The Naked Truth, Assembly Hall Theatre, Royal Tunbridge Wells

The Naked Truth

Assembly Hall Theatre

Royal Tunbridge Wells

21st March 2011

Cast (Programme listed order)

Claire King - Rita

Maureen Nolan - Sarah

Michelle Heaton - Gabby

Leanne Jones - Bev
Julie Buckfield - Tricia
Alison Young - Faith

"If you liked Calendar Girls & Stepping Out then you'll LOVE the Naked Truth"

Not my words but those of the Manchester Evening News and for me this quote is spot on.

It's a  very apt comparison to make. The cancer themed background story bears more than a striking resemblance to that of Calendar Girls (which was of course a true story). In addition the characters' desire to do something different to liven up their troubled lives, in this case pole-dancing, is very similar to the characters in Stepping Out wanting to be great dancers.

Stepping out I enjoyed. Calendar Girls was OK but it really didn't rock my boat.

The Naked Truth?

Absolutely brilliant! Very funny,  yet continually thought provoking and above all very well acted with an amazing cast.

What a line up Claire King (ex Emmerdale) Leanne Jones (West End Hairspray) Michelle Heaton (Liberty X) Julie Buckfield (Hollyoaks, Grange Hill) Maureen Nolan (The Nolan Sisters) and Alison Young.

Hold on.......... Alison who?

Well I doubt if many will have heard of Alison but believe me you will remember her after seeing The Naked Truth. I feel for her a little because she's not on the leaflet cover or the programme cover yet I think she is likely to be one of the main talking points when the show ends.

Her character, Faith, is the scatty, ditzy one of the group. In the low moments, as Sarah deals with her cancer diagnosis, clever writing ensures Faith is normally the one who lightens a sad time with her innocently naive misinterpretations of the English language and limited sexual knowledge.

On her CV Alison has actually done a lot of theatre and TV work and directed a play. She has also played Faith on 2 previous tours of the Naked Truth. I'm not surprised. This lovely young lady is perfectly suited to this most hilarious of roles. But come on producers if Alison does another tour stick her on the cover! She's just as important as the other 5 actresses! This does bug me slightly when they stick the better known names on a cover but leave off a central , important, character just because he or she doesn't have the same level of fame!

How about our more well known names?

Claire King - Playing Rita, the victim of a troubled marriage, Claire is great in this role as a "bit of a mouthy cow". Boy this fine and well known actress has kept herself fit!! You'll enjoy her performance throughout but when it comes to the finale with the pole-dance routine she is really impressive too.

Maureen Nolan - Sarah is our cancer victim. Let's be honest , although she is very modest about it, I think Maureen is very brave to play such a role with a subject so close to her heart for personal family reasons. But this personal experience of confronting cancer Maureen admits has helped her in this role and she is playing Sarah in her own determined way. The result is a very believable portrayal of how a middle aged woman may cope with breast cancer. She demonstrates effectively both the emotional lows yet maintaining a strong willpower to get through each and every day.

Leanne Jones - She's big, bubbly, warm and extremely lovable, both on stage and off. As the large lady, Bev, aspiring to pole dance she is clearly the obvious candidate for a spot of bitchy bullying and I'll come to this later. There are laughs throughout with her pole dance 'skills' but Bev is also a strong character with a complicated love life. Leanne delivers the great performance that would be expected from a West End star.

Michelle Heaton - "here we go...", many will say, "a singer trying her hand at acting". Often it doesn't work. But what many may not know though was that friendly Michelle was acting long before her Liberty X and Popstars days. With appearances on Heartbeat, Byker Grove and Crimewatch under her belt she had a good start in front of the camera.

Her desire was always to go back to her first love, acting, and here she is fulfilling that ambition. Gabby is the pole-dancing teacher, and of course Gabby has her own personal troubles. But whilst dealing with those she has to try and get 5 women with varying characters and physical abilities to pole-dance convincingly for a cancer fund raising performance. I thought she played the part really well and as one of the minority of blokes in a female dominated audience watching this very fit young lady do her finale pole-dance routine was just the icing on the cake.

