Overview | The Room | The People | The Location | The Gay Scene | The Verdict
If you’re a Manhattan novice, or even if you’re not, you’ll probably want to stay close to Times Square. The hip and the cool amongst us will tell you that you need to stay on the lower west side where you’ll find the meatpacking district, Chelsea Greenwich but the newly opened Moxy, brings that effortlessly cool vibe right to Times Square’s backyard.
★★★★★ | Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella
From the muted grey-scale colour palette of the opening act, through the smoke-filled streets of the Blitz and onto the underground dance halls of war-torn London, Matthew Bourne’s bold, vivid and visually stunning reimagining of Cinderella is an utter delight. Doting to her father, mercilessly teased by her (extended) stepfamily and berated by her stepmother, Cinderella finds love amongst the destruction, as she falls for Harry, a dashing pilot.
Bourne creates a world which is rich in characterisations, from the transformation of the mouse-like Cinderella into the belle of the ball to the Cruella de Ville style stepmother and the humorous, and deliciously creepy, foot-fetishist stepbrother. Every dancer tells an individual story, and each character has their own tale to tell. Yet despite having so much to look at, Bourne’s choreography seamlessly blends dance styles including lindy hop, jazz and ballet to create a clearly defined and easy to follow narrative; and there is a tangible sense of atmosphere permeating the theatre both within and throughout every scene. But underneath the fairy tale spectacle of it all, is a slightly darker story of love, yearning and belonging, bringing with it the power to pack an emotional punch.
In a cast of technically precise dancers, Ashley Shaw is captivating as the titular heroine, whilst Andrew Monaghan simply excelled as he cut a swathe across the floor as the dashing pilot, proving that the romanticised notion of the leading man is still very much around. Lez Brotherston’s set design is superb, reflecting the hum-drum monotony of Cinderella’s home life in Act 1 before (quite literally) exploding into a riot of colour and movement in the second act and continuing to surprise well into Act 3. The show has a cinematic quality and feel to it, and is as inventive and multi-layered as it is visually exciting.
Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella is a phenomenal breath-taking production which is absolutely sublime on every level.
The show runs at Sheffield Lyceum Theatre until 19th May 2018 before continuing on its national tour. New Adventures has recently announced a new national tour for Swan Lake for 2018/19
★★★★☆ | How It Is
Do I have to slide cocks up my a** to write about gay theatre? Or shag up-for-it nymphomaniacs to dissect heterosexual art? By that logic, I’d have to be a practicing serial killer, a Jeffrey Dahmer in pantyhose, to appreciate Silence of the Lambs! So – having exposed and pushed the absurdities of that laughably reductive thinking waaaay to one side, let’s objectively appraise How It Is, a purgatorial, afterlife masterpiece from the fevered genius of Samuel Beckett, one of Ireland’s greatest ever writers!
Never heard of him? Oh come now, that’s barely credible. Why, Waiting for Godot, Beckett’s theatrical debut, revealed prodigious, game-changing talent, sufficient to alter the entire course of the Western world’s modes of dramatic discourse. Simply put, Beckett, most often, dramatises monologuing consciousness on either the point of death, or immediately beyond, in some utterly unknowable afterlife. And it’s that sense of psychological extremity – going where no queens have gone before – that knots his artistic DNA firmly into the fabulous beyond that defines so much LGBT theatre. Again and again – as in Alexis Gregory’s recently-staged Sex/Crime – diversity drama routinely accesses states of mind, situations and politically contested identity wholly unknown to heterosexual, mainstream audiences. To name just three, K-holes, cum lollies and sauna-house sex-orgies barely enter the dreams, or stain the yearning nightmares, of Joe and Jill Public. Frankly, considered as the ripe, luscious and shockingly perverse fruits of an entire community, LGBT artistry has charged and enlarged subject matter inconceivable to previous, genteel and sexually lobotomised, generations.
Still, Beckett – even if his work owes virtually nothing to any known form of sexual persuasion – takes us on exhilarating journeys to the limits of human consciousness. Think viciously addictive K-holes laced with severe existentialism, as we’re plunged, repeatedly, into theatrical experiences offering little more than static performers ranting in sparsely-lit spaces. How, then, can such raw, spartan materials provide riveting, arse-clenching excitement?
