So hold this moment fast

Wednesday was a dreadful, wet, miserable one - some of the heaviest downpours of the summer so far. So it was, with trepidation, that we (Madam Arcati, Baby Steve, Alex and I) - cagoules, brollies and all - made our way to Regent's Park to meet up with John-John, Sally, Hils and Crog to see if that evening's performance of the new (fortieth anniversary) revival production of La Cage Aux Folles at the Open Air Theatre was going to go ahead...

...and lo and behold, the clouds faded away and we were indeed able to take our seats! [Having wiped them down with kitchen roll, of course.]

So over-the-moon.

What a show!! [Unfortunately, as this is merely week #1 of the run, there is no footage of our production, so you'll have to make do with videos from other performances...]

La Cage the musical is, of course, based upon the classic 1970s French film of the same name (which was later remade in English as The Birdcage) and is the product of two of theatre's all-time greats Jerry Herman and Harvey Fierstein. A pair of ageing queens Albin and Georges, who run a drag club on the French Riviera, have their lives turned upside down when "their" son announces his engagement to the daughter of a right-wing politician, and farce follows...

We saw the sumptuous Menier Chocolate Factory production way back in 2007 (and again in its West End transfer in 2008). This new production by the Open Air Theatre's outgoing director Timothy Sheader is every bit as stunning, but in a more down-to-earth fashion - not so much the glitz of the Riviera, more like a club in a British regional seaside town in all its "faded glory".

Albin aka "Zaza" (played to perfection by Carl Mullaney) is heavy-set, has a broad Northern accent, and certainly gives off "Elsie Tanner/Bet Lynch" vibes as he/she throws diva flounces and almost disrupts the nightclub's show for the umpteenth time, then reluctantly gives in and gets ready - with this, just one of the gay anthems in the show [here performed by Australia's Wayne Rogers]:

A Little More Mascara

The uber-talented Cagelles are all a bit - ahem - common under those flouncy, sparkly costumes, and can often be spotted in the "wings" eating chips or smoking a fag. The owner of the quayside cafe regularly frequented by our protagonists, Jacqueline (Debbie Kurup) is a Geordie, and so on.

All this makes for splendid entertainment, of course, amongst the sheer magnificence of the chorography, the glitter and the accomplished performances themselves. As the plot thickens however, and Georges (Billy Carter) reluctantly gives in to the selfish whims of his son Jean-Michel (Ben Culleton) and agrees that in order to hide the truth of their sexuality from the "future in-laws", the apartment - and Albin - need to be cleared out, he reflects on their long relationship with a love song that never fails to make the Madam and I cry [here sung by the original "Georges", Gene Barry]:

Song On the Sand

Oblivious to all these machinations, Zaza and the Cagelles make sure the show (finally) goes on! [Denis Quilley, George Hearn and the original West End cast version.]

La Cage Aux Folles

The joy soon turns to defiance when Albin discovers the truth, however - and that's where this all-time-classic number comes into its own [Carl Mullaney was brilliant, but here's Walter Charles' version]:

I Am What I Am

Now that is how to close the first half of a show!

After the interval, the opening scene has Albin/Zaza playing up brilliantly to type, all "widow's weeds" and funereal veil, bemoaning her lot, as Georges tries to placate her with a compromise proposal - perhaps Albin might make an appearance after all, but as a man? This is one of the funniest scenes in the original film, the remake, and in this production. Trying to butter toast "in a manly fashion", trying to "walk like John Wayne" (with the help of some lesbian "sailors"), trying not to squeal and flap her hands; Albin/Zaza almost manages it, but is uncomfortable. Knowing Albin's humiliation, Georges decides to remind Jean-Michel of a few home truths with another tear-jerker [here sung by Robert E, Wills]:

Look Over There

At the eleventh hour, however, Albin runs off - and "Maman" makes an appearance to greet the nasty bigot Edouard Dindon (played amusingly as a Scot by the estimable John Owen-Jones) and his wife! As they all get along famously, so it's time for a show-stopper... [Denis Quilley and George Hearn again]

The Best Of Times

Of course, once "Maman" gets over-excited, her wig falls off and the whole charade is revealed, it could all go terribly wrong - but for the scheming Jacqueline, who has tipped off the paparazzi that Dindon is lurking around a drag club of the sort he'd pledged to close if he came to office!

