... BMHS Central Conference Centre When you consider the word 'amateur' or 'semi-pro', most the atricals for some reasons turn up their noses. This line of thinking is a complete mistake. Amateurs are amateurs and many of their performances are better than pro fessionals. They work harder for a start and have more enthusiasm which is more than you can say for the average pro. And they usu ally ...

... The Doc and Big Mal Croydon For the young and unsporting, The Doc is Tommy Docherty and Big Mal is Malcolm Allison, both soccer players of past repute and subsequently even better known as managers of many top clubs in the sixties and seventies. They had a reputation for being flamboyant, outspoken, and opinionated, so it is appropriate that they should wind up on stage as an entertaining ...

... Beef and Lamb in a Stew Preston If it is true that the new wave of comedians are the rock stars of their day, then perhaps it is only fair that sporting figures are encouraged to step into the vacuum and become comedians. Heaven knows, some of them have attempted to become pantomime stars, so why not go the whole hog. hire a string of theatres and extend the long lucrative after dinner speech ...

... Leah Bells' Fabulous Fifties and Swinging Sixties Torquay Leah Bell may be only four foot ten inches but she explodes on stage and into the hearts of the audience with her dynamic personality. This lady sings, dances, chatters and creates, within moments, a rapport with her audience. By the second number the clapping and arm waving of the audience confirmed that this show was going to be a ...

... Fats Waller Tribute Purcell Room This is an annual event, conceived as a tribute to Waller's melodic longevity and as an opportunity to celebrate St Valentine's Day. Quite why romance and tuneful bonhomie should be aligned is obscure, suffice it to say that it does make for a pleasurable concert format. Instrumentation replicated the Waller rhythm line-up of trum pet plus tenor sax/clarinet ...

... Driving ambition LOOK WHO'S TALKING BY LISA VANOLI At the moment, Julie Graham is probably best known as the bubbly brunette in the Peugeot car adverts a la Thelma and Louise. Although these ads have made her a household face Graham, 28, has been in the business for ten years splitting her time between TV and stage work. Last year she spent six months on location in the north east filming the ...

... BBC Big Band Eastleigh The BBC Big Band, directed by Barry Forgie. has a well deserved reputation for being able to pro duce the musical goods to fit the venue and this they did. Glenn Miller was not the order of the night on this occa sion although from the swing era came Opus One and swing, Bassie style, was faithfully re-cre ated on Count 'Em, Fly Me to the Moon and the Kid From Redbank ...

... Aladdin Cork It is not generally known that pantomime, regarded as a particularly English feature, was exported across the Irish Sea many years ago, and like the cooked breakfast, has gone down well ever since. This year's pantomime at Cork's Opera House remains fully faithful to the traditional, with one or two little exceptions. Aladdin seems to be the popu lar choice this year, perhaps ...

... Underrated and over here Shanklin, Isle of Wight An Evening with Bobby Crush Piano star Bobby Crush chose the Shanklin Theatre to debut his new one man show. He played for two hours and the audience still wanted more. Bobby took it all in his stride, aided by a trio of superb musicians David Carter on keyboards, Miles Seabrook on bass and drummer Cliff Longhurst. Right from the outset, with a ...

... Variety Spectacular Cardiff For the 11th successive year Chris Chambers' annual charity spectacular at the Rumney and St Mellons British Legion Club drew a capacity audience, who loved every minute of a fast moving show that contained something to please all tastes. Highspot of ented guitarist Roger Andrews' act was a selection of Shadows favourites, before music of an entirely different ...

... Music Hall, Variety and Me Jermyn Street Theatre It is right that we should be reminded from time to time that music hall and its successor variety was once a thriving industry, and Jack Seaton begins his one man show with a short history of how it came about, beginning with trie spit and sawdust halls attached to pubs in the middle of the last century and their slightly upmarket relatives, ...

... New direction?to the top Bembridge Paid Da Vinci In a fascinating pop music career Paul Da Vinci has sold millions of records, via The Rubettes, Tight Fit and his own solo hits. His unique falsetto voice became world famous. Now, in a complete change of direction, he has just eased his way into the cabaret market. His one-nighter at Warner's was barely into its third week. Da Vinci's ...