Very disappointed to hear of the closure of Oldham Coliseum theatre. I worked there as an actor, once with Anne Kirkbride (Coronation Street’s Deidre Barlow) in her first job, and it was Kenneth Alan Taylor who mounted the very first production of Alfie the Musical there. It is sad that a theatre that nurtured so many wonderful actors and plays has closed its doors forever.

I just rediscovered a video of Cameron Mackintosh’s tribute to Julian, recorded at the Bristol Old Vic in 2004, called The Time of My Life, to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of Salad Days. It’s beautifully shot and full of stars and great performances, with some orchestrations Julian had never heard before. It reminds me of the happy days I spent writing Love in a Cold Climate with him. You can see more in ‘Projects’ elsewhere on this site. Watch this space!

Delighted to get a name-check on Petroc Trelawny’s Breakfast programme on BBC Radio 3. He played Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields’s On the Sunny Side of the Street and recalled going to see Dorothy Fields Forever “about twenty years ago”, saying he thought the time is right for a revival. Funnily enough, Petroc, I couldn’t agree with you more! Thanks very much for the endorsement.

Will Eden ever finish writing his stagehand stories? This is a question he frequently asks himself – and a question kind friends sometimes ask too. If the questions stopped and the writing resumed there may eventually be something worth publishing. There are certainly a lot of names to be dropped. Readers, if there ever are any, may be intrigued to discover how Eden was handpicked by Harold Pinter to operate a lift door made of steel. Or perhaps revel in the night of Noel Coward’s 70^th birthday celebration at the Phoenix Theatre, during which he helped out after Sir John Gielgud forgot his lines. There are backstage anecdotes featuring a galaxy of stars, from the Carry On team to Dame Judi Dench. It’s a good read. Or it will be. Honestly.

Eden is still working on his memoir of his days as a stagehand during the 1960s and early ‘70s. During lockdown, Harry Dunbar, Head of Stage at London’s Victoria Palace, kindly showed him round the theatre. Lavishly restored by Sir Cameron Mackintosh, both front of house and backstage, the only thing that hasn’t changed at the ‘dear old VP’ since Eden’s time as head flyman is the fly floor, where he used to run a team of six. Harry, these days unmasked and with smash hit Hamilton to look after, rules the roost there as well as running the stage crew below. Where once the crew used to pop to the pub between almost every cue, drinking during the show is now, quite rightly, a sackable offence.

Eden and composer Michael Jeffrey are talking with a young and innovative UK theatre company about a production of The Postman & the Poet in 2024. They are currently revising script and score. The plan is for a workshop next summer. Look out for more news here as the project develops. (Or stalls. Or gets cancelled.)