Barbara

Thanks Chris for your summary of my review!! Yes, my husband loved it, but he just can't bring himself to say so! Yes, think I might have been biased, but I don't think so!! My husband had opened his eyes by this point because I had given him a hefty nudge with my elbow! Yes, another visit might just be pushing it a bit I'm afraid, but its not out of the question! Yes, people around me discussing Gareth made me feel good. The fact that they couldn't remember whether it was X Factor or Britain's Got Talent he was in was slightly irritating and I found it difficult not to spin around and say POP IDOL 1. !!!

I think it would have helped if we had seen the film or other production prior to seeing it this time. Anyway, we still enjoyed it immensely when we got into it. By the way Kirsty, lovely review of Saturday's show and a really good photo of you and Faye together.

This is my review from Wednesday 3rd February matinee performance of Footloose at The Spa Theatre in Bridlington. I manage to persuade my husband to take me from Wakefield to Bridlington this week. We made a day of it and enjoyed a lovely pub meal before the performance. The Spa Theatre is much nicer than I remember from my youth and has a lovely café bar overlooking the sea and promenade. We had good seats three rows from the front and quite near the middle section. There was a good crowd in although it wasn't full. I am no theatre critic so this is purely my view on what I thought of the performance. When it started it seemed a bit slow. I think this was due to having to tune into the American accents and some of the early jokes seemed a bit lost on the audience. I was starting to feel a bit twitchy too as I couldn't see Gareth anywhere on stage. I was starting to wonder if he wasn't appearing in this production, but no announcement had been made. I have not seen the film or any production of this musical before and therefore had no idea really what the story was about. I glanced across at my husband who was sat next to me with his eyes closed. I thought this didn't look like a very good sign, but it could have just been the huge lunch he had just eaten!! Anyway, I needn't have worried as the next scene Gareth wandered on wearing denim dungarees and his cap turned backwards. Perhaps I'm a bit biased but I feel this is when things picked up a pace. He played the character really well and I was very impressed with his acting skills and facial expressions which in my opinion lifted the whole scene. From that moment on Gareth seemed as though he was on stage most of the time. He sang the song Mamma says really well and with the actions to it too which were funny. Gareth had most of the funny lines and delivered them really well and it was obvious the audience were starting to warm to him. I can't believe how comfortable he looked on stage as though he had always been doing this, although I shouldn't be surprised when you think of the experience he has had in recent years. Apart from Maureen Nolan and Nigel Lister the rest of the cast were very young with some of the members making their debut in this musical. Having said they were very good and talented. One really nice touch is that all the cast played musical instruments throughout the show with some playing up to 5 instruments. I never seen this done before and it made it more special. The lead character, Luke Baker as Ren, was very good and talented, but I have to say I think it was Gareth's character Willard who stole the show. I know some people won't agree with that, but that's what we felt. Maureen Nolan and Nigel Lister were also very good but its what you would expect with the experience they have between them. The pace of the show is very fast and I couldn't help but think that they must all be shattered and will have to do it all again for the evening performance! I won't describe individual things within the show as I feel Kirsty has done that really well in her review and there's no point in repeating it all. All in all we both thoroughly enjoyed the show and I was so pleased we decided to make the journey. Having said that I had an alert yesterday advertising a new date for Bradford which would have only been up the road for us!!! We did enjoy our day in Bridlington though and I would have liked to have stayed and watched the evening performance too. I think you all will love this show as there is loads of Gareth in it and he is really funny. He certainly won't be able to say he can't dance any more after this as he was brilliant and I just don't know how he has learned all the moves in such a short time. Even my husband has commented a couple of times since we returned that he thinks Gareth played the character really well and that's praise indeed!! Like Kirsty mentioned, most of the audience seemed to be made up of people who make this a regular thing to visit the theatre to support it whatever is on. During the interval I could hear all people around me discussing how surprised they were with Gareth Gates! I think he might have a few more fans after this show.

I thought it was a really good interview with Lorraine this morning. He started off really well with his speech and although he struggled a little bit in the middle he recovered towards the end. I think he looked a bit annoyed with himself that this happened, but he didn't need to have done as I think the interview covered all the previous achievements he has done and also what is to come this year. I was pleased he had a good time slot for this interview as it didn't seem rushed at all. Lorraine is really good at interviewing and I think its obvious she has a lot of respect for Gareth.

Very surprised and also a bit worried about Gareth putting his well earned money into horse racing.

Enjoyed reading the lovely reports of the show at Bishops Cleeve last Friday. It made me feel as though I was there! Haven't had chance to listen to videos yet, but looking forward to that when I get 5 minutes to myself.

