... Cultural divide engulfs comic Lyric Issey Ogata Issey Ogata's seven-sketch debut on the West End stage works best as an attempt to reinforce all the thoughtless, Chris Tarrant-y cliches about Japanese humour. Sadistic, inveterately materi alistic, the discomfiting 'comic' material is made unbearably tortuous by the ridiculously unin- volved and wooden translation we have buzzing annoyingly ...

... Ted Heath Band Croydon And the band played on. Almost 30 years after the leader was called to the bandstand-in-the-sky, the Ted Heath Band is still doing the business--as proved by 1,100 people at this Fairfield Hall concert and the fact it was recently voted number one in the world by Big Band International magazine. While trombonist Ted would have been astonished, gratified and proud of ...

... Kenny Wheeler with Bill Frisell, Dave Holland and Lee Konrtz/ Paul Motian Trio Barbican Here was chamber jazz, small in scale and intimate, yet fetching and rewarding in its way, never cowed, its pensive calm greatly appreciated by the capacity crowd. Wheeler concentrated on flugelhorn, lyrical over Dave Holland's restrained bass, the odd sudden jump like a momen tary aberration, with Bill ...

... Kate Dimbleby Whitehall If a young singer wants to make an impression, a showcase at a West End theatre, introduced by such an experienced and well-known artist as Marion Montgomery, is not a bad place to start. Expectations were high, therefore, as Kate Dimbleby took to the stage at the Whitehall, and in some respects, by the end of the set, there was no need for the enthusiastic crowd to be ...

... Greg McKenzie Barnsley Strong ballads dominated the act of Greg McKenzie when he took the stage of Carlton Smithies Club. Although ballads are his forte, he is equally at home with songs of all types, ranging from show songs to uptempo. With many years in the business, and experience in a range of media, he has built up a large repertoire of varied material. On this occasion, he excelled on ...

... The Manfreds Ryde On stage is a line-up of originals, including the two lead singers who spanned the group's sixties existence, Paul Jones and Mike D'Abo, and there is not a backing track in earshot. At Ryde Arena it was simply a night to remember and the punters were still ing for more after more than two hours of action. With so many talented per formers on stage, the content was varied. ...

... Search for a Star Grand Final Norwich Talent finals usually bring a little friendly rivalry between the partisan supporters of the competing finalists. This year it seemed that the whole audience at the Talk was there to support the clear winner, George Pena. In scenes unprecedented at this talent final, Pena won a unanimous standing ovation. During his acceptance speech he asked for his ...

... An Evening with Isla St Clair Farnham In everything Isla St Clair sings, the fragrance of heather is apparent and her current tour is no exception. This talented exponent of vocal Scottish lore is a worldwide ambassadress for Scotland. She has the easy, flowing style of a good entertainer, a melodious and cultured voice beautifully controlled at lullaby level, with her likable stage presence ...

... Cavalcade of Variety Exmouth The idea of combining charity events with secondary showcases is one which works very well. This entertaining evening at the Pavilion was in co-operation with Gemini Radio Charitable Trust and raised funds for local charities in the south west. Paul Allen was the compere for the evening and entertained us throughout with his various impressions, among which were ...

... Four acts ready to make waves Hackney Empire New Act of the Year Final They still pack the Empire for this annual commg-of-age ritual, which has arguably an even stronger record than Edinburgh's Perrier Award in unearthing new talent. Both Eddie Izzard and Harry Enfield have been beaten in previous finals, which gives some cation of the event's strength in the past. Arthur Smith, a ...

... Live and Unstable The Circus Space Steve Rawlings would probably agree that on the opening night of his new show almost everything that could have gone wrong did so, with guns failing to fire, a water melon that would not burst and a 'Debbie McGee' who did not disappear, as well as cued music and lights. This was a valiant attempt at a variety show with opera, mime, music, magic, wrestling ...

... Liberated and irresistable UCS Theatre Herb Geller/ John Horler Trio For years, Herb Geller was holed up in Hamburg, playing with a radio big band. Now retired from this remunerative if anonymous employment, he is once again out and about, touring as a visiting soloist. Always an alto saxophonist of conseouence. on this showing Geller is now an artist of front-rank class, liberated and ...