The Phonebox Podcast With Emma Conway - Steph Douglas: Sticky Floors In 90's Nightclubs

Episode Date: October 24, 2023

Who played one of The Lovely Boylen sisters in Annie? Found a husband who adores Les Mis and believe Grease 2 to be completely inappropriate? Business woman and podcaster Steph Douglas that's who! Steph joins The Phonebox Podcast to chat about the joy of 90's musicals and how much they meant to teens back in the day.Listen to 'The Don't Buy Her Flowers Podcast' here. Visit her amazing online gifting store 'Don't Buy Her Flowers' here and be sure to follow Steph over on Instagram.For more of me follow @brummymummyof2 on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and TikTok and follow the all new @phoneboxpodcast account on InstagramIf you have any guest suggestions, topics you would like me to cover or send in a voice note to be featured email [e-mail] and be sure to tag so I can see where you are listening!Editing by Soundtruism. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hey, you're a Canadian podcast listener, and that makes you important to us. We'd like to know more about you, what you think of this podcast, and the other podcasts you'd like to hear. So we put together a super brief survey we'd like you to fill out. Complete it, and we'll give you a chance to win one of three $100 Amazon gift cards. That way, we can say thanks for your opinion. Just go to mypodcastsurvey.ca and have your say. That's mypodcastsurvey.ca. With the Fizz loyalty program, you get rewarded just for having a mobile plan.

You know, for texting and stuff. And if you're not getting rewards like extra data and dollars off with your mobile plan, you're not with Fizz. Switch today. Conditions apply. Details at fizz.ca. Hello and welcome to this week's episode of the Phone Box Podcast with me, Emma Conway. I hope you're well. I'm looking out the window.

And no word of a flipping lie, it's 2.57 when I'm recording this. It's already getting dark. it's already getting dark it's already getting dark i've got a snuggly blanket in front of me which i'm going to put on as soon as i stop recording this because it's cold it's cold and it's dark we have reached peak britishness talking about weather and it being dark that's just what it is now until maybe may that's what we're experiencing thanks so much for your love on the tracy beaker episode it was brilliant to talk to danny harmer and also thanks if you're taking part on the polls on the phone box podcast instagram account we do one every week i think the common bin bag won best halloween prop of the 1990s because in a bin bag you could be a witch you could be a vampire you

could be a zombie you could be anything you're hot as i desires in a bin bag in the 90s it's all we it's all we had going for us also this episode is about musicals i'm wondering if it's niche or i'm wondering if it's a universal experience i'm not saying there wasn't much to do in the 90s but i spent a lot of time pretending i was the narrator from Joseph's and his technical dream code that's what I was doing graduating on to Lamy's with Michael Ball of course the icon and the legend but that's what I was doing and you lot wrote in as in like sent me a direct message I like to think you're you're sending me penmanship but no it was a direct message on Instagram telling me the musicals

you wanted us to talk about so we touch on those and i'm doing this episode with the wonderful podcaster steph douglas she also has an amazing business called don't buy her flowers i will leave links in the descriptions to all her stuff and she like me is a musicals expert do either of us have any qualifications in musicals no no was she once a bit part in annie and was i once a bit part in greece yes and that is all the qualifications you need to talk about it so enjoy this podcast and i'll see you at the end for a chat hello steph and welcome to the phone box podcast hello hello we've already we've already had a 40 minute catch-up

every week i do it like i pretend that people have just turned up but i've been talking for about two hours um this is going to be a bit of a different podcast i'm going to ask you a few of our normal questions and then we're going to discuss musicals oh my god because we're both musical gals i feel like i should have ginned up on musicals but I think it's in it's in my bones I think it's okay you are the a lame page to my barber yeah we need to do like a bit of back-to-back wasn't it good so good but anyway we're getting ahead of ourselves yeah first of all um what year was it when you were 14 it It was 1995. And that's a great year. It was a great year.

And do you know what? I'm trying to work out what year it was and what I was doing when I was 14. I went to Smash Hits poll winner's party. It's all bad then. Who was, oh my God, let's take that on. Take that minus, Robbie, we're on. So what was ridiculous is my parents allowed, so me and my best mates, who are still my best mates,

we went to Smash It Porners. We got a coach from Siren Sester in Gloucestershire. Oh, lovely. But that took 50 hours. Yeah. Oh, we were there at six in the morning. We got a coach. Then we had to get the tube to wherever the thing was.

I don't even, on our own, just group of 14 year old girls we had sheets that we turned into banners with Stroud girls written on it it's like we love and we put some of whoever was there yeah 95 so it was a big year of like freedom that could have been the last year take that we're on you know mark cleaned up best haircut obviously hands down yeah most fancier all that uh robson green was the best tv actor oh bon jovi was best rock act but i think there was only one rock act exactly boyzone best new act new fair fair. Take that. It was presented by Andy Peters and Danny Bear. And also, listen to this. Worst, oh, sad loser of 1995.

