... BMHS Central Conference Centre In a sense, clubland is a modem version of music hall. The audiences are rowdy and the drinks flow, it is noisy and brash. But is clubland variety? Barry Balmayne, who presented this four-hander set at the BMHS April meeting, attempted to put land into a slick theatre per haps not the best place for seasoned club performers who included Dawn Carmichael, ...

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... Bob Kerr's Whoopee Band Pizza on the Park Picture six members of a band on a tiny cabaret stage, with triple the number of musical instruments, and you have what can only be called musical mayhem. Bob Kerr's Whoopee Band is hardly an obvious act to play Pizza on the Park, and I certainly had reservations about how well this craziest musical comedy show in the world would be received in the ...

... From strength to strength Pizza on the Park Claire Martin It does not seem long since I went to a small venue in Camden Lock for one of the first solo appearances of a young girl, a band singer, who was bravely launching herself on to the jazz scene, concentrating on the familiar standards. But in a few short years Claire Martin has propelled her self into world class, her latest album on Linn ...

... Werther Royal Northern College of Music Massenet's Werther, with libretto by Edouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann, is based on Goethe's tragic tale of unrequited love and is part of the spring season at the Royal Northern College of Music. It marks the first modem production in this country of the composer's revised version of his opera, in which he uses a baritone instead of a ...

... Anastasia Royal Opera House In Kenneth MacMillan's ballet, all interpreters of the title role have found that the key to the ballet lies in its final act. For this is an act of devastating brutality, where the individual is so locked into herself that she no longer knows the difference between present reality and nightmare past. At Anastasia's revival, there came a moment of consumma tion ...

... Sheffield It was no surprise that the vast concert room at Dial House Social Club was packed to capacity for this tribute show to celebrate Tony Whyte's 45 years in showbusiness and to mark his impending retirement. In charge of proceedings was commere Marlene Claire, an accomplished singer, who also paid him a touching, well-phrased tribute. More vocal offerings came from young Mark Burrows, ...

... John Critchinson Trio/ Kirk Lightsey Trio Ronnie Scott's Here were a pair of trios, the first local, the other headed by a distinguished American visitor. Received opinion usually has it that the support act is a kind of warm-up for the main fare provided by the overseas star. Well, for once, such assumptions were blown away by the Critchinson team's performances. First, the pianist was his ...

... David and David Rheingold Club David Harries and David Osbome must believe they are meant to work together. After joining forces to perform and write both at school and university, they lost touch for nearly a decade. Pianist Harries pursued a career in the classical field and Osbome centrated on the worlds of theatre and songwriting. Recently though, by sheer coincidence, they met up again ...

... Mike Osman-- Naughty but Nice Tour Lewisham Theatre Off the back of his original and highly successful Capital Gold daily radio show, this was a sold-out stop, on what you could call an M25 tour for stand-up comedian and all-round nutter Mike Osman. With his London accent, humour and delivery he could do no wrong at the Lewisham Theatre, finishing to wild applause, but I wonder how he would ...

... Tribute taught us something Torquay A Tribute to Nat 'King' Cole Two factors stood out at the Princess for A Tribute to Nat 'King' Cole, with Danny Williams and his special guest Sheila Southern. The first was that some 30 years after his death Cole still has a fan club, and secondly that shows of this kind have a clearly defined audience. I doubt whether there was anyone in the audience ...

... Le Cabaret Monte Carlo At the famous Monte Carlo Casino, the atmosphere is still as potent as it was when it was Europe's winter capital. So the dinner cabaret there ought to be tops. Well, topless it may be, but it hardly hits the heights. Le Cabaret is swift, svelte, but not sexy. The seven girls strut about in a bewildering array of decorative flummery while three headliners work hard to ...