- Mark Morris Dance Group – Swan Theatre, High Wycombe, 16th November 2005
Billed as their 25th Anniversary UK tour, the Mark Morris Dance Group swung into High Wycombe with their usual blaze of glory, and an enjoyable programme that started with Somebody’s Coming to See Me Tonight, set to songs by Stephen Foster; then All Fours, with music by Bela Bartok; followed by Candleflowerdance, set to Stravinsky’s Serenade in A, and finally Grand Duo with music by Lou Harrison. As always, all the dances were choreographed by Mark Morris – who, sadly, wasn’t one of the dancers this time. Hugely entertaining.
- Glorious – Duchess Theatre, London, 19th November 2005
Peter Quilter’s wonderful comedy about the singing sensation Florence Foster Jenkins – a legend in her own lunchtime – given a terrific central performance by Maureen Lipman as the soprano in extremis, with excellent support from William Oxborrow and Barrie Ingham. Very funny; but its real strength is in how it manages to tell her story without being unkind. A great show.
- Nabucco – Latvian National Opera at the Opera House, Riga, Latvia, 10th December 2005
We went to Riga for a long weekend and there took in a typically ex-Soviet evening at the Opera – Verdi’s Nabucco (or Nabuko as it is in Latvian) performed by the Latvian National Opera. A very elegant, if snowy, experience! They did a grand job.
- Heroes – Wyndham’s Theatre, London, 28th December 2005
Gerald Sibleyras’ superb one-act comedy was given a feisty translation by Tom Stoppard and a terrific set of performances from a triumvirate of acting legends – Richard Griffiths, John Hurt and Ken Stott. Set in a French military hospital in 1959, this one act play delves into the men’s pasts to reveal their true characters – and it was beautifully done throughout.
- Scrooge – London Palladium, 31st December 2005
For a New Year’s Eve treat we took the Dowager Mrs Chrisparkle out to see Scrooge – primarily because she was a huge Tommy Steele fan; this was to be her final visit to her much loved London Palladium. The show itself was pretty enjoyable – if I say it was a very lively, colourful and undemanding entertainment, you’ll get my drift. Mr Steele – aged approx. 69 then was still a very nimble figure on the stage! Fun to see Hi de Hi‘s Barry Howard as Jacob Marley, and favourite performer of the future, Alex Gaumond in some minor roles. 
- Aladdin – Old Vic, London, 8th January 2006
A very hot ticket that Christmas, we adored Sean Matthias’ production of Aladdin for the Old Vic starring Ian McKellen as Widow Twankey – all the country wanted to see how he’d take on that role, and the answer is, with delicious relish. Absolutely hilarious – and pretty filthy if I remember rightly. Roger Allam was a fabulously wicked Abbanazar, and Frances Barber also gave us her Dim Sum. I think it was this show that got us back hooked into pantos in the future.
- Mammals – Oxford Playhouse, 20th January 2006
We probably didn’t realise at the time quite how good a cast this touring production of Amelia Bullmore’s rather savage comedy boasted. Mark Bonnar, Anna Chancellor, Daniel Ryan and Niamh Cusack led the show, which concerned a marriage in crisis after a confession of infidelity. Great stuff.
- Simply Ballroom – Milton Keynes Theatre, February 2006
Moving over a return visit to see The Woman in Black at the Fortune Theatre, which was still going great guns, our next show was Strictly Ballroom at Milton Keynes – a touring show that was probably among the first of dozens of Strictly Come Dancing spin-offs that have cavorted over our stages ever since. Hosted by Lionel Blair, this was a rather formal and staid show that took different types of ballroom dance one by one and performed them in an almost educational manner. I felt it took a lot of the joy out of dance, and was quite a long evening!
- Improbable Fiction – Oxford Playhouse, 17th February 2006
I was very excited to be seeing Alan Ayckbourn’s latest comedy, set against the imaginations of those present at a writer’s group meeting. The first act laid the ground in a gently amusing way; and then the second act goes off in an extraordinary flight of fancy. If you “get” this play, then you “get” it. I didn’t “get” it at all; in fact, it’s the one and only time I’ve ever hated (yes, it was that strong a reaction) an Ayckbourn play.
- The Seasons/Carmina Burana – Birmingham Royal Ballet at the Birmingham Hippodrome, 25th February 2006
The Seasons was a sequence of dances choreographed by David Bintley to the music of Verdi, and was a beautiful half hour of classic and classical ballet.
After the interval we loved Bintley’s Carmina Burana, set to Carl Orff’s superb music – which we had already seen on TV and couldn’t wait to see live; and it delivered everything it promised. One of the most exciting pieces of contemporary dance I’ve ever seen. Loved every minute of it.