Who do you reckon? Me. Robbie Williams. Oh, because he left. Because he'd left. So they did never forget and everything. And Eternal, no, no, it wasn't Eternal. It was Louise was there.

Louise Nergian. Oh, Eternal were there. She'd left them. Yeah, Louise. forget and everything and eternal no no it wasn't eternal it was louise was there louise no eternal were there she'd left yeah louise we and we managed to again i don't know where our parents were what coach we were getting we must have got like the first and last coaches of the day we managed to go backstage and chase chased after the vans leaving and my friend lissy like attached herself to louise Nerding as she was. Bam. It was just, it was so exciting. The screen, it was the first,

I think it was the first concert I went to. And the screams are so loud. It's like in your body. Oh my, oh, it was so loud. Cause it's just a load of 14 year old girls. Me and Stephen were talking about Robson and Jerome the other day and we were like, wasn't that a real funny time in history? Oh, awesome. I think I might have had that I like and soldier soldier yeah they were so popular but if you looked at them in nowadays they would not be as popular it just looks like two dads singing

it is because they were quite old were they not I bet if we google it now they'll be like they will be much younger than we are now in their 20s they're really old um that was a funny oh that's a great year 95 and 96 I think were the best they're my favorite of the 90s yes because the 96 was turning like 15 16 and then getting into more fun stuff but I was I was going clubbing at 14 I think 14 is split really clearly in two halves which one was like still a bit teeny bopper for me. And then the second half was like, oh, hang on. We can get into the local club, the Maltings, and snog like the boys were a bit older and all that.

I was definitely clubbing when I was 14. I wasn't drinking alcohol, to be fair. I made my fake ID, which said I belonged to the Moseley. 73? No. id which said i was um um a i belong to the moseley 73 it said i belong to the moseley gun club and it had like a cartoon drawing of a man holding a gun with um a golden retriever people like lettering i did mine from my german exchange little green paper passport that you got your school on, and I doctored the date on there.

They didn't care. They were so proud with laughter when we were coming in. They didn't care, though, did they? Because there's no way you could have looked at it and gone, oh, legitimately. I mean, in the picture, I was 12 or something. You're like, come on. They're just like, get in.

Go on. Come on, love. Yeah, it was fun, though, wasn't it? Not that I would like Erin to do it not that i would would like erin to do it because that'd be her doing it next year oh shit it would wouldn't it oh so so yeah buster is he's just about to turn 13 no but the boys weren't though that was what was so we our gang at school was the girls and the boys they're like lads but the we at 14 15 could get to the club so we'd meet up with them drink some cider in the park and be like right we're going now and they couldn't get into

anything yeah that's true we just went with that boys couldn't go into an all-girls school anyway but yeah we just went and some of the moms were dropping us off not my mom to be fair some of the moms were just cursed i knew kirsten's mom was dropping us off picking us up yeah i remember my old my old love okay so where were you in the hierarchy of school steph i imagine you two have been cool well no not really so at 11 i was uh really into drama and mime and debating society so i was in all the club mime i know mime is always the one that everyone goes oh interesting so I did loads of after school clubs I was quite geeky I'd gone to a really little primary school and I went to a massive comprehensive so didn't know what that getting off with someone was and had to sort

of sit there while everyone's talking about again oh god I'd never touched a boy or um so I was really geeky and dramary and that was my thing but my mates that I made in the first and second year of secondary school there's a group of us now there's six of us so some came and went from that group but who are still my who are my bridesmaids my oldest best mates as I say work with me um so I was really lucky because we found each other yeah really young but we weren't cool like you had the girls who were the smoking going out with boys who had cars those ones who when you're that age they're the cool ones yeah we weren't that we were kind of relatively smart quite you know but we and we had this group of girls and

this group of boys who were really good mates again who they were at my wedding like so we we were lucky but I don't think we cared too much about what people thought so whether we were a bit geeky or whatever it didn't really matter that's nice though isn't it yeah oh like and it does tell you a lot about like with kids at secondary school now and you're kind of like who are their friends you want them to have nice friends like we yeah and we did we went to smash hits we went to magaluf when we were 16 when we just finished our gtses again without parents and you're like but my mum's like but we knew you were all quite sensible I mean we to smash hits we went to magaluf when we were 16 when we just finished our gtses again without parents and you're like but my mum's like but we knew you were quite sensible i mean we smoked and

drank but actually that was about all we were doing and we weren't like off shagging loads of boys or anything we were reasonable we went to nuki when i was 70 when we were 70 yeah we went to nuki obviously went to sailors that's where i met Doug I met Doug in sailors in Newquay and we and it's still there I look like we I've been it's there it's I've not been to sailors with the kids could you imagine good kids I've walked past and I'm just what an absolute joy of a place yeah it was I'm sure loads of people listening to this will have been to sailors it's an absolute right of passage well that is where I met my husband 17 years ago you need to when you're 20 on your 20th anniversary go back and can you play any old stuff what music was playing then 17 years ago

