
What did those poor wrens ever do to you? *
Stephen Sondheim:
Boxing Day is also known as St Stephen's Day or *Wren Day.

Stephen Sondheim:
Boxing Day is also known as St Stephen's Day or *Wren Day.
Sparklers on a pizza at Palm 5 for The Madam's birthday!Sigh.
We're back, in full recovery mode after a fabulous week in Benalmadena Costa for M. Arcati's birthday. Definitely a week of contrasts - we went from three days of this...
...to this, overnight!
Of course, despite the apocalyptic weather that could have otherwise put a damper on proceedings, we were undeterred. Our fave beach bar Palm 5 (and just about everything else along the paseo) may have been closed for two days, but we sniffed out the plucky couple of places that did decide to open and ate (very well), drank and made merry, as is our wont.
Special mention must go to a new discovery [to us, anyhow; it was always there, and always looked a bit forbidding, but has had a makeover and evolved into a very decent restaurant, indeed], Beny's:
Yes, that's us (around 10 seconds in), centre stage as ever!
Not content with that, of course (after the obligatory siesta) we ventured out to sample the nightlife in the gay bars in La Nogalera in Torremolinos every night as well:

Causing mayhem wherever we go!
All in all, it was a faboo and much deserved break, indeed!
...But what did we miss while we were away?
The biggest (and most horrific) news was of course the 30,000 deaths and devastation left behind by the earthquake on the Turkey-Syria border; other items occupying the headlines included (one year on) the continuing Ukrainian war, the scandal over that suspicious loan to Boris Johnson and the role played by the current BBC chairman, continued paranoia about China, more nasty violence in Israel, and - shock! horror! - Amsterdam is clamping down on marijuana usage in public places.
We missed celebrating the centenary of the utterly faboo Dora Bryan:
...(and Franco Zeffirelli's today) and the 75th birthday of Alice Cooper (as well as the birthdays of Hylda Baker, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Lana Turner, Mamie Van Doren, Carmen Miranda, Ida Lupino, Leontyne Price, Dame Mary Quant, Holly Johnson and heartthrob Cristiano Ronaldo).
We also missed marking the very sad departure of the peerless Mr Burt Bacharach for Fabulon [see my previous tributes here, here and (by association) here], and so, by way of a tribute, here is one of my personal faves written by the maestro:
But did we bring anything back with us for your delectation? I hear you ask, dear reader.
Of course we did! The remarkable and [ahem!] sylph-like Soraya and her anthem to that "Little-Holland-by-the-Mediterranean", Carihuela!
Are we glad to be back?
NO!!

From Victoria to Elizabeth: The Songs Go On! 86 Glorious Years of London's Famous Players' Theatre - the title says it all, really! Saturday's matinee show at the quaint Phoenix Artists Club by Britain's longest-serving Music Hall troupe was a brilliantly entertaining affair, and did indeed feature a vast range of songs from the centuries spanning both Queens' reigns; such standards as My Old Man Said Follow the Van, Hold Your Hand Out You Naughty Boy, A Little of What You Fancy (Does You Good), There's Something About a Sailor, Joshua, Joshua, On Mother Kelly's Doorstep, Dear Old Pals, Give Me The Moonlight, A Bird in a Gilded Cage and (the hilariously-performed) Oh, Oh, Antonio to name but a few, taking in Gilbert & Sullivan and Sandy Wilson for good measure, and we loved it.
We sang our hearts out, applauded like mad and congratulated the troupers after the event - including their new Honorary Vice President (the former "boy wonder of the piano") Mr Bobby Crush!
Host (and Chairman of the Players) Lee Taylor held proceedings together with his narratives about the long history of the Players Theatre Company - including the stars who launched their careers in the troupe, such as Clive Dunn, Peter Ustinov and Hattie Jacques, and the fact that that worldwide smash musical The Boy Friend began as a commission by the Players.
It was of course long-serving Players' Theatre stalwart Miss Jan Hunt who really "stole the show" - especially her brilliant Daddy Wouldn't Buy Me a Bow-Wow:
She, and the whole company, deserve glowing praise (yet again!) for giving us such a brilliant show.
Diverting somewhat (but not too far) away from the weekend's jolly japes, this being a Tacky Music Monday I think you too, dear reader, deserve nothing less than a good old-fashioned sing-a-long to lift the spirits! And here are some classics for you, starting with the very number Miss Hunt sang, performed here by a lady whose roots were also in Music Hall before she went on to bigger and brighter things:
From the biopic of the greatest Music Hall artiste of them all:
Quite a "surprise, surprise" indeed, from Cilla:
And to finish, a marvellous medley of mirth, merriment and musical mellifluousness (Oooh!):
Have a good week, “raise the roof — and to hell with the London, Chatham and Dover Railway!” *
[* read more about that in the New York Times, of all places]



