Mother and son entertainers, Toni Lamond and Tony Sheldon, have teamed up together to come with a fine, well presented show, ‘Times of My Life’, documenting Toni’s colourful life in the industry.

‘Times of My Life’ had a winning recipe. Lamond took a very relaxed approach to telling her story, combining anecdotes from her eventful life with powerful renditions of favourite songs from shows she has been in, including ‘Gypsy’, ‘Pyjama Game’, and ’42nd Street’. Accompanying her on piano was Michael Tyack, who tinkled away at the keys, with some lovely playing.

The play revealed that Lamond comes from a family with show business in the blood. Her personal life has been a chequered one. The deepest scar in her life was when her husband committed suicide after a time in her life when she had decided to recommence her show business career when he had wanted her to commit to family life. The lasting impression one got of Lamond was that she’s one of the great show business troupers. There’s a quote from the show which kind of says it all, “Now, I’ve got a feeling I’ve left something out. Somewhere between the Tivoli and the Pyjama Game I’m sure I was involved in another production…Oh that’s right…I had a baby’!

‘Times of My Life’ was a warm, inspiring night at the theatre. The show had an edge over other like shows with a great resource of archival footage that showed what a prominent part Lamond played in recent Australian television and theatre history. It was a particular pleasure watching Lamond play up to Graham Kennedy in his old tv series.