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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...

Theatre: Major Barbara

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After dealing with a head cold for the last few days, the offer to see the first night preview of Major Barbara at the National Theatre with the West End Whingers seemed like a sensible enough diversion. Well... Any excuse for a trip to the theatre for those bloggers of stage... I was wondering whether the usual drinking and carrying on at interval would be so appropriate with the play featuring the Salvation Army, but nobody else shared this view. I also had a theory that the audience would be full of Salvation Army members. This turned out to be incorrect too. Instead the audience was full of was old people (and bloggers perhaps) and it felt like it was pension day. Old people audiences are great as they laugh at all the right spots and generally don't talk. But they do smell of moth balls and forget to turn their mobiles off. I noticed one old girl in the row in front of me also preferred to read Bernard Shaw's text from a scrappy paperback rather than see it. Some of thes...

Overheard on the Victoria Line Monday evening

French woman: My country is so beeeg Woman: Yes, it is.

Not the news this week in London

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DUBYA Believing Standard , originally uploaded by bixentro . It may not be news, but for £75 you can have your own bit of East End graffiti ...

Scenes from Deal Sunday

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Deal tourist information , originally uploaded by Paul-in-London . A trip out of London to the Kent Coast today was a chance to appreciate some of the historic sites of this area...

Overheard at Oxford Circus Bus Stop Saturday

Man: You know... It is much better getting the train... Woman: It is? Man: Yeah like... With driving you get caught in traffic... It takes ages... While the train... Woman: Oh yeah... Man: Yeah...

Hot news this week in London...

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Evening standard , originally uploaded by renaissancechambara . Al Fayed vamping it up at the never ending Coroner's enquiry into the death of Diana.

Concert: Ute Lemper

There are some people I would pay to see even if they sat on stage and read a phone book. Just out of sheer curiosity to see what they would do with it. Ute Lemper is one of those people to me. And when you become a fan, you buy their CDs and you put up with their eccentricities like that last never ending track on the album of Punishing Kiss or all that annoying screeching on the Grapefruit Moon track on Blood and Feathers . On the other hand someone recently told me that they no longer see her shows as "her head is so far up her own arse that it all feels like a bit of an ego trip". I saw the Ute with Alice at the Shaw Theatre Thursday night and he definitely agreed with that last sentiment. And given the number of people getting up and leaving during the course of the show maybe this wasn't an isolated view. Well the show started late and the seats at the Shaw toward the rear of the theatre resemble QANTAS economy so maybe they just had to get up and have a stretch...

Overheard at the gym Monday

Man #1: So what are you doing tonight? Man #2: Ah just a general workout so I can get in shape for Sydney...