was it Christina Aguilera Dirty early to yeah yeah yeah It was early 2000s, mid 2000s. So it was all that. It was Remix to Ignition. Now, what is it? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. A bit of Garage. Oh, also Kooks and like a bit of indie stuff. Oh, Indie Sailor sounds lovely. Yeah, I don't know if they played that in Sailors,

but that when we got together, the Kooks album was the, yeah. Yeah. So Sailors, some of my team haven't been to Sailors and we came together the kooks album was the yeah yeah so sailors we have some of my team haven't been to sailors and we came up the other day and we're like we need to go we need a nukie trip you could you imagine the horror of being in we would be so old we'd be all in our 40s yeah we because you know when you were young and used to go clubbing there would always be a couple who were well older just bopping around like off their faces yeah that would be us that would that would be us they'd be like oh my gosh look at them but you know what we'd be living our best life um what was your bedroom like I had yellow

walls and blue carpet which I think is fairly standard for 90s I had a sofa bed but it was one of those ones that's flat on the floor and it folds out that's exactly what I had exactly what I had right so your mates could all sleep in there and as we got later into my when I was 14 my carpet I reckon you could have sucked Malibu out of it and got pretty pissed because because I so I lived in the center of town in Stroud and I was fourth of six kids so by the time it got to me my parents were fairly relaxed yeah and so everyone came to my like everyone would come to mine because also we were in town and we'd be in my room with our Malibu and our vodka lemonade and whatever else and it'd be sloshing everywhere and we always had two hours to get ready we needed

two hours which is ludicrous um so but the carpet must have been rancid because it was blue nobody knew and it would have been motley because in the 90s everything was oh yeah yeah yeah motley so that it didn't show the dirt all the filth hiding the dirt that's quite i feel like we need to bring blue carpet back so i don't have to vacuum so much it seems like it's a dream and then i had a big hi-fi system you know the um nice yeah you've got to have i think it was probably an alba one from argos what color was it it was black it was black just black mine was like beige with like buttons and stuff yeah i i yeah actually i actually wish i still had that now because it was real nice. Yeah.

I really enjoyed it. And what posters did you have up? I don't know. I think I had, I remember there were some Jelly Babies posters, like cartoon Jelly Babies saying, yeah, it's probably like the equivalent of Live, Laugh, Love. Love, Love, Love.

There's stuff on there. I didn't really have bands. I've've got quite well which is we'll probably find out I've got quite an eclectic music taste so I loved old music like I really liked Sinatra so he died when I was 18 and in my car my first car I had a Sinatra duet tape that I used to listen to and were you definitely duet were you duetting him oh yeah he's got lovely harmonies and I would have but I also really liked R&B really liked like a bit of indie like Oasis if you put on Champagne Supernova or something now I'd just be like oh my god the Alanis Morissette we went to see oh my me and my sister went to see her last year

it was incredible because she did it was the Jagged Little Pill tour and they were like don't give me any of your new songs no I want no I want it I don't want to hear that

she did the Jagged Little Pill album and me and my sister just stood and sang like holding hands eyes shut the whole thing it was incredible did she do it in order?

I don't think it was but you know every song because if she do it in order uh i don't think it was but you know every song if she did it in order every word every note and she was amazing and also she's only like a couple years older than us you know like oh she was really young she's got she she talked about her kids she'd had kids slightly later but she still had like a four or five year old or something i was like wait a minute i thought she was like in wait a minute. I thought she was like, you know, fifties or sixties. She was 18, 19 when she wrote Jagged Little Pill. And it was all about the awful music industry men who'd like taken her for granted.

It's such a good album. That is, that is, I used to scream. Oh yeah, of course you do, you scream. I still listen to it all the time.

Ironic whenever it comes on. Oh my God. But then the kids like, none of this is ironic. And I'm like, well, stop it. You're spoiling the song. They they're just like it's just bad things i'm like oh shut up you don't understand it yeah yeah yeah no shit that was really good but yeah so i liked

a bit of indie bit of pop still loved it when spice girls girls came out i did love them and i saw mel c at feast of all the other week week she was amazing and she did do some Spice Girls which again made me happy but I was like oh I was naming all her songs before she came on and the girls were like are you a massive Mel C fan I was like I think I just loved anything to do with Spice Girls so I had all their

solo albums I just like followed them because I was just like what they did was pretty incredible. It was a very short amount of time. They had some, Jerry Halliwell, look at me. That's a cracking song. An ex-boyfriend of mine, our song together was,

baby, when you're gone. She did that. She's like, I'm in love. Oh, they're great. Her energy. I can't hear it without wanting to be sick because I think of him. Her six pack as well. Oh she is ripped who was your favorite member of the spice girls i did quite like posh which i is and jerry i dyed my front bits of my hair blonde bleached them just with like bleach bleach which was not a great idea but jerry did it look good no terrible we

had to put me and my friend did it and we had to wear a French plaque because it was the only thing that slightly hid it. So it did. I love Jerry. Yeah, I did love Jerry. And I was sad when she left, but then avidly watched like the documentary

and then following her solo stuff. Gosh, she's so good. And now she's just ever so posh, isn't she? I don't get it the white yeah wearing white thing is odd and the car i went to the reunion i do know i went to that as well i went to the reunion tour and she was in like gowns and you're like come on get your union jack i had one of those that was one of my favourite items of clothing I wore that in Magaluf

