WC May 1 and May 8
Mainly an admin week. Catching up on articles for The Beacon magazine and editing recent interviews. Also planning new interviews for the next few weeks. Quite excited by one or two that are likely to happen.
On Saturday night Dave Cannon presented his charity evening at the Breeze, Island Harbour, to raise money for local cancer charities. The music was by artistes featured in my John Hannam Interviews book, which features the stories behind my interviews with pop stars of the 50s, 60s and 70s. Dave did a brilliant job and his screen with videos of every artist whose records were played added so much to the evening. Grateful thanks to Dave Cannon, who had the initial idea, those who attended, those who gave raffle prizes and helped on the night. We raised £142.00.
Went to the Mayflower, Southampton, on Tuesday to see the new National Theatre production of Jane Eyre. It took me some while to actually get into it and in the end it proved too long at 3 hours. It was superbly acted but, being of the older generation, I did not enjoy it as much as a more traditional version. As to be expected, the masy young people there enjoyed it.
The following night, in complete contrast, I went to Shanklin Theatre to see American-born comedian REGINALD D HUNTER. I did have to initially put up with a support comedian that I hated. It was pure agony. Obviously, when Reginald came on for the second half it went up several notches and, particularly, in his opening routine he was extremely funny. He loves story telling and this paved the way for some revealing and fascinating stories from his own life.
Went to the Nuffield Theatre, Southampton, on Sunday afternoon to interview Steve Delaney, better known as Count Arthur Strong. He is heading for Shanklin Theatre on May 31. This is perfect because his new peak time BBC 1 TV show starts on Friday May 19. Steve was in great form and gave me a fascinating interview. This will go online on Friday May 19, as a new John Hannam Meets interview.