Two shows with Barry Cryer

I had two outings with Barry recently, to two rather different audiences.

The first was on 27th July at the Theatre Barn, Bretforton (Worcestershire), the reopening of the venue after three years of closure for renovation. We played here a few years back. It’s delightful as a picturesque conversion job, and welcoming in terms of its audience and theatre staff. This being something of an opening night the audience were all in black tie. The theatre was packed.

Then we did an hour’s afternoon show at the actors’ retirement home at Denville Hall on 30th July, which went splendidly. The entertainment room was at capacity. Here I met up with Leonard Fenton, with whom I did music hall when I first started working as an accompanist, and Bobby Mills, with whom Penny had worked in a tour of Ayckbourne’s Taking Steps in the 1980s. Wearing a different hat, as a Humanist lay preacher, Bobby officiated at the wedding of Jake and Janet Wakstein.

Lisa Bowerman, who’s on the Hall committee, took photos.