Julie Buckfield. I've seen both Julie and her twin sister Claire so many times now it is often difficult to recall who was in which show. But here we have Julie who has a stack of theatrical credits to her name together with appearances in TV shows like Hollyoaks, Grange Hill, London's Burning, The Bill and Casualty. In her character as Tricia she is the insensitive bully, gloating on her perfect life, perfect man and picking on the apparent flaws she sees in others - including Bev and her weight. But is Tricia's life really so great? Julie tells Tricia's story flawlessly and like Michelle she is a pole-dancing diva! She is to the pole what her sister was to the ice, an expert! Perhaps a new combined venture for them beckons  pole-dancing-on-ice?

I should just point something out here. Ladies for goodness sake take your fella to this show! This is in no way a male-bashing-production. It is also not planned to have a female only audience. It is a very funny and very thought provoking play about a disease that affects the lives of all it touches. Women do not go through cancer on their own they need the support and love of those around them. So get your old man or partner off his backside and take him to a show which he will laugh at a lot and he may just learn something about the consequences of breast cancer! Besides aren't men supposed to appreciate pole-dancing? I certainly did, especially the performance the girls put on at the end.

All 6 actresses are extremely professional and this was demonstrated admirably in the second half whilst theatre staff ejected  rowdy audience members from the auditorium. I'm glad they stepped in quickly as eyes were beginning to deviate from the stage and as we all tried to spot the idiots who had drunk one too many in the interval and those around the group went "Shhhhhhhhh!" in a vain attempt to shut them up.

After the pole-dancing finale this Breast Cancer Care awareness/fund raising show received a massive loud reception from this Tunbridge Wells crowd. This was fully deserved for a fabulous show which deals with such a serious subject in such a light hearted, yet at the same time very sensitive, way.

The appreciation did not end there though. The charity buckets came out and I can honestly say that I have been to many a charity fundraiser at theatres and this is the most money I have ever seen going in to buckets as the audience leaves. Whether this was appreciation for a super show or simply a contribution for such a worthy cause who cares? As long as money keeps going in those buckets we may soon have the hope that a cure for breast cancer is imminent!

Finally the pictures on this review are possible because, with thanks to the Julie Buckfield and her agent for the arrangement, I was able to do one of my Starcards signing in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital for children before this show.

Clicking any image and viewing the image description will give you information on how you can support another worthy cause by bidding on future auctions of these autographed charity playing cards.

Thank you so much to Claire, Leanne, Michelle, Julie, Maureen and Alison for taking part in this especially when you are raising funds for Breast Cancer Care.

So people if you are wondering whether The Naked Truth is any good it's actually far better than good. So go and see it, take your other half and take some extra money to buy some fun fund raising souvenirs and to fill those all important buckets !!!

Mary Wilson and the Chi-Lites Assembly Hall Theatre, Royal Tunbridge Wells

Mary Wilson

with Special Guests The Chi-Lites

Assemby Hall Theatre

Royal Tunbridge Wells

15th March 2011

The Chi-Lites

2011 must be the year of the great gig at the Assembly Hall Theatre in Royal Tunbridge Wells. Chas and Dave, Ben E King with Gary US Bonds and now Mary Wilson and the Chi-Lites all receiving massive standing ovations from appreciative Tunbridge Wells audiences.

OK lets be honest, unlike many of the soul loving Tunbridge Wells audience, I had never heard of the Chi-Lites and even when they sung their greatest hits I can't say I was familiar with them.

Marshall Thompson, Frank Reed and Fred Simon make up this super harmonious soul group with Marshall being the only original member in the line-up.

I have to be honest though but despite the fact I had never appreciated the tracks of the Chi-Lites like "Have You Seen Her" and "Oh Girl" before it didn't stop me thoroughly enjoying this initiation.

Fred has been with the group a couple of years whilst Frank who's vocal range is formidable as lead singer joined around 23 years ago. Marshall who has more energy than many a man 20 years his junior is the only original member of the Chi-Lites still performing. After an incredible 51 years with the group his energy and enthusiasm really is something to behold.

With a beautiful sound and Frank even coming down into the auditorium to sing they deserved every single moment of the massive ovation they received from the Tunbridge Wells crowd as we got to the interval.

On a footnote here the Chi-Lites signed albums and photos during the interval and they stayed behind after the show to provide autographs for any fans who missed them in the break. Marshall continuing to defy his age by being the only artist I have ever seen signing autographs standing on a table and chair. A quite amazing group with a remarkable founder member. 

