Paul in London Feed

Under the influence: Liza on an E

noreply@blogger.com (Paul In London) — Fri, 17 May 2013 01:30:00 PDT

Australian performer Trevor Ashley makes his West End debut this week in his show Liza (on an E) at the Vaudeville Theatre. What could be just another pub drag tribute act is given a lift by an energetic performance, some great singing and classy big band under the music direction of George Dyer. Ashley created the role of Miss Understanding in the original Australian production of Priscilla...

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Love gone wrong and other flatshares: Love Bites

noreply@blogger.com (Paul In London) — Mon, 13 May 2013 22:00:00 PDT

The latest from the Love Bites series, Apartment, which ended its brief run at the Etcetera Theatre in Camden last weekend was again an opportunity for some witty reflections on the theme of love, this time with the theme of apartments being the common thread between them. The Love Bites series showcases some excellent new writing and performances from emerging playwrights, actors, directors and...

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Sexual violence and perversity in SE1: Gutted

noreply@blogger.com (Paul In London) — Sun, 12 May 2013 12:30:00 PDT

It is a hard hitting foul-mouthed in your face night at the theatre watching Gutted, Ricky Beadle-Blair's new play at the Theatre Royal Stratford East. Set in Bermondsey, South East London, it tells the story of the Prospect family and the dark secrets that drive them. It is a place where grey tracksuits and white trainers are the clothing of choice. And football, violence, petty crimes and...

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Projection and pop-ups in tight spaces: Don Pasquale

noreply@blogger.com (Paul In London) — Sun, 12 May 2013 08:47:00 PDT

A pub upstairs in Covent Garden is an unlikely setting for an opera, but it is part of Pop-up Opera's plan to stage opera in unlikely places. Arriving just before the proceedings there was nowhere to sit except for a front row of bar stools. Nobody was wanting to sit in the front row possibly anticipating the opera singers standing almost in front and well within deafening earshot, (and...

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The Time Warp, muscle and fishnets: Rocky Horror Show 40th anniversary tour

noreply@blogger.com (Paul In London) — Fri, 10 May 2013 01:30:00 PDT

Richmond Theatre never looked so different (or young) on Thursday evening as a packed audience - many dressed as transsexuals or something in between - filled the theatre for the tour of the Rocky Horror Show, which is in town until the weekend. When you arrive at the theatre don't be surprised so see men in fishnets and cheap wigs and ladies looking like goths. This is a show where at least...

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Travel can be exhausting: Travels With My Aunt

noreply@blogger.com (Paul In London) — Wed, 08 May 2013 13:00:00 PDT

Travels With My Aunt, a revival of Giles Havergal's adaptation of Graham Greene's novel, is currently playing at the Menier Chocolate Factory and it is an enjoyable evening and a great looking production... And the four middle aged men playing all the roles are pretty good too, although it does feel like you are watching a wonderful radio play at times... The story is about a retired...

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High melodrama and aural pleasures: Don Carlo

noreply@blogger.com (Paul In London) — Wed, 08 May 2013 01:30:00 PDT

The Royal Opera's revival of its 2008 production of Don Carlo is a thrilling and breathtaking evening. This opera has it all. Grand spectacle, high melodrama, romance gone wrong, and enough plots and subplots for several operas. But the fine vocal and dramatic performances from the cast and thrilling sounds from the orchestra under the baton of Antonio Pappano take this revival to another...

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Sssmouldering Sunday night cabaret: Miss Hope Springs

noreply@blogger.com (Paul In London) — Tue, 07 May 2013 01:00:00 PDT

Miss Hope Springs has a regular Sunday night Cabaret show at The Crazy Coqs in Piccadilly. She now has a new show "Latin a la Springs" which injects a bit of bossa nova and sophistication into the Sunday night proceedings (well a double bass and a syncopated beat always sounds a bit of sophisticated if you ask me). Miss Hope Springs is a surprise as you don't just get a cabaret...

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Rotten tomatoes and other leakage: Desperately Seeking the Exit

noreply@blogger.com (Paul In London) — Fri, 03 May 2013 22:00:00 PDT

A few years ago, Peter Michael Marino managed to do what many people dream of doing. Without much trouble he managed to write a musical, get a producer interested in it and get it produced on the West End. It was 2007 and Desperately Seeking Susan had its debut on the West End with songs from Blondie. Unfortunately the end result was that the show was a flop and the creative process left him...

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Re-emerging acts: Eve Ferret in Cabaret

noreply@blogger.com (Paul In London) — Thu, 02 May 2013 22:00:00 PDT

Eve Ferret, former 80's performer and occasional movie star has been doing the rounds in recent years with a series of different cabaret events at various venues across London. On Monday night this week she was at the Cabaret spot The Crazy Coqs in Piccadilly doing her thing. Her thing has been described as part inspired by Miss Kitty Russell from Gunsmoke, but it could equally be part...

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Not quite jungle red: Britain's Got Talons

noreply@blogger.com (Paul In London) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 13:00:00 PDT

Britain's Got Talons is an interesting concept that explores the bizarre obsession for TV talent shows, the people that make them and the people that show up on them. It is set backstage behind a notorious (and fictional) talent show. When one of the judges is murdered it is left to a lowly office assistant to investigate the murder in between making teas and taking down notes from the...

