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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...

Theatre: Joan Rivers A Work In Progress by a Life in Progress



I asked my friend Adam if he wanted to see Joan Rivers in her show and his response (in his best Joan voice) was, "Doo eye??? Doo eye ever???" Such is the pull of Joan Rivers with gay men. They love her. Can't get enough of her. Well, it was a silly question for me to ask.

So there we were on Wednesday night in the Leicester Square Theatre watching her new show. The show is part drama, part autobiography, and part stand up routine and it is great from start to finish. Joan doesn't quite look like she does in the picture when she first walks on, but that is part of the story as well. Being Joan Rivers she doesn't hold back talking about ageing. And she goes into every detail about things that drop...

I always love a filthy mouth and as Joan herself says (to paraphrase of course as I was laughing too much to really note the line), "When you reach 75 why can't you say motherfucker if it gives you enjoyment?" Well she says a lot more than that during the course of the show... She also mixed things up a little during the course of the evening including berating the audience for being a bit retarded, getting a gay man in the front row to help her with her zip, took the piss out of her actors, and she even let two members of the audience ask her questions (I think they thought it was a masterclass)...

All told it was a hilarious evening with Joan and she made the show her own. I was not as familiar as Adam was with her routines or her life (I think he should consider doing her act as he even corrected her chronology of events - although I shudder to think how he would look in one of her wigs), so the show was an extra treat for me. It runs through September, and then there are repeat performances in December and January. Definitely one to catch.

Incidentally I was impressed by the newly refurbished Leicester Square Theatre. It is a different sort of space (which the West End needs) and has two bars in the main theatre as well. There are also some fantastic acts coming up over the next few months that will also be worth looking out for...

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