Wednesday 28 December 2022

Happy New Year!

 


Thanks to everyone who came to support our Christmas Eve Dial Up! What a wonderful afternoon and great way to lead up to the big day itself. Big thanks to Tina, Ian, Roy, Val, David, John, Charlotte, Simon, Bonnie, Sue, Boris, Sophia, Gabriella and of course everyone at the gorgeous Garden Rooms Bar and Kitchen! We'll be back at 2pm on Sunday 22nd January, so hope to see you then! Check out our Future Events tab for a list of all our confirmed dates for 2023. Big hugs and happy new year! xx






Sunday 27 November 2022

Christmas Specials!

 


Thanks to everyone who came to support our Dial Up yesterday! In inauspicious beginning turned magically into one of the most exicitng and creative events we've had for a long time, with poetry, jazz, folk and our youngest performer a mere 6 years old! Next one is Kitchen Croxley Dial Up Christmas Special at 7.30pm on Friday 9th December, followed by Garden Rooms Dial Up Christmas Special at 10m on Saturday 24th December. As an early Christmas present, here's a blast from the past... Carousel at a WPT Dial Up back in 2013. Enjoy, and hope to see you for some festive cheer this December! xx

Sunday 13 November 2022

Tiger Jazz @ Watford Garden Rooms, 7pm Thur 17th Nov

 


Tiger Jazz is my joy-filled journey through some of the best loved tunes of The Great American Songbook. Come along, sit back and enjoy a fun-filled, toe-tapping, heart-warming rendition of glorious melodies from the worlds of Hollywood, Broadway and Tin Pan Alley delivered with a roar!

My next event is a FREE night of music on Thursday 17th November 7pm - 9.30pm at the Garden Rooms Bar, 2 Market Street, Watford. This is a FREE EVENT so come along, grab a cocktail and enjoy the music!

Saturday 5 November 2022

Tiger Jazz @ The Bossanyi Studio

May be an image of 28 people, people standing and indoor

Thanks so much to everyone who came to support our Theatre Deli Dial Up last night, especially our wonderful performers Charli Eglinton, Elliott Wooster, Blér Kelly, errata, Peter St.James, Gavin Brock, AJ, Sai, Fifi, Neil Maxfield, Charlotte Harker and Matthew Wakefield! (Thank you Sai for the photo!)

This Friday’s Kitchen Croxley dial up is unfortunately cancelled as the venue will be closed that night, so our next open mic is Garden Rooms Dial Up November, then back at Kitchen Croxley on Friday 9th December for our Christmas Special. And catch me in concert at the Tiger Jazz @The Bossanyi Studio for a night of poetry and music! Much love xx

Tuesday 13 September 2022

The Dial Up pays respect to HM Queen Elizabeth II

 


On Sunday 11th September, I was honoured to lead Watford in singing the national anthem, God Save The King, outside the town hall as the official proclamation of King Charles III was read. It was of course a sombre occasion in the wake of the sad news of the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Royalist or republican, we all recognise the immense impact her devotion to her role as figurehead of state played in maintaining our sense of national unity. There was, however, also a note of ebullience as we looked ahead to life under our new monarch, and the opportunities for progress that might afford. Here's wishing everyone happiness and health. Much love, Alex xx

Sunday 21 August 2022

Tiger Jazz at HERTS PRIDE

 

Honestly governor, nothing to do with me. Don't even know him...

It was a real honour to be invited to sing at HERTS PRIDE 2022! Some pics from the performance :-)



Looking forward to Pride 2023! And in the meantime here are my upcoming Tiger Jazz dates:

Sunday 18th September 5pm

I'm directing a Scratch Performance of new play The House at the End of Empire. For full details visit the Facebook event.

Sunday 2nd October 11am

Tiger Jazz is performing at the Sunday Assembly, 11am at Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, Holborn, London. This is a free event.

Saturday 12th November 8pm- 10pm

Join Tiger Jazz singer Alex Williams at the BOSSANYI STUDIO, Field End Road, Eastcote, for a sumptuous evening of words and music! Sit back and relax as he takes you on a joy-filled journey through some of the best loved tunes of The Great American Songbook, accompanied by readings from his books. A fun-filled, toe-tapping, heart-warming rendition of glorious melodies from the worlds of Hollywood, Broadway and Tin Pan Alley delivered with a roar! Tickets £10 donation. Facebook event here.

Thursday 17th November 7pm - 9.30pm

Tiger Jazz at the Garden Rooms Bar, 2 Market Street, Watford. This is a FREE EVENT so come along, grab a cocktail and enjoy the music!

