Spamalot West End: My 12th time

Spamalot is on at The Playhouse Theatre until April 2013

I will never tire of this hilariously funny show (based on the movie "Monty Python and the Holy Grail"). The first time I saw it was in 2007, and last night - my 12th time - will definitely not be my last. I cried laughing throughout, unable to see the stage for tears, as always!

Stephen Tomkinson was superb as King Arthur, as was Anna-Jane Casey as the Lady of the Lake - the two newcomers. I loved their interpretations of their characters: Stephen gave King Arthur a lot more depth and emotion than he is usually played, and Anna-Jane was vocally stunning and cheeky with it. She is perfect for this part which she should have been offered years ago! But actually all the cast - Todd Carty, Michael Burgen, Graham MacDuff (we go back a long way), Jon Robyns, Robin Armstrong, Rob Delaney, Adam Ellis, James Nelson, Chris Jenkins, Hannah Malekzad, Rachel Knowles, Paul Bullion, Matthew Russell-Jones, Graham Newell, Amelia Adams-Pearce - were outstanding!

Spamalot is SO good and SO funny, it's a wonderful night out and a guaranteed pick-me-up; far better at beating the blues than antidepressants. Its only side effect: strained laughing muscles. 

Last night was Press Night so the audience was awash with celebs which made the evening even more exciting! And, I was invited to the After Party with the entire cast and crew. I recently appeared in The Metro for being Monty Python's biggest fan, so what made the evening even more special for me was that many of the cast members I spoke to told me they had read the article! Yesterday was one of the best days of my life!

Actress Rebecca Grant (Holby City, Prisioner's Wives, Emmerdale - I'm her publicist!) with artist Anyes Greene

Rebecca Grant, John Wood (me!) and Anyes Greene

Me with John Partridge from Eastenders

Me with Ian McNeice

Rebecca Grant being photographed by a pap

Me with Stephen Tomkinson at the opening "knight" after party (no flash!)

Me with Dave Gormam

Me with Melanie Masson from X Factor

My ticket - the best I've ever had, only 20 seats along from the legendary D1!!

My After Party invitation - Get in!

Other celebs who were at the show who I didn't manage to photograph: X Factor stars Javine Hylton and Kye Sones (had a nice chat with both of them).

Media coverage of the Press Night:

• Rex Features celeb photos
• London Evening Standard
• The Telegraph
• British Theatre Guide
• West End Frame
• Broadway World

Ian Hunter and The Rant Band at the Concorde 2, Brighton

Ian Hunter in concert, with Steve Holley on drums (barely visible)

Steve Holley a bit more visible

The final number, All the Young Dudes (with Otis Gibbs, far right, who opened for Ian, joining in)

Back stage with Steve Holley

Steve Holley with Mariah June 

Friday 26 Oct 2012: I went to see my old chum Steve Holley at the Concorde 2 in Brighton. Steve is the drummer of The Rant Band, currently on tour with rock legend Ian Hunter. It was great to see him again; we go back a long way! What a great show it was. Ian is now 73 years old - can you believe it? But he can still really deliver!

I saw Steve and Ian in Brighton in 2010 and here's a short video clip I took of All the Way from Memphis from that gig:

Brian Gowen's Memorial Service, Cranleigh School

Brian Gowen, 1935 - 2012

Saturday 22 September 2012: Well Mr Gowen, or "Brog" as we called him (Housemaster of East House when I attended Cranleigh School, 1973-78), certainly took us all by surprise by kicking the bucket before his time. I didn't expect, when I saw him at Andrew Roberts' talk in London a few years ago, that it would be the very last time.

What a popular man he was! There must have been two hundred people at his memorial service including former Headmaster, Marc Van Hasselt. I found the memorial service in the chapel very moving, the school choir was amazing and I learned a lot about the man who played a major role in my life for 5 years (from age 13 to 18). Mr Gowen was a Biology teacher and Biology was my favourite subject, so I used to enjoy picking his brains for more information about whatever made me curious both in and out of class. In fact I used to regularly get into trouble in class for asking too many questions (as my school reports prove).

Far from the service being a somber affair, the tributes by Dick Moore, Julia Barnes and Will Fawcett were really funny! They even made reference to a "biology practical video" he once caught some boys watching, and to the dew drop that seemed to always be on the end of Mr Gowen's nose! Surprisingly, no one mentioned his inability to pronounce the "TH" sound or the letter "R"- two things never missing from our schoolday impersonations of him!

