UK CLUBLAND
The Blackpool Clubland Command show of yesteryear were always successful in providing a great prelude to the Club & Institute Union annual conference. Post pandemic, C&IU official Nathan Clarke is the man behind bringing back an annual cabaret event on conference weekend. Nathan engaged the services of producer Barrie Lucas and the first show in the new series of showcase shows was staged last year at Viva Cabaret Theatre. UK Cabaret editor Mark Ritchie was engaged as showcase Compere and her Mark writes about being re-booked for the 2024 C&IU showcase and files his report on proceedings in Blackpool right here.
A sell-out crowd inside a great venue greeted all of us on-stage at this hugely successful Blackpool venue. I was delighted to be involved and enjoying many a laugh with club people from all over the UK.
The acts involved this time around included UK Cabaret subscriber, the little lady, with the big talent herself, Miss Sheila Diamond. Also starring on the night was another UK Cabaret subscriber, Jennah Hone, who really is a terrific singer. My fellow Clubland veteran Johnny Martell was also in the line-up, as was the lovely Scottish singing star, Catherine Kerr.
The remainder of the acts involved included pop-star Roy Carter of the hit band Heatwave and up and coming Lancashire singer Kev Wright. There were also some tribute style attractions on view, including The Abba Experience, The TTT Take That Tribute, Rebecca Royal as Celine Dione, Hayley Mack as Miranda Lambert, Adam Reader and The Motown Experience.
Further quality acts on the bill included male duo Strike Two and country music entertainer, Clay Highway. Completely the bill of acts was the wonderful singer Elaine Gilmour and those fun guys from the Lucas Management
For the obvious reason that I was on-stage myself on the night, there is no actual review of this event, aside from this detailed mention of who was there and how it all went. Suffice it to say that a great time was had by all and the big C&IU weekend in Blackpool was launched colourfully and successfully.
Hat’s off to Showcase Productions and their brilliant team and the resident technical wizards at The Viva Cabaret Theatre for their expertise.
We continue to look for area correspondents who could collate and send us information across the national club scene. If you have a Clubland related story to tell, please e-mail all your Clubland information to mark.ritchie@ukcabaret.com