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The greatest show and other bromances: Adam Riches and John Kearns ARE Ball and Boe @sohotheatre

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Alfie Boe and Michael Ball seem to be a bit of a joke act anyway. Their endless interpretations of popular songs (also known as covers) and their double-act bromance make them quintessential crossover artists where popular music meets opera and Broadway. And a perilous choice for the discerning listener. It’s not that they aren’t talented musicians and performers in their own right. Still, their musical choices are always safe, predictable and less than their potential. But every country deserves to have a pair of self-described national treasures that can tour the local arenas and give people a good time for the bargain price of £175 a seat.  And so the concept of Adam Riches and John Kearns - two world-famous from the Edinburgh Fringe comedians taking on this bromance seems like a curious choice for a Christmas musical fare. One can only hope that over the fourteen nights, it is playing at the Soho Theatre that the show evolves into something more substantial than a series of po...

Comedy: Dina Martina



Dina at Wigstock a few years back... We were treated to the fiddle as well...

Thursday evening I was one of the "peeps" who caught Dina Martina at the Soho Theatre. Dina is part typical drag act and part something else. With a wig that looked like it was inspired by one of Liza's fights with Gest, makeup inspired by a clown, and a belly that was all his/hers, it was pretty out there (or as Dina would say, "Off the charts!")...

But as the 80 minute performance went on it was clear that there was a real character in the making and it will be interesting to see her again in a few years. Best parts were the songs with forgotten lyrics, advice on how to deal with global warming (kill or the animals in the sea as that will make the water levels drop), and the mispronounciations of words. I particularly liked the soft "g" in her segment of the show called "gifts to give" which became "jiffs to jiv"... Thanks to Dina, I will try and work that into my everyday conversation in future... 

Since most bars in London (unlike in Australia) don't have resident drag queens it was nice to see one in London, even if she was from Vegas... Perhaps a bigger audience would have helped with the atmosphere of the evening, but even with the theatre half full it was obvious there already are a few London devotees...

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