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Hallo Roy - Not sure if you will ever read this but I used to sit right behind you in Block F at Crystal Palace Football Club when I lived in Coulsdon. You used to feed my daughter sweets etc on those occasions I took her with me. I now live in Devon so I cannot go these days - in any case I am 80 this year. I have written a book A BOY FROM NOWHERE and in it I describe the conditions of the poor in the late 1920s and 1930s in the East End Docklands. As a schoolboy I had 2 jobs. Firstly I sold papers outside the docks and also as spotlight boy at the old QUEENS THEATRE & MUSIC HALL, POPLAR. It was quite illegal, of course, I was only 13 - but I lied to Morrie Abrahams, the owner. In it I also describe the three occasions when I saw "the house brought down" at The Queens and I would like to tell you about those occasions and the stars involved. The Queens is long gone now but I am very sad indeed that there is no plaque or anything to tell people that here stood The Queens where many stars learned their trade and how to hold an audience in the palm of their hands. I witnessed it and I strongly believe that the quality of entertainers today is nowhere near what it was when the provincial theatres proved to be such a marvellous training ground. It was at places like The Queens that artists honed their skills and learned how to mesmerise an audience and so provided us with the stars of tomorrow. In my book I also describe Poplar High Street on Saturday nights. What a magical atmosphere it was when the queues began to form outside The (illuminated) Queens and the street artists perfomed for coppers. Some of them were good and should have been performing inside the theatre - not outside. Mine is a book of "rags to riches" and how, despite the handicaps I made a success of my life. I am in touch just now with Mathew Lloyd, grandson of that old artiste ARTHUR LLOYD who also appeared at The Queens - he wants to use some excerpts from my book for his website www.arthurlloyd.co.uk . I would be glad if you can contact me and I'll tell you all about the three occasions mentioned above which I shall never forget.
David Mitchell
