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Wee liberties: Beauty and The Beast: A Horny Love Story at Charing Cross Theatre

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It may not be a tale as old as time, but it’s still the same old story, almost, with Beauty and the Beast: A Horny Love Story currently playing at the Charing Cross Theatre .  As the title suggests, this is not family holiday entertainment, but neither is it all gay gore. And a surprisingly large number of clever gags, a gorgeous-looking production, costumes, and an ensemble make for a classy night out with the occasional lashing of sluttiness.  It’s been a while since I have seen an adults-only panto. Like many things at the theatre—ticket prices, opening nights, age of social media influencers—things have changed. Happily, things have changed for the better here. The show focuses on assembling an excellent cast. Elaborate costumes by Robert Draper and David Shields’ set pieces help give this adult panto a touch of class. There are the usual lewd jokes and a quick flash of buttocks.   The setting of the story is in the northernmost village of Scotland, Lickmanochers. Not...
News: Bang! Bang! and Pussy Galore

Last night was a bit of an odd night really.

  • First a man gets attacked by a large black furry thing while he is looking for his kitty, and it is assumed that another 'Big cat' is on the loose in London
  • Then at Brixton Academy two shots were fired in the air during a rap concert causing a situation and stampede out the exits. Gun crime is a hot issue at the moment in Brixton so this sort of publicity was the last thing that was needed. Fortunately there were no injuries in all the kerfuffle, but the English language took a bit of a bruising with this music critic's account of the evening and the "spewing muzzle"... Bleah!


Life Miscellany

  • Ran into the old Australian flatmate from Haringey last night. It was one of those chance meetings that in such a big city you would never believe would happen, but hey Charing Cross can be like that! He has been on a six month holiday around the world and back in London to live and work. Updated him on where I live and what I am doing. He didn't seem surprised. But then again, he was around when all that nasty business cropped up in the heady days of October 2003 so he had the inside information.
  • My colleague kept humming the tune "Put your head on my shoulder" today. It wasn't hummed to me, but both of us seem to hum bright and beautiful music from time to time (although I seem to hum songs like "Too much too little too late"). Its the one set of music that we can agree on since she didn't seem too enthused about Elgar Symphonies. To stop the humming however I sent her the lyrics in an email titled "Don't hum them, sing them"
  • I should be in bed now - well I am in bed but I am sitting up typing this - but Rear Window is on ITV and it is keeping me up. Where I live now reminds me a bit like rear window. You can see into all the other apartments. Mostly you see is badly looked after plants and clutter. No dead bodies thankfully.

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