An award-winning Vera Lynn tribute will be performing with a live swing band in Radlett next week.
Following the 100th birthday of Dame Vera Lynn, a new show about the life of the Forces Sweetheart will be paying a visit to The Radlett Centre on Tuesday, April 11.
Sincerely Yours – The Vera Lynn Story will take the audience on a journey through the early career of Vera Lynn.
It features many of the songs she would have sung in her big band days through to the blockbuster hits that propelled her to international stardom with classics such as White Cliffs of Dover, A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square and, of course, We’ll Meet Again.
The show will also feature video footage from her performances in the 1940s, as well as personal memories from Dame Vera herself.
Endorsed by Dame Vera Lynn, Sincerely Yours – The Vera Lynn Story stars singer Lorrie Brown.
She has been performing a tribute show to Dame Vera Lynn for over 25 years, and in 2013 she was honoured for her achievement by the Agents’ Association and named the UK’s number one Vera Lynn tribute.
After Dame Vera heard of Lorrie’s award, she invited the performer to meet her at her home.
Lorrie said: “It was both a dream and terrifying. I have been performing the songs of this great lady for over 25 years.
“I have performed in football stadiums to 33,000 people and sang in some of the country’s finest theatres but this was the most nervous I have ever been.
“In the end she was a perfect host. As soon as I entered the room she gave me a hug and congratulated me on my award.
“She was just so happy that I was keeping her music alive.
“We sat and talked for three hours about her time entertaining the troops and especially about her time in Burma.
“She had a very strong connection with the troops in Burma and she was so proud to have been allowed to go out and entertain them.”
Lorrie is now touring a show that she has devised with her husband and co-producer Gary Birtles.
Lorrie said: “2017 is Dame Vera’s 100th birthday year and the nation is honouring all her achievements from her life.
“During my usual show we talk about the work she did during World War Two, so the next logical step was to tell people about her life before the war and what shaped her into becoming the Forces Sweetheart.
“She started her career singing in the dance bands and that is where we will start.
“We will be performing on stage with a live seven-piece band and singing many of the songs she would have sung in her early days, then moving on to her time entertaining the troops and hosting her own radio show ‘Sincerely Yours’, which is where the title of the show comes from.
“Dame Vera had many hits, so we will try and get as many in the show as possible, all with that live band sound.”
Also on the bill will be support by another wartime favourite, George Formby, performed by one of the country’s leading George Formby tributes, Colin Bourdiec.
Lorrie added: ‘We are trying to do most of the shows as matinees because we know a lot of people prefer to go out in the afternoon rather than the evening.”
• Sincerely Yours – The Vera Lynn Story will appear at The Radlett Centre on April 11 at 2pm.
Tickets are priced £16, and £14 concessions, and are available from the box office on 01923 859291 or book online at www.radlettcentre.co.uk
• More details are available on the website at www.veralynntribute.eu
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