As football manager Mike Bassett, I am certain that he would be capable of bringing the World Cup back to Lancaster Gate. Certainly, he has had much more than his allotted 15 minutes of fame as he struts across the stage. For two simple reasons, I appreciate the effort that all artists make in order to just stand on the stage: - I have no talent.
- I haven't got the nerve to try and entertain over 500 people for two-hour stretches.
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Having enjoyed Tomlinson as Mike Bassett: England Manager, I was eagerly anticipating his appearance at the Playhouse on Tuesday 29 March, 2006. So too were another 500 theatre goers. Regrettably, the evening was a little disappointing. The show was hosted by football aficionado, Elton Welsby. His surgeon will be delighted to know that the charisma-removal operation was a fantastic success. I was expecting to be doubled up in hysterics, but this never came to pass. The first half of the show had some amusing anecdotes, but the second half was more akin to a communist convention, as we relived the imprisonment of the Shrewsbury Six ad nauseam. Ricky did make me chuckle with his tale about two women for every man in Weston-super-Mare. The old punch line confirmed that the only downside to it was the fact that it was the same two women. Tomlinson is proud, justifiably, of the fact that he has gone from rags to riches, courtesy of the great God - television. I felt it a shame that he spent the first half of the show still wearing his rags. My disappointment was obviously not shared by the rest of the audience, who clambered for signed copies of his autobiography after the show. Whilst people turn out in these huge numbers, particularly out of season, one can only applaud the judgment of the Playhouse management. | 
