Latest / The Discussion Podcast / The Lunch Discussion - Christmas Musical Spectacular — Star-Studded Nights coming to the AO Arena

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The Lunch Discussion - Christmas Musical Spectacular — Star-Studded Nights coming to the AO Arena · The Discussion Podcast

• 0:01
  This is the late late lunch show with rod maxwell supported by,
• 0:08
  childbirth learning in nature's playground so
• 0:13
  hi this is ken and i'm here in the uh print works
• 0:16
  in manchester at the view cinema and this is a launch
• 0:19
  for the christmas musical spectacular and
• 0:22
  i've got the man right behind it anthony prophet hi anthony
• 0:25
  thank you so much for being here ken uh part of
• 0:28
  a very special launch tonight tonight so we're delighted that you're here
• 0:31
  we have announced some massive names for manchester
• 0:34
  this christmas you certainly have massive and i took it
• 0:37
  as like how many have you got well the video doesn't stop
• 0:40
  does it just keeps going it's the gift that keeps on giving i mean it's just
• 0:42
  the talent is just immeasurable in this project and it and it's you know right
• 0:46
  the way up michael ball keala settle lauren elred ben foster who's over there
• 0:50
  getting his picture now kerry ellis hosted by ala jones we can't forget i mean
• 0:54
  mr christmas yeah you alice fern kelly Matheson who's here, Hugh Maynard who's here,
• 0:59
  and Isaac McCullough who people might know is the current musical director of
• 1:01
  Mary Poppins with Cameron McIntosh is here.
• 1:05
  It's Manchester too, it's the Manchester Camerata Orchestra,
• 1:08
  30-piece orchestra, the vocal ensemble, there's going to be about 40 of them
• 1:12
  in Cardwell Theatre School, which are based in Altrincham.
• 1:14
  Yeah, I know, these are all the people we know. I mean, it's just massive, right?
• 1:18
  That's right, now then, the dates are? The dates are the 22nd and 23rd of December.
• 1:23
  Two nights at the AO Arena Manchester. Now, this is a show for all the family.
• 1:27
  This bridges the gap between classical shows and theatre and panto.
• 1:32
  This is a one-stop shop for your new family tradition.
• 1:35
  It's going to be amazing. You're going to hear songs from musicals.
• 1:37
  You're going to hear songs about Christmas.
• 1:39
  You're going to see debut duets. You're going to feel real magic,
• 1:43
  and you're going to create some very special moments.
• 1:45
  So Christmas comes to Manchester. When do we get tickets?
• 1:48
  Right now, it's all about sign-ups. So hit the website, sign up,
• 1:52
  tickets go on sale next Thursday. And the website is?
• 1:56
  Christmasmusicalspectacular.co.uk Anything smaller? I know, yeah.
• 2:00
  Or just go on the socials, Christmas Musical Spectacular. Right.
• 2:03
  But you can get there through the AO Arena websites, you can get there through Forever Manchester.
• 2:07
  And if you just search for it now, you'll find it. Okay, and a bit of background, if you don't mind.
• 2:11
  So when did you develop this? We've been on this project for almost one year.
• 2:15
  To develop an arena-sized show is no mean feat. It's amazing to pull these artists
• 2:20
  together. It's enormous.
• 2:22
  So, yeah, it's been a real love project for a long time, and we're so glad to
• 2:26
  finally get it out in the open. I think you've kept me on hooks all the time.
• 2:30
  You even said, you want somebody in from New York, and I was thinking,
• 2:33
  who is it? Yeah, well, that's Lauren Allred, you know, so Lauren's flying in
• 2:37
  for Christmas. Brilliant, okay.
• 2:39
  And can I say thank you to you and Ed for putting all this together,
• 2:42
  and I hope we've managed to support you.
• 2:44
  You're a star, Ken, and I'm sorry I've not been able to see as much of you as
• 2:46
  I'd like, but thank you so much. We're around.
• 2:49
  You're listening to The Late Late Lunch Show. Back to the Garden Childcare,
• 2:53
  where little explorers grow naturally.
• 2:56
  So down here at the launch of Christmas Music Spectacular, which will be happening
• 3:01
  in the AO Arena in Manchester in 22nd, 23rd of December.