Saturday 13 August 2022

The Ugly Bug Ball!


Thank you so much to the wonderful AdLibretto for furnishing us with a fully furnished and utterly improvised musical comedy inspired by our own marvellous Charlotte Harker and her passion for 737 aeroplanes! Thanks also to our gorgeous Dial Up family: Chris Hillier, Kat, Stephen Korn, Alison, Brian, Paul Murray, Mark, Jim Connor, Neil Goulder and the fabulous The Kitchen Croxley for hosting (shout out to Josh!!) Can't wait for next month, I think we need to have another bash at Ugly Bug Ball

Next Dial Ups are Watford Garden Rooms 2pm on Saturday 27th August and Kitchen Croxley 7.30pm on Friday 14th October (September is cancelled). Hope to see you there! And as it's summer, here's a little snap from my recent trip to Rome, and a couple of the paintings I've been working on. Stay creative! Much love, Alex xx






Monday 11 July 2022

Garden Rooms Dial Ups/ Tiger Jazz



We had a wonderful time at our June Garden Room Dial Up where I was delighted to duet with Sophia on Cole Porter classic 'I Love Paris'. Collaboration is increasingly the order of the day and we had a brilliant first convening of The Dial Up Band playing 'All of Me' at the Kitchen Croxley Dial Up this month too. Let's keep it going at our Burl Ives special in August with 'Ugly Bug Ball'! And perhaps most exciting, my recent video collaboration with pianist Mike Kemp came out this month on his Youtube channel, have a watch below! Hope to see you soon and much love, Alex xx

Next events:
Tiger Jazz at the Garden Rooms Thursday 21st July 7pm (free)
Garden Rooms Dial Up Saturday 30th July 2pm (£5)
Kitchen Croxley Dial Up Friday 12th August 7.30pm (£5)




 

Saturday 11 June 2022

Jubilee and Centenary Celebrations!

 



Thank you so much to everyone who came to enjoy the Pump House at the Bandstand as part of Watford's Centenary and Jubilee celebrations! It was a marvellous afternoon and I had such fun hosting and singing throughout the day. Check out the Future Events tab for more Tiger Jazz outings, including the Bushey Acoustic Festival on Sunday 12th June. And of course as ever we have Dial Ups a plenty if you're after a bit of open mic! Watford Garden Rooms 3pm on Saturday 25th June and Kitchen Croxley 7.30pm on Friday 8th July. Much love! xx


Saturday 14 May 2022

Summer with The Dial Up!


What an amazing night last night at our Friday 13th 'Unlucky for Some' Dial Up at The Kitchen Croxley! Thank you to everyone who came, including a fresh faced Simon Lordan, doesn't he look smashing on his CD! It was especially nice to have lots of new faces join us, hope to see you again next month. Jim and I had the honour of winning Brian's Dial Up Cup for correctly solving his puzzle poem; as you can see Jim was far happier to share the trophy than I was!

As the summer bounces towards us, I'm delighted to say The Dial Up and Tiger Jazz both have a host of events coming up! Please do check the Future Events tab for details, but here's a quick round up:

Tiger Jazz will perform as part of Watford Jazz Junction's Steps Around Oxhey Village, 1 - 2pm at the Villiers Arms Pub. It's a FREE EVENT so turn up, grab yourself a pint and a packet of crisps, sit yourself down and enjoy!

From June The Dial Up is now twice monthly, once at the gorgeous Kitchen Croxley, 7.30pm on the second Friday of the month (June 10th) and once at the luscious Garden Rooms on Watford's Market Street on the last Saturday of the month (June 25th). The Dial Up is all about celebrating community and creativity in all its forms so come along enjoy as audience or performer! Tickets: £5 donation.

Tiger Jazz will perform as part of the Watford Centenary and Jubilee Celebrations on Saturday June 4th. Join us from 11am on the High Street for colourful and musical parade which will end at the Cassiobury Park Bandstand at 12 noon. There I'll be co-hosting an afternoon of wonderful performances from local musicians and dancers, including 20 mins of my favourite Songbook Standards at some point around half way! Then if you've time, hang around for the big star concert, name yet to be announced but we're promised big things! This is a FREE EVENT so pack a picnic and make a day of it!

On Sunday June 12th Tiger Jazz will perform as part of the Bushey Acoustic Festival. I'll be singing from 1.25- 1.45pm at the Three Crowns Pub, and then heading across to the Mary Forsdyle Gardens to run the Poet's Corner. Again, this is a FREE EVENT but bring a fiver if you'd like to buy any of my books, which will be available.


