My Life in ... Theatre Programmes: The School Years

The seventeenth in an occasional series of alternative Curriculum Vitae because no-one on their death bed says "I wish I'd spent more time in the office"

Recap: “Over the years, I have kept just about every theatre programme for every play, dance, performance. The bankers’ box full of programs had grown over the years into two boxes and travelled with me from home to home. The vinyl collection mostly went in 2015 as part of a downsize, the theatre programs were next on the list. I looked at selling them on eBay, as many other people have done, but the effort involved and the prices they would fetch meant it just was not worth the effort. So what I did was scan them, mostly just cover page and cast list . Then off they went to the recycling bin. Exceptions were programs where I knew one of the performers or they were particularly significant productions.

Scanning old theatre programmes is like watching your life flash before your eyes but v-e-r-y slowly.

I have seen things you people wouldn't believe...”

The School Years.

As a child / teenager my theatre and concert going was very much down to the beneficence of my parents, Dad specifically as the sole breadwinner growing up. I received a modest amount of pocket money just sufficient to buy myself some treats down at the sweetshop, a jamboree bag or sherbet dab. Once I reached 16 I started earning money over the summer as an archaeological digger which expanded my options.

Looking back my dad was a pretty cool dad. 

Toad of Toad Hall at the Belgrade Theatre (1961, age 9). The very first ever performance I went to as a child, age 9, was Toad of Toad Hall at the newly built Belgrade Theatre in Coventry, which made an impression on a young child not least because of the vertiginous aisles. What I did not know until many years later, when we went to see an evening with Ian McKellen was that I had seen him right at the start of his career in his role as chief weasel! 

Startime at The London Palladium (1964, age 11). I also discovered a programme from a visit to London where I saw Tommy Cooper and Cilla Black at the London Palladium in 1964. As I was 11 that must have been thanks to my dad and a trip to the big city. I remembered nothing of that trip so this programme came as a complete surprise! 

Maybe that is why I am now a big fan of Tommy Copper. 'Spoon, Jar, Jar, Spoon'.

Cilla would have been in the charts with "Anyone Who Had a Heart" and headliner Frankie Vaughan with "Hello Dolly".

The Great Siege of Kenilworth - 700th anniversary (1966, age 13). I was keen on archaeology and history in my teens. I was a regular visitor to the castle as local residents got in for free. The 700 year anniversary celebrations were right up my street. I had the original souvenir programme and recently unearthed a forgotten set of photos. 

Caesar And Cleopatra at the Belgrade Theatre (1967, age 14). My first ever Bernard Shaw play but certainly not the last. 

Mother Courage and Her Children at the Belgrade Theatre (1967, age 15). My first ever Bertolt Brecht play and not one I'd care to repeat. I remember it as tediously long and boring but then I was only 15 and probably failed to appreciate it fully.

Roy Liechtenstein at the Tate (1968, age 15). This was another trip to London to see an extensive retrospective of one of the greats of Pop Art. It made a big impression on me.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, age 15). Not theatre or music but a memorable outing nonetheless. Dad took the whole family down to London, from Kenilworth, in order to see 2001 in CinemaScope in Leicester Square. It was the IMAX of its day, with full stereophonic surround sound. I still remember the sound of the apes behind me as they ran off and the unsettling effect on the inner ear as the stewardess walked upside down.

The Magistrate at The Chichester Theatre / Moon Landing (1969, age 16). This was part of a father and son weekend away, just me and dad. We stayed in a B&B near Chichester the weekend of the first moon landing. During the day we went to see Fishbourne Roman Palace and that night stayed up late to watch the Apollo 11 moon landing live. Looking back I realise it must have been as thrilling for my dad as he was a lifelong reader of science fiction and this was history in the making. The next day we went to The Chichester Theatre to see this production starring, amongst others, Tamara Ustinov (Peter's daughter) and Alastair Sim.

Midsummer Night’s Dream at RSC Stratford (1970, age 17). Peter Brook’s production of The Dream was simply magical: the white stage set, the primary colours of the costumes, the eerie whistling noise made by the fairies whirling wind pipes.