• 3:04
  Delighted to be speaking with the man who's the conductor of music,
• 3:09
  the musical director, I guess, is Isaac McCullough. Isaac, my first question
• 3:14
  is, Christmas music is so broad.
• 3:18
  How do you decide what you're going to put in and leave out?
• 3:22
  Yeah, it's a pretty big task. We've been very fortunate to be able to book some
• 3:26
  incredible artists as part of our lineup in the cast here.
• 3:29
  So one of the hardest things for Edward, the creative director and myself,
• 3:33
  was to work out what we're going to put in the programme.
• 3:36
  So many of these people in the show have done so many incredible,
• 3:40
  huge productions worldwide. So we've had to be a little bit careful with what
• 3:44
  we put in and sometimes we've had to leave some things out.
• 3:47
  But, no, the responsibility is great.
• 3:50
  It's a big one to be in charge of the music, of the music.
• 3:55
  And when you think of Christmas, have you got a go-to piece of music that for you just defines it?
• 4:03
  I love O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, which is more of a classical hymn, I guess.
• 4:10
  Yes, it's really one of my favorites. I did a show once called Thirds Through
• 4:13
  Christmas Spectacular, which is a really great Christmas show in Norfolk.
• 4:16
  And that's dripping in Christmas numbers. And it was in the show that I did that year.
• 4:22
  It's remained with me ever since then. You can hear the choir in the background as we're speaking.
• 4:27
  It's very atmospheric. And you're going to be conducting the Camerata.
• 4:33
  The Manchester Camerata, yeah. We've got a 30-piece orchestra made up of the
• 4:37
  brilliant players of the Manchester Camerata, one of the best orchestras in the world.
• 4:41
  And they're a really great ensemble for this because they don't just do classical music.
• 4:45
  They do all types of music, from club music. They'll be part of an Ibiza Classics
• 4:51
  concert, to musical theater, to jazz, to Mozart symphonies, to opera.
• 4:57
  They're a really great bunch to get involved with, and I'm really excited to
• 5:00
  work with them. Well, we look forward to seeing you and hearing you at Christmas.
• 5:04
  You too. We look forward to welcoming you there.
• 5:07
  This is The Late Late Lunch Show with Rod Maxwell on Radio Alty.
• 5:14
  So here we go. It's Ken here and the Christmas Spectacular and I'm with Hugh Maynard.
• 5:19
  Hello, Ken. How are you doing? I'm absolutely fine. Now, you're one of the stars,
• 5:22
  aren't you? I'm one of the Twinkles. I certainly am, yes.
• 5:24
  The Twinkles. I like it. I like it. Now that you've got a back history of musicals,
• 5:28
  haven't you? Oh my gosh. I've been so, so fortunate in my life.
• 5:31
  You know, starting with the Juicers Crisis star, with Lloyd Webber,
• 5:35
  The Lion King, Sister Act with Whoopi Goldberg.
• 5:39
  The list goes on and on and on, yes. So where did you get it all from? I don't truly know.
• 5:44
  I was raised in care, but I was very fortunate to have a wonderful friend,
• 5:49
  Megan Rees, and she kept telling me to audition for drama schools. Oh, wow.
• 5:54
  I was studying at Bath University at the time, but as the years went on,
• 5:59
  the Latin was far too much for me. Sure.
• 6:02
  I went to London, I auditioned, and not only did I get into a drama school,
• 6:05
  I got in with a full two-year scholarship.
• 6:08
  Oh, wow. So I guess there was something there that I didn't even know about
• 6:12
  myself. You had obviously hidden talents.
• 6:14
  I think so, I think so. Now they're brought up in Birmingham. No accent though.
• 6:18
  No, I'm sorry. No, no. Not even Douglas Lyle? Not Douglas Lyle.
• 6:22
  Soliol. No, no. You can don't do that. And you moved off to Devon,
• 6:25
  I believe. I moved down to Devon.
• 6:28
  With my foster family, I saw the moors and the sea for the first time.
• 6:33
  My eyes were open. Yeah. Oh, my goodness. Another world.
