Strictly Come Dancing - The Live Tour 2011

I've been a Strictly Come Dancing addict since the very first series but haven't religiously attended the tours as they don't come to any of the venues near me. It wasn't until last year when Chris Hollins, my favourite contestant of all time, announced he was taking part that I had a great enough desire to travel all the way to the NEC in Birmingham and watch. It was well worth the trip but this year I was again left thinking that I had so much other stuff on did I really want to spend yet another weekend travelling to see a show. Then my mother uttered the amazing words "Ann Widdecombe is dancing with Craig Revel Horwood!" Suddenly my desire to go to Birmingham again had returned, and once I'd seen the photos online of the two of them dancing together that was it - I HAD to go! And I did, for the matinee on Sunday 6th February.

The Strictly Come Dancing tour offers everything that you see on TV and more besides, with couples made up of a celebrity and a professional dancer performing two dances each in the hope of winning the judges' approval and the votes of the audience, which are collected via text message. Throw into the mix the live band, video clips from training and spectacular group dances and you have all the magic of Strictly live in front of you.

The line up this year were predominantly contestants from the most recent series of Strictly; Matt Baker and Aliona Vilani (my personal favourite couple of 2010), Patsy Kensit and Robin Windsor, Tina O'Brien and Jared Murillo, Pamela Stephenson and James Jordan, and Kara Tointon and Artem Chigvintsev were all reunited. Jimi Mistry was given a new partner in Kristina Rihanoff. Ola Jordan swapped celebrity partner Paul Daniels (another of my 2010 favourites) for former Strictly finalist Colin Jackson, and 2009 finalists Ricky Whittle and Natalie Lowe were back dancing together again.

In a change to last year, there were only three judges, but I can't say I particularly missed having Arlene Phillips there. Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli and Craig Revel Horwood played up to their television personas brilliantly to create what can only be described as pure pantomime. Bruno was as extravagant as ever, flinging his arms around and climbing all over the judges desk, Craig was extra specially grumpy and Len's comments were packed full of wit and innuendo. The show was hosted by former Strictly contestant Zoe Ball. Not only was her presenting style and personality perfect for this role, she also proved she has very much still got it by dancing in the opening group number.

The tour definately has a greater fun factor than the television show. Although all the contestants still want to be the ones to win over the audience and get the most votes, the removal of the threat of elimination means that the contestants can relax and enjoy it more so their love of dance and Strictly really shines through. They are also less afraid to answer the judges back. With them performing the same show night after night, obviously a lot of the banter is scripted but this doesn't stop them going off on one. By far the funniest example of this was Ricky Whittle after Craig had told him off for singing along to the music while he was dancing. Ricky defended his singing, claiming he was expressing himself - something that Craig couldn't do because of all the botox! Craig quite obviously wasn't expecting that come back because he turned from hard man to pussycat in no time flat, commenting that was funny and sadly true. While Craig had a drink of his water to calm his giggles, Len was called upon to give his opinions of Ricky's dance. I don't quite know what happened next but I'm guessing Craig must have coughed or started giggling again because as Len launched into his spiel, Craig launched a large mouthful of water all over him! This was probably one of those 'you had to be there' moments but I'm sure I wasn't the only person in the audience crying with laughter.

Craig trying to drown Len aside, there were many other highlights of the show for me. Having voted for him, it was wonderful to see Matt Baker dancing live and he most certainly did not disappoint as his performances were even more captivating in the flesh. Seeing Pamela Stephenson and James Jordan dance the Argentine Tango that they didn't get chance to perform after they were knocked out of the final was well worth the wait. The greatest highlight however was seeing Artem Chigvintsev's choreography being performed live. His American Smooth to Cry Me A River was my favourite routine of the 2010 series but seeing it performed live took it to another level. It was totally spellbinding and quite simply beautiful.

Once all the couples had performed twice it happened, the moment that had made me get on that coach to Birmingham in the first place. The Widdy came wandering onto the floor to her infamous Titanic music, calling for her Anton, only to collide with nemesis, Craig Revel Horwood! They launched into a Charleston routine that was packed with the tricks and gimmicks that Ann had become famous for. Craig completely threw himself into the routine as well as throwing Ann all over the place, and on a serious note as a big fan it was great to see Craig up dancing.

An amazing show and well worth the journey, just wish they'd bring it to Cardiff.

Showstopper! The Improvised Musical part 2

On Sunday 30th January I went back for my second dose of Showstopper! The Improvised Musical, once again recording for their show on Radio 4. Firstly, if you have no idea what Showstopper! is all about then I suggest you read my post "Showstopper! The Improvised Musical part 1" because this could get confusingly random otherwise!!

Knowing what to expect this visit I was able to spend a little more time people watching, and I think my friend and I pretty much summed up the divide in the room - those who have seen Showstopper! before and those who haven't. It does seem that once you've experienced it you're hooked and you want to drag all your friends along to experience it too...and what better review for a show is there than that? I was hearing around me similar conversations to those I was having with the Showstopper! virgin I'd enticed along; people gushing about the show and explaining how it all works. Although, when a girl near me started listing off the five or six different occasions that she'd seen Showstopper! I was very much aware, not only that I'm still a relative newbie, but also how addictive it can be. The great thing is, because it's completely improvised, every single performance is unique so you can go back again and again and it never get stale. Plus, with such a talented group of performers on board a top quality show is guaranteed every time.

Once again, they recorded two shows that evening, the second being a pirate ship on "The Magical Sea of Dreams" which was packed full of all the Showstopper! madness you'd expect. However, the first show was by far my favourite of all the ones I've either been at the recording for or already listened to on Radio 4. It was a superhero musical based in a Mexican slaughter house...in the human resources department!!! I don't think I need to say anymore about that, other than listen to Radio 4 at 6.30pm every Wednesday to hear not just that crazy offering but a whole series of them.

Margaret John

At around 2am on the second day of the second month Wales lost a national treasure in the wonderful actress, Margaret John. Recently, she has had the whole of Britain in fits of laughter with her portrayal of Doris in Gavin and Stacey, but in Wales I think she will always be remembered as Mrs Hepplewhite - everyone's favourite Mam! For those of you that don't know the Welsh comedy series High Hopes, the motherly relationship of Margaret's character with her agoraphobic, conman son and his two apprentices won the hearts of the nation, to the extent that people wanted to hug her in the street! Mrs Hepplewhite was full of tales from her past as an exotic dancer, told in that sweet old lady kind of way that Margaret performed to perfection. Not forgetting the totally innocent delivery of classic lines such as (when talking about aliens):

"You know, Richard, I fear the moment they come knocking on our door with their testicles!"

Of course, there was far more to Margaret's repetoire than just eccentric old women. She had a highly successful television and theatre career that spanned over fifty years. I was lucky enough to catch her playing Lady Cravenshire in Calender Girls at the Wales Millennium Centre last year, and she made a huge impression with such a small role. Her stage presence was incomparable and my only complaint was that it was indeed such a small role. With Jean Boht being rather a disappointment in the role of Jessie, in an otherwise fantastic production, I couldn't help but sit there and think how wonderful it would have been to see Margaret playing that part.

The huge number of tributes on social networking sites are testament to her popularity, with moving messages from her fans, friends and co-stars alike. She was a true star and will be sadly missed.