Delighted to announce that my book Backstage Confidential is due to be published by The Book Guild on 28th May. A stagehand’s view of West End theatres during the 1960s and ‘70s, it chronicles my encounters with some of the all-time thespian greats: Coward, Gielgud, Pinter, Dench and many more – and reveals what really goes on in the wings!

With my book Backstage Confidential about to be published by The Book Guild, I’m turning my attention to two musicals that are ready to move forward.

The Postman and the Poet has the blessing of Antonio Skármeta, whose novel Ardiente Paciencia it’s based on. After hearing the demo, he wrote to us with a message that still makes me grin, “I love every single word… Please hurry up with the production… Wonderful!” We also had a generous note from the Bridge Theatre calling it “a terrific story and very beautifully realised”.

TER recorded an orchestral double CD cast recording for Postman, starring Ethan Freeman, Simon Thomas, and Joanna Ampil. More information here.

Six Nights in Naples is based on a true story. During wartime, the Teatro di San Carlo was occupied by Allied forces, and the theatre staged shows to keep morale up. The piece had a staged reading at the Charing Cross Theatre in London, and you can watch the video here.

Both shows have been workshopped and are ready for a producer who fancies a proper next step. If you’d like a pack, script and listening material, drop me a line via the contact page.

Exciting new writer Gareth Glover is transforming an unproduced stage play of mine written many years ago into a series for radio. Spin Doctor Spin is a topical satirical comedy set in a PR agency in the north of England. Harrington Communications is run by the henpecked Donald and his previous and present wives. Complications arise when clients compete against one another. Scripts are being prepared to pitch to producers.

Reunited at last with the Swingalongamax poster that disappeared mysteriously from the lobby of the Victoria Palace, as described in my forthcoming memoir Backstage Confidential. When I worked on the show during the early 1970s Mr Bygraves was an imposing presence, but I didn’t know he had mystical powers until revisiting the theatre years later. Harry Dunbar, who was doing a similar job to the one I did half a century earlier, assured me the poster was on display, but after searching the theatre from top to bottom we concluded that the spirit of Max had conjured it away. (For the avoidance of doubt, as the lawyers say, this is not the actual vanished poster, but a recently acquired copy from the original print run.)

To Olympia in search of a publisher for my long-awaited (by me) memoir of my time as a stagehand in West End theatres. My new agent Melissa Roskell approached several outfits, some of whom seemed interested. If we don’t find an publisher, we can follow the fashion for self-publishing by working with companies such as Lulu (pictured here with Mel.)

With so many friends already having passed away during the year, today I’m mourning Antonio Skarmeta. Like his own hero, the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, Antonio was a patriot, a diplomat and a great writer. His novel Ardiente Paciencia (Burning Patience) was the basis for the Oscar-nominated film Il Postino as well as the musical I’m developing with Michael Jeffrey, The Postman and the Poet.

I shall never forget Antonio’s help and support and his hospitality, together with his wife Nora, at the Embassy in Berlin when he was Chilean ambassador to Germany in 2003. May he rest in peace.