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Somewhere that's green: Potty the Plant at Wiltons Music Hall

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"I'm Potty the Plant," sings a potted plant in this odd little fringe concept of a show. It's hard not to get the tune out of your head, even if the show is brief. It's an earworm for a show that features a worm-like plant as a puppet. And given the show's brevity, running at only an hour, it's hard to get too annoyed by a lack of a coherent story, even if it still seems like the show could use a bit more development (which is underway). It has made its London debut at Wilton's Music Hall. The premise is that Potty, the plant, lives in the hospital office of Dr Acula (geddit?) and dreams of a life with the cleaning lady Miss Lacey (Lucy Appleton). But Dr Acula might be responsible for why all these children are disappearing while trying to romance Miss Lacey for her family's money that she doesn't have. Three nurses are on the case, trying to solve the mystery.  If the show settled on a convincing plot, location and set of characters, it could ...

Theatre Revisit: La Cage Aux Folles

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Sometimes it is good not to be the first to see some things. In the case of the first preview of La Cage Aux Folles I saw in November 2007 it was hard to tell what would become of it. Particularly since many technical problems (like curtains not coming up and so forth), made it hard to watch. Well last year it transferred to the West End and became one of the big hits of 2008. Having finally caught it in a proper theatre it is easy to see its appeal. Some updated observations: It is a family musical (of sorts) and the enjoyment of the show probably depends on how much you believe the performances by the two male leads. In this case, the run now has Roger Allam and Philip Quast in the lead roles and they can come up with the goods. Within moments from when they appeared on stage and started arguing you could believe that they were a couple who had been living together for over twenty years. The group I was with were initially disappointed that Graham Norton had finished his run, but...

Hot news this week in London

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img_0893 , originally uploaded by Paul-in-London . The slow and overly detailed drip of news about MPs expenses continues... Well at least the headlines are sort of entertaining...

Hot news this week in London...

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Hackney Gazette, Stoke Newington , originally uploaded by Fin Fahey . Or rather... Something for everybody in Stoke Newington...

Theatre Week... Oh the drama...

Last week was a week for Theatre. Four plays and one Musical. This is what happens when friends who are mad theatre-goers drop in to London and have been dying for some cultural pursuits... Well Adrian comes from Melbourne where all they have been playing down there of late I think is re-runs of Menopause the Musical and Phantom of the Opera, so his desperation for some culture was understandable... First play up was Rookery Nook at the Menier Chocolate Factory . It was still in preview last Tuesday and I couldn't help but think that they had yet to get the pacing right. Part of the problem might have been sitting so close to the action. While it was harder to fall asleep, it also meant that the over the top acting and other shenanigans was right in your face. Sometimes a little distance helps. Still the flag seller, the dog and the biscuits strewn across the floor kept me intrigued with the show. Perhaps a trim of the play might have helped with the levels of enjoyment. I left Adr...

Hot News This Week In London...

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Killer Flu Reaches Europe , originally uploaded by LinkMachineGo . Oink oink oink...

Photo shots: Princi...

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Photo shots: I really like your shoes...

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Odd goings on in soho... Posted via email from paulinlondon's posterous

Theatre: Rookery Nook

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First impressions now with Adrian from Melbourne... More later... Listen!