Happy New Year from The Dial Up!

Thanks to everyone who came to make our Christmas Dial Up at the The Kitchen Croxley such a wonderful night! The avalanche of photographs are testament to just how many talented performers we were lucky enough to watch: Julian Mount, Steve McClennon, Shola Adewusi, Jim Connor, Anthony Folami (as an unforgettable Rudolph!) Tina Ogorman, Linda Birmingham, Helen Rogers, Paul Murray... an amazing night! Thanks to Alex Kelly and Trevor Bailey for broadcasting us live on AJK Radio, we'll be played out again at 8pm on Christmas Day, and across the Christmas fortnight, after which time the show will be available as a podcast.

Join us throughout 2019 at the The London Improv Theatre on the third Sunday of the month as we continue our merry mission of celebrating community and creativity in all its forms! Next event is 3pm, Sunday 20th January. Until then, much love and Merry Christmas!

Photo: Steve, Anthony Julian and me rocking out to the Jungle Book's I Wanna Be like You!

Dial Up Christmas Special: 7.30pm Friday 14th Dec @ Kitchen Croxley!

Thanks so much to everyone who came along to our Forgotten Classics Dial Up! Despite our theme it was definitely a night to be remembered! Our Christmas Dial Up this year will be on Friday 14th Dec at the Kitchen Croxley, and then from January 2019 we're changing our regular slot to the THIRD SUNDAY of each month, so hope to see you then! Much love xx

Join vocalist Alex Williams and the whole Dial Up family for a fantastic evening of performance and open mic! If you’re looking for a friendly and welcoming space to share your music, poetry, prose, drama, comedy, magic or dance, or just want a great night out, then come and join us! All Welcome
Tickets £5

Friday 16th November: Forgotten Classics!

 
Join vocalist Alex Williams and the whole Dial Up family for a fantastic evening of performance and open mic! If you’re looking for a friendly and welcoming space to share your music, poetry, prose, drama, comedy, magic or dance, or just want a great night out, then come and join us! This month our theme is Forgotten Classics. As ever, the theme is just for fun, interpret or ignore it as you choose!
Friday 16th November
The London Improv Theatre
Doors 7pm, Show starts 7.30pm
All Welcome
Tickets £6 online/ £8 on the door

Much love and hope to see you there! xx

p.s. the video above is the showcase of my musical The Lost Children, if you haven't seen it yet please give it a watch and let me know what you think! xx

His Hidden Wings Book launch/ Watford Fringe/ Dial Up 8th Birthday

What a busy month we have coming up! Firstly, at 7.30pm on Saturday 29th September my LGBT themed Young Adult novel 'His Hidden Wings' launches at the Bossanyi Studio, Eastcote. So bring a bottle, bring a tenner and come along to grab your copy hot off the press!

https://www.facebook.com/events/2095662057375665/

Then on Saturday 6th October the Dial Up is hosting three events at the Watford Fringe Festival. A reading from His Hidden Wings takes place at the Fire Station at 2.30pm, I'm singing an hour of my favourite jazz standards at the Pump House Theatre at 4.30pm, and then we're having a proper Dial Up Open Mic event at 8pm. Do come along to one or all events, we'd love to welcome you!

http://watfringe.co.uk/

And finally, The Dial Up celebrates its 8th Birthday at 3.30pm on Sunday 14th October!  Everyone is welcome but we're especially reaching back out to those members of The Dial Up family we still love and remember, but haven't seen for a while! We'd love you to join us if you're free, and hope that the earlier time and Sunday date make the journey easier. Doors open 3pm, show starts 3.30pm.
Tickets £6 online/ £8 on the door

https://www.londonimprovtheatre.com/the-dial-up

Really looking forward to seeing you at as many of the events as you can manage! Till then, much love! Alex xx

His Hidden Wings Book Launch on Saturday 29th September!

Hi Everyone!

So much going on this month, I don't know where to begin! Firstly, thanks to Simon for filming the showcase version of my KS3 musical The Lost Children, above. It was good fun to do, but more importantly the script and music are now available for hire, so if you are looking for a musical for your school, club or youth group to perform click on The Lost Children tab above for more details and get in touch!

Then on Friday 21st we have our Dial Up Open Mic back at The London Improv Theatre. Our theme this month is Birds and Beasts, in honour of the luanch of my new LGBT themed YA novel His Hidden Wings. Which brings us to the launch itself!

Please join me at the beautiful Bossanyi Studio, 22 Field End Road, Eastcote, HA5 2QL to celebrate the launch of my new LGBT themed Young Adult novel 'His Hidden Wings'! And of course, audience members will each receive a copy of the book!

Successfully developed by Penguin as part of their WriteNow project in 2016, it's now being published by TSL. This is the book I wish I could have read when I was at school, and the book I hope will find a place on the shelves (and hearts!) of young readers today, but I need your help to get it there!

His Hidden Wings has already been gathering support, not least from YA novelist Joe Craig, author of the Jimmy Coates series, who said: 'The best YA writing, like the best of any writing, gives you fresh eyes on the world you thought you knew. It can make you think more deeply about the people around you and about yourself. 'His Hidden Wings' does all this with warmth, wit and almost overwhelming wonder. It's bold and beautiful. It's stayed with me for a long time, carrying me on its wings.'

