No holds barred it seems for my contemporaneous verdict on this one:
Interminable – I can’t imagine how we ever got round to returning for the second half – but we did.
To add to the interminable nature of the evening, it seems we had Pauline, The Dowager Duchess of Castlebar (Janie’s mum) with us that evening. We went to Don Fernando’s (25 years on, now late lamented) for a meal after the show.
Julie Christie will have been the draw for this show, but clearly she and the cast were not enough to rescue the thing. Here is the Theatricalia entry for it. Super cast, actually, when you see the names Robert Hickson, Aden Gillett and Julie Legrand alongside that of Christie.
Here’s what the Leatherhead Advertiser said of it when it transferred on to Guildford:
That was my one word verdict on my log about this one.
Richard Eyre directing Samantha Bond, Eoin McCarthy, Ronald Pickup, Dame Judi and other excellent members of the cast – here is the Theatricalia entry for this play/production.
Our friend Michael Billington didn’t like it much:
So, only me and Janie rating it highly when it first came out then – but Amy’s View transferred to the West End and Broadway picking up Tony nominations and a New York Drama Critic’s award.
I am writing this memory piece on 4 December 2019, having just learnt that the great fast bowler and latterly cricket pundit, Bob Willis, has died today.
For those who cannot be bothered to click through, Graham and I really did meet Bob that day in 1977, down in the tube station, an hour or so after stumps, as we were all heading to different households in Streatham, in his case to visit friends on the test match rest day.
I doubt very much whether Bob recognised me 20 years later on our second encounter; on this occasion in the Albertine Wine Bar in Shepherd’s Bush.
Teresa Bestard was working with me on several projects with Broadcasting Support Services, who at that time were based in Shepherd’s Bush. I had arranged to meet Teresa and David Highton to go through stuff late afternoon/early evening and we agreed we’d have a drink after work together. Teresa chose Albertine because she wanted to celebrity spot.
The bar was not so crowded when we got there and Teresa was a little disappointed not to recognise any celebrities in the bar.
The only person I recognised, on the far side of the bar, was Bob Willis. He was with two other people; one turned out to be the cricket journalist Michael Henderson, the other a mustachioed Aussie, who looked like a superannuated version of Merv Hughes but who was in fact a wine producer.
I told Teresa that a former great England cricketer was in the bar, which was celebrity enough for me. It was celebrity enough for David Highton too, who is/was a keen follower of cricket and indeed was a decent player in his own right when he turned out for the charity matches.
Teresa let it be known that former cricketers did not meet her stringent criteria for celebrity.
David didn’t hang around for very long.
Teresa asked me a bit more about Bob Willis. In the absence of any celebrities who met her stringent criteria, she suddenly promoted Bob to the “worth asking about” level.
I told her a little and suggested that she approach Bob and chat with him.
Teresa was not at all keen on that idea…
…until she progressed to a second glass of wine…
…when she asked again about this cricket business and that cricketer and I suggested that she approach Bob Willis with a greeting along the lines of…
…aren’t you Bob Willis, the great fast bowler and former England cricket captain…
…and take it from there.
So imagine the scene. Teresa Bestard, a pint-sized young woman with a big smile and a heavy Catalan accent, wanders to the other side of the bar, looks up to the relative giant, Bob Willis, presumably saying the above short speech.
I couldn’t hear from my distance, but I did see the astonished expression on Bob Willis’s face and gales of laughter from the group.
Teresa was then chatting with them for a short while, before Michael Henderson came over to me.
You set that up, didn’t you?…
..said Henderson…
…that was really funny. Is she your girlfriend?
No, I said, Teresa’s a work colleague.
Well, anyway, she’s perfectly safe with those two.
Henderson and I chatted a while, which is how I found out, amongst other things, that “Merv Senior” was a wine producer.
Soon enough, Bob, “Merv Senior” and Teresa came over to our table – I think the Bob Willis party had been on the verge of leaving when Teresa intervened with them, so all three of them made to leave.
Is this your girlfriend?…
…Bob Willis asked me, pointing to Teresa.
Oh no, blushed Teresa, you should meet his girlfriend Janie, she’s lovely!
Bob Willis turned to me, saluted me and said…
…mon capitaine…
…before all three of Bob’s party left us, with warm farewells.
This was our one visit to the Proms that season away from the clutches of The Duchess. I had fallen into the habit of treating her to one ort wo Proms each season, by that time. Janie and I occasionally also went to something of our own choosing.
On this occasion, I think the programme looked unusual and yet approachable. Alexander Lazarev conducting the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. I wanted to hear Francesca da Rimini performed live and Janie had acquired a taste for countertenor singing. Plus some unusual pieces.
Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka – Capriccio brillante (on the Jota Aragonesa)
Sergey Prokofiev – Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor
Giya Kancheli – Symphony No. 3
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Francesca da Rimini
Alexander Glazunov – Raymonda, Op 57 No. 26 Grand pas espagnol Act 2- encore
Trad. – Eightsome (reel) – encore
What could possibly go wrong?
Nothing. Nothing went wrong. Although in truth, I don’t recall much about the lesser-known pieces and I cannot for the life of me work out where the countertenor fits in with this collection of pieces. Janie cemented her view that she didn’t like Prokofiev and that big symphony orchestra concerts were not really her favourite thing. Still, we both very much enjoyed our evening.
Here’s what the Glinka sounds like:
Here’s a good recording of the Prokofiev.
The Kancheli is strange yet certainly haunting:
I really enjoyed the Francesca da Rimini. Here is a more recent version of it from The Royal Festival Hall, but you’ll get the idea:
Dig this little bit of the Glazunov:
Fine composer, was Trad. Should have paired up with Anon – they could have been the Lennon and McCartney of the 11th to 19th centuries. Yet Janie insisted that the final encore was Trad’s “Tiresome Reel” rather than Eightsome Reel. I kinda see her point:
Geoffrey Norris in The Telegraph wrote very fondly of this Prom:
Rick Jones was less impressed in The Standard. I’m not quite sure what he means by an errrant electronic high-pitched note. Janie would argue that Prokofiev is meant to sound like that.
Scottish devolution, eh? A bit like Euroscepticism; a gift that keeps on giving for satirists and a pain in the butt for politicians.
I’m not sure if this quickie was ever used.
DEVOLUTION QUICKIE (To the Tune of “The Bonnie Bonnie banks of Loch Lomand”)
INTRO
And now, a referendum broadcast on behalf of the Scottish Nationalist Party.
CHORUS 1
You take the Welsh poll, But we’ll take the Scots poll, And get devolution before ye; Then we in West Lothian, Will never vote again, For that bloody Tony Banks, And Mo Mowlem.
Below is a nice video recording of The Bonnie Banks, with the lyrics on the screen:
Again, this time with Janie, we saw a stellar cast and the work of a fine director (Sam Mendes rather than Trevor Nunn).
My log says:
Sadly, Janie hated it and I had pulled my neck, so we bowed out gracefully at half time. (Well, Janie bowed, I couldn’t bow of course).
My neck condition was doubtless not improved by Janie’s manifest disquiet and the length of the play. Perhaps I had overdone it the previous weekend at Andrea’s BBQ party on the Saturday and Kim & Micky’s evening do the next day.
Apologies to the fine cast who had to do without us for the second half of that evening; Simon Russell Beale, David Harewood & Claire Skinner leading the pack. Trevor Peacock, Colin Tierney, Indira Varma and others supporting well no doubt. It’s either me, or the play, or me & the play…it’s not you, loves. The Theatricalia entry gives you chapter and verse on the cast and crew.
There was a hoo-ha in the press that summer about whether or not Othello could or should be played by a white actor. Having seen Willard White in 1989 and David Harewood in 1997, I was not really party to the phenomenon that Othello is usually played by a white actor and that the play is increasingly rarely performed because some people are uncomfortable about skin colour with regard to that part.
Janie and I saw a preview long before the press night of this production – indeed before most of that press hoo-ha kicked off, which made the hoo-ha seem even more weird to us.
Anyway, Charles Spencer seemed very impressed with the production once press night came around:
I am happy to concede that the critics were right and/but this simply isn’t a play for Janie and probably (even though i am far more partial to Shakespeare than she) not for me either. A pain in the neck is how I remember it.
I went to NewsRevue so often in the 1990s, I’d rarely even note it in my diary.
Thursday night was “writers meeting and see NewsRevue night” most weeks.
But on this particular week things must have been different, as John Random has recently (July 2017) sent me a note from his own diary, as follows:
IT WAS TWENTY YEARS AGO TODAY – SORT OF
Friday August 1st. Newsrevue. Especially good was Ivan’s Alice in LabourLand and Ian Harris’s Me and Paula Jones about Clinton’s sexual harassment case. Ian and Janie were there, as were Barry and Ali Robertson
John is such a nice chap, his note doesn’t actually ask me to upload the lyric so he can read it.
But I’m a nice chap too and I realise that a revisit to the lyric will please John, me and perhaps other Ogblog readers too, so “up it goes”…as Bill Clinton no doubt frequently used to put it.
There were several revisions, the last three of which follow.
This one is from 9 January 1996 and is actually numbered “4”:
NEWS REVUE TONIGHT – REVISION NUMBER GOODNESS KNOWS WHAT
(To the Tune of “Comedy Tonight”)
VERSE 1
THATCHER: Someone familiar,
PAISLEY: Someone peculiar,
ALL: Weirdoes from everywhere at News Revue tonight;
BLOKES: Major’s deflecting,
GIRLS: Emma’s defecting,
ALL: No party whipping here at News Review tonight.