Now we enter the zone where I had money from my summer job as an archaeological labourer and could buy my own tickets.

Isle of Wight Festival (1970, age 17). I saw some of the most famous and influential bands and acts in musical history including Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, The Doors, Miles Davis, the list goes on. Sadly I remember very little. I think much of this was due to my musical illiteracy at 17. If they hadn't appeared on Top of the Pops I wouldn't know who they were and so did not appreciate who I was listening to. Full blog post: Isle of Wight Festival 1970.

Tyrannosaurus Rex at "Castle Rock" (Saturday, June 5th 1970, age 17). My first ever T.Rex gig. Full write up at Castle Rock feat. Tyrannosaurus Rex. At least I think it was my first ever Tyrannosaurus Rex concert. There was an earlier gig at Birmingham Town Hall but I have no ticket stub nor diary entry so I may have imagined being there.

Tyrannosaurus Rex at Birmingham Town Hall (Wednesday, 14th October 1970, age 18). The tickets were a very modest 10/- (ten shillings or 50p in decimal).

Incredible String Band at Birmingham Town Hall (1970?, age 18). I have no record of the exact date but it featured Licorice Mckecknie on bass. The internet suggests several possible dates but Saturday, 31 Oct 1970 is the most plausible.

Lancaster Polytechnic Arts Festival (January 1971, age 18). Curved Air featuring the lovely Sonia Christina followed by Monty Python live. A full write-up in this post: Lanchester Arts Festival 1971.

T.Rex at Birmingham Town Hall (Tuesday, 16th February 1971, age 18). I was in the orchestra gallery, unreserved seats behind the stage, so really close to the band. Also pretty close to the speakers so it was really loud.

Edgar Broughton Band, Pink Fairies, et al at Warwick University Arts Festival (March 1971, age 18). I went to the performance of Stravinsky's Mass followed by some drummer who did a 25 minute long drum solo. Later the same evening it was the turn of local group the Edgar Broughton Band featuring their hit single Out Demons Out. On the Sunday I went to see the Pink Fairies. There was no seating so the audience sat on the floor. The music was painfully loud, so much so that I had to lie flat on the floor to get some shielding from the people in front of me. 

Image courtesy of Trev Teasdel.

Then I went up to college and a whole new chapter began.

The Great Siege of Kenilworth - 700th anniversary photos

Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire. Saturday 11-June-1966.

"The siege of Kenilworth (21 June - December 1266), also known as the great siege of 1266, was a six-month siege of Kenilworth Castle and a battle of the Second Barons' War. The siege was a part of an English civil war fought from 1264 to 1267 by the forces of Simon de Montfort against the Royalist forces led by Prince Edward (later Edward I of England). The siege was one of few castle attacks to take place during the war." [Wikipedia].

The Urban District Council of Kenilworth decided to celebrate the 700th anniversary with an all day event. A while back I blogged the programme from The Great Siege of Kenilworth - 700th anniversary celebrations. I recently unearthed some photos I took on the day, so without further ado, here they are with quotes from the programme.

Programme

Saturday 11th June 1966, Kenilworth Castle

Multi-method Minor Peal of Bells from St. Nicholas Church

2:00 Unveiling of Plaque by Lord Kenilworth
2:15 Tour of Medieval Fayre by official party
3:30 A Medieval Entertainment presented jointly by the Priory Theatre and the Talisman Theatre
4:00 Fencing
4:30 Short-Bow Archery
5:15 Cannon Fire

Draw for Programme Lucky Number

In the Echo Meadow
5:20 Tug-of-War
5:45 Long-Bow Archery
6:15 Demonstration of Cannon Firing
6:20 Musketry

A Medieval Entertainment presented jointly by the Priory Theatre and the Talisman Theatre

1266 AND ALL THAT

A tale of Robin Hood
Presented by The Priory and Talisman Theatre Companies.

• Thrill to the throbbing drama as Maid Marion is abducted by the Dastardly Sheriff! 
• Enjoy the jocular jokes of the jolly jesters! 
• Marvel at the mirth and music as the Merry Men dance round the Maypole! 
• See the amazing action-packed duel between the Sheriff and Robin Hood - ten great hits.