Mary Wilson

The ex member of The Supremes got a loud, appreciate reception the moment she walked on the stage and this was an enthusiasm that was not to diminish for the rest of the show.

Mary's incredible, powerful vocals were accompanied by her wonderful backing singers Parnell Marcano and Lucy Shropshire. Her band were, perhaps inevitably, using some of the most impressive instruments I have seen on one stage in quite a while and as a result the sound was perfect.

It was actually refreshing to be able to see the whole of the magnificent, large, Assembly Hall stage in this show. It seems a shame that the council have plans to demolish this theatre and the adjoining buildings soon, although an alternative is planned.

Diva? Well yes and no. The traditional use of diva was applied to somebody with exceptional talent. If we are using this meaning of the word then Ms Wilson is indeed a worthy recipient of the diva title. However if we are looking at the now well used derogatory use of the word for an artist who is unreasonably demanding and full of themselves I don't think we can apply this to Mary. Not in the slightest.

I don't think the "derogatory diva" would be seen inviting the "commoners" of  Royal Tunbridge Wells on stage with her and letting them demonstrate their Stop in the name of love dancing 'skills'

Nor do I think such a diva would hang around in the theatre for as long as is required after the show to sign anything fans required and pose for photos too. Diva's certainly charge more than £6 for a programme and normally sneak out of a theatre via a side door to avoid meeting the 'ordinary' people (recollections of a certain artist from last year come to mind).

With a show in excess of 2 hours and a further 45 minutes getting autographs and photos done together with a signing for Great Ormond Street by Starcards.org (thank you so much Mary and Marshall) this was a very long day for all involved. Yet at no times did the artists show any signs of being frustrated by such a late finish. American artists always seem to be amongst the friendliest performers.

This was yet another huge night to remember in the current season at the Assembly Hall Theatre. Music fans have really been spoiled lately in Tunbridge Wells.

Tonight was the icing on the cake with classic hits from her group days of course being featured together with many other popular tracks. So every track went down incredibly well from the classic Floy Joy to the great 'singalong' track River Deep Mountain High.

This wasn't just a good gig at the Assembly Hall - it was SUPREME!

Created with flickr slideshow.

The Haunting, Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne, Review

The Haunting

Devonshire Park Theatre

Eastbourne

22-27 November 2010

Performance seen 22 November

Cast

Lord Gray : Paul Nicholas
David Filde : Sean Maguire
Mary : Hannah Steele

Understudies: Matthew Medhurst & Hannah Warren-Green

The Haunting is without a shadow of a doubt the best ghost story I have ever seen at the Devonshire Park Theatre.

OK, let's be honest, its also the only ghost story I've ever seen at the theatre but it is excellent none the less.

This was opening night and the production was clearly already possessed by the paranormal as there was a short delay in curtain up while some spooks in the sound system were exorcised.

However to avoid overcrowding in the foyer the bar opened early for those who wanted to experience spirits before the show. (yes that pun went down about as well when I used it at the venue!)

In the event what looked initially as a potentially long delay turned out to be a mere 5 minutes after the scheduled start time.

But if any of this large, mainly elderly, Eastbourne audience thought they were in for a nice peaceful time watching a little play about a spectre they soon found themselves very much mistaken.

A friend of ours who was at the show with his wife said that before the show he was actually very tired, "But I soon woke up!" he continued.

Now I was absolutely determined that nothing was going to make me jump during this show no matter how good it was. Yes, I failed - twice. So much for strong willpower. The rest of this audience were no different with gasps often  followed by quiet guilty laughter occurring throughout.

I'm not going to mention Charles Dickens storyline at all for The Haunting because quite simply it will ruin it for those of you who have not yet had the pleasure of seeing it. Those of you in the South East who can't make Eastbourne this week may wish to note it is on at the Assembly Hall in Tunbridge Wells in the week commencing 4 April 2011.

The Dickensian language is delivered quite beautifully by 2 of our most well known actors and they both have monumental scripts to recite, which they did so without faltering.