Probably one of my favourite musicals of all time, the semi-autobiographical tale of a timid Vaudeville-player-turned-stripping-superstar and her domineering mother, Gypsy was an extremely unlikely storyline for a musical way back in 1959 [hardly the most enlightened of times] - yet, with its book (loosely based on Gypsy Rose Lee's salacious memoirs) by Arthur Laurents, music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and the imperious presence of the musical sensation Ethel Merman as its "Mama Rose", it was a huge success.
In a mirror of the plot of overbearing stage mother trying to dominate her children and live her dreams of stardom vicariously through them, it was in fact Miss Merman who pushed the show to be produced in the first place - yet, however, to her eternal chagrin she lost out to Rosalind Russell when it came to casting the film adaptation!
I love Gypsy because of its brash campery, and its plethora of end-of-the-evening arm-stretch-gesturing belt-em-out numbers - and so, Curtain up! Light the lights! Let's start with an unbeatable one:
[Love this - but I'm also rather fond of the Angela Lansbury version]Needless to say, "our gang" went along en masse to see the 2015 West End revival, starring Imelda Staunton, which was utterly phenomenal! - read more about that here.
Fab-u-lous!
RIP, Stephen Joshua Sondheim (22nd March 1930 – 26th November 2021)
[One of a series of tributes I will be posting to Mr Sondheim this week.]
Previous "Sondheim of the Day" entries:



What was he – a comedian, an author, a radio satirist, a serious actor, a soap star, an archivist, or a leading authority on British music-hall and variety entertainment?In his long career, he was part of the line-up of David Frost's follow-up to That Was The Week That Was (the short-lived Not So Much A Programme, More A Way Of Life), presented the satirical radio show The News Huddlines for more than a quarter of a century, had his own variety show on the BBC, played up to comic "type" in numerous comedies from Up Pompeii to Benidorm, played the local undertaker in Coronation Street for eight years, and surprised audiences with lauded dramatic roles in such series as Dennis Potter's Lipstick On Your Collar and Broadchurch. Phew!
Hudd was all of these, but saw himself primarily as a man born too late to fulfil his dream of life as an old-style variety comic, which is how he started out in the late 1950s at the bottom of bills topped by artists such as the comic Max Miller and the male impersonator Hetty King.
In 1958 Hudd’s agent, Morris Aza, suggested he audition for Launcelot Gobbo in The Merchant of Venice. As Hudd later explained: “Morris said, ‘In about three or four years variety will be finished. You’ve got to learn scripts and do other things.’ It was great advice. I’ve kept on the move ever since.”
And in the past two decades this diversity consolidated into a well-earned niche for him in the pantheon of British national treasures. With his round, laughter-lined clown’s face and warm, gap-toothed grin (but with a hint of sadness and loneliness around the eyes), he could always be relied upon to raise a smile, inspire a sing-song or amaze audiences with his knowledge of the good old days.
He wrote or co-authored around 20 books; some, such as Roy Hudd’s Cavalcade of Variety Acts (1997), remain invaluable records of long-gone performers and their accompanying billing. Without Hudd (whose own variety billing was the Peculiar Person), how would we be aware that outlandish turns such as the Mysterious Werth (Banana Skin and Stone Manipulator), Tom Mennard (Juggles with Live Geese), Juna (the Human Gasometer) and the Three Aberdonians (Too Mean to Tell You What They Do) had captivated audiences back in the day?

















Sheridan Smith is to play singer and TV presenter Cilla Black in a new three-part drama, ITV has announced.Should be fun...
The actress will star as the famous Liverpudlian in the drama, by Jeff Pope, which will "capture the essence of 1960s Liverpool".
It will look at her friendship with Ringo Starr which brought her to the attention of Beatles' manager Brian Epstein and producer George Martin.
Cilla, written by Pope - who, along with Steve Coogan won a Bafta for his screenplay for the film Philomena, will follow her journey from a young typist under her real name of Priscilla White, to meeting and befriending Brian Epstein and then recording and launching her career at Abbey Road studios.
"Her life story is fascinating," said Sheridan. "I'm so excited and can't wait to start filming."


In 1974 he joined the board of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers and served as president from 1980 to 1986. He was head of the Songwriters Hall of Fame from 2001 to 2011, and was Chairman Emeritus at his death.And here are just a few of those classics:
The society's current president, Paul Williams, said in a statement: "As a lyric writer, Hal was simple, concise and poetic - conveying volumes of meaning in fewest possible words and always in service to the music.
"It is no wonder that so many of his lyrics have become part of our everyday vocabulary and his songs... the backdrop of our lives."
In 2011, David and Burt Bacharach were awarded the Gershwin Prize for popular song by the US Library of Congress, the first time a songwriting team has been given the honour.