A Long Weekend In The Peak District With Wendy Jacobi, 1 to 4 June 1990

I got to know Wendy Jacobi through my workplace, BDO Consulting. We became pals. She was on some sort of placement/exchange thing with BDO, although I recall she stuck around in the UK for a few years and actually became quite good friends with Janie once Janie and I found each other a couple of years after this short trip.

Wendy wanted to see a bit more of England and I had a yearning to see the Derbyshire peaks again, not least because my largest client tended to name a lot of its subsidiaries and initiatives after Derbyshire towns, so I had constant reminders of the place. I had happy memories of that part of England from my Keele days.

My diary is booked out for the Friday and the only thing written in it is 9.30, so I suspect that was the hour at which I picked up Wendy from her temporary digs on Shroton Street in Marylebone, just across the way from The Seashell Of Lisson Grove. As I write 30 years after the event, June 2020, I’ll be doing a FoodCycle delivery run across the way from there tomorrow – small world.

On the Friday, we stopped off to look at the light peaks and in particular Chatsworth House along the way.

But our mission was to walk the dark peaks. I don’t think we had actually booked anywhere; we just ventured in hope. Indeed we ventured to Hope. We ended up basing ourselves in Hope, at Underleigh, where I ended up again with Janie about three years later:

Hope Springs Eternal – A Long Weekend At Underleigh In Hope, Derbyshire, 26 February To 1 March 1993

Wendy and I really liked Underleigh and the walking we did around there. It was to be my last walking break for some time; just three weeks later I was struck down with my multipally prolapsed discs and was hardly able to walk again for quite some time.

But my most abiding memory of this short break was a cassette that Wendy brought with her for the drive. It contained (rather poor quality) recordings of a couple of Allan Sherman albums, which I enjoyed very much. I’m sure those recordings helped to inspire my NewsRevue lyric writing career when that burgeoned a year or two later.

The earworm that really stuck in my head for that whole trip was a parody of Harry Belafonte’s song Matilda Matilda, entitled My Zelda:

Wendy and I sang it most of the way up to the dark peaks…

…and pretty much all the way back again on the Monday.

The School For Scandal by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Olivier Theatre, 19 May 1990

I thought this one was very good and I am pretty sure Bobbie thought so too.

An amazing cast directed by Peter Wood. Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry – feast your eyes on that list of names. the big draw names were Jane Asher, John Neville, Prunella Scales and Dennis Quilly, but there is a plethora of fine actors and actresses on that list, several on the up with small parts in this production. Also notable was Richard Bonneville, who played Charles Surface, and is latterly very well known as High Bonneville.

Michael Coveney in The Observer was not so keen on this:

Coveney on ScandalCoveney on Scandal Sun, Apr 29, 1990 – 54 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh in The Guardian seemed to like it a bit better:

de Jongh on Scandalde Jongh on Scandal Thu, Apr 26, 1990 – 24 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Troilus And Cressida by William Shakespeare, Swan Theatre, 19 April 1990

Writing this one up more than 30 years later, I am a bit confused about when I saw it and with whom, if indeed anyone else. I do know for sure that I saw this production at The Swan and was very taken with it.

I took a week off work just after Easter that year, visiting various friends about the place. I’ll write that up as best I can in due course. But in my appointments diary it clearly states “Troilus” 19 April.

Roll the clock forward to November, I saw Much Ado at the Royal Shakespeare Memorial with Moose. Tucked in with the Much Ado programme is the Troilus programme.

So did I simply pick up the programme in November having seen a preview of Troilus on my tod in April, or did I duck out in April and see this in the autumn with Moose? I think the former, but I’ll see if Moose can help me unpick this one.

Anyway, what a cast and what a fine production I recall. Ralph Fiennes was Troilus and I think it might have been a conversation with him at Lambton Place (my health club, latterly BWW) that encouraged me to see a preview of this production at Stratford.

Amanda Root played Cressida very well and David Troughton was a top notch Hector, Paterson Joseph a fine Patroclus. Wonderful supporting cast full of names that latterly became big. Sam Mendes was a bit of a Shakespeare novice back then.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

Nicholas de Jongh seemed pretty convinced in the Guardian:

de Jongh on Troilusde Jongh on Troilus Sat, Apr 28, 1990 – 21 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Coveney loved it in the Observer…

Coveney on TroilusCoveney on Troilus Sun, Apr 29, 1990 – 54 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

…as did I. I only wish I could remember the peripheral details of my visit.