Tickets £10, all welcome! Really hope to see you there! Much love, Alex xx

https://www.facebook.com/events/2095662057375665/?active_tab=about
 

The Annual Dial Up Disney Special!

Alex Williams and the Dial Up family are delighted to be back at The Kitchen Croxley for one month only as we celebrate our annual Disney Special!

If you’re looking for a friendly and welcoming open mic to share your music, poetry, prose, drama, comedy, magic or dance, or just want a great night out, then come and join us! As ever, the theme is just for fun, interpret or ignore it as you choose!


I'm delighted to announce our special guest performers will be Alex H-W, Silvia C and the inimitable Steve McClennon! Hope to see you there and much love xx

All Welcome
Tickets £5
17th August, 7.30pm

The Kitchen Croxley

198 Watford Road, WD3 3DB Croxley Green

The Dial Up Song Competition is a huge success! Next event is Dial Up Goes Globetrotting on Friday 20th x

Thank you to everyone who came to support our first ever Dial Up Song Competition! On the strength of the brilliant performances on the night, I think a new annual tradition is born!

Congratulations to Julian Mount who won Best Performance, Martin Olyett who won Best Original Song and Neil Maxfield who won the Audience Award! All the competitors were tremendous, my thanks to them all and to our terrific judges Peter St.James, Fiona Jane Weston and Adele Anderson. Do join us at our next open mic night on Friday 20th July for more music and merriment! The theme: Dial Up Goes Globetrotting! xx

First Dial Up Song Competition!

 

 

Looking forward to our first ever Dial Up Song Competition on Friday 6th July! 

 

We have 10 amazing performers lined up: Julian Mount, Martin Olyett, Kim Olyett and Alison Raymond as Warp and Weft, Jon Horne, Caroline Chan, Jill Waterson & Ady Shaw, Eclipse, Mark Lester, Neil Maxfield and Frank Loman! Our star judges Adele Anderson, Fiona Jane Weston and Peter St.James will decide the Best Performance and Best Original Song, but we'll be looking to YOU to decide the Audience Award. So if you haven't booked your ticket yet please do, and remember, it's cheaper online than on the door! 

 

Then join us on Friday 20th July for our usual Dial Up Open Mic Night when our theme will be Globetrotting! Much love, Alex xx

Next Dial Up Friday 15th June

Thanks so much to everyone who came and made our May Icons Dial Up such fun! Our next Dial Up Open Mic is on Friday June 15th and the theme will be Night at The Movies, so hopefully see you then! xx

April Dial Up a Sell-Out Success!

Thank you so much to everyone who came along and made our SOLD OUT April Dial Up such a success! Hopefully see you at the next one on Friday 18th May, our theme is ICONS! As ever, you can interpret or ignore the theme as you choose! All Welcome, Tickets £6 online/ £8 on the door.

And do check out The Dial Up page for details of my Wimbledon concert on Saturday 9th June. Here's the link for tickets:

http://colourhousetheatre.co.uk/rebrand/booking/dial-up/

And finally, sign up to perform in our first ever Dial Up Song Competition on Friday 6th July! Details at the tab above. Hope to see you at one or all these exciting events! Much love, Alex xx

Terrific Photos from our Love Songs Dial Up by Linda Birmingham!

 A first time Dial Upper from Holland regaled us with a pop piano tune.

 Steve Thorne shared reflections on Cario Zoo.

Singer songwriter Kenesha Melody with Robert Pawlus on guitar

 Monika brought the house down with some soul-infused funk

 Caroline Chan shared a song with an environmental message

 Dial Up resident poet Jim Connor hosted the Open Mic

 Tina Ogorman dazzled with some acappella singing, and even gave me the multicolour rose I'm waving below!

 Brian Scott keeps the trophy for another month with his love song infused poem

 Bonnie C gave a haunting rendition of a pop cover

 Steve McClennon and Ernie the fastest milkman in the West!

 Sophia K and I have a go at Sondheim's Being Alive

 Trevor Thomas brought the open mic to a beautiful close

What a terrific turn out we had for our Love Songs Dial Up this month! Lots of familiar faces and a great number of new people too. Our next event is on Friday 16th March and the theme is Great American Songbook, so hope to see you there! Much love, Alex xx

Wonderful pics from our Anything Goes Dial Up by Becca Parker!

We were delighted to welcome as our special guest singer, actor, radio host and Titan of the London Cabaret Scene, Tim McArthur! Also on display are Alex (yes, another one!) and Kayleigh on drums, Anthony Folami hosting the open mic, Trevor Thomas on guitar, the inimitable David Forest spinning his cheeky tunes, poet Brian Scott and making his Dial Up debut Gavin Brock sharing two tunes from his new musical. What a night! Thanks to everyone who came to support, I can imagine no better way to kick off The Dial Up's new year! Our thanks to Becca for the fab photos. Next one is our Love Songs Special on Friday 16th February. Hope to see you there! Much love, Alex xx