Just thought how about all those going to Lee,s concert put our best christmas
Jumpers on for the concert maybe he might see us all in them got mine ready packed roll on the 6th December all being well with him luv Mazza x

Your Christmas jumper should keep you cosy through the expected snow showers in the Garrick later today Mazza

I hope you and everyone else going along to the concert has a great time - and no travel troubles! I'm sad to have to miss this year's Christmas concert due to other plans but look forward to hearing all about it

Well, where to begin? It was an absolutely wonderful, fun filled and emotional evening. Lee was back on top form after his recent illness, which was lovely to see. I can't remember every song, but will just put down random jottings as I think of them.

He came on stage wearing a Christmas jumper and puffing away on a pipe (not really puffing, it wasn't lit!), which was very funny. Both jumper and pipe disappeared fairly quickly! There was a Christmas tree on the right hand side of the stage as you looked at it, and 'Frosty' the Snowman on the left (which filled us with trepidation, as we guessed he wasn't there just for decoration!). Amanda had a lot of friends in, and it was lovely to see Crystal Yu (Lily from Casualty) in the audience too.

He joked about his regulars, his 'ladies', and then proceeded to put both feet in it by inferring they were all over 60! Of course, to some of us, it was as good as a shout out!

Lee sang a lot of the usual set, plus some Christmassy songs. There - I knew I'd be vague! He dedicated Bring Him Home to the victims of the Paris massacre, and very movingly changed the end to 'Bring Them Home'. He also sang Silent Night, which holds very personal memories for me. Oh, and some good news - due to requests from his fans, he will now be including 'Feeling Good' on the new album!

Stephen was great, too, and sang 'Oh Holy Night'. It was superb, but I would have loved to hear Lee's version of that. Both men then duetted 'Don't Rain on my Parade", which they had tried out in Horsham last week.

Amanda was on her usual great form, but she lost her duet with Lee (Get Happy/Happy Days) to another guest, the actress Tracie Bennett, who has been a guest in Casualty (most notably a drunken tramp! ). She has also pla*** Judy Garland in London and on Broadway, and after joking around during her chat with Lee, suddenly turned on the 'character' in the song and was absolutely mesmerising. Incidentally, Amanda did get to do a duet with Lee, 'Baby It's Cold Outside!.

He finished with White Christmas which then moved effortlessly in ADWD, with the whole audience joining in, followed by a full standing ovation.

Oh yes, there was snow! 'Frosty' was on a bit of a go slow, so we didn't get smothered like last year. The other side of the stage had snow falling from on high, which looked lovely, and again we didn't get too covered in the stuff.

It was great to see so many people we knew at the concert, lots of whom were congregating at the Stage Door afterwards. The SD at the Garrick comprises wrought iron gates opening onto the street, which it has to be said isn't too good for ordinary pedestrians trying to walk up Charing Cross Road. When Lee came out he had photos with lots of people, signed lots of things and sta*** for quite a while, then said he had to go, as he was meeting his family. We wished him good luck with the panto, and off he went into the night. Can we do it all again next year, pretty please, Lee?

Needless to say, we did were not 'tucked up by 8.30' as Mr Mead seemed to think we might be! In fact, we had our latest night for a long time, and it was gone 3.00 am before our little group crawled up to our respective hotel rooms!

Nice review, A/Liz!

Thanks for the lovely review Liz, much appreciated.

Lovely review, ALiz - thank you so much!

That late night has apparently affected the website as well as we are a bit late with our news article about the concert. Plus, we are waiting for an exclusive Phill Cowndley photo promised by Lee's Facebook people - since photography was strictly forbidden.

Anyway, never fear, we shall soon be up and running - and with another terrific review by JaneW that makes you feel you are really there.

Thank you all for your patience - in the meantime, more reviews here would be very much appreciated.

Had a walk to the Garrick on the Sunday morning and sadly no advertisements for Lees show hubby said not good as it was well advertised last year and posters on the doors none till you got to the Garrick for the concert and a poster which must have been put there later on maybe the rest of the tickets would have been sold if it had been done earlier on in the week also no brochure's to buy like last year there was a small leaflet on shelf in doorway which I grabbed as you do at his concerts
Anyway can't add much to Another Liz,s review only he did see some Christmas jumpers and Santa hats and he kept asking if we were enjoying ourselves and he did mention he falls in love easily hubby liked Stephen singing o holy night but there was something missing from this concert not like last years concert well I loved it all i could have sta*** longer if he did not have rehersals on Monday for panto now home and back to normal till the next Lee fix luv Mazza x

Thanks ladies for great reviews much obliged to you all as always xx

Thanks for the reviews ALiz and Mazza

Sounds as though it was a lovely evening! I found another little review from the concert on the Theatre Forum HERE (post 14). Nice to see that someone who isn't one of the 'regulars' was quite impressed!

Thanks to Lee's Booker Wendy, we now have the photos , so the website is updated with another smashing review from Jane W:


Meadaholics Linky Thing!