• 6:36
  You can imagine an eight-year-old child being on his grandfather's fishing boat,
• 6:40
  fishing for mackerel, seeing ponies on Dartmoor.
• 6:44
  Brilliant. Astounding. Truly astounding, you know.
• 6:47
  And that's where I feel my life began, you know. Yeah, it sounds really good background there.
• 6:52
  And you moved off to London, did you then? I moved off to London.
• 6:54
  For fame? I guess, well, for drama school. Right.
• 6:58
  And it wasn't until the third year at drama school when, well,
• 7:03
  I was in my second year, sorry.
• 7:04
  But a third year who was in a play had lost his voice.
• 7:07
  So they were scouting around the drama school to find someone who could take
• 7:12
  that third year's place.
• 7:14
  The production they were doing at the time was Fiddler on the Roof. Oh, wow.
• 7:17
  And so I had a great friend, David Renstrom, a Russian chap,
• 7:21
  who taught me my lines in the correct language. Yeah.
• 7:24
  And I did my audition. I got the role. and I was the only person in that particular
• 7:29
  year that was asked to do or asked to leave the college early to be in a Western production.
• 7:35
  So did Andrew Lloyd Webber come knocking on your door? He certainly did come
• 7:38
  knocking on my door. What a name, eh?
• 7:40
  What a name. So how did it go? Hi, Andrew or hi, Sir?
• 7:44
  Gosh, hi, Sir Andrew. Yeah. And yes, yes, yes, yes, yeah.
• 7:48
  It's more than a ball. Of course. I played Simon Zealots,
• 7:53
  understudied Judas and at the Lyceum, than on the the the uk tour so it's wonderful
• 7:59
  that's how i am now back in manchester yeah um i did the uk tour in manchester back in the day.
• 8:07
  1990 something sorry sorry that's all
• 8:10
  right yeah okay and yeah it was my first
• 8:13
  time at the back in the day in manchester first
• 8:16
  time traveling really and it was just wonderful yeah
• 8:19
  people were so so oh people are so so friendly
• 8:22
  that's great you know now what brought you to this spectacular did
• 8:25
  you get a phone call from ed or well i have a very good
• 8:28
  uh manager and he called
• 8:31
  me up and said i'm interested in x y and z and i
• 8:34
  said oh what's that about had a quick uh quick look at the
• 8:36
  email and i said yes straight away the same day the
• 8:39
  email came through i said yes straight away yeah it hooked you oh
• 8:42
  my goodness yeah okay so what part are you playing do you
• 8:45
  know what you're doing are we i'm not allowed yet oh one
• 8:48
  of those yeah one of those it'll be singing anyway it'll be singing you got
• 8:51
  that in uh there'll be some saigon but other than that i'm not allowed to uh
• 8:55
  well that's your fame claim to fame this saigon truly truly yes yes as well
• 8:59
  as jesus christ superstar yes yes you've been around if i've been around and
• 9:03
  back again yes okay so So what are you looking forward to for doing this in Manchester?
• 9:08
  Gosh, well, first of all, I'm looking forward to hearing and seeing everyone
• 9:12
  and the joy on people's faces when music enters their hearts.
• 9:16
  Yeah. That goes from the orchestra.
• 9:19
  To people backstage, people that aren't even on stage performing,
• 9:22
  you know, light, sound, different engineers, you know.
• 9:25
  They're all affected by music, you know. Then I'll get to see my colleagues on stage.
• 9:31
  And then, obviously, I'll get to see the audience's face light up, hopefully.
• 9:36
  Well, this is good because this is the AO arena. This is pretty big,
• 9:39
  isn't it? Oh, my goodness. We went there earlier on today.
• 9:42
  It is massive. And I was thinking about seeing the audience's faces.
• 9:45
  I may have to bring on stage my own torch. Bignoculars, I would say.
• 9:50
  What do you reckon it says several thousands isn't it many thousands
• 9:53
  i yet don't know the capacity right that's something i need to
• 9:56
  get a hold of yeah in my little noggin and is this the biggest you've played
• 9:59
  it is so far wow so it's good for you they're bringing people from america i've
• 10:03
  seen that and uh ben who we just spoke spoken to as well looking forward to
• 10:06
  meeting up with them as well it will be amazing you know because we're all one
• 10:12
  big musical theater family Yeah,
• 10:14
  and you get around, don't you? Oh, yes, we do.
