Comedy: Dina Martina

Dina at Wigstock a few years back... We were treated to the fiddle as well...

Thursday evening I was one of the "peeps" who caught Dina Martina at the Soho Theatre. Dina is part typical drag act and part something else. With a wig that looked like it was inspired by one of Liza's fights with Gest, makeup inspired by a clown, and a belly that was all his/hers, it was pretty out there (or as Dina would say, "Off the charts!")...

But as the 80 minute performance went on it was clear that there was a real character in the making and it will be interesting to see her again in a few years. Best parts were the songs with forgotten lyrics, advice on how to deal with global warming (kill or the animals in the sea as that will make the water levels drop), and the mispronounciations of words. I particularly liked the soft "g" in her segment of the show called "gifts to give" which became "jiffs to jiv"... Thanks to Dina, I will try and work that into my everyday conversation in future... 

Since most bars in London (unlike in Australia) don't have resident drag queens it was nice to see one in London, even if she was from Vegas... Perhaps a bigger audience would have helped with the atmosphere of the evening, but even with the theatre half full it was obvious there already are a few London devotees...

Movies: Iron Man

Iron Man, originally uploaded by Luffyd.

Caught the movie Iron Man on Wednesday evening as on a warm sunny evening it seemed like a good idea at the time. Besides there are not enough super hero stories set against war-torn Afghanistan (with the occasional nice shot of Miami).

While there was a lot to enjoy about it, after seeing it I had a few questions:

• Why were there so many product tie-ins for crap products?
  
• Why did Robert Downey Jr's character go for models who had too much sun and dimply skin?
• Why do the agents from S.H.I.E.L.D look like they are from the gay mafia?
• Did Jeff Bridges shave his head and grow a beard just to look more evil??
  
• Was that final battle sequence made up of out-takes from the Transformers movie?
  
• And just how the hell do you take a leak in that suit?
  

Bank Holiday Banter...

Man #1: Don't I know you from somewhere?
Paul: Hmm I don't know you look familiar...
Man #1: You from Australia?
Paul: I'm from Brisbane are you?
Man #1: I lived in Sydney for a while...
Paul: Oh I see that doesn't help...
Man #1: Ah man I'm sure I'll work it out but I'm buzzing right now...

Hot news this week in London...

The Headlines from The Evening Standard, originally uploaded by robbyredbird.

Don't panic...

Opera: The Minotaur

I caught the last night of the Harrison Birtwistles's new opera The Minotaur on Saturday at The Royal Opera. It is a thrilling and slightly disturbing opera (not to mention bloody too). Mind you, before the interval an elderly couple walked out. Maybe all that blood and rape and horror and gore was a bit too much for them. But that's new opera for you... At times I was wondering whether I was watching a high culture horror show (although I could have done with more blood and more realistic killings if that was the case).

The first appearance of the Minotaur (played by John Tomlinson) was a pretty dramatic moment and for nearly three hours the show didn't let up. Still, there is a lot to like about this opera starting with the music. The production design and the costumes - particularly the bulls head - were particularly creepy. The final battle sequence (depicted above) literally had everyone in my section on the edge of their seats (although that was party due to the fact we were in the cheap seats and had a partially obscured view). While the run has finished for now I suspect this isn't the last we have heard of this new work...

Theatre: Spamalot

Well, at least there was Nina Söderquist

It isn't often that I am put off seeing a show just because I have heard the cast album. But when I heard Spamalot a few years back I thought it was such crap that I waited until the ticket prices dropped through the floor before going to see it. Perhaps the show is on its last legs. The show has been a huge hit on Broadway but seems to be struggling here. Monty Python wrote some hilarious music in their day, but you wouldn't know it with this lamely written show that serves up lines like:
We're going off to war
We'll have girlfriends by the score
We'll be shot by Michael Moore
Because we're not yet dead

Sitting in the front row you can just smell the stench of stale satire. It was a very tame night and hardly the bloody and silly enjoyment of the film that this musical "lovingly rips off". Anything slightly risqué seems to have been cut or toned down (so no oral sex jokes) to the point that instead there are stereotypes of French mimes, cheerleaders and a big musical number about Jews on Broadway theatre (the lyrics were rewritten but it was hard to hear what they were singing anyway since the balance wasn't very good)... Pretty uninspired stuff...

