Category: Entertainment
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BOOK REVIEW: Our Young Man
Edmund White has been the grand chronicler of the lives of gay men since the early 1970s. His seminal work ‘A Boy’s Own Story’ is a literary classic that is essential reading for every gay man or indeed everyone who can turn a page. ★★★★
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THEATRE REVIEW | Stella
How difficult was it to be a gay man with a penchant for dressing up in drag in Victorian England? The answers provided by ‘Stella” might surprise you. ★★★★
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Theatre Review | Dancing In The Streets – Sheffield Theatres & National Tour
★★★ | Dancing In The Streets
Mowtown magic lives on in this musical revue, pulling together the classic artists, the timeless songs and the sound which defined a generation with an unmistakable musical legacy. Featuring songs from The Temptations, The Four Tops, Martha Reeves, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Lionel Richie and Stevie Wonder; seven singers and a live band bring to life the golden days of Tamla records.
Photo Courtesy of The Flying Music Company Ltd.Musical revues can often come across as slightly polished cruise ship cabaret and their success rests primarily on their subject matter rather than the way in which they are put together. Production wise, one would be hard pressed to find very much to sing about with this show, with nothing more than a static set made up of a handful of podiums for the backing band, three posters of legendary artists, an average lighting set up and a collection of microphone stands. The costumes are functional but nothing spectacular and overall, the whole show remained on a plateau in terms of pace and presentation. There is no narrative, just a relentless set list to carry the show over its two hour running time.
But it is that set list which really scores the points for this production, with songs including “Superstitious”, “Stop In The Name Of Love”, “Baby Love”, “Reach Out, I’ll Be There”, “My Girl”, “Dancing in the Streets”, “The Tracks Of My Tears”, “Get Ready”, “River Deep Mountain High” and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”, the show certainly crams in the classics. Performed by a five piece band, three female singers and four male singers, the vocals were perfectly functional, with all of the singers taking turns to step into the limelight, and each of them finding their niche with a particular song or two. But where the show succeeds is in getting the audience involved. From the outset, audience members were encouraged to dance, clap, sing and shout throughout the proceedings, and the audience certainly took advantage, barely sitting down for the majority of the show and quite literally packing out the aisles in the theatre as they danced.
When you compare this show to others similar revues, such as Thriller Live which has the hits coupled with some slickly choreographed routines, Dancing in the Streets is lacking in spectacle and, quite honestly, is visually rather bland. But what it lacks in spectacle, it makes up for in energy and atmosphere.
So put on your dancing shoes; and provided you go and see this show for the music and the party atmosphere, and not for the production values, then you are highly likely to have an enjoyable night.
Dancing In The Streets is currently on tour throughout the UK until 19th June 2016. For details, see http://www.flyingmusic.com/our-shows/dancing-in-the-streets/ .The production was viewed at Sheffield Theatres (www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk) who have announced their new season, including Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Annie Get Your Gun, The Shawshank Redemption and Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.
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Do you want to sit on Trump’s Face?
Betcha didn’t think we’d be asking that question of you, but there you have it.
CREDIT: Slut.co.ukA clothing company called Slut have just launched their new line of swimwear for men and it features Donald Trump‘s face – in fact it features nothing but Trump. Trump’s face is literally all over it. So that means you can now sit on Trump’s face…
Enjoy.
CREDIT: Slut.co.uk
The trunks are retailing at £29.99 and the supplier says that the aim was to create the world’s most offensive swimwear…
“Our quest to make the most offensive surfwear known to man, just went up to a whole new level…”
Recently icon Cher blasted Donald Trump by likening the Republican presidential hopeful to Hitler and questioned his service to his country after details about his deferments during the Vietnam war was made public.
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Animals Are Gay Too
Some salmon are gay and some bison are bi.
The Center for Biological Diversity has released a video which shows that it’s not just the human race who have sexual diversity. The short clip features a quick list of animals that are known to have same-sex relationships such as bears, whales, elephants and wolves.
The video has been viewed over 16,000 times and 460 likes.
Scientists have found that homosexuality exists in over 1500 species in the world.
