All the fun of the Fair.

I have waited ages to see another show by David Essex, I have been a huge fan for many years - it all started when I went to see Robinson Crusoe in Bournemouth as a kid, that's when I fell for the star that is David Essex. Being only around 9 or 10 at the time it did make for a difficult school years with other kids taunting me that I didn't like the latest East 17 Album or fantasize about dating a member of Take That - I spent most of my time at school wondering if I was born too late as I have come to discover now that when he was at his peak you were picked on at school for not being obsessed with him. Ah well, I digress.

I saw All The Fun Of The Fair  was in London for a while and when it announced it was touring I was a very happy girl. 

I bought the CD quite a few months ago, the familiar songs a joy to hear, and of course it was studied intensely - not that this actually helped. 

The show was fantastic, the array of characters was brilliant and the script was very well done, all fitting nicely together with the songs from the man we all know and love.

I was disappointed to see there wasn't a huge crowd for an audience, in the stalls it turned out to be quite an intimate show, I can't say I spotted how many people were in the other tiers but there were some I do know that. A great mixture of people and age ranges which is great to see, I looked at those around the same the age as me and wondered when it was they got on board the David Wagon, I don't know if Eastenders was a draw for some people to join the club.

Taking our seats we sat up looking at the sign for Levi and Sons Dare Devil Wall of Death on a gauze in front of the stage. I grabbed Paul's arm and shook it, squealing quietly with excitement - partly joking (mostly not).

The show starts, Rosa - just as I remembered her on the CD, sets the scene and we get an insight of the journey ahead. My favourite song - Winters Tale, well I say my favourite there are so many to chose from and it is such a close call but I remember this song fondly as one I found in a music book at Secondary School and took every excuse to perform it.

The scene rolls by, the lights fade and we strained our eyes to check for that silhouette that I know everyone in the audience is waiting for. Is that?... hold on.. I think I can see... Yey, there he is!! Mr Essex graces the scene and welcomes us to Levis Fun Fair. The opening chorus was great, it was so nice finally being able to put visuals to the soundtrack I had been listening to. I now realise what 'calculator' he was referring to.

The character of Johnny was instantly lovable, I could see he had many a touring fan in the audience. I would say a tough part to play without going over the top but it was done excellently. You warmed to him straight away and just wanted to look after him.

I wasn't too sure about the girl who played Alice, she seemed to have trouble getting a hold of which part of the voice to tackle the song with - to be fair this may have been the mics cutting out though so I'm not sure.

I absolutely adore 'The Rose' and have done since I first heard it a few years ago and I thought the set used during the scene was wonderful. So simple but so effective.

I noticed that they changed the words to portray a different colour of eyes for jack - I wonder if this was done to reflect the colour of the new actors eyes or (and I’d like to think) to reflect the fact that Jack is meant to ‘have his Daddys eyes’ and we all know Davids are blue....?

Some very gritty subjects were introduced and a very uncomfortable scene featuring Johnny, not uncomfortable in a bad way - in fact this description highlights how brilliantly executed the scene was as it made you cautious and helpless unable to do anything but watch.
Druid for me could have quite easily have been Paul Nicolas - am I right ladies? That guys talking voice was amazingly dark. His character very chilling. I love the 'Rock on' scene, I wonder how much was written as the same time of the rest of the script and how much was mocked up between the actors when they were cast together.

Coming to the end of the first half I am getting a little cautious as to whether I want to watch the rest, I have added up what I know happens on the soundtrack with the what Story Line is leading to and I get the feeling it is going to be terribly sad. We filter out of the auditorium for the interval, streamers have been cascaded on to the audience during the last song which were getting snatched up by several fans - 'handy for the cleaners' I thought.

I was incredibly happy to see the prices of the merchandise. The programs were under a fiver and you got a lot of info for your money. The shirts were nice and I got myself a mug which is proudly sat on my desk at work and holds a nice cuppa tea. I would have loved to have seen Candy Floss for sale and the vendors taking on the Carnival theme.

The second half beings with a good old favourite - again not very hard to say in this show as in my eyes it is full of hits. The colours, choreography and set were ace in this scene, a wonderful opener to get us back in the mood.

The show unfurls the story ever so slowly and we learn a little more each time, we laugh, we cry and of course sing. It is wonderfully written but was missing a few back ground details in my eyes. When Rosa was having her flash back I would've loved to have heard some sort of background dialogue to heighten the moment a bit more - some pre-recorded past communication with some sound effects (I don't want to give too much away). And the curtain call definitely needed some background music as the performers received their well earned applause.

I said earlier I was apprehensive to watch the second half as I knew what was coming - well. I was wrong! Completely and utterly wrong! In most cases. It wasn't as sad as I had initially thought (which was a relief if I am honest) but still a shock. It was very well done - left you with a brief moment of doubting what had happened. The choreography around it was brilliant.

My favorite part in the whole show would have to be the way they performed ‘Dangerous’. I know I say this a lot but it was truly amazing, so beautiful and fluent and an absolute wonder to watch - well done all responsible for that scene!

There was a moment that made me chuckle - when Levi stated that they would start again at this point Paul and I turned to each other and whispered ‘You know where?’ and giggled quietly to each other, much to the bemusement of those around us (ref : War of the World).