So, to the dénouement - "nasty Mr Dindon" is forced to awkwardly don a wig and a frock to mingle with the Cagelles and make his escape, the boy gets the girl (with a reprise of Look Over There, directed at the shamed parents-in-law) and all live happily every after with the rousing finale - and a much-deserved standing ovation.

We laughed, we cried, we utterly, absolutely loved it!

La Cage Aux Folles runs at the Open Air Theatre until 16th September 2023. Worth every penny.

---

STOP PRESS:
RIP, Walter Charles.

One Day I'll Fly Away...

A little coterie of "our gang" is heading off to the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park this evening for a big-screen cinematic showing of the brilliant Moulin Rouge - to mark the film's (gulp!) 20th anniversary.

Fingers crossed the rain holds off...

Don't look down, it's a long long way to fall

Well - what to say about the brand new production of Evita that our little gang (me, Madame Acarti, Baby Steve, Houseboy Alex, Lou and Our Sal) went to see at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre last night [on its own last night]?

Having only really had a connection with the Andrew Lloyd-Webber/Tim Rice classic via its hit songs Don't Cry For Me Argentina, Oh What a Circus and Another Suitcase Another Hall, and the gloriously opulent Madonna movie [we've never seen it on stage before], it was quite a shock to the senses to experience Jamie Lloyd's stripped-to-the-bare-bones version. There was none of the Baroque architecture, grandiose militaria nor dazzling costumes here - quite the opposite, in fact, as all the action takes place on an enormous set of stepped concrete walkways, starkly illuminated, with a rusting "Evita" sign at is head, behind which the orchestra occupies centre stage throughout. With the frequent use of smoke, ticker-tape bombs, fireworks and flames, it often more resembled a rock concert than a piece of musical theatre...

Reflecting the brutalist air of the set, our "anti-heroine" spent the entire show in basic attire; mainly a white slip dress and trainers. Although this was at first a bit jarring, it served the story as a whole by not distracting us from the realities of the life of Eva Peron, née Duarte - she was a dirt-poor girl of very easy virtue, who used and abused anybody and everybody (mainly men) on her way to the top; hardly batting an eyelid at the disdain of the establishment, the fate of her opponents (be they her lovers, or their partners, or the political opponents who became known as "the disappeared") nor at the brutality and corruption of her eventual husband President Peron's regime, over which she presided as matriarch. Her goal was immortality, and she achieved that in spades.

Playing Eva in the first half was the American singer Samantha Pauly - who is fresh from a US staging of the "teenage girly fan-pop musical" Six, and it showed. Her voice was [like the "Curate's Egg"] good in parts, but veered dangerously close to rock-chick "Pink-lite" shrillness at times, which none of us appreciated much. She was obviously suffering however, coughing a lot, so it was no surprise that in part two her understudy Marsha Songcombe took over. Ms Songcome's voice was much more melodic, which was just as well as she got all the "big numbers", including Don't Cry For Me, Argentina, and did them beautifully.

Trent Saunders as Che Guevara portrayed the frustrated (and ultimately impotent) voice of the cynical radical opposition excellently, right from his opening number Oh, What a Circus. The interplay between the two lead characters - perpetually grabbing each other's microphone, until eventually, at the height of her power, Evita cut the wire - and the air of frightened anger and despair this "voice of the people" felt, as the "Peron star" began to outshine and crush everything it/she claimed to uphold, came across very well. Juan Peron (played by Ektor Rivera) was less impressive however; we didn't feel he conveyed the true callousness of the man as dictator nor (at the end) errant husband convincingly enough to complement the narrative.