Luther Vandross, Wembley Arena, 24 March 1990

Luther at Wembley April 1989; see review below for link/full credits

I saw Luther Vandross with the same crowd as The Shaughraun (National Theatre) and Paul McCartney (also at Wembley Arena) a few weeks earlier in 1990.

Paul McCartney, Wembley Arena, 23 January 1990

I think this Luther one might have been Rosemarie Whiteley’s idea, although it might have been Stephen Lee. I think it was Stephen who acted as ringleader for gathering names and booking tickets for this sort of thing.

The diary merely says “Luther” which suggests that we met at Wembley and didn’t arrange any pre-concert gathering.

I do recall lots of chat, especially among the females in our group, as to whether we were going to get Fat Luther, Thin Luther or “Some Weight In-between” Luther. They were convinced that his weight was “a thing”. The Guardian review below from Luther’s previous visit in 1989 does suggest that his weight was very much “a thing”.

If I recall correctly we got “In-between” Luther.

I was not a huge fan of Wembley Arena for gigs – insufficiently intimate for my taste – but I remember that this concert worked really well there. Quite a big sound, Luther’s live act.

It was actually a very good concert. I remember thoroughly enjoying it. I had Luther’s Greatest Hits by that time so was familiar with most of the numbers we saw that night; it was pretty much the standard Luther fare I think. I believe his 1989 concerts had been vastly over-subscribed, hence the return in 1990 to do several more.

The video below shows you what he looked like at Wembley, but the live footage was shot the previous year, 1989, with Big Luther:

Indeed, if you like this stuff, you can watch lots of videos from his 1989 Wembley concerts on the Luther Vandross official fan site – here.

I can’t find reviews from 1990 but the 1989 appearances landed the following Guardian review:

Sweeting On Vandross 1989Sweeting On Vandross 1989 Sat, Apr 1, 1989 – 21 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

The Good Person of Sichuan by Bertolt Brecht, Olivier Theatre, 3 March 1990

Very good indeed…

I said in the log, which is almost to be expected with a cast as fine as this under Deborah Warner.

This was an evening at The National with Bobbie. I have subsequently seen a good “Good Person” at The Orange Tree with Janie too, but this Olivier production was especially fine in my view.

Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry.

Superb cast; Bill Paterson, Fiona Shaw, Susan Engel, Pete Postlethwaite and fine support too.

Michael Billington found the production powerful but sedate:

Billington on SichuanBillington on Sichuan Thu, Nov 30, 1989 – 31 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Ratcliffe liked it but reckoned that Warner was better at doing RSC Studio work. I bet Deborah Warner appreciated that epithet.

Ratcliffe on SichuanRatcliffe on Sichuan Sun, Dec 3, 1989 – 43 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Salome by Oscar Wilde, Phoenix Theatre, 10 February 1990

Oh my goodness we did not like this one. My note in the log:

Dreadful – performed in slow motion. Probably would have left at half time had there been an interval.

That’s not good.

Super cast. Steven Berkoff as Herod and directing it. Katharine Schlesinger as Salome. Rory Edwards as John…

…just didn’t work as a production. Frankly it’s not much of a play in my view.

Kate Kellaway seemed to like it:

Kellaway on SalomeKellaway on Salome Sun, Nov 12, 1989 – 42 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Billington seems to share my doubts about the play but praised the production.

Billington on SalomeBillington on Salome Thu, Nov 9, 1989 – 27 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Paul McCartney, Wembley Arena, 23 January 1990

Paul McCartney at Wembley January 1990; see review below for link/full credits

Only a couple of weeks earlier I had seen The Shaughraun at the National Theatre with this “West End Client” crowd from Hesketh House:

The Shaughraun by Dion Boucicault, Olivier Theatre, 8 January 1990

We saw a few things as a group around that time. Actually I think there was a somewhat enlarged crowd for the Paul McCartney. I think Stephen Lee was the ringleader for these gatherings and this one proved especially popular. I have a feeling Beatrice was there for this one and I think a good few other people.

I am glad that I have seen Paul McCartney perform live; of course this type of 20 to 30 years on concert covers a lot of classics, but in truth I don’t think this was a great gig. I didn’t think Wembley Arena suited this type of band/arrangement (insufficiently intimate – although you are unlikely to get an intimate gig with Paul McCartney).

Now we live in the internet era, I have quickly and easily found and embedded a recording of the whole gig and the Guardian review from the time – see below.

