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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...
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Celebrity Watching at Covent Garden Saturday 18:15

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Celebrity Watching at Covent Garden Saturday 18:15 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . You can't say that I don't get the celebs. Here is Frank Langella's shoes in centre shot. He was sitting down talking on his mobile phone outside the Donmar...
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Theatre: Frost / Nixon

A perfect antidote to Wednesday's debacle was the excellent play Frost Nixon at the Donmar by Peter Morgan (who also wrote The Queen ). It stars Frank Langella as Richard Nixon and Michael Sheen as David Frost, recreating the interview in 1977 that led to Nixon making some astonishing statements about Watergate and obstruction of justice (including the one above). This was a sensational and gripping two hours in the theatre about a disgraced leader and a fading entertainer both trying to use each other to revive their careers. The drama behind the scenes and in the actual taped interviews is recreated to stunning effect. A bank of television screens suspended above also brings home the impact of the close up on Nixon. The entire cast is perfect but it is Langella and Sheen had you sitting on the edge of your seat. The closing lines of the play are as follows describing a party scene years later hosted by Frost: Walking through the crowds of air-kissing politicians, actors and hi...
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Scenes from Shaftsbury Avenue Wednesday 22:20

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Scenes from Shaftsbury Avenue Wednesday 22:20 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Actually it would be better if you didn't... Never trust a show with crap artwork too...
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Theatre: Cabaret

It is a rare theatrical experience when somebody sitting next to you, who you have just met, gets up at the intermission and declares to you and all around "This is SHIT!" But that's what happened Wednesday night when I saw a preview of Cabaret. He left at that point but later on I heard another audience member mutter about who the lead actress must have slept with to get the role… Everyone knew they were in the presence of a megabomb. What can you say about a production where when the Emcee asks, "Where are your troubles now?" somebody in the audience calls out "In Islington!" I'm not quite sure what that meant but it was one of the few laughs of the evening. It is odd really, as a few years ago I saw an excellent Australian production of the Sam Mendes version that was exciting, well acted, well sung, fast paced and interesting. Tonight had none of this. Rufus Norris as director managed to Take a number of talented actors and squeeze incredi...
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Birthday Cards

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Last Thursday was my birthday and my colleagues got me this card... Just what were they trying to tell me?
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Scenes from Soho Burger Bar Sunday 18:52

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Scenes from Soho Burger Bar Sunday 18:52 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Warm shabby customer... What's with the beanie when it is 20 plus...?
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Scenes from the Royal Academy Sunday 15:38

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Scenes from the Royal Academy Sunday 15:38 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . A large bronze gateway called "The Gates of Hell" is part of the Rodin exhibition at the Royal Academy and something rather impressive to see upon entering the forecourt at the Academy. It runs through to January. The work was cast after his death but includes earlier versions of "The Kiss" and "The Thinker" within it.
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Film: The Queen

Today I caught the movie The Queen which is about that rather unusual period in 1997 when Princess Diana was killed in a car crash and the attempts of the new PM Mr Blair to get the monarch to understand the mood of the public. It was quite an extraordinary film and very well written. While it may not have happened in the way it is presented, the cleverness of the film is that it makes you think the dialogue is believable. Apparently it has used a mix of corroboration from close sources in both camps with a healthy bit of speculation. But at its heart is a great play between two figures of power dealing with change (intercut with real footage of the huge outpouring of grief at the time). Michael Sheen, who has already played Blair (and Kenneth Williams) in TV dramas, again shows his versatility recreating those heady days of the New Labour era when there wasn't any Iraq, Lebanon or backbenchers passing notes... But Helen Mirren in the title role doesn't quite so much act as c...
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