Having made the decision to expand my blog beyond it's original purpose. here is a brief summary of the shows, gigs etc I enjoyed in 2015 up to October, when I started creating individual entries. So, strap in and hold on...

9 Jan; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels; Savoy Theatre, London

Went with Mum to see this fantastic, fun romp with slightly over the top characters, starring Robert Lindsey and Bonnie Langford. We had a grin our our faces throughout the whole show!

10 Jan; Cinderella; Wimbledon Theatre

With the usual gang we enoyed our annual pilgrimage to Wimbledon for the Panto which this year starred comedian Tim Vine as Buttons, Matthew Kelly and his son as The Ugly Sisters and Linda Gray as The Fairy Godmother. A great show though Linda Grey, in her first panto, showed that she has yet to pick up the flow and rhythm of panto.

18 Jan; The Play That Goes Wrong; Duchess Theatre, London

Taking full advantage of the Get Into London Theatre offer for cut price tickets, this was a fun-packed show enjoyed by Mum and myself.

19 Jan; Miss Saigon; Price Edward Theatre, London

Another special offer, we managed to fit in another show before I headed off on my adventure. This was a great revival of a fantastic show.

3 Mar; One Man, Two Guvnors, Wimbledon Theatre

Back in the UK, I enjoyed this madcap, fast-paced show, though it wasn't Mum's cup of tea.

6 Mar; Stewart Lee: A Room With A Stew; Cheltenham Town Hall

Stewart Lee gave another fantastic performance in his own unique style - very funny.

14 Mar; Russell Watson; Wimbledon Theatre

Took Mum to see Russell Watson, who was on good form and ably supported by Rebecca Newman.

19 Mar; And Then There Were None; Malvern Theatre

An excellent production by The Agatha Christie Company featuring Paul Nicholas and Mark Curry. Caught the menacing mood of the piece really well.

22 Mar; Hazel O'Connor; Tithe Barn, Bishop's Cleeve

In the very initimate setting of the Tithe Barn, with a capacity of around 200, Hazel gave a very good show accompanied by Sarah (keyboards & vocals) and ex-Belle Star Clare (saxophone and vocals). An autobiographical show as between songs she related incidents in her life and how the songs were influenced by them.

27 Mar; Andy Parsons; The Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury

A very funny performance by the Mock the Week stalwart.

4 Apr; The Sound of Music; Wimbledon Theatre

Mum and I took advantage of a special offer as we obtained tickets in the fourth row of the circle for just £13 each! This touring production of the classic show was fantastic. A real bargain!

14 Apr; Milton Jones and The Temple of Daft; Cheltenham Town Hall

The King of the one-liners was on great form. The show started with Milton's explorer uncle making a 15 minute appearance, followed by Chris Stokes. Then followed an hour of classic Milton!

23 Apr; Public Service Broadcasting; The O2 Academy, Bristol

Support was provided by The Snow Fairies, a 5 piece band who were pretty good. PSB take samples from old information films and creates music which perfectly compliments them. Their latest album concerns the space race. A fantastic and unique live performance, where the vocalists from Snow Fairies joined them for Valentino.

27 Apr; Paul Merton's Improv Chums; Cheltenham Town Hall

An evening of unprecitable humour from a band of very talented improvisation comics.

1 May; Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games; Dominion Theatre, London

A revised production of the classic Michael Flately, Irish dance based show. The dancing was fantastic but somehow the show lacked something. Maybe it was the distracting background animation, or that the music wasn't live.

7 May; Oh What A Lovely War!; Birmingham Rep

An excellent show with Music Hall feel and songs from the era, this presented a satirical and scathing view of the tactics employed in WWI, but with a lot of humour too.

19 May; Jimmy Carr; Cheltenham Town Hall

As you would expect, Jimmy's humour ran very close to the knuckle, and beyond. Great fun!