Finally, I'll be hosting a Poetry Afternoon at Peace Garden in Cassiobury Park, 12- 2pm on Sunday 3rd July. More details to come, but I'm already crossing my fingers for sun! Wishing you all lots of love! Hope to see you soon at an event or two (or five!), Alex xx

Monday 25 April 2022

Future Events

 


This Sunday I attended the 50th Anniversary Celebration of Watford's wonderful Pump House Theatre and after singing a few songs on the main stage caught top with Watford MP Dean Russell and Pump House Chairman Lee Farman. It was a brilliant day and a real joy to be part of. Here's to the next 50 years!

And if you'd like to hear me singing some of my Great American Songbook favourites, along with a generous dollop of Disney, head over to the Garden Rooms Bar and Kitchen this Thursday 28th April where I'll be swinging away from 7pm till 9.30pm. It's a free event so grab yourself a drink and a bite to eat and enjoy!

Speaking of the Garden Rooms, our April event (photo below) was a true delight and I'm thrilled to announce that from June we'll be there hosting a Watford Dial Up on the last Saturday of every month, alongside our Kitchen Croxley events on the second Friday. More details on the Future Events tab, so hopefully see you at one or both! Much love, Alex xx




Saturday 9 April 2022

Future Events


I was delighted to meet Watford Elected Mayor Peter Taylor yesterday to discuss Watford's cultural scene and The Dial Up's contribution to our town's community and creativity. It was great to have his support for our new venture. The Dial Up has partnered with the gorgeous Garden Rooms on Market Street, Central Watford, to bring our inimitable brand of open mic back into the heart of the town.

Firstly, 3- 6pm on Saturday 23rd April we're holding a Dial Up Open Mic. Tickets are as ever a £5 donation and everyone who wants a performance spot is guaranteed one, whatever your creative interest. Then, 7- 9.30pm on Thursday 28th April I'll be taking to the stage in my jazz singer guise, sharing a couple of hours of tunes from my beloved Great American Songbook. Do come along to this FREE EVENT, get yourself a drink and a bite to eat, sit back, relax and enjoy! 

And of course The Kitchen Croxley Dial Up is still going monthly! Join us for our next event 7.30pm on Friday 13th May where the theme will be Unlucky for Some! Hope to see you there :-) xx

Saturday 26 March 2022

The Dial Up @ The Garden Rooms, Watford

 



The Dial Up has partnered with the gorgeous Garden Rooms on Market Street, Central Watford! We've arranged two events for next month. 

Firstly, 3- 6pm on Saturday 23rd April we're holding a Dial Up Open Mic. Do come along and enjoy our inimitable celebration of community and creativity. Some of our regulars will have a sense of deja vu at this venue as they may remember it as The Fresh Shop Cafe. I have such fond memories of our time there, and can't wait to start making new ones. (I have it on good authority that the toilets are now in full working order lol!) Tickets are as ever a £5 donation and everyone who wants a performance spot is guaranteed one, whatever your creative interest.


Secondly, 7- 9.30pm on Thursday 28th April I'll be taking to the stage in my jazz singer guise, sharing a couple of hours of tunes from my beloved Great American Songbook. Do come along to this FREE EVENT, get yourself a drink and a bite to eat, sit back, relax and enjoy! Hope to see you there :-) xx

Sunday 20 March 2022

Kitchen Croxley: Great American Songbook!

 

What a wonderful night we had at March's Kitchen Croxley Dial Up! Thanks everyone for coming and sharing your creativity. Our next event is on Friday 8th April and the theme is Great American Songbook! (As ever, the themes are just for fun, feel free to play with them or indeed completely ignore them!)

Everyone welcome: Come and share you music, your poetry, your passion, your stories. Or just watch, we love audience too! The stage is yours...

Where: 
The Kitchen Croxley
198 Watford Road, 
WD3 3DB (2 minutes from Croxley tube station)

When:
7.30pm Friday 8th April 2022: Great American Songbook
 7.30pm Friday 13th May 2022: Unlucky for Some
7.30pm Friday 10th June: Promise of Summer

Wednesday 9 March 2022

The Dial Up is Finalist at Watford Audentior Awards!

