Lady Gaga Performs in Carlisle - BBC-Radio 1's Big Weekend 15th May 2011

Talk about making an entrance! Lady Gaga was a tad late (at least half an hour) and when her dancers did appear they carried a coffin on stage with them. As you can imagine big hype and big drama . . . We thought is it Countess Dracula? When the lid eventually opened we had Lady Gaga standing in profile. Why? Because she was cleverly making full use of ‘stage props and costumes’ and purporting to be pregnant: to mega crowd reaction she began to sing her first fabulous number Born This Way. Hmm, a very interesting entrance. Rebirth!

She was ready to ‘deliver’ and ‘deliver’ she did. But you may be wondering who delivered the baby. Yes, it was (for those of you who have read Beautiful Strangers) Dr. Hyacinth Dickinson, obstetrician/gynaecologist, who just happened to be in the audience. Dr. D loves Lady Gaga, and (in the novel) she has a mother and baby home in Carlisle. So a match it was.

Poker Face and Bad Romance followed, along with Telephone and Alejandro, to name but a few. These are my faves. Don’t you think she has a look of Madonna and that her performance closely resembled Madonna’s when she was on stage? Not a bad thing. I love Madonna and think she will be well impressed that Lady Gaga is following in her footsteps. 

An Awesome Performance!

I love Madonna and think she will be well impressed that Lady Gaga is following in her footsteps

I have a question for you, Lady Gaga: Was it you having a brew and chocolate muffin in the Moto services nearby . . ? 

I’m sure it was 😀

Sleepers Awake presented by Masham Players Spring 2009

The spring production of Masham Players Sleepers Awake by Alan Griffiths was billed as a lighthearted play.


I went along to the opening night, Thursday 19th March, and was entertained throughout.

The programme said:
A strange visit from the electricity board man followed soon afterwards by a visit from the gas board man, may cause a wedding to be postponed and the promise of a holiday in Scotland that no one wants. For Mr & Mrs Rainbow these strange events bring something almost surreal into their normal quiet lives. Will they be able to cope with what is asked of them? Or will the whole episode end in absolute chaos and danger?

The audience loved it!

The play was superbly directed by Marjorie Tate, and the two new members, Elizabeth Wilcox and Charlie Andrew, were exceptionally good.

The cast of six performed with gusto. Jonathan Trenholme and Susan Rouse, as Mr. and Mrs. Rainbow, played their parts extremely well, particularly the hilarious karate scene, and the reaction of their neighbour, Doreen, was played to perfection by Pam Grimsditch.

Add to this Ron Smith and Charlie Andrew playing Ivan Gromyenko and George Phipps Sanderson with enthusiastic exuberance. And Elizabeth Wilcox as Sharon, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Rainbow, whose wedding may have to be postponed, and what do you get? An absurd situation, but a situation that the audience loved.

At the end of the performance I heard comments like: perfect casting, brilliant acting, just the right length, and the best yet!

Congratulations to Masham Players for another outstanding production.

HOWEVER, I have one criticism.

There was no National Anthem played at the beginning of the performance, and I, among many others, would like to know why not?

The Electrical Wizard of the North

So we live in the country - out in the sticks actually - but on Tuesday night The North Country Theatre Company brought their traveling production of 'The Electrical Wizard of the North' devised and superbly directed by Nobby Dimon to our village hall.

We are heavily involved in this happening ;-) We are the box office and afternoon catering team for the company and we also look after them throughout the performance. We know from personal experience just how welcome that cup of tea or cold drink is at the interval. I think Sat Nav's warm mince pies will go down in history they even got a mention in the 'thank yous' at the end of the performance ;-)

We have seen three productions by North Country Theatre now, and had two of them actually performed in our village hall. We like having them here and they like coming. They are a great bunch of actors, terrifically talented and this times production had some brilliant tricks that had us all wondering 'how on earth did they do that?' Of course they weren't telling. But how did Mystic Marie levitate? We all want to know!

The Electrical Wizard of the North was billed as an hilarious ripping yarn from the heyday of the Edwardian Music Hall. It included Hypnotism - Telepathy - Electricity - Mental Suggestion - Magnetic Touch - Clairvoyance. Wow! It was brilliant. I even took part . . . whey! Simon Kirk, who played Dr. Walford Bodie, involved me in one of the telepathy tricks and how he did it I do not know!

They are still touring with this production until December 15th and if you go to their website North Country Theatre you will find out if they are performing near you.
In 2008 they will be presenting an adaptation of 'The Prisoner of Zenda'. I can't wait to see what Nobby will do with this!