Ian Cheeseman presents Break-a-Leg on Tameside Radio, which is packed with great guests and theatre music. In his latest column, he talks about THAT Bodyguard performance and who we'll be hearing from on his next show.
Having written about my growing concerns of audience behaviour at musicals last week, sadly a performance of the Bodyguard at the Palace Theatre in Manchester then made the national headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Despite the announcements and signs held up by ushers before the show, it appears that at least one member of the audience, probably under the influence of alcohol, stood and sang, “I will always love you”, the signature and finale song, at the top of her voice which prompted booing, unrest and ruined the show.
The fact that this was out of tune is irrelevant. It could have been perfect, that point is that those who had paid good money to hear Melody Thornton sing the song, made famous by Whitney Houston, and not the ignorant woman in question, were denied that opportunity.
To have riot police called to a theatre is embarrassing. The show in question wasn’t allowed to conclude as intended, which is heart breaking. The Bodyguard runs until the weekend. It’s a wonderful show.
I also saw that ITV presenter Alison Hammond made light of it on “This Morning”, their day time show, watched by millions, saying she’d sing along too. That was totally irresponsible.
She has since issued an apology which included the line: “I am a great supporter of theatre and the arts and would never sing at the top of my lungs at any performance. I was wrong in what I said and I’ve given this a lot of thought over the past few days and believe I was wrong”.
Well said. I just hope the same people who saw her original comments also saw the apology.
I attend a lot of shows and as I wrote last week, I have experienced chatter, sweet wrapper rustling and other irritations, but I have to say that the vast majority of those enjoying theatre are totally respectful, indeed it’s a joy to be among others who love musicals and plays as much as I do.
That said, there’s definitely been a change of behaviour in society since the pandemic.
You can see the increase in wreckless driving almost every day. I just hope that after all the publicity of the last week, that we’ve seen the last of this extreme disruption in Theatreland.
This week on my Theatre radio show, Break-a-Leg, I have three really special guests talking about musicals.
Nick Winston is a superstar. You might not recognise his name, unless you’re a theatre geek like me, but he is internationally renowned as a director and choreographer.
He’s directed the Royal Variety Performance and his shows include Bonnie & Clyde (currently in the West End), Chess, Fame, Annie, Guys and Dolls, Bugsy Malone, Sweeney Todd and the current tour of Sister Act, just to name a few!
He’s worked with stars like Judi Dench, Samantha Barks, Mica Paris, Kevin Clifton etc.
If you Google him you’ll quickly see I’ve only shown you a glimpse of his talents. He’s my special guest this week along with Norman Bowman, who’s currently starring as Sam in Mamma Mia! in the West End and Lawrence Swaddle who’s starring in “Waldo’s Circus of Magic and Terror” which will be at the Lowry Theatre in Salford from April 20 to 22 and promises to be a spectacular story of love and resistance set in a travelling circus, in Nazi Germany, during 1933 and has an amazing, diverse cast.
I think you’ll agree that it should be a great listen this Sunday evening from 7pm to 9pm on Tameside Radio 106.3FM or OnDemand via tamesideradio.com, whenever you want.
My show always reflects all that’s best in modern theatre, with loads of great music too. Break-a-Leg!
You can join Ian for Break-a-Leg on Tameside Radio 103.6FM every Sunday evening from 7pm to 9pm and Wednesdays from 9pm to 11pm. You can also catch up on previous episodes here.