A Union Jack halter neck top I wish you'd kept that With no bra because you didn't need it Could you imagine going out with no bra on out No no no They've been dragging on the floor In Magaluf it's just dragging Picking up cigarettes and all sorts

It's a chewing gum All the end of it You wouldn't even notice because it's all numb okay so fashion so that's a fashion joyous act but what about a fashion faux pas so I generally was quite and I was quite chubby up until I was 14 15 so I was that impacts your clothes because I remember all my mates would have like the tartan Rupert bear trousers yeah I had some of them shorty crop top I never had any of that um but I did have a pair of baggy combat black trousers with tassels that Steps wore in one of their course yeah that and I only wore them once and my whole family just completely fell apart

and I never wore them again and that was a weird purchase for me I wasn't a massive steps fan and I didn't really go for like big fashion things but they had tassels that went like long tassels yeah I can imagine from the hips I think they wore a pastel color in one of their music videos I feel like it's the way that you make me feel or something might have been but they were dreadful i got them from the market of course you did i was thinking that's not a top shop that is a we had a shop called go bananas you'd get that in go bananas did you have did it have stuff for like a fiver like you've got to get your friday night top yeah go bananas is an absolute classic or we had um oasis market as well you get stuff from there that sounded to me like

a go bananas pair of trousers. Awful. They were awful. And I didn't. When you walked in, did they just laugh? Oh, I mean, they still do. So I work with my brother and I've got a pair of leopard print trousers on today. And I'll walk in and go, oh, hello.

And they're always. I've got leopard print cycling shorts on. We'll have conference calls where we're with a client. Like we're talking to someone. And once we've got to know them a a bit better i'll come on and i'll be wearing like a big gold chain or big gold who all right here is she is mr t you're like oh right he's my older brother he can't help it mr t is such a great reference because you know what i think that steven would say that to me if i walked in with a big gold chain or it's Jimmy Savile but you wouldn't use that never oh jewelry jewelry no not in a business not in a business meeting certainly not he's a push but yeah yeah she is Mr T okay you're on to

talk about musicals because I find that you love a musical. We both know the words to Ridiculous Songs. And I feel that musicals were really integral to me and my sister growing up. Did you used to perform them with your family? Yeah. So as I said, I'm one of six. It's three boys and three girls. What is funny now as adults, they all, including the boys who would have probably thought that they weren't that interested and didn't sit and watch Annie a million times.

Like me and my sister, who's called Annie, by the way, would avidly watch. And they know every word. And Chaz's wife, when they were first dating, he used to run a pub and we were at the pub and there was them. And I had one of my mates there and we found a mutual love of Annie so we're just sitting there literally quoting lines because you know every single word every single word every dance routine every dance routine every little noise of that you know and so we're talking about and we were trying to remember a line of a song and he walked past he had two plates in his hand he's serving someone and he's in the pub and he walked past and one

of us was saying what's the line from this and he literally over his shoulder just word for word came out with this line and then carried on walking and we were like I was like what a guy and Doug and Doug interestingly is the same so he had his mum and his sister who watched all these musicals so knows every word. And it draws me to people. It immediately gives me a connection with somebody. It's in my blood. We got Annie. We got Annie.

We got Annie. It's just Annie for me is one of my absolute favourites. And I asked my listeners what we were supposed to chat about and they did mention Annie. FanDuel Casino's exclusive live dealer studio has your chance at the number one feeling, winning, which beats even the 27th best feeling, saying I do. Who wants this last parachute?

I do. Enjoy the number one feeling, winning, in an exciting live dealer studio, exclusively on FanDuel Casino, where winning is undefeated. 19-plus and physically located in Ontario. Gambling problem? Call 1-866-531-2600 or visit connectsontario.ca. Please play responsibly. With the Fizz loyalty program, you get rewarded just for having a mobile plan.

