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Searching undeterred: The Gift @ParkTheatre

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I recently had a few parcels go missing from where I live. The first parcel disappeared without a trace. The second parcel's contents were removed, and the box was left alone in the lobby. It's one of the things that you have to put up with living in central London. Apart from complaining to the delivery company and filing a police report, it crossed my mind to think about what would happen if I sent myself something rather unpleasant for a future parcel thief to open up. Well, Dave Florez's new work, The Gift, is in this line of thinking, except that the lead receives an anonymous gift of a turd in the mail rather than sending it to himself. It is lovingly gift-wrapped in a cake box from a posh north London bakery. It's a fascinating and hilarious three-hander currently playing at Park Theatre .  Colin (Nicholas Burns) is a little obsessive at the best of times. He doesn't let things drop quickly and is obsessed with the details behind anything and everythi...

Dancing in the streets: The Theatre Channel


The Theatre Cafe continues its online series of showcasing performers with well-known songs from Broadway and the West End and available through  Stream.Theatre. The site has become a source for West End-flavoured entertainment over the past year, and its a musical revue and showcase for some of the West End's best-known performers.

Shot at the Theatre Cafe and locations around the West End The Charing Cross Theatre, the production uses the empty spaces that would typically be where tourists, workers and Londoners would be. The episodes are a celebration and reminder of what we've been missing with the closure of theatres. 

The performers include Kerry Ellis singing Always Starting Over from If/Then, Layton Williams singing Hold Me In Your Heart from Kinky Boots. And Katie Deacon performing Music And The Mirror from A Chorus Line across the empty streets of London, serving as a reminder about the pandemic's toll on both the city and the industry. 

There's an additional commentary for A Chorus Line as a tribute to choreographer, director and producer Bob Avian, who passed away in January. John Breglio, Baayork Lee, and Antonio Banderas talk about the background of the show and the 2019 Spanish Production. There are hopes to take this production to Broadway in the not too distant future. 

Directed by Thom Southerland with musical supervision by Michael England and choreography by Ashley Nottingham, The Theatre Channel's latest episode is available to stream now. Previous episodes are also available to download and enjoy at your leisure. 

Photo by Edward Johnson

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