Review – La Soiree – South Bank Big Top (behind National Theatre)

Last Sunday I took advantage of the Metro‘s offer for half priced tickets and went to see La Soiree, a night of circus-style entertainment at a venue on the Southbank. I’d been to La Clique and loved it, and this was supposed to be the same thing-ish, only … well, mostly it seemed to be about the same lineup, but a different venue. This meant the return of balancing act The English Gents, sword-swallowing and latex-wearing Miss Behave, contortionist Captain Frodo, and the ever so yummy David O’Mer (notorious for the “bathtub” act).

The venue, however, was just gorgeous, a tent behind the National theater with a huge bar area (and very functional toilets) in the waiting area outside the main space, a second bar just the other side of the ticket takers, and then a glamorous mirrored “big top” area, with a circular stage surrounded 4/5ths by rows of chairs and this area rounded by a walkway with cozy little booths (probably big enough for six or even eight) all along the sides. There was also a space sort of at the “top” of the stage (furthest away from the bar entrance/exit) where there was a raised platform and then, on the level behind it more or less level with the booths, another little stage.

To my disappointment, the Sunday incarnation of La Soiree featured rather too much of my least favorite acts, the drag puppet mime “Cabaret Decadanse” (I think they were on three times) and Captain Frodo (who actually wholly repeated his show from before – the routine with the tennis rackets and then the one with the balancing buckets). The puppet singers I find boring, and Captain Frodo is just kind of gross and unsexy and has a stage presence that makes me … I don’t know, wish for it to be over. Goofy is just not what I come to La Soiree for.

However, we did get some magnificent balancing work from the English Gents, who were just as dapper (and ultra yummy outside of their pinstriped suits, and – even better – in a kimono!) as ever, and displayed the wit I remembered them for from my visit to La Clique. The audience was laughing and oohing and aahing and I felt very lucky to get to see them again.

My companion’s favorite act was “Mooky,” a curvaceous blonde who sort of put herself out as a bit of a stand-up, audience participation comedian. I don’t want to give away any of her act but we were all but falling out of our chairs. Once again, it was a rather thoughtful performance, rather than just being crass or comptetent-while-boring. I didn’t really buy into her stage persona but at the end I was sold by what she accomplished.

Rather more on the freak side was the “Spanish” singer and dancer (who’s stage name I’ve forgotten despite it being written inside his cape), who wound up at one point playing guitar ping-pong with the audience and then, later, juggling eggs – again, with members of the audience. This also had us on the edge of our seats, more or less with terror, but hey, we were certainly paying attention as things went flying every which way.

What’s sad, at the end of the day, is seeing just how many acts could have been performing – the really sexy Ursula Martinez (where did that hanky go?), people on roller skates, my beloved Miss Behave, and the rather enticing looking Le Gateau Chocolat (a “killer baritone” with “a penchant for being wrapped in body hugging lycra” per the program). There was really so much more we could have seen! Still, despite my whinges, my friend and I had an excellent time (aided by the liberal application of vodka), and my feeling, as I left, was much like it was for La Clique: I had really had such a good time and wanted to come back as soon as possible with as many friends of mine as I could get together, and then sit around, slug back drinks, and have a wonderful, sexy, clever, pulse-raising night out. La Soiree was great fun and if you like the things I like, this is a perfect evening to chase the winter blues away.

(This review is for a performance that took place on Sunday, November 14th, 2010.

Great deal – two for one tickets for La Soiree (updated La Clique)

Two years ago I went to and loved La Clique – so I’m really pleased to see that the team is mostly back with a new show called La Soiree, taking place at the South Bank in a tent instead of in the rather stale confines of the Hippodrome. Fortunately Metro has a two for one deal on Ringside seats (normally £40 each), which can be had by calling 0843 221 0999 and quoting “Metro.” It’s not good for the early shows on Friay and Saturday and only valid through November 14th, so make your reservations now – early reviews have been very positive.

Review – Les 7 Doigts de la Main’s “Traces” – Peacock Theatre

Last night I went with W, Cate, and DJM to see Les 7 Doigts de la Main’s “Traces” show at the Peacock Theatre. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect – it had been billed as a circus show but was being handled by a theater (Sadler’s Wells) I normally consider as being about modern dance. And yet it was being recommended to me by someone as a kind of Cirque du Soleil thing. What was it going to be about?