Aspden on McCartneyAspden on McCartney Mon, Jan 15, 1990 – 38 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Bent by Martin Sherman, Lyttelton Theatre, 13 January 1990

I have very limited recollection of this one, other than finding it shocking and hard to watch.

My diary is ludicrously light on detail and I got confused between this one and another production I failed to get a programme for. In this case, I think we saw a preview and the programmes weren’t ready.

I dined with (presumably) Bobbie at the Archduke before the theatre and we then went on to Jilly’s place, presumably for a birthday party. The diary suggests we had lunch on Sunday also.

Fortunately for the theatre element of the weekend, there are Theatricalia entries and reviews to help me out. Here is the former – click here.

Below is Michael Billington’s top notch review of this production:

Billington on BentBillington on Bent Mon, Jan 22, 1990 – 38 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Coveney in The Observer described it as “grim”. Hard to disagree.

Coveney on BentCoveney on Bent Sun, Jan 28, 1990 – 60 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

The Shaughraun by Dion Boucicault, Olivier Theatre, 8 January 1990

I’ve no idea why I didn’t go and see this production with Bobbie Scully at some point during its nearly two-year on-off run. I have a funny feeling we had planned to go and then events intervened. Perhaps she saw it at that point while I was left in a state of shaughraun with regard to this play/production, until some client friends came along with a yearning to see some theatre.

I’m not sure whose idea it was to go and see this in early 1990. Perhaps someone asked me to suggest a production for an outing…or perhaps I tagged along with something they had already planned. I’m pretty sure that Stephen Lee, Rosemarie Whiteley and Suan Yap were part of that group, but my log is silent on the detail of who made up that “crowd”. I’d guess there must have been at least five or six of us to constitute a “crowd” in my log.

Anyway, I/we voted the production good. Fabulous cast, with Stephen Rea dominating the proceedings in the eponymous role. Lots for the superb supporting cast to do. Howard Davies directed it very well.

Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for this play/production.

Below is Michael Billington’s review from May 1988 when this production started:

Billington on The ShaughraunBillington on The Shaughraun Fri, May 13, 1988 – 31 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com Michael Ratcliffe in The Observer also liked the production a lot. It didn’t get extended twice for no reason… Ratcliffe on the ShaughraunRatcliffe on the Shaughraun Sun, May 15, 1988 – 39 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

A Life In The Theatre by David Mamet, Theatre Royal Haymarket, 9 December 1989

This was my last visit to the theatre in the 1980s.

I don’t remember much about it. Even when I wrote up my notes, while the memory must have been a bit fresher (more than 30 years have now passed; just a few years would have passed when I first logged this production).

Bobbie was with me that night, but I doubt if she remembers it much either.

I was fresh back from the USA and had by chance seen some Mamet while there…

Oh Hell!: The Devil And Billy Markham by Shel Silverstein, Billy Gould In Hell by David Mamet, Lincoln Center, Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, 26 November 1989

…so A Life In The Theatre probably seemed comparatively tame Mamet. Indeed, the one thing I do recall about it was feeling that it was tame Mamet.

One reason I wanted to see this production was the presence of Samuel West in the cast. I knew young Sam from school. He had been polite enough to come with his parents to watch me in the school play, Twelfth Night. more than 10 years earlier…

Twelfth Night, Alleyn’s School, 12, 14, 15 & 16 December 1978

…so I felt I ought to return the favour. After all, perhaps his nascent career could do with some assistance. As it has transpired, Sam’s subsequent, extremely successful “life in the theatre” did not need my help. I have seen him on stage a couple of times since.

Denholm Elliot was also a draw to this production.

Fortunately, despite my poor memory of the piece and production, there are well-crafted reviews to be had which confirm that it was a very good production.

Michael Billington gave young Sam a good review as “an admirable foil” for Denham Elliot’s character. Would Billington have praised my “conviction and self assurance” if he had seen Twelfth Night in 1978? Mercifully, we’ll never know. But I did get to know Michael Billington quite well over the years, through theatre and cricket.

Billington On A Life In The TheatreBillington On A Life In The Theatre Thu, Nov 2, 1989 – 30 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Ratcliffe’s tepid review begins at the bottom of the previous column with the words, “David Mamet’s A Life In The”…and then goes on:

Ratcliffe on A Life In the TheatreRatcliffe on A Life In the Theatre Sun, Nov 5, 1989 – 50 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com