Oh Hello! at the Edinburgh Festival!

 

If you are lucky enough to be in Edinburgh this August for the world-renowned festival then do check out Jamie Rees in the wonderful tribute to Carry On legend Charles Hawtrey. Entitled ‘Oh Hello', the Torch Theatre show has been touring the country ahead of its month long residency in the Scottish capital.

Bubbly, energetic and extremely funny Charles Hawtrey was one of the best known comedy actors of the 40s, 50s and 60s. Following a sell-out run at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival and unanimous critical acclaim Jamie Rees returns in this ‘tour-de-force’ performance as one of the leading lights of the Carry On film franchise.

See him regale stories of 50 years in the film industry working with the likes of Alfred Hitchcock and starring in the films including The Ghost of St Micheal’s, Passport to Pimlico and a total of 21 Carry Ons. Hear of his hilarious run-ins with Kenneth Williams and his disdain of the Carry On producers as well as a complex relationship with his senile mother.

Oh Hello! first opened in 2014 and it has since gone on to perform at venues across the UK selling out every show and receiving four and five star reviews along the way.

Don’t miss your last chance to see this funny and poignant story about a true comedy legend.

Book your tickets here:

4-29 Aug – Edinburgh Fringe Festival | www.edfringe.com

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and also Facebook

Carry On Up The Fringe!

Earlier this week regular Carry On Blogging reader Jon contributed a terrific guest blog on all the connections between the Carry Ons and the brilliant television comedy, Dad's Army. You can read his blog here . Today Jon has sent in a great piece about his recent trip to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival...


After 36 hours at the Edinburgh Fringe and seven shows I thought it would be useful to report back on the Carry On related shows.....

On Hello! First stop was the Charles Hawtrey biopic with Jamie Rees. The show was fantastic and powerful. Jamie's portrayal of Hawtrey was great. The chronology was set by the Carry Ons starting with Regardless. There were plenty of references to Charlies' co-stars Joan Sims, Sid James and Kenneth Williams.

The only niggling inconsistency was there seemed to mix up a scene in Jack and Spying.

The show was sold out (and getting great reviews) for the rest of the festival but the venue release a few tickets two hours before the performance and I managed to get one!

Hancock. Next up was the rerecording of two Hancock episodes.... One around a holiday and one around new years resolutions. There are actually four episodes that are being rerecorded the other two episodes are performed on alternate days. The performances were good particularly the actor playing Kenneth williams. Kevin McNally pulls off Tony Hancock well after the first set of rerecordings last year. The Sid James actor did not have too much to do.

Other Carry On related shows at the Fringe that I did not get the chance to see...

The Man Called Monkhouse - a Bob Monkhouse biopic

Don't tell him pike 2- a talk by Ian Lavender on his career

Nicholas Parsons Happy Hour

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and also Facebook

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Oh Hello! The Charles Hawtrey Story

A re-post of an earlier blog, but a reminder that the play Oh Hello! is still running at the Edinburgh Festival. I have a great review by one of my guest bloggers coming up soon so stay tuned for that!

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Welsh actor Jamie Rees is bringing his hit one man show to the Edinburgh Festival this August. Jamie plays Carry On legend Charles Hawtrey, bringing him back to life in the play Oh Hello!

The show charts Hawtrey's life from a leading light in British theatre, through the high points of his career in silent films and working with Will Hay. Of course the Carry Ons are a mainstay of the play and from the reviews I have read, Rees will bring to life some of Hawtrey's legendary spats with fellow actor Kenneth Williams.

The show is being taken to the Edinburgh Fringe by the Torch Theatre Company who have released the following information on the show:

Charles Hawtrey was one of the leading lights of the Carry On Film franchise and Oh Hello! is a one man show about Hawtrey’s life both on and off screen. Bubbly, energetic and extremely funny, Hawtrey was one of the best known comedy actors of the 40s, 50s and 60s but as his career waned, so his behaviour became more drunken, promiscuous and eccentric, losing him many friends.

