone she has now missed twelve telephone calls because she couldn’t work out how to answer it , sent pointless text messages to various people she doesn’t know and lost all the contacts in her address book, on the positive side however she has worked out how to take photos of Pippa the dog,!!!!!!!

 

Wednesday 26th November, St Georges Hall, Bradford.

Today was an early start, well 9.00am, which in entertainers world is very early, and which didn’t help Colin’s increasing ‘tourettes’ tendencies any. Thank goodness for Pop – Master which cheered him up.  Today Col and Pen managed to score 21 in both rounds and even managed to get the ‘three in ten’ question right.

The van set off first and the traffic was quite bad so Colin telephoned Marie and Bill-Bill who were about ten minutes  behind in the car to advise them to re-route and avoid the M1.  Marie however still hasn’t managed to successfully answer a phone call hence , they too ended up stuck in the same traffic jam as the van!   So, arrival was a little later than expected but we soon got set up and yes of course Pen and Maz went off for Bacon Sarnies and Helen went off in search of something to sew!

No children today which was just as well as there was not a lot of space in the wings to set up the costume rails, Colin set up his rail right next to Marie today and kept getting in her way during all the costume changes. (interestingly enough this also contributed to his ever developing Tourettes condition)

The show went without any major incidents, The beachball seemed to have a life of its own in the seaside section and whilst Alex, Gemma and Marie tried desperately to keep it under control it threw itself across the stage at Colin twice whilst he was singing.  He didn’t seem amused and gave the beach ball a very stern look indeed!

Vicki said to mention that in todays show she managed to invent her own little routine in the Can-Can and decided to add in a few extra cartwheels whilst no one else was cartwheeling – she finished this off with a few little chane turns until she managed to join in with the other dancers. Not what you want when your mother is in the audience.

Gemma and Alex decided to take turns doing the ballet but didn’t mention this to Colin so this confused him, much to their amusement.   

The show went well, Colin showed his appreciation of such a lovely audience by announcing at the end of the show that we had loved the audience here in Blackpool!!!!!  Great compliment seeing as we were in Bradford.

After the show we set off for the Travelodge in Tamworth which was a good couple of hours drive and resulted in Pen, Maz and Helen taking the car whilst Alex, Gemma and Vicky  went with Pandy with a short detour to Nando’s we hear!) Bill and Colin took the van.   Following the sat-nav resulted in Maz, Helen and Pen getting lost and ending up in the middle of a housing estate somewhere near Tamworth.  Marie called Colin to get some directions but this proved to still be an impossible task on the new iPhone so they just drove around for an hour until they eventually did find the Travelodge! 

 

Thursday 27th November. Assembly Rooms, Tamworth

A leisurely start this morning as we were already staying in Tamworth, this mean we had a little extra sleeping time (not much though). 

Helen remembered a little café near the theatre so she, Pen and Maz decided to do the bacon sarnie run and get a little breakfast while they were there,  not long after they were joined by Andy and Vicki who also thought a little breakfast was in order.

Set up was soon complete and everyone settled backstage to get ready for the performance,  Maz discovered Penni’s new eye glitter and was soon experimenting with it, she looked very glittery indeed, but then so did her make-up bag, the table, the floor, and pretty much the whole dressing room. 

We had a VIP visitor backstage today, Lucy (Alex’s three year old niece) came to show us her new Pixie boots and see what goes on backstage.  She is learning to dance herself and showed us a lovely Curtsey

Today's topic of conversation in the dressing room was fairly intense (I know the audience would not realise this but our backstage conversations are usually very intelligent and cover a range of topics that we can all debate upon.) Today’s debate was started by Gemma and was an interesting one…….. Would it be more preferable to be eaten by a shark or a whale?  This was of course discussed at length before discussing the advantages (or indeed disadvantages) of being trampled by a heard of elephants as opposed to Giraffes!  We didn’t have time to finish this discussion because it was showtime.

The show went well, again a lovely audience and again the Beachball (in the seaside section) had a life of its own and almost ended up in the audience, Colin gave It another stern look!  Marie was very happy with her new glittery eye make up and put on even more glitter during the interval!

Packing the van took no time at all with us all helping and then we set off to the Travelodge in Caterham, Surrey, ready for our show in East Grinstead!  Maz and the girls took the car and Col-Mate and Bill-Bill again travelled in the Van. 

This time the Sat-Nav directed Maz straight to the Travelodge however, the entrance to it was fairly well hidden and Maz drove past it twice each time having to turn around and try again!  By the third time she had decided to drive incredibly slowly and was determind not to miss the entrance again only this appeared to have drawn attention to our vehicle because right there behind us was a Police Car with his lights flashing.

Marie pulled the car over to be questioned by one police officer whilst the other went around with his torch checking the car.  I suppose it had looked a bit strange, our car driving past the same road three times but probably not quite as strange as a car full of girls still wearing show make up and false eyelashes trying to find a Travelodge at 1.30 in the morning.  Not to mention that the driver of the car was wearing more glitter and sparkle than a pair of Elton John’s spectacles!

The police seemed satisfied that we were not a danger to society and very kindly escorted us to the entrance of Travelodge. We retired for a good nights sleep before our show in East Grinstead.

