“Anything off the trolley, dears?”
Now I know that even for me this is a bizarre opening to a report about Over The Rainbow (Or “OTR” as we say in show-business), especially if you are not a Harry Potter aficionado, but honestly, it has everything to do with one of the most fun filled lunches I have ever enjoyed.
Let me enlighten you. Few of you will be aware of the agonising dilemma I faced when the OTR dates were published and I discovered I was away on holiday for my local(ish) Dumfries gig; But what was to be done? Should I plan a road trip to the cosmopolitan Cumbrian metropolis that is……Barrow in Furness? Perhaps I could ride the overnight bus to a venue some where “Down South”? Or maybe I should even cancel my holiday? (Well possibly not cancel, but I certainly thought about travelling to Wales a day later than the rest of my family. So that’s why I ignored “Parenting Lesson no 34: Never feel the need to be defensive with your teenager”, and uncharacteristically snapped “Yes, I really am that sad”, to my incredulous daughter, when I foolishly shared my quandary with my wholly unsupportive family). .
Anyway, “Manana” being another of my watchwords, I shelved the problem, adopting a Micawber like attitude that something would turn up. And so it did in the form of a charity VIP fund raising lunch in Newcastle for Macmillan with an OTR ticket for a Whitley Bay show thrown in. (At this point, it’s appropriate to say both “thank goodness” and “thank you” for the forensic press scanning activities of the lovely ladies on DS and on FB, for at the time the event was publicised, I was being sand blasted in the Outer Hebrides and would have otherwise missed reading it).
But back to the tale. What self respecting Northern FF could resist such a wonderful and altruistic lure? Certainly not me! Money swiftly changed hands and a ticket was all mine!
Like all meetings, it dragged on so it was 11.30am before I hurtled out of the office like a mad woman (nothing new there) and leapt into the car, praying I would remember the way to Jesmond. Thinking I might as well extend my spiritual petitions beyond the celestial sat-nav, I also entreated that there would be a convenient parking place and that the 17 (yes, 17) sets of traffic lights between me and my lunch date would all be on green. They say that the devil looks after his own but I prefer to believe it really was divine intervention that enabled me to perform the best reverse parking manoeuvre I’ve ever done into the only free parking space in the whole of Newcastle outside West Jesmond Metro Station at 11.55am. And in front of 2 re-cycling wagons and 6 burly operatives too! Deo Gratis!!
Once out of the car, it was pouring with rain, (I'd not mentioned the weather in my prayers, thinking you can't have everything) so naturally my carefully sculptured hair styling lasted all of 30 seconds as I scuttled through the underpass and down the lane to Franco’s. Jesmond is quite a trendy part of old Newcastle with some great architecture but I had no time to stand and stare. I rocked up to the bar resembling a drowned rat on acid and grinned manically at the beautifully coiffured lady offering bubbly. I asked for something weaker and dripping gently, took in my surroundings. And very smart Brian looked too, in his jacket and white shirt! And the bar wasn’t bad either!
And then came the seating issue. It seemed that I was a problem. (Inevitably, I hear you thinking). But because I was alone, they didn’t know where to put me (A lesson to be learned there, methinks). I decided to diffuse the tension, said “I don’t care where I sit as strangers are friends you haven’t met, I’ll chat with anyone and after all this is Newcastle, one of the friendliest cities in the UK” and so found myself sitting with 3 of the most wonderful, inspirational ladies I could have ever wished to meet. And I was the only one under 82! The ladies were all actresses and had spent much of their lives performing in a wide variety of stage and TV roles including Dirty Dusting, Tracey Beaker, Byker Grove and Super Gran among others (Regrettably, I’d not seen any of them but at least I recognised the titles so was able to “ooh” and “ahh” in all the right places!) But, Jean in particular was memorable for her role as the trolley lady on the train in the first Harry Potter film; but oh that she’d had some pumpkin pasties with her as Franco’s food, sadly, was only just about OK.
