Chance meetings

Belinda McGlynn and I were performing at Montefiore Homes in Hunters Hill yesterday, and were approached before the show by a lovely gentleman called John, who used to be a singer himself (light baritone). He asked about our repertoire, and saw we were doing a couple of Ivor Novello songs. Then, amazingly, he said, ‘Oh, I met Ivor several times when I was a singer. I sang in his shows. He was very tall, very dark, very handsome and very gay…’ I was completely blown away. How incredible, to be there, singing Ivor Novello songs to someone who knew him and sang his work when it was contemporary. After hearing that John has also been a solider in WWII, we quickly changed our program, adding ‘The White Cliffs of Dover’ and removing ‘O Sole Mio’.