I was going to do a review yesterday but Jane W has beaten me to it and done a much better job! Did I understand correctly, the snow machine last year actually went wrong?! I went prepared to be soaked, as I was in the middle of row E! Lee said that last year was an 'umbrella job' but he had paid for a decent one this time. I was sitting next to an American lady, who may have been the New Yorker Lee mentioned. Someone called out, asking when he was coming to Eastbourne. It was a lovely night, though somehow last year's was a little livelier, audience-wise. It didn't matter!, and I had tears pouring down my face during and after Bring him Home. Glad to be on my own and not having to worry about embarrassing friends or family, just be caught up in the moment. He said something like, to those who would do such horrible things (Paris), we will not be beaten.

Cristal Yu (Lily from Casualty) was being politely chatty to fans afterwards, she passed me by in the loo queue. Lee said 50 cast and crew from Cardiff were in the audience and that he had to be in Birmingham early the next morning for his first panto rehearsal.

Such a great start to Christmas! Maggie Ball, tried to say hi, but you were engrossed in conversation both times!

Roll on next year, I nearly shouted out that I had my Chitty tickets for zWimbledon, when he mentioned the role...

Lovely to read your post Sue.
Every review on here is special. We all have a different way of telling our view of the evening.
I sat in row F my OH was with friends in Row U.
Bring him home was definitely one of the highlights for me.
My Husbands friend got a last min ticket and although I didn't see him on the night ( he was somewhere in the circle?) he phoned us the next day to say what a fab show it was.
Nice to hear a non fan say that

I wasn't feeling to good that night so didn't enjoy it to the max
I only managed a couple of SD pics
So here they are:





My hubs took some pics which give a sense of how generous Lee was with his time at the SD but they have a throng of people in them.
There is a nice one of Lee talking to a lady in a wheelchair he even signed her wheelchair for her.
If she is reading this I am happy to pass it on to her.

Hi Joan,

Hope you are feeling better now.

I think the lady you mention is called Claire her twitter name is @Claireylooloo
she has just posted a lovely photo of her and Lee at the Stage Door
after the Christmas concert, going by her various tweets she is a big
fan of Lee's and says she can't wait to see Lee in Aladin on the 20th
December.

Thanks for the heads up MaggieM

Thanks for the reviews and photos. I'm late posting anything, but there is not much to add really.

Highlight for me was Feeling Good, and so happy it's going to be on the album.

One funny thing i remembered, at one point Lee said that he hated his legs (I think it was in relation to being in tights, loincloth or jodphurs) , adding that they are rugby player legs, and of course he loves football.

Yes that was me Yet Another Sue saying hello to everyone I knew near me. You should have said hello. I am back home now. Lee Christmas Concerts are very special. Try to get to the Pheasantry in March if you can that is a wonderful experience.

A little post from me, very late as I've been really busy.

London Garrick: Much anti****ted and definitely needed after the Lichfield cancellation.

I met up with two close friends who had both travelled from further afield. It was fun planning the day ahead. We enjo*** a little Christmas meal before the show with all the trimmings and went for a drink in the pub that Lee and co chose for a get together after the show.

I think it's lovely that so many fans make an effort to book the end of year concert and I'm sure it must be good for Lee to know that we do this too. It was nice to see so many familiar faces.

Most things about the show have been covered and disappointingly I seem to forget all the little extra bits. I loved the duets that Lee did with each of his guests. I think he might think twice before announcing the age of his core fans next time as he nearly got boooed off the stage from where we were sitting! He managed to dig himself out of the large hole by changing the subject slightly but it was a bit of an awkward moment as I recall. But Lee being Lee, he was soon onto the next song and all of that was forgotten, phew.
I enjo*** the snow effects but was secretly hoping to get wet this time as I had been too far back last year. Frosty was much more refined and only covered us with very fine snow during the first half. He remained dormant during part two which I'm not sure was right but he was a nice prop anyway. The other machine threw out a pretty curtain of snow over the performers which had a lovely Christmassy effect.

Loved the Christmas jumper to start with and then the white shirt and suit for the rest of the show. Amanda and Tracie looked lovely too. Amanda's Over the Rainbow gets me every time and as she sang it suddenly dawned on me that this would possibly be the last time she sings with him. I overheard her talking at the stage door saying that she was quite busy with Casualty for next year. She had been a really good tour partner with Lee and they obviously have so much fun together.

We left on a high and popped back to my friends hotel for a drink after the stage door. Then we had to leg it (and I mean leg it) over the bridge to the station for my friend to make her train in time to get home. It was a whole hour to wait for the next one! And she only made it because the train was 4 minutes late! I only had half a hour to wait for mine so I plonked myself outside a coffee shop with a coffee in an effort to sober up! Oops

I'm looking forward to a few shows next year and I'm very excited about Aladdin! I'm sure I'll see a few of you along the way

Here are a few photos.









Thanks everyone for your reviews, it was good to read them all

Thanks all for the reviews and photos

Nice to see THIS review from the London Weekly News on FB and Twitter. I'm not familiar with that publication but a positive review is always good news!

Gorgeous photos, Jazzy. Ooh, some familiar back views inside the Garrick!