Tug of war in the Echo Meadow (1/3).

Tug of war in the Echo Meadow (2/3).

Tug of war in the Echo Meadow (3/3).

Fencing. 

A sport with ancient origins, fencing has been developed over the years into its modern form. It requires a high degree of skill and co-ordination of mind, hand and body. 

Today's fencer has the choice of three weapons - the foil, originally a practice weapon, the sabre which is a lighter version of the cavalry sword, and the epée, derived from the 18th century French court sword. All three are demonstrated today. 

The fencers' special clothing gives them the maximum protection consistent with freedom of movement and the position they adopt when 'on guard' enables them to defend themselves or launch an attack with equal facility. 

As they advance and retire, testing each other's reaction, seeking an opportunity for attack, the action flows from side to side until a hit is scored.

Demonstration of Cannon Firing.

The two Cannon in use today belong to Robin Wigington of Stratford-upon-Avon, an antique dealer who specialises in firearms.

The larger of the two Cannon is a bronze seven pounder. The barrel is a fine example of its type and the carriage has been reconstructed to its original pattern in oak and teak.

Known as a 'galloper' it was a mobile field gun in Napoleonic times and could be moved rapidly about the battlefield to support the infantry. It mostly fired solid shot, but when in action at short range - repelling a cavalry charge for example - it fired canister shot.

Although a 'light' gun the barrel weighs several hundredweight, and the complete gun around 15 - 16 cwt.

The smaller weapon is an iron barrelled three pounder of the early 19th century. This is its first outing since its reconstruction.

A mountain battery gun, it is easily dismantled and was designed to pack away on three mules. It was mainly used by infantry in difficult areas such as the North West Frontier of India, and the mountains of Africa, where normal artillery could not operate. .

Peasant in the stocks (1/3).

Peasant in the stocks (2/3).

Peasant in the stocks (3/3).

I remember it as a fun day out and was pleased to discover these forgotten photos in my archive.

John Bishop at O2 City Hall

Newcastle, England. Sunday 12-May-2024.

When we saw that John Bishop was touring and appearing in Newcastle it was an obvious event to go on to after Edinburgh. The last time we saw him in 2017 when we were down in Bournemouth and made it a weekend with my second cousin.

He was just as funny as the first time we saw him so we had made a good decision!

Apparently it is national deafness awareness week, and so John had a sign interpreter, translating his routine for the benefit of the deaf members of the audience. After about half an hour, he then handed over to a deaf guest comedian and the signer’s role was reversed; he translated the comedians sign language into speech for the hearing audience. The guest made some comedic mileage out of the dumb things that hearing people ask, and the misunderstandings that can occur when trying to mime certain actions that also happened to be ESL words!

There was an interval, and the second half was all John Bishop doing his usual storytelling observational style of humour. Amongst that, he gave us some behind-the-scenes description of the making of TV programs he has appeared in recently: “Who do you think you are”, “DNA Journey” (with Hugh Bonneville) and Dr Who.

Like many other excellent comedians, he is very adept at repeatedly returning to earlier themes even impromptu ones introduced by conversations with people in the front row.

After the show we wandered about in search of somewhere for one last drink. To our surprise a lot of Newcastle, famous as drunken, riotous town, was remarkably quiet with most places closed. On the way back to the hotel we found The Beehive Pub which was fine until exactly 11 o’clock when the staff became very loud and shouty about drinking up and leaving. We were not impressed at the way they chivied us out. Apparently there is no longer such a thing as “drinking up time” in England and Wales, but Scottish law still allows 15 minutes for you to finish your beer before being ejected from the premises.

Still I did get to try a local Newcastle boutique gin to round off a very enjoyable night.

Average White Band at The Usher Hall

Edinburgh, Scotland. Saturday 11-May-2023.

My fourth time seeing the Average White Band and the final time as they had announced this is their farewell tour billed as the "Let’s Go Round Again / Funk Finale Tour". 

Mary booked these tickets almost a year ago so we always had planned a flying visit back from Italy especially for this gig. By a series of lucky coincidences this turned into a 10 day road trip back to the UK taking in this concert, a comedy show, a 70th birthday party and a visit to my second cousin. 