Paul Nicholas will always be primarily remembered for the classic TV Series Just Good Friends but he has also appeared in multiple movies. He is also a true stalwart of the theatre and has played in venues all over the country in productions such as 42nd Street and Jekyll and Hyde. Somewhat unusually this was his first visit to the DPT but he is certainly no stranger to Eastbourne having appeared in both the aforementioned musicals at the nearby Congress Theatre. 

Sean Maguire is known primarily for his roles in Grange Hill in which he played "Tegs" Ratcliffe and for his year in Eastenders playing Aiden Brosnan. He then pursued his love of singing for a few years releasing 3 albums before returning to stage and screen. He is also one of a minority of actors who has proved he can be successful in the USA as well as in the UK.

The Haunting marks Hannah Steele's professional stage debut. Whilst her role is nowhere near as demanding as Paul and Sean's in terms of both time on stage and dialogue what she has to do she does brilliantly and really looks the part.

Lets go back to the shocks and surprises. Be ready for plenty of these. The set, which is the study of an ancient manor house, is quite magnificent complete with cobwebs (or maybe The DPT just decided not to pay the cleaners this week) and there is many a clever effect hidden in the set. Despite those critters in the sound system before the start there were no indication of any problems with sound during the performance and it appeared all the mechanical special effects worked perfectly

It was good to see that in addition to making the audience jump on many occasions that the cast aren't immune to shocking themselves either. Having just had one jumpy moment Sean Maguire caught a prop with his leg. When it fell to the floor you could see his genuine surprise with a "what the hell was that?" look at the object. There were a couple of similar occurrences.

I can't fault the Haunting really and judging from audience praise both in the interval and at the end neither could anybody else.

It's a fascinating story, it's superbly acted, it has twists, turns and yes lots of jumpy moments.

The only odd thing was when I left the theatre and wondered why there aren't more spooky mysteries like this? After all the theatre is the perfect setting for a good fright. Murder mysteries we have loads of but good ghost stories are scarce.

Thank goodness we've got this one!

Finally, once again our Devonshire Park Theatre stars have kindly supported Great Ormond Street Childrens' Hospital by signing specially printed official playing cards.

Please keep an eye on www.starcards.org/ and www.flickr.com/photos/starcards/ to see the mounted end products which will be auctioned on eBay to raise funds for the famous childrens' hospital .

If you are a fan you will have the opportunity to bid for a unique piece of memorabilia and to raise money for a very worthy cause at the same time.

Many thanks again to Paul and Sean for doing this with no notice and to the Friends Of The DPT who have allowed me to do these valuable signings during meet-the-cast events.

I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue Assembly Hall Theatre Tunbridge Wells

I'M SORRY I HAVEN'T A CLUE

Assembly Hall Theatre,

Tunbridge Wells

16th November 2010

Host: Jack Dee

Contestants Barry Cryer & Graeme Garden

VS

Tim Brooke-Taylor & Jeremy Hardy

Pianist : Colin Sell
Producer: Jon Naismith

Having already reviewed this brilliant show when it was in Eastbourne I don't anticipate writing reams on this Royal Tunbridge Wells production. Readers may therefore also wish to refer back to my previous review.

It can be found by clicking here

The show was, as usual, a sell-out and it was refreshing seeing every seat in the Assembly Hall occupied.

Many script changes have taken place since we last saw ISIHAC and Jack's comedy routines at the beginning of each half of the show are brilliantly scripted. For anybody who isn't familiar with this part of the show it is where Jack's jokes relate to the local demographic area and it's history.

To produce such routines for each venue must take a considerable amount of time and research.

The improvisation rounds are as hilarious as ever and the audience participation on the kazoos was particularly impressive.

It's always good to go out and have a laugh and as so many have discovered this is one of the best shows for doing just that. 2 hours of improvised hilarity from 5 of the country's most respected entertainers with Colin Sell on the piano and long-term producer Jon Naismith getting a constant ribbing about the fact he was apparently wearing a 'blouse'.

Would you like to own a piece of unique memorabilia and support a worthy charitable cause? Well the ISIHAC team kindly supported Great Ormond Street Hospital by signing special celebrity charity playing cards.

Please keep an eye on www.starcards.org/ and www.flickr.com/photos/starcards/ to see the mounted end products which will be auctioned on eBay for the famous childrens' hospital. Note it may be a while before they are professionally prepared so keep these pages bookmarked.

