Pam Ann – bigger, bolder & dirtier than ever, Freddie Fox, Russell T. Davies, Bianca Del Rio, BIBA and many more… PLUS: Turn your home into a sanctuary, Lunchtime facelift, Louie Spence v’s Joey Essex, Milan Darlings and a Cucumber Overload. 2015 already? It’s like living in the future! Download the latest issue to check you’re still on trend. Enjoy.
1) He’s not actually a real life judge… But he is a barrister and knows his legal ins and outs so to speak! He worked for the 2 Hare Court law firm for 12 -years before becoming the UK’s Judge Judy…
2) Gavel gavel... He loves a bit of banging of the gavel, however we don’t actually use them in the UK…
3) Benedict Cumberbatch is bessie mates with Robert, he actually married him to his partner, Seth Cumming, in a ceremony that took place in Ibiza. Sadly he and Seth got divorced just three years later.
4) He’s also bessie mates with former Tory London Mayoral candidate Ivan Massow.
5) Laughter… When asked what the hardest part about his job was the judge replied, not laughing.
“I broke down in a fit of laughter during a case involving a mother and daughter suing and counter-suing each other.
“But I insisted that the production team keep the scene in.”
6) With over 100 episodes under his belt Judge Rinder still has a long way to go to beat Judge Judy which has over 5328 episodes.
7) He loves paper… it’s the key to your success. If you’ve watched any episodes you’ll notice that if you can prove your case with a sign receipt or contract, you’ll mostly likely win the case against your opponent.
8) He’s not too mean. He told Digital Spy,
“I would never ridicule somebody for the public’s entertainment. I really wouldn’t, and I speak to the people who come on the show as I would my own clients…”
9) He loves fitness. Away from the courtroom you’ll find Rob in the gym. He has run marathons in New York and London.
10) Litigants phone in or are found from newspapers. According to the Judge researcher scour the UK for real people with real legal issues.
11) He was in the closet… After one disgruntled participant was so mad at the Judge’s ruling, backstage, Rob hid in a closet after he started screaming at him.
Apparently, the unhappy complainant wanted to make Rinder’s face look like a Picasso.
★★ | Yarico, London Theatre Workshop
Yarico, an Amerindian beauty, is a young woman with a fierce, independent spirit. Bored of the monotonous routine of small island life, she longs to escape. When Inkle, the third son of a British merchant is shipwrecked on her island, he faces certain death at the hands of the islanders. Yarico intervenes and saves him from his fate, marking the beginning of a story that ultimately takes them to the island of Barbados where fate has a horrific surprise in store for her.
This new musical is based on a true story that fired the world’s imagination and contributed to a social movement against the slave trade. It’s a story of great historical significance that has been told from the 17th century onwards and one that caused a change in attitudes towards slavery.
Sadly, the musical doesn’t quite do justice to the power of the underlying story. Performing a musical in a small space has inherent difficulties and the staging of this piece doesn’t lend itself to an intimate theatre. The performers are bawdy, expressive and, at times, brash. In a larger venue this would work but in this case, it made the action seem like a pantomime at times. There are some very powerful musical numbers but equally, there are some incredibly weak ones and the dialogue is also very hit and miss, leaving a mixed bag of a show. The humour is often juvenile, dated and laden with double-entendres; failing to raise more than the occasional titter and a few tumbleweed moments on the night I saw the show.
Credit to the leads though: Newcomer Liberty Buckland as Yarico gives an exceptional performance in a vehicle way beneath her fine acting and vocal talents. The very able Tori Allen-Martin does her best to enliven a weak role as Yarico’s friend Nono and Alex Spinney shows fine vocal performances if slightly less polished acting skills at times.
Ultimately this felt like a musical that had potential but failed to deliver. It didn’t seem to know what it was: an educational story, a love story or a bawdy romp? None of these elements quite worked and they certainly didn’t gel in a story that was at times rushed and unconvincing.
In spite of all of this, it’s worth going along just to see Liberty Buckland who is surely bound for great things.
Yarico runs until the 14th of March 2015
Buy tickets here: http://londontheatreworkshop.co.uk/yarico/
Not every Fairy Tale has a happy ending especially this one desperately sad but true one from 2007.
Director Neass Ni Chianain first encountered legendary Irish Poet Cathal Ó Searcaigh as a student in awe of him. Years later, the two are now friends and the poet invites her to accompany him on his annual three-month visit to Nepal, which he considers his spiritual home. Ó Searcaigh, a middle-aged openly gay man, was keen to share his life in the capital city of Kathmandu, and show all his charitable work supporting a whole legion of young Nepalese boys.
The documentary starts out simply as a tribute to this seemingly altruistic generous man that villagers treat as some sort of a deity, turns into a totally different story.
Admiration turns to dismay and anger, fuelled by Ó Searcaigh’s denials when confronted with the discoveries, and ultimately it is he that claims betrayal and not the boys or the filmmaker.
Sensitively shot, this superb documentary with its totally unexpected curve is highly emotional, and even blood-curdling at times. Whatever one’s opinion of Ó Searcaigh is, his story is totally compelling, completely riveting and makes fascinating viewing that shouldn’t be missed. Ultimately, we are reminded of what we’ve always known: not every fairytale has a happily-ever –after ending.
In this wonderful fresh look at the world of gay teens, the one thing the members of this Club definitely don’t talk about is Geography.
They are a group of closeted gay high school students who don’t want anyone to know the true purpose of their meetings. There are only three members to start but when Min, a rather bossy bi-sexual, inadvertently catches her friend Russell kissing football jock Kevin, she invites him to join them and that triggers a whole series of events that will eventually force them to ‘out’ themselves to the whole school.
Oddly enough Kevin is the deepest into the closet even though his father is actually very proud of his out gay brother. Kevin encourages Russell to join the football team in order so they can at least hang out together, and although by accepting the offer it doesn’t mean that the boys actually get any closer, apart from the rare make out session, but it results in Russell getting roped into bullying another gay classmate just to keep his own cover.
Russell’s plump best friend Gunnar pressures him to go on a double-date as that is the only way that Kimberly will go out with him. When Trish her friend makes the moves on a petrified Russell, his panicky reactions cause Kimberly to call him a ‘fag’; a fact that she ensures is common knowledge to the entire school the very next day. Now totally exposed there are only two ways that this can play out for Russell, and he chooses the bravest and most honest option with the support of his real friends.
Based on Brent Hartinger’s very successful young adult novel, the movie is directed by 28-year-old actor Gary Entin from a script by his twin brother actor Edmund Entin (both known for The Seeker: The Dark is Rising). It is an extremely impressive and professional debut from these two and is a wonderfully fresh look at young teens coming to terms with their sexuality. They score high points for their enlightened approach to an emotive subject, especially for avoiding all the usual clichéd stereotypes. The fact that not all the main players redeemed themselves at the end, added another credible touch of realism.
Great cast of young experienced actors; Cameron Deane Stewart (‘Pitch Perfect’) played Russell; Andrew Caldwell (Transformers) was Gunnar, Ally Maki (Step Up 3D) as Min, Justin Deeley (Couples Retreat) as Kevin, Nikki Blonsky (Hairspray) as Min’s girlfriend Theresa and Alex Newell (Glee) as Ike a club member. And the wonderful Ana Gustier (ex-Saturday Night Live) was hilarious as the hippy teacher ‘who cared’.
Several publishers rejected the book itself before Harper Collins picked it up. To their delight they had three reprints within the first three months, proving that there is both a market and real need for books like this, I think there is also a demand for the movies that evolve from them, especially when they are of this high calibre.