I was very honoured to be invited along to the ‘Little Big Theatre Workshop’ at Humphrey Park Community Centre in Urmston, for their ‘Drama Cups’ as one of the judges in what was a fantastic afternoon of socially distanced monologues from some absolutely amazing actors.

On the judging panel I joined the theatre’s tutors Susan McArdle (Hetty Feather, Coronation Street , Early Doors) and Will Travis (This Is England 86 and 88, Where The Heart Is, The 4 O’Clock Club) Hetty Feather’s Ava Merson-O’Brien was also on the panel along with talent agent Krysia Merson.

Alex MaCleod was the first actor to take to the stage and he gave two excellent monlogues, one from ‘The 39 Steps’ and another from ‘Frankenstein’ I was blown away by this young man’s acting and I am sure he has a bright future on the stage.

Chris Ryan also gave two brilliant monologues, ‘Haworth Parsonage Guide’ and ‘A Few Good Men’ both absolutely mesmerising performances.

Just when I thought that it couldn’t get any better Ruby Britton, Brandon Conway, Danny McElwee, Heidi Hughes-Hancock, Lee Fagan and Faith Brown all gave outstanding performances.

I was blown away by the amount of talent in the room.

Each member of this class, should they wish to do so, could have a career in the dramatic arts. They really are that good.

I love groups like this where individuals give their time to help others to express themselves through the arts.

The Little Big Theatre does just that and I applaud all they do.

I would like to thank Susan and Will for inviting me along to take part in what was a wonderful day.

I personally believe that I have witnessed some of the stars of the future at the group and I wish all the students the very best for their futures.

To finish this week I’d like to tell you about my new album which I have called ‘Looking Back’.

It is made up of eight songs from the Great American Songbook that are very special to me as they are the songs that first got me hooked on this genre of music.

I have also added my two singles to the mix to make an album that reflects my past musical experiences.

Each song has a personal story that goes with it; for example ‘Summer Wind’ is the first song I sang in Las Vegas at the Flamingo Casino for Wayne Newton and it reminds me of all the emotions and excitement I felt at that time.

‘Witchcraft’ was the first song I sang on the radio, it was for Phil Wood at the old BBC studios in Manchester.

I was supposed to sing ‘Summer Wind’ but they played the wrong track!

I hope you will have a listen to my album, which you can do for free by visiting www.waynedevlin.bandcamp.com/album/looking-back you can also download it, from the same link, for only £5 for the whole album or £1 per track.

See you next week!