Your First Time

First musical: a Spanish show called Hoy No Me Puedo Levantar, in Madrid, around 2010.

First West End musical: Matilda (2013). I will always remember it was on a Sunday, I landed in Gatwick at 1pm and the show was at 3pm. I made it just in time.

First West End play: Curious Incident (2015)

First (and only) role: Christmas Tree lol, when I was like 8-9.

Ooooh, love this!

First theatrical experience: The Snowman OR Peter Pan at Birmingham Rep (no idea which came first. I suspect it was The Snowman, somewhere around 2000)

First onstage appearance: 'Princess Jasmine' in Katch 22's Aladdin panto (2004ish)

First Lead Role: Khashoggi in WWRY at my school (2013 - age 17) (I'd done loads of plays before but this was my first musical )

First West End Show: Wicked (2013 - age 17)

First Broadway Show: Allegiance (2016 - age 20)

First foreign-language musical: Anatevka (Fiddler on the Roof) at Volksoper Wien (2016 - age 20) - Although I had been obsessed with the German cast album of Wicked for ages beforehand - Willemijn for life!! (And I speak German so it was useful to practice with)

First theatrical experience: something in our local theatre, called Little Tiger, it was some kind of Easter European puppetry thing. Probably about age 4, 1976/7. My mum said it was amazing and beautiful, with marionettes and hand puppets and singing and music, but it started with the cast dressed as tigers coming in through the audience and roaring, and I was utterly terrified so hid under my seat for the entire show. Apart from the interval, when I came out for an icecream, before going back under the seat for the rest of the show. It took another 8 years or so before I'd agree to go to the theatre again.

First musical (Professional): Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, with Jess Conrad, in Wilmslow approx 1980/81.

First onstage appearance: dance shows, age about 12. I know in the first show I did a group tap dance in a gold mini skirt and bow tie, and a group jazz dance to a Sister Sledge song.

First Role: I played a kite in a dance show of Peter Pan when I was about 17. No talking though.

First West End Show: Probably Les Mis, around 1990/91.

First West End Play: Kenneth Branagh's Renaissance Shakespeares (Much Ado/As You Like It/Hamlet) in 1987

First Play at the National: Ghetto, with Maria Friedman, 1989?

First Broadway Show: Les Mis, August 2001. That's my only Broadway show so far.

First Play: The Norman Conquests, approx 1984

First Shakespeare: Winter's Tale at the RSC, with Jeremy Irons, 1986. He was boring, but I remember loving Penny Downie's hair and the giant polar bear rug.

First Ballet: Sleeping Beauty - Fiona Chadwick, Royal Ballet, Royal Opera House, mid 1980s

My go.

First Theatre Celeb - Getting Snow White’s autograph in Woolworths (aged 4)

First West End show - (aged 12 in 1974)

Best theatre week - spending a week in London 1978ish to see Evita, Annie, A Chorus Line, Rock Horror Show, Godspell and a review musical I’ve forgotten the name of.

Best theatrical experience - Ben Kingsley as Dr Faustus at the Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester in the mid80s.

First Ballet - Royal Ballet Leslie Collier in a triple bill including Elite Syncopations late 70s

Memorable onstage appearance - playing Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet alongside David ‘Heartbeat’ Lonsdale - late 70s

First theatre performance - The Sooty Show, 1971?
First variety performance - Danny La Rue, 1973?
First musical performance - Jesus Christ Superstar, Manchester, 1976?
First London performance - The Rivals, Michael Hordern, Tim Curry, Geraldine Mcewan etc., NT, 1983
First Edinburgh Fringe - 1985
First Broadway performance - Avenue Q 2003

I played the same unnamed role in them all, one that I have reprised frequently for nearly fifty years now.

As for 1985, it had Live Aid and Gorbachev becoming Soviet leader. As such it loses easily to 2016 as being a worthy sequel to 1984.

Could be 47 or 48, the date is lost in the mists of time, as is the squeak on my Sweep glove puppet.

(was originally in a different thread but this seemed more appropriate)



Following a discussion on twitter I managed to find the poster for this theatrical extravaganza!

(poster from 



Pleased to say I had most of the details right (including Ken "Settle Down Now" Goodwin), although I was wrong about the Nolan Sisters - it was the Kaye Sisters



And if you're wondering who Rostal and Schaefer are ...



All that plus "comedy magician" Larry Parker

One of my first theatre visits was to see Peter Pan, in the 60s, at the Manchester Opera House, with Alastair Sim as Captain Hook and Wendy Craig as Peter Pan. They used to tour the London presentation for a few weeks in the new year, I think .

Then again for other family visits in the 60s we saw Jimmy Clitheroe and Nat Jackley (as his “mum”) at the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool , and later Jimmy Clitheroe (again) in Jack and The Beanstalk , with possibly the finest principal boy Anita Harris, and the sublime Jack Tripp as Dame.



Then we had visits to summer shows in Blackpool, seeing people like Ken Dodd, Tessie O’Shea, and Charlie Cairoli at the Tower Circus.

My first theatre visit , without family , just myself and my brother, when we were working and could afford to take ourselves off for a theatre trip was in 1980 to the Grand Theatre, Leeds, to see Barry Humphries in “A Night with Dame Edna”. Such happy days .