Easily. Take the Republic of Ireland’s Gare St. Lazare theatre company, currently unleashing Beckett’s How It Is at Notting Hill’s breathtakingly gorgeous, Art Deco Coronet Print Room theatre. This, frankly, is theatre as psychological assault course; immediately, we’re metaphorically kidnapped, trussed up, and – quite probingly – interrogated. How? Well, by deploying the dramatic equivalent of anal sex – reversing the so-called, ‘natural’ order, replacing exits with unexpected entrances. Which, here, means sitting an audience on the stage and setting the actors – and action – in the raked stalls and balcony circling that stage.
Disconcerting? As f*ck – instantly, and just as in consensual S&M, one’s constrained yet feels a paradoxical sense of liberation, of being fed carefully-rationed ecstasies that permit joy only by strictly-directed pathways. And – make no mistake – theatre rarely comes any bleaker, with such huge demands blissfully rewarding rapt attention.
Ultimately, this is theatre raw, stripped and immediate, with a narrative as brief, stark and thrillingly erotic as Christ being summarily condemned and crucified. Initially, one lone voice in the darkness – an unnamed narrator – speaks of three states of existence, being alone, with, and finally without ‘Pim’, his or her presumed companion. Three performers – Conor Lovett, Stephen Dillane and Mel Mercier – tackle Beckett’s dense, repetitive text like an overlapping, choral immersion in stately sonic tidal waves, as, gradually, a narrative – of sorts – emerges.
Naked, an unnamed soul slithers in endless mud and darkness clutching a sack inexhaustibly – and inexplicably – replenished with cans of sardines. He’s joined -again inexplicably- by another, communicating by jabbing a can-opener in the other’s buttocks, stabbing out Morse code messages. Yes, it’s a submissive, role-playing queen’s ultimate wet-dream, but – with nothing except intermittent bursts of light, dry ice, and the hoarse rubbing of actor’s voices in transfixed cadences – we’re collectively cajoled into instantaneously synthesising Beckett’s purgatorial hell inside our minds. If theatre, finally, is nothing, but voices, lights, gestures and consenting imagination, the Gare St. Lazare company take that haphazard, shockingly artistic marriage to sheer transcendence. We wait, quite simply, in delighted awe for their future liaisons with the shatteringly bleak -but dramatically irresistible- voices of Samuel Beckett.
How It Is By Samuel Beckett @ Coronet Print Room Theatre, Notting Hill Gate to May 19th. 0203-642-6606. 4 Stars!
The Black Cat of the Family
Jaguar booked out the E-Pace we had set for review and so came up with another XF-R Sport for us to try here at THEGAYUK. I was keen to see if my original views on the petrol version would be mirrored into this diesel model.
I wasn’t particularly kind about the last Jaguar XF R-sport we had on test. I said the handling was a bit safe. Indeed it was. Having tried another example I can honestly say that I more than enjoyed the XF-R Sport. This is how it should be done.
For reasons, I cannot explain this other than the diesel engine makes light work of progress through the 8-speed automatic gearbox. And a good job too because it only has a rev range of 750rpm where maximum torque is made. a massive 500 Nm between 1750-2500 rpm. Compared to the petrol engines 269 Nm around 1200-4500 you can see where the magic happens and how quickly it does it.
I’m not a fan of the diesel engine. That has now changed to ‘I am a fan of the diesel engine’ and despite the current uncertainty surrounding the black pump at the forecourt, you need to still consider it. For a start in the combined miles to the gallon, the diesel will do another 11 over the petrol.
Back to the impressive torque of the engine, it is suited to the XF R-Sport script. It lacks overall power compared to the petrol but by the time the petrol version has caught up you are well away to a claimed top speed of 153. That’s 6 more than the petrol. Other than that, performance is identical.
They say it is anyway on paper. In practice, it really isn’t. And this is where the already awarded four star XF gains an additional star. It’s not a 5-star car yet compared to the last one I have to award it another star simply for being so much more fun to drive.
The low down grunt still doesn’t kick you in the back. It’s still progressive but those 8 cogs in the gearbox keep up and allow for some sporty driving that you associate with Jaguar saloons. It was so much better to drive. Even the steering felt more connected and I know for a fact that there is no difference between the set up of this car to the other. It’s all down to the engine and how it propels you down the road. Very well I might add.