Just watched the video. Gareth never ceases to amaze me. He is so inspirational and he is so confident in his ability. Loved it and wished I was able to see one of these performances.

This is exactly what I thought at the outset. How can you compare Gareth with the others in the band. He is in a different league to the others in the band and has a different work ethic. The programme showed this, but we already knew this as his fans.

Have been on holiday so missed last weeks Big Reunion. I will hopefully catch the repeat on Wednesday night, but from the sound of the comments on here I will be agreeing with the majority of you. I hope Kavana gets a reality check when he watches back how he comes over. I think he's been very lucky to have been given a second chance and as one of the older members of the band you would think he'd realise it himself. Of course, editing is designed to create a bit of drama and public interest, so I suppose we have to take some of that into consideration.

CD is nice to listen to in the car. The new tracks are Ok, but don't blow me away. I think Free is the best of the three, but don't think any of them are singles material. They're just not catchy enough to interest people who aren't Gareth fans.

Driving to Sheffield tomorrow and going to listen to it on the way there and back. Looking forward to it!

My copy of CD arrived Saturday, but haven't had chance to listen to it yet.

Thanks for letting me know. I'll set to record it. I wish Kavana would stop referring to the group as being a bunch of has beens or some such remark. This is what annoys me about Gareth being associated with the group as in some ways it feels like a step backwards, even though he is getting plenty of exposure at the moment.

I forgot to switch channels and missed the programme tonight. Does anyone know if the programme is repeated.

Has this album been advertised anywhere other than social networks and on this site? I haven't seen it anywhere else.

What does this mean for us then, who have purchased the album at the original price?

Jill, I felt exactly the same as you. It left me feeling a bit sad and wondered why Gareth had to do this, raking up all that stuff from 12 years ago for a programme. I don't care what anyone else thinks, but Gareth is not in the same place as the others in this group. He has been really successful and busy more or less throughout the 12 years since Pop Idol days in so many different areas of the business. Sorry, but I think he stands out professionally by a mile. I recorded the programme and will watch it again and maybe I'll feel more positive towards this group when I've seen them perform for myself and also heard everyone's reviews who have been there tonight. Don't get me wrong, I do like the other members of 5th Story, all of them for different reasons, but just think they are a strange mix as a band!

I only noticed "Choose Gareth" on his T shirt when he pointed it out last night! Sad he's out of DOI, but at least we have the Big Reunion to look forward to now. A friend of mine asked if I wanted tickets to go to Dancing on Ice several months ago now and I thought no as I didn't think Gareth would be doing the tour. Missed Gareth on This Morning. Did anyone record it??

Gareth did really well with his two routines last night. Really enjoyed watching him as he has improved so much over the few weeks. I also will be interested what the public vote was tonight for Gareth. I don't think I'll have the same interest now Gareth is out of it and certainly won't be voting!

Hayley, you don't have to say sorry for having a different opinion to me. That's the good thing about the forum we can give our own opinions which don't always have to reflect what others think. I haven't heard them sing together yet so should really reserve judgement, but if I'm honest I didn't really want Gareth to be in a band. I'm hoping I'm going to be pleasantly surprised with them and am looking forward to seeing the programmes. Just hope I don't forget to watch it with it being on ITV 2 as my husband has the remote control in his hand like a permanent fixture and I don't usually get a look in!!

Just watched the interview I recorded on This Morning. I thought like Elaine and Khelda that he felt he had to make some contribution to the interview as the other band members were making contribution to promoting the band. Its obvious he has been so busy with Pantomime, Dancing on Ice and all the other commitments to focus on his speech, but he managed. Just my opinion, but I don't think Gareth is totally into this group. To me it looks like Gareth has been brought in to this "man band" as a well known singer who is doing OK on his own at the moment with four other past singers with varying degrees of success. The other members are OK, but it just doesn't seem right to me. To be fair, we haven't heard them yet and my husband reminded me of this yesterday. I really hope they sound good. I will be watching on Thursday behind a cushion!! I do hope the band does well, but hope Gareth continues with his solo act and his musical theatre!

The link wouldn't work for me! I just saw a little clip of the routine at the end when they were summing up. Think Gareth has done very well with everything else going off at the moment.

Missed Gareth's skating due to a phone call.....Grrrrr! I wasn't sure what the format was this week and thought that Gareth hadn't made it through. So pleased he has made it through. I would like to see the performance though. I understand Jason was his usual nasty self!

I think the show is just a joke now. How can there be such a discrepancy in scores from so called professionals. We are realistically not expecting Gareth to win, but for someone to be so rude to people in my opinion is not entertaining. If Todd Carty had got through another week I would have switched it off!! Rant over!

Have voted a few times. If Gareth goes this week, I'm not voting any more.