Double Babs

What a weekend!

Me and my other half have been to the top-glam locations of Newcastle-under-Lyme and Sheffield, where we saw Janice Connolly in two different guises.

First up on Saturday was the New Victoria Theatre in Newcastle-u-L, where Janice was playing Helen (the mam) in 'A Taste of Honey'. Jo (the daughter) was played by 'Shameless' star Joanna Higson. I was very impressed by her - she played the part with enough light and shade to make me believe in the character, making me forget that slutty nurse she plays. Janice went down a storm with the audience, having just the right amount of blowsiness for a mother described as a 'semi-whore'. If you've never seen the film, starring Rita Tushingham and Dora Bryan, I recommend you go out and rent it or buy it here.

Samantha Siddall, who played Mandy Maguire in 'Shameless', was in the audience. I was tempted to go up to her and say how sorry I was she had died, but she had a right face on and didn't look like she wanted anyone to talk to her. She didn't really look any different in real life, she was dressed slightly more upmarket than Mandy, but still quite chavvy.

Afterwards, having a drink and a pie with Janice and her family, Noreen Kershaw came up to congratulate her on her performance. She played WPC Phyllis Dobbs in Life On Mars but now concentrates on directing. I should have had an I-Spy Book of Actresses with me. Janice also pointed out the woman who she based Barbara Nice on, which was... nice. She also asked if we wanted to go to a variety show at the Lyceum in Sheffield on the Sunday night. We were both quite keen, so she got us tickets.

The last (and until Sunday, only) time I visited the Lyceum it was being used as a disco. It has since been refurbished as the theatre it was, and is now quite stunning. The acts were outstanding - Ursula Martinez did her own brand of conjuring, making a red handkerchief disappear then pulling it out of her clothes. The twist was that, having produced the handkerchief, she then removed an item of clothing. By the end, she was completely naked on stage and produced the handkerchief from down below. I saw her in 'Office Party' at the Edinburgh Fringe last year and she took everything off there as well. More nakedness came from Spymonkey, an hilarious dance troupe (and this is coming from someone who's not keen on dance). They transformed a piece about Joan of Arc into a farcical poledance, during which two of the male performers lost their underwear. Marawa was a charming lady from Australia - what she can't do with hula hoops can't be done! At one point she had a load of them swinging around her and didn't drop a single one. Janice was doing Barbara Nice and did a bit from her show 'Hiya and Higher'. To make it even better, I won a poster, signed by all the acts, in the raffle.

There were two aftershow parties that we were invited to, but we just went to the first one, in the theatre, and had a bit of champagne and canapés. I had been asked by staff not to take photos during the performance and told this to a lady I'd met there. It turned out she was co-producer of the show and had commissioned an official photographer for the evening. She very kindly said she'd send me the Barbara Nice pictures for the website (if you don't know by now - www.mrsbarbaranice.co.uk). How much better does an evening get!