Kes, Theatre Royal

A strong performance by the lead carried this story of the gritty north through from start to finish.

Perfect casting saw Stefan Butler throw himself into an un-self conscious re-telling of this tale of an anguished childhood.

Young Billy seems to be the runt of the litter, getting the rough end of the deal at home, at school and even on his paper round. Thieving and antisocial behaviour by the disaffected youth of the area only drags him down.

And yet his devotion to Kes, the kestrel he took as a chick and brought up and then trained, gives a new insight into his sensitive character with even his teacher taking heart from the extra layer to Billy's psyche.

Clever lighting and a carefully marshalled company revealed scenes within scenes and we learned much about what makes our hero tick.

The first night audience sat for the most part in awe as the story unfolded before them.

Their silence punctuated by laughter – sometimes uncomfortable – prompted by the shafts of humour in a few choice lines that strike home from our own childhood experience.

It was good to see familiar faces among the cast: The Bill's Mike Burnside was more substantial than I recall, while Daniel Casey (Troy from Midsomer Murders) was much trimmer than he looked on television.

The director chooses to work with local children for the classroom and school scenes – and those from Bramcote Business and Enterprise School made the grade.

I last saw the film and read the book more than 25 years ago – it was a requirement for school.

This version made for a much more enjoyable experience and the two-hour-plus running time past far too quickly. Absorbing, thought provoking and ultimately tragic, this tale offers little hope for those real working classes of days gone by.

Oldest newlyweds cancel honeymoon

Oldest newlyweds cancel honeymoon
... from the Torquay Herald Express

Torbay's oldest newlyweds, have had to cancel their luxury honeymoon.

Les Atwell, 94, and his 87-year-old bride Sheila will instead be unpacking their suitcases when they should have been heading off for a 14-day Mediterranean cruise from Southampton.

Sheila fell ill soon after their wedding on Wednesday with a tummy bug.

"It must have been the excitement," said Les.

'Karen Carpenter, I feel so close to you'

'Karen Carpenter, I feel so close to you'
... from the Stoke Sentinel

A KAREN Carpenter tribute artist says she has been living the life of her idol – right down to developing anorexia.

The legendary Carpenters singer died from heart failure in 1983, aged 32, believed to be a complication of her anorexia.

And as professional musician Julie Roberts – who has a similar singing style to Karen – began to perform more and more Carpenters songs, she found her life began to parallel the tragic singer.

Then when Julie started taking laxatives to lose weight – just like Karen – she realised matters were getting out of hand. The 5ft 10ins singer plummeted from a healthy 12 stone, to just eight stone.

In the end, it was only when she temporarily stopped singing Carpenters songs that she was able to quit taking laxatives and get her weight loss under control.

Vampires Rock, Newark Palace Theatre

With flame-throwers, blood, fireworks and bats, this show is something of a shameless romp through some top rock anthems, with the music of Queen, Billy Idol, Rainbow, AC/DC, Bonnie Tyler, and even good old Suzi Quatro.

The show lent itself well to the talents of Meat Loaf tribute artist Steve Steinman (the man who dreamed it all up) who - apart from appearing completely bemused by a quiet audience during the first half - gave a solid and passionate performance as Baron von Rockula, owner of the Live and Let Die club, who is searching for a new bride.

The evergreen Toyah Willcox as The Devil Queen in foxy skin-tight red leather is a powerhouse, screaming on to the stage and putting all her energy into hits like She Sells Sanctuary and Live and Let Die.

Toyah turns out to be the star turn, full of energy, vitality and cheekiness. Although she's not the female lead. That's reserved for Emily Clark as Pandora Honeybox, who becomes the object of Rockula's attentions, annoying his hissing, jealous queen.

Some of the signposting is rather tongue in cheek, when characters utter "it must be the final countdown", to usher in the old Europe song, or "I think you give love a bad name" (Bon Jovi).

