Thornton Little Theatre, Blackpool 2006

Thornton Little Theatre hold regular Jazz lunches and on this occasion we were on the menu!

We were invited by the indefatigable Eddie Simpson, under the aegis of 'Mad For Trad', not our usual habitat! Trad jazz is not quite our thing though one or two of the chaps could easily be described as slightly batty!

We arrived well in time and were delighted to find out we were using the theatre's PA and sound men. No humping speakers and the such -- bliss!





Back stage, John used his time well solving Soduku puzzles and grumbling about having to get out of bed early. There then followed the "I'm getting too old for this" speech which we all enjoyed, as we always do!





Tea was provided, this eased things and we changed into our dinner suits prior to going on stage.

Just as we were about to open the curtains, Anthony asked Willy whether he had tuned his banjo; he looked back in horror saying "I thought you'd done it!" -- the frenzied performance which followed caused George to giggle and almost cheered John up, almost!





We went on and the audience, though initially uncertain what we were doing, were very warm and attentive. They laughed in all the right places and applauded loudly.





The most memorable thing for Anthony occurred not on stage, but in the interval...

Anthony and the chaps had gone into the audience to chat and have a cuppa; he approached the tea table and asked if he could have a cup of tea. Initially, the lady was about to supply him when she suddenly looked up and with a rather contemptuous expression said, "Are you in the band?" "Yes," Anthony replied. "Then no you can't, the customers get tea first; you go to the back of the queue."

He laughed warmly thinking she was making a joke, however upon closer examination of her face, he found she wasn't!!