Another plus though I don’t often comment on is the colour combination. The red with chocolate leather worked better than the last offerings of black on black with more black and white inserts. What I still don’t like and the brown leather only made it all the worse was the blue cabin lights. I do not like them. Interior lighting is so important inside a car. By day you hardly notice it, come night it can make or break a car.
Last time I also moaned about the clumsy cruise control settings. This model was also fitted with adaptive cruise, it’s a £1460 option and in my book, it should be standard on every car fitted with cruise control. It could be that the adaptive cruise made setting it easier because it was so simple to use and set.
One thing, well a couple of things are apparent in the diesel version over the petrol. The firstly is the noise of the engine in the cabin. It’s just a little too vocal. I’d like my Jaguar to be somewhat more suppressed to engine noise. From cold it is quiet and once warm quieter still yet it’s muted clatter is still there. What is absent is the vibration on start-up from the auto stop-start. You could always detect it in the petrol model.
There isn’t much more to be said about the XF R-Sport other than this one was £700 cheaper yet it didn’t have the 360-degree camera package. Add that and it would be priced almost matching the petrol model. It’s an option I liked having. Anyway, you need to test the diesel if you are considering the petrol model. Two cars, identical in all but the engine and my word what a difference it is. You may just find yourself, like me totally in awe of the black fuel.
Love
Engine flexibility
Economy
Handling
Loathe
Blue interior lighting
Trim tactility
Engine noise
The Lowdown
Car –Jaguar XF R-Sport 240ps AWD
Price – £58,175 (as tested)
MPG – 51.4 mpg (combined)
Power – 0-62mph – 6.2 seconds
Top Speed 153 mph
Co2 – 144 (g/km)
Add a little bit of burlesque, a little bit of comedy, sprinkle a bit of singing, and add lots and lots of water, and what you have are the perfect ingredients for ‘Soap’ – now playing on the Southbank at the Underbelly Festival in the world famous Spiegeltent.
And German circus ‘Soap’ is not just about water. It’s also about the talented performances that take place right in front of our very eyes performed in the round, and have mercy for the poor people who sit in the front (and second and third) rows – there’s water water everywhere.
But it’s all good fun watching the sexy Anton Belyakov splish-splashing in the bathtub, Marie-Andrée Lemaire running around the stage as our guide and hostess for the evening. And then there is Moritz Haase, who oh so innocently is ‘plucked’ from the audience but soon enough is prancing around on stage. We’re lucky to see the sexy Daniel Leo Stern with his shirt off for most of the show, and Jennifer Lindshield, with her powerful voice providing operatic music for the spellbound crowd. There’s even a mop ballet and an amazing rain finale that will literally leave you wet. If you don’t believe me, have a look at these pictures:
SOAP – celebrating all things circus in The Spiegeltent – is just a splash away from the Thames, and the actual birthplace of circus 250 years ago!
Underbelly Festival is back for its tenth year on the Southbank.
Venue: The Spiegeltent, Underbelly Festival Southbank, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX.
While I was there, I made sure that I had a great place to stay for the night in order to get party-ready and to have somewhere to rest my head before taking the train home again. The Mövenpick Hotel in Berlin was the perfect answer. Since I knew I was going to be partying all night long on Saturday night, I booked Sunday night as well so I could get home from the club and sleep before taking my late-night train home.
The hotel is easy to find from several U or S-bahn stations in Berlin, or of course by taxi. The foyer is tastefully decorated and bright, furnished with comfortable sofas so that any time you might spend in the lobby is a pleasure.
The Mövenpick hotels have developed the perfect room for people like me who have a hard time sleeping when things aren’t perfectly dark. Especially true when coming home after a long nights party and the sun has been up for a while already. The ‘sleep’ room has full blackout curtains and comes with a little package of goodies to help you sleep which includes an eye mask, herbal teas, chocolates, and little stickers that you can use to cover the standby lights of the devices in the room. Apart from all that, is probably the room’s best feature: the adjustable king size bed. The bed is split into two large beds which each have an electronic control which adjusts the firmness of the mattress. With the push of a button, you can sleep on something as hard as wood, or sink down into the mattress and be enveloped into a plush world of warm. Add to that the pillow selection from a form given when you book, which lets you choose the firmness of the pillows in your room, and the room is sure to give even the biggest insomniac a good night’s (or afternoon’s) sleep. This bed alone was enough for me to fall in love with this hotel. Coupled with the black-out ability of the room, I can say I have never had such a restful nights/afternoon’s sleep in a hotel when travelling. It really was a pleasure, and I wish I had spent more time there.
