Jolson impersonations in Hitler's bunker

Just seen the photo of Eva Braun dressed up as the late, great Al Jolson. She looks very fetching, if you like that sort of thing.

It is particularly poignant that this was taken in the bunker during the closing overs of the war. Hitler was obviously feeling less than chirpy at this point as all his plans for world domination lay in ruins, and Eva thought that her famous rendition of 'Swanee River' might cheer him up.

History does not record the Fuhrer's reaction to this but suffice to say he put a loaded Luger to his head and pulled the trigger. "That could have gone better," she must have thought. That's show business.

Barry-bound on the trail of Gavin and Stacey

Knowing she's a big fan of  'Gavin and Stacey', we took our Australian friend Adrienne and her husband Rog on a trip to Barry to show them the exotic location where the hit TV series is filmed. 

Caroline, Rog and Adrienne get ready to order
breakfast at Big Dave's Cafe in Barry

Arriving at about 11.30am, we decided to dine out in style at Big Dave's Cafe where we opted for Nessa's Big Breakfast. Lovely grub although the fried eggs looked like the novelty variety you can buy in joke shops.


Adrienne in the booth where Nessa dispenses
cash for the slot machines

 We went on to the seafront - which was remarkably busy despite the freezing February cold. After buying a 'Oh! What's occuring?' fridge magnet, Adrienne was ecstatic when she was allowed to sit in the booth where Nessa dishes out the change in the slots arcade.


Adrienne in seventh heaven outside Gavin & Stacey's house

We braved the cold to play the Smuggler's Cove Adventure Golf course - which Adrienne won, much to her surprise. Then, we drove around searching for the house where 'Stacey' lives - 47 Trinity Road. Finding it, we parked up and took a variety of photos outside. As we were about to leave, the front door opened and a the ovner, Glenda Kenyon, invited us in to look around and take photos. Adrienne nearly exploded with delight.

Glenda is a lovely lady who spends hours every day showing fans of the show round her house - which is full of framed cuttings from newspapers about the show and her house.


Glenda Kenyon, owner of the house where Stacey lives in Barry

She is a great tour guide and told us how 'Gavin and Stacey' came to be filmed there and all about the show's stars. It was an amazing experience - and to top it off we drove to Gavin's house in Billericay, Essex - which is actually a couple of miles away in Barry.

Adrienne and Caroline on Stacey's sofa.

It was an unforgettable day, and Adrienne will be going home to Australia with a story and photos that will amaze her friends.

Opening night nerves

I had a nerve-wracking time last night at the opening of the Hole in One Act Play Festival which featured my play 'Bunkered'. I was so nervous I missed a sound cue on my own play - and we never got to hear the seagull poop on the Times crossword.

Afterwards, Kevin Myers, who wrote 'Surviving the Century', one of the other plays,  came up to me in the bar and said, "You know what it needed - a seagull sound effect." He was spot on - unlike the poop. If only I'd pressed the right button!

We had a really good-sized and appreciative audience, which was very rewarding as we were unsure whether people would be interested in unknown, untested plays.

Let's hope we get good crowds in for the rest of the week. A big thankyou to everyone involved - the wonderful writers, talented cast, dedicated directors and technical crew (especially sound!).

Special thanks must go to James Reynolds who co-ordinated the event - a thankless task but one he's done with energy and commitment. Here's to the next four nights!

Things have changed a lot

A song that I co-wrote in 1972 has just re-surfaced on a new CD by an old friend of mine, Drew Millin. The song. 'Things Have Changed A Lot', was one of a bunch of tunes we wrote when sharing a bungalow in sunny Torquay. I was a film student on holiday for the summer and Drew was selling advertising space on the local paper The Herald Express. But secretly, we both wanted to be rock stars - although as our band, The BOI, was a weird fusion of Crosby Stills and Nash and Frank Zappa, this was unlikely. We were either years ahead of our time - or rubbish.

As the band's producer (alias Yorick Zimmerman) I sent demo tapes off to every record label, including the Beatles' Apple and John Peel's Dandelion Records, and each of them in turn rejected us.

Above is the letter sent by legendary producer George Martin politely saying no. We were not, as we thought, the next Beatles.

Now one of the "pleasantly formed" songs, as George Martin described them, is on Drew's CD 'Don't Rush Me'.

Read all about it here - and buy a copy!
http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/news/Balladeer-art-form-taking-time/article-2703444-detail/article.html

The drama of crazy golf

My play 'Bunkered' finally had a full cast for a rehearsal - and it was marvellous to see them all bringing my characters to life. More people also equals more laughs.

Particularly good to see Alex Wilson become belligerent businessman Bulstrode and playing crazy golf with his very bored "personal assistant" Poppy played by Sam Jones.

Here's a photo of them in action.

To see them in the flesh come along to the Hole in One Act Play Festival at the Dolman Theatre in Newport, 12 - 16 October. For tickets and more info phone 01633 263670.

From page to stage

It's amazing watching a play you've written make the transition from page to stage, and seeing the characters that once only existed in your imagination brought to life by talented actors. Last week's rehearsal of my play, 'Bunkered' which is part of the Hole in One Act Play Festival at the Dolman Theatre, was amazing. I sat snapping away as my wife, Caroline, directed the action, and then put the best photos into this short video. Hope you enjoy it.

Wishes do come true (when it comes to crazy golf)

So there I was, desperate for a crazy golf course to take photos of the cast of my one act play 'Bunkered' which is part of the Hole in One Act Play Festival.

Where shall it be? I wondered. Barry Island perhaps - there's a very good pirate one there - or possibly Tredegar Park.

Whilst I was pondering this, as part of the Big Splash event held over the August Bank Holiday weekend a crazy golf course was built on the doorstep of the Dolman Theatre.

A quick chat with the owner, Dave Lovatt, revealed that he's a theatre director from Bristol with a passion for crazy golf courses. Could we take photos of our cast on his course? No problem, he replied. So we did, for which, much thanks, Dave. His crazy golf course, by the way, is brilliantly fiendish and includes a pool table!

Dave is pictured, centre, at the photoshoot with Playgoers Bruno Cook and Lauren Brown. More details about the photos can be found here: http://newportplaygoers.wordpress.com/

Information about Dave's show 'Carny Village' can be found here: http://invisiblecircus.co.uk/invisible_circus/TheInvisibleCircus/Home.html