21 May; Stewart Francis: Pun Gent Tour 2015; Cheltenham Town Hall

A funny show from Stewart Francis, a rival for Milton Jone's Pun Crown, but the atmosphere was strangely flat. Shame.

2, 4, 6 Jun; Cheltenham Science Festival

Went to several fascinating talks:

How to Tell the Weather focused on the science of forecasting and the difference between forecasting weather and climate change.

Air Traffic Control gave a fascinating insight.

Will Gregory's Brief History of Synths started with the Theramin before moving onto the first basic synths.

Rosetta: To Catch a Comet discussed the mission given by 3 members of the team who were enthusiastic, humourous and great presenters.

Sci-fi and the Future, a fairly interesting discussion around how sci-fi affects science and vice versa.

Spectacular Sea Dragons, an interesting talk from an engaging presenter looking at prehistoric sea creatures. My Godson thoroughly enjoyed it.

Matt Parker: Now in 4D. An ex maths teacher, Matt is very entertaining, making maths fun for everyone.

11 Jun; Will Gregory's Moog Ensemble; Birmingham Town Hall

The musical genious behind Goldfrapp was joined by 10 other musicians playing Moogs, Rolands and Korgs to create an interesting and diverse selection of music. Included Adrian Utley of Portishead.

12 Jun; Hay Fever; Duke of York's Theatre, London

A fantastic production of the Noel Coward classic starring Felicity Kendal and a great cast.

13 Jun; Spamalot; Wimbledon Theatre

Another bargain show which cost just £12.50 each, Mum and I took the opportunity to see this great and fun show again. Joe Pasquale as King Arthur was very good.

24 Jun; Everything Everything and Stealing Sheep; Gloucester Guildhall

A fanatsic gig from these two bands as they warmed up for Glastonbury.

9 Jul; The Championships, Wimbledon

Purchased a ground pass, perched myself on Court 2 for a day of glourious sunshine and fantastic doubles tennis. My 31st consecutive year of going to Wimbledon!

22 Jul; The Importance of Being Earnest; Vaudeville Theatre, London

Mum and I took our American cousins to this fantastic production of the Oscar Wilde classic which starred David Suchet giving an inspiring performance as Lady Bracknell. We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

22 Jul; The Curious Incident of The Dog In The Night-Time; Gielgud Theatre, London

Mum and I enjoyed this fascinating show which, as well as being fantastic will also hopefully generate a greater undertsanding of Aspergers in particular and special needs in general. The production makes innovative use of visuals.

23 Jul; Avenue Q; Cheltenham Everyman

This is the show with puppets that definitely isn't for kids - great fun. I think this is the third time I've seen it, and it was as good as ever.

8 Aug; High Sociery; The Old Vic, London

Mum's birthday outing was to the Old Vic to see a new production of the classic musical High Society. Since I last went to the Old Vic, it's been converted to be in the round, so it was an unusual but well staged production that we all enjoyed.

29 Aug; The Glenn Miller Story; Wimbledon Theatre

Starring Tommy Steele as Glenn Miller, this was an entertaining production of the story of the legendary band leader.

30 Aug; The Commitments; Palace Theatre, London

Great show, fantastic band on stage and stonking good tunes!

10 Sep; Jasper Carrott's Stand Up and Rock; Cheltenham Town Hall

The jokes were a bit predicatable and dated, but the music was great, featuring classics like Heard It on The Grapevine, Nights in White Satin and many others. All in all, a pleasant evening.

22 Sep; Nina Conti: In Your Face; Cheltenham Town Hall

When booking this, I made sure I was well away from the front! Nina is a ventriloquist who not only uses dummies, but members of the audience, attaching a mask to their face to create different characters. This resulted in a chaotic (in a good way) and funny show whihc included a couple from the audience who had split up a month earlier!

24 Sep; The Ministry of Science Live; Cheltenham Everyman

I took my science loving Godson to this fun science show, that he thoroughly enjoyed, Lots of bangs!

So, it was a pretty busy year....