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Thanks to Joan S -- UK -- who was in attendance --
for these photos The Theatre Website has posted some photos from the evening also.
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by Connie E. -- CA, USA The above title was part of a comedy routine in the second half of the program by a comedian whose name I don't know. There was a program to purchase with a small picture of Judi and the co-host, artistic and managing director of the Open Air Theatre, Ian Talbot. The picture was probably taken when she directed there. My point is that the program listed the musical numbers and artists but didn't list the people who introduced the acts, including a surprise (you could tell by audience reaction) appearance of Hayley Mills, who had been at the theatre in 1994 in "The Card." I had assumed that DJD would just introduce the evening and then watch the rest of the evening. On the contrary, they worked her to death (my term, as she looked fresh as a daisy at the end.) The thrust stage had the small orchestra to stage left on the grass and on stage right was a gazebo up a flight of stairs with a British flag on top. Inside the gazebo was a table with a silver bucket and large bottle of champagne with glasses and two chairs. If my memory serves me correctly, the evening started with a number from "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" - "Comedy Tonight." Ian Talbot came out and said a few words about the musical director, unpaid like everyone else, who had worked tirelessly to put together the arrangements for the evening and rehearse the orchestra (Catherine Jayes). He said that to present her with a token of their appreciation was an unpaid apprentice for this summer. The man next to me whispered to his wife "it's Judi." It was . She entered from behind the orchestra carrying a basket of flowers for the Musical Director. As she left the orchestra and headed onto the stage she said that she was glad that it wasn't a bottle of champagne! The two co-hosts headed up to the gazebo with Ian Talbot inviting Judi to "my bedroom." They started into their scripts (pages clipped to black clipboards) when he realized that they ascended too soon. Things get a little fuzzy here. The musical numbers were listed in the program by the year the show they were from was performed at Regent Park (one musical per year) and not in order of performance. Judi participated a little in the first song, and I just can't remember what it was. This was soon eclipsed by the fact that she sang "My Funny Valentine" while someone backstage recreated a supposed mistake in years past by an actor who forgot his mike was on and complained about his wife divorcing him throughout the number, "unaware" that his mike was on. This number was not in the program. They then went back up the stairs to the gazebo, a trip they would perform so many times that I worried that Judi would trip on her scarf, the back part of which reached almost to the floor from her shoulder. Throughout the program they sipped from the champagne glasses. Of course, I don't know if she was sipping champagne or water from the glass; but it seemed that Ian was sipping champagne as towards the end he tripped coming down the other set of stairs - onstage . He was gallantly holding J's hand to help her down and pulled at her, but she hurried her step and managed to avoid a collision. Either she had been drinking mostly water, or she has learned to operate admirably under the influence. One of the unbilled presenters was introduced by J as her goddaughter (we now know one of many), Rachel Cavanaugh, who I gather works on DJD's productions in some capacity. I had thought that she would be able to enjoy the program. I guess there had been little rehearsal or preview of the script for the hosts. During most of the musical numbers the ever professional DJD was studying her script for the next bit of repartee between numbers. That is, except for the one time when her script floated to the floor of the gazebo out of her reach. I kept watching to see if she would sneak up to get it, but I guess she thought if she moved it would distract from the performers on stage even though she was in almost total darkness. The lighting in the gazebo was tricky, I gather. At the beginning a cry arose from the people who were seated on the grass on the opposite side of the stage. They interrupted the show to say that they couldn't see the 2 in the gazebo at all. The two hosts said that maybe turning off a back light would help, and the performance continued. Sometimes they were lit, sometimes half lit, sometimes in the dark. The only time DJD didn't study her script was when the number from her show, "The Boys from Syracuse" was on. She had been, as part of her script, mentioning any awards - mostly Olivier Awards - that the shows got. However, when they got to her show, she told Ian that he would have to do that part . He said that she had won an Olivier for best musical revival (1991 show). She talked about a song in the show that was her favorite (can't remember which - sorry) so that she made the poor actor sing it again in rehearsals on any pretext. She wasn't the only one who spoke about the drawbacks of an open air theatre. Opening night of "The Boys from Syracuse" the heavens poured. She said that after the second time that the audience left for the bar and performance was suspended, she sat down in an audience chair and "blatantly cried." However, she declared that she "loved every moment of it." She also mentioned an actor named Gavin Muir , who had been in many of the theatre's productions , including hers, but who is deceased. She said that Gavin was always the last one to leave the bar. He was, she said, also the first to get there! The same comedian who called the evening "Sunday in the Park with Jude" also referred to her falling a lot in productions for no reason. He said, "remember?" as he tripped over his own feet. He also made reference to the recent ship incident and got a big laugh when he said something about "I christen thee..." The second half after the interval had Talbot and Dench giving away the raffle prizes - one or two between every song. Someone else would be introduced to come out and draw the winning number (they had people dressed in clown outfits selling them around the theatre grounds). There was a description in the program of each donated prize you could win. The first one was The Arden Shakespeare limited edition. Talbot prompted Judi (it wasn't mentioned in the program), "autographed by whom?" She meekly muttered "by me...they made me" or something to that effect. Very modest. She read all of the descriptions as they were written very straightforward except for one. There was a tour and wine-tasting for six at a site "devoted entirely to the world of wine and its associated pleasures." When she came to the last two words it appeared that she did a look reminiscent of Groucho Marx's look when he flicked his cigar if you've ever seen his old TV show. I did have a small pair of binoculars but wasn't using them at the time, but it was very obvious even in row Q that she did a kind of double take on this line. At the end they gave her a bouquet of flowers. Right before this a pair of small black gloves flew onto the stage. I couldn't quite tell if Judi had had them in case her hands got cold (mine were!) or what, but it almost looked like she threw them on the stage, but they probably just somehow flew out. Talbot eventually retrieved them and put them in his pocket. It actually was a perfect weather evening for the event. No rain. It was a bit chilly for my thin California blood, but I was prepared with a lot of clothes. I only wore my gloves a few short times to warm up as it appeared no one else in the audience had any. They all had jackets, though. One of the performers talked about his difficulty in "finding the venue" when he first came to work there. I had almost sprinkled mental bread crumbs when I went there so that I could find my way out - only to find that the park closed that late (it ended at 11:00), and we weren't allowed out the way we came in. I didn't do much in the way of trying to find if there was a stage door as I was in fear of getting lost. I didn't see any taxis and had to walk quite a ways in the dark to the tube station, trying to follow other theatregoers. Hopefully I will actually meet Dame Judi Dench on the 13th if everything goes according to plan. Overall I would have to say that she was, naturally, delightful, but always the professional. When people came up to get the raffle prize envelope when they won, she came to the edge of the stage to hand it to them, but that is all she did. One man did manage a handshake as he handed over his raffle ticket. At one point, the person drawing the ticket must have forgotten his glasses and read the wrong number off. Two people approached the stage. As she saw this she commented "Oh, not another one!" It seemed odd to have an Oscar winner doing such a mundane job as raffle tickets, but I don't know why as I do volunteer work for a charity here in LA, and we use stars for our celebrity fashion shows. However, most of our star supporters are famous but not quite of her caliber. They announced
that the evening's take was up to 35,000 pounds and might get up to
40,000 pounds by the end of the evening.
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