In Oh Hello!, Pembrokeshire performer Jamie Rees (who is also The Torch Theatre’s Marketing Manager) plays the little man of the Carry Ons, regaling stories of 50 years in the film industry working with the likes of Alfred Hitchcock and starring in films including The Ghost of St Michael’s, Passport to Pimlico and many, many Carry On films. Hawtrey made over 100 film and TV performances in his career, a great many more than most of his Carry On film colleagues. This was a fact of which he obsessed and his status in the Carry Onfilms was a huge concern for him, which led him to eventually fall out with the Carry On producers and anyone associated with the franchise. But while his spats with Kenneth Williams are well known, his true nemesis in life was that of the bottle. Jamie comments:

“Hawtrey was a gay alcoholic through the 1950s, 60s and 70s. I cannot imagine how difficult it must have been for him. Homosexuality was actually against the law for much of his life so it must have been horribly difficult. There’s no doubting he could be a horrible man, especially when he was drunk, but when he was sober and on the top of his game he was funny, intelligent and a very good actor with an infectious personality. Oh Hello! is a classic roller-coaster story and one, I hope, that Edinburgh audiences will be able to identify with and enjoy.”

it certainly sounds like a show worth seeing! If anyone is lucky enough to get tickets and see the show this August, please do let me know! 

You can visit the Torch Theatre website here and you can follow Jamie on Twitter @JamRees 

Oh Hello! is on at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh from 7-31 August. 

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and also Facebook

Clicking on the adverts helps to keep this blog going.

Oh Hello! The story of Charles Hawtrey

Welsh actor Jamie Rees is bringing his hit one man show to the Edinburgh Festival this August. Jamie plays Carry On legend Charles Hawtrey, bringing him back to life in the play Oh Hello!

The show charts Hawtrey's life from a leading light in British theatre, through the high points of his career in silent films and working with Will Hay. Of course the Carry Ons are a mainstay of the play and from the reviews I have read, Rees will bring to life some of Hawtrey's legendary spats with fellow actor Kenneth Williams.

The show is being taken to the Edinburgh Fringe by the Torch Theatre Company who have released the following information on the show:

Charles Hawtrey was one of the leading lights of the Carry On Film franchise and Oh Hello! is a one man show about Hawtrey’s life both on and off screen. Bubbly, energetic and extremely funny, Hawtrey was one of the best known comedy actors of the 40s, 50s and 60s but as his career waned, so his behaviour became more drunken, promiscuous and eccentric, losing him many friends.

In Oh Hello!, Pembrokeshire performer Jamie Rees (who is also The Torch Theatre’s Marketing Manager) plays the little man of the Carry Ons, regaling stories of 50 years in the film industry working with the likes of Alfred Hitchcock and starring in films including The Ghost of St Michael’s, Passport to Pimlico and many, many Carry On films. Hawtrey made over 100 film and TV performances in his career, a great many more than most of his Carry On film colleagues. This was a fact of which he obsessed and his status in the Carry Onfilms was a huge concern for him, which led him to eventually fall out with the Carry On producers and anyone associated with the franchise. But while his spats with Kenneth Williams are well known, his true nemesis in life was that of the bottle. Jamie comments:

“Hawtrey was a gay alcoholic through the 1950s, 60s and 70s. I cannot imagine how difficult it must have been for him. Homosexuality was actually against the law for much of his life so it must have been horribly difficult. There’s no doubting he could be a horrible man, especially when he was drunk, but when he was sober and on the top of his game he was funny, intelligent and a very good actor with an infectious personality. Oh Hello! is a classic roller-coaster story and one, I hope, that Edinburgh audiences will be able to identify with and enjoy.”

it certainly sounds like a show worth seeing! If anyone is lucky enough to get tickets and see the show this August, please do let me know! 

You can visit the Torch Theatre website here and you can follow Jamie on Twitter @JamRees 

Oh Hello! is on at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh from 7-31 August. 

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and also Facebook

Clicking on the adverts helps to keep this blog going.