MIDDLE EIGHT 1
GIRLS: Nothing that brings share options down,
BLOKES: Bring on Ken Clarke in place of the clowns
GIRLS: Old exploitations,
BLOKES: New corporations,
ALL: Something to make the boss contrite;
CLIMAX 1
ALL: Barbican tomorrow,
News Revue tonight.
VERSE 2
GIRLS: Alan Clark’s diaries,
BLOKES: The Scott enquiry,
ALL: Sleaze factor everywhere at News Revue tonight;
BLOKES: Serbs’ revolution,
GIRLS: Scots’ devolution,
ALL: Side splitting everywhere at News Revue tonight.
MIDDLE EIGHT 2
GIRLS: Nothing with French nuclear tests,
BLOKES: Show us exploding silicon breasts;
GIRLS: News that reflects life,
BLOKES: Diana’s sex life,
ALL: Satire that puts the world to right;
Next up, revision 5 dated 16 November 1996 – I get the impression I did this in response to a request:
NEWS REVUE TONIGHT – XMAS 1996 REMIX (YOU ASKED FOR IT)
(To the Tune of “Comedy Tonight”)
VERSE 1
MAJOR: Someone familiar,
PAISLEY: Someone peculiar,
ALL: Weirdoes from everywhere at News Revue tonight;
LABOUR: New Labour morals,
TORY: Old Tory quarrels,
ALL: No party whipping here at News Review tonight.
MIDDLE EIGHT 1
GIRLS: Nothing that brings share options down,
BLOKES: Bring on Ken Clarke in place of the clowns
GIRLS: Old exploitations,
BLOKES: New corporations,
ALL: Something to make the boss contrite;
CLIMAX 1
ALL: Barbican tomorrow,
News Revue tonight.
VERSE 2
GIRLS: More cash for questions,
BLOKES: And lewd suggestions,
ALL: Sleaze factor everywhere at News Revue tonight;
BLOKES: Benazir Bhutto,
GIRLS: Tutsis and Hutus,
ALL: Side splitting everywhere at News Revue tonight.
MIDDLE EIGHT 2
GIRLS: Something to treat your Christmas guests,
BLOKES: Madonna and child with big pointy breasts;
GIRLS: News that reflects life,
BLOKES: Bill Clinton’s sex life,
ALL: Satire that puts the world to right;
Finally, the sixth and final revision, a version for Edinburgh 1997:
NEWS REVUE TONIGHT – EDINBURGH 1997 VERSION
(To the Tune of “Comedy Tonight”)
VERSE 1
BLAIR: Someone familiar,
PAISLEY: Someone peculiar,
ALL: Weirdoes from everywhere at News Revue tonight;
LABOUR: New Labour morals,
TORY: Old Tory quarrels,
ALL: No party whipping here at News Review tonight.
MIDDLE EIGHT 1
GIRLS: Nothing that brings share options down,
BLOKES: Take off Ken Clarke bring in Gordon Brown.
GIRLS: Old exploitations,
BLOKES: New corporations,
ALL: Something to make the boss contrite;
CLIMAX 1
ALL: Edinburgh tomorrow,
News Revue tonight.
VERSE 2
GIRLS: War in Tirana,
BLOKES: Canaan Banana,
ALL: Globe trotting everywhere at News Revue tonight;
BLOKES: Congo’s solution,
GIRLS: Scot’s devolution,
ALL: Side splitting everywhere at News Revue tonight.
MIDDLE EIGHT 2
GIRLS: MP’s we chase, much like fox hunts,
BLOKES: Jack Straw and Gordon Brown are……;
GIRLS: …….at lunch;
GIRLS: News that reflects life,
BLOKES: Camilla’s sex life,
ALL: Satire that puts the world to right;
Somehow Janie and I missed this one when it ran at The National a couple of years earlier – I guess we were kinda busy back then. Anyway, we resolved to see the first revival of Skylight at the National, with Bill Nighy and Stella Gonet picking up the leading parts this time around.
It was very good indeed. We saw it wherever it transferred after the RNT
Janie’s diary suggests that she (unusually) did all the booking for this one (perhaps she was keener than me) so I can report that she/we paid £25 per ticket to sit in Row D 9 & 10 of the Vaudeville Theatre – this sort of detail would not be found in my diary, which simply says “Skylight 8.00”.
David Benedict in The Indy had this to say about the transfer – broadly positive I think – making it plain that Nighy & Gonet is a very different casting to Michael Gambon & Lia Williams.
04 Sep 1997, Thu Leatherhead Advertiser (Leatherhead, Surrey, England) Newspapers.com
Andler de Jongh Standard 23 Jul 1997, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Andler Voss Sunday Telegraph 27 Jul 1997, Sun Sunday Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