• 10:16
  Okay, well, look forward to seeing you, and thank you for your interview.
• 10:20
  Pleasure, Ken, thank you. All right, thank you.
• 11:07
  So I'm here with Kelly Matheson, who'll be performing at the Christmas Musical
• 11:11
  Spectacular on the 22nd, 23rd of December. Now you're a Glaswegian.
• 11:15
  I am very much so. Welcome to Manchester.
• 11:17
  Thank you so much. I'm so happy to be here. Now can I ask you,
• 11:20
  what does Christmas mean to you musically?
• 11:23
  Oh, Christmas means everything to me musically. I think, you know,
• 11:27
  I grew up in the West Coast of Scotland singing a lot of the Christmas songs,
• 11:31
  whether it was in church or at school.
• 11:33
  And I think Christmas songs just bring me so much joy. I absolutely adore Christmas.
• 11:40
  I just feel like musically, it brings people together.
• 11:43
  It's songs that you remember from your childhood or that your parents introduced you to.
• 11:49
  I'm never into the new Christmas songs. I'm always into the much older ones.
• 11:54
  The classics. The classics.
• 11:56
  Every Christmas on the, I'm very sad, on the first of December, I decide what the.
• 12:02
  Christmas song is that I'm going to listen to on the first of December.
• 12:06
  It's normally fairy tale of New York all the time.
• 12:09
  But yeah, I mean, singing Christmas music and musicals in general,
• 12:13
  I just think brings people together. It's such a special time of the year.
• 12:16
  So this is a very, it's a big event.
• 12:18
  And it's going to be star studded. I mean, there's some fantastic art.
• 12:22
  What are you going to bring to it? What are you hoping to be performing?
• 12:26
  Or what have you got in your mind?
• 12:27
  Well, right now, I know I'm going to be singing something I'm very well known
• 12:31
  for, which may be the musical Phantom of the Opera.
• 12:35
  And apart from that, it's going to be very classical musicals and Christmas songs.
• 12:40
  I'm right now, I'm much not aware of what I'm singing just yet.
• 12:43
  So surprise to me as well.
• 12:45
  But I'm very much looking forward to discovering what I'm going to be singing.
• 12:49
  I mean, I'm singing alongside some of my friends that are also my idols and
• 12:53
  people that I admire so much,
• 12:55
  you know, no matter how high you get
• 12:58
  up in your career there's there's nothing wrong with admiring
• 13:02
  people and idolizing them still even if within
• 13:05
  the same level it's incredible and were you in the ao today at all yes i went
• 13:09
  to see the ao today and i used some very polite language as i as i walked into
• 13:15
  the arena um i couldn't believe the size of it this is this is i think going
• 13:19
  to be the one of the biggest venues i've sung in within a concert.
• 13:24
  And yeah, I'm very, very excited about doing it. Well, I think the lovely thing
• 13:28
  about Christmas is that people are generally in a good mood anyway.
• 13:31
  Your job is just to take them to the next level. But they're almost there really,
• 13:35
  aren't they? Well, yeah, the concert is so close to Christmas.
• 13:38
  You know, one or two days before Christmas Eve where we're at our jolliest.
• 13:43
  And I think that Christmas music just brings a whole other level to it.
• 13:48
  So I think this concert is just going to bring a whole other level of togetherness
• 13:52
  and Christmas spirit. and just, you know, hopefully bring people some joy.
• 13:58
  I know I understand Christmas can sometimes be a hard time for people.
• 14:01
  Sometimes it's also for me. As I've got older and I've lost people and I'm losing
• 14:07
  people, I think Christmas really just brings a little sparkle no matter how
• 14:11
  you celebrate it, whether it's religiously or just within a kind of enjoyment.
• 14:16
  I think it's a very special time and music brings people together regardless.
• 14:20
  And as you get older, It is about the togetherness, isn't it? Absolutely.
• 14:24
  I will forever say, you know, if I get offered contracts over Christmas,
• 14:28
  I say no on Christmas Day.
• 14:31
  I will never leave my family around that time.
