Hare-Brained: The 4th Annual West End Whingers Party 2010

Here’s yet another post that you should not read unless you were actually there. In which case, a big THANK YOU from the Whingers for making the 4th Annual West End Whingers Party a swinging success (as far as we can remember).

Happily, we reckon to have raised exactly £373.85 for the Theatre MAD charity so a big thank you to everyone for digging deep into your pockets.

For the record:

We wore: The Whingers dressed appropriately for the over-complicated them: Hair (the-Musical)/Hare-brained/David Hare/hair (the outgrowth of filamentous cells containing keratin growing from follicles found in the dermis). Those who witnessed it might consider our full sixties garb, inappropriate perhaps even undignified. But the Whingers were content to be the oldest swingers in town for charity (Phil of course was the oldest swinger in town).

We ate: Stalkers Crisps in nine enticing flavours including “Hammy with Pammy”, “They’re very pickled” and “They’re no spring chickens”, all hugely overpriced to make you feel as though you really were at the theatre.

We drank: Probably more than we should.

Who came: Samantha Bond. Briefly. Accidentally. She was on her way to the toilet actually.

For some inexplicable reason the Whingers were feeling the effects of such a late night the next day. Phil was dragged from a feeling sorry for himself, horizontal position on his sofa by a sudden invitation to see Boo-see-co’s London Assurance again and can confirm that this is still the most absurdly enjoyable play on the London stage and comes more highly recommended as a hangover cure than a fried egg sandwich. Anyway…

SPECIAL THANKS TO:

• Lovely and all-round good sport, Susie Blake for drawing the raffle (see her in Grumpy Old Women Live 2 at the Novello until 5 June 2010) and Roy Bell for enticing her there.
• The fantastic close-up actor/magician John Bulleid (right) who wowed people with his prestidigitation and parted the punters from their pounds in aid of charity.
• Naomi Paxton for finding John for us. Go see Naomi in Knickerbocker Glories at the Union Theatre from 8th-28th June.
• Margie Keedy and Dot Keedy for printing the posters.
• The incredibly patient staff at the brilliant Cafe Koha.
• The friends who made a wonderful job of  meeting and greeting, running the kiosk, selling raffle tickets, folding raffle tickets and so on including Lynne Brown, Natasha Tripney, Helen Smith, Sue Knox, Kat Brown, Fred Conroy and Nunu Da Cruz.
• London Theatregoer for tirelessly acting as official photographer all evening.
• The utterly charming SteveOnBroadway for going that extra mile. Well, coming 4,024 miles (or approximately 1/7th of the way round the world, apparently).

Raffle prizes

Big thanks to those who donated prize for the raffle:

• Matt Applewhite at Nick Hern Books: the text of Jerusalem
• Angela Hyde-Courtenay at The Audience Club: one year’s free membership
• Mark Jones at New Theatre Wimbledon: two tickets to see Spamalot!
• Sue Knox at Show Off! Piano Bar: one year’s free membership
• David Babani at the Menier Chocolate Factory: two top price tickets for the wonderful Sweet Charity at the Theatre Royal Haymarket
• James Arnott for supplying Micky Dolenz’s joke spectacles from Hairspray

Roll of Honour

[rockyou id=157617045&w=426&h=320]

And a big thanks to everyone who came including:

Bloggers: American Theatregoer, Webcowgirl, Helen Smith, TheatreJunki, The Tyro Theatre Critic, Gari Davies, Steve On Broadway, London Theatregoer, JMC, Mark Shenton, Postcards From The Gods, Carousel of Fantasies, Interval Drinks. Critics: David Benedict, Karen Fricker, Mark Shenton, Henry Hitchings, Ian Shuttleworth, Matt Trueman, Lizzie Loveridge, Andrew Haydon, Natasha Tripney. Academics (!): Karen Fricker, Aoife Monks, David Cottis, James Martin Charlton. Performers: Susie Blake, Beverley Klein, Duncan James, Sheridan Smith, Marissa Dunlop, Adrian Hansel, Naomi Paxton Miscellaneous: Too many to mention. Tweeps included:

@shadowdaddy, @jamesseabright, @theatreJunki, @thisstage, @ChadLDN, @thomasinthepark, @DarkAeon, @jamesarnott, @theatreJunki, @dramascene, @WebCowGirl, @scottm, @shentonstage, @henryhitchings, @matttrueman, @sheridansmith1, @MrDuncanJames, @MZendle, @malkinbister, @batboysings, @thisstage, @showoffpianobar @amazingelf, @jmc_fire @TRPW

Apologies if we have missed anyone off the list.

And finally, for those that missed it, here’s the wonderful Susie Blake in action in Victoria Wood As Seen On TV.

Advertisement