In 2014 THEGAYUK was involved in saving Benji the gay bull in Ireland, who faced the slaughter-house after he refused to mate with females.
THEGAYUK created a crowdfunder campaign which received international recognition – with donations that helped relocate Benji to an animal sanctuary in England.
We’ve also got a list of the top 10 gayest animals on the planet right here.
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New Big Brother house looks like the set of Going Live
New pictures have been released of the Big Brother house – and it’s a bit of blast from the past.
Remember Going Live on Saturday mornings? Well if you don’t it basically looked like the new Big Brother house decoration.
Channel 5 released the pictures of the house, which features bright neon colours in all the main living spaces.
And Star Trek fans will be kept happy with the bedroom and kitchen area – it looks very futuristic.
The house’s bathroom also features an indoor lawn and hanging plants from the ceiling.
Outside in the garden the lawn has been made smaller – and the decking features some bright streaks of colour. There’s also a double pool.
The kitchen area looks like something out of Deep Space Nine.
The new series of Big Brother starts on Channel 5 on 7th June.
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10 Grindr Fails That Will Make You Wanna Put Down The Phone And Move On
Sex and its procurement via an app can be a tricky journey to navigate.
Sometimes it goes epically wrong. Thanks to Instagram for the #GrindrFails that show that perhaps we need to put the phone down and go out and meet some people in RL.
Racist grindr.
Sarky grindr.
Keeping it real grindr.
Sparring for a fight grindr
The up and downer grindr.
The grammar bitch
Shopping grindr.
The sense of humour grindr.
Sass grindr.
The raincheck grindr.
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THEATRE REVIEW | Shadowlands
★★★★★ – So emotional, I couldn’t help but cry.
Credit: Jack Ladenburg
Last night was one of those nights where you sit there, and for the whole of the two hours you felt so lucky to be a theatre reviewer. I didn’t think theatre could touch a person that deep, in the way that William Nicholson’s Shadowlands undoubtedly did.
“Shadowlands is based on events that occurred in the lives of two real people – C.S Lewis and Joy (Davidman) Gresham (…) I have used parts of their story, not used other parts, and imagined the rest.” – William Nicholson.
‘Jack’ Lewis and Joy Davidman were played by Stephen Boxer and Amanda Ryan respectively, and I will never see the two actors as themselves again. C.S Lewis and Joy were resurrected and put on stage for the audience of the 21st Century to see the marvel that his world was, and the imagination he had, through William Nicholson’s own genius take on Chronicles of Narnia legend’s life. The portrayal was too surreal to be called acting. For a week only, the two lives come alive and let us in to see the lives that lived in and around C.S Lewis’.
Credit: Jack Ladenburg The formidable writing of Nicholson astonishingly captivates C.S Lewis and you were reminded of Narnia, as the story was told. I particularly adored the moment in which Lewis sparked the notion of magic with young Douglas, who wanted to believe in it so bad. Having seen The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe at Christmas at the Birmingham Rep, I was gleefully pleased to see some features used for this. It made the experience so much more magical.
It is rare not to be able to control your lacrimal glands in public, but this story pushed them out of you whether you liked it or not. And I wasn’t the only one, with sniffles and other crying-like noises surrounding me, the whole theatre could not help but give in to the emotions of the heart-breaking story. One couple were so engrossed that were constantly saying: “Oh dear” as the action darkened.
The subliminal acting, combined with almost too-good-to-be-true storytelling by William Nicholson evoked emotions that could not help but escape the depths of the human soul. “The happiness now, is part of the pain then.” Said Joy when she was on holiday with Jack, as the dreaded end was near, which touched so many people.
Other acting, from Denis Lill (Warnie), Simon Shackleton (Prf Christopher Riley) and all the others contributed to the fullness of the play, and created exquisite drama which helped bring to life the man who made so many of our childhoods magical and filled with wonder.
Shadowlands plays at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre until 4 June.
Follow Alex Da Silva on Twitter
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TV REVIEW | Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Season Two
I just watched the first episode of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Insert sad face emoji.
