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Sleight of hand: The Fabulist @charingcrossthr

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Billed as a musical comedy, The Fabulist is actually a rare chance to see Giovanni Paisiello’s rarely performed light opera, The Imaginary Astrologers , translated and updated to Mussolini’s Italy. With sublime music, fine singing and a bit of additional silliness thrown in for good measure, it’s a welcome addition to the choices available on the West End. It’s currently playing at Charing Cross Theatre . In this update, the action moved to Italy in 1929. A magician (or, as he prefers to be called, Fabulist), Julian is on the run from both the fascists and the Catholic Church. On the run, he stumbles on a film shoot and dazzles the screenwriter Clarice with his charm while her sister tries to complete a series of mildly subversive historical films. What will win in a battle of ideas between science and magic, the church and the Fabulist? It’s an evening of light operatic comedy, so there are no prizes for guessing.  Experts in clerical fascism and fascist mysticism may find some of the

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...

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