I went to see two shows on Saturday. In the evening I went to see Elaine Stritch's one woman show and that was great. I went around to the stage door and her assistant asked us to go up and see her!! When I got upstairs, Elaine was talking to Kevin Spacey so I manage not only to get Elaine autograph but Kevin’s as well! As you can imagine I was really thrilled with this.

On Sunday I made my way to Great Missenden. I had arranged to meet June, who was sitting next to me at the ATGB taping -- also Joan & Chris Street and two American ladies one of whom was Sandy Hudson who was also at the ATGB taping. [NOTE : the other American woman about whom Maree was speaking is Diane Philips, whose memories are also posted to this site in Curiosities, page 28]. I was staying in a really old pub called The George in the village (built in1480). For lunch I had to make my way over to a village called The Lee at a pub called The Cock & Rabbit! This area has been included as a backdrop for many UK TV series -- Midsomer Murders, Mrs Bradley Mysteries. We had a great lunch, took some photos of the village and then made our way back to Great Missenden to prepare for the evening.

The show was going to be starting at 8 pm but we decided to get there early to get a good seat. We were told some of the seats were reserved, but that we could sit anywhere -- they really did a nice thing and reserved the seats for the Americans in the audience because they were really impresssed that they had come all that way! Joan, Chris & I sat in the second row. The seat next to us had been reserved -- I couldn't believe it but it had been reserved for Sally Palmer!!

The church filled up very quickly. Sally arrived at about 7.45 pm. I have to say that she is a lovely lady, and I get the impression that she and Geoffrey are very popular in the village as a lot of people were coming over to talk to her. Well, they have lived there for 40 years! I did ask the organizers if it was OK to take photos at the end of the show. Before the show started the organisers thanked the Amercicans for coming over and named them. They also thanked me for coming from Wales. I have to say that Judi looked great, Geoffrey was very smart in his tux, as was John Moffatt. The evening was full of very familiar poems and anecdotes. (Judi did knock [over] her glass of water, which caused much amusement -- with Judi in particular!

As the first half went by I did notice that Geoffrey was nervous. I discovered that he had only ever performed this piece once before. I think he was very aware he was replacing Michael Williams. Judi and John had been performing this particular entertainment for years. During the interval we were given a glass of wine and Sally started chatting to Joan and me! She is such a nice lady, and couldn't believe that I had come from Wales. I have to say that I thought the evening was wonderful and the time went by so quickly, I managed to take some photos at the end. Judi was preesnted with some lovely flowers and Geoffrey and John Moffat were given a gift.

As there was no stage door as such the six of us went to the vestry and I managed to take a nice picture of Judi. I think that she must have been with Geoffrey and Sally in the afternoon -- she was her usual wonderful self. Geoffrey came out with Sally who does like to stay in the background. He is so funny and was concerned about I was staying. He did say that he had been nervous about the evening as it was full of people he knew and he was replacing Michael. I think that they were going on somewhere with the organizers of the event and I got a nice picture of him and we said our goodnights. I have to say that the American ladies were star struck. We walked down to the pub, June (who was sharing a room with me) and I chatted till 2am. I arrived back home on Monday evening with memories of a great extended weekend.

Thanks so much to Maree who has been a wonderful contributor to this website and who we can thank for all the recent material about her favorite, Geoffrey Palmer. I know how excited she must have been to discover that she was sitting next to and talking with Sally Palmer. And a special thank you, Maree, for sending me the program.

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