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Showing posts from April, 2010

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Wine time: The Frogs - Southwark Playhouse

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For a show called The Frogs, there isn’t much amphibian activity in the piece. But being a show with music by Stephen Sondheim, you could be mistaken for thinking it’s a critical theatrical piece. But like Sondheim’s final musical playing at the National Theatre, while it may not be a musical that fills you with provocative thoughts, it’s a fast-paced romp through hell and back to save the world for the sake of arts. With rousing choruses, thrilling choreography and plenty of cheap laughs, what more can you want from the theatre? It’s currently playing at the Southwark Playhouse (Borough) . There isn’t much to the plot, except that Dionysus (Dan Buckley), disillusioned by the state of a divided world, and his sidekick and slave, Xanthias (Kevin McHale), cross the river Styx to the underworld to find a great writer who they can return to the world to teach the world about life. He has his mind set on bringing back George Bernard Shaw until he hears the poetry of Shakespeare.  This v...

Scenes from Springtime in London

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Posted via email from paulinlondon's posterous

Music: Daniel Boys

Thanks to a large volcanic ash cloud which stranded Johnnyfox in New York (not that he minded by his tweets ), I was lucky to catch Daniel Boys at Pizza on the Park Thursday evening. Daniel has appeared in various shows including Avenue Q and has recently released an album   So Close , that has become very popular... All of this has given him the opportunity to showcase his talents and charm in the intimate space of Pizza on the Park. It was Daniel, a great band and an audience. An audience that appeared to be mostly very appreciative women. There must be something about his boyish charm, enthusiasm and lovely vocals that drives women crazy. While they weren't throwing an underwear on stage I wondered whether this was simply because they weren't wearing any. Anyway, Daniel performed mostly on a stool behind a music stand and looked loveable. This might have seemed a bit odd if you were directly in front of him (unless you like singing music stands), but fortunately...

Opera: Il Turco in Italia and Prima Donna

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It was a weekend for checklist operas. Once you have seen them you can mark them off your list as never needing to see them again. First up was Il Turco in Italia at the Royal Opera. Here was a great cast let down by Rossini's over plotted and overlong opera. Still when the cast could sing and act it was hard to be annoyed and wish they would get on with it. Ildebrando d’Arcangelo as the prince and Aleksandra Kurzak as the errant wife made infidelity seem so glamorous too. I also wasn't so sure about the cardboard cutout set, but I did like the sleeping cat. There should be more stuffed animals in productions. The Royal Opera also continues its trend for non-singing beefcake in productions (following on from the Rake's Progress), with a muscle man parading in his speedos at the close to taunt Kurzak's character one more time. Leaving the theatre we almost ran into him racing towards the tube station. He was almost unrecognisable in his tight t-shirt but the glowing...

Scenes from the dog on the street

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Balls on the street Originally uploaded by Paul-in-London Balls to that...

Scenes from the man on the street

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IMG_1674 Originally uploaded by Paul-in-London Wired for sound