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It's Not a Rehearsal: The Autobiography
Born Shirley Broadbent, Amanda Barrie has been working since she was three. She has performed on stage countless times, from chorus girl to West End lead, appeared in a number of films and has been a familiar face on television from its earliest beginnings. In this autobiography, Amanda recounts anecdotes from her packed professional life, including her famous roles in "Carry On Cleo", as Alma in "Coronation Street" and conwoman Bev in "Bad Girls". She also reflects, with characteristic humour, on events in her personal life including her disrupted childhood, disastrous school life and her relationships with men and women including the remarkable threesome that she shared with her husband Robin Hunter.
- GenresAutobiographyNonfiction
320 pages, Hardcover
First published October 21, 2002
22 people want to read
About the author
Amanda Barrie
5 booksBorn Shirley Anne Broadbent in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, Barrie attended St Anne's College, St Anne's on Sea. She then trained at the Arts Educational School in London and later at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. She appeared in pantomime as a child and was a dancer before acting in a number of British television and film roles in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as presenting Hickory House with former Coronation Street star Alan Rothwell between 1973 and 1977. She was also in two of the Carry On films, a long-running series of British comedy films: she had a supporting turn as a cab driver in Carry On Cabby (1963) and took the title role in Carry On Cleo (1964), which helped her on her way to becoming an international star of stage and screen.
In 1975, she played Mrs. B.J. Spence in the Walt Disney film One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing. After roles in a string of one-off television plays and series, she appeared in a guest role as a ballet mistress in the popular BBC comedy series Are You Being Served? in 1979. She worked for many years as a chorus girl in the West End until her first break as an actress came along. At sixteen she danced at the Windsor Club with Danny La Rue and Barbara Windsor, changing her name before making her West End debut in 1961's 'Babes in the Wood'. Throughout the sixties Amanda worked on many stage productions including 'Cabaret', 'Private Lives', 'Hobson's Choice' and 'Aladdin', and continued to perform on stage until the mid-1980s. She is well known as Alma Sedgewick (later Baldwin), on Coronation Street. She was a bit-player in the early to mid-1980s before she was offered a contract in 1988, after which she became a very well known character. She continued in the role until her retirement in 2001. In the story, Alma was diagnosed with cervical cancer which later caused her death.[1]
Since leaving Coronation Street, she continued to act, firstly as Margo Phillips in the long-running BBC soap opera Doctors for nine episodes, and in the popular ITV1 prison series, Bad Girls, playing inmate Bev Tull from the fifth series to the last, along with Phyl Oswyn played by Stephanie Beacham. The characters together were known as "The Costa Cons". She also became one of the celebrities who took part in Hell's Kitchen; a popular ITV1 "reality TV" series which screened in 2004. While on the show, she became so frustrated with Gordon Ramsay, that she tried to slap him across the face.[2]
From November 2006 to January 2007, Amanda took a starring role in the pantomime adaptation of Jack and the Beanstalk in Canterbury. From December 2007 to January 2008, she appeared as the Fairy Godmother in the pantomime adaptation of Cinderella at the Gordon Craig Theatre in Stevenage, Hertfordshire.[3] From December 2008 to January 2009, she played the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella at the Grand Theatre, Blackpool. She again played the role from December 2009 to January 2010 in Rhyl. In December 2010 and January 2011 she played the role in Bournemouth. She played role again from December 2011 to January 2012 in Worthing. On Tuesday 7 August 2012 she appeared in the BBC drama Holby City as troubled, sassy, failed actress Annabella Casey. She is scheduled to again play the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella at the Marina Theatre in Lowestoft from December 2013 to January 2014.