You know, for texting and stuff. And if you're not getting rewards like extra data and dollars for having a mobile plan you know for texting and stuff and if you're not getting rewards like extra data and dollars off with your mobile plan you're not with fizz switch today conditions apply details at fizz.ca so annie was annie was well up there i loved it i didn't want to be annie though i wanted to be um what's the name i forgot her name there's me saying it's blame the. I wanted to be, what's the name? I forgot her name. There's me saying it's blame the HRT, premenopause. What's the woman? There's duet. Oh, I'll tell you what's the duet with Miss Hannigan and Daddy Warbucks in the bath,

which I didn't really like when you're younger and little girls, little girls. You want the most of one Osiris. Argent. I'm a hunger for the Argent. you want the most of Wallace Iries but I was this is really tragic as well again when you're like what were you like as a teenager at 17 not 12 not nine me and my best friend Lissy were in Annie at the Cotswold Playhouse Players, the local ABDRAM and we were too old to be orphans obviously so we were staff in the background, we were just in the chorus

I did have to do a solo from a song which is only in the stage version but it's a character called A Star To Be just put that out there so I got a picture there and we were Boyland Sisters so that was I know yeah we had to do a little dance everything and we were but I was 17 and all my mates came

pissed obviously and they're like like Larry um but yeah it was we loved it absolutely loved it and daddy warbucks had a love to have been a boiling sister but my my family still go on about daddy i love it i love miss halligan annie i just m i double s i double s i double p i i couldn't spell it i hadn't watched him ann it I wouldn't know how to spell it I loved it it's one of my favourites a lot of people also mentioned Joseph McGuinness

Technical Dream specifically Jason I went to see it I think I went to see it with Philip Schofield in it there's so many I can't mention I know

and I did love it and also Jason he had actual chart hits with those musical songs Any Dream Will Do and a lot of so that was a good one but wasn't like my favorite but I you know the thing is we had loads of musical albums like compilation albums so there were there's loads of random songs from musicals that I know that I wouldn't have been able to tell you the storyline or the anything but we just had them on in the car was tell me on a Sunday one of them yes of course it was and um perfect year Dina Carroll singing perfect year and when the first

Christmas that Doug came to my parents he walked in he got there late and my mum was on the table with it and I was with her with a spatula and an apron singing a perfect year on the kitchen. I couldn't tell you what a perfect year is from, but I bring out the old ringing. I don't know. I don't know what it's from. But I know every single word. It's a word. Yeah. It was a classic. OK, so Joseph wasn't one of your faves. I did want to be the narrator. I liked her short hair.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. She looked phenomenal. Okay. Grease. And I want to start off with a discussion. Okay. Did you prefer Grease 1 or Grease 2? I preferred Grease 1.

You're wrong. Okay. Is that because of Michelle Pfeiffer, purely? It's because Grease 2 had very dirty, rude songs in. Have you watched it recently what do you mean i'm always watching it i watched it a few months ago and was like oh like the bit where they're in the bunker and he's trying to do it for our country molest her yeah and lie to her so that she'll have sex with him i don't think it would be made now but Michelle Pfeiffer is still fit in it she is

incredible the bit on the ladder where she's at the top of the ladder cool she's so sexy and and what I would like to know is how did she maintain that given that the rest of the film is a cheese fest and the people in it are really cheesy everything's cheesy not bad I didn't say it's bad but there's a lot of cheese Michael come on he's not he's not uh your front runner for a half but Lorna Luft was Judy Garland well is Judy Garland's daughter and you can't take that away from her okay all right we've got to give her that and also these people were probably in their 40s yeah playing 15 year old same with grease one but michelle fiver in it is i love grease too i'd like that um i'm gonna do um i'll be yours in winter oh god don't i could just do the whole yeah you're right it's good um i'm gonna do a vote and i want people to let me know if they prefer grease one or grease twoase 2. I think Grease 1 shall win.

Why do you prefer Grease 1? I just watched it so much. Like that is another one where you could give me a line from it and I'd tell you the next line. Like it's, and it's in my blood. And also I quote a lot of these films that we've already talked about. I think I quote probably at least once a day. I'll say a line from a film and Doug usually,

and then I'll go, what film's that? And he'll know, which makes me really happy. But yeah, and they're just in my vocabulary, which is so weird because you're like, this is, well, I'm 42. So this is like 35 years of just remembering these pointless lines. I just love it. John Travolta was so gorgeous. He is.

And again, I think that's another one. If you watch it now, you're like, oh no, he is and again I think that's another one if you watch now you're like oh no he is beautiful so beautiful so gorgeous do you know what a lot of them they were they were all all right and Rizzo yeah was she 37 when she was in it sure but she was I love her song's a great one for belting out people on your own um she's good yeah all of them are good oh she's just I just love Grease one I love Grease one but Grease 2 just pips it for me because I did do it quite a lot of school now this is a musical I absolutely hate so I'll be interested on your thoughts on Cats I hate it so I know I don't think I've ever like watched I don't know the whole thing I know

a lot of the song and so I used to go to singing lessons. So I went to piano lessons, never practiced. And then the teacher was like, would you like to do singing instead? So I did singing lessons. So I'd go and sit awkwardly in someone's house. It was in her house, the lessons, and she'd play piano and I'd sing along. And we used to do that. There's some high notes in there and I'm not.

So high. I can hold a tune, but I'm not a singer. There's Magical Mistoffelees. That's another song from Cats. So Cats, me, mum and Claire went to see it. And Andrew Lloyd Webber, if you listen, I'm sorry, it's crap. It's crap. And the cats stay on in the break and it's orcs.

