“There are bad times just around the corner” – Simon’s Theatreland Virtual Tour

Recognise that famous line from the Noel Coward song?

Anyway, so looking forward to this. It’s that buzz, the delicious sense of anticipation shortly before the curtain goes up on a show.

I’m talking about Simon’s Theatreland Virtual Tour, which is about to debut.

Appropriately enough – let alone happily, wondrously, joyfully – Simon tells us in this little trailer of a podcast that, a day or two ago, when he was out in Theatreland, researching, plotting, planning he saw posters going up for a play that is going to be opening in December 2020 at the Noel Coward Theatre! And the play is called – love this – The Comeback.

Anyway, have a listen. It’ll whet your appetite for both the Theatreland Virtual Tour and for the resurrection of theatregoing. And both the tour – and, yes, the podcast – will bring back wonderful memories of great old theatres you’ve been to and of great moments you’ve had in the theatre. And will get you looking ahead, eagerly anticipating show-time, show-going – the return, the comeback – surely not too far in the future – of London’s incomparably wonderful theatre scene.

Simon of course is one of the brightest stars in the London Walks constellation. And given that he’s a reformed actor (let alone the world’s greatest theatre aficionado) – well, Simon “guiding” a Theatreland Virtual Tour is a marriage made in heaven. It’s his love and enthusiasm for the theatre brought to bear on all kinds of choice nuggets of London theatre information and lore, everything from great theatres and great theatre figures (of course) to hard fact – “there are 39 West End commercial theatres in a tiny concentrated area, you can walk to all of them in 20 minutes” – to green room, backstage, and stage door gossip.”