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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

a big breakfast in East Dulwich

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With the weekend a bit of a washout, it was a time for Full English Breakfasts. Saturday's was at Liquorish ... It may not look as good as the food presented at Tom's Kitchen (which is where I ate Sunday)... But it gives it a run for its money (and cheaper too)... Posted via email from paulinlondon's posterous

Theatre: Complicit

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img_0621 , originally uploaded by Paul-in-London . At intermission at Complicit Monday evening at the Old Vic it was a case of some people being complicit in staging photos featuring a very nice looking celebrity and director. Well some people at least seemed to be unnaturally excited to be in his theatre... Kevin Spacey is directing this new play by Joe Sutton with Richard Dreyfuss, Elizabeth McGovern and David Suchet in the cast. It is still in preview but early word has been all about Richard Dreyfuss using an earpiece to remember lines . It is earpiece-gate . Now after seeing it I have to sympathise with all the actors as they have some weighty dialogue to deliver at times. It is afterall, another play about life under the Bush administration. And perhaps as a new president is innaguarated, the punters aren't ready to relive the horrors of the past eight years. The play itself centres around a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist (Dreyfuss) who has to face a Grand Jury

Scenes from Tottenham Court Road

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End Of The Astoria , originally uploaded by Ronald Hackston . Wednesday night was the last night for the Astoria on Charing Cross Road. What was the venue for G-A-Y and many a wild crazy night for chicken and their admirers will soon be gone. The Guardian is asking its readers to share your beer-stained memories but I wouldn't dare do that. I think the only blog posting that I ever did that got a "you be careful" comment from my mother was in relation to the Astoria. The story is blogged somewhere here but it is probably best left unlinked as those days are behind me . Well, I'm sure wherever there are gays, there will be a place for Jason Donnovan to perform . Bring on the wrecking ball...

Theatre: Every Good Boy Deserves Favour

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Maybe it was the fact that it was an 8.45pm start, or that I had a rather hearty meal just before seeing it, but I found it hard to stay awake watching Every Good Boy Deserves Favour at the Olivier Theatre. The premise of a man hearing an orchestra in his head was interesting enough, but this work by Tom Stoppard and André Previn feels like three separate stories in one. The first story was the crazy guy with the triangle who hears the orchestra, the second being the one of the dissident, and the third being the perspective of his son. Throwing all three together, the play just didn't work. Judging by the audience's muted applause at the end, I don't think I was alone with that view. Still, there is the novelty factor of seeing an orchestra and play combined. And Toby Jones is a treat in the lead role. The odd moments of insanity seemed to suggest this could have been something better. But for the most part it just felt so dated. Like something that would have been stag

Scenes from a frosty Saturday in London

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gay , originally uploaded by BisForBabb . Nothing like freezing temperatures to bring someone out of the closet... In Battersea...

Life in London: When Theatre Goes Bad

On Friday evening I saw an awful piece of theatre in Kentish Town. It was at a theatre pub where the patrons of this boozer seemed to be street drinkers and addicts of various sorts. It was a pity they weren't in the play themselves as it would have given the play a little character. From time to time there were flashes of something that made it watchable, but for the most part I sat there wondering how many flats could be made from this upstairs space and whether it was productions like this that caused the death of theatre pubs across London. It isn't necessary to know the name of the production as it has finished, but a friend of a friend of friend was in the production. So at the end of the show the inevitible discussion and dilemma about what to say we thought of the show ensued. In the end we all settled for lying through our teeth and saying what a challenging and thought-provoking show it was. Well, actors can be so sensitive, and usually (as in this case) the director

Scenes from a gay man's bookshelf

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The host of a party in south London had some interesting reading on his shelf... Well some guys like to mix things up... Posted via email from paulinlondon's posterous