Outside the room, the Mövenpick Berlin has a fully stocked cocktail bar and restaurant, as well as a buffet breakfast, which for me was a godsend after spending a few hours dancing at Snax. The best thing about Sunday morning breakfast is that it runs until 1 pm, so if you’re like me and like to spend all night out partying, you can safely return home to the hotel to get some food whenever you want.
The hotel staff are attentive and always ready to provide you with whatever you need. In my case, it was a lot of extra black tea and fresh milk, which I found waiting for me in my minibar upon my return from being out for the afternoon.
The Mövenpick hotel can be found on Schöneberger Straße, a short walk from the Anhalter S-Bahn station, or the Ubahn stations of Gleisdreieck, Mendelsohn-Bartholdy-Park, and Kochstrasse. Bookings can be made directly on the hotel website.
Softer Edged Prickly Character
The Overview | The Drive | The Cabin | The Verdict
Here we have Citroen’s revamped C4 Cactus. Now in its fourth year, Citroën have tamed the design down quite noticeably while making some changes underneath. In short, the Cactus is a sort of hatchback SUV crossover built to a price while saving weight by not including items Citroën deem superfluous for this kind of car like. Gone are the air bumps and bulky patches on the bumper. Instead, we have the new corporate front but still retaining the unusual interior. We take the Flaire Blue HDi 100 diesel for a drive.
Chess is a show about Chess……and it sort of works!
CHESS plays at the London Coliseum until the 2nd June
CREDIT: XTINA / INSTAGRAM
“Accelerate” is the first single from her upcoming album, titled Liberation, featuring hot-right-now rappers Ty Dolla $ign and 2 Chainz and it is a certainly a surprise, to say the least. The majority of people may have expected the lead single to be an uptempo, sexual pop-club banger with an iconic hook, lots of melisma and big belts in the vein of “Dirrty”, “Not Myself Tonight” and “Your Body”, but what we are served instead is a sexy, mid-tempo, urban-influenced sound with reigned in, sultry vocals.
Tribal-inspired drums and bass beats kickstart the song before Christina rap-sings the first verse in a style similar to Beyoncé in “7/11” and “Formation”, just in a much less brash way. “New York, worldwide / Borders my city / Just pulled up to the hotel / All my day ones here with me”, she says as Ty Dolla $ign echoes in the background. Throughout the song she rarely transitions into her singing voice, save for the chorus and ending but when she does she ironically keeps it no higher than second gear. The song talks of a hook-up, which is not so different to her previous lead singles except for “Ain’t No Other Man”, but this time the lyrics are slightly more subtle. “Accelerate, c’mon babe / Pick up your speed / Stamina, fill me up / That’s what I need”, coos Xtina seductively in the chorus which is unusually short but still addictive.
2 Chainz guest raps the bridge, though his presence is perhaps unnecessary and adds little to the song, which seems to take a good chunk of 30 seconds we could have had of Christina singing instead. The last minute of the track has Christina bringing the tempo down even further in an almost breathy, post-sex kind of way as she repeats “ooh ooh ooh / ooh ooh ooh” and ends with hypnotically pretty, harmonised falsetto runs that fans may be feel are similar to songs like “Sex For Breakfast” from “Bionic”.
“Accelerate” may not be what most were expecting to hear, but with Christina she’s proven time and time again you can never know what to expect from her. Once described as “caviar ratchet” by producers Da Internz (who as of yet are unconfirmed as to whether their songs with her made the final cut), Christina’s new sound appears to be just that – a much more electro-R&B and hip-hop driven style that has moved with the current trend of pop music. Although reminiscent of younger pop stars’ efforts who cite her as an influence, such as Ariana Grande’s “Into You” and “Good For You” by Selena Gomez, “Accelerate” is a mature, erotically-charged cut that still cements her as a force to be reckoned with, with her richer, unmistakable tone setting her apart. It might not have everyone slut-dropping and gyrating hard in the clubs (though it may inspire some slow, sexual dancing and making out), but its a grower after several listens when you have to accept that this particular song of hers does not include climactic and almost impossibly hard to copy high notes.