Oh dear what’s happened to Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt? The first series was one of the funniest TV shows on television – okay Netflix – is that classed as television these days?
It was rather glorious. The female lead sitcom which blasted on to our screens in 2015, was a breath of fresh air, colour – and return to sublime absurdist comedy. It’s about a woman, Kimmy (Ellie Kemper) who after being bunkered by a religious zealot for 15 years is finally freed and makes a new life for herself in New York collecting on her travels an assortment of outrageous characters, each more offensive than the last – but the second season’s first episode just left me with a huge sad face.
I maybe late to the party with season two, which was released earlier this year, but I’ve made it a house rule that we can’t have anymore than three TV binges happening at once – we have to complete something before we can start something new – so I made my housemates rush finish Camping Julia Davis’s brilliantly cringey new offering, HappyIsh Steve Coogan’s brilliantly insightful new dark comedy and the latest series of Person Of Interest – it’s a guilty pleasure – don’t ask.
After all that binge watching maybe I was tired. Tired as Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’s script, which is worrying at this every early stage in its lifetime. It should still feel fresh and with Tina Fey’s brilliant mind this is a TV show that should run for many series.
Sad to say, the comedy that brought Kimmy out into the open feels rather bunkered. The first episode didn’t even raise a polite titter (and I laugh at dog videos on YouTube, so the bar is pretty low).
What has happened to our beloved Kimmy? Maybe I’ll give one more episode.
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is available to stream on Netflix now.
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FILM REVIEW | Alice Through The Looking Glass
★★★★ | Alice Through The Looking Glass
Disney’s new film Alice Through the Looking Glass hit theatres this weekend and it’s bound to be another huge moneymaker for the studio.
Alice Through the Looking Glass sees the return of the same actors who played the same characters from the 2010 film. Alice (Mia Wasikowska) travels back in time to try to save the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp). Along the way she reconnects with her friends including the White Rabbit (Michael Sheen), Absolem (the late Alan Rickman) the Cheshire Cat (Stephen Fry), twins Tweedledee and Tweedledum (Matt Lucas), the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) and of course the Mad Hatter. We’re also treated to a delicious turn by both Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen (and Alice’s sister) and Sacha Baron Cohen (as Time).Alice has spent several years sailing the high seas (and following in her father’s footsteps). When she returns to London, she is asked (and demanded) to sign away her ship to her ex-boyfriend James (Ed Speelers). When she attends a meeting with him and her mother (Lindsay Duncan), she goes to an upstairs room and steps through a mirror, and through this mirror Alice takes a journey (literally through the looking glass) to Wonderland. It’s here where she sees all of her Wonderland friends, but something is not right with the Mad Hatter. She needs to turn to Time to correct things in the past that will make the Mad Hatter’s life better. Alice ends up taking a device called the Chronosphere, which allows her to travel back in time. She sees ways where she can help the Mad Hatter, but also comes across the events in her own life, which include a lie that she told as a young girl that tragically affected her sister the Red Queen. It’s all told, as expected from Disney, in very visual colors and 3D.
There was no way that anyone could top Tim Burton’s 2010 film, but James Bobbin (The Muppets and Muppets Most Wanted) successfully manages to bring the story back to life, with the help of screenwriter Linda Wolverton (who also wrote Alice in Wonderland). But no film would be as good as this if it were not for the excellent cast. Wasikoska does her bit as Alice as well as she did in the 2010 film, but it’s the addition of Cohen as Time that adds a fun element to the film, where he, and the Red Queen, live literally in time. And it’s Carter as the Red Queen who steals every scene she’s in. With a huge head, and a huge head of hair, and makeup that’s expertly applied on her face to give her a highly unusual look, Carter chews up every scene she’s in (and in my opinion it’s an Academy-Award worthy performance, though it’s rare for a performer to receive one in a Disney movie – however, Meryl Streep was nominated for Into The Woods – but of course it was Streep!).
Expect Alice Through the Looking Glass to make lots and lots of money (though it doesn’t help that Johnny Depp is currently embroiled in a nasty separation with his wife Amber Heard)
CREDIT: Slut.co.uk
Credit: Jack Ladenburg 
