Special Guests for the June 17th Dial Up confirmed!

Hi guys!

Exciting news, our special guests for the June 17th Dial Up are confirmed, and there's three of them! A singer, a songwriter and a novelist! I think this is our most eclectic line up yet; but I'm still searching for that elusive dancer! Read on for details and see you there for an amazing evening :-) Much love, Alex xx

BANDANA GILL has been a supporter of the Dial Up since our first Covent Garden performance, and her beautiful voice has been a regular feature in our first half. 'By day, I work in the corporate world, but my first love has always been music. As a child, I can vividly recall the elated feeling singing gave me and would describe it as sharing a piece of my soul.'

TRACY HOLTHAM first performed with Jon and I in our pre-Dial Up days at our Eastcote show Musical Mayhem, and has consistently amazed with her talent. A singer, songwriter and guitarist, she's certain to bring some much needed cool to our sizzling summer show!

MIRIAM HALAHMY has published fiction and poetry for children, teens and adults. Her work has been included in anthologies, read on the radio and performed on stage. A dear friend of mine from the London writers' group Scriptonite, she'll be reading from her critically praised new Young Adult novel HIDDEN, published by Meadowside Books.

Bye Bye Blackbird, hello harmony!

Hi Guys! It's a tradition at the Dial Up that we always end with a group song. That song is the 1926 classic Bye Bye Blackbird. It's always one of my favourite parts of the night, not because it's the end, of course! But because it's the moment when everyone comes together and sings as one. All the performers from the evening come up on stage, lyrics get handed round to everyone in the auditorium, and we all sing along to Jon's wonderful accompaniment! For those who want a chance to learn the lyrics early (or revise them!) here they are:

Pack up all my care and woe,
Here I go singing low,
Bye bye blackbird.

Where somebody waits for me,
Sugar's sweet, so is she,
Bye bye blackbird.

No one here can love or understand me,
Oh what hard luck stories, they all hand me.

Make my bed and light the light,
I’ll arrive late tonight,
Blackbird, bye bye.

Rocket Man, still one of my favourite songs so far!