Baytree

Still listening to it and rarely skip a track or shuffle them. Do you remember the TCM documentary The Making of Gone With The Wind the musical which they showed just before it opened? It's just been reposted on YouTube. It was nice to see all the cast and crew again.

The fair pictures came so unexpectedly and left me with mixed emotions. It was comforting to see Darius looking well and happy and apparently in a group, not just with Gerard. Seeing him with the fan) brought back memories of Darius's neverending patience, warmth,and sheer radiance with everyone. You always found him the same no matter how big a crowd. He wouldn't let anyone down. Then I remembered he'd gone and grief came rushing back. I hadn't expected to feel so bereft again. I thought I'd rationalised it all and come to terms with his sudden death. I guess the sadness will come back in waves.

Got it wrong. FHTE is not yet back where it belongs. Apparently it's in Charing Cross theatre and that's off West End. Warden doesn't sing Marking Time any more. He now sings At Ease. I think Darius also sang it in the very early previews of the original West End shows.

Thanks, Polly. I saw the trailer for the revival of the show online. It looks to me much more in the traditional musical vein than the original West End show which stuck to the tone and spirit of Jones's book. It was all about authenticity. They got a director of serious drama. The show depicted the bleakness of the era, the brutality and boredom of military life and the macho culture of the times. The club was clearly a brothel. The language was of the era too. Everything was minimalist, muted dull sets right down to the icky green paint in the barracks to the dull lighting throughout. The show proved to be a powerful and almost harrowing evening of entertainment. A marmite production. I suspect it had to be that true to the book to get the rights in the first place and might prevent direct comparison with the Hollywood film. I remember a critic saying their Hawaii was one where the sun apparently never shone. Seems like the revival has taken that on board. Thirty Year Man is definitely more uptempo and the lighting looks much brighter. This is apparently a limited run. Wonder if they'll tour it. Maybe instead they'll open in a large theatre next year and call it the 10 year anniversary. In any case, it's good to see it back where it belongs and seemingly being well received.

Fulsome personal tribute. I'm glad Stuart made a point of mentioning how hard Darius worked to support the show in every way. I think the cast of the original FHTE all put every effort into it because they believed passionately in it. I am so glad I have the OLC recording CD and the DVD. I really regret that there was no DVD of Funny Girl. I'm sure Darius would have loved to work with Stuart on another project. Darius was the ideal cast member to promote the shows he did on daytime TV and radio. He was never distracted by the often inane questions which he answered politely and always managed to get over precise, detailed info about the show. On or off stage/screen Darius was charismatic and a great communicator. I loved the fact that Darius's personal preparation for any role always included the primary source of it. For example, I'd be surprised if many others taking over as Sky Masters on would have read the original Damon Runyon stories Guys and Dolls was based on. Wasn't Coronation Street 's nod to Darius's passing a nice poosurprise?Colourblind playing in the Rovers Return in a scene with Fiz and Tyrone.

September whizzed by so fast. I'm beginning to actually start seriously thinking about Christmas although I don't usually until November. Re Darius I'm concentrating more on his legacy rather than his loss. For 20 years Darius has been my inspiration. In crises or doubt, something I remembered Darius saying or a song lyric would strike a chord and re-energise and motivate me to rise above the negativity and deal with whatever it was one step at a time. As fans we are so lucky to have many special and personal memories to continue to inspire us because Darius was always so accessible, so open-hearted and so inclusive. Frankly I've had a real virtual Darius immersion session. I think it was important for me. We all grieve in different ways and that and the accompanying reflection and the power of prayer was my way. "Onward and upwards!"

I wish them all the best and hope they have a nice long run. I won't be going. If it ever tours I may. I haven't been in London since I went to Funny Girl at the Savoy. Watching the Dvd again made me so sad. One of my favourite scenes was the Ain't Where I Wanna Be scene. Darius went into the show right after he and Natasha separated. That must have been hard enough but if Darius was also in physical pain, I can't imagine how he was after slamming down backwards from his full height onto a stage and 5 minutes later repeating the fall backwards from a seated position in this scene 8 times a week.

One of the Saturday morning shows once made Darius to play all of them one after the other. Did you know Darius also did Shakespeare? He was in a production of Romeo and Juliet at the Edinburgh Festival. He played Mercutio, Romeo's best friend.

The I'm Just Chilling one was Darius's composition piece for his Scottish Higher Music exam in 1997. There are some 1997 Higher papers online but I haven't found the Music one yet. Anyway I don't think the instructions he had to follow for this would be in past papers. It's more like an art student submitting a portfolio of work. There would be strict guidelines and every criterion would have to be included and well executed to get a good grade. Darius would've worked on it throughout the term and probably had to record a log of every step to the finished piece. I haven't listened to it carefully enough to work out whether Darius played the instruments himself. As you know, he could play guitar, violin, piano and saxophone by then. Also had to play recorder in Primary school.

