... The All New Alexei Sayle Stage Show Preston Last time Alexei Sayle took to the road with a stand-up comedy tour, Everton were league champions, valium was still trendy and Frankie was still going to Hollywood. Ten years on and soccer, soft drugs and softer songs have all changed but, as with many of his more Establishment colleagues, Sayle has discovered that comedy can keep its own pace. Like ...

... David Soul Green Room, Cafe Royal In the early stages of his recording career when he was more a folk singer than anything else, David Soul did not dig conversation, he simply wore a sign which read: My name is David Soul and I want to be known for my music. Thirty years later he has appeared, almost from nowhere, at the Cafe Royal's Green Room. And yes, we remember his big British hits, but ...

... Back to the future As technology advances and we get bombarded with an increasing array of channels, there is the fear that we are going to be overwhelmed by choice. Doesn't that scare you? That there will be whole swathes of programmes from which you will be excluded simply by not having the attention span to keep up? Which brings me on to science fiction programmes. Space Precinct, Deep ...

... La Vie Parisienne Birmingham D'Oyly Carte has opened its 1995-96 tour at the Alexander, with Offenbach's operetta in a new, English version by Alistair Beaton. His wizardry with words sounds as fresh as it did for Die Fledermaus last year and he contrives witty dialogue and lyrics which further delineate the char acter singing them. Particularly memorable is the English milord with a lot ...

... Sex seemed to be the thing Scottish Ballet A Midsummer Night's Dream Robert Cohan took a few leaves out of Shakespeare's book when he turned to A Midsummer Night's Dream for inspiration. Like the Bard, he selected themes and characters to his taste and combined traditional and contemporary techniques in order to express something of his own. Presented by Scottish Ballet in 1993 and revived ...

... 2000 Talent Contest Skegness The Skegness 2000 Talent Contest, though now locked into the British Resorts Association event, was inaugurated in 1988 and is billed as the Final of Finals, because those taking part have won through other talent contests which have been staged at al of the holiday centres in the area. This year's event was unusual in that the winner, Tim Goodacre, will be ...

... Thirty and thriving Peter Vacher celebrates the National Youth Jazz Orchestra's 30th anniversary Bill Ashton's extraordinary brainchild has survived and prospered for 30 years. Like many other institu tions of enduring sig nificance, its beginnings were modest. Started as the London Schools Jazz Orchestra, it blossomed into the National Youth Jazz Orchestra and today is fully professional, ...

... Dig jazz Michael Dynan believes Digby Fairweather is one of the best ambassadors jazz could have People had already told me that Digby Fairweather was one of the busiest people in the jazz world. And so it came as no great surprise to me that my lunchtime interview with him had to be sandwiched in between his morning spent at the BBC and a recording session for Britannia Airways in the ...

... Norma Winstone Pizza on the Park Norma Winstone's first set at the Pizza on the Park began so well. Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen's delicious Like Someone in Love slithered smoothly into Frank Loesser's If I Were a Bell, and then, as far as the sparse audience was concerned, it all seemed to go downhill. Tasteful versions of Dave Grusin's Wait for Me, along with Cloudy Morning, and the ...

... Robert Habermann Purcell Room At a time when aging swingin' lovers all over the world were digging out their 40-year-old original Frank Sinatra albums and realising again just how good they were, it was a brave move by cabaret singer Robert Habermann to sing an evening's worth of w on ig ai i cvci hi ig o nui u I ui songs associated with 01' Blue Eyes in celebration of his 80th birthday. ...

... BY LISA MARTLAND Some of us 'ordinary' people are pretty content if we begin to succeed in our chosen careers by the time our late teens or early twenties come along. In A Man for All Music (R4, from Monday. January 8) Andre Previn modestly joked that he probably wasted his time a bit before entering a conservatory at the age of six. How lazy can you get! Previn is a unique musical fig ure ...

... Great night of skill and gags The Cockney Ron and Martin MacMillan's 24th Annual International Magic Convention Magic came to the capital when Ron and Martin MacMillan staged their 24th annual convention. Russians Vasilii Rudenko and Kate Medvedeva not only won everyone's hearts but also took first and second Close-Up prizes respectively. Harry Gold and his Pieces of Eight with the Cockney ...