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Theatre stars return with variety magic
THREE veterans of the world of entertainment have teamed up for a show that calls at the Futurist Theatre on Saturday.
Jimmy Cricket, Don Maclean and Dana will present Variety Magic, accompanied by the Michael Wooldridge Showband.
All three are Catholic, which is a coincidence, says director Chris Gidney of That's Entertainment Productions.
Chris says the show is "just like Saturday night TV used to be" and that the "on-stage chemistry is both electric and hilarious".
Jimmy Cricket, 63, was born James Mulgrew in Cookstown, Northern Ireland. He lives with his family in Rochdale.
A frequent visitor to Scarborough over the years, he has had his own TV and radio series and has worked with the Krankies and Bobby Davro.
With Matt Lucas and Peter Kay, Jimmy appeared in the 2007 Comic Relief video of the Proclaimers song I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles).
Jimmy's humour is entirely clean. A popular theme of his comedy is Irish logic and the ubiquitous letter from his 'Mammy'. He almost always appears in his trademark outfit of cut-off evening trousers, tuxedo, hat (given to him by the BBC to wear on The Good Old Days) and wellies marked L and R for left and right, but worn on the wrong feet.
His catchphrases include "Come 'ere" and "... and there's more".
Jimmy recently finished writing a musical called Give Me One Good Season, which he hopes to launch over the next few months. It's about a struggling lower-division football team.
Don Maclean, 65, hosted the BBC TV series Crackerjack with Michael Aspel, Peter Glaze and Jan Hunt in the 1970s. Don and Peter usually performed a live routine in front of a studio audience of children, in the style of a silent comedy film. It would almost always work in the joke where an exasperated Glaze would exclaim "Maclean!" to which Maclean would answer "Yes, I had a macbath this morning!"
When responding to Peter's exasperation, Don would often give an alliterative reply such as "Don't get your knickers in a knot" or "Don't get your tights in a twist", a combination of which ("Don't get your knickers in a twist") has passed into popular vernacular.
Early in his career, Maclean was a comedy compre of the BBC TV series, The Black and White Minstrel Show, and he appeared in Crossroads and Carry on Columbus.
A devout Catholic, Don presented Good Morning Sunday, a religious programme on Radio 2, from 1990 to 2006, when he was replaced by Aled Jones. He also hosted the Radio 2 panel games The Clever Dick-Athlon (1988-90), First Letter First (1993) and Are You Sitting Comfortably (1993-6).
Earlier this year, he claimed that the BBC likes programmes which attack churches and that there is a wider secularist campaign to get rid of Christianity.
Dana, 57, was born Rosemary Brown in London, where her Irish father had moved to find work, but moved to Derry when she was five.
Her career began when, as a petite A-level student, she won the 1970 Eurovision Song Contest with All Kinds of Everything. It sold two million copies in Europe, Australia and South Africa.
More than 30 singles and 30 albums later, Dana's career continues, now as a writer and performer of Catholic music – like The Rosary album, another million-seller.
The singer became a popular pantomime princess. Her portrayal of Snow White was so successful it lasted 14 years, including an extended season in the West End of London. Her talent for charming children was recognised when she was chosen to star in three children's royal variety shows.
She ran as an independent in the Irish presidential election of 1997 and surprised everyone with her performance. Basing her campaign on the Irish constitution, Dana Rosemary Scallon, an early-priced 100/1 outsider, finished third with twice as many votes as the former-favourite Labour Party candidate. Within two years this surprising newcomer to politics became an MEP – Connaught-Ulster's first female member of the European parliament, until 2004.
Saturday’s show is due to start at 7.30pm.
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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