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Belters and bohemians: Opera Locos @Sadlers_wells

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At the start of the Opera Locos performance, the announcement says that they really are singing. You could be forgiven for wondering that, given the amplification turns up the backing track and the voices so loud that you can't always tell what's real. But this is a mostly harmless and slightly eccentric blend of opera classics fused with the occasional pop classic. However, recognising the pop tunes would help if you were over a certain age. The most recent of them dates back twenty years. It's currently playing at the Peacock Theatre .  Five performers play out a variety of archetype opera characters. There's the worn-out tenor (Jesús Álvarez), the macho baritone (Enrique Sánchez-Ramos), the eccentric counter-tenor (Michaël Kone), the dreamy soprano (María Rey-Joly) and the wild mezzo-soprano (Mayca Teba). Since my singing days, I haven't recognised these types of performers. However, once, I recall a conductor saying he wanted no mezzo-sopranos singing with the s

Idle Chatter on Clapham High Street

Sun and weddings...

New look for blog

I decided that I needed a new look for the blog and one that would make use of larger computer screens that seem to be the standard nowadays... What do you people think?

Scenes from a Soho Bar Saturday 21:41

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The ceiling on this bar was covered in mirror balls... They looked like they were ready to hatch and unleash mirror ball peril onto the unsuspecting punters on the dancefloor... Or I was still hungover from last nights drinks and they were just doing my head in...

Scenes from a Covent Garden Bar Friday 19:44

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Shoes and old cigarettes...

Overheard near Carnaby Street Thursday Evening...

Woman on mobile : Well I just wanted to say "Fancy a shag?" to the first guy I met, but then this guy comes up to me and I ask him what does he do and he says "I'm Naomi Campbell's agent" so I then say, "How aaaaare you?"

Theatre: The Life of Galileo

Tuesday night I caught The Life of Galileo at the National Theatre. This is a new translation by David Hare of the Bertolt Brecht play. It is an epic story (at three hours and two intervals) but still an engaging tale of how Galileo as a genius in the scientific world was unable to deal with the consequences of his genius. He was a scientist not a politician, but to state that the earth moved around the sun challenged the entire notions of Heaven and Earth so was tantamount to heresy. Simon Russell Beale as Galileo leads a terrific ensemble as the story unfolds from his scientific discoveries to his condemnation and eventual redemption as his work is smuggled out of Italy. David Hare's translation and the production kept things at a brisk enough pace, although a three hour play after a day at work is a challenge both for the actors and the audience.  It was a packed performance too which just goes to show that Brecht too can be accessible… By the end of the play the real victory w

News: Bicycling

Rabid cyclists are an everyday hazzard on London roads and footpaths. If they aren't trying to run you down while you're crossing the road, they are attempting to steal your mobile while you're talking on it and walking down Clapham High Street. Now there is a plan to teach cyclists and drivers not to jump red lights ... Next year there will be a plan to teach drivers that the green light thingy means it is safe to proceed... In the longer term there is a plan to teach drivers how to drive down a street without clipping the external mirrors on parked cars... Of course silly cycle stories pale in comparison to the news of Steve Irwin's death, which promoted a flurry of tributes on websites including one on a BBC newsgroup which said, "He will be truly mist and never forgotten for his dangerous moves on camera with animals..." Crikey indeed...

Scenes from the Barbican Gate 9 Sunday 17:20

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It is all very straight forward getting out of the Barbican... Sort of... Finding one's way home after catching the last day of the Satirical London exhibition at the Museum of London.

Overheard on the N155 Bus Saturday...

Man on phone : Well when I say I'm with people I mean all the other people on the 155 bus to Tooting. I mean they're like strangers you know…

Scenes from outside Mary Poppins Saturday 17:04

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Rickshaws waiting for the matinee to end...