I thoroughly enjoyed the show and am dying to see it again and the Icing on the cake was staking out the stage door and meeting the man of the hour. I was very surprised and please when Paul suggested we wait. I remember the last time I saw David Essex, I believe it was at Reading on his ‘Wonderful’ Tour, the crowd was huge outside and I had to be youngest one there, the crowd was slightly smaller tonight but I would still venture I was the youngest there. Everyone was so friendly and chatted, I think Paul even pulled at one point (he he)! 
I was surprised at how different David Essex was now. When I saw him in Reading he was very stand-offish with the crowd, he had a massive body guard with him, he took no gifts, posed for no pictures and merely signed his way very quickly through a path of the crowd. I know it must be hard to manage a crowd and I know that he also isn’t a rude person from the times I have worked with and met him on a one to one basis (although I do think I may have annoyed him a little last time we met when I asked him to sign his book - which I then admitted to not having read). But seeing this person in the crowd tonight was very refreshing, he was chatting, and posing he was accompanied by what I assume was an minder but not one as scary as the last I’d seen him with. I got my program signed by him, Johnny, Druid and Mary. All were extremely pleasant people. I enquired with him about the ending, he confirmed I wasn’t completely mad and that there was a different ending. Johnny revealed that there were two and had been talks of two others..... that’s all I’m saying.

I would have loved to have seen the show in all it’s glory in London as the descriptions and interviews I have found about it since seems to prove there was a lot more in it than the touring show. It was however a wonderful show and I had a brilliant night, I have to say he has certainly proven that he can still ‘Rock On’... I do hope this isn’t the last we see of such shows.

Dreams

What is it with dreams?
Why is it they make the heart long for things that will never happen and the head wish for circumstances that will never come true?


I desperately try to use the dreams I have as something to give myself a bit of a boot up the backside but sometimes it is very difficult not to let them bog me down and make me realise the world I have left myself in isn't that of which I promised myself as a child.
As a child the world was such a big place with so many opportunities but as life goes on and I land myself with more responsibilities I find the world becomes smaller and smaller and the paths I find I can take are less and less.

Sometimes I wish for something to happen that would land me with the option to scrap everything and start again. College, Uni, and instead of sitting in front of a call centre computer thinking 'what if' actually taking some chances in the right direction - If I fail, I fail but at least I can say I have tried instead of simply dreaming.

Run fat girl, run!

OK, so with the sudden realisation that I have a few important runs before me this year - including my first 'running' marathon and doing them to support a very worthy cause I decided to take to the streets yesterday for my first outside run of the year.
Not really knowing what my knees were like I decided to play it safe and stick close to home with a few safe laps. The one thing I hate about running (one thing - ha!) is that I always think I have gone further than I actually have. This isn't helped by the fact that my phone is bleating out my actual mileage and average pace every so often - still in a way I guess it is actually better to know as then you stay out longer. The first la didn't even bring me close to 2 miles so I extended this with a wider route and followed that with another small lap. All in all 5.6 miles in a non acceptable time of 1 hour 15 minutes. I hobbled home covered in mud but happy non-the-less. I kinda like the chosen route as it provides me with a variety of different excursions to take and also lots of varied terrains. Plus it's quite scenic - I pass horses, rams and lots of beautiful houses.

My knees did fairly well. I managed at least 5k until it started to get to the point I couldn't push through and needed a break and a change of pace. Not bad but still not good enough it I need to do 26.2 miles in April.

Today I stayed as active as I could (sitting at a desk) no lifts or short routes and I even managed a walk to get a paper too which was probably about 2k. And I have to say, the recovery seems really good, a little sore but nothing major to report. I am quite pleased. Still worried about the mileage ahead though.

To be honest though I have kind have gotten to the point where I will try anything to stop my knees from hurting, I would to be able to complete a run/walk without being in pain.

After countless Doctors prodding them and advising me not to walk (seriously!). I paid for my own Physio - through the nose may I add. He twisted my knee cap for five minutes at a time, causing me LOTS of pain and left me with a tens machine 'working it's magic' for twenty minutes - three sessions, £90odd later still no improvement. After giving up and a lot of suffering I finally got a nice Doctor who referred me to an NHS Physio. They couldn't find anything wrong with the knees but noticed the low arches on my feet and sent me to a Podiatrist who after three appointments has now come to the conclusion that I have one leg shorter than the other *sigh*

This brings me to my next option. Two years ago I went to a Physic and Medium weekend with my Mum and saw a Physic surgeon called Ray Brown Having my reservations (as you would) I chose not to see him but one of my Mums friends did, she is a level headed lady and not swept away easily but has seen results from Ray Browns work. She had a lump on her ankle from when she fell over a step as a child - now, no more. OK, I have to admit, I am now curious.
The story of Ray Brown in a nutshell is that since an early age he trained to be a healing medium and now is visited by Paul of Tarsus who performs healing through him. I am not a doubter and I'm not a die hard believer, I like to take things in and decide for myself. I wonder to myself if he is actually a Physio therapist with a story some people like to relate to or if he is genuinely the real deal, something I guess I will never know but also something you have to respect him as he did seem to 'heal' my Mums friend. He does seem to genuinely help people - who am I to judge?
Anyway - I digress. Having missed him that time I was hoping to catch him the next time I accompanied my Mum to the weekend next time. Sadly no, I won't. He is in Delhi, India this time.
My Mum sensing my disappointment (as I said - I'm willing to try anything at this point) has hunted down someone in Southampton doing the same work and has booked me in to see them in February when I visit. I shall keep you posted on the lead up and the outcome.

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