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Still here: While They Were Waiting - Upstairs At The Gatehouse

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As the song goes, time heals everything. Or as another song says, it's time after time. Yet waiting—for a moment, a minute, or even a while—can feel like a chore. In Gary Wilmot’s slightly absurd and silly While They Were Waiting, the focus is on waiting and wordplay. No opportunity is missed to find more than one meaning in what is said. A debate arises about the difference between a smidge and a whisker. There's a playful riff on how you can be here and over there at the same time, depending on your standpoint. If this piece has a point at all, it depends on what you find funny. The concept of waiting-related language is, in itself, amusing, and there is plenty to laugh about in this show. It’s currently playing at Upstairs at the Gatehouse . The premise is simple: Mulbery (Steve Furst) arrives for an appointment and is kept waiting. What the appointment is for, we are not clear about but he is waiting for a yellow door to open. Nobody answers when he rings. He’s joined by th...

Essential music: Life of the Party @MenChocFactory

For the next couple of weeks, The Life of the Party - A Celebration of the Songs of Andrew Lippa, is playing at the Menier Chocolate Factory. For anyone with the slightest interest in new musical theatre this is a show not to miss.

While Andrew Lippa's shows have not had big West End or Fringe productions (yet), the evening is an opportunity to savour the best of all of them.  

He is joined by Caroline O'Connor, Damian Humbley and Summer Strallen, and it is an opportunity to hear and appreciate his songs, in a more intimate setting and savour the music and intricate lyrics.


The evening ranges from quiet reflection to rolling in the aisles hilarity. But each of the songs are delivered with passion and inventiveness. Over the course of the evening you also get the chance to see Summer Strallen in a dominatrix outfit and Caroline O'Connor playing a jaded lesbian in the show stopping "Old Fashioned Love Story" from The Wild Party.

Lippa's shows include John & Jen, The Wild Party, The Addams Family and Big Fish. There is also an excerpt from his new oratorio I Am Harvey Milk, which was premiered by the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus.

It also seemed quaint for the Spotify / digital download era we live in, but for anyone that still has such a wonderful contraption for playing music, he signs his CDs after the show as well...

A clip from YouTube where he performs his opening song "Mashall Levin" (albeit in less snazzy attire than at the Menier). The show runs until 14 June.

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