This section of the website provides news about Lyn Paul from the past 12 months. Scroll down the page or click on one of the links below.

News about Lyn - updated: May 2008


Messages from Lyn - updated: April 2008


Q&A


Site News - updated: April 2008


Who said that?


Yahoo! Message Boards

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Good To Be Back

Finally - as Ce Ce Peniston once sang. After a few months of being out of action, the website is back. And so is Lyn. Check the latest news below for details.

Please note: publicity material recently appeared which gave the false impression that Lyn Paul would be appearing in concert with the New Seekers. Lyn Paul does not have any involvement with the current line-up of the New Seekers and will not be appearing at any of the group's shows. Please read Lyn's message to her fans.

Back To The Best!

On New Year's Eve Lyn Paul made a welcome return to Blood Brothers at the Empire Theatre in Liverpool, helping to celebrate Liverpool's year as European Capital Of Culture. Lyn made a preliminary appearance in the show at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon (18th - 29th December) and has now returned to the West End production of Blood Brothers at the Phoenix Theatre. Lyn had been scheduled to appear in the show until 29th March but has taken a three-week holiday (3rd-22nd March). She'll return to Blood Brothers on 24th March and will then stay on until September.

Lyn Paul last appeared in Blood Brothers in 2006, joining the cast of the UK touring production when Linda Nolan, who had been playing the lead role of Mrs. Johnstone, was forced to take a break from the show while she received treatment for breast cancer.

What the critics say...

"Having starred in the show during its London run in 1997, it's perhaps not surprising that Lyn is so supremely confident ..." Paul Marston,
Birmingham Mail, 16th March 2006.

Lyn Paul is wonderful as Mrs. Johnstone.
Malvern Gazette, 16th March 2006

"Lyn Paul ... is magnificent and has a superb singing voice."
Kidderminster Times, 23rd March 2006

"Lyn Paul covers for Linda Nolan, who is receiving treatment for breast cancer, and gives a powerful and emotional performance as the straight-talking, working class Mrs. Johnstone. Paul’s depiction of the working class mother from Liverpool, is warming and her ability to move effortlessly from a acting roles to singing is fantastic."
Ranjit Khutan, ReviewsGate.com, 25th March 2006

"Mrs. Johnstones don't come much better than her."
South Wales Echo, 25th March 2006

"... well acted (particularly by former New Seeker Lyn Paul who was a natural Mrs. Johnstone ...)"
South Wales Echo, 29th March 2006

"Mrs. Johnstone (Lyn Paul) can't put a foot wrong as the hapless mother with a heart of gold."
Western Mail, 31st March 2006

"Lyn Paul's performance as Mrs. Johnstone was excellent, charged with passion and emotion. Her strong vocal talent was evident throughout the show."
Midlands Zone, April 2006

"Lyn Paul still has a wonderful singing voice and she also has stage presence shown with such visual power in the second half leading up to the finale."
Daily Post, 19th April 2006

"Lyn Paul ... was incredible in the lead role of Mrs. Johnstone. With a dry humour that dipped to the point of desert dust and a heartbreaking poignancy of an Eric Segal novel, hers was a performance that sparkled from first to last."
Chris High, www.chrishigh.com

"seamless performance"
Birmingham Mail, 11th October 2006

"Lyn Paul sings flawlessly."
Birmingham Post, 12th October 2006

"Lyn Paul ... held the show together as the salt of the earth working mum with a dark secret."
Bromsgrove Advertiser, 18th October 2006

"Lyn Paul, of New Seekers fame, easily assumes the role of Mrs Johnstone and is depicted ageing as the story and years develop."
Paul Coslet,
BBC Liverpool, 3rd January 2008

"Lyn Paul is a glorious Mrs Johnstone"
Liverpool Daily Post, 3rd January 2008

"Ms. Paul brings so much emotion to the role it seems to almost tear her apart on several occasions. Starting with the irony of Marilyn Monroe and climaxing on the unforgettable Tell Me It’s Not True, Lyn Paul’s vocal prowess has not lost any of its edge as she brings the show to a close with great emotional gusto."
Chris High, www.chrishigh.com, January 2008

Following it's successful 2007 tour of the UK, Footloose The Musical returned to London's West End at the Playhouse Theatre from 17th August to 1st December. Lyn Paul played the role of Vi Moore on the tour and in the West End.