• 14:34
  It's too important to me, yeah, to be surrounded by the best people. Welcome to Manchester.
• 14:39
  Thank you so much. We look forward to hearing from you at the Christmas Spectacular.
• 14:42
  Thank you. I'm very excited to be there. Thank you.
• 14:45
  Hi, this is Ken, and here we are at the Christmas Musical Spectacular launch.
• 14:49
  This is going to be held at the AO Arena in Manchester, 22 and 23 December.
• 14:53
  And one of the stars is Ben Foster. Oh, hello there.
• 14:57
  It's very nice to hear you chatting to you, Ken. Yes, so I'm one of the singers,
• 15:00
  and, you know, I've also played the AO Arena before, many years ago.
• 15:04
  Oh, you have? Jesus Christ Superstar, yeah.
• 15:06
  I was lucky enough to play at Jesus there for a couple of years, running.
• 15:09
  So, you know, I love Manchester. I love this arena.
• 15:13
  I love the place. I also played Elf in Manchester back in 2017.
• 15:19
  I heard. Yeah, which was, I loved. So, you know, you can't go anywhere in the
• 15:22
  world and get an audience quite like the one in Manchester, I've got to say.
• 15:26
  Well said. You're always the best audiences. So I know that this show is going to feel magical.
• 15:31
  I know you're going to get in the Christmas spirit. I know it's going to feel electric.
• 15:34
  I know it's going to be a night to remember. So, yeah, I'm really,
• 15:37
  really excited for her. Do you know what you're going to be singing?
• 15:39
  I'm definitely going to give you a little bit of Phantom. Right.
• 15:43
  I'm definitely going to be giving you a little bit of Jesus. Yeah.
• 15:45
  Definitely going to be giving you a little bit of Christmas.
• 15:47
  Of course. So, yeah, I think there's a lot of good stuff in there.
• 15:50
  Can we get some vowels down here? Oh, no, you'll have to wait. Buy a ticket.
• 15:56
  Now then, I'm going to say to you, Stotty Cake. Oh, I love a Stotty Cake. Yeah. Oh, God.
• 16:00
  There's nothing really much better in life than a Stotty Cake with a bit of
• 16:03
  Lurpak. Oh, is that right? Is that how it works? So, which part of the northeast are you from?
• 16:07
  Sunderland, originally. Oh, okay, because we can't say the N-word, can we?
• 16:10
  Well, you can to me. you know i i love newcastle i
• 16:14
  love everyone that's local i love i love all the north actually
• 16:17
  i love all the uk let's not be honest but um you know
• 16:20
  i do love it up north i live back up north now again in cumbria and the north
• 16:24
  feels like home northern people feel like my people so yeah being in manchester
• 16:29
  for this is is great can i say welcome back to manchester thank you and i think
• 16:33
  we're all looking forward to seeing you on the spectacular christmas thank you
• 16:37
  very much ken nice to meet you see you later.
• 16:41
  This is The Late Late Lunch Show with Rod Maxwell on Radio Alt-T.
• 16:47
  So speaking with Will Hearn, who as production director, you've got quite a
• 16:52
  big job on your hands pulling this off. It's definitely a task.
• 16:57
  So, I mean, the stage is big, the arena is big, there's multiple different stars,
• 17:04
  there's multiple different musical combinations, etc.
• 17:07
  Etc and i guess your job is to make
• 17:10
  all that happen on the night get everyone there make
• 17:13
  sure it works make sure lights are in the
• 17:16
  roof pa's in the air and that it happens and that's kind of done with a team
• 17:22
  of 120 people around me that support those artists support the orchestra support
• 17:28
  the choir and make sure that 13 000 people every night have the best experience ever Now,
• 17:34
  you've got some form on this because you're involved in the Britfest.
• 17:38
  That's multi-stage, so you've got one big main stage.
• 17:42
  Can I ask, where do you learn this stuff? Is it basically on the job,
• 17:46
  if you like? You fall into it.
• 17:48
  So I was a sound engineer for the best part of 10 years.
