For a natural process, death is not a topic that comes up naturally for people. We ask how people are doing but expect the response to be “I’m great”, not “I’m not dead yet”. And so for the main character in A Brief List of Everyone Who Died, Graciela has a death issue. Starting with when she was five and found out only after the matter that her parents had her beloved dog euthanised. So Graciela decides that nobody she loves will die from then on. And so this piece becomes a fruitless attempt at how she spends her life trying to avoid death while it is all around her. It’s currently having its world premiere at the Finborough Theatre . As the play title suggests, it is a brief list of life moments where death and life intervene for the main character, from the passing of relatives, cancer, suicides, accidents and the loss of parents. Playwright Jacob Marx Rice plots the critical moments of the lives of these characters through their passing or the passing of those around them. Howeve
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Sassy and sexy: Anything Goes @NewWimbTheatre and everywhere @AnythingGoesUK_
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Going on a cruise seems like an awful lot of fun if this high spirited production of Anything Goes is anything to go by.
The cast sing and dance their hearts out in Cole Porter's classic musical. There is so much to take in with the fast footed choreography, wonderful performances and imaginative staging. Leading the cast is Debbie Kurup as Reno Sweeney. It is hard not to be a member of her fan club after seeing her in this show. The character of Reno is a pretty sassy kind of broad being a nightclub singer, but here Kurup gives her a full characterisation. She has a terrific voice, a wonderful sense of comic timing and just a little bit of vulnerability. She leads an ensemble of terrific dancers and the two main dance numbers Anything Goes and Blow Gabriel Blow are nothing short of spectacular. Not to mention incredible feats of endurance.
There are so many strong performances in this production that every song and every scene seems to be a winner. Hugh Sach's as the b-list gangster Moonface shows that he doesn't just have comic timing but can also sing a great tune (albeit hilariously). Stephen Matthews as the uptight Lord Evelyn Oakley stops the show with his comic gypsy turn in the second half, performing in socks with suspenders. Alex Young as the flirtatious Erma also gives a nuanced, sweet but slightly naughty fresh take on Buddie Beware, which usually tends to be performed much more broadly. And Matt Rawle is always lovely as the song and dance man Billy.
As for the story, well when when Billy Crocker discovers that his heart’s desire, debutante heiress Hope Harcourt is engaged to an English aristocrat, he stows away aboard the S.S. American to win her back. That's all you really need to know. Throw in a few eccentric passengers on board the luxurious transatlantic liner, a few hot sailors and some sexy ladies you have the start of a great musical.
But the creative team and performances have lifted this show to another level. Directed by Daniel Evans, with choreography by Alistair David and musical arrangements by Nigel Lilley, this show is only in Wimbledon for another week but embarks on a lengthy tour this year and is one not to miss when it stops in town. You'll be tempted to stow away with them too.
⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎
A very excited post show reaction with @johnnyfoxlondon follows...
David McVicar's oddly modern production of Rigoletto is back at the Royal Opera House . This modern and minimalist dark production has evolved over the years. It is better lit now but there is still an orgy and full frontal nudity within the first thirty minutes. This enables anyone not in the stalls an excellent view of a flaccid penis and a nicely shaved bush. But as time goes it seems more and more superfluous to the main focus of this tragedy of a court jester who seeks revenge. Here is hoping that the production continues to evolve... Conductor John Eliot Gardiner keeps the music well paced. Dimitri Platanias in the title role sounded great and received a rapturous applause for his interpretation of the role. You get a sense more of the doting father rather than the court jester or cursed man here. Vittorio Grigolo plays the Duke and sounds too lovely to be the cad the role calls for, but it is hard not to like when he is on stage anyway. And it is easier to understan
Nowadays no self-respecting gay play can be staged without full frontal nudity of some kind. It feels like the default response for the modern gay play now that gay rights are no longer an issue . Afterglow, currently playing at Southwark Playhouse , serves it up in spades. From the beginning, three men are in a bed, naked. There’s what appears to be a very brief exhalation of ecstasy, before the obligatory rush to the shower. But the gratuitous nudity and excellent performances can’t conceal this is a pretty conventional and predictable story about a fantasy couple. The three men in the simultaneous orgasm at the start of the piece are Josh, Alex and Darius. Josh and Alex seem to live in a New York world where they can afford a rooftop apartment in Manhattan while holding jobs as a theatre director and a grad student in chemistry. As writer S. Asher Gelman based it on his own experiences, perhaps gay plays with full frontal nudity are the way to achieve financial security
Iranian-Canadian musical theater actor Ramin Karimloo is known for his work in the West End, performing in The Phantom of the Opera and Les Misérables, as well as debuting the role of the Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera sequel, Love Never Dies. Recently he finished a run playing Valjean in Les Miserables on Broadway and gained attention for not just his vocals but his physical strength. He is back in London and getting ready for a show (tonight) at the Palladium on 16 July. Later in the year he will be joining Victoria Hamilton-Barritt and Kerry Ellis in UK premiere of the off-Broadway musical Murder Ballad at the Arts Theatre. The Palladium show will be another opportunity to see Ramin and his band mix country and bluegrass with musical theatre (and vice-versa), after sellout shows at Islington’s Union Chapel in January. I sat down with Ramin shortly after his return to London. We talked about the shows, his fitness regime and how he is looking for a goo