But the audience IS there to have fun and eventually enter Steinman's world, with a little panto banter between stage and punters developing. A sneaky section in the second half invites the audience to stand - and that's when Newark finally got into full swing, let its hair down and enjoyed a rocking good night.

Cinderella, Newark Palace Theatre

I'M a convert! For more than 40 years I somehow managed to avoid the ballet but this was a magical introduction.

European Ballet mixed sparkle, humour, tradition and – of course – elegant dance in this incredibly accessible production.

Prokofiev's famous score was the glue that held together the much-loved tale with sparse props ensuring the dance told the story.

From lowly Cinders (Scilla Cattafesta) dancing gracefully with a broom when she fears she won't be able to get to the royal palace, we see her transformed into the belle of the ball after she was the only one to show an old beggar some kindness.

For many in a packed house, the ugly sisters were a star turn, wonderfully conveying their mood swings between petulance, envy, excitement and just plain grumpiness. Ania Thormeyer and Felizia Roth's ham-fisted footwork as they took dance lessons before the ball brought comedy – and some laugh-out-loud moments – to the show.

The ensemble dance after the handsome prince (Vincent Cabot) and Cinderella fell in love at the ball was the most spectacular, lending itself well to the intimacy of the venue.

Happily, Cinders forgave the ugly sisters for their cruelty and this faithful retelling left the audience with a very happy ending.

I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, Royal Concert Hall

Arriving at the Concert Hall for this sell-out event, our hearts were lifted by the sight of a kazoo carefully placed on each seat in the auditorium.

How would it compare with last year, when we still had "Humph" in the chair, now replaced by the solemn Jack Dee?

Something of a curate's egg, in truth.

Yes, there were moments of inspired nonsense, and some of the gags were just as funny as last time around.

And there lay the rub.

They were pretty much the same gags as last time around.

Of course, you wonder how much of an evening like this is scripted, and, I guess, on a tour around the UK it would be impossible to do a wholly new show every night.

But it seemed the whole of the introduction about Nottingham from Jack Dee and much of the warm-up from producer Jon Naismith were lifted from this time last year.

And worse still, Jack appeared to be reading directly from Humphrey Lyttelton's previous script.

When he deviated from the written word he was comfortable, but joining this antidote to panel games must surely go against the grain.

Despite the baffling "repeat" situation, we warmly welcome on stage Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden and Tim Brooke-Taylor, along with the new regular, Jeremy Hardy. Colin Sell provides piano accompaniment.

Sadly, there was no sign of Samantha, who would have been Jack's delectable assistant. She was waylaid at home, organising new insulation with a team of hunky workmen. She sent a note to the team: "I'm looking forward to getting felt laid in the loft", she wrote.

It's not often you can marvel at Tim Brooke-Taylor duetting with Kaiser Chiefs, - or 2,000 people joining a kazoo version of Bohemian Rhapsody.

Great fun – but we could have done without the repeat.

Best Of British Variety Tour, Royal Concert Hall

I never imagined I'd spontaneously applaud a Tom O'Connor gag.

But there's a first time for everything and this ageing comic finally won me over.

You can't help but warm to him as he introduces some very well-known faces and one or two quite well-known jokes.

He held the show together and hit the mark with an audience that was probably a little over retirement age. No surprise really, when the average age of the turns was nudging 70.

First up was good old Norman Collier, allegedly 83. Yes, he does the chicken routine, and yes, he still does that microphone thing too.

But he got some of the biggest laughs of the night for his jokes, and rightly so. Probably on first so he can get tucked up with some cocoa. It was a three-hour show so staying on until later might have been too much.

Did you enjoy a bit of Nookie a few years back? We had our share last night but it was over rather too quickly. Roger de Courcey's ironic opening gambit is "for those who've never seen me before...". His cheeky little bear made a ten minute appearance at the end of his amusing ramble of a set.

Anyone who was expecting to see Buck's Fizz might have been disappointed. There was only Bobby from the line-up that conquered Europe, plus three others. Nice karaoke to end part one.

As for Faith Brown, she always was a bit of an oddball. She did a good Susan Boyle but the rest of her act was on another planet...

