Michelle: I wear red because my husband is full of fire. Laura: I’ll get my coat …
The post Caption Competition appeared first on JohnnyFox.
News, Reviews and Features
These are all of our in-house news and features as well as syndicated article excerpts from our 45+ theatre bloggers. You can also access All Our Mates' Posts in comprehensive list form and view individual author pages.
The Full Cupboard of the School of Life
In a somewhat lager-fuelled discussion about writing, after last week’s session of The School of Life, some of my classmates challenged me to produce a ‘No 1 Ladies Detective Agency‘ story, in which Mma Ramotswe travels to England and visits a relation who owns (and it’s a genuine place) the ‘It’ll Grow Back’ hair salon […]
The post The Full Cupboard of the School of Life appeared first on JohnnyFox.
On Such a Night As This
There’s something in the air that you can sense Elusive yet unbearably intense The stars are standing there in bright suspense As they prepare to light immense events So starts “On Such A Night as This” by the remarkable American lyricist Marshall Barer – and it accurately encapsulates the tingling feeling I’m getting at the […]
The post On Such a Night As This appeared first on JohnnyFox.
Review: The Norman Conquests (Old Vic)
As newspaper reviewers have said, comparisons are odious but I’m going for it anyway. In 1974, The Norman Conquests trilogy was a landmark in theatre comedy, Ayckbourn’s coming of age and coming to town in the first of the interlinked/alternate ending series of plays. It was also cast with actors who WOULD BECOME household names […]
The post Review: The Norman Conquests (Old Vic) appeared first on JohnnyFox.
Torch Song
I’m having a Ken Barlow moment. In the longest running soap opera, he has dusted down from the attic his youthful novel, compared it briefly to the writers he currently admires, and torched it. I have nothing to torch but my memories, as Oscar almost certainly wouldn’t have said, but as I sit on the […]
The post Torch Song appeared first on JohnnyFox.
Review: The Female of the Species
Roll up! Roll up! Hear a Dame of the British Empire say “fuck” repeatedly (and it’s not Judi Dench for once)! Appreciate how Colin Farrell could find 74-year old Eileen Atkins shaggable!! Laugh at the spoof of Germaine Greer !!! Despite having portrayed the dourest and sourest spinsters in a stream of poke bonnet-dramas from Gosford […]
The post Review: The Female of the Species appeared first on JohnnyFox.
The Hotel Inspector
On a whim, I’ve been for a weekend on the Suffolk coast at a property owned by Ruth Watson, the somewhat painted-and-decorated star of Channel 5’s “The Hotel Inspector”. For the uninitiated, this is a programme in which she dispenses caustic advice and a general browbeating to the faltering proprietors of lesser establishments with decor, […]
The post The Hotel Inspector appeared first on JohnnyFox.
Restaurant Review: Verre (The Hilton, Dubai)
I’ve been to Dubai on business and ate one night at “Verre”, the Gordon Ramsay branded a la carte joint in the Hilton and I have to say it was one of the most irritating and boring evenings I’ve ever had in a restaurant. Firstly, it’s uncomfortable – the tables are too close together and […]
The post Restaurant Review: Verre (The Hilton, Dubai) appeared first on JohnnyFox.
Review: La Cage Aux Folles (Menier Chocolate Factory)
Curtain almost up!!! Light some of the lights!!! Technical difficulties caused some hilarity at La Cage aux Folles, relocated temporarily to the suitably French-sounding Menier Chocolate Factory, on the Rive Gauche beside the Pont de Londres … but somehow the joie de vivre and ooh-la-la were left at the bottom of the costume skip which […]
The post Review: La Cage Aux Folles (Menier Chocolate Factory) appeared first on JohnnyFox.
Review: Into The Woods (Linbury Studio)
It’s 21 years since I saw Into The Woods break new ground by bringing English pantomime to Broadway and twisting its neck, and this is the first production since that comes close. Director Will Tuckett has lost none of the values in paring the show down to its bones for Covent Garden’s elegant but compact […]
The post Review: Into The Woods (Linbury Studio) appeared first on JohnnyFox.
Road to Damascus
Coming soon … story of my trip to Syria It’s certainly not the Axis of Evil as defined by the Bush/Blair propaganda machine. Mind you, it’s not the Axis of Clean Toilets either ;-))
The post Road to Damascus appeared first on JohnnyFox.
Review: The Drowsy Chaperone
I couldn’t go with my gang of friends to The Drowsy Chaperone on the Whatsonstage.com outing last week, so had to catch up yesterday. Everyone I know who saw it on Broadway raved about it, and the London crew were no less enthusiastic. Well, on Thursday either it had an off night, or I did. […]
The post Review: The Drowsy Chaperone appeared first on JohnnyFox.
Review: Phantom of the Opera
I went to Phantom of the Opera on Monday. I’d never seen it before. Has this thing really been running for 21 years? Why? Unlike many Phantom audience members who plan and save and look forward to their visits like a state occasion, I was still mooching around the new Primark in Oxford Street at […]
The post Review: Phantom of the Opera appeared first on JohnnyFox.
The Good Juice
I am a man of little ambition. I wrote that to see if it looked any more true on the screen than it did in my head. Any plateau of achievement to which I ever ascended was done not with the crampons and pick of study and struggle but if not exactly in a taxi, […]
The post The Good Juice appeared first on JohnnyFox.
Monopoly Money
I’m standing outside B&Q in the Old Kent Road where two school-age chav truants are trying to light a spliff, a dishevelled amputee is waving his arm stump in my face and a black crack whore is begging for small change. The crack whore is wholly unsuccessful in her mission, the sizeable clump of South […]
The post Monopoly Money appeared first on JohnnyFox.
Desperate Housewife
I’m not happy about my cleaning lady. That sounds SO Bree van de Kamp that I have to apologise and explain. I’m not complaining about her work, Rahat is an exemplary cleaner. She’s neat and pleasant, turns up on time, doesn’t take phone or toilet breaks during the three hours that she’s busy, and apart […]
The post Desperate Housewife appeared first on JohnnyFox.
Tour-ettes Syndrome
I’m doing some work with a film company who are making a pilot for a new TV travel show and as part of the research I’ve been to a couple of “tourist attractions” like the Royal Pavilion in Brighton and the Imperial War Museum in London. It’s caused me to reflect on the nature of […]
The post Tour-ettes Syndrome appeared first on JohnnyFox.
Murky Waters
I know you think this blog just twitters about musical theatre and my Manchester childhood, but I do think about other things too, and one topic which is currently filling my horizon is the Iran sailor/hostage situation which has blown up like a Channel squall, and seemingly subsided as quickly. Although I love a good […]
The post Murky Waters appeared first on JohnnyFox.