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February
Modern Musicals are Rubbish 17th February 2006
Unlikely Hero Comes to the Rescue of the British Musical
Mamma Mia! Is one of my favourite shows, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. The plot may be a bizarre contrivance, but the jokes, the dancing, and ABBA’s music make for a fabulous, screamingly camp, night at the theatre. Buddy was OK as well, and you can’t go that far wrong with Queen, as the writers of We Will Rock You have found out to their profit.

But there are limits. The Rod Stewart musical ‘Tonight’s the Night’ was far from alright. Madness’ show only lasted a couple of months before slinking off in embarrassment. And now they’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel.

First up is ‘Movin’ Out’ a show based on the horribly annoying songs of Billy Joel. Next we have the chance to immerse ourselves in ‘Daddy Cool’, the Boney M musical, which I wrote about in January, and which has nothing whatsoever to recommend it apart from hopefully being the very worst show of all time. ‘Footloose’ follows, which might even be quite good, but there’s a whole heap of even less promising projects in the pipeline.

Whatever happened to actually sitting down and writing new songs for your shows? Andrew Lloyd Webber has gone completely off the boil (his latest, ‘The Woman in White’ will be closing this week), but that doesn’t mean that nobody else should bother trying. ‘Glorious’ closes in April, and at that point the only musicals on in the West End will be Broadway imports, movie adaptations, pop act tributes or shows written in the last century.

The Blue Man Group, The Producers, Guys and Dolls and the forthcoming Avenue Q are fabulous shows, and there are still great British classics like Blood Brothers, and Phantom. But musicals are the most popular live entertainment we have in this country, and if there is no new generation of Willy Russells and Andrew Lloyd-Webbers, they will eventually go the way of movies, dominated by American imports, and feeble remakes.

Elton John’s fine soundtrack for ‘Billy Elliot’ suggests that Ms. Furness might have a big show in him, but the real glimmer of hope for the West End comes from a more surprising source: Damon Albarn. “The blackest man in West London” (according to ex-bandmate Alex James) will be launching a musical set in and around the music scene of Ladbroke Grove and covering 40 years life in multi-ethnic London.

It sounds like the worst idea ever. But for some reason, everything Albarn touches turns to gold (and yes I have got over my teenage crush on him, thank you very much). He’s reinvented himself as a hip-hop producer, a world music star, and a hard rocker in the last decade, and if anyone’s going to revive the British musical, it’ll be him.
Grab Your Thesaurus You’ve Pulled
The capital’s Get London Reading Campaign got spicy this February with a series of "read-dating" events held at local libraries. Whitechapel, Southwark and Chelsea libraries hosted the events aimed at bringing London’s literary singletons together over a good book.
Dep-ART-ment Store Takes the Biscuit
Hungry shoppers were advised to head to Selfridges, this month, for the chance to devour Chinese artist Song Dong’s latest art installation. 72,000 biscuits and sweets – including Digestives, Rich Teas, Caramels and HobNobs - were used to create a detailed Asian cityscape. Customers of the department store were invited to consume the project after its completion.
Cardiff 1, Wembley 0
Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium is to host this year’s FA Cup because the company building the new Wembley could not guarantee 100% completion in time. In January 2006 Multiplex warned that there was only a 70% chance of the 90,000-seat stadium being ready to stage the final.

October 2009
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26th September
A River Runs Through It
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Blogging is Best
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When Saturday comes
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27th July
Against the Clock
20th July
View for a thrill
June 2009
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18th February
New Photography Laws
12th February
Glitz and the Pitts
January 2009
27th January
Setting the Standard
21st January
Too Much for Posh Nosh?
December 2008
23rd December
January is on the Horizon
20th December
Merry Christmas
November 2008
26th November
All The World's A Stage
20th November
Surviving the Crunch
October 2008
24th October
Boris v Jingjing
17th October
Soaps in Pole Position
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
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23rd April
By George
11th April
Back to the 80s
March 2008
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20th February
Dark, Satanic Turnmills
6th February
A Diamond in the Drink
January 2008
21st January
People Wanted for Plinth
14th January
Boo! Hiss!
December 2007
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Tate That - A Hirst for Art
20th December
Christmas Shopping
November 2007
27th November
Mind the Gap
26th November
London On A Tray
October 2007
26th October
Leaving the Station
14th October
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September 2007
August 2007
24th August
Heathrow under Siege
17th August
Gormless
10th August
Losing Face
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
23rd March
So, Another Magazine
16th March
Avoiding iContact
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
26th May
Curvaceous Border
12th May
Vegging Out
April 2006
March 2006
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20th January
February Sales
20th January
Moby Sick
13th January
Glass Half Full
3rd January
Three Cheers for the Tube Station Workers
December 2005
22nd December
January Bites
16th December
A Remarkable Year
November 2005
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29th July
Moving On From 7/7
22nd July
Get loaded in the park
15th July
Victoire!!
June 2005
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April 2005
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February 2005
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December 2004
30th December
Party Pooper
23rd December
The Second Battle of Trafalgar
16th December
Sadie's Year
November 2004
28th November
Ripper-Watch
21st November
Kinky Boots
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Smoked out
October 2004
22nd October
Yuppie Meal
15th October
Fines of Fury
8th October
No Twist in the Turner
September 2004
17th September
Battleships, bloodsports and Batman
10th September
Clique Week
3rd September
Return of the Bard
August 2004
July 2004
 
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