A local candidate is even promising to arrive on scene and disrupt the goings on... Ron Davies should have thought about that as an excuse rather than badgers...
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Rehearsals: week three
Rehearsals for the Christmas concert were progressing as normal as could be expected and then Sasha whipped out his fish...
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Theatre: 365
I wasn't quite sure what to expect from seeing 365. It played at the Edinburgh Festival to some very positive reviews, but a two hour play about children in care taking their first steps to independence seemed like an unusual way to spend a Saturday evening at the theatre. Since it was based in Scotland I dragged fellow chorister Stephen to see it since he was from Glasgow and I figured he could help with the translation (well of the accents anyway). I was hoping I would get away with nudging him and asking from time to time "Wha-did-he-say? Wha-did-he-say??" This sort of worked...
The play unfolds telling the stories of a group of children who pass through a "practice flat" as they gain their first steps to living independently and... adulthood. There is much scope for dream-like sequences, music and movement and these appear throughout and help make what could be a depressing subject a little more insightful and dare I say it... Even entertaining.
While at nearly two hours it felt a little long, overall the play was curiously enjoyable if quirky at times. I wasn't always engaged by the large cast of characters and it wasn't just because of their accents, but perhaps a deliberate attempt at realism. I could live with this, but even in this fractured state I couldn't help but think some of the stories within the play felt like they could have taken more time to unfold, while others could have done with a trim. It runs until the end of next week at the Lyric Hammersmith, a cultural oasis in the motorway wasteland otherwise known as Hammersmith. Well at least the pizza at the theatre wasn't too bad, but after the show Stephen and I couldn't get out of there fast enough to get a drink in a decent part of town. Well after all this realism we needed a drink so we settled for Soho. After an evening's entertainment about children in care being offered stolen dildos, and charlie hardly seemed like a big deal...
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Idle Banter in Soho Saturday
Man #1: How much is he selling it for?
Paul: I think he said £20...
Man #2: Will he throw in lube for free?
Paul: Only if you want his spit...
Paul: I think he said £20...
Man #2: Will he throw in lube for free?
Paul: Only if you want his spit...
Monday, September 08, 2008
Rehearsals: The view from the back
The first rehearsals for the London Gay Men's Chorus started Monday evening... And it was a packed house... The concerts are at Cadogan Hall on December 19 and 20.
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Saturday, September 06, 2008
Front door conversation stoppers...
Pushy man from Npower: You know we are so much cheaper than British Gas
Paul: Yeah but what are your kilowatt hours like?
Pushy man from Npower: Uhhhhhhh....
Paul: Yeah but what are your kilowatt hours like?
Pushy man from Npower: Uhhhhhhh....
Friday, September 05, 2008
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Theatre: Joan Rivers A Work In Progress by a Life in Progress
I asked my friend Adam if he wanted to see Joan Rivers in her show and his response (in his best Joan voice) was, "Doo eye??? Doo eye ever???" Such is the pull of Joan Rivers with gay men. They love her. Can't get enough of her. Well, it was a silly question for me to ask.
So there we were on Wednesday night in the Leicester Square Theatre watching her new show. The show is part drama, part autobiography, and part stand up routine and it is great from start to finish. Joan doesn't quite look like she does in the picture when she first walks on, but that is part of the story as well. Being Joan Rivers she doesn't hold back talking about ageing. And she goes into every detail about things that drop...
I always love a filthy mouth and as Joan herself says (to paraphrase of course as I was laughing too much to really note the line), "When you reach 75 why can't you say motherfucker if it gives you enjoyment?" Well she says a lot more than that during the course of the show... She also mixed things up a little during the course of the evening including berating the audience for being a bit retarded, getting a gay man in the front row to help her with her zip, took the piss out of her actors, and she even let two members of the audience ask her questions (I think they thought it was a masterclass)...
All told it was a hilarious evening with Joan and she made the show her own. I was not as familiar as Adam was with her routines or her life (I think he should consider doing her act as he even corrected her chronology of events - although I shudder to think how he would look in one of her wigs), so the show was an extra treat for me. It runs through September, and then there are repeat performances in December and January. Definitely one to catch.
Incidentally I was impressed by the newly refurbished Leicester Square Theatre. It is a different sort of space (which the West End needs) and has two bars in the main theatre as well. There are also some fantastic acts coming up over the next few months that will also be worth looking out for...
At the theatre: joan rivers
She was gorgeous, great and at 75 still getting a great reaction from the audience... And when she didn't she told us what a lousy audience we were... Memorable moments included pointing out what a dump the west end is... Well those paving bricks look like they have been there for a while... More later...
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Trends in London this week...
I don't know about you, but I can't wait to piss on the high street...
Monday, August 25, 2008
Icons of London: Bus stops
That Olympic handover ceremony in Beijing yesterday was really a chance for an overlooked London icon to have its moment in the sun: the bus stop (not to be confused with the bendy bus in the background). While a bus stop looks like a needle in haystack in a large stadium, in its natural habitat it seems to be of sensible enough proportions... Looking forward to seeing other pieces of public infrastructure on display for the opening ceremony such as, double yellow lines and burst water mains...
Theatre: The Year Of Magical Thinking
Saturday night I finally caught up with The Year of Magical Thinking which has been playing since April at the National Theatre. Featuring Vanessa Redgrave on a chair, it tells the story of American author Joan Didion and how over a year she lost both her husband and her daughter and the process she went through in dealing with it (or more to the point not dealing with it). The play is based on her book however it exapnds the story to include the loss of her daughter as well. There is such a frank honesty to this story that even with the subject matter you can't help but be drawn into it. Perhaps it is the way it constantly asks the audience to reflect on this story as it will happen to all of us: the details will be different but the end result is the same. It was certainly was a novel way of reminding us all about our own mortality and how dealing with it is part of life.
Perhaps the subject matter (people die), the fact that it was the bank holiday weekend and people may not be up for death, or the dire state of the economy forcing people to cut back on trips to the theatre were reasons behind why the theatre wasn't very full. But for those of us there to see Redgrave's performance, we were all very grateful. A production that once it finishes its run at the National will no doubt continue to tour. And yet another enjoyable monologue to see in London this summer.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Overhead conversations of the summer...
Woman near Soho Square: I don't even say knickers any more; I just say, "get your daks off..."
Homeless man on Oxford Street: I 'ope your 'ouse 'as been buuuurgled...
Homeless man on Oxford Street: I 'ope your 'ouse 'as been buuuurgled...
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