Well, as it turned out, it was kind of a post-apocalyptic acrobatic modern dance piece done to a soundtrack that ranged from industrial to rap, with five 20-ish performers who actually took the time to exhibit some personality on stage rather than just being faceless, interchangeable performers. There was sort of a narrative, but not much – it was mostly a series of various stunts with conversation (and occasionally music) between them. One piece was set up as a reality TV show, but it was mostly a set up for people doing back flips off of a teeter-totter. Far more interesting were the pure motion bits, such as the tumbling routines that opened the show, the runs and flips off of vertical poles that closed out the first act, and the dives, jumps, and flights (practically) through hoops that ended it. I really enjoyed the male/female balancing act in the first act (though it made me think of the much more emotionally engaging Circus Contraption with nostalgia, this despite the high emotion of the performance in question) and the very unusual “man trapped in giant metal hula hoop” thing in the second act, which was completely unique in my memory.

I enjoyed the hard edge of this troupe, with their utterly unshowy costumes and industrial set, but I felt that with the very high quality of acrobatics involved, it could have been so much more. La Clique utterly embraces the “fun cabaret” thing, though the performances are of mixed quality; Circus Contraption creates a wonderful “Edward Gorey Goes to the Carnival” atmosphere that compensates for not having professionally trained acrobats among their numbers (and their costumes are great – willpower overcoming budget, I think). While I liked Les 7 Doigts de la Main’s aesthetic and really appreciate their skills, I hope that the next time they come through they will have thought up a more compelling way to display their talents. Still, it was a good night out, and I would certainly recommend it (as long as you get discount tickets).

(“Traces” continues at the Peacock Theatre through March 14th. This review is for a performance that took place on March 3rd.)

Review – La Clique – London Hippodrome

Last night, on a whim, I took my sister and husband to the opening night of La Clique at the London Hippodrome. To be honest, I was somewhat motivated by the fact that since it was opening night, I could get a “scoop” on my blog. Now, I’m not so low that I’ve gone to writing stories with search keywords like “Britney Spears Naked!” or “9-11 Conspiracy Revealed!” in this blog in order to improve my traffic (see this article by Charlie Brooker to get the joke), but I have to realize there’s a lot to be said about writing a review of a show early in the run rather than the day before it closes. So I pinched my nose, forked over 30 quid a pop for tickets (standing at 10 was a big “no”; I was hoping for the 20 quid “stool” seats, but they’d all gone by 6 PM the night of the show), and in we went, moths flying out of my pocket as we walked in the door. (NOTE: Friday 10:30 PM tickets can be had for £10 with promo code STA: book at LoveTheatre.com.)

Venue first, as I figure no one has really been in the Hippodrome unless they were clubbing in the late 80s: the entrance is right on the corner of the block of buildings on the east side of Charing Cross’s Leicester Square tube exit, and it’s most remarkable to see this big staircase heading off of the sidewalk in a place that’s only ever been a flat wall before. Up we went into a sort of reception area, with clots of people milling in front of a desk where we needed to exchange our tickets for wristbands indicating which area we’d paid to sit in (yes, it’s not reserved seating – we went in half an hour before showtime so we could get better seats than we would if we showed up closer to showtime). To the left was a bar area that had all sorts of food (such as pies), so a real dinner could easily be had here (though I preferred my Chinese food dinner at Red Hot, about three minutes up the street); to the right, a coat check area.

Inside the venue there was a circular depressed area seating about 250 people, backed by red curtains; in between the lowered seating area and the curtains was a smallish raised area containing what I think were the extra premium “seats with tables” (with flowers and candles on them) and a grand piano (off to the right); the nicest bar in the house appeared to be on this level, directly across from the curtains, and the seats kind of expanded out “behind” the little circular stage in the middle toward the bar.

Entrance to the venue was all stage left, and we continued on up to the seats and stools area. This was a balcony with four levels of seating, two of them tables (the ones lowest and closest to the stage were reserved, but apparently the second layer of tables would have been fine for people with my level of wristband if we’d been quick), the two further back rows of high backed chairs (which were all moved up to the glassed walls on the edge of our level of balcony to let us better see the action on stage – otherwise the balustrade was right at eye level). Behind all of these was another, less well equipped bar area (no port; wine 3.65 a glass), and a quite expansive ladies’ room. (What can I say, it’s a joy to not have to wait, and with about 15 stalls and a 1940s ambience, it was really much nicer than I expected.) We were too late to get a table, but took our places in the lower row of chairs and to the right of the stage.