I don't use Instagram but I've been able to see the 2 photos. Thanks, Polly. Were there any captions or other text I might have missed? Cyrus looks more and more like Darius. To think he was just about 5 years old when Darius was in PI.

Hi, Polly. I'm still here. When I first posted here I said I'd resigned myself to the fact Darius was gone.. Actually I haven't. I feel his loss much deeper now.. I feel empty, rudderless.. Thanks for the PI info. It'really sad to think how close he was to coming home. So tragic! I think they should show Darius's 2 totally different performances on the pop idol tour. Let There Be Love was a master class in how to use a stage for a classy performance of swing music. In 5 minutes Darius set the scene, complimented the audience, and thanked them, did Sean Connery's "shaken not stirred when proffered a drink, played the intro melody of his song on the piano, sang and at the instrumental break, introduced Simon Collum on piano. Loosened his bow tieand invited the audience to " give it up for the Big Blue " then back to the piano before finishing the song. His vocals were so smooth like melting chocolate whether he was seated or moving gracefully around the stage. There was a well timed pause before his final notes. That's when I knew Darius was the only pop idol I'd ever need. He could take on different styles, invest them with a suitable character and sing in it. A consummate perrformer. Looking at it now, I think Pete Waterman was right. Given such raw talent, I think Darius could have been every bit as good as Michael Buble, maybe even better

I posted this in the Dive In Review thread. Thought I'd bring it over. Didn't add a review. I've always been a touch biased Re Darius. It's interesting that the most popular tracks Colourblind, Rushes and Mockingbird were all written by Darius before he ever met Simon Cowell. 16 year old Darius wrote the lyrics for Rushes on the back of 5 bus tickets on the way to school. 'Popstars' Darius complete with pony tail and goatee and wearing a bandana, sang Mockingbird at the Live and Loud festival in Glasgow a couple of months before Pop Idol. I used to have the live version. Sadly I seem to have lost it. Maybe someone else still has lt? Colourblind had already been produced to demo by Deni Lew and Pete Glennister (The Misfits), who produced most of Dive In. Darius turned up to Pop Idol with his guitar because the producers had agreed to let him sing his own song. In the audition room he asked to sing his own song. The judges were OK with that but the executive producer, Nigel Lythgoe (the guy who cut Darius from Popstars), refused and sent him out to reenter without the guitar. When Cowell had Darius locked into BMG via Pop Idol's final 10 contract, Darius handed him the demo of Colourblind. For less than a minute Simon had both Darius and Colourblind! Just enough time for him to throw the demo tape onto the table and instruct Darius to report to Pete Waterman's studio the following Monday. Yesterday I found my old CD of Darius in Pop Idol. Another of those weird circular co - incidences in D's life... The song he plucked out of the air to sing instead of Colourblind was Future Love Paradise by Seal. Only 4 years later Darius had a Hollywood girlfriend whom he met at a pedestrian crossing, in LA and they were close friends with Seal and Heidi Klum.

Tamara Harvey who directed From Here To Eternity when Darius starred as Warden is to be one of the 2 co-directors of the Royal Shakespeare Company. I think she'll be a breath of fresh air. Nope, still can't listen to Caledonia. Got emotional enough when I listened to Journey's End today. There is something really haunting about the top range of Darius's voice when he sings those deeply personal to him songs from 2003/4. It was a tough time for him. He was working so hard then he and Jacqui split up because of work. Jacqui had long term commitments in Hong Kong and New York. You could tell at the Dive In tour that they really loved each other. He got writers block too. Remember the skinhead. But he got back on track and made a guest appearance on PI 2, at final 3 stage, singing Right Girl Wrong Time. He was very encouraging to Mark, Sam and Michelle on the show and PI Extra. Went back to record in the US and soon got the news that his beloved father had terminal cancer.

Oh Polly, So sorry you found that. It was up on the net just days after the shock announcement. Please stick to trusted sites, maybe also stick to UK sites. I have to warn you that there are some really ghoulish photoshopped (badly) National Enquirer type scoop "news" images out there, probably riddled with computer viruses, supposedly showing Darius's flat and even his American funeral complete with open casket. Despicable! They do things like that after any famous person's passing. . I read back some pages in this thread. I saw T boy's post confirming we can keep this thread going.. I'm grateful because talking here has definitely helped me. We still have real news - there was a motion recognising Darius's contribution to entertainment and charity, in the Scottish Parliament. It was signed by members from all political parties. '

Polly, Re Gérard in Minnesota, perhaps he volunteered to do that task which is so very daunting but must be done after a bereavement... clearing the flat. I should imagine Darius's family would only be able to bring back the most personal and sentimental possessions and legal documents. Feel so sorry for Gerard. He couldn't even pretend to smile. The photo looks unbalanced with the fan smiling broadly, having met Gérard and he looking so very sad.