Hmm... That's deliciously naughty...
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Scenes from West End Live Saturday 15:30
Saturday the London Gay Men's Chorus took part in West End Live in Leicester Square. Not only was it a preview of the upcoming show Songs of Innocence and Experience at Cadogan Hall (July 4 and 5), but it was a chance to show off the new chorus uniform of coloured shirt... And chinos... Tickets on sale now for our concert and West End Live continues Sunday...
West End Live is a great showcase for what's currently on stage and well worth checking out... The rather fit cast from High School Musical on stage preceded our Saturday afternoon slot certainly got our attention...
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Theatre: Lord of the Rings (finally)
As I suspected... There is a photo on flickr posted by someone who sat in a similar seat as I did when they saw Lord of the Rings - the overproduced, spectacular (bit like Wicked) but woefully acted (unlike Wicked) musical on stage spectacular that is playing at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane until mid July.
Arriving at the theatre Wednesday night, It was quite a sight to be greeted with hobbits playing around. But more intriguing was the scene that was unfolding right behind me. An usher, after telling an old Italian woman that she could not take photos, wanted to confiscate the camera and return it to her after the show after he caught her taking another photo. She was having none of that and so someone more senior was called and harsh words including "breach of copyright" and "£20,000 fine". The woman didn't speak much English and as the show started and the harsh words continued, I started asking around how do you say, "For Chrissske give the usher the fucking camera" but nobody knew Italian... In the end it wasn't necessary as the argument resolved itself before Bilbo disappeared so everyone around was grateful and could get on with watching the show. Still... the internet has many more breaches of copyright online as this photo attests... And obviously many are a lot sneakier around the ushers...
As for the show... Well it has been reviewed to death... It was lovely to look at and technically quite clever... But I found most of the performances to be lacking anything other than shouting and big gestures. It lacked any heart or any interest in the majority of characters. Special mention has to go to the role of Galadriel who had me in hysterics with her grand gestures and unusual way of speaking that made me wonder if the character had been smoking some unusual herbs growing in the Golden Wood.
While music features throughout, it isn't really a musical. Actually it is hard to tell what it is. Sometimes it is a bit musical, other times it is a bit drama, even once it gets a bit Cirque du Soleil... All told... a rather expensive production (£12million) that would seem to be more suited at Vegas or arena spectacular than the West End. But since it is only here until 19 July... It is worth a look... Cheap tickets abound right now for it as well...
Best thing were the Orcs... Dressed up in what looked like a combination of leather, rubber, large codpieces and masks, when they started terrorising the audience between acts in the second half you could be forgiven they were out for a night in Vauxhall... Grrrrr indeed....
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Scenes from Piccadilly Circus Saturday
Just what London needs more of... Full frontal nudity... This time it was the World Naked Bike Ride in London to protest against oil dependency (timely as strikes close some petrol stations) and getting back to nature... It certainly stopped traffic... And there were all sorts of body shapes and slogans like "more ass, less gas" on display... It was all done in the best possible taste...
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Theatre: 2000 Feet Away
Publicity still for 2000 Feet Away: Phyllis Logan, Joseph Fiennes and Ian Hart
Source:offwestend.com
I was talking to an actor recently who was horrified to learn that out there in the blogosphere, there are bloggers that go to previews and review the work before the official press night... He was initially horrified and then angry. After slowly stepping away from the actor and getting back to the real world, I thought it must be strange for some people to comprehend how people pay for a show and then talk about it afterwards... It is as if the phrase "word of mouth"didn't exist before blogging... It seems to be the latest thing for actors to moan about bloggers even if it is what they have to appear in that is at fault...
So with all that in mind, I am blogging about going to a preview of 2000 Feet away by Anthony Weigh on Friday night at the Bush Theatre. I don't know what made me want to go see this play about sex offenders and a local sheriff responsible for enforcing a law keeping them away places where children may gather... But I am glad that I did. It must have been the power of some great email marketing in late May that did it. I didn't even realise that the cast included Joseph Fiennes. Richard joined me to see the play. I saw Dina Martina at the Soho Theatre with him and he thought there was a common theme in the sort of entertainment we have been seeing together: sexual abuse... If we keep that up the mind boggles thinking about what we are going to see next...
This play was first presented in Sydney last year and there was a view then it had nine scenes yet to make a coherent play. I am assuming it developed further (or that reviewer was bonkers), as what we were presented with was a very cleverly put together series of scenes that while may have been stylistic, were always sharp and funny... And there never was a dull moment... All the performances were amazing including by the young cast members. It was also interesting that this cast seemed to fare better than most in London in being able to perform with genuine American accents.
