Bottom Feeder

Went to see Guys and Dolls at the Piccadilly Theatre last night with Rich and Ping.  Wot a night for celeb spotting!  My view was partially obstructed by Albert Finney, who was sitting next to Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Burton.  I was amused to see how much Burton looked like Edward Scissorhands.

The show was pretty damn good, IMNSHO.  I was already prepared for Ewan McGregor being a weak singer, and just settled back to enjoy the dancing and comedy.  Jane Krakowski was fab as Miss Adelaide, and the show deserved the standing ovation it got.

Minty Duck

Spotted Minty from EastEnders in Satay Malaysia last night, tucking into a plate of crispy duck.  Ah, what a star-spangled life I lead!

Evening Standard review of "For The Public Good"

Here's what they had to say...

"Over at the London Coliseum, ENO prepared for the building's December centenary with For the Public Good, a 45-minute précis of Coliseum history, from futurist manifestoes to Churchillian speechifying during the Second World War. If the words "site-specific community opera" fill you with horror, the results were engrossing. Hundreds of amateur singers filled the stalls with bustling energy and raucous good humour, with a few professionals (including Denise Leigh, joint winner of Channel 4's Operatunity) extended to the stage. Tamsin Collison's libretto and Orlando Gough's music were both nicely irreverent, and Stephen Langridge's production made full use of the Coli's inbuilt theatricality. There are those who will tell you that English National Opera has lost its way; For the Public Good suggests otherwise."

For The Public Good

Hmm.  I've been feeling very guilty about not posting to my blog for a while.  I note from my webstats that I'm getting a trickle of interest from the Guardian's web site... no doubt from people thinking that they're going to see some interesting tittle-tattle about Crouch End.  Ah well.

Anyway, the reason for this posting is that I've got another concert coming up.  The London Gay Men's Chorus (or around thirty of us) are taking part in a choral celebration of the 100th anniversary of the London Coliseum.  It's an amateur production which has been organised by the English National Opera's educational arm (ENO Baylis), and should be a fun little concert -- the history of the Coliseum is surprisingly varied, and the oratorio we're performing ranges from the amusing to the frankly bizarre.

Let's hope we get some good coverage in the broadsheets.

I just loved this news item on the Evening Standard's web site: a Lebanese woman who walked into Woolies in Edgware Road, and bought 10,600 Mars bars with a stack of new £50 notes.

Our first concert of the year, at the Adrian Boult Hall in Birmingham, has been reported in UK Gay News and on the BBC's web site.

I've just had an e-mail from Keith Barlow, who's set up a very interesting, not to mention thorough Crouch End Weather web site. Apparently he has a weather station set up in Gladwell Road which generates the site automatically.