Playhouse Theatre,
Northumberland Avenue,
London. WC2N 5DE

Tel: 020 7839 4401

Returning to the West End was a bonus for Lyn, allowing her to spend more time with her family: "Touring isn't for me, I want to be at home. I don't want to stay away night after night." (Daily Echo, Friday, 18th May 2007)

Although Lyn didn't enjoy being away from home, she was thrilled to be working for the first time with her sister, Nikki Belsher. "The main thing was working with my sister ... That's definitely the reason I took the show in the first place." (Daily Echo, Friday, 18th May 2007). Nikki played the part of Ethel McCormack and returned to the role in the West End production after some time out with a back injury. Nikki was also the Resident Director of the show and Assistant Choreographer.

Footloose The Musical is based on the 1984 hit movie starring Kevin Bacon. It tells the story of dance-mad city boy Ren, who has to move with his mum to a rural backwater in small town America. It includes the '80s hits Holding Out For A Hero, Almost Paradise, Let’s Hear It For The Boy and the title track, Footloose.

    

Let's hear it for the show!

"The entire cast must be congratulated particularly Miria Parvin who plays Ariel ...  and Lyn Paul, ex-member of the New Seekers, is in good voice as her mother."
Natalie Anglesey, Manchester Evening News, 14th February 2007

"Miria Parvin ... has one of the best voices you'll hear anywhere. So does former New Seekers singer Lyn Paul, who plays her stage mom Vi."
Rick Bowen, Messenger newspapers, 15th February 2007

"Footloose was an exceptionally well-acted and well-crafted production. The cast included some notable performers including the former singer from New Seekers, Lyn Paul ..."
Kashif Naveed, Entertainment Manchester, 15th February 2007

"Lyn Paul is a wonderful singer ..."
Glenn Meads, What's On Stage 15th February 2007

"A splendid support cast includes former New Seeker Lyn Paul, who gives a fine vocal display as the preacher's wife."
Tony Collins, Evening Mail (Birmingham), 20th February 2007

"The performances were outstanding, in particular Miria Parvin ... and Lyn Paul whose voice remains a force of nature."
Martin Lenon, Evening News (Edinburgh), 17th April 2007

"All the cast are terrific ... The minister's wife, Vi, played by New Seekers star Lyn Paul, showed she could still teach the world to sing."
Sue Dixon, Telegraph & Argus (Bradford), 24th April 2007

"The strengths are in the performance ... Giovanni Spano, playing Ren's friend Willard, has a great comic sense whilst Julian Agnew (Rev Moore) and Lyn Paul (Vi Moore) manage to bring more to their characters than the text would suggest. I have to say, too, that Nikki Belsher (Ren's mother) did the seemingly impossible - she made the character both believable and sympathetic."
Peter Lathan, The British Theatre Guide, May 2007

"Strong performances ... from the reverend and his wife played by Lyn Paul and Julian Agnew and scene five in the reverend’s home between Ariel, Vi and Ren’s mother was beautiful."
Ann Blackburn, BBC Nottingham

"Lyn Paul - of the New Seekers fame couldn’t “teach the world to sing” tonight – so her deputy - her sister – stood in and, along with the rest of the cast, had the audience laughing, singing and dancing in the aisles (literally)."
Craig Marsden, WHATSONnortheast.com, 6th June 2007

"The lead roles are supported brilliantly by some understated performances by other members of the cast, particularly memorable is Eurovision's Lyn Paul as the understanding mother of Ariel."
Elizabeth Highfield, The Star, 19th June 2007

"Julian Agnew and Lyn Paul movingly portrayed the reverend and his wife who struggle to move on from their son's death. They came across as real people rather than stereotyped religious zealots."
Bromley Times, 13th July 2007

10th January 2007
Updated: 4th August 2007

LBC calling!

Not long after the return of 'Footloose The Musical' to London's West End, Lyn Paul was invited by Steve Allen to be a guest on his LBC chat show. Lyn talked about her website, the New Seekers, Footloose and Blood Brothers.

