On Monday evening, at 7pm, I will walk out onto the Swansea Grand Theatre Stage. It’s a one off event that has taken weeks of planning and a lifetime of preparation. For months we have worked on set lists, guest lists, video compilations and technical requirements.
Well it worked in rehearsals…
There’s always a worry that you might have forgotten something, that a guest might pull out at the last minute, that piece of gear that has worked perfectly in rehearsal might, just might, decide to stop acting as it should do 30 minutes before curtain up. But one thing I never doubt, as I stand there looking out at the audience…it will feel like coming home.
Mr Peter ‘Bongo’ Williams – Streets of London
I was blessed with so many opportunities and a whole series of great encouragers who literally gave me a platform at a very early age. I’ve often spoken of the debt I have for Peter ‘Bongo’ Williams.
He was the cool teacher in a leather jacket at Brynhyfryd Junior School who ran the band and made plectrums out of cigarette packets. He always believed in us as kids and always gave me the chance to sing in front of the whole school as often as possible.
A Concert at Brynhyfryd School in1973
After ‘Bongo’ came Mike Nicholson, the long haired, big hearted guitarist from the Treboeth Gospel Hall Youth Group. Mike would always ask me to sing in the ‘after church’ socials at his parent’s house. It would take a few requests before I finally grabbed his guitar and played my latest song to a packed living room. Of course I played hard to get because I didn’t want it to look as if I was ‘showing off’, but I couldn’t wait to perform, and this was the perfect place to start.
I always credit ‘Bongo’ for getting me started and I will always thank Mike ‘Nick’ for persuading me to send a tape of my songs to John Peel on Radio One. Bongo had helped shape my passion and Mike was the one who had the idea that maybe there was a bigger world for my music.
Performing at St Paul’s Cathedral Friday 30th Nov. 2026
Since then music has taken me all around the world. I have walked out with my guitar at the London Palladium and the Royal Albert Hall. I have performed in theatres right across Europe and Australia and the USA. Last weekend I was honoured to sing at St Paul’s Cathedral.
What started in churches, schools and terraced houses in Swansea a lifetime ago prepared me for some of the biggest stages in the world. And on Monday I come home…
Mal Pope & The Jacks – Swansea Grand
I say come home to the Swansea Grand Theatre because for the past 50 years it has been ‘the’ one big concert hall in my life. Over the years I have been blessed to perform on that stage on my own, with a band, in musicals, in civic services and charity events. We have had the most special of guests and the most special of nights and every time it really is just pure joy to stand there and look out at the audience.
Steve, Ria, Mal and Tim Hamill
I’ve been trying my best to remember when I first performed at the Grand, but it’s lost in the mists of time. So I thought I would try to recall some of the highlights. It was back in the early 1990’s, fresh from a new TV series and a daily radio show, that my band ‘The Jacks’ and I were joined by a few very special guests. There are always special guests!!
Swansea Arena with Ria Jones
I had written a few songs with local author Iris Gower about the Copper history of Swansea. Now there’s no point in having good friends if you can’t take advantage of them!!! Steve Balsamo and Ria Jones were doing great work in the West End and both agreed to come home to sing some of those songs… and it worked.
Backstage with Steve Balsamo and The Jacks
It was as if a light switched on in my head. Here we were telling our story of Swansea and the region with some of the best performers in the world and the audience got it. That evening led to the musical ‘Copper Kingdom’ and eventually a desire to take some of our other stories and put them on the Grand Stage.
It would be a few years later that a chat with the then manager of the Grand, Gary Iles, led to a meeting with Olivier Award Winning Director Michael Bogdanov.
Peter Karrie – Amazing Grace
Through Michael I was able to write ‘Amazing Grace’, the story of Evan Roberts and the Welsh Revival. The Grand hosted the whole production from rehearsal, to set building, to opening night. The whole experience was thrilling, frightening and a great way for me to lose a lot of weight in a short space of time. So many magic moments but when Peter Karrie sang ‘You Never Threw A Party for Me’ falling to his knees and literally stopping the show…it was all worth it.
Over the years the ‘Mal Pope and the Jacks’ concerts kept coming. Usually I would add a section of new songs that would test the waters for the next Musical. The choice of West End heavyweight Peter Karrie to play one of the main characters in ‘Amazing Grace’ was a master stroke by Michael Bogdanov. Not everyone agreed when he cast Mike Doyle as the boxer Tommy Farr in ‘Contender’.
Mike Doyle training with Mario Maccarinelli
It’s strange how people in the arts can be so blinkered about talent. Mike had already had his own West End Success in shows like ‘Buddy’, but some only thought of him as a comedy actor. Michael Bogdanov met Mike and convinced him he had the ‘chops’ to play the role, sing the songs and be a convincing athlete too. Mike took it incredibly seriously training with Enzo and Mario Maccarinelli. Seeing Mike on that stage, skipping, dancing, boxing and singing was a highlight I’ll never forget.
Bonnie Tyler at Swansea Grand
Then there’s Cappuccino Girls. Bonnie Tyler was always incredibly generous with her time and talent. She sang the title song for the Musical and that night when she walked on stage to sing it in the finale…it brought the house down. There will be a special tribute to Bonnie at this year’s show.
So I’m looking forward with nervous anticipation to Monday evening. I know I’ll be there with a room full of friends and I don’t just mean the musicians and singers who will be joining me on stage.
https://www.swanseagrand.co.uk/article/45414/Mal-Pope—Moving-On