Five Guys Named Moe - Louis Jordan

One of the deals that you make, whether you know it or not, when you move in with a partner is that you take an interest in their hobbies or activities. Or at least feign interest - but I have never done that. Never. No-way.

One of the interests that I inherited was going to the theatre. Now I don't want you to get the impression that I was some sort of un-cultured northern heathen. I had been to the theatre before but this was usually at Christmas time and involved blokes in tights. Or was that women in tights? No idea. It was very confusing and if I'm being honest unsettling. So I was no stranger to the theatre but it was indeed a novel idea that you would choose to go rather than be instructed. The other revelation was that you could order drinks for half time - not that getting drunk was encouraged - but being a little tipsy was acceptable. This also had the added advantage that if the performance was poor then it helped ease the pain.

But perhaps the biggest revelation was that it was actually enjoyable. Fun. A good way to spend your evening. My eyes were well and truly opened. Sure I have seen some right stinkers but these are far outweighed by the good performances I've seen. 'Five Guys Named Moe' was one such great night out. I sounded horrendous; the jazz music of Jouis Jordan transformed into a musical. A sort of Mama Mia from the 50s. Before we sat down I went through my usual pre-performance ritual; a gumble about theatre being a poor persons cinema, tut-tutting at the cost of the drinks and whinging about the duration of the show. But once the curtain was raised and the singing started I was hooked. Right-to-the-end. I was cultivating an appreciation of culture.

My development almost took a nose dive when we saw a performance of 'The Seagull' by Chekhov. A bit high brow I know, but it was put on by a small theatre group and I was persuaded to go. I was confident that I'd be OK. I'd been in training; taking in some Shakespeare and doing some background reading on the internet. I was ready. Then the play started and it all got pretty confusing pretty quick. You see, as it was a small group, the players took on different roles. And they were short of women. I couldn't keep up. The actors changed roles more often than I changed my socks. And the changes were not always that distinct; sometimes only differentiated by a different hat. Or accent. People came on, said some lines and left. But I survived - leaving the theatre exhausted, confused with my head buzzing. A bit like after a night out on the beer but without the kebab.

Even if you are not a fan of the theatre, 'Five Guys Named Moe' is a great album, mixing jazz, blues and rhythm & blues. And absolutely fantastic trumpet playing. I'm still not a theatre lover, not really, but if the right performance is picked it's a top night out.  I'm still very suspicious, I still have my pre-performance ritual, I'm still wary of blokes in tights and get well confused if women play mens parts and vice versa. But hey I'm learning. Now where did I leave my copy of Variety. I simply must find my next performance.....