An abridged repeat, in all likelihood, with Thomas Round reminiscing with festival director Ian Smith on the company he started and ran with Donald Adams, Gilbert and Sullivan For All, which toured the world for over 30 years, including 12 three-month tours of North America.

As well as performing, Tom and Don chauffeured their soloists, usually two or three, all over America and back home after numerous concerts in this country without mishap, except when returning to London following one in Sheffield when Tom's car broke down.

Two of the soloists were there on August 2 to offer anecdotes, Valerie Masterson and Gillian Humphreys, and extracts from the eight Gilbert and Sullivan For All films (abridged G&S operas) were shown.

Four present-day soloists offered ensembles and solos and an older one, Michael Rayner, was on hand for When a Foeman Bares His Steel but the star, as charismatic as ever in his 93rd year, was Thomas Round.

He related anecdotes and stories – a lovely '(h)urinal' one – sang For the Merriest of Fellows Are We (Gondoliers) with Ian Smith and sang and danced If You Go In (Iolanthe) with Ian and Neil Smith.

Both came after Ida Was a Twelvemonth Old, Twenty Years Ago! (Princess Ida) with Ida changed to Alice (Tom's wife) being a 12 month-old '90 years ago', the many 20 references changed to 90 equivalents.

Alice, his childhood sweetheart 90 years ago, was there and they married 70 years ago next week.

"I'll bet you've never been entertained by a 93-year-old!" was his opening gambit when the tenor made his second festival appearance a week ago.

To be strictly accurate, he reaches 93 in October and on this occasion he was talking with festival secretary Neil Smith about himself with abundant anecdotal material.

The main focus was Tom's early life in Barrow as a joiner, as a policeman in Lancaster and life as an RAF pilot, most of the time in America, during the war. Threading it together was his singing activity, starting with being paid 6d (2½p) at the age of 10 for rendering Me and Jane and a Plane.

There was talk of Rose-Marie on Ice and appearing with Norman Wisdom in the 1950s, while the Round voice was heard on recordings, an almost baritonal one in 1948 singing A Day With Mary.

We had a sample of his live recording as Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady with Donald Adams and, from ten years ago, an excellent account of Sullivan's Lost Chord made at St James the Great Church, Barrow.

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