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One hundred people’s ninth favourite thing: [title of show] @swkplay

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[title of show] takes you back to a time before the fast paced social media where word of mouth for a positive show came from chat boards, video diaries or (god forbid) blogs. A simple staging makes it an ideal (and economical piece to stage), but it’s sweet and earnest take on just putting on a show, and putting it out there and taking a chance gives this show its heart. With a strong and energetic cast and endless musical theatre references, it’s hard to resist and it’s currently playing at the Southwark Playhouse .  It opens with Hunter (Jacob Fowler) and Jeff (Thomas Oxley) as struggling young writers in New York City. An upcoming New York Musical Theatre festival, inspires them to write an original musical within three weeks to make the deadline. As they discuss ideas, writers block, distractions and endless other good and bad musicals, an idea for a show emerges. Which is about writing a show for a musical theatre festival.  Their friends Heidi (Abbie Budden) and Susan (Mary Moor
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Scenes from Soho Square Saturday 19.23

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Scenes from Soho Square Saturday 19.23 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Sitting...
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Any excuse for Tom Cruise photo

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DSC00604 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Everytime I mention the words "Tom Cruise" on this blog traffic to my site jumps a bit. So in a desperate attempt to drive more traffic to my site, I am including my Tom Cruise photo from Tuesday evening at Leicester Square. Tom is there... Can you see him (get out your glasses)? I did get within five metres of him. But as I said before I didn't have my water pistol on me so I wasn't going to take a photo...
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Theatre: Tom and just Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

How close did I get to Tom Cruise on Tuesday? Well close enough to see that he really is short. Oh and he has great hair. Getting cheap tickets at Leicester Square I had my back mostly turned on him as while it is great he mingles with the fans for hours, star worship isn't my thing… Unless it is Kathleen Turner … Turner and Bill Irwin have reprised their Broadway roles in Edward Albee's modern (now slightly revised) classic "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" It is about to close after a few months running in the West End and it was well worth seeing. Turner may not have the looks (or the voice) she once had but she still has got something. Even with her foghorn voice she still managed to fill the stage. So much so you almost forget that there are only four actors that make up the cast in this. Irwin complimented Turner in his subtle and sly delivery. There is so much fun to be had in watching this show about a sparring marital couple that even if it is a little ov
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Theatre: Burn not chatroom then citizenship...

Monday night I forgot I was at the National Theatre again to see "Burn, Chatroom and Citizenship" – three new one-act plays. Except that they only perform two and I was stuck with "Burn" during the first half. It was a bit of a bore, although had some nice commentary about social workers and car stealing. The second half was "Citizenship" and it was much more lively and funnier (no surprise when it was written by Mark Ravenhill of "Shopping and Fucking" fame). The tale about a boy who sees a girl and gets her pregnant while looking for a gay relationship was pretty funny. The characters and dialogue were fantastic (even if the plot was a bit suspect)… The crowd was a very young crowd as these performances were originally performed at the NT last year by school children, and they all have yoof feemes and all that… So once you got past the audience belching and laughing at the wrong parts it was a good night out…  
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Scenes from Leicester Square Tuesday

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Scenes from Leicester Square Tuesday Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Trying to get cheap ticks to Kathleen Turner's performance in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" I run into Tom Cruise worship. I got within 5 metres of him but was too busy purchasing theatre tickets to notice how small he really is... Besides I didn't have my water pistol on me...
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Scenes from the Thames Monday 22.00

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Scenes from the Thames Monday 22.00 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Big Ben strikes 10...
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Scenes from SW4 Saturday 19:46

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Scenes from SW4 Saturday 19:46 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . It wasn't all grey this weekend. Saturday was mild and sunny. The trees now have greenery on them too...
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Theatre in progress: The Menu

Friday night I caught a "work in progress" at the National Theatre called "The Menu". It is what they are referring to as a scratch performance where in essence they are workshopping a new piece but with an audience. There were enough disclaimers to lower anybody's expectations about what we were about to see but in essence it wasn't that bad. Sure the production was unfinished and there were enough subplots to drive anyone crazy (and some scenes didn't make any sense) but there is the potential there in this play set in the not too distant future Britain, where suicide bombings and lack of liberty are the norm. I thought the satire on the future (newsflash: Prince Harry was reprimanded today for wearing a fake Muslim beard) worked better than the love triangle between the three leads, but others with me went along with it all. I enticed people to come to it on the premise that it could be the next masterpiece to come out of the National. I don't th
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