And you're just looking at this cat and you're like, ooh, I want to eat my ice cream. There's a cat on the stage. No, it made no sense. There's no plot. I haven't seen the new one. No, as I say said there's quite a few Andrew Lloyd Webber that I know the bangers I but again because the compilation albums but I haven't

seen and I don't know yeah so I got really mixed even though I know they're good true musicals I don't know just not the ones for you like like Phantom, because lest you forget, what's his name? I keep thinking in front. Michael Boy. Frank Spencer. That's not his real name. Oh. Michael, not.

Crawford. No, Crawford. Michael Boy, one step at a time. He also is in the movie. Michael Crawford. Yeah, you're right. Some mothers do have him. Some mothers do have him.

And then he was like an absolute banger with phantom of the opera top of the charts yeah yeah michael ball was love love changes everything which i think is what dina carol songs from actually aspects of love oh there she goes i haven't seen it okay um okay fame did you like it oh my god fame was so good i don't think i've ever watched that one either i know i know we need to rectify it it'll be because so we had a beta max do you know that is yeah of course my dad my dad became a vicar in later life he was a solicitor and they had a beta max video recorder thing that they shared between the partners in the solicitor office and we'd have it every third week so every third week you know like it sounds like we were really

poor like and I guess it's just 80s isn't it so this beatomax would go around but also there's very limited hire that you could get for the beatomax because it never really took off so I guess whatever I know it must have been what was available on that. And Fame didn't make it. You do need to watch Fame. It is very good. It's very depressing. But then a lot of musicals.

And talking about depressing, Les Mis, we both love it. I'd never, again, I knew some of the songs. I'd never seen it until I met Doug. And when I met Doug, he was like, when we're getting to know each other I've seen it seven times oh hello big fan so he would have been what 25 26 year old rugby playing man he'd seen Les Mis seven times and he sent me so he was playing rugby in Italy when we first met and he sent me tickets for me to go and see Les Mis with someone and I went and saw it and I when bring him home kicked off I was like I think this man loves me because you don't send

someone Les Mis tickets unless you really I know but so I now know every word it's regularly on in the car Doug knows every word and and again it's another vocabulary if we've got if we're heading towards something exciting happening like a holiday or whatever or something at work we'll wake up and go one day more why wouldn't the kids the kids are just like oh my god they don't seem to they haven't inherited it except for alexander hamilton hamilton they love i know every single word they absolutely yeah and steven do you love it i love it steven knows every word the kids know every single word they absolutely yeah and Stephen do you love it I love it Stephen knows every word the kids know every single word and I'm like trying to get them on board the Leigh Midge train I'm like it's a bit the same and they're like no it's not the same it's not the same

but we just have to keep playing it I think it goes in your head if you just keep that music going all the time I think my children children, Stephen, just block it. Do you? I start to sing Jean Valjean. It's making me want to go home tonight and crank on a musical compilation. But Hamilton, we took the big kids to go and see it, not my youngest. And it was their first sort of theatre-y,

apart from like Lion King. And they loved it. And they know. But they're better at learning words kids aren't they because oh god yeah they're doing the raps and all that and I was just oh and I have to pause it and try and try and learn them well that's why we can remember Deena Carroll a perfect year true we can't remember I can't remember Stephen's phone number like I can remember I could yeah I can recite all of that um my dad loves Les Mis so much and when it came to Birmingham many many years ago

for the first time they did a big opening night Jasper Carrot was sat behind us what a treat oh my god isn't he a real Brummie is he a bit oh Brummie legend Brummie Ike and my dad just cried the whole way through it with Jasper Carrot oh it's a crier one is it is a like this is so like I say bring him home and at the. I've seen it so many times. I saw it with Nick Jonas in it as well. Yeah, that was a while ago. Yeah. Is it Alfie Bowe?

Is it Alfie Bowe that always gets wheeled out? Oh, yeah. He's proper. Did you have the, I don't know if it was 25 years or 15 years. There was like a DVD of it. And I used to watch that continuously. Continuously all the time in the 90s. And actually, there's the film version with Anne Hathaway I think we went to the cinema to watch that and she's very good but it's still the original the original oh yeah it's the original soundtrack

is the one that I prefer but the other musical that really makes me cry is Matilda. Modern day musical. I can't look. When I grow up. Don't stop. No, I actually feel like I'm going to be physically sick. And the kids are like, what's wrong with you? And also, have you noticed that, you know, your leavers, leavers assemblies.