• 17:53
  And then I had to choose a path to go down, and I had some very influential
• 17:57
  other great production directors pull me into production,
• 18:01
  and they said, we'll show you how it works
• 18:04
  leave audio behind and i
• 18:07
  did that and that like the first gig that i did as a production
• 18:10
  manager was the brit fest when i started with
• 18:13
  the lads when it when it became it was an idea and we made it a reality and
• 18:17
  a lot of learning on the job and just making the right decision and being nice
• 18:23
  being personable and objective but so many facets of of pulling off something
• 18:28
  like the breakfast or this Christmas spectacular, because you've got the sound,
• 18:33
  you've got the lights, you've got the video and that's just for starters.
• 18:36
  You know, you've got people, meet people moving on and off stage.
• 18:39
  You've got to think about all those logistics and get it right.
• 18:43
  How long do you get in the AO to set up? So the AO will be in there at six o'clock
• 18:49
  in the morning on the 22nd of December.
• 18:51
  Setting up? Setting up, getting the rigging in. And again, I have an amazing
• 18:56
  team of people that work alongside me.
• 18:59
  They don't work for me. They work with me and they're amazing.
• 19:02
  So they come in six o'clock in the morning, 12 trucks on the dock.
• 19:07
  We get local crew involved. You know, we have probably 100 people that make
• 19:12
  up the local crew from the local venue.
• 19:14
  We have 100 people of our own.
• 19:16
  And they get that show and they get it up and running, ready for a band to walk
• 19:20
  on stage, the orchestra to be ready, all for people sat in their seats at half six in the evening.
• 19:26
  I mean, it's just, how big is the spreadsheet that you use to plan this thing? Quite big.
• 19:32
  I can imagine. Very big. But what's the buzz you get out of it?
• 19:36
  I just love it. I love working with the guys. I think that's the main thing.
• 19:39
  Me, Ed, Anthony, you know, there's a few other people behind the scenes,
• 19:43
  but we work really well together.
• 19:46
  I love, I just love being to be able to connect.
• 19:50
  People that are working on my side of the
• 19:53
  industry technicians and also respect
• 19:56
  their practice and what they do and give
• 19:59
  them a platform to do it really well and if
• 20:02
  i can do that by making sure everything just runs smoothly with
• 20:05
  their help and building great relationships for
• 20:09
  me that's enough i don't want glory from it
• 20:12
  or anything i'm i'm not but you'll see like when
• 20:15
  i stood up there tonight i'm like a two second guy yeah
• 20:18
  here's the here's the gig done i'm very short and
• 20:21
  sweet but behind the closed doors you'll see
• 20:24
  me i'll be on hour-long phone calls with like our
• 20:27
  front of house engineers our suppliers managing those relationships and i think
• 20:32
  that's really what i love but it's something in the uk that actually we're really
• 20:36
  quite good at aren't we we are leaders of production in the uk yeah i work a
• 20:41
  lot and have worked a lot in you know many other markets,
• 20:46
  Europe, the Middle East, Australia.
• 20:49
  And there's a reason that you'll find a British production team leading those
• 20:55
  events is that, but we have access to so many amazing things here.
• 21:00
  And that is the whole reason that we're sort of industry leaders from a production
• 21:04
  perspective is that we have the ground and places like the AO that let us test these things out.
• 21:10
  That is the only reason that we're great at it. and it's but there's a you know
• 21:13
  amazing other people coming up like,
• 21:16
  other projects but i do a lot of the work in saudi we've
• 21:20
  trained up the local workforce there and now
• 21:22
  you've got amazing production managers coming out of saudi arabia who
• 21:25
  are taking it with that uk initiative they've seen the the brits come in and
• 21:30
  do it and the americans come in and do it and yeah it's a good like we help
• 21:35
  set a pretty good base of what is acceptable so when does the The planning starter has already started.
• 21:43
  January 1st, 2026 is when this started.
• 21:47
  Yeah, the benefit with the guy, we get on things early.
• 21:51
  We know it pays to do good prep, good planning for a successful show.
• 21:57
  The guys respect that. We get involved on everything very early on.
• 22:01
  And it really helps build the success of a show like this. Well,
• 22:05
  Will, I might see you in the field of Britfest, but very best of luck.
• 22:08
  Thanks for your time. Thank you very much.
