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Someone to hold you too close – 10 takes on Being Alive to celebrate Company’s opening

My top 10 Losing My Minds post has been one of the most popular on the site (the most recent spike sadly being because of Marin Mazzie’s untimely passing – RIP), so I thought I would repeat the exercise with what is arguably Company’s most iconic song ‘Being Alive’. 

“Somebody make me come through”

1. Alice Fearn
An unexpected favourite mainly due to the combination of its achingly beautiful strings (arranged by Ben Goddard) and the delicacy of Fearn’s beautiful delivery.

2. Raúl Esparza
This. In all its ferocious power, I just can’t imagine it being better done by a man.

Continue reading “Someone to hold you too close – 10 takes on Being Alive to celebrate Company’s opening”

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YouTube: The Grass Is Always Grindr / A Gay Victorian Affair

I was introduced to (and deeply impressed) by Dragonflies Theatre a while back when I saw The HIV Monologues and so I’ve been keeping an eye out on what they’ve been doing ever since. One of their newest project is this three part webseries – The Grass Is Always Grindr – the first instalment of which you can now see below.

Commissioned by 56 Dean Street with support from Wandsworth Oasis, the series see writer Patrick Cash and director Luke Davies delving deep into Grindr and questioning what the hook-up app is doing to the community and the ways in which we communicate to each other.  Continue reading “YouTube: The Grass Is Always Grindr / A Gay Victorian Affair”

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Web Series review: Jade Dragon

“You all look Chinese to me”

Just a quickie for this web series which I’ve been meaning to get around to for ages now. Written by Rebecca Boey (with Daniel York contributing one of the nineteen short episodes), Jade Dragon is a mockumentary series set in a Chinese takeaway which does a couple of crucial things.

One, it represents a much-needed, and still all-too-rare, opportunity for actors of East Asian heritage to work in a British media that feels stubbornly resistant to crossing this particular Rubicon of diversity. But it also offers up a non-judgemental, matter-of-fact presentation of what that British East Asian experience looks like in all its varied racism from overt violence to subtle othering. Continue reading “Web Series review: Jade Dragon”

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Hear some of the songs from The Grinning Man, done rather differently

 

“First you must come with me and see what I’ve found”

The producers of The Grinning Man must have been really really happy when Hamilton announced that it was delaying its opening night so that it would fall into the same week as theirs. Fortunately, The Grinning Man gets in first and has a few days’ grace and it is also taking a little inspiration from the hit Broadway show in the way it is presenting its score. So where Lin-Manuel Miranda called in mates like Alicia Keys, Usher, Kelly Clarkson and The Roots for The Hamilton Mixtape, The Grinning Man has released a set of clips of West End stars and celebrities singing their own versions of some of the songs from the show.

It’s an intriguing move, especially as Tim Phillips and Marc Teitler’s score is not yet widely known, but it is also a fascinating one as the likes of Matt Lucas and Hannah Waddingham, Kelsey Grammer and Louise Dearman put their own stamp on some of the best tunes whilst never straying too far from the gothic darkness of the source material. Continue reading “Hear some of the songs from The Grinning Man, done rather differently”

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Losing my mind over Losing My Mind – 10 top interpretations of the Sondheim classic

“Sometimes I stand in the middle of the floor”

With the National’s highly anticipated production of Follies (Dominic Cooke directing a cast of 37 and an orchestra of 21, lest you forget) about to start previews in a week’s time, I thought I’d listen to about a hundred different versions of perhaps its most famous song – ‘Losing My Mind’ – and try and decide on a top ten, with the assumption of course that whatever Imelda Staunton will do with the song will be completely, utterly, life-changingly extraordinary (no pressure Meldz).

Continue reading “Losing my mind over Losing My Mind – 10 top interpretations of the Sondheim classic”

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Gloria Onitiri and Anderson & Petty release Alzheimer’s Society charity single

“Just hold on to me”

Written by Anderson & Petty and sung by the lovely Gloria Onitiri (who you may have been lucky enough to see in The Bodyguard), ‘Dignity’ is a charity single which is being released today by Auburn Jam Records in support of The Alzheimer’s Society. It’s a stirring song, full of soulful simplicity and beautifully performed by Onitiri, exercising a gorgeously understated tone throughout. 

You can watch the official video for the track below and buy it from all major online stores including iTunes, Google Play and Amazon. 

All profits are going straight to the charity and a JustGiving page has been set up to allow people to donate above and beyond the purchase of the track as everyone involved is hoping that people will be inspired to give more to support the important work of The Alzheimer’s Society. Continue reading “Gloria Onitiri and Anderson & Petty release Alzheimer’s Society charity single”

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New trailer for A Mad World My Masters

Want to see a trailer for The RSC and ETT’s A Mad World My Masters? Why sure you do.

Sean Foley and Phil Porter’s version of the Thomas Middleton play was a big hit for the RSC in Stratford in 2013 so English Touring Theatre saw it as a good fit to revive and tour around the country. The show is in Brighton this week and goes onto Malvern, Truro, Bath, Darlington, Cambridge and then the Barbican in London from 29th April to 9th May.