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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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Icons of London: Bus stops

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250820088463 , originally uploaded by Paul-in-London . That Olympic handover ceremony in Beijing yesterday was really a chance for an overlooked London icon to have its moment in the sun: the bus stop (not to be confused with the bendy bus in the background). While a bus stop looks like a needle in haystack in a large stadium, in its natural habitat it seems to be of sensible enough proportions... Looking forward to seeing other pieces of public infrastructure on display for the opening ceremony such as, double yellow lines and burst water mains ...
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Theatre: The Year Of Magical Thinking

Saturday night I finally caught up with The Year of Magical Thinking which has been playing since April at the National Theatre. Featuring Vanessa Redgrave on a chair, it tells the story of American author Joan Didion and how over a year she lost both her husband and her daughter and the process she went through in dealing with it (or more to the point not dealing with it). The play is based on her book however it exapnds the story to include the loss of her daughter as well. There is such a frank honesty to this story that even with the subject matter you can't help but be drawn into it. Perhaps it is the way it constantly asks the audience to reflect on this story as it will happen to all of us: the details will be different but the end result is the same. It was certainly was a novel way of reminding us all about our own mortality and how dealing with it is part of life. Perhaps the subject matter (people die), the fact that it was the bank holiday weekend and people may not
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Overhead conversations of the summer...

Woman near Soho Square: I don't even say knickers any more; I just say, "get your daks off..." Homeless man on Oxford Street: I 'ope your 'ouse 'as been buuuurgled...
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Movies: Wall-E

Earlier this week I caught Wall-E at the movies with Francois. I was keen to see what all the fuss was about. After watching it Francois told me that the central message of the film really was that it is okay to like musicals. I thought that was a fair assessment but added that given that Hello Dolly is central to the love story between Wall-E and Eve (the sexy female robot), it is reassuring that Jerry Herman musicals can appeal to heterosexual robots... Worth catching even if you don't like musicals as it is not a bad film... And there are a number of sci-fi film references too...
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Hot news this week in London...

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Meanwhile, in Kilburn... , originally uploaded by LinkMachineGo . Well in Kilburn anyway ... At least there is still the Tricycle Theatre for entertainment...
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Scenes from Soho Pride Sunday

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Soho Pride Sunday 17 August 2008 , originally uploaded by Paul-in-London . Pectorals galore too... Soho Pride isn't anything other than an excuse to close streets in Soho and have some drinks and a good time... Fair enough... Of course there was competition with the Olympics on television ...
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Trends in London this week...

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Giant Lasagna , originally uploaded by pg73 . The growing threat of giant lasagne attacking the London population this summer has been underestimated...
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Hot news this week (even outside) London...

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Popcorn Ban , originally uploaded by gerry balding . Not a lot happens in Norwich... But the Picturehouse chain's plans to get rid of popcorn from its arthouse cinemas was big news Sunday ... Of course in Clapham the biggest problem at the cinema is the sound of clinking wine glasses... Well it was last night anyway...
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