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 😀

Nobby Dimon

Do you recognize this man?
Those of you who follow North Country Theatre will. He is Nobby Dimon the founder, and artistic director, of North Country Theatre, based in North Yorkshire.
Sat Nav and I have enjoyed many of his splendid adaptations/productions.

Last night Nobby was the guest speaker at our local Womens Institute meeting, and what an entertaining speaker he was. Although, in truth, we didn't expect anything less.

He spoke about the history of travelling players from way back when and how his company continues in that theme. He had us all laughing at the secrets behind the levitation scene in a recent production (I wondered how they did that).

He told us how he likes to include the audience in the performance; how he likes to include everyone in the lets pretend scenario. Of course Sav Nav and I knew exactly what he meant because part of North Country Theatre, and Nobby's magic, is to involve the audience and sweep them up into a fantastic fun lets pretend bubble.

The next production is Home On The Range. Check out their website for details. www.northcountrytheatre.com

Happy New Year 2008

Hope your new year celebrations went with a bang, and that you're not nursing hangovers today.

Sat Nav and I boogied our way from 2007 into 2008 with only brief interruptions to refill our glasses. Sat Nav is nursing a G&T hangover today, whereas I am not because I only had one glass of Whisky - that was for you Cynn!


We sang and danced to Abba, Shirley Bassey, Shania Twain, Madonna and Olivia Newton-John. Sat Nav's rendition of Don't Cry for me Argentina has to be heard to be appreciated lol! And guess what? She videod me singing Mamma Mia, and not only that, she wants me to upload it for you all to see. Hmmm . . . I'm not so sure lol!
She is very persuasive . . . but what do you think I should do?

Here's wishing you all a healthy, happy and musical 2008.

The Cat's Away

It's been a week of drama for Sat Nav and I. First the Magic of the Musicals, and then Masham Players (our local amateur dramatic society) were performing their autumn production of 'The Cat's Away' on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. This was directed by our good friend and fellow myspacer Brian, who described the play as 'a comedy of a misconstrued situation, misplaced intentions, an over-bearing mother-in-law, and broken garden ornaments!'

The first few rehearsals didn't go well at all, and we thought the play was jinxed. It certainly was a case of the cast pulling everything together at the eleventh hour. In amateur dramatics time is a huge commitment with everybody giving up their valuable time. One of the cast ended up on antibiotics two days before the opening night, another had a sore throat, but carried on valiantly. And the lines . . . well they just refused to be learnt :-) So much so that we thought we were going to have to send Brian for therapy lol!

Ticket sales for Friday and Saturday were very poor because Friday clashed with children in need and Saturday clashed with a musical event happening in the church, so in line with that Sat Nav (business manager) didn't bother to order any extra ice creams for Saturday night . . . big mistake as it turned out. But she is blaming Fiona for that because she talked it over with her and their decision was unanimous lol!

Thursday night we had almost a full house. I was usherette and sold ice cream with Sat Nav and Fiona. My, don't I live the high life. On Thursday nights the cast and crew prepare and serve the audience with an after show supper. You have to be quick on your feet and get out of the way of the stampede down to the supper room at the end of the show.

Friday night I am happy to report we had almost a full house too, I am happy to say that word had got around just what a great production it was. The cast and crew all signed a programme, and so did the writer Ian Hornby who had traveled quite a way to attend. Brian auctioned the programme for children in need and raised £30 which Sat Nav will be banking for them tomorrow. Ice cream sales went well, but going on past performances Sat Nav and Fiona still decided there should be enough. Wrong!

Saturday night sales started very slowly and then whoosh . . . almost a full house again and guess what? They ran out of ice creams. Sat Nav was mortified.

So congratulations to the director Brian who pulled it off in the end and to the cast and crew.

It makes me realize how much I miss treading the boards. Maybe next time. Whoops! I can feel a song coming on.

Masham Players Spring 2008 Production dates 13th, 14th, 15th March.