Steven Johnson

This is a very long overdue story about Chris, my very good friend. I couldn't find the words for so long to talk about Chris, I guess I didn't want to accept that he is gone. Three days ago I had the pleasure of performing at a concert in aid of The British Heart Foundation http://www.bhf.org.uk/ in memory of Chris. For the entire night I could have sworn he was going to step out of the wings onto the stage and start entertaining everyone.

I worked with Chris from 2001 to 2005 at Mill Rythe Holiday Village and again on the Ocean Village cruise ship in May/June 2006 only a few weeks before we lost this amazing man! Since we lost Chris, I've thought about him nearly everyday. There are hundreds of stories I could tell you but here is one of my favourites. I was performing a cabaret in Trekko Bay and Chris had come along to support me. We had decided to have a few (too many) 'sly ones' as usual, as we were staying at Chris' family home which wasn't too far from where we were. When we got to the house (about 2am) we were starving and so Chris went through the whole kitchen and found a massive bag of pasta in the freezer. He defrosted it in the microwave, then boiled it in a pan throwing in sauce and odds and sods, insisting this would be "the nicest thing I've ever eaten". It took him ages and by this point I was really starving. He walked into the living room, face beaming as he was so proud of his creation. We sat down and both took a huge mouthful and nearly threw up! It was disgusting but we ended up eating it anyway as we were so hungry. The next afternoon I met his mum and dad and Chris told his mum to throw the pasta away. However, when he explained how he had cooked it, she burst out laughing as Chris hadn't read the bag. It was a microwave job two minutes and it's ready, but Chris had been too drunk to read the packet. He since cooked some fine meals, but he never lived that down!

Over the years, and over many drinks, Chris taught me so much, and sometimes I didn't realise how much. However, I find myself these days with a wealth of knowledge I learnt from him that I am able to pass on. I talk to and help young, enthusiastic show teams I'm working with about this wonderful man - his advice and encouragement lives on.

One of the best bits of advice he gave me was after I'd woken up at about 2.10pm hungover (no surprise) and had an afternoon cabaret at 2.30pm. Afterwards I asked Chris for a warm up I could do so that the afternoon cabaret wasn't as difficult as this one was. He gave me 3 options: 1. Don't stay up till 4 or 5 in the morning getting drunk. 2. Don't then go round to a girl's cabin and stay up till ridiculous o'clock in the morning. But, the best piece of advice I ever heard from Chris was!!! 3. The best way to warm your voice up Stevie, is by being awake at least an hour or two before you're walking on stage!

I guess you had to be there but it's something I've never forgotten. There were many techniques Chris had for warming the voice up, here are some I remember: 1. 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' (everyone has done that at some point) 2. A shot of brandy (gargle with it) 3. Hot steamy shower and nice deep breaths to moisten vocal cords. 4. Any alcoholic drink! Well that's Chris for ya! 5. He always said "vocal cords are muscles, if you over work them they will get tired. i.e if you only have 7 hours sleep cos you got pissed and then you got up at 10am, worked all day and then compered all night, at 10.30pm, when the show starts, vocally it's like running a cross country race, then trying to do a 100 metre sprint.

Chris was the kindest guy and closest friend I ever had. He knew all my secrets, I loved him and I miss him terribly, but he will always be in my memories and heart. He helped me on and off stage, and saw me through the good and bad times. He was always there for me. If you ever met Chris, I know you would feel the same, he was loved by all. The 'Something Good Will Come Of This' show proved how loved he was. The last time I saw Chris face to face on the Ocean Village he asked two things of me, one of which was "Steve, learn the bloody guitar and then you can come back and work with me on the Ocean Village again." Well, I'm proud to say after Chris told me this I picked up a guitar and within 41/2 months I learnt 100 songs. This was enough to get Maria and I on a 9 month contract for another cruise company. It went so well that we are just about to leave on a 20 month contract which includes the Caribbean. I've become a reading rhythm guitarist in less than a year thanks to the advice and encouragement of Chris. The last time I saw Chris I had never seen him so happy. What a talented brilliant man.

We miss you Chris, Love Stevie-Jay XXX

Matt Beadle

My name is Matt Beadle and I met Chris on board the Ocean Village cruise ship where I was working as a dancer and he came on board as the guitar player in the band. From first talking to Chris he was such a positive person and when he first got onto the ship and watched our shows he was so full of compliments and enthusiasm.

Every time he saw the show he would always be so complimentary, no matter how many times he'd seen it in the past - always making others feel good about themselves. Then as time went on and I began to get to know Chris better we would often spend days off ship together in groups, exploring the various islands of the Caribbean. I also enjoyed many a night in the ship disco and bar with Chris, chatting the night away. He could, and would talk to anyone and only had good things to say! As we knew him as the guitar player, I had no idea he was so talented in other areas and so when I heard him playing the piano and singing one day I asked him if he would be willing to give me some singing lessons in our spare time. He, in Chris' usual positive way, said he would and so we did just that. For the last couple of months of my time on board the ship we woiuld meet for an hour once a week and Chris would play through some songs with me. I would always tell him how greatful I was and in his cheerful manner he would always smile and say " not at all Matt, it's a pleasure." He would be so complimentary and always make me feel good about myself. I often offered him money and he would never take it, telling me that payment enough would be for me to get him tickets for my first West End show. Being a dancer is very competitive and most strive, but many fail, to work in the West End but Chris would always say to me " I know you're going to make it Matt" filling me with faith and forever showing his belief in me. He was that sort of person.

On leaving the ship I secured a job in my first musical, We Will Rock You, and made sure Chris was one of the first people I told. By that time, I had obviously left the ship but Chris was still on there so he text me telling me how proud he was of me and how he always knew I would do it. This meant so much to me.

Sadly, Chris died shortly after that and so I never got to get him my opening night's tickets, I have therefore had it written into my biography in the show programme that my performnce is dedicated to my friend Chris. Although I am now in a musical, I'm not yet in the West End but I am still aiming to be there and thanks to Chris' positive influence on me I know that one day I will and when I do, Chris will be with me. He was only in my life for six months but in that short space of time made such an impact that he will be in my thoughts forever. A truly remarkable man. I feel blessed to have known him.

Eleanor Hayward

I met Chris when I was 8 in 1994 with the rest of my family.

Chris was a second dad to me and my two sisters. When we went into Hudsons we would always sit in the corner. Chris and all the other staff would ait around the other side. He would always come to us and try and persuade us to go and sit with them all. We were too embarrassed to do that so he would come to check if we were ok, and that no one was hanging around us that we didn't want to be there. Chris would always know if we weren't happy with someone sitting with us, we'd just give him a look and he'd get rid of them.

Mill Rythe was like a second home to me and my family, we would go there anything upto 16 times a year. We have met some brilliant people there over the years and it comes to something when you even know the chalet maids and they know you on first name terms!! But, the best person we ever met there was Chris Caswell. One of my funniest memories of him was the story he told us when he was on his way to the ballroom and a lady was walking in front of him. She was wearing high heels and her heel got caught in the pavement and it snapped off. As I'm sure you can imagine, he was laughing so much he couldn't go to help her, he just had to go back and sit in his chalet until he had stopped laughing. When he finally stopped laughing, on his way back to the ballroom he saw her heel stuck in the pavement, which amused him even more. What a sense of humour he had.

He was truly the nicest person that God created and I'm so jealous that he let us have him for so little time and that he now has him back with him.

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