 


The Dial Up was a finalist at this year's Watford Audentior Awards! Our category was the Chairman's Prize for Culture and we were up against two wonderful competitors, Dan Tien Drama and Dance School and Amma Gyan with the Anamartis Studio, a venue in which we have actually hosted a couple of Dial Ups! So it was a pleasure to see Amma win the overall award, and it was truly a marvellous evening from start to finish. Thank you to everyone who nominated The Dial Up and made this moment of recognition with Deputy Mayor Aga Dychton, Watford Elected Mayor Peter Taylor, my husband, and Chair of Watford Council Bilqees Mauthoor possible. Here's to a glittering 2022!

Sunday 6 March 2022

Secular Verses out and about!

Hi Everyone,

I'm delighted to say that my poetry collection Secular Verses is going to be about and about over the next couple of months, so if you fancy coming along to any of these events please do feel free! It would be lovely to have you with us!

Brighton 5th April:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/humanist-poetry-night-tickets-306527149957

Windsor 12th April: 

Meet up - https://www.meetup.com/Windsor-Humanists/events/

Web page - https://www.windsorhumanists.com

Central London 13th April: 

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/secular-verses-an-evening-of-humanist-and-open-mic-poetry-tickets-291515038327

Poet Alexander Williams reads from his collection Secular Verses, then opens the floor for you to share your own or your favourite poems.

About this event

Central London Humanists (CLH) are pleased to welcome Alexander Williams, poet, writer, teacher and singer, as he guides us through a delightful evening of poetry from his collection Secular Verses, and then opens the floor for us to share our own or our favourite poems. The event will take place online on Zoom on April 13, 2022, from 7 pm to 9 pm.

Bring your favourite poems to share with the rest, write your own, or just sit down and enjoy an evening of poetry reading and open-mic. In the first half of the event, Alexander will share poems from his recent collection Secular Verses, many of which have been published in Humanistically Speaking Magazine's Poet's Corner.

Then in the second half, he will open the floor for everyone to share poems of their choice, be they favourite poems, original work, or rapid responses to his interval writing activity.


Sunday 20 February 2022

The Dial Up LGBT Month Special is a Smash!


Thank you so much to everyone who came to the pumphouse theatre and arts centre last night to make our LGBT History Month Dial Up such a wonderful event! I'm really touched by the kind and supportive messages that have been coming in, it just shows how important nights like this really are. Here's hoping for a repeat event next February! And if you can't wait that long, there's WOM next Tuesday, Kitchen Croxley Dial Up on Friday 18th March and, courtesy of Scott Awcock, a full recording of last night's proceedings on the video above. Much love everyone and big hugs! xx

Tuesday 18 January 2022

Dial Up Celebrates LGBT Month at the Pumphouse!

 


Watford Pumphouse Celebrates LGBT Month!

The Watford Pumphouse is proud to be hosting a Dial Up Open Mic in celebration of LGBT History Month! We want to throw the doors of the Pumphose wide open so this is a FREE EVENT with a suggested donation of £5 for those who are able to pay in the interval.

As ever, we will be celebrating community and creativity in all their forms, so whether you are lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, curious, undecided, an ally or something else entirely we welcome you to come and join us for this landmark occasion. Share you music, your poetry, your passion, your stories. The stage is yours!

Where: Pumphouse Theatre and Arts Centre
5 Local Board Road, Watford

When: Saturday 19th February 2022,
7pm doors open/ 7.30pm show starts

Wednesday 12 January 2022

Happy New Year 2022!

 


The easiest way to get involved with The Dial Up is to come along! We always make new guests welcome and guarantee you a performance spot if you want one.

Our next event is:

7.30pm on Friday 14th January 2022

at The Kitchen Croxley
198 Watford Road, Croxley Green
WD3 3DB

Bring any sheet music, instruments or creativity you choose! 
Song, dance, comedy, poetry, story telling all welcome! 
Tickets: £5 donation in interval.


Then in February...

Watford Pumphouse Celebrates LGBT Month!

The Watford Pumphouse is proud to be hosting a Dial Up Open Mic in celebration of LGBT History Month! We want to throw the doors of the Pumphose wide open so this is a FREE EVENT with a suggested donation of £5 for those who are able to pay in the interval.

As ever, we will be celebrating community and creativity in all their forms, so whether you are lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, curious, undecided, an ally or something else entirely we welcome you to come and join us for this landmark occasion. Share you music, your poetry, your passion, your stories. The stage is yours!

Where: Pumphouse Theatre and Arts Centre
5 Local Board Road, Watford

When: Saturday 19th February 2022,
7pm doors open/ 7.30pm show starts

Love in Slough: a new musical!

Love in Slough A new one-man musical  Written and performed by Alexander Williams  Based on the songs of Phil Craddock The Premiere Performa...