Anyway, all can be somewhat forgiven when the price of the ticket is less than the cost to go to the cinema. I took Fraser, who is always nagging me that I don't mention him on my blog (and to which I reply if he went to the theatre with me there would be a much better chance of getting a mention). He is a little ambivalent about musical theatre, but after seeing Gone With The Wind I figured that is enough to make you want to stay away from the West End for years so we made a great pair. Who knows maybe if I see one more production by Trevor Nunn and I will never return to the theatre and start hanging 'round in bars?

The music and stale satire aside, the show is rather well put together and there are some of Monty Python's sketches that have survived the musicalisation pasteurisation. So much so that in two scenes Fraser snorted so I took that to mean he was laughing.

But Tuesday night's performance also seemed to overall lack the comic timing necessary to make the show genuinely funny. Only the performances by Nina Söderquist and Jake Nightingale (as the Lady of the Lake and various characters respectively) seemed to rise to the challenge of giving the show the laughs it needs. Söderquist won the role in a Swedish television show which seems like a pretty good idea if they can find performers like this.

Alas the biggest problem with the show was the central character of King Arthur played by Alan Dale. Sitting in the front row, even then it was hard to tell if he was alive. The role of King Arthur doesn't have all the laughs, but straight men should be able to deliver lines with a little enthusiasm and timing. Alas instead he gave the character of King Arthur a weird creepiness that would have been more suited playing an Austrian in the Sound of Music (or perhaps just any old Austrian). When Arthur kissed the Lady of the Lake the obvious age difference did make me wonder a little about art imitating life... Browsing through the programme at intermission it was probably the first instance where I gazed at the bios of the understudies sighing at what could have been. Actually there were quite a few of the ensemble and swing that weren't bad performers... Or lookers for that matter...

All told, the show will make a great musical for the amdram circuit, but unless you are seeing it for cheap, get the movie out on DVD. There is less singing, but it is much funnier. Still there was something Fraser and I took away from the show. Later in the evening we both were Googling the ensemble and swing members to see if they had any fan sites. Alas they did not. What is with these up and coming actors? Not a website between them... Oh well...

Not in London: Paris Orangina

240420085075, originally uploaded by Paul-in-London.

The bears are hotter in Paris...

Not in London: Street Theatre Paris

23-04-2008, originally uploaded by Paul-in-London.

Still on holidays this week and soaking up the sights of Paris for a few days... The great thing about French street theatre is that it is so bad you don't mind not giving them any money for it. This one I caught yesterday afternoon basically involved a woman wearing a fox fur (I had to correct my sister who thought it was a beaver) shouting profanities. Every once in a while the man in the white shirt would slap her about a bit. Bearing this in mind I thought I was watching it again tonight when a man started attacking another man with an iron (the kind you use on shirts). It was only when the police started to appear on rollerblades that I started to think that maybe this wasn't so avant garde afterall...

Overheard at the Tate Sunday...

Woman #1: What about Mr Whippy?
Woman #2: Mr Whippy!!
Woman #3: I hate Mr Whippy!

Scenes from a deli in South Kensington Saturday...

19-04-2008, originally uploaded by Paul-in-London.

Hmm... Nice camel toe...

Hot news this week in London...

180420084784, originally uploaded by Paul-in-London.

Apparently the French were to blame... Easterly winds bringing their smelly cheese and their smelly dogs over the south east...

Overheard at Waterloo Station

Man on mobile: I wanna know who's been saying these things about me so I can sue their f----- pants off!

Hot news this week in London...

WELCOME TO SUNNY SOUTH LONDON, originally uploaded by the_moog.

It isn't true that all of South London is in the clutches of this... Just Crystal Meth Palace...

Overheard on the London Eye Tuesday...

Man #1: You see I told him... You come to this company... You do some time here and those that really make their mark are the ones who get the networks running... Get the contacts...
Man #2: Yeah... And...
Woman #1 (interrupting): You're not all talking business here are you?

Scenes from West End Whingers Party

West End Whingers Party, originally uploaded by Paul-in-London.

I went to the West End Whingers Party and all I got was smarm... That's about right...