If you are thinking of going, my advice is this: stools on the left to the house would be okay; all chairs and tables upstairs have a good view for all of the show; the premium tables downstairs have rather too many views of performer’s backsides; the seats really close to the stage are a DANGER ZONE and likely to result in you getting splashed or inadvertently involved in a performance; the lower seats close to the bar and facing the stage likely have a good view for everything. (I can’t say about the standing room tickets as I’m not sure where these people were shuffled off to.)

The evening opened with Cabaret Decadanse, who presented a puppet singing a disco song – pretty cute, well done, but not compelling for me as the puppetry wasn’t that amazing (I do see a lot of this stuff) and the music was recorded. If someone had been singing, that probably would have done it for me, but it wasn’t, so I sat there going, “Okay, I’m waiting to be sold on this show still!”

The next act was a “veddy English” balancing act, two guys in bowlers and suits, looking like they were fresh out of some Monty Python skit. I think the gag was that one was the butler to the other. Their skit, playing with umbrellas and canes and their hats, was a blast, and when (whoosh!) we suddenly got to see what they looked like under their suits, I was most impressed. Goodness! It’s just not what you expect of an English guy, to be ripped out like that, but then again most English guys don’t stand on each other’s head when they’re trying to share an umbrella, either. (It did make me miss my home town’s Circus Contraption, though – the strong man and the tiny, trusting girl-child just had a really powerful emotional impact on me that these guys couldn’t touch.)

My second favorite act of the night was “Mario, Queen of the Circus,” who juggled and did unicycle stuff while Queen songs were played. I admit, I’m a sucker for Queen, but there’s a lot to be said for acts that are in the small timeframe a rock song admits – you just can’t get bored of what’s happening. More importantly, though, he was a really good juggler – his stuff was timed to the music. I also enjoy the dichotomy of “art” and “rock and roll” – so often this stuff gets all pretentious and fruity and up its ass, but the Queen songs kept it fun and lively. Mario was on three times, and I really enjoyed seeing him every time.

Less exciting was “Captain Frodo,” whose a contortionist. His schtick of being inept kind of put me off of my balance, but he just didn’t put out a persona I felt was compelling. Admittedly, he was up against some very sexy competition (such as Ursula Martinez, the stripping magician – is it really legal to strip down to absolutely nothing in London?), but … I don’t know, maybe it was the sideburns or the mustache. At any rate, I didn’t go for his stuff, and it wasn’t just because watching him dislocate his elbows was hard on the stomach (though my sister had to flat out turn away from the stage).

The best act of the night was David O’Mer, the bathtub aerialist, who did this stuff with two silk rope-things hanging from over the stage where he rolled himself up the ropes just using his incredible muscles (first his arms, then his legs). He was the one who wound up splashing the front rows of the stage, who had a plastic splash curtain laid down in front of them. (This one very gay black guy dropped his and just revelled in getting splashed – I can see where that would have had its appeal!) O’Mer was just totally sexy and really had his act in top nick – there was no laziness or cue-missing, and he was mighty fine to watch. Phwoar! (And for the gents in the audience, if you didn’t have a good time with Ursula Martinez, there was also Yulia Pikhtina, the gorgeous, amazingly coordinated hula hooper, who was so classy I couldn’t believe she was Russian. Miss Behave was also back for another round, but I don’t think that her schtick is really the kind of thing that would get you that special feeling like O’Mer did for me.)

Most of the performers were on at least twice, which was good for some acts (Mario) but less so for others (Cabaret Decadanse’s “I Simply Cannot Do It Alone” from Chicago was awful, partially because you couldn’t see the performers leg and feet very well, but also because the puppet was dressed so cheaply that it just wasn’t compelling to watch in any way.) But in summary, it was a fun night but worth more like 20 quid rather than 30, and I would recommend it as really fun to do with a bunch of people after work.

(This review was for opening night, Friday, October 3, 2008. Apologies for the less than stellar writing, but I’m off to Italy in two hours and just can’t spare much time!)