We flew into Gatwick and took the train up to Edinburgh, making it a long day, 9:30 am to 9:30 pm (10:30 Italian time), and fell straight into bed.

Saturday morning was, of course, #parkrunday with Oriam chosen as an "O" required for our second Alphabet Challenge. We had come prepared for typical Edinburgh weather i.e. thick leggings, fleeces, jeans and thermal t-shirts but were thrown by a heatwave so were decidedly pink by the end of the parkrun / parkwalk.

Although the parkrun was the other side of the city there was a direct bus taking us practically door to door!

We went for a wander around the city in the afternoon, stopping in Rose Street for a beer and Princes Street Gardens for people watching.

That evening we had a very nice meal in Bentoya, a Japanese restaurant recommended by our host. It was a short stroll to the venue, time to grab a beer and settle into our seats. 

The Average White Band were the music of Mary’s university years and she has followed them ever since. We last saw them in 2016. Tonight was special - she had a smile on her face all night and spent 3/4 of it dancing. As did most of the audience. This picture was taken during the first half and everyone is already on their feet.

Alan and Onnie, the two original members (ages 77 and 78 respectively), were amazing. Alan's vocals are still strong and their guitar playing was fantastic. They were on stage for the whole time - no taking a back seat in this show. Although now they have a superb lead vocalist in Brent Carter who at one point got a standing ovation from the crowd. The two sax players Mary reckons were the naughty boys, definitely having a good time.

The set didn’t have as many of the greatest hits as previous shows with many of the songs performed as extended versions showing off the virtuosity of the band members. A number of the songs I didn’t recognise but they certainly did several of their best known songs “Let go round again”, “Pick up the pieces” and “Put it where you want it”.

Afterwards we went for a beer in the nearby Innis and Gunn which sold an extensive range of craft beers, their own and guest beers. 

Sunday morning we strolled out to Leith in the sunshine and and spent a very enjoyable time walking around the harbour area looking at old buildings. Then it was time for brunch at the Brunswick Book Club and the train to Newcastle for John Bishop and the next stop on our road trip.

Lanchester Arts Festival 1971

Lanchester Polytechnic. Sunday 31-January-1971.

One of the earliest gigs I went to in my youth was a very memorable double bill of Curved Air, featuring the lovely Sonja Kristina, followed by a late night show of Monty Python live.

Googling, I found a number of copies of the timetable online, clearly all the same image scanned once and borrowed multiple times as they all had identical tick marks against various events. I thought my own copy was long gone and was very pleasantly surprised to find it towards the bottom of my box of old theatre programs (See My Life In ... Theatre Programmes: Intro).

A simple, one-page, double-sided flyer, this is my copy.

Timetable.

Visiting my sister earlier this year, she reminded me that she had accompanied me on this outing which I had forgotten! Just as I was leaving, she rushed up with a copy of the full program which she remembered she had somewhere in her archives. So I present here selected pages and, available to download, the PDF of the complete program.

The "Mixed Media" event was a couple of poets, most memorably Ivor Cutler who had been featured on the John Peel radio show on a number of occasions followed by Curved Air, featuring the electric violin of Darryl Way and a lead vocals from the enchanting Sonja Kristina. I must have also heard Curved Air on John Peel's show as the single Back Street Luv had not yet hit the charts. I certainly had their debut album, Air Conditioning which was released the previous November.

First up Curved Air.

Text:

Sunday 31st January

CURVED AIR.

Curved Air have been together since March 1970. Sonja Kristina, violinist and singer, Francis Monkman on lead guitar and keyboards, lan tyre on bass guitar and Florian Pilkington-Miksa as percussionist have adopted what is currently a very dynamic stage act, using "see-through" perspex guitars. They were chosen by "Hair" composer Galt McDermott to play the music for his "hate-rock" musical, "Who The Murderer Was", they then played at the Pop Proms and have one L.P. entitled "Air Conditioning", which is selling in enormous quantities.

I saw Ivor again some years later at The Roundhouse but that is for another post.

