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.

Been avoiding that one. Also avoiding Darius singing Caledonia at the Burns Festival on meghamtoo on YouTube. It's what the lone piper played at his funeral.

Do you know what is weird, Polly? I was listening to some of D's b-sides yesterday and one is a proper earworm today. I can't stop singing snatches out of it out of the blue when I'm doing other things today. Pretty common reaction to Darius's songs But what's weird is it's my least favourite other than the one with the French, whose name escapes me. I don't think I played Sexy Individual more than a dozen times and now it's haunting me! Keep on looking, Polly. I (r e)found a lot after I got over the shock of Darius's death and I thought about how deeply he had touched my life. His lyrics were my touchstone. There was always one which helped to heal or inspire. I started with YouTube, mainly music. I watch a lot of Darius videos on the channel called "Meghamtoo", type it in. It's a treasure trove. Megham used to post on here. She went to anything Darius did with camera, if she could and he and the venues were often happy to let her video or take pictures. My favourite set is the the one Darius did for Marie Curie... The Impossible Dream still singing it like the duet with Roland's sections just slightly higher, Colourblind with his guitar and Falling Slowly from the film/ musical Once. And there's even the Des O'Connor Elvis medley where Darius wears the gold suit and sings Teddy Bear. The young boy is Declan Galbraith.

The family's message said he was having treatment at the hospital, I'm sure. We know that Darius had been in discussions about the Pop Idol reunion, whatever form it will take and getting ready to star in another brand new musical. Creating a new show is a arduous task. It takes a lot of stamina. That done, it's 8 shows a week, daytime publicity and meeting people after the shows. Darius knew what it would take he'd done it twice before. The Mayo Clinic is one of the most prestigious in the US and has treated lots of very famous people for various ailments. Darius probably thought that if he went to the best place, they'd find the answer and reduce the chronic pain to tolerable for coming home and doing what he loved best... Performing and making people happy. If Darius was an outpatient receiving regular treatment he'd have needed to stay locally. If there was the slightest chance of recognition and they linked Darius to Simon Cowell or Natasha, the news would have quickly spread, although he was relatively unknown himself Hence the different registration name for the flat. Morgan can be either sex and Brown is a very common name. The reception wouldn't be surprised to see a guy sign in. He'd have to have given the clinic his proper name for his medical records and health insurance.

Oops, factual error in above post. Darius and Natasha married in 2011. They got engaged in 2007.

Much like I felt, I suppose, when South Pacific was being revived with Samantha Womack as Nelly in 2011 and the producers wanted Darius to play Emile opposite her and he wouldn't do it. We couldn't understand why not. The producers waited until the eleventh hour for Darius to change his mind and finally brought over Paulo Szloti(?) from Broadway. AT the time I speculated it was because he'd recently got engaged to Natasha Henstridge. Turned out he couldn't because he was in midst of an audition process for a lead role in a pilot for ABC TV in America. He got it and the filming clashed with what would have been his first transfer to Broadway.

Thanks, Polly. It's nice to see FHTE come back to the West End. It deserved a longer run but the time wasn't right for more dramatic shows like FHTE. The jukebox musicals reigned back then. Darius wasn't going to do it anyway. He was moving on to lead a new cast in another original West End show 'Cleopatra'. The Original London Cast recording of FHTE (and the film) features Darius. At least we got the answer to the question-which golden age of Hollywood legend's shoes would he fill next in one of his most iconic roles? - Richard Burton as Caesar. It would have been his 4th original lead in a relatively short space of time. OK had a look. Adam Rhyd - Charles will play Warden. In another of those weird coincidences, he last performed in Curtains in the West End. Jill came straight from Broadway Curtains to play Scarlett opposite Darius's Rhett.

If I thought there was any chance of losing my voice permanently and maybe being paralysed, I'd take my chances and say no to an op. Sorry about all the edits. I can only get Into Buzzjack on my phone. Typing on that is a pain.

I'm glad you found it. That's why I wanted to let people know it was there. It shows the lovely fun guy Darius was, even after the media mauling he'd got. Brave too. Few in his situation would have dared do Buzzcocks. Do you think he was wearing the Top of the Pops Purple 'underdog' shirt? I do.

There's another clip from the same show ' Darius owns Mark Lamarr, D,' s comic timing is brilliant on that one. Re a possible op, the surgeon told him there was a danger to his vocal chords. Darius was contracted for several events in the summer and the History of the Big Bands tour in the autumn. The musicians had all been chosen and contracts signed. If the reason to have the op wasn't apparently urgent or the prognosis of success not extremely high, Darius wouldn't let people down. We don't know what was said, although Darius said in an interview much later that his was a compression injury like Christopher Reeve's. Poor Christopher(Superman) was paralysed. Maybe that was on Darius's mind too.

Found a YouTube video of Darius on Buzzcocks some time between Popstars and Pop Idol. Of course they mocked Darius in jest. All the guests expect that. Darius was on the late great Sean Hughes team and his self deprecating humour really shows. I don't know how to get the video on here and I daren't try in case get locked out. Search for Buzzcocks Fun with Darius in YouTube. It's part of the Best of Sean Hughes. ……