Layton & Nikita

A great evening at The Bridgewater Hall watching Layton and Nikita.  Now, I realise this will mean nothing to many blippers, but those of you who are Strictly Fans will definitely be familiar with the runners-up from the last series. 

Any Strictly related show is likely to be a pretty noisy affair with lots of whoops and screams - certainly a long way from the polite applause witnessed yesterday in The Lowry. And of course, with Layton being a local lad, the noise is even louder. Not watching Big Brother, we hadn’t realised that Nikita has built up another fan base having been the runner-up in that too. And this isn’t the end of the ‘celebrity’ spotting as the excited buzz in the crowd below reveals Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola - the actual winners of the competition - are in the audience together, whether as ‘friends’ or more, we obviously don’t know! 

Poor Ellie and Vito are ambushed by selfie hunters in the interval as a theatre rep tries to organise an orderly queue. We, ever sophisticated, are eating our interval ice cream when we notice the crowd viewing from the balcony. I just have to join them and get a shot of my own - in extras. 

But, beyond all the celebrity watching there is excellent dancing from the stars and backing dancers, the live band are great as are the vocalists. There are  reprisals of the competition Charleston and Argentine Tango - both wonderful - and plenty more to keep the dance fans happy. It’s been a fantastic show.