Saturday 27th July 2024

Woke around 0900. Got up and porridged. Aki cooked herself some brunch. I prepared a packed lunch to take to Alexandra Palace. Tried on my suit, but the high neck-line prevented me being able to show off my eccentric bow-tie, so gave up on that and just went for the smart suit. Drove up to Muswell Hill, via the petrol station at Manor House, and managed to find parking in Dukes Avenue, which skirts the northern boundary of Alexandra Palace and it's parkland. Decided to save my packed lunch for the dinner break, and bought a coronation chicken sandwich, and a coffee, which I consumed on the south terrace, over-looking an expansive view of London town.

Clocked in at the theatre at 1415, and made my way into the splendid auditorium...it's all been left looking pretty distressed, with patches of plasterwork, and exposed brickwork, and cornicing with gaps in it where bits have long ago fallen off. The stalls seating is partially raked, but all is removable, as indeed happens when the BBC film "Later...", and there is a circle level above it, but quite far back, that is, not over-hanging the stalls. The choir slowly amassed, and we took our positions on the stage. The orchestra joined, and Harvey took us through various pieces, not in order, as we were still awaiting the arrival of the children's choir. They finally trooped in, and they added a lovely, quirky dimension to several of the songs. The acoustics in the auditorium are not as good as those at St Luke's, making it more difficult to hear the other vocal sections above the musical instruments, but it is what it is. We broke around 1730, and walked back to the car to extract my packed dinner. Found a bench over-looking the boating lake, and ate there, before returning to the theatre for the 1900 kick-off. Not a bad turn-out. Spotted Aki and Martin on the front row of the circle, and Christine, and Lynne from upstairs, in the second row of the stalls.

Kevin from No.93 was up in the circle somewhere, and Rebecca and Sush from No.5 were also in the auditorium. Harvey kicked off the evening by teaching the audience the words to the chorus of "Victoria", and "Shangri-la", and then we launched into the songs from "Arthur", which made up the first half of the evening. It all went down very well. Spent the interval in the over-crowded dressing room upstairs. Claire from No.78 introduced me to Jane from No.122. Then it was back down to stage level for the second half...the complete "Village Green Preservation Society" album. A couple of messy bits in there somewhere, but the audience seemed to enjoy themselves...and Sir Raymond made a brief appearance out of the shadows stage right to wave at his fans at the curtain call. Made my way out to the bar afterwards, bumping into Sush and Rebecca as they exited the auditorium. Found Aki and Martin in the bar, and we were joined by Helen, Claire, and Kevin for a swift beer. Said farewell to Harvey before leaving, and he gave me his email address...hoping to get him along to the Tower Theatre at some point in the autumn. Drove home with Aki, Kevin, and Claire...dropping everyone off in Sussex Way before retiring home for a well-deserved bath and bed...