And so to the star turns, a completely bald Tommy and truly little Bobby, with a rather impressive paunch.

The boys ran through the comedy that made them famous. And it did go down very well, the interaction with the fans at the front showing they've still got what it takes.

The Grass Is Greener, Theatre Royal

Billed as a battle of the sexes this was more a battle of wits between a middle aged wife with 20 years of marriage behind her, whose head is turned by a visiting American millionaire, and her doting husband who can't live without her – despite what he says!

The wife, Liza Goddard, is Hilary, the lady of the manor, with her husband Victor (former Dynasty star Christopher Cazenove) ruing the day he ever opened their stately home to the public.

Their life together is turned upside-down by the dashing – and calculating –tourist Charles, played by Jack Ellis, who audiences may know from Bad Girls and Prime Suspect.

The excruciating tension in the first couple of scenes is uncomfortable to say the least, with the perfectly-timed silences saying more than any dialogue could manage.

While Victor tries to sort out his wife's dilemma over leaving him for the passion of Charles over love for her husband in a most English way, the American banks on the whirlwind romance and a new life for Hilary winning the day.

The comedy is 53 years old but every one of the sentiments holds true today. Without spoiling the ending it's fair to say that after four days with the American, Hilary gets her chance to find out if the grass really is greener – but does she take it?

Superb comedy lines are delivered by Sophie Ward as Hilary's old friend (and Victor's old flame) Hattie, and by the butler, Sellars (Jack Fagan). But the butlers always play it for laughs, don't they?

Milkshake! Live, Royal Concert Hall

THIS was a show that got the thumbs-up from all our family.

That's the four-year-old, a three-year old, one who's 40 and a 30-something.

Granted it was the kids who enjoyed it the most, shouting, singing, clapping and dancing along to their favourites from the Five morning magazine, Milkshake!

And yes, it was the kids who were agog at seeing their favourite TV presenters – Jen and Derek – bounding about with seemingly endless energy.

But it was the mums and dads who got the enjoyment out of seeing the little ones having so much fun.

The story involves the team putting on a show.

But, of course, they need some help from their friends...

So along come Fifi and Bumble, Peppa Pig and George, Rupert, the Little Princess, Noddy and Tessie Bear and even a sprinkling of Little Misses and Mr Men. It's the Milkshake! mix, all right.

The first half set the scene nicely, ready for showtime after the interval.

Good old Jen and Derek gave it their all, including a series of well known staples such as Do Reh Mi and Together Wherever We Go, mixed in with some favourites from the telly show, that let everyone show off the steps they practice in front of the small screen at home.

Not quite sure what the attraction was for this one… but it was good to see so many dads at the venue, which was packed out.

LazyTown Live, Theatre Royal

With Robbie Rotten as Blackbeard, determined to rid LazyTown of all the kids - and our superhero Sportacus - this is a feast of music, costume, dance and mayhem that's the perfect tonic for the rainy school holidays.

We follow the gang as they thwart Robbie's plan - with the trademark teamwork and a little extra energy from eating the so-called sports candy.

Every little girl wants to be Stephanie as she joins her LazyTown pals of Ziggy, Pixel, Stingy and Trixie on their adventure.

This time it takes them across the seven seas - but only after Robbie has turned Sportacus into an ice cream man and removed his special powers.

The entrance of Sportacus at the start of the show brought gasps and applause. Robbie, on the other hand was lean and mean (and a little hairy with his pirate beard disguise) and you couldn't help feeling he'd have preferred a few more boos.

The more intimate surroundings of the Theatre Royal make this a real family show compared to the comparative vastness of the Concert Hall stage next door, where LazyTown was staged last year.

We enjoyed a packed house with kids of all ages jumping up and down to sing and dance. And they all joined in with the very best songs from the television series, like No One is Lazy in LazyTown, You Are a Pirate, Bing Bang, and Teamwork.

And its popularity means that it's booked in until Sunday, with matinees this weekend - and tickets are still available.