Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

At 7:45 pm on the 19^th October 2017 the performance will take place at
St Bartholomew’s Hospital in what is ‘the jewel in the crown’ of the Grade 1 listed North Wing of the hospital complex, the Great Hall. Built between 1732 and 1769, it is approached by way of a grand staircase, the walls of which are decorated by William Hogarth (1697-1764).

It was after being diagnosed with prostate cancer and successfully treated, while talking with Barts staff I identified the need for urgently required equipment in the Radiotherapy Department. More importantly, an extra bladder scanner, which would make the Radiotherapy process run more smoothly for cancer patients and staff alike. If you have ever had to hold a full to bursting bladder because treatment could not commence due to the bladder scanner already being in use, you will understand the need!

I decided to put my years of professional experience as a performer in Musical Theatre to good use and give a series of fund raising performances in aid of the department.

My show, Occasionally On My Back, is a light hearted and candid look at ‘Show Business’. Using song, archive photos, video, I will rummage around my 60 years in theatre and television, revealing why I have indeed been, Occasionally On My Back!

Tickets for this performance at Barts Great Hall, are price £20, all of which goes to Barts Charity, and should be purchased through my JustGiving page. To maximise your donations, no physical tickets will be issued.

Once your donation has gone through, and you plan to attend the performance, just tick the box alongside ‘I’m happy to be contacted by….’ You will then be sent directions to the Great Hall.

To be warmly welcomed into the spectacular Great Hall by some of Barts Radiotherapy Staff on the evening of October 19^th, just bring along
your donation receipt. Doors open at 7 pm, and the show starts at 7:45.

Should you prefer not to donate on-line through the JustGiving page, tickets will be available on the door – cash only.

And of course if you wish to donate more than the £20 ticket price please do so – it all helps a good cause. Let us work together to provide St Bartholomew’s Hospital Radiotherapy Department with another bladder scanner, and help ease the discomfort for cancer patients caused by having to wait for treatment because a scanner is not available.

For those unable to attend, donations towards my goal of £8,000 may also be made through this page.

There will be a ‘cash only’ wine bar before the show, in the interval, and after the show. A proportion of these proceeds (12.5%) are also going to Barts Charity.

For those of you who maybe do not know me, my 60 year career has encompassed work as a dancer, actor, singer, director, choreographer, designer, and, as a writer, being short-listed for The Society For Theatre Research, Theatre Book Prize for my biography of the great Music Hall Lion Comique, George Leybourne, The Heaviest of Swells.

I gave my first public performance in 1953 at the tender age of 10, and made my first television appearance in 1958, on the equivalent of Britain’s Got Talent. I began my professional theatre career in earnest in 1959 - as the back end of a cow.

 In 2011 and 2013 my critically acclaimed one man show Champagne Charlie sold out London’s historic Wiltons Music Hall, and was also live streamed around the world. I have appeared in many classic TV series, including The Six Wives of Henry VII, Pennies from Heaven, etc. I have been interviewed about my knowledge of Music Hall history for radio and major BBC TV and ITV documentaries.

I have also played leading roles in some of the West End's most successful shows, including: Cats, A Little Night Music, Cole, The Card, Gone With The Wind, and worked with some of the biggest names in show business.

‘An impressive gallery of characters’ The Guardian reviewing ‘Champagne Charlie’ 

‘…a tour de force of talent and entertainment…’Eastbourne Herald reviewing ‘Champagne Charlie’

If a new bladder scanner has already been acquired, your donations, after consultation with myself, will be used in another, equally harmonious way for the Radiotherapy Department at Barts.

Thank you for reading all of this, I hope it will inspire you to donate to this cause, or better still, donate and also come to my event!

Chris B.