Text:

IVOR CUTLER

Ivor Cutler is a Scottish poet. He has two books, "Gruts" and "Cock-a-doodle-don't", and is at the moment writing books for children. His poetry has appeared in many newspapers and magazines, he has appeared on television and radio as well as at the Edinburgh Festival. He composed the music for Ken Russell's T.V. production of "Diary of a nobody" , and has made several records. He appeared at LAF70 amidst wild scenes.

Addenda: Appeared in "Magical Mystery Tour" as Buster Bloodvessel.
Books: "Meal One", out in April 1971.
"A Seal is a Sheep without Feet" (Poetry) out 1971.
Discs: "Life in a Scotch Sitting-room”, vol. 2.
Also an L.P. with Julie Driscoll singing Ivor Cutler.
Concert: Albert Hall 28th January with Soft Machine.
Bogs Paper: Poems and Cartoons in 'Wipe', the illustrated Bogs Paper.
Dial-a-Poem: Reading his poetry on 01-836-2872 from noon 22nd to noon 29th December 1970.
Teach-ins: available for free African-type drumming, creative poetry, drama etc.

At the end of the concert, a large percentage of the audience walked across the road en masse to see Monty Python live in a midnight show in the Belgrade Theatre chanting, as a mob, "Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey, goodbye" [*]. Many of the audience were wearing knotted handkerchiefs on their head in the style of D P Gumby with cries of "My brain hurts!"

* "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" by Steam.

The Pythons did very few live shows. I feel privileged to have been in the audience on the first night of their first ever live show and see many of their famous sketches performed on stage, including the incomparable Dead Parrot sketch.

The Pythons were on at midnight and Jane and I had cheap seats up in the gods.

Text:

LATE NIGHT

SUNDAY JANUARY 31st FOR THREE DAYS 12 Midnight

MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS

WHO'S WHO

PENIS. Sir Arthur. Philosopher and flamboyant. b. 1902 d. 1938.
PYTHON. Montagu. (Monty) Impresario. b. on probation 1907 and again a year later. Only son of Mr. and Miss Samuel Python. Educated Harrods and Trinity Bldgs Camberwell. Founder of Monty Python's Flying Circus. (q.v.) Ex-poet, ex-Lumberjack, ex-Parson, ex-King Zog of Albania. Has recently co-produced a film "And Now For Something Completely Different", based on the life story of Tony Hateley, adapted by Ann Hayden-Jones and her husband "Pip"
PYTHON. Monty's. Flying Circus of. Founded by above. First sold to BBC TV in May 1969 as part of the deal that took David Coleman to Sport. (From Philosophy).
Containing, in height order:
CLEESE, John. The tallest. Voted Rectum of St. Andrews instead of Derek Nimmo. (TeeHee) He is reading a book which has no pictures in it.
CHAPMAN, Graham. Dr. 'The Mad Medic of Mirth" (Spotlight) "Scunthorpe has never laughed so much" (The Stage) A few weeks still available in July.
IDLE, Eric. The third tallest. Favourite colour, Black. Favourite acid, sulphuric. His ambition is to become an all-round family entertainer
PALIN, Michael. Writer/performer. Winner of Best Perf. Gent. 1962, Sheffield Co-op Drama Festival. (Honest). Married to Terry Jones. Michael is coloured.
JONES, Terry. Writer/delinquent. Interested in the Underground. Lives just South of it. School Gym Captain. Only went to Grammar School.
GILLIAM, Terry. Draws the pictures, and will be learning to write soon. He is an American and refuses to get out of Vietnam although he has been told repeatedly.
All five have previously written for David Frost Shows and wish to apologise publicly.

This is the first time Monty Python's Flying Circus has ever been performed on the stage. So there.

Text:

MONTY PYTHON'S QUIZ

1) What have the following in common? a) Moshe Dayan. b) Sammy Davis Jr. c) The Nawab of Pataudi.
2) Edward Heath is a What?
3) Who wrote "The gushing leaves that through the argent windows blush"?
4) Can you name seven planets?
5) Which of the following is not in Asia? Lahore, Singapore, Dacca, Bangkok, Coventry.

