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I seem to have been going to the theatre incessantly over the past few weeks and whilst I find this to be a generally joyous experience, it spare me very little time for personal musings. I shall try to break down my last few visits with links, so I can get on to the more fascinating things that have been happening in my life. I actually need to refer to my diary for this!

Monday saw me at the opening of Celebrity Autobiography - a fascinating import from the States that could well be the saviour of the Leicester Square Theatre. Not that it was floundering, but this is a show blessed with an interchangeable star cast and an endless supply of unintentionally comic material. The Leicester Square Theatre, of which I am particularly fond, is gradually building a reputation as a cabaret/comedy venue and I sense CA to be a long runner.

Tuesday was a disaster on many levels that in turn, brought my attention to the power of Twitter and Facebook. I was supposed to attend Fascinating Aida at the Pheasantry, the Pizza Express venue that aimed to replace Pizza On The Park. Press, Management and PE Staff and general politeness fell out of the window on that opening night in a flurry of 'We've Sold Out Arrogance and Indifference'. Faced with this I left the building and in a fit of anger announced on Twitter that I would never return. Since then I have had formal apologies all round and a particular invitation to attend once more at my own convenience. I will be there next week and shall keep you posted.

The Irish Curse at ATS was an interesting play that never quite matched the courage of its convictions. Basically I felt there to be a little too much schmaltz in there and some of its cast lacked the emotional maturity required. Somebody asked me if they should see it and I said that they should, but they should go later in the run. I felt the cast needed time to get to know each other a bit better.
Me & Juliet was a brilliant production of a VERY bad musical by Rogers and Hammerstein. Nuff said. The Finborough Theatre currently has no bar attached and cannot house its customers comfortably before the show or in the interval. I have been reassured by AD Neil McPherson that the new bar/restaurant will be open before Christmas. This venue has produced particularly great work here this year and yet the bar has been an absolute nightmare.

Friday was a bit of a surprise with a rare visit to the Croydon Warehouse. Heroin(e) for Breakfast was loud, obnoxious, aggravating and desperately good theatre. Get there if you can.

Well that was last week!!!! This week I had the first of my Edward Bond plays at The Cock Tavern. The Fool, originally staring Tom Courtney in 1975, is a good play that was here given a mediocre staging. Bond himself directing probably didn't help and it would have been interesting to get a young, edgy directors approach to the piece that seriously needed both pace and a little editing - it's running at 2 hours and 45 minutes at the moment! I was somewhat encourage by the 6 names listed adding to the artistic team in the play including make-up and wigs, costume and set design. It look shit! A complete joke that I tried to ignore until one actor walked on with a wig SO IMMEASURABLY BAD it was difficult to stop bursting into laughter. Quite why anyone would walk out onto a public stage, in a drama wearing that I am not sure.

I would love to have a chat with their artistic team to find out their training, background and commitment to the this Bond Season as, quite frankly, this work was an insult to it.

Giving Thanks

The most important thanks I will give this November is that Sean has had an all-clear from the doctor. Recently he asked me to assist him trying to meet deadline on Priscilla. Naturally I took the task extremely seriously!

Bike Voucher!

Eeek! My bike voucher arrived and I will have my new bike for the weekend. How exciting! I was beginning to feel that I may strangle somebody on the train in the morning and they never ran on time. I also picked up a nasty cold so its been a really gross couple of weeks for me studded with moment of absolute gorgeousness.

As the new weekend approaches I fully intend to detox, resume excercises and make a wellness plan for my soujorn in Norhern Ireland.

Zorro, Packed Houses, Tears and Bells

A week in theatre can be a hit or miss affair but I must say that this week the bar was raised a level. The Drowsy Chaperone on Tuesday meant a schlep up to Highgate where I have to say, I have always felt a little awkward. The Plews Clan have always been terribly welcoming but the shows tend to be a hit and miss affair. I seem to remember liking Deathtrap, Forever Plaid and Hot Mikado there but being quite cutting about a few others. Fortunatley Racky had done a grand job with Chaperone and it was fun to catch up with various people including the gorgeous producer de jour, Thomas Hopkins, the ubiquitous lighting designer Howard Hudson and the lovely Matt Rawle who were in the audience.

I wasn't expecting much on Wednesday at the White Bear in Kennington but I knew that I was going to meet Angela again. I had no idea what The Last Pilgrim was about but I steeled myself for some drama. It was one of those VERY rare moments for me and I left the theatre with tears in my eyes. Compelling, gripping theatre expertly performed.

Departure Lounge at the Waterloo East Theatre was Hollyoaks After Hours, set to music. Good music but terrible construction and lacking the courage of its convictions. Very dull!

On the other hand, Bells Are Ringing was an absolute hoot from begining to en. In the bar I was reunited with Andrew and met his colleague Phil. Their critique of the show was hysterical, especially the bit about the Strallens. After this I sped across London with my guest for the evening, Peter Bull to get to Sideshow - The Weirdest Show On Earth in what was a very eliptical week. I am actually exhausted just looking back on it now!

Mad Things

I recently had a look back at last years blog post at about this time, only to discover a huge gaping hole where my posts should have been followed by a list of shows. It seems its that time of the year again as I appear to be at the theatre 5 nights out of 7.

After my gorgeous anniversary weekend in town - Champagne at Liberty's, Cocktails at Waterstones, Dinner at Kettners, frolics at The Marylebone Hotel - I was rather looking forward to a rest on Monday, albeit after the launch party for Sideshow at the Leicester Square Theatre. At this event I met two very interesting people. Andrew, one of the West End Whingers and Angela Hyde-Courtney from The Audience Club.

I had been intrigued to meet the West End Whingers for some time, particularly after they had quoted my review George M Cohen on their Twitter site. A personable fellow, he had to dash as he was off to see Caroline O'Connor at The Garrick that evening. I was a big fan of O'Connor and Russell Labey was directing so naturally I was rather jealous, which is when they offered me spare ticket.

So my night off was scuppered but the O'Connor show was a triumph.