Welcome to the website of
Tony Lidington & Promenade Promotions (Prom-Prom) Limited
“The art of British popular entertainment”
This website is for booking Prom-Prom’s accessible, family-friendly acts for 2024/5… it is also a treasure-trove of vernacular entertainments, containing Dr Tony Lidington’s research outputs, publications and archives on British popular performance forms.
Tony Lidington
“… some sort of unreconstructed music hall anarchist”
– John Fox, Welfare State International & Dead Good Guides
“A national treasure…”
– the late Duke of Edinburgh
This website is for booking Prom-Prom’s accessible, family-friendly acts for 2024/5… it is also a treasure-trove of vernacular entertainments, containing Dr Tony Lidington’s research outputs, publications and archives on British popular performance forms.
Tony Lidington
“… some sort of unreconstructed music hall anarchist”
– John Fox, Welfare State International & Dead Good Guides
“A national treasure…”
– the late Duke of Edinburgh
“Come and see the wonders of all wonders that ever the world has wondered at!” – Gustavus Katterfelto
– Wise words –
“One of the ways to avoid being beaten by the system is to laugh at it” – Peter Cook
“We don’t have a plan, so nothing can go wrong” – Spike Milligan
“This too shall pass…” from Hebrew and Sufi folklore
Latest Socials and Posts
I am pleased to announce that Prom-Prom, in collaboration with Matthew Linley of Slaget Theatre, have received a very lovely New Year’s present because ‘Shuff & Byng’ has secured fresh support in 2026 with a Noel Coward foundation grant to further develop our ‘Shuff & Byng’ project. We hope this will eventually help lead to an original stage production which will explore the lives and legacies of those two, much-loved drag pioneers - Dougie Byng and Mrs Shufflewick (Rex Jameson). We aim to premiere the touring stage production in 2027, which will mark the 40th anniversary of Dougie Byng’s death.![]()
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Having already supported the initial development of the show in 2024/25, this new award from the Noel Coward Foundation will directly fund the development of the shows community infused finale (designed to bridge the gap between professional performance and local participation) as a result of workshops with myself, Kinny Gardner and Billie Bottl, plus also some public presentations of my research into the newly-revealed V&A archives about cross-dressing and cabaret.![]()
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We are incredibly honoured to receive continued support from the Noel Coward Foundation: I knew Dougie Byng in his final years and have long championed the proud, complex lineage of British male cross-dressing that pre-dates RuPaul‘s Drag Race by a century. As many of you will know, I wrote an adaptation of his memoirs for BBC Radio 4 -‘The Byng Ballads’, performed by Julian Clary in 2012. prom-prom.com/the-byng-ballads/![]()
This grant will allow us to develop innovative new ways of involving the community in our work as part of the shows finale, ensuring that the project is as inclusive as it is entertaining.![]()
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This announcement follows the recent news that as the show’s writer and director, I have also received one of the prestigious, inaugural Bunnett-Muir Musical Theatre Award from the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A).![]()
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Photos: me and Julian with Peter Hoare of Pier Productions after recording ‘The Byng Ballads’ in Brighton 2012, also Kinny Gardner as Dougie Byng during a sharing of ‘Shuff & Byng’, in June 2025 at Eastern Angels, Ipswich (c. Mike Kwasniak).
I am pleased to announce that Prom-Prom, in collaboration with Matthew Linley of Slaget Theatre, have received a very lovely New Year's present because 'Shuff & Byng' has secured fresh support in 2026 with a Noel Coward Foundation Grant to further develop our 'Shuff & Byng' project. We hope this will eventually help lead to an original stage production which will explore the lives and legacies of those 2, much-loved drag pioneers - Dougie Byng and Mrs. Shufflewick (Rex Jameson). We aim to première the touring stage production in 2027, which will mark the 40th anniversary of Dougie Byng’s death.![]()
![]()
Having already supported the initial development of the show in 2024/25, this new award from the Noel Coward Foundation will directly fund the development of the show’s community-infused finale (designed to bridge the gap between professional performance and local participation) as a result of workshops with myself, Kinny Gardner & Billie Bottle, plus also some public presentations of my research into the newly-revealed V&A archives about cross-dressing and cabaret.![]()
![]()
We are incredibly honoured to receive continued support from the Noel Coward Foundation: I knew Dougie Byng in his final years and have long championed the proud, complex lineage of British male cross-dressing that pre-dates RuPaul’s Drag Race by a century. As many of you will know, I wrote an adaptation of his memoirs for BBC Radio 4 - 'The Byng Ballads', performed by Julian Clary in 20212 ( prom-prom.com/the-byng-ballads/ ) This grant will allow us to develop innovative new ways of involving the community in our work as part of the show's finale, ensuring that the project is as inclusive as it is entertaining.![]()
![]()
This announcement follows the recent news that as the show’s writer and director I have also received one of the prestigious, inaugural Bunnett-Muir Musical Theatre Award from the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A).![]()
![]()
Photos: me & Julian with Peter Hoare of Pier Productions after recording 'The Byng Ballads' in Brighton in 2012, also Kinny Gardner as Dougie Byng during a sharing of 'Shuff & Byng' in June 2025, at Eastern Angles, Ipswich (©Mike Kwasniak)
There are two more opportunities to hear my reading of 'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens this year: at Teignmouth's St James' Church on Sunday 21st December and the Strand Centre in Dawlish on Tuesday 23rd December. It's a lovely Yuletide event for all the family and raises funds for local good causes. I hope some of you will be able to make it along...
It's sad to post this picture of us again so soon, but this was a happy time when 'The Rotters' had just performed for both Prunella & Tim (and Richard Wilson, of course,) at the National Student Drama Festival in Scarborough... back in the day.
Here I am - featured amongst 100 other hidden figures of the south west in a lovely new book by Caitlin Pharoah. (See @hummingbird photography for more details): www.instagram.com/reel/DQHoDiYCP2r/?igsh=d2kwdWE2b3F3dmp5
This is a lovely book with a host of fine artisans and craftspeople… it’d make a lovely Yuletide gift!