The chorus and dancers were all excellent (and some of the boys were very sexy indeed!), and the choreography (albeit very, very modernist) worked well within the limitations of the set. Some of the gimmicks (the popping balloons symbolising the "disposal" of lovers by Eva or political opponents by Peron; the changeover (under sufferance) of Che's t-shirt from his own face to that of Evita; the use of light and shadow, smoke and flames at various points in the drama) worked very well. Others less so - after a while, the lack of distinguishing outfits made the "action" a bit confusing; the graffiti-spraying of Eva's frock to denote her glittering array of outfits on the so-called "Rainbow Tour" was somewhat unimpressive; and one-too-many centrepiece songs being sung by people in their knickers began to grate.

However, there were sufficient brilliant moments for this to be a rewarding experience - the "comic" turn of Adam Pearce as the crooner Magaldi (Eva's first "lover/victim"), the sublime Frances Mayli McCann as Peron's doomed mistress, Eva's seduction of Juan Peron with I'd Be Surprisingly Good For You, her bitter swansong You Must Love Me, and Che's sardonic High Flying, Adored were all as much high points of the show as were the star-billing numbers - in all, it was a very memorable production, and one we're very glad we got to see.

Evita trailer

And, just because - heeeere's Ricky!

Ricky Martin - High Flying, Adored

The guy sure looks like plant food to me!

Oh. My. Heavens!

Madam Arcati, Russ, Joe and I had the most magnificent evening yesterday, as we processed through a blustery Regent's Park to the Open Air Theatre to see the new production (by Maria Aberg) of an old fave, Little Shop of Horrors [by Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman, later to become Disney music stalwarts].

It has, of course, been something we wanted to see ever since the reviews started coming in - not least that by Alun Hood on WhatsOnStage (a site normally more restrained in its effusiveness), who said:

"This is a hell of a show. Fans of the original won't be disappointed and people encountering it for the first time will be delighted, and likely to come back for more. I would give it six stars if I could. Do not miss it. Joyous."

Mr Hood was entirely accurate.

From the outset, the grey, sleazy decrepitude of Skid Row and its anonymous shadowy tramps [and moving skyscrapers-on-shopping-trolleys - a very clever set], clashing wildly with the vivid green outfits and brash "doo-woppery" of the "chorus" (Renee Lamb, Christina Modestou and Seyi Omooba), created an atmosphere where one could quite imagine anything - even a ravenous, bloodthirsty, domineering pot-plant-from-hell (well, "Outer Space", anyhow) - would have come as a blessed relief from the tedium of their lives. [An admirably created atmosphere, incidentally, given the leafy and serene real-life environs of the Open Air Theatre.]



And come, of course, it certainly does. But first, the scenarios are set: Seymour the orphan (Marc Antolin), who was taken in by the florist Mr Mushkin (an unrecognisable Forbes Masson from The High Life), develops a fascination for unusual plants. Then there's a total eclipse, and... a weird little luminescent pot plant becomes the star attraction, if only Seymour can find a way to keep it alive (quoth Please Grow For Me - "Whaddya want from me? Blood?!").



Meanwhile we are introduced to Audrey (Jemima Rooper), Seymour's fellow assistant at "Mushkin's" and secret love interest, who has a bullying and violent boyfriend Orin (boy-band Busted's bassist Matt Willis) with the perfect vocation for a sadist (Be a Dentist), and the plot thickens.



Audrey has dreams to escape the sordidness of both her rundown urban existence and the bully in her life - and Miss Rooper's Somewhere That's Green really was impassioned; so much that the hairs stood up on my neck. Seymour has become famous, and has realised exactly what the alien plant (now christened "Audrey 2") really wants - his blood. So much has it enjoyed the regular drips, indeed, that it has not only outgrown its little pot, but it has evolved - into a drag queen of substantial proportions!