Left to right Tim Brooke-Taylor, Jack Dee (host), Graeme Garden, Jeremy Hardy, Barry Cryer

As you can see Jack has signed a Jack D(iamonds) on his own and there is a team collection too with Jack signing the Joker this time.

Thank you so much to Jon Naismith and all the ISIHAC team for their time and generosity and to the Assembly Hall staff for allowing me not to freeze at the stage door.

That reminds me there were 3 men looking for autographs at the stage door, none of whom were seeing the show.

As I waited to be let in Barry Cryer came out for a cigarette, he had a bit of a laugh with us and went back in.

One of the men pointed out that Barry had dropped his cigarette butt on the ground.

Joking, I said "Perhaps you should try putting it on eBay?"

My jaw must have dropped as he said "I hadn't thought of that. Do you think it will sell?", as he promptly picked the dog-end up and put it in his bag. "I'll give it a go he said."

Almost as funny as the show itself. Anybody seen Barry Cryer's Butt on eBay?

Don't Dress For Dinner, Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne, Review

Don't Dress For Dinner

Devonshire Park Theatre

Eastbourne

9-13 November 2010

Performance seen 9th November

Cast

(appearance order)

Bernard : Ben Roddy
Jacqueline : Jacqueline Roberts
Robert : Damian Williams
Suzette : Kylie Butler
Suzanne : Carling Connor

George : Patrick Freeman

a Bruce James Production

Have I ever given a farce 5/5 before? Yes? Right scrap all those and put them all down to a 4/5 with immediate effect because Don't Dress For Dinner is quite simply one of the funniest shows ever - at least it is with this cast! I can't recall a funnier production.

2 hours long, but it doesn't feel like it because it is just so well cast, so funny and so blatantly unpredictable you wonder what will happen next. In true Damian Williams style you never really know whether it was in the script or not. Sky 1 viewers will know the very amicable and extremely funny Damian as the host of "Are you smarter than your 10 year old?".

The comments thrown at the stage from an audience member were most certainly not in the script. But Damian, a regular face at the Devonshire Park Theatre, had a hilarious retort for anything that came their way.

The setting is a converted farmhouse in France. Bernard is all set to entertain his young, dishy, Parisian mistress Suzy for the weekend. His wife, Jacqueline, is conveniently going to stay at her mothers. But if anything should fail he has invited his friend and former best man, Robert, to stay with them as an alibi.

A cordon bleu cook has been invited along so he doesn't have to worry about the catering.

What can go wrong? Absolutely everything!

Many farces are funny but normally they build to a rousing crescendo of madness at the finale.

Not this one.

You'll be laughing at the beginning, you'll be laughing in the middle, you'll still be laughing at the end.

On this opening night at the Devonshire Park Theatre there was nothing but glowing praise from the audience.

Ben Roddy as two-timing Bernard feeds off Damian's regular deviations from the script with utmost hilarity turning the show regularly into an impromptu double-act.

The lovely ladies Jacqueline Roberts (another DPT familiar face), Kylie Butler and Carling Connor couldn't be better placed in their roles and should get an Oscar just for some impressive stifling of laughter at the unpredictable actions of Roddy and Williams.

Pretty Carling's natural Canadian accent is impressively turned into a sexy French Canadian dialogue for her stunning naughty mistress role. But is Suzanne the only mistress? Where does Robert's niece come into the action? And who the heck is George?

All these questions can only be answered by getting along to the Devonshire Park Theatre before 13th November. Unless you are totally devoid of a sense of humour this is probably the funniest show you will see this year and perhaps for a long time to come.

Book here http://bit.ly/goandlaugh

Incidentally wondering about the strange picture with the playing cards? Well the cast of Don't Dress For Dinner kindly supported Great Ormond Street Hospital by signing celebrity charity cards.

Please keep an eye on www.starcards.org/ and www.flickr.com/photos/starcards/ to see the mounted end product which will be auctioned on eBay for the famous childrens' hospital .

Boys left to right Ben Roddy, Damian Williams, Patrick Freeman
Girls left to right Jacqueline Roberts , Carling Connor, Kylie Butler

Thanks go to the cast members for their kind generosity and to The Friends Of The Devonshire Park Theatre for allowing this to take place during their meet the cast event on this first night.