CREDIT: XTINA / INSTAGRAM
The song’s music video, directed by Zoey Grossman, features Christina in little to no makeup similar to her recent Paper magazine cover shoot and is a combination of slightly trippy and slightly arousing but also somewhat minimalistic. Gone are the controversially revealing clothes except for a blazer and nothing else underneath, and brief shots of bare breasts with nipple tape, and instead we get a very simple and casual street look from her. Though the video is predominantly in black and white, we get the odd shot of Xtina in colour under pink-hued lighting as she suggestively smothers her lips and tongue in glitter and drenches herself in what we can only guess is lots of lube but sure looks Dirrty as fuck.
The single is available to download and stream and the video is now on YouTube. “Liberation”, which includes a much-anticipated collaboration with fellow big-voiced diva Demi Lovato called “Fall In Line”, is out on 15th June. Whether or not we do get to hear the songstress’ more signature vocal styling on the rest of the album though – which we’re sure will be on the aforementioned duet with Demi, is something we’ll just have to await impatiently for.
Falling somewhere between a tribute act and a musical revue, The Rat Pack – Live From Las Vegas, brings together the kings of cool, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davies Jr, as they play a fictional night of variety on the stage of the Sands Hotel. Renowned for their old boy’s club style of camaraderie and songs that defined a generation, the three leads rattle their way through their classics, including You Make Me Feel So Young, That’s Amore, Mack The Knife and My Way.
With a sparse set and little changing visually throughout the show, there is a reliance on the songs and performances to carry the production. The aces in the pack here are Stephen Triffitt with an intonation and vocal style which is undeniably Sinatra and Nicola Emmanuel with a naturally soulful, jazz infused voice as Ella Fitzgerald. But the show’s greatest strengths lies is in its musical numbers, and whilst the classic status of the songs is undeniable, the real joy was to hear them accompanied by a live orchestra creating a sound which reverberated in your chest, and with not a synthesizer or drum machine in sight.
Despite its musical prowess, the show stumbles with an over indulgence of on stage banter which grows old and tiresome towards the end, whilst the portrayal of Dean Martin’s alcohol use descended from witty observation into comedic parody; but it was the racist, misogynistic and homophobic jokes which sat the most uncomfortably, and whilst they may have been reflective of the time, there doesn’t feel any reason why they should have been included for a modern audience.
But there is still plenty of pleasure to be found here, with a barrage of songs, toe-tapping beats and singalong classics coming together to form a fairly undemanding evening of entertainment.
The Rat Pack – Live From Las Vegas is currently at Sheffield Theatres until 5th May 2018 before continuing on its national tour.
Bat Out of Hell returns – and it’s just as rocked up and fantastic as it was when it played in London its first time around.
Bat Out of Hell had a sold out run at the London Coliseum last year, and it was practically begging to open again – and it has – this time in a bigger venue (Dominion Theatre). It’s the same story – a musical set to Meat Loaf’s mega-selling 1977 album of the same name. While some of the actors have not returned from it’s original run, it’s still a rocktastic, fun and mega exciting ride.
Raven (Christina Bennington – returning from the original show) is literally locked up in a mega mansion in the sky by her parents Falco (Rob Fowler) and Sloane (Sharon Sexton). Raven is a lonely girl – she’s not allowed outside at all – but she really wants to experience the outside world, to ride the subway, to meet a boy. In the outside world Strat (Andrew Polec) leads a gang of nomads and hangers on, and he’s always dreamt of catching the girl – particularly Raven, but she’s not available. So all sorts of musical mayhem takes place including Strat trying to kidnap Raven so that him and her can be together. Meanwhile, one of the gang members (a fabulous Danielle Steers – returning) is slowly falling in love with another gang member, while she’s actually a maid in the Falco household. She knows their secrets, and lies.
This is the story, in a nutshell, but the way it’s told is spectacular. Motorcycles, explosions, video projection, skimpy costumes, a convertible on stage that was formerly a dining room table, and said convertible plunging off the stage into the orchestra pit – it’s all musical mayhem – from a rock classic album, and it is just as good on stage as it is on the album and when it played at the Coliseum. The cast dance and prance on stage, and with most of the songs dealing with love, Bat Out of Hell is a love story set to rock music. It’s loud, it’s crazy, it’s superb!
BAT OUT OF HELL is currently booking until 27 October 2018.