In 1975, she played Mrs. B.J. Spence in the Walt Disney film One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing. After roles in a string of one-off television plays and series, she appeared in a guest role as a ballet mistress in the popular BBC comedy series Are You Being Served? in 1979. She worked for many years as a chorus girl in the West End until her first break as an actress came along. At sixteen she danced at the Windsor Club with Danny La Rue and Barbara Windsor, changing her name before making her West End debut in 1961's 'Babes in the Wood'. Throughout the sixties Amanda worked on many stage productions including 'Cabaret', 'Private Lives', 'Hobson's Choice' and 'Aladdin', and continued to perform on stage until the mid-1980s. She is well known as Alma Sedgewick (later Baldwin), on Coronation Street. She was a bit-player in the early to mid-1980s before she was offered a contract in 1988, after which she became a very well known character. She continued in the role until her retirement in 2001. In the story, Alma was diagnosed with cervical cancer which later caused her death.[1]
Since leaving Coronation Street, she continued to act, firstly as Margo Phillips in the long-running BBC soap opera Doctors for nine episodes, and in the popular ITV1 prison series, Bad Girls, playing inmate Bev Tull from the fifth series to the last, along with Phyl Oswyn played by Stephanie Beacham. The characters together were known as "The Costa Cons". She also became one of the celebrities who took part in Hell's Kitchen; a popular ITV1 "reality TV" series which screened in 2004. While on the show, she became so frustrated with Gordon Ramsay, that she tried to slap him across the face.[2]
From November 2006 to January 2007, Amanda took a starring role in the pantomime adaptation of Jack and the Beanstalk in Canterbury. From December 2007 to January 2008, she appeared as the Fairy Godmother in the pantomime adaptation of Cinderella at the Gordon Craig Theatre in Stevenage, Hertfordshire.[3] From December 2008 to January 2009, she played the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella at the Grand Theatre, Blackpool. She again played the role from December 2009 to January 2010 in Rhyl. In December 2010 and January 2011 she played the role in Bournemouth. She played role again from December 2011 to January 2012 in Worthing. On Tuesday 7 August 2012 she appeared in the BBC drama Holby City as troubled, sassy, failed actress Annabella Casey. She is scheduled to again play the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella at the Marina Theatre in Lowestoft from December 2013 to January 2014.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 26, 2016
What a fascinating woman Amanda Barrie is! I've known her work from Carry On Cleo and Coronation Street and her own story has more shocks and scandals than a soap script!
I knew from the media that she was bisexual but I had no idea of the struggle she had through the years with her sexuality. It must have been tough for a lot of celebrities in the public eye to keep their private lives private for fear of destroying their careers. Amanda is blunt about her horrific eating disorders, her mental breakdowns, her dyslexia, her body image issues and her drug habit. How she managed to stay alive to make it into Coronation Street is a mystery to me.
She is more honest than most about who she liked and didn't like from her time on Corrie and she talks openly about the rising workload that the extra episodes brought, leaving many of the cast exhausted. I've always agreed that there are too many episodes a week because of the stupid ratings war. When you watch Corrie from the 1970's the quality is great because there were only two episodes a week. Once they started with four episodes I think many great characters vanished because there was too much stress on the actors. Amanda also talks about her exit from her show and her anger over the storyline. She gave the management notice so that they could construct a good exit but believes it was rushed and medically unrealistic. She also objected to trying to give Alma a romance as she fought cancer. It was interesting to get that insight into the clash between the actress and the producers and scriptwriters.
I also enjoyed a lot of things in the book like the tour of South Africa that she did with her husband in Cabaret. The numbers of ways that she annoyed the Apartheid Government amused me and the efforts she went to in order to do a secret show for a black only audience was great. I really admire a lot of what she has done in her life.
This was a fascinating book on so many levels.
I knew from the media that she was bisexual but I had no idea of the struggle she had through the years with her sexuality. It must have been tough for a lot of celebrities in the public eye to keep their private lives private for fear of destroying their careers. Amanda is blunt about her horrific eating disorders, her mental breakdowns, her dyslexia, her body image issues and her drug habit. How she managed to stay alive to make it into Coronation Street is a mystery to me.
She is more honest than most about who she liked and didn't like from her time on Corrie and she talks openly about the rising workload that the extra episodes brought, leaving many of the cast exhausted. I've always agreed that there are too many episodes a week because of the stupid ratings war. When you watch Corrie from the 1970's the quality is great because there were only two episodes a week. Once they started with four episodes I think many great characters vanished because there was too much stress on the actors. Amanda also talks about her exit from her show and her anger over the storyline. She gave the management notice so that they could construct a good exit but believes it was rushed and medically unrealistic. She also objected to trying to give Alma a romance as she fought cancer. It was interesting to get that insight into the clash between the actress and the producers and scriptwriters.
I also enjoyed a lot of things in the book like the tour of South Africa that she did with her husband in Cabaret. The numbers of ways that she annoyed the Apartheid Government amused me and the efforts she went to in order to do a secret show for a black only audience was great. I really admire a lot of what she has done in her life.
This was a fascinating book on so many levels.
