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Two Ladies: La Bella Bimba at Barons Court Theatre / Canal Cafe Theatre

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T hey sing. They dance. They clown around. They even wash clothes! Such is the story of La Bella Bimba, part of the Voila Theatre Festival, which highlights new and emerging artists. A tale of two Italian ladies who land in 1920s New York, trying to break into Broadway without speaking a word of English. It’s harmless, primarily even if a little nonsensical, and is currently playing as part of the Voila! Theatre Festival .  I caught the performance at the Barons Court Theatre , where the intimate setting created an evocative atmosphere reminiscent of dark New York alleyways. The space was almost claustrophobic with a distinct smell of rising damp, making you feel immersed in the story of two Ladies hanging around the theatre doors of Broadway. On the plus side, the theatre has some of the most comfortable seats you will find in any pub theatre in London. As the naive and hopeful singers, Co-creator Lucrezia Galeone as Carlotta and Sarah Silvestri as Cecilia are fine singers with co...

Rehearsal: True Colours

Rehearsals for the next concert of the London Gay Men's Chorus on December 16 are well underway, but Tuesday evening I found myself rehearsing the song True Colours with the small group, that will be part of the show in the second act. The first thing that struck me about the song was how much I didn't know it. Well I am not an expert on the Cindy Lauper canon, but I do know Time After Time much better. Was it Show me a smile, you with the sad eyes don't you realise or was it You with the sad smile, show me your courage though I realise or was it You with the sad eyes, don't be unhappy can't remember when ... I had no idea how two verses could sound so similar... But after a few lessons by rote I sort of got it... Lucky we have a few more rehearsals to go...

Hot news in London this week...

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GOOD OLD EVENING STANDARD , originally uploaded by D I C K S D A I L Y . Won't somebody please think of the children? Oh and Flickr user Dicksdaily has some great photos of London and worth checking out...

Hot news this week in London...

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News headlines , originally uploaded by BillT . He probably just needs a holiday...

Music: Music in 12 Parts

I am not quite sure what I was thinking when back in February I booked tickets to see Music in 12 Parts . Maybe it was the opportunity to see Philip Glass . Maybe it was the opportunity to hear a lot of his music (well at least during his minimalist phase). Whatever the reason, I wasn't prepared for four hours of music plus an hour and a half of breaks when I arrived at the Barbican Sunday. The piece is all about recurring musical structures that grow and change. I was entering the world of musical minimalism and wondering if I would ever escape. It didn't help either that I was surrounded by people with thick rimmed glasses and black turtlenecks. Is this a minimalist thing I wondered? I was glad that I wore a black shirt so I didn't stand out too much... As for the music, well listening to the minimalist music has a way of creeping up on you and becoming a bit hypnotic. By the first hour I was into it. Suddenly things like gestures by the ensemble members to the onstage m...

Idle Chatter Sunday

Paul: I got this text at 2am from this guy who had just arrived at Fire . I'd said earlier I might be there... Adam: What? Who goes out at 2am unless they are on drugs? Paul: Well you know what's good about guys on drugs? Adam: They're easy... Paul: Eeeexactly...

Scenes from Lambeth North Saturday evening

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201020072672 , originally uploaded by Paul-in-London . Tried looking for it but couldn't find it ...

Theatre: South Pacific

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Source:www.ukproductions.co.uk Friday I found myself in Wimbledon catching a touring production of South Pacific . I saw it not just because I was asked nicely to, and not just because I had never seen a production of it before, and not just because I had never been to the New Wimbledon Theatre before. I also went and saw it because there were loads of tits on show and frankly when the south pacific is this bare-chested , who can resist? Oh and some of the sailors didn't have shirts on either. While I have never seen a production of South Pacific before, I felt like I intimately knew it anyway. Growing up I heard it regularly as the cast album was a favourite of mum's. Watching the show was like going back to growing up back home in Oz... I can credit mum for introducing me to Funny Girl and South Pacific at an early age (she also is a fan of Evita but we don't talk about that). For some reason this fact is a tad amusing when I tell people this. But anyway, I suspect mum w...

Overheard at the Wimbledon Theatre Friday...

Man #1: Oh you wouldn't believe my weekend last. I picked up two women. One was 35 and had a 16 year old son, the other was 25 and had a nine year old daughter... Man #2: Oh wow man, great...