[I found the below report scribbled into an old notebook that I was about to discard, it refers to the end of the Festival Hall season, summer 1976].

In the last week of the Festival Hall season, Judi Merri was off, so I had the opportunity to see Patricia Leonard as Phoebe and Caroline Baker as Pitti-Sing. I was entranced by Patricia Leonard's Phoebe - quite the best I have seen. She never tried to be funny, and played the role with charm and sincerity. Every word she said made sense, and above all, her acting had depth. Her voice is soft and beautiful, reminding me irresistibly of the records of Beatrice Elburn. Caroline Baker (whom I have previously heard only as Kate in Pirates) has a curious deep voice, which, though it has a very pleasing tone, is indistinct, it is one of those "spittly" voices, i.e. she sounds as though when she sings her mouth is full of spittle. If it was a larger and more powerful voice it would be an Edna Thornton type. She acted the part well. Being Colin Wright's farewell (as well as the end of the season) there were high jinks - some intentional, others not! In The Mikado Colin got the rope stuck in the archway, which reduced him to giggles. His travelling bags fell off the pole in Act 2, with subsequent business, and he failed to enter at the end, leaving John Ayldon to ad lib like mad. In some ways the last night was a bit of an anticlimax after those sunny last nights in Oxford. I wandered to the pub afterwards but there was hardly anyone I knew. It has been a marathon season, and in spite of everything, a season to remember - as much for the hot weather that saw its close as for anything else. I believe they had summers like this a century ago...! MICHAEL WALTERS

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