Miss Vicky Vox (for it is she, of Boy is a Bottom notoriety) is utterly stunning in this role (normally reserved for an elaborate animatronic puppet). She literally dominates proceedings - often with little more than a strut, an arch of an eyebrow, or a suggestively-placed microphone - from here on in. And when she cajoles Seymour to Feed Me (Git It) (both have just witnessed Orin's brutality towards Audrey, so it is obvious what the scheme is), it's down to our weedy "hero" to tackle the brute. Needless to say, Mr Willis's maniacally-played villain (choking on his own laughing-gas, he cackles himself to death) soon becomes plant food, and the spiral of Seymour's destiny is set...

After the indignity of having to go out of the [OUTDOOR!] venue into the road in order to have a ciggy [and a gossip with our chums Bryanne and Simon, who were also enjoying the show - we also bumped into them at at Proms in the Park; bloody stalkers...], it was time to grab a drink and head back for Act 2.



Seymour's fame, and the success of the flower shop, have rocketed. Mr Willis returns in a variety of camp-as-tits cameos, as various disreputable touts trying to tie the "horticultural superstar" into book and TV contracts. But Seymour would rather spend his life with Audrey (the original), and she admits she wants that too (Suddenly, Seymour - superbly done, incidentally). Then Mr Mushnik drops a bombshell - he knows that Seymour is responsible for the death of the dentist and intends to tell the police of his suspicions. Oh, dear. For the ravenous Audrey 2 - it's Suppertime!

Unfortunately, this means the plant now has the upper hand [leaf? shoot?] - and indeed, when Seymour declares that Audrey 2 must die, it is his Audrey that pays the ultimate price. Wandering into the beast's domain after hours, she is tricked into watering the monster - and despite Seymour's efforts, she, too is consumed. His attempts to see off his nemesis (with a gun, rat poison and a machete) are to no avail, and...



...well, the finale-to-beat all-finales ensued! With Audrey 2 poised to take over the world, she spews forth her "babies" - in the animated forms of the entire cast (the digested Seymour included), all attired in the most outrageously camp tendril-based outfits ever seen! All singing the dire warning Don't Feed The Plants, they invaded the audience, accompanied by giant green balloons for us to bat around - before Audrey 2 herself, surrounded by inflatable tendrils, belted out her climactic final number. What else but The Mean Green Mother from Outer Space?! She wins.

This was a fantastic evening of brilliant showmanship - we were utterly blown away by it.

I have absolutely no idea how (or if) it would ever work in another venue (a stage environment like the Open Air Theatre would be hard to replicate), but it really deserves to be recognised as the most utterly spectacular show we've seen in years...

Little Shop of Horrors runs at the Regents Park Open Air Theatre until Saturday 22nd September.

Genteel?

We're off to Regent's Park for our annual jolly picnic, laden with chairs, groundsheets, grub and booze as always.

It pissed down with rain last night but the sun is blazing now, so fingers crossed it won't be as windswept and damp as depicted by the marvellous Mr Vettriano above.

Let's have some suitably classy music for what is always a genteel (ish) and delightful day, courtesy of the ever-wonderful Soft Tempo Lounge...

Soft Tempo Lounge - Women of the World '67

Music: Requiem Per Un Agente Secreto by Piero Umiliani

Our little group has always been, and always will until the end

Our gang gathered in force for the annual Birthday Picnic in the lovely setting of Regent's Park, by the lake.

This time bereft of music at the bandstand ("because of the Olympics" apparently!), we dodged the goose shit, spread out our garguntuan feast (and copious quantities of booze) and had a great laugh, basking in the sunshine for hours. Bliss!







Here's something that is appropriate on all levels for both our gathering of oddballs friends, and also for this sunny hangover Sunday - Paul Anka's big band take on that Nirvana classic Smells Like Teen Spirit:

Paul Anka - Smells Like Teen Spirit

I'm worse at what I do best
And for this gift I feel blessed
Our little group has always been
And always will until the end

Hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello

With the lights out, it's less dangerous
Here we are now, entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now, entertain us!

We entertained ourselves, actually...

