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The Blue Boar used to do fantastic T Bone steaks in those days.The best I've ever had. 

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I have posted in the past how greasepaint runs in the blood of my sister and me - we both donned brown-paper rat's-head masks and scuttled on to the stage at Crane school following the Pied Piper of H

Cor Chulla, seeing those Parkie packets just makes me fancy a puff. I can almost see myself sitting on the top deck of the "Red Bus" bouncing along Colwick Rd, 7.30am on my way to work. The air would

I hadn't intended to include this with it not being a Notts theatre, but as it's coincidental with the recent death of Brian Rix here it is. My next theatre trip happened to be to see one of his farce

Great snap Cliff.I do recall a wino in the morning falling down those brewery trapdoors!

Alain was the Chef at Le Bistro. then a mate of mine was head waiter..took my Mum there several times..the escargots were fabulous.

The chef was replaced by a guy ( name?) who went to work down at the Beaujolais.

It was a great eating experience...apart from Lentons LA Grenouille.

The Crusader restaurant was a little down market.. but tasty!

Near The old Malt Cross there was an alley that provided me with free entry to the Odeon Cinema...a lovely garden was down there too..behind the Bell pub.

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October 1974 and The English Opera Group were back with the double bill of Tchaikovsky's 'Yolande' and Sullivan's 'Trial by Jury'.  I also went to see 'La Rondine', one of Puccini's less well-known pieces. This featured June Bronhill again, showing she had more than popular operetta in her repertoire:

 

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The forthcoming pantomime:

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Some rather lighter musical entertainment came in November 1974 with John Hanson in 'Rose Marie'.

 

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Hanson was still something of a star in those days. This was the first of several of his touring productions I was to see and enjoy, and I think it's sad the works of such as Rudolf Friml and Sigmund Romberg - to say nothing of Ivor Novello - have disappeared from the stage these days.

 

Apart from the title song, 'Rose Marie' is best known for The Indian Love Call ('When I'm calling you...', and my favourite, the Mounties song:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35A8_YTOzas

 

A notable name in the cast was Su Pollard, some years before she became famous:

 

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What I think was my only other visit to a Nottingham Operatic Production was to see Offenbach's 'La Vie Parisienne' in April 1975.  Only 20p in the Gallery! (You paid half that for a programme).

 

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Their next production, advertised as being in six month's time was to be 'Mame', such shows being the reason why I didn't go to see their productions very often.

 

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#85. She was terrific in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, World. Also, I put a YouTube clip of her on NS a while back in her younger days singing very nicely.

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The ex-Sadler's Wells Company paid its first visit under its new name, and I think I went to see all four productions in the week - no modern rubbish to avoid! They were 'the Magic Flute', 'Manon' by Massenet (I couldn't miss seeing Valerie Masterson), 'La Traviata' and 'Count Ory' by Donizetti, featuring John Brecknock in the title role.

 

The Gallery price was three times that for Nottingham Operatic! (and 50% more for a programme).

 

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November 1976, and John Hanson was back, this time with 'The Student Prince':

 

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The hit song, of course:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j-m8NpwXGg

 

Can't help feeling that these days the opening line of this song may be open to the wrong interpretation:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IvSHLK6Xic

 

Interestingly, the Jane Fyffe featured on that recording was the sister of 'Dame Hilda Bracket'.

 

Back page of the programme:

 

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The adverts get more surreal as this series continues.

 

'Connies Cafe' on Denman Street would obviously be a first choice for everyone on leaving the Theatre Royal. This is it in the 1980s where Connie has been replaced by Dave.

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Again in November 1976, another fairly short-lived opera company visited. Along with 'The Magic Flute', I couldn't miss 'H.M.S. Pinafore', but wasn't interested in Gluck's 'Orfeo' - the kind of attitude they must have been expecting, as I see there were reduced prices for it. 

 

Price of a programme (unusually they did separate ones for each production) had now slid up to 20p, but the Gallery cost a very reasonable 45p.