From Will Fawcett's tribute, I also learned about something very interesting which happened in 1979, the year after I left, when Monty Python's "Life of Brian" (funnily enough) was released. Mr Gowen was a committed Christian and that movie was widely considered to be blasphemous, so he banned anyone in East House (or maybe even the whole school!) from watching it. Since I am such a big Python fan, it's a jolly good thing I left in 1978, because his ban might very well have created some friction between us if I had still been there!

At the canapé reception that followed the memorial service, it was wonderful to see Mrs Gowen (Rowena) again, and to properly meet Brian and Rowena's now grown up children, Hamish and Alison for the first time.

My one big regret of the day... I forgot to wear my old school East House tie! Let's face it, there aren't many occasions in life where you would want to wear your old school tie. In fact this occasion might have been the only one, but it didn't occur to me until I arrived and saw other Old Cranleighans wearing theirs! Mr Gowen presented me with mine, because I did well at target shooting in some inter-house competition (of all things!). Oh well, here's the tie I never wore:

My East House tie, awarded to me by Mr Gowen in approx 1977

I was so glad I went along and it was so good to see many familiar faces - both teachers and pupils. Sadly, I was the only Old Cranleighan there from my year! And by the way, if you're thinking that you've never heard of a "John Wood", it's because I changed my name from John Berney after I left Cranleigh.

Here are the photos I took on the day. If there are any faces you recognise that I have not mentioned in the captions, or if I have put the wrong names to faces or if I have spelled any names wrongly, please let me know:

Hello Quo! London Premiere, Odeon Leicester Square

The panel, from left to right: Matt Letley, John Edwards, Andy Bown, Francis Rossi, Rick Parfitt and Alan G Parker. The MC (in the way most of the time) was Paul Gambaccini

Monday 22 October 2012: Status Quo were a major part of my school days, and they were the first band I ever saw live (Hammersmith Odeon, 1976). I was SO into Quo! So it was quite an experience for me to not only relive the past when watching Hello Quo!, directed by Alan G Parker, but also to be sitting right in front of the band for the Q and A session after the screening. I happened to be in the front row.

I managed to get a photo with the original drummer, John Coghlan, and the original roadie, tour manager and harmonica player, Bob Young. I also had a chat with Francis Rossi's son. 

Thank you to Margarita Doyle, Hello Quo!'s line producer for telling me about this invitation-only event, and thank you to Justin Weyers (who created the film's animated intro sequence and links) who managed to get me in! Justin happened to see one of my tweets saying that I was hoping to go to the event; he had a spare ticket so he very kindly asked me if I wanted it! So I'd also like to thank Twitter! 

UK Premiere of A Liar's Autobiography, Empire Leicester Square

A Liar's Autobiography flyer we were given on entering the cinema

On the back of the flyer, the words to a very rude song, for us all to sing along to 

The two tickets I won in the BFI's "Biggest Monty Python Fan" competition after the one I paid for

16 October 2012: As winner of the British Film Institute's "Biggest Monty Python Fan" competition, I felt I was on official duty to some degree during the proceedings! Many people throughout the night told me they had seen my tweets promoting the film, that they were grateful and that I was famous! 

I had been looking forward to the premiere for such a long time as I somehow knew about this project when it was just an idea. Even though I had a ticket (three actually as you can see above!), I decided to stand behind the railings by the side of the red carpet to watch the celebs arrive and the media circus unfold.

I was chuffed that Bill Jones, one of the three directors of the film (and Terry Jones's son), recognised me (from the Adobe Private Screening of A Liar's Autobiography 2 weeks earlier) while walking down the red carpet and came up to me and said hello!

Then Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Carol Cleveland, Neil Innes, Justin McDonald, Ronald Rivron, Sanjeev Bhaskar and Barry Cryer walked the walk and the media circus was well and truly underway. To keep the fans happy, there were several Graham Chapmans wandering around in character, namely, the Colonel who kept saying "Stop that, it's too silly", King Arthur (and Patsy) with coconuts, Mr Throat Wobbler Mangrove, pronounced "Luxury Yacht" (complete with huge polystyrene nose) and Brian who later, inside the cinema, gave us Brian's speech from Life of Brian that includes the line "We're all individuals" to which someone in the audience inevitably, and exactly on cue, shouted, "I'm not!"

I went inside and took my seat and the three directors and three very well known members of the cast introduced the film in a very original way, and did a Q and A session afterwards.

 

It was so good to see the film a second time. There is so much to take in, it needs at least two viewings. The length of time images and scenes stay in your head from the movie you have just seen is my measure of how good the movie is. Well it's still happening, and I first saw it on 4 October! I say it's a masterpiece and Graham Chapman would have loved it!

When the Q and A session ended with a "Sit on My Face" singalong, we all had fun at the after party. It was such a wonderful unforgettable night! I was on Cloud 9 the whole time!