Spilling tea and dishing just desserts when they deserve

We're off en masse to Regent's Park for the traditional birthday picnic, so really there is only one thing I could play on such a prestigious occasion! [And the weather can only be better than last year...]

Scissor Sisters - Let's Have A Kiki

"A Kiki is a party for calming all your nerves
We're spilling tea and dishing just desserts when they deserve..."

Scissor Sisters

Funking in the park

We are off to Regent's Park today, where about thirty of us will be gathering for our annual picnic to celebrate my and my sister's (and Houseboy Alex's) birthdays. The weather forecast is for showers, perhaps heavy, around 4pm. However, being true Brits we are just going to pack brollies, food and copious quantities of booze and enjoy it, whatever happens...

Latin jazz band Samara are playing at the bandstand, so that should add to a summery feel to the day. Members of the ensemble have played with great artists such as Loose Tubes, Carmel and Tanita Tikaram, so there is a good pedigree. This number is just a foretaste:

Samara - BBC Jazz 606

I am looking forward to it immensely!

Crazy for this!

We went en masse last night (sixteen of us!) to the fabulous Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park, to see their new production of George Gershwin's Crazy For You. What a fantastic show!

From beginning to end, this musical contains some of the most familiar and best-loved songs of all time! Embraceable You, They Can't Take That Away from Me, But Not for Me, Nice Work If You Can Get It, I Got Rhythm, Bidin' My Time, and my favourite Someone To Watch Over Me are all here, and superbly done. As was this, I Can't Be Bothered Now, here in Broadway's version as performed at the Tony Awards a few years ago:

I Can't Be Bothered Now (Crazy for You)

The story is (as is the wont of some of the most enjoyable musicals) a clichéd one - Bobby (Sean Palmer) wants to be a dancer, but his domineering mother Louise (Ab Fab's Harriet Thorpe) and bitter fiancée Irene (Kim Medcalf who used to be in Eastenders) are forcing him into a corner, working for the family banking business.



On being sent to the Wild West to oversee the sale and closure of the hick town's only theatre however, Bobby not only spots his opportunity to get into showbiz (by bringing a polished Broadway troupe out West to perform a musical and save the theatre), but also falls in love with the local girl Polly (Clare Foster).

Masquerades and mistaken identity, a comedy villain Lank (Michael McKell), comedy English tourists, dancing cowboys, feathers fouff and faff, and the presence of lascivious impresario Bela Zangler (David Burt) and his fabulous Follies Girls in the women-starved town make for an appealingly farcical backdrop for the sublime music and Stephen Mear's faultless choreography. And the costumes! Wow...

The whole cast is really superb, the interplay between them has a real chemistry, and there was not a bum note or foot put wrong in the whole thing. Some of the dance numbers were just breath-taking (we especially loved Slap That Bass). The set worked brilliantly, changing from East Coast to Midwest, from theatre backstage to bar-room with effortless ease, and of course the atmosphere of the Open Air Theatre made it even more magical...

Catch this show if you can! It is magnificent.

Open Air Theatre

He's a very nice Prince...

We went to see the marvellous production of Sondheim's Into The Woods at the Open Air Theatre at Regent's Park tonight!

Okay, it rained a bit while we were having our picnic before the show. Okay, the seats were a bit damp, and the wind was whipping around us... But the sun shone for the performance - and it was a magnificently enjoyable evening, indeed!

No time for a proper review, unfortunately (suffice to say it was utterly brilliant), and videos of the show so far, but at least we can indulge in the rehearsals...

Into the Woods rehearsals #1

Into the Woods rehearsals #2

Normal service will be resumed when we get back from Amsterdam on Monday evening!!

Afternoon delight

We had a marvellous picnic in Regent's Park yesterday to celebrate (albeit slightly prematurely) my and my sister's birthdays. Good friends, occasional sunshine, loads of food, loads of booze, and the music of the fantabulosa Lillian Boutté...



Bliss!