• 22:10
  So down here at the Christmas Musical Spectacular, which is happening,
• 22:14
  the launch is happening in May, but we're actually all feeling quite Christmassy.
• 22:17
  I'm talking to two guys from Forever Manchester.
• 22:20
  It is Anne-Marie and Chill. Now, you guys are the designated charity for this event.
• 22:26
  And I personally know a lot of the work that you do because we've been very
• 22:29
  lucky to be working with you and actually had money from you that's helped us
• 22:33
  to put something back in the community.
• 22:35
  But what does it mean for Forever Manchester to be involved in something like this?
• 22:40
  It's a really great opportunity. And we're so grateful to Ed and Anthony for
• 22:44
  choosing Forever Manchester. And it's come off the back of a long-term partnership
• 22:47
  that we have with the AO Arena as well.
• 22:49
  And I think for me, Forever Manchester is about making people happy,
• 22:53
  giving people in Greater Manchester the opportunity to have a smile on their
• 22:56
  face through lots and lots of really small acts. So we support grassroots communities.
• 23:00
  And there's 20,000 grassroots communities all the time acting across Greater
• 23:04
  Manchester. And we help them with small amounts of funding to help them do what
• 23:08
  they know is great within their area.
• 23:10
  So this event is going to put a smile on so many faces of people in the arena.
• 23:15
  But then when they leave the arena and the money comes to Forever Manchester
• 23:18
  and we'll redistribute that.
• 23:19
  And that will put the smiles on the faces of many, many people in local communities.
• 23:23
  And legacy is a word that's often used. But even something as simple as coming
• 23:28
  to this, you're leaving a bit of a legacy because you're giving something.
• 23:32
  You're forwarding on a gift, if you like. Is that what's part of what you're up to?
• 23:36
  Absolutely. So the money raised at the event will then go into Greater Manchester
• 23:39
  and make a difference to the people in Greater Manchester.
• 23:42
  So we've had a great night. I mean, some people have a great year.
• 23:44
  It might be as simple as turning the lights on at the local community centre.
• 23:48
  It might be as much as having something to do on a Tuesday so you're not feeling
• 23:51
  lonely and have no purpose to wake up.
• 23:53
  I was chatting to a lady recently and she'd unfortunately been to a funeral
• 23:57
  and she didn't want to go home. And the person sitting next to her said,
• 24:00
  come with me to Nittanata.
• 24:01
  Now, to you and me, that might sound like, oh, just go along to Nittanata.
• 24:04
  But actually what that meant is that she didn't go home to a lonely house and
• 24:07
  she didn't go home and feel sad. She made friends and now she's doing lots of
• 24:11
  that activity and just a sense of purpose.
• 24:12
  And that's something I like about what you guys do. Sometimes charity can be
• 24:16
  about big things, but sometimes it can be as much as having a natter with somebody
• 24:21
  and making them feel like somebody actually cares about them.
• 24:24
  That's it. I mean, the grants that we provide can be as little as £200.
• 24:29
  At Christmas, we usually give out small awards of £200 so that individuals and
• 24:35
  communities can just get together and celebrate with each other.
• 24:39
  We give out grants up to, the most we've ever given out is £5,000.
• 24:43
  But some groups, all they want is, as Anne-Marie was saying,
• 24:47
  some money so they can hire a room or some money so they can buy paint materials.
• 24:53
  Easels, so they can do some painting, some money just so that older people can
• 24:58
  come together and have lunch and a cup of tea.
• 25:00
  That's what we're, we're small to the smaller communities so that they can do
• 25:05
  what they love doing in their communities.
• 25:08
  So Anne-Marie, when people come to this and it'll be a wonderful occasion,
• 25:11
  it'll be international, star studded,
• 25:13
  they can be reassured that there's money going towards local charities through
• 25:18
  Forever Manchester, going to people at a time when we all feel a little bit more charitable.
• 25:24
  We feel it, don't we? We do, absolutely. At Christmas it's a time of giving.
• 25:27
  And by coming to this event you'll have a wonderful time but you're also giving
• 25:30
  back, giving back to people in Manchester who need a little bit of a hands up
• 25:33
  to make their day a little bit better and put a smile on their face.