1) They're all foreigners.
2) A bachelor.
3) I did.
4) Smartass.
5) Coventry (All the rest are in Asia).

A SHORT HISTORY

The cast of Monty Python's Flying Circus met up through the medium of Oxbridge. John Cleese studied at Cambridge with Graham Chapman and took part in "Cambridge Circus" with Tim...

... Brooke-Taylor. Michael Palin was at Oxford, Eric Idle at Cambridge where he took part in the Pembroke "Smoker" revue club, started by Peter Cook, and the University Footlights Society. John and Graham resumed their writing partnership on the Frost Report and collaborated with Tim Brooke Taylor and Marty Feldman on "'At Last the 1948 Show".

John Cleese married Indianapolis-born actress Connie Booth in 1968 and took the next 15 months off to nurse a pulled muscle (the two events, he claims are quite coincidental), but he and Chapman joined Terry Southern, Peter Sellers and Joseph McGrath on the screenplay for the "Magic Christian". They were also ...

... co-authors, with Peter Cook and Kevin Billington of "The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer"

Michael Palin is best known on television for his brilliant compere/introducer scenes. He and Terry Gilliam, the American animator in MPFC, responsible for the weird and wonderful collage-animations, met up with Eric Idle on Rediffusion's "Do Not Adjust Your Set" and went on contributing to "Frost on Sunday" and the first Marty Feldman shows.

Eric Idle has written scripts for "I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again”, “The Frost Report", Roy Hudd and "Do Not Adjust Your Set". He wrote the screen play for a feature film with Roy "Albert Q.O.S.O." and contributed to London Weekend's "We Have Ways Of Making You Laugh".

It would be fair to say that Monty Python's Flying Circus was initially moulded around a personal admiration in each individual for Spike Milligan and his anarchistic, irrelevant humour. It is not in the true sense satirical but amazingly amusing and captivating.

"As I remember it what a night!".

My Life In ... Theatre Programmes: Intro

The seventeenth in an occasional series of alternative Curriculum Vitae because no-one on their death bed says "I wish I'd spent more time in the office"

Over the years, I had kept just about every theatre programme for every play, dance, performance event that I had attended. The bankers’ box full of programs had grown over the years into two boxes and travelled with me from home to home. 

The vinyl collection mostly went as part of the downsize, the theatre programs were next on the list. I looked at selling them on eBay, as many other people have done, but the effort involved and the prices they would fetch meant it just was not worth the effort. 

So what I did was scan them, mostly just cover page and cast list. Then off they went to the recycling bin. Exceptions were programs where I knew one of the performers or they were particularly significant productions.

Scanning old theatre programmes is like watching your life flash before your eyes but v-e-r-y slowly. 

I have seen things you people wouldn't believe...

Many performances left no trace. Some were memorable like Kate Bush at the Apollo Hammersmith (Before The Dawn) on my birthday in 2014, Rambert dancing to the music of The Rolling Stones and Madam Butterfly open air opera on Brownsea Island. And exactly how many Tom Stoppard plays have I seen? Certainly in double figures. Several starring the lovely Felicity Kendal - so that was nice.

In the end I scanned in over 220 theatre, music and dance programmes. I kept being astonished by performances I had completely forgotten such as Petula Clark *and* Honor Blackman in a production of The Sound Of Music in 1981. Amongst the forgotten surprises I was also delighted to unearth some programs for performances that I thought were lost - but more of that later.

Cast list.

A music meme a while back included the question "Who have you seen more than once?" Extending that to all the performing arts I now have several new entries. Unsurprisingly my childhood friend and soprano Catherine Bott, star of stage and radio tops the list:

• Catherine Bott, soprano (23 in total, 15 with New London Consort, 8 with various other popular beat combo)
• Ballet Rambert (8)
• Janet Smith and Dancers (8)
• London Contemporary Dance (5)
• Moving Picture Mime Show (4)
• Pilobolus Dance Theatre (3)
• Ros Burdett, soprano (3) 

Stats include: I’ve been to Sadler's Wells 17 times, seen 11 Stoppard plays, Diana Rigg 5 times. In 1983 I was a culture vulture on steroids with 31 visits to the theatre, etc. 