Oh God, do they always play it? That's the one they make them fucking sing. So actually ours did One Direction's's history which made us everyone cry but um a lot i had loads of messages saying oh ours they did when i grow up so yeah it's already an emotional wreck that they're leaving primary school it's that one or from rent that you know 525,600 minutes they do that one but a bow for them and and Matilda I'm sat in the theatre watching grown men dressed as school boys on a swing coming into the audience and I'm sobbing I know but it's the um it's the like it's the hope bit there's no hope it's terrible no but like so our kids our school do a choir locally and it's um there's maybe 20 schools involved and the teachers must sit there gleefully you're a teacher so they're

going right what we're gonna get them what are we gonna so they either go for like a couple of 90s bangers because that's gonna get everyone up on their seats and really excited and then they'll throw in i don't know or um greatest showman something from that that gets everyone and you're just all sitting there these kids have no idea what's coming for them because life is coming when I know if I can eat chocolate every day whatever it's like no mate you can't it's terrible it is truly grow don't don't grow up and I'm just I mean I'm upset now I'm upset for my children I'm thinking of the men on the swings dressed as children with peaked hats yeah just going like well I've got to come into the audience um any other musicals from the 90s that you liked Little Shop of Horrors was mentioned that's a great one no that wasn't on my list guys and

mine was old is it Rogers and Hammerstein guys and dolls yeah so i would so back to the anything i auditioned to be an annie when i was about nine yeah the local bigger theater not the cotswold like not the playhouse and i learned a song from guys. Which one was it? Oh, God. And the people all said sit down. No, it wasn't that. Don't bring back your pearls. No, take back your mink. Oh, God, my brain's totally gone.

So I learned this song and I learned this routine. And then the minute the music started playing, I did about three steps and forgot the mood. And they went, don't worry, do your song. And I just I fell apart I fell and all the other girls auditioning were from local drama schools and stuff and I wasn't this is me and my sister had learned a routine I was one of the Boylan sisters I was this was late I this was before I was this is when I was nine so when I was 17 that was my

comeback that was my I can still I can do it it eight years yeah but but um so guys and dolls we used to watch that a lot that is i saw ewan mcgregor in it i saw ewan mcgregor in it as well he's so beautiful and his voice is it is amazing yeah i saw you mcgregor in a few things because i was mildly obsessed with him uh in a few little any play you do i'll be bopping up um who's in the original guys and dolls he's very handsome when you do, I'll be bopping up. Who's in the original Guys and Dolls? He's very handsome. Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando.

Marlon Brando's gorgeous. Oh, they're all beautiful. And they're again, they're about 50. They're not, but they're old. They're not young. I think,

I think in the olden days that people like Frank Sinatra and Fred Astaire, they were born looking 17. 40. Yeah. They were born, especially Fred Astaire. Also Gene Kelly's gorgeous. Yeah. Yeah. yeah they were born it is especially fred astaire also gene kelly's gorgeous yeah there's yeah um on the town and all that i used to just love musicals all the time sweet charity it's all i did seven brides for seven brothers i just that wasn't one of my faves but

i did watch it but there's nothing else story what so west side story that is still i was listening to the soundtrack to that the other day this is is what's a bit weird as a 42-year-old woman, every now and then I'm like, what should I listen to? And I'll bang on West Side Story. That's not weird. If you're driving, it might be a bit,

but driving and you can help it out and you probably sound amazing. I mean, you don't, but. We went to mum and dad's recently and Sweet Charity was on the telly. Have you ever seen that with Shirley MacLaine? Yeah. Which is right from the 60s.

And me and my sister did a full, I mean it must have been about 45 minutes full show. This was like three weeks ago. Full show to mum, dad, Erin, Ethan, Stephen and I think they hated every single. Did you like The Carpenters as well? Of course I liked The Carpenters.

It's almost like our parents didn't want to put any new stuff on so they just banged out musicals and carpenters and all the old stuff and we just went along with it maybe our kids are going to love all this stuff when they're in their 40s

I love the Beatles I love the carpenters I loved musicals that was just what I used to listen to and watch like continuously tell me on a Sunday I used to sing with my sister all the time I know him so well there was an Andrew Lloyd Webber one that I just every single song

I think we had the same because that's why all those ones you mentioned like Phantom of the Star I know a couple of songs from because of that album I reckon and ones from Jesus Christ Superstar. Try not to get worried. Try not to... I knew all of them.

I just loved it. Was I a nerd? Possibly. But was I happy? Yeah, I was. And one day, my kids would be on a podcast talking about Hamilton and how they listened to it, baby. Did you...

So when we went to New York, so there's two places where we can go and they do performances Ellen Stardust Diner Ellen Stardust so that's like a daytime take your family one the one I went to is called is it Marie's Crisis and so it's but it's downstairs it's like night time so it's this is at two in the morning and it's the same thing, but it's people crowding around a piano. Oh my God, this sounds my dream. And my friend, my best mate Faye, who lived in New York at the time

and her boyfriend who I'd not met before, let's just bear that in mind. So this is his first encounter with me and Doug. And the four of us went, Doug knew all the musicals and could hold his own. Faye and Wayne, I I think weren't into it but loved seeing the joy on and I literally was just stood in front of the piano the happiest person you've ever seen and at one point the woman who I think ran it

