Article from 'The Scotsman' newspaper (24 September 2003) about the launch party for "Fame - The Musical"
BARBARA'S EDINBURGH LAMENT
Diane Lester, the queen of the airwaves on Radio Forth, fresh from her triumph in The Vagina Monologues with new chums Rosie Kane and Christine Hamilton, hosted the launch of Fame, the Musical at the Playhouse in Edinburgh yesterday.
Sharing the limelight were singer/actress Barbara Dickson and Noel Sullivan (formerly with the popular music combo, Hear'say, m'lud).
The previous evening, Di had dined with the cast at the Point Hotel, and it wasn't long before it was noticed that she had become quite smitten with the young Mr Sullivan - not least because she remarked rather loudly that he had a lovely body. Deep in conversation over a slice of chocolate cheesecake, she suddenly emitted a terrible, heart-rending yelp.
What on earth was the matter?
"I've just realised that I'm the same age as his mother," she wailed before abandoning her mission.
Barbara Dickson was telling us she would move back to Edinburgh in a jiffy if her husband would let her.
She arrived as a 17-year-old from Dunfermline to work for the Registrar of Scotland. "I stayed in a flat in Northumberland Street. It cost only two quid a week. It wasn't so posh then." Barbara, you're showing your age.
After making a name in folk clubs, she was asked to sing at a festival in Denmark. But the Civil Service refused to give her time off, so she packed her job in. The rest is history. But her father, a true Fifer, did warn her. "He said: 'It's the biggest mistake you could make. Think of the pension.' And do you know? - he was right. I could do with it now."