Other performers I have seen live on stage include:

• Donald Sinden
• Rory McGrath
• Griff Rees-Jones
• Oz Clarke
• Clive Anderson
• Patrick Stewart
• Kirsten Scott Thomas
• Fenella Fielding
• Tommy Cooper 
• Cilla Black
• Simon Rattle
• Diana Rigg 
• Frances de la Tour
• Harry H Corbett
• Terry Scott
• Wayne Sleep
• Elaine Paige
• Brian Blessed
• Bonnie Langford
• Tim Curry
• Pamela Stephenson
• Warren Mitchell
• Colin Firth
• John Gordon Sinclair 
• Frank Finlay
• Honor Blackman
• Petula Clark
• Paul Eddington
• Timothy West
• David Essex 
• Nigel Planer
• Ronnie Corbett
• Julie Covington
• Lynsey De Paul
• Rolf Harris
• Rod Hull And Emu
• Cleo Laine
• Bob Hoskins
• Margaret Tyzack
• Donald Sinden
• Elaine Stritch
• Jimmy Tarbuck
• Cilla Black
• Tommy Cooper
• Marcel Marceau
• Vanessa Redgrave
• Jonathan Pryce
• David Tennant
• Patrick Stewart
• Ian McKellen
• Ivor Cutler
• Julie Walters

So many performances that it will take several posts to do them justice. Watch this space...

Cake Salato alle Zucchine [IT]

[Italiano] [English]

Una delle ricette preferite di Mary. Gustoso caldo o freddo. Si congela bene. Funziona bene come ricetta vegetariana aggiungendo più cipolla al posto della pancetta.

Cake Salato alle Zucchine

Ingredienti per 6 persone

• 180 g di farina bianca "00"
• 3 zucchine
• 100 g di pancetta dolce a cubetti 
• 150 g di ricotta
• 50 g di pecorino
• 50 g di parmigiano 
• 1 cipollotto
• 3 uova
• 100 ml di olio di semi di girasole
• 100 ml di latte
• 1 bustina di lievito in polvere per torte salate
• erba cipollina 
• 10 g di sale

Metodo

1-2-3. Tagliate a cubetti le zucchine e saltatele in padella con li cipollotto. A metà cottura unite la pancetta e cuocete per circa 10 minuti. A fine cottura unite un trito di erba cipollina.

4-5-6. A parte sbattete le uova con li latte e l'olio, unite farina, sale, lievito e formaggi e amalgamate bene li tutto.

7. Unite al composto le zucchine e la pancetta e mescolate ancora.

8-9-10. Versate il tutto in uno stampo da plum cake foderato con carta da forno. Cuocete a 190°C per circa 45 minuti. Servite li cake tiepido o freddo

Da “Una scuola di verdure” a cura di Francesca Badi.  ISBN: 9788861542976.

Savoury Zucchini Cake [EN]

[Italiano] [English]

One of Mary's favourite recipes. Tasty hot or cold. Freezes well. Works well as a vegetarian recipe by adding more onion in place of the bacon.

Savoury Zucchini Cake.

Ingredients for 6 people

• 180 g of white "00" flour
• 3 courgettes
• 100 g diced unsmoked bacon
• 150 g of ricotta
• 50 g of pecorino
• 50 g of parmesan 
• 1 spring onion
• 3 eggs
• 100 ml of sunflower seed oil
• 100 ml of milk
• 1 sachet of baking powder for savory cakes
• chives
• 10 g of salt

Method

1-2-3. Cut the courgettes into cubes and sauté them in the pan with the spring onion. Halfway through cooking, add the bacon and cook for about 10 minutes. At the end of cooking, add chopped chives.

4-5-6. Separately, beat the eggs with the milk and oil, add the flour, salt, baking powder and cheese and mix everything well.

7. Add the courgettes and bacon to the mixture and mix again.

8-9-10. Pour everything into a 2lb loaf tin lined with baking paper. Cook at 190°C for about 45 minutes. Serve the cake warm or cold

From  “a Scuola di Verdure” edited by Francesca Badi. ISBN: 9788861542976.