sat on the piano and sang a thingy Joplin Janice Joplin song I can't yeah and it but these people had their West End starts amazing and the guy on the piano and they and everyone's just singing along it was one of the best nights of my life it was and it was but it was the fact it was downstairs you felt like you were in in this oh I know I sound really tragic no I'm there and I'm sat in Birmingham and I feel like people be and I feel like everybody would be swaying and every single person that plays had a cracking voice yeah and they're all doing just chucking in a harmony oh shuck it might that would be my sister my sister always bangs in a harmony oh my god I'm not very good at it unless I've learned it unless I've heard it and learned

it like I can't I can't just do it oh no my sister's always banging in a harmony ellen sardis diner is great i always go with my family they hate it and i just sit there and i'm crying over a woman in an apron on a broom singing wicked and i'm like look at that defying gravity and then all like confetti comes and they're like right can we go now yeah i just love it there's one in lond London as well you know if you want to take your kids they've got the same it's called theater diner yeah there's a theater cafe which is just musicals based um and you get you know there's like booths with like musical things on there is a microphone and every time and you can sing a song and every time I threaten and my kids are like, if you get up there we're never talking to you again

but then the theatre, there's a diner where it's just like Ellen Stardust diner, you eat your dinner and they're all walking around singing. Well because Marie's Crisis, the New York one, did do they did like a couple of nights in London a few years ago but I feel like it was maybe it was during, like it was announced before

Covid and then maybe it didn't happen because of Covid but that would be oh god that would be a great night i don't i'd almost want to go on my own because i don't know and we can go i don't think many of my mates would appreciate it to the same level i feel like in my head i'm there and i'm swaying oh my god i look so good i'm in like like one of my 70s kind of dresses and i'm swaying and then there's just some men next to me and they're just like oh we'll all be your friends and it's just going to be brilliant everyone was mates that's what was really fun everyone bonded over the music

arms around each other oh my god obviously perfect well musicals what a delight I'm going to check if there's anything else we've done Les Mis you didn't watch Fame which has made me sad Cry Baby did you ever watch that yeah If there's anything else we've checked, we've done Les Mis. You didn't watch Fame, which has made me sad.

Cry Baby. Did you ever watch that? Yeah. Johnny Depp. Not quite. Yeah. Yeah. And Hairspray. They were, they were kind of.

They were a bit weird, weren't they? There was a kind of weirdness to them. I wanted love and tragedy. That's what I wanted. But in a pure way. They're so tragic. And Dina Carroll, if you're listening. We thought you were great.

We thought you were. I still think you were. I haven't thought about you for quite a while. But as soon as I press it up, I'm going to go and listen to it. My mum usually will ring me on New Year's Day or New Year's Eve. And start with a ring of the old. Oh, it's so maudlin, isn't it? Ring of the old oh it's so maudlin isn't it ring of the old oh lovely

well thanks for coming on that's still going sorry thanks for coming on and discussing all things musicals if you are listening please feel free to direct message me and tell me your favourite musical because I could talk about it to Stephen but he hates it he ain't like Doug

I feel relieved that Doug, I think it might be one of the things that actually sealed the deal. He only likes Hamilton, Stephen does. There's not one other. And he's sat there. One of our first dates was Jesus Christ Superstar. He left and was gone for about 40 minutes. Where have you been?

I've been sat at the bar and I've just been sat by myself watching jesus christ so it's it's not his cup of tea right my love i will see you soon thanks very much for um joining the podcast thanks for having me it's okay thank you bye bye just two grown women talking about how much we love musicals please let me know if you are the same direct message me at brummie mummy of two or the phone box podcast don't forget to tag me in where you're listening also do a little review for me that'd be brilliant share it take part in the poll it'll be best musicals poll i'll put some sort of musical poll up on spotify take part in that join in with the fun i would love to hear what musical you liked i'm gonna write i'm gonna choose between i'm gonna put on lame is joseph greece and greece too that's what

i'm gonna put and you're gonna have to choose and if your answer is not greece too oh no i'm gonna change it scrap that reverse reverse i'm gonna put lame is joseph greece and annie is Joseph, Grease and Annie. That is too tough to call. What would I go with? I'd go for Grease too, but that's not in it. I'm going to go with, I don't know. I can't choose. I can't choose. You choose. I can't choose. It it's too hard make sure you follow the podcast i will back next week for another wonderful episode we've got some good guests coming up i love you lots and whatever you're doing this week have a fantastic time bye guys fanduel casinos exclusive live dealer studio has your chance at the number one feeling, winning. Which beats even the 27th best feeling, saying I do.

Who wants this last parachute? I do. Enjoy the number one feeling, winning, in an exciting live dealer studio, exclusively on FanDuel Casino. Where winning is undefeated. 19 plus and physically located in Ontario. Gambling problem? Call 1-866-531-2600 or visit connectsontario.ca. Please play responsibly.

With the Fizz loyalty program, you get rewarded just for having a mobile plan. You know, for texting and stuff. And if you're not getting rewards like extra data and dollars off with your mobile plan, you're not with Fizz. Switch today. Conditions apply. Details at fizz.ca.