Lillian Boutté with the Denny Ilett Band - St Louis Blues

Lillian Boutté with the Denny Ilett Band - Down in Honky Tonk Town

Lillian Boutté on Wikipedia

You're looking swell, Dolly

We went to see the revival of an old classic at the Open Air Theatre last night, and it was a great evening.

Hello Dolly! is an odd show, based on an odd story by Thornton Wilder about a scheming match-maker and her influence on the sensibilities of small-town America. Indeed, I never got on with the glossy MegaBabs screen version (possibly because of my aversion to Michael Crawford). However, this production was superb!

In the beautifully atmospheric surroundings of Regent's Park (with no rain, again, so our picnic wasn't washed out), the set is wonderfully old-fashioned and conveys both the fustiness of (unmarried "half-millionaire") Horace Vandergelder's hay and feed emporium and the glamorous New York settings in which the wide-eyed characters find themselves.

Remarkably, the show's lesser-known songs come across better in this production than I remember in the film - It Takes A Woman, Put On Your Sunday Clothes (complete with a choreographed evocation of a train journey) and Before The Parade Passes By were all brilliantly done!

In the second half the schemes that Dolly Levi has put into place, both for herself and for others, begin to come to fruition in a hilarious melange. Possibly the best scene in the whole show is the superbly performed Waiters' Galop in the restaurant, with acrobatic waiters dancing attendance, the out-of-town boys trying desperately to work out how to pay for the extravagant meal to which they have brought their dates (widowed hat-maker Irene and her assistant Minnie) on one side of the stage, and the thoroughly embarrassed Mr Vandergelder attempting to calm his own dinner companion (Ernestina Money) down as she tries to dance the hootchie-cootchie on the other...

Of course this unsuitable dinner guest is all Dolly's work as she wants Horace all to herself, and this is more or less sealed when she arrives at the restaurant, accompanied by the show's triumphal Hello Dolly! number. Chaos takes over as all the guests - including Vandergelder's wayward niece - come into contact with each other, there is a mix-up over paying the bills, and somehow everyone ends up in court.

Inevitably, this being a Jerry Herman musical, everything is resolved in the end. All the star-crossed lovers overcome their problems, and even grumpy old Horace Vandergelder relents and proposes to Dolly. All in all, a superb feel-good show (which is all you can ask for really).

Samantha Spiro was an exuberant Dolly Levi, Allan Corduner a convincingly miserable old sod as Horace, and Josefina Gabrielle was great as the elegant Irene, but it's the superb choreography that really makes the show. Not so surprising when you realise that this is the work of the award-winning Stephen Mear (who also did Crazy For You, Oklahoma, Acorn Antiques The Musical and Mary Poppins among many others in the West End and on Broadway). I highly recommend this show!

Louis Armstrong - Hello, Dolly!

Open Air Theatre website

A handbag?!

"When one is in town one amuses oneself. When one is in the country one amuses other people."

We went to see The Importance of Being Earnest at The Open Air Theatre last night - and the rain held off! (Miracle!)

After a fab picnic, with many bottles of wine consumed, it was time for the performance. Suffice to say the plot of this comedy of manners, misguided affections and failed pranks should be familiar enough to most people for me not to have to do a synopsis...

The players were brilliant (the boys were cute!), giving their own interpretation of Oscar Wilde's greatest play (rather than try and ape classic performances such as Edith Evans' Lady Bracknell), the set was splendidly minimal, costumes were stunning, and there was even (bizarrely) a Kletzmer band playing the intro and exits...

We all thoroughly enjoyed this great show, and I highly recommend it...

Dame Edith Evans in The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest on Wikipedia

Review of the Open Air Theatre production in the Independent

Mavis Riley smells wonderful

Yesterday I spent a few hours in the rose garden at Regents Park in the sunshine - with my top off (unheard of in late September, surely)!

I found a lovely sheltered bench just behind Thelma Barlow (the rose named after the Corrie actress, not Mavis herself!) and absorbed the wafts of glorious rose perfume as my skin thanked me for letting it get some colour again...

Bliss.