October 7, 2025
Before reading Amanda Barrie's recent memoir, 'I'm Still Here,' I decided to pick up my copy of her first one, published back in 2002. I have to say that while it was nice to get an update on what the busy actress has been up to since, a lot of the content from 'It's Not a Rehearsal' was simply rehashed in it. Hilary Bonner wrote both books, referred to here as her 'writer friend,' but who was actually Amanda's partner and now wife. This is still the better read of the two.
In the book, Amanda, who was by then carrying a bus pass, decided to reveal her bisexuality, and writes movingly about how she tried to keep this a secret for decades, in a time when someone's sexuality was actually deemed as important. She has led an interesting life, far more so than her alter-ego Alma in 'Coronation Street.' Her mother sounded like a real character, and I felt for Amanda, whose schooldays were less than smooth; she was dyslexic at a time when the condition was not recognised. However, she had a great flair for performing, and in the decades that followed, she never seemed to stop working. This was primarily on the stage, but she also appeared in many TV shows and the occasional film, most notably 'Carry On Cleo.'
Fans of showbiz anecdotes will find a lot to feed on here, particularly in regards to her theatre work. Amanda has worked with so many notable figures in the industry. I was impressed with her versatility and feel that she is quite underrated. She's a gifted and accomplished actress and, as far as I'm concerned, a natural treasure. It's about time she received an honour!
Fans of 'Coronation Street' will appreciate the many pages she dedicates to her time on the soap and her memories of the cast. However, if you're looking for behind-the-scenes gossip about 'Bad Girls', you won't find any here. Amanda hadn't been involved in the hit series for long when this book was completed, and her brilliant character, Bev Tull, is only mentioned once in passing.
Amanda is a brave woman, and I applaud her for being candid about all aspects of her life. Although she hasn't had an easy journey, she comes across as a strong and honest person with a great sense of humour. While I did smile and laugh throughout, I was genuinely moved on more than one occasion. If you enjoy autobiographies, I highly recommend 'It's Not a Rehearsal.' It's one of the few memoirs I could easily read again.
In the book, Amanda, who was by then carrying a bus pass, decided to reveal her bisexuality, and writes movingly about how she tried to keep this a secret for decades, in a time when someone's sexuality was actually deemed as important. She has led an interesting life, far more so than her alter-ego Alma in 'Coronation Street.' Her mother sounded like a real character, and I felt for Amanda, whose schooldays were less than smooth; she was dyslexic at a time when the condition was not recognised. However, she had a great flair for performing, and in the decades that followed, she never seemed to stop working. This was primarily on the stage, but she also appeared in many TV shows and the occasional film, most notably 'Carry On Cleo.'
Fans of showbiz anecdotes will find a lot to feed on here, particularly in regards to her theatre work. Amanda has worked with so many notable figures in the industry. I was impressed with her versatility and feel that she is quite underrated. She's a gifted and accomplished actress and, as far as I'm concerned, a natural treasure. It's about time she received an honour!
Fans of 'Coronation Street' will appreciate the many pages she dedicates to her time on the soap and her memories of the cast. However, if you're looking for behind-the-scenes gossip about 'Bad Girls', you won't find any here. Amanda hadn't been involved in the hit series for long when this book was completed, and her brilliant character, Bev Tull, is only mentioned once in passing.
Amanda is a brave woman, and I applaud her for being candid about all aspects of her life. Although she hasn't had an easy journey, she comes across as a strong and honest person with a great sense of humour. While I did smile and laugh throughout, I was genuinely moved on more than one occasion. If you enjoy autobiographies, I highly recommend 'It's Not a Rehearsal.' It's one of the few memoirs I could easily read again.
February 4, 2018
Was intrigued by Amanda when she entered the Big Brother house so bought this book from Amazon after reading this biography and having watched her on CBB I think this women is amazing, intelligent, witty, brave and resourceful. The last line of the book she states nothing stands still and there be a whole new book. I truly hope so, I can’t wait
March 16, 2013
Out of all the autobiographies I have read so far, this one has to be my favourite. Who would have thought that Alma from Corrie would have led such a life. Had no idea she was bisexual. Defiantly would not have put her down as someone who lived romantically with both a husband and a girlfriend. The book is written well. It keeps you turning pages, there is not really anything here that could be considered boring. I guess I could be considered a fan. When I used to watch Corrie, I liked the character Alma and I loved her in Bad Girls. Makes me want to watch Carry On Cleo. For fans of Amanda and for fans of the stage.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews