Posts

Featured Post

Belters and bohemians: Opera Locos @Sadlers_wells

Image
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

Hot news this week in London...

Image
Boy Of 13 Becomes a Dad , originally uploaded by LinkMachineGo . East Sussex is pretty grim , But it may not be so grim after all... The boy may not be the father as the girl may have been the town bike ...

Theatre: On The Waterfront

Image
If there was too much sex on stage at the opera on Tuesday, there didn't seem enough of it on Wednesday in this engaging stage adaptation of On The Waterfront at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. There is a lot of excitement and dramatic tension in this tight production directed by Steven Berkoff ... Assuming you overlook some unintentionally hilarious moments such as when the actors play pigeons (the effect is funnier than the scenes of singing birds in The Producers ). But with all that tension and bitterness, I thought perhaps a bit of roughing up of the actors could have helped. Well at least in the climatic fight scene, it would have been nice to see Simon Merells (who plays the Brando character), have some of his clothes ripped off... Alas it wasn't meant to be. Still there is enough violence implied in this shadowy story of corruption and mob violence on the New Jersey docks in the 1950s. Berkhoff sees the story as relevant for any age. Whatever the case is, it is a great

Opera: Rigoletto

Tuesday night I found myself watching full frontal nudity and simulated sex at the Royal Opera House during the opening few minutes of Rigoletto . Now normally I would not have such a problem with seeing this, but I found myself preoccupied trying to work out if the actress having sex with a reasonably endowed actor had a Brazilian or a French. After much checking... It was definitely French. By the time the first act closed, I was distracted so much that I had to read the synopsis to work out what happened. It is a pity that this production (which has only been around since 2001) seems now to be full of distractions, but the performances made up for it. The last few operas I had caught had singers that were at times a bit suspect - both vocally and in the acting department - but this was not the case on Tuesday night. The audience reserved its most cheers for Leo Nucci in the title role. Rigoletto is a great story as well so there is so much going for this production... Even if on Tu

scenes from around haymarket Wednesday evening

Image
...or maybe not... Posted via email from paulinlondon's posterous

scenes from a rehearsal

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

Scenes from Clapham Common

Image
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...

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

Scenes from South London tonight

Image
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

Image
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

Image
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...

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

a big breakfast in East Dulwich

Image
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

Image
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

Image
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

Image
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