Being Bush Theatre virgins and having spent a little longer at the bar next door, we had to take one of the unreserved seats closer to the performance area. I noticed those who appeared more experienced with seeing productions here took the seats further back. However sitting on one of the sides does have its advantages as you can check out the rest of the audience while pretending to be watching the play... You also were so close to the performers you could reach out and touch them... Not that you would want to try that, but you could see every detail and nuance of the performances. So much so that Richard informed me afterwards he was sure Joseph was wearing boxer briefs.
Earlier this week when it was a bit warmer, a luvvie had also told me I better wear a t-shirt and shorts going to the Bush Theatre as it is hot... I can gladly report that this advice was out of date... While the weather had cooled by the end of the week, the Bush Theatre also now has air conditioning.
So all told, I saw the play in preview... But I thought it was great... I'm sure by the time press night rolls around tomorrow night it will be amazing... Unsurprisingly it has sold out but day seats remain available... It must be that good word of mouth...
Friday, June 13, 2008
Hot news this week in London...
It all happens in Stoke Newington... Except basic sub editing skills...
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Overheard on Clapham High Street Wednesday
Woman on phone: Yeah and he like followed me all the way to where I was getting my eyebrows done... Can you believe that? Can you? Can you?
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Scenes from the Underground Saturday Evening (burp)
It was a classy night on the tube as people took advantage of the last night it was legal to drink alcohol on public transport... I guess that marks the end of that trick where you stand on a Circle Line train holding nothing but a can of beer and you keep going around and around until you keel over or pass out or vomit... Footage set to the music of "Dancing Queen" also on Youtube...
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Movies: Sex and the City
I nearly didn't catch Sex and The City on Thursday night with Fliss as the first three cinemas I tried, it had already sold out... It is obviously the movie of the week. Fortunately the O2 centre had some seats and so that is where we caught it. With around 700 die hard fans of the series. Who were mostly women. With a smattering of self-conscious boyfriends... And a few gays... Fliss had to explain to her men-folk that she was going to this movie with her gay friend because she knew they wouldn't want to see it. One of them is jealous of our relationship but that's just because he doesn't have a filthy mind or a sense of humour...
Actually I was disappointed with the gay turnout for a movie about (to borrow from a Simpsons episode) four gay men living in New York city... Played by women... But then again this is North Greenwich... As the film started people started cheering. I don't understand the cheering. I think these women need to get out more...
Anyway is the film any good? Well being a fan of the series (having watched every episode at least twice) I guess I could forgive its flaws such as:
- Lack of credible plot and ludicrous dialogue
- Really unflattering lighting of the leading ladies (is this a trend nowadays to make ladies on screen look as bad as possible? Like they are getting on, but do we need to see how the plastic surgery and botox is desperately trying to work?)
- Wondering if Kim Cattrall was wearing horse hair (was this SJP's revenge for the fact they hate each other?)
- Two overlong clothing montages that lacked the style of The Sweetest Thing
- A collection of the most dreary pop tracks ever inflicted on a chick flick. When Al Green starts singing as two characters meet on the Brooklyn Bridge, you will want to reach for an (empty) popcorn bucket
All these flaws with the movie don't really matter much however. Even Sex on a bad day is better than nothing . This movie is also going to be huge because all we have had to watch for the past four years are episodes of Desperate Housewives... Interestingly on screen, the year is missing from any dates that are shown (such as emails, newspapers etc). It does feel like the film is trapped in a time warp. It even backs the wrong Democrat... There are references to Hilary on the film but none about Obama. Things have changed since 2004, even if the writers and producers assumed they had not... Anyone who isn't a fan or the series should steer well clear (and girls who drag their boyfriends to this movie will owe them big time)...
Monday, May 26, 2008
Movies: Indiana Jones and something or other about a crystal skull
Friday evening I went to the Odeon Leicester Square to see the latest Indiana Jones and the very long title movie... I am glad they have shortened it to just "Indy" on the posters as that saves a lot of time. Despite the price of the ticket, the Odeon Leicester Square is a great place to go to see a movie with die-hard groupies (and is less likely than most other London Odeon cinemas to smell like a toilet and have bad sound). People cheered and carried on as if it were a football match...
While my friend Adam is a fan of the series, he wasn't as hard core as half the crowd at the sold out Friday evening screening who came wearing brown leather jackets and hats. It was like a window into another world. All throughout London, seemingly normal and straight men had tucked away in their closets an Indiana Jones costume (complete with khaki trousers and shirt). They may have had whips too but I wasn't checking out what was below their belts... For a movie franchise that is all about fun and adventure these guys seem to be taking it very seriously.
As for the movie, it is just as good as the others, but that doesn't mean to say its a great picture. This one suffered from looking like it was shot on a sound stage a few too many times... But it is isn't the dud flick that the internet gossip was suggesting... Nice acting too by Cate Blanchett as the villainess and John Hurt as the crazy man (John Hurt playing John Hurt really)...
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