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Quick and not quite magical looks: Die Zauberflöte

noreply@blogger.com (Paul In London) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 02:00:00 PDT

This current sold out run of Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute) at the Royal Opera is a curiosity that veers from being full of life to being a drag (and back again). It makes for a night out, but not a particularly magical one. There is some fine singing (although not from everyone) and the occasional wonderful set piece, but the end result is that this production lacks a bit of fun and...

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Life in London: stalking spring joggers in spandex

noreply@blogger.com (Paul In London) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 15:30:00 PDT

There is always the thrill of the first sunny and warm day of the year. Sunday just past was that sort of day. As temperatures hit above fifteen degrees celsius, people took to the parks and the streets to enjoy the great outdoors. And joggers took to the streets to celebrate... Wearing their best synthetic fibres... Shorts and t-shirts were curiously absent. Read more...

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Brief flames and passion: Nabucco at the Royal Opera

noreply@blogger.com (Paul In London) — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 22:30:00 PDT

The Royal Opera's new production of Nabucco has received some mixed reviews - particularly with the sandpit staging - but catching the final night where Leo Nucci was playing the title role, it was clear that fine music making and some extraordinary singing will keep you on the edge of your seat. The production has updated the period to the twentieth century but for the most part this does...

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Death, reflections and reflex actions: Untold Stories

noreply@blogger.com (Paul In London) — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 13:30:00 PDT

Alan Bennett's Untold Stories at the Duchess Theatre is an opportunity to sample two short stories from Bennett's life recounting his experiences with his parents. It is an enjoyable and contemplative evening at the theatre. It possibly is a little too quiet and contemplative as I could hear and see a few members of the audience nodding off to sleep in the first, shorter piece. The...

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Art, death and decay: Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum

noreply@blogger.com (Paul In London) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 04:30:00 PDT

The British Museum's Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum is a wonderful way to start to appreciate the richness and beauty that has been uncovered from these two ancient towns. Over 250 artifacts, some which have never ventured out of Italy are on display and attempt to piece together the ordinary life of the Roman home and the people who lived in them. There are the obligatory...

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Disorder in the house: This House

noreply@blogger.com (Paul In London) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 21:00:00 PDT

This House by James Graham, back for return season at The National Theatre, is a political drama (and comedy) that manages to capture the excitement and the insanity of its time. It covers the period between 1974 to 1979 which was the last time there was a minority government running the country. With a wafer-thin majority the government was not expected to survive and it was the role of the...

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Scenes from a Sunday in the park...

noreply@blogger.com (Paul In London) — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 13:00:00 PDT

Parks and recreation on a Sunday... As told by Vine...

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Taking no prisoners: Gibraltar

noreply@blogger.com (Paul In London) — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 09:00:00 PDT

The shooting of three unarmed terrorists by the Special Air Service in 1988 is the backdrop for an analysis of the media, press coverage, spin and counter spin in Gibraltar. Currently playing downstairs at the Arcola Theatre, it is a minimalistic production that blends factual accounts and testimonies with fictional analysis. It works best when it is a semi staged reading that mixes the...

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Music meaning and laughs: Tiffany Graves in the house

noreply@blogger.com (Paul In London) — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 01:30:00 PDT

Closing out the season of Cabaret at Lauderdale House on Highgate Hill, Tiffany Graves delivered a memorably funny and high spirited show last Sunday. Lauderdale House is a former private home that has been transformed into an arts and education centre and has been running Sunday afternoon events for some time. Graves delivered a wonderfully comedic and powerful collection of songs that she...

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Ambiguity and postal orders: The Winslow Boy

noreply@blogger.com (Paul In London) — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 02:00:00 PDT

The Winslow Boy, currently playing at The Old Vic, is a lovely piece of entertainment about how a middle class family in Edwardian England risks everything to see that a mild injustice is overcome. But it is somewhat hard to sustain interest in its near three hour length when the characters are only defined by how they relate in society and legal arguments relate to a particularly obscure piece...

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On a bad day: Darling of the Day

noreply@blogger.com (Paul In London) — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 03:00:00 PDT

It is appropriate that the Union Theatre, which has a reputation for fresh perspectives on old shows, has given Darling of the Day, a forgotten musical from the 1960s, its first European Revival. The show with music by Jule Styne ran on Broadway for only 31 performances and attempts to revive over the years have stalled. Perhaps the reason it has been ignored is that it is just not a...

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Curious and sweet: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

noreply@blogger.com (Paul In London) — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 04:54:00 PDT

It was an exciting and enjoyable opening night of the West End transfer of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time earlier this week. Not just because of the various well-known faces and fans of the cast in the audience, but this is an intelligent and emotional play that is hard to resist. While I missed its run at The National Theatre, you are swept up in the sensitive story of a boy...

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Fragmented blood and lust: Written on Skin fires

noreply@blogger.com (Paul In London) — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 08:00:00 PDT

There was style, passion and violence going around in spades at the Royal Opera's premiere of George Benjamin's new work, Written on Skin, Friday evening. Directed by Katie Mitchell, it is a big lavish production where angels look down on the unfolding story based upon the old fable Le Coeur Mangé (The Eaten Heart). It is a story about a powerful protector who engages an artist to...

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Another look at bathroom mind games: Mydidae

noreply@blogger.com (Paul In London) — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 13:00:00 PDT

The last time I saw Mydidae in December the full frontal nudity seemed a bit of a novelty. Now a few months later and transferred to the Trafalgar Studios, it is not the only show in the West End where the actors bare all, but they are probably still the only ones with a fully-plumbed bathroom. While the prospect of seeing actors live and vulnerable is no doubt enough to arouse the interest of...

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