That minor disappointment aside, the atmosphere in the bar was buzzing. A local TV/Stage personality acted as host and as my ladies were local celebrities too, our table was a veritable shrine for other “lovvies”, with regular pilgrimages made from other parts of the bistro to chat with them. However, the piece de resistance of the whole event came from Sarah Jane Buckley herself, for, accompanied by one of the band, she sang “Somewhere over the Rainbow” in Eva Cassidy style, before jacking up the tempo and belting out “Valerie”, as we ate. I was impressed with her singing and knew I was going to be in for a treat later that evening. The rest of the lunch passed in a riot of laughter with my adorable theatrical companions and their gossipy tales and I was truly grateful for their wonderful company.
Once we’d eaten, there was the inevitable press photo shoot and raffle. Naturally I didn’t win a prize but to everyone’s delight, Brian won garden centre tokens. I then dithered for a while, wondering if I should ask Brian for a photo, despite my helmet hair, but was finally persuaded to take the plunge by my lunch companions. Brian was charming as usual, I checked for hostile positioning of coffee cups (what happened in Blackpool stays in Blackpool) and the delightful Maureen Nolan did the honours on my phone. I remember making some typically inane but true remark about not being au fait with technology, gave the FFs a name check and the deed was done! And then it was time to slink back out into the rain for a wander round Jesmond in search of Tupperware before the drive over to Whitley Bay. Now for those of you who have never heard of Whitley Bay, it’s a small seaside town on the East Coast and home of the (now derelict but about to be restored) Spanish City immortalised in the Dire Straits song, “Tunnel of Love”. It isn’t exactly Blackpool although both locations can be described as bracing at any time of year with little difficulty. And it was certainly that last week!
I have a bizarre but none the less genuine fondness for seaside towns in winter (I know it was only mid-October but trust me, it’s always winter in Whitley Bay) so I arrived in plenty of time as I wanted to add to my successful butty box finds. I found an enormous Sainsbury’s, admired the new Gok collection and had a warm cuppa before facing an invigorating walk along the front. I was glad to hear the Spanish City was to be restored as there is something terribly sad and poignant about seedy, derelict, Victorian/Edwardian seaside buildings. I did a bit of treasure hunting and then made my way to the tastefully re-vamped playhouse where I met my friends from lunch time. I was pleasantly surprised to see the theatre was full and then…… it was on with the show.
Now I’ve never been a huge fan of the musical genres played on Terry Wogan R2 show; I think I was irreparably damaged by it during my youth when my mother, along with most other women in Britain, listened as she tried and failed to Fight the Flab during the 1970s. Or maybe it was enduring Terry’s toe curling rendition of the Floral Dance rather more times than I care to remember. It matters not. I’ve previously admitted to being slightly dubious initially about the OTR music but Sarah Jane as Eva lived up to the critiques and totally blew me away. She was convincing, had terrific musicality and really di have a great quality of voice. I was also pleasantly surprised by Maureen Nolan too. She still looked amazing and sounded just as good as she had during her early days in Blackpool as part of the Nolan Sisters. And yes, the set was basic, yes the acting script was somewhat pedestrian at times but none of that detracted from the story telling through music which was fab-u-lous. One minor draw back was the rather indifferent cinematic projection quality on the backdrop which is possibly why I thought, (and I’m sure the agriculturally astute among us could confirm), that the ripening cereal crop gently swaying in the breeze during Fields of Gold was in fact, wheat. I swear I never saw a whisker of barley in that projected image.
But leaving that aside and moving on to the Star of Our Show, Brian, well what can I say? He certainly did a good Ronette impression with that tambourine! I was prepared to be critical if necessary but there was no need; I genuinely loved his performance. He was superb in the role of Danny, with good diction and a mature stage presence and his very listenable singing voice has definitely developed. My elderly ladies were enchanted with him and adored his accent!! And like all of us, I too would have liked to have seen him in a bigger role but perhaps that's being greedy. After all we have Aladdin and beyond to look forward to.
So that was it. A wider range of music than I expected, several curtain calls, another standing ovation, a hug with my ladies and then out into the night to find my car and drive the 2 hours home, singing Wonderful World. And it really is, filled with wonderful people of all ages sharing so much joy! Thank you Jean, Gwen, Helen, the cast and crew of OTR, Steve the fundraiser and Brian for giving me a fabulous day to remember