While Footloose was on tour, Lyn Paul was a guest on a number of other local radio shows, including Nick Pandolfi's show on BBC Radio Suffolk (Tuesday, 13th March 2007) and The Afternoon Show on BBC Radio Wales (26th March 2007).

25th March 2007
Updated: 4th January 2008

Lyn's new album

The long wait is over - Lyn Paul's latest album is out now! Lyn, who last released an album in 1975, returned to the recording studios in 2005 with Rod Edwards, the musical director from Blood Brothers.

The album is titled Late Night (Catalogue number: ARCD4503). In addition to two new songs, Clouds and Dance With Desire, it features new recordings of some old favourites, including: Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down), Behind Closed Doors, Crying, Dance With My Father, Have I Told You Lately, Hurt, I Only Have Eyes For You, In My Life, Late Night Grande Hotel and Talking In Your Sleep. One of the songs that Lyn began work on, Save The Best For Last, was not included on the album. There is, however, an extra track at the end (not listed on the album sleeve) which Lyn added especially for her husband, Alan, and her son, Ryan.

The album is available to download from iTunes. The CD may be purchased online from Gift Of Sound.

18th June 2005
Updated: 10th October 2006

And in a packed programme tonight...

In 1973 Lyn Paul and the New Seekers made guest appearances on two of the top TV comedy shows of the day - The Two Ronnies and Morecambe & Wise. The group's performances are now available for the first time on DVD.

• Morecambe & Wise: Complete Christmas Specials
  Label: BBC Video
  Catalogue Number: BBCDVD2270
  Release date: 12th November 2007
  
  
• Two Ronnies: Complete Series 3
  Label: BBC Video
  Catalogue Number: BBCDVD2412
  Release date: 17th March 2008
  

30th March 2008

Ultimate Eurovision Party!

It's that time of the year again! The kitchfest that is the Eurovision Song Contest takes place on 24th May. If you're planning a party, there's a double CD that'll help you fill the time before or after this year's show.

Ultimate Eurovision Party features some of the best songs from Eurovisions past, among them: Abba, Waterloo; Bucks Fizz, Making Your Mind Up; Prima Donna, Love Enough For Two, which featured ex-New Seeker Danny Finn on lead vocal; and the New Seekers' Beg.Steal Or Borrow, which featured Lyn Paul and Peter Doyle on lead vocal.

10th May 2008

Not the Vernons Girls?

No, it's not the Vernons Girls! It's the Chrys-Do-Lyns, the trio formed by Lyn Paul with two of her schoolfriends, Donna Jones and Christine Lowe.

The June edition of Record Collector features this photo (right) in an article on 'The lost gems of the Sixties', next to a desription of one of those lost gems - the Vernons Girls' single You Know What I Mean.

10th May 2008

During the past year Lyn Paul has been featured in a number of other newspaper articles. Here are some of the highlights:

• Evening Post (Nottingham), 11th May 2007
  
• Salisbury Journal, 16th May 2007
  
• Daily Echo, 18th May 2007
  
• Liverpool Daily Post, 28th December 2007
  
• Liverpool Daily Post, 3rd January 2008
  
• Liverpool Echo, 17th January 2008
  

27th July 2007
Update: 4th January 2008

 
Who said that?

Today

Yesterday is a cancelled cheque; tomorrow is a promissory note; today is the only cash you have - so spend it wisely.
Kay Lyons

O, that a man might know
The end of this day's business ere it come!
William Shakespeare, 'Julius Caesar' (Act V, Scene I)

What next?

I have learned to live each day as it comes and not to borrow trouble by dreading tomorrow. It is the dark menace of the future that makes cowards of us.
Dorothy Dix, 'Her Book'

I never think of the future. It comes soon enough.
Albert Einstein

The future is hidden even from the men who made it.
Anatole France

There are two options: adapt or die.
Andrew S. Grove

My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there.
Charles Franklin Kettering

What we call our future is the shadow which our past throws in front of us.
Marcel Proust

If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels had been churches, and poor men's cottages princes' palaces.
William Shakespeare, 'The Merchant Of Venice' (Act I, Scene II)

Where next?

The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are.
John Burroughs

It isn't where you came from; it's where you're going that counts.
Ella Fitzgerald