 

Friday 28th November. Chequer Mead Community Arts Centre, East Grinstead

This was the first time we had been to this theatre and we arrived to find that it was a lovely venue.  We had two shows today so we started setting up and getting organised. It probably would not take a genius to work out who went on the Bacon Sarnie run? The ironing (which there is a lot of) was soon done and showtime was upon us. Unfortunately during the first couple of numbers Gemma began to feel unwell and ended up being rather ill,  she carried on like a trouper though and managed to still perform. Respectable ticket sales mean that we hope to go back next year at some point. We stay at the same Travelodge again before our marathon journey tomorrow to Whitehaven in Cumbria for our last show of the season.

 

Saturday 29th November. Whitehaven Civic Hall. Well, this is it. The last day of the run. Everyone is surprisingly awake and raring to go. The sat nav tells us that the journey will take around 6 hours. Drivers of vehicles are plotted, with stops en route, and we load the van with suitcases for the last time this year. Straight away we have a problem. Outside the Travelodge at 9.00am there are 2 police cars and 2 police vans, and they are blocking in our Transit Van. Bill Bill's impatience got the better of him and he asked one of the policemen if they would 'please move their van' so we could get out. PC Plod was not amused and duly explained that they were dealing with an 'incident'. With millimetres to spare Bill guided Colin through the small gap available and onward we went. Six hours later and no major traffic jams we arrived at Whitehaven. The 'get in' is a bit of a mare, having to load the contents of the van into a lift, and then transport the whole lot around 100 yards to the stage area. With a few beads of sweat dripping, the get in is complete and we are ready for showtime. The audience here is particularly nice and Colin's gags are going down really well. This leads nicely into a little plan. Do you know any decent jokes???? If so, why not mail them to Colin (colinfrancis@btinternet.com). If he likes them, and uses them in the next show, he will organise two complimentary tickets to the theatre of your choice as a thank you. Also, if you have enjoyed reading our blog, please let us know. Send any comments you like to us. We love to hear from our audience with any suggestions. Back to Whitehaven, great show, and a great way to finish the run. Colin and Marie present the cast with an early xmas present and thank them for their hard work this season. This really has been an exceptional cast. Andy and Gemma head home to Manchester before travelling to London on Sunday. The rest of the cast head back to the North East. Vicky and Alex stay with Bill, while Helen and Penni stay with Colin and Marie, before heading home on Sunday.

 

A final note. Strange to look back to the beginning of September when all of the dates were ahead of us, and now they are all done, behind us, and now we have 3 months of office work before rehearsals start for the new show 'Memory Lane 2' in February. So many things have happened, most good, but some bad. As ever we have met some lovely people, had some fantastic audiences, and although we do moan a little, we have had a great season. We have received many letters and emails from members of our audiences thanking us for the shows. We are very grateful for this. On the funny side we received an email from a gentleman called Gordon who used to MC for Wrestling matches, who sent us some entries that he would have put in his blog, had they been around at the time. I just couldn't resist quoting one of them to you.

We are not alone in our troubles on the road!!!! So, Colin and Marie will catch up on paperwork, and hopefully get the shows into some new venues, home and abroad, for next year. The rest of the cast do their own thing until rehearsals start. Alex and Gemma have temp jobs to go to, Andy will do his Solo Cabaret work along with some band work too. Penni has recently been doing some signing work for deaf children, and will do more of this during the break. Amy is in Panto, and will probably take a few weeks off before rehearsals start. Pippa the greyhound will curl up on the settee, and not have to worry about doggy Travelodges.

Who knows what next year will bring eh? Who knows what the cast will be. In this business nothing is certain. Singers and dancers do tend to move around quite a bit and we have been very lucky to hold onto the majority of our cast for quite a while. At the moment the line up for next year looks something like this. Hopefully Andy and Penni will still be with us. Amy has been promoted to 'Dance Captain', and Alex 'Assistant dance captain'. We know that Gemma has ambition to move on to other things, and we know that we will lose her at some point. Hopefully that wont be next year, but who knows. The replacement for Mel is more or less sorted but we cant quite disclose that one yet until all of the details are finalised with the new girl.

On a business front this has been a very hard year. We took the risk of bringing in another company to book us into some new theatres for the autumn. Stage Right Promotions done a brilliant job and booked something like ten new theatres. Unfortunately the credit crunch effect on theatre business meant that we lost at all but two of these new venues. So badly that any new venues booked for the spring of next year were scrutinised and the majority have been cancelled. Fortunately, our regular theatres, where we have been taking two shows a year, have showed an increase in ticket sales. For those people who have supported us over the last few years, we are eternally grateful, and hope that we can look forward to your support again next year. 'Memory Lane 2' kicks off on 3rd March, and this starts a run of around 39 theatres until early June. Then in September we are taking the plunge and writing a brand new show which looks like it will be called 'A Timeless Collection'. This will be our fifth show, and will be another musical journey from 'Music Hall' to 1970's, but with brand new material that has never been used in our other four shows. 

So, we close the blog for this year. We know that many of you have enjoyed reading it, and therefore we will continue where we left off. We will of course make any announcements of any cast changes that happen before the next run. Again, many thanks to our fantastic audiences up and down the country. We look forward to seeing you all again next year. Don't forget if you have any comments about anything, please don't hesitate to email us

Until we see you again, we wish you all a very Merry Xmas, and a very healthy 2009!!! God bless!!!