Touch Tours – Well Eye Never

I Want Some More! – Oliver! Review

As I’ve said in the past, I love the 1968 musical film adaptation of the Dickens novel Oliver Twist, with all its wonderful songs, characters, sets and costumes, all brought to life by a brilliant cast. It was based on Lionel Bart’s theatre show of course, of which there have been several productions since it launched in 1960, and while I have the soundtrack albums for some of them, I’ve never had a chance to see the musical live, until now.

That’s because I recently went to the Gielgud Theatre to see an audio described performance of the current production of Oliver! by Cameron Mackintosh, which launched last year. And on reviewing the situation (for this post that isn’t sponsored), I think it can consider itself well in, because it’s a fine life for those who will buy a ticket to see it.

The Gielgud Theatre, a four-story building with ornate decor that stands proudly on a street corner, with signage for the Oliver musical. The centre of the building, which curves around the corner, has an extra room with a domed roof on the very top.

Poster for Oliver, showing a painted image of a young boy's face, with the London skyline in the background, including St Paul's Cathedral. Blue text above him says Everybody's Asking For More. Just below the boy's face is more blue text saying Cameron Mackintosh and Matthew Bourne's glorious Dickens of a show. And immediately below that is the title Oliver, with an exclamation mark, in big red letters.

41st Birthday Favourites

So another birthday month has rolled around. And while this time it’s not been quite as crazy as my big four-o last year, it’s still been busier than I expected, as I’ve been out for 3 enjoyable theatre shows and 2 nice meals, most of which have been free thanks to very kind friends of mine.

So I’ve got all of that to mention in this latest post and video, along with my PIP review decision, some films and TV shows I’ve been watching, and the sporting action in the Olympics and Paralympics.

As usual, none of this is sponsored to appear here, plus all opinions are my own, and I hope you enjoy. Let’s crack on with it!

April 2024 Favourites

Hey there, hope you’re all doing well. I’m good, although like all disabled people in the UK I feel great unease over the government’s proposed changes to our benefits. My PIP review still hasn’t been dealt with after 9 months as it is. I’m not going to rant about it here though – I’ve posted a brief thread and shared several other posts on my Twitter/X page if you want a wider sense of people’s reactions. But please do read the proposals and respond to the consultation if you can (by 22nd July), as it’s vitally important to have our voices heard at this early stage. Same goes for the separate consultation about fit notes (until 8th July) too.

But anyway, on to much nicer things, and there’s plenty that I’ve enjoyed during this past month, including a couple of exhibitions, a West End musical, a theatre workshop, stand-up gigs and other comedy shows. One of the exhibitions was a press invite for my journalist friend Emily, and I’m due to be paid for the workshop I took part in, but nothing is sponsored to be featured here and all opinions are my own as usual.

So let’s crack on with this month’s post and video, and I hope you enjoy!

March 2024 Favourites

Hello again, I hope you had a nice Easter! And welcome to my latest roundup, which is an ‘out and about’ special, because I’ve had a very eventful month, with a couple of theatre shows, a couple of stand-up comedy gigs and a couple of tasty free meals that I want to talk about. I paid for the theatre and comedy shows myself, while the meals were free PR invites for my friend Emily to review, but all opinions are my own regardless. So I hope you enjoy this month’s post and video!

Christmas 2023 Favourites – Part 2

Happy New Year! I hope you had a great Christmas, and that you have a prosperous year ahead as well.

This is the second, bumper part of my festive Favourites, as the first part covered the month of November, where I had a free Christmas meal, explored a trail of snowmen sculptures and saw some of London’s displays, among other activities.

Since then, in December and early January, I’ve met friends in both London and Devon, seen four incredible theatre shows, explored a museum I hadn’t been to before, had some lovely meals in restaurants, ate far too much food at home, celebrated the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who, watched lots of comedies on TV, and enjoyed some music as well.

So once again, as with every Christmas, this is a bumper post and video. One of the meals was a free PR invite for my journalist friend Emily to review, but as usual I’m not sponsored or affiliated to write anything here, and all opinions are my own. I hope you enjoy!

Palladium Pantomime – Peter Pan

Christmas has been a bit extended for me this year, as it’s only just come to an end this past week with my trip to see the famous Palladium Pantomime for the first time, complete with a touch tour and audio description. And it ensured that I ended the festive season in style, because it was an amazing, hilarious, musical, magical experience.

September 2023 Favourites

Hey there! Following my very busy birthday month – and thank you again to everyone who sent good wishes for my 40th – September has unsurprisingly and deliberately been much quieter and more relaxed.

I did see an amazing theatre show and had a lovely afternoon tea though, which I’ll be talking about here, but otherwise my outings were either for health appointments or general walks. And at home I’ve been watching a few things on TV and working as usual.

So there isn’t a huge amount to cover in this month’s post and video, but I hope you enjoy what I do have to offer!

40th Birthday Favourites

Here we go, the big four-o,
These two score years have not gone slow!
Amazing how the time has flown,
And since my youth how much I’ve grown.
I had to celebrate, you know,
With food and drink and West End shows.
So with my friends and on my own,
I’ve really marked this milestone.

There’s stand-up stars who made me laugh,
Musicals well-choreographed,
Eating blind and on a cruise,
A 9-course feast and rounds of booze,
A major rock star’s prized possessions,
Art displayed with cool projections.
An action film with audio description,
And shows I’ve seen on television.

Come see how I’ve spent my time,
I promise it’s not all in rhyme.
Here’s why I’m feeling all aglow,
Enjoy this post and video!

Roaring Successes – The Lion King & The Wizard Of Oz

August was a very busy birthday month for me, as you’ll soon discover in my upcoming Favourites post. But in amongst it all I went to another couple of audio described musicals – one gifted to me by a friend, the other I paid for myself – both of which involved lions in a big way, as well as touch tours. And they were fantastic experiences. So I hope you enjoy this little journey across the Pride Lands and along the Yellow Brick Road with me as I tell you about them.

Guys & Dolls

During my youth, one of the school plays we did was a musical about an American road trip, and one of the songs in that play was Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ The Boat. And now, over 30 years later, I’ve finally seen the show from which it came – Guys & Dolls, which is currently running at the Bridge Theatre, on the South Bank of the Thames by Tower Bridge.

It was a wonderfully immersive and accessible performance, including a touch tour and audio description, so here’s a little review of my experience. This isn’t sponsored or gifted, as I bought my own tickets, so I hope you find it interesting.

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