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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

scenes from a rehearsal

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A random helium balloon... Posted via email from paulinlondon's posterous

Scenes from Clapham Common

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Picture 211 , originally uploaded by Paul-in-London . Pubs did a brisk trade today, but for those who took to the parks, the thing to do was to make snow balls. Big, dirty, muddy snow balls...

Bit snowy Monday morning...

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And more to come... Posted via email from paulinlondon's posterous

Scenes from South London tonight

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img_0705 , originally uploaded by Paul-in-London . Heavy snow has been falling all evening and is expected to get worse overnight and in time for rush hour... Looking forward to the mass hysteria that will then ensue...

Scenes from the Roundhouse Friday night

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img_0673 , originally uploaded by Paul-in-London . Grace Jones singing Slave to the Rhythm with a hula hoop. It had to be seen to be believed. Surely the Roundhouse this week with Grace Jones was the best place to be in London... Of course on Flickr there are better shots of this moment, but I enjoy working within the limitations of the iPhone and my standing position... Later at Chalk Farm tube a girl was overheard saying, "I've just got to get me a hula hoop"...

Theatre: Spring Awakening

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Spring Awakening , originally uploaded by Lyric Hammersmith . Tuesday I caught a preview of Spring Awakening at the Lyric Hammersmith. It is one hell of an energetic show (and hopefully by the time it is out of preview all the cast will have grown into their roles). Teen angst, sexual discovery, masturbation, abortion and suicide have never looked better on stage or been presented with a great rock (? - well it's hard to classify it) score. It isn't quite a musical in the traditional sense but it presents it concept in such an interesting way that I only wished they turned up the volume more and blasted the audience... Well, when everyone is singing "Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah," and looking so good, it just seems like the most logical thing to do... The show won eight Tony Awards including for best new musical in 2007 and the creative team from the New York production are here at the Lyric. It is interesting that the Columbine massacre was part inspi

Hot news this week in London...

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Worst Slump Since 1980 , originally uploaded by LinkMachineGo . The slumps have been better...