• 25:36
  Wonderful. Thank you, guys.
• 26:22
  You're listening to The Late Late Lunch Show. Back to the Garden Childcare,
• 26:27
  where little explorers grow naturally.
• 26:30
  So here at the launch of the Christmas Spectacular, I've bumped into a very
• 26:34
  familiar face to many people. It's the doctor from Dr. Nomenix. How are you?
• 26:38
  Especially to people from Radio Alty. Although I used to get it wrong.
• 26:41
  It is Alty, isn't it? It is. It is Alty. I used to call it Alty.
• 26:45
  I've been told off many, many times. Yeah, no, yeah.
• 26:48
  And what a wonderful event. What a wonderful event. Well, you're no stranger to performance.
• 26:55
  This looks like it's going to be quite an event, doesn't it?
• 26:58
  Well, I've got to tell you, when I was here, people saw me and said,
• 27:01
  you're at the wrong event, aren't you? And I said, no, not at all.
• 27:05
  Edward and Anthony, they don't do things by halves.
• 27:08
  And the thing I really like, it's live performance. And I don't care if it's
• 27:11
  a bloke down the pub playing the accordion.
• 27:14
  I don't care if it's a busker. I don't care if it's the biggest big.
• 27:17
  I think every live performance is worthy. And when I saw what they've done, I just thought, wow.
• 27:23
  I mean, a 30-piece orchestra, that's taking on a big, big thing.
• 27:27
  And the production looks special.
• 27:30
  So I'm just thinking like, wow, they've done it again.
• 27:34
  And I think I'm just, everyone who doesn't know what it is, check it out.
• 27:39
  And if you want a feel-good night, this is the one to come to.
• 27:43
  Now, let's talk about Christmas, because my memory's terrible,
• 27:45
  but I don't think you've ever had a Christmas hit, or have you?
• 27:48
  No, we never did. We never did. We put out a few things at Christmas,
• 27:52
  but no, we've never had a hit.
• 27:54
  But, you know, actually, Ed did say to me, he said, Spirit in the Sky,
• 27:59
  is that a Christmas song?
• 28:00
  I said, some people think it is, yeah.
• 28:04
  Well, you write a good song for Christmas. It's the gift that keeps on giving, isn't it?
• 28:09
  It is, it is. Well, I was very good friends with Roy Wood for many years.
• 28:13
  And he said, the worst thing is people think every Christmas I make loans are money.
• 28:19
  He said, but I don't, because they don't release it anymore.
• 28:22
  So poor guy, you know, yeah. But there we are. I love Roy to bits.
• 28:27
  You're going to be back in the summer for the Brit Fest. And of course,
• 28:29
  it's getting bigger and bigger every year.
• 28:31
  It's a lovely festival, isn't it? We certainly are, and I'm going to be there
• 28:36
  every day myself. The band's going to be playing one of the days.
• 28:39
  It's a great festival, but there's certain events, certain festivals that you
• 28:44
  play in your career that you suddenly realize have that little bit extra.
• 28:50
  That little bit, whether it's the combination between the crowd and the event
• 28:56
  and the bands, I don't know what it is, but there's an energy there that's quite
• 29:01
  supreme and it is quite wonderful, yeah.
• 29:04
  So absolutely looking forward to it. I'm going to ask you one last thing, right?
• 29:08
  Is there one Christmas song that you would cover or remind you of Christmas as your go-to song?
• 29:14
  There is one and we did cover it and it is available.
• 29:17
  I think someone put it on Spotify and we did a live version of it,
• 29:23
  which is Merry Christmas by Slade.
• 29:25
  We used to do it, which I think for a man with my voice, trying to sing Merry
• 29:29
  Christmas by Noddy Holder was very brave.
• 29:32
  It's up to everyone if they want to hear it, whether they think it worked or not.
• 29:36
  But it was, yeah, the only Christmas song we ever played live was Merry Christmas by Slade.
• 29:41
  Well, Doctor, we'll see you in the fields in July. Looking forward to it.
• 29:46
  This is the Late Late Lunch Show. Back to the Garden Childcare,
• 29:51
  where little explorers grow naturally.
• 29:58
  Bye.