 

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The latest TVs:

 

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#92.  Bush Arena Hi-Fi wasn't half bad.  I had an Arena 40 from 1972 until 1990.  It had an FM only radio which became a bit of a problem as BBC R1 didn't go to FM until years after the planned date.  But then by the time it did it no longer played much I wanted to hear.  Hearing BBC 3 and 4 on FM for the first time with a decent signal was a revelation.  Only beaten years later by slotting a borrowed Leak Troughline III all valve tuner into my posh system.  Astonishing clariity and spaciousness and a million miles from the classic sludginess of worn out old valve sets with loads of out of spec components muddying an already pretty horrible AM signal.

My Arena 40 also had a very respectable record deck.  A Goldring Lenco B55 idler drive unit, which was a sort of pared down version of the still very popular GL75.  I binned the bush thing years ago, but kept the record deck, put it into a new plinth and now use it for playing 78s.

 

Col

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I think it was following the 1976/77 pantomime when the Theatre Royal closed for its refurbishment and rebuilding, and it was quite scary that year witnessing the extent of the work when it was practically in bits, seeming nothing more than a shell.  However, it turned out all right in the end and while I think it was originally hoped it would re-open in time for the following winter's pantomime it was actually in about February 1978 when, if I remember right, the Ken Dodd Laughter Show kicked things off. That was followed by a play (can't remember what), then the first what you might call full-scale production to be staged was when D'Oyly Carte opened a fortnight in March 1978 with 'Iolanthe'.

 

Seat prices were no longer given in the programme, but there was no more queuing for the Gallery, as the new Balcony had proper seats.  I remember my first visit, when of course the immediately noticeable difference was everything was green instead of red.  Although the interior at first sight otherwise seemed largely unaltered - apart of course from the new 'Gods' - it was soon clear there were lots of differences, such as the proscenium and the arrangement of the boxes.

 

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Good to see the programme still cost 20p - and you got extra pages!

 

Ben Bowers was open by now, where you could get a three-course dinner for £4:

 

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Those who have been following all this and getting fed up of the endless diet of opera will be relieved to know that as from the second year of the refurbished Theatre Royal's existence my theatre-going began to be a bit more varied - and more frequent.  Starting with a play in March 1979 performed by the National Theatre Company - 'For Services Rendered' by W. Somerset Maugham, an author who seems to have dropped out of fashion these days.

 

As far as I remember, it dealt with the treatment in the 1920s of those who had seen action in the First World War.

 

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And what a cast! No wonder I was tempted along to see the play. Not the least of those appearing was Emma Thompson's mother and Hucknall-born Robin Bailey. Regarding the latter, I used to work with someone who had known Bailey when he was starting out in amateur dramatics in Hucknall and who appeared on the edition of 'This Your Life' featuring the actor to tell about those early days.

 

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The latest music centre could be obtained:

 

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Just found this thread and enjoyed it - thanks Merthyr Imp. 

Had to stop theatre and cinema going 30 years ago when I went deaf. Just been fitted with the latest cochlear implant processor, so As an experiment, on Friday, I went to see the Russian ballet troupe performing Swan Lake at the gate House Stafford. Could not hear the music very well but it was a wonderful experience. I could 'see' the music and my memory helped link bits together.

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The same month in 1979 saw a visit from what was then still known as English National Opera North which had been hived off from English National Opera (formerly Sadler's Wells) (are you following this?) which no longer went on tour.

 

Of the three offerings that week, for some I reason I missed 'La Boheme' and wouldn't have gone to see 'Peter Grimes' even if I'd been paid to, but I couldn't miss 'Die Fledermaus'. The production was noteworthy for featuring Clive Dunn in the non-singing role of the prison warder.

 

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I remember going to see the 1979 Desert Song we had just returned from Australia to stay but it only lasted 20 months,I had played a small part in the show in Australia in 1977.

John Hanson really was too old for this part by this time but we enjoyed the show.Would be interest\ed to know the year the Nottingham Operatic Society put on "Kismet " .at the Royal would have been 65/68 I think,this was a good production and Merthyr would surely have gone to see it even if "Mame'  was not his cup of tea.I had the pleasure to direct "Kismet" for the Bunbury Musical Comedy Group in 1987......

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