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Giant hawk returns to valley

Giant hawk returns

A giant hawk is once again keeping watch over Sheepcote Valley – thanks to park rangers and local volunteers.

The hawk, originally carved into the hillside by artists from Same Sky in 2001, has been restored to its former glory.

Led by Brighton & Hove City Council’s Park Rangers, volunteers from Brighton Conservation Volunteers (BCV), Sussex Wildlife Trust Youth Rangers and a corporate team from American Express spent two days re-cutting and weeding the lines of the hawk before re-applying three tonnes of chalk. The chalk, sourced from Woodingdean’s Lawn Memorial site half a mile away, was compacted using tamping bars and sledgehammers.

The hawk was previously restored in 2009 and 2011 by volunteers from scout groups, Friends of Sheepcote Valley and the Community payback team.

Councillor Ollie Sykes, deputy chair of the council’s Environment, Sustainability and Transport Committee said:

“The volunteers have done an amazing job and the hawk looks stunning, especially from Wilson Avenue and Whitehawk Hill.”

'Silver Spotted Skipper' butterfly
‘Silver Spotted Skipper’ butterfly

Volunteers were also rewarded with a glimpse of the city’s rarest butterfly – the Silver Spotted Skipper. The butterflies, from the city’s only healthy colony a short distance from the carving, emerged as work was taking place on the hawk. It is not clear if any of the butterflies were gay!

 

 

Adonis Cabaret – Boys! Boys! Boys!

Adonis Cabaret

Last month I was invited to visit the Adonis Cabaret show at Oceana on Brighton seafront, by Davina Sparkle, the show’s Brighton host.

Since its conception in 1998, Adonis has grown into a national brand, starting as just one show in Brighton it now runs six shows throughout the country every Saturday night and a little birdie tells me that there are more on the horizon for 2014.

Adonis is the brainchild of Tristan Mills – former stripper Tristan Tristar – who has been a popular personality on the commercial gay scene in Brighton for many years.

Adonis CabaretI wanted to see for myself what all the fuss was about and what was different about this show, especially as over the last few years more and more gay guys have been going along to see the show as part of their stag nights.

So, off I trotted, down West Street – well…..what a welcome I received.

‘From the door until you hit the dance floor’ is their strap line and they don’t fail!

When you arrive at the entrance of Oceana, you are welcomed by paparazzi and a stilt walker – dressed as a circus ringmaster.

After entering we were escorted to the Ice House to receive our free cocktail and buffet – there’s plenty for everyone and we went back a couple of times for seconds!

The show started at 7.45pm. Davina Sparkle made ‘her’ grand entrance to rapturous applause and loud baying from the mainly female audience. Davina holds the show together – in between the individual acts – with her ‘comedy glue’ and keeps the audience entertained all night.

This is no ordinary strip night, it is a full on cabaret, sort of burlesque meets Butlins if you like, with audience participation – though not compulsory – and even a lap dance for the hen/stag.

There’s lots of free gifts – free photos and calendars for everyone, and a hat, sash and t-shirt for each hen/stag.

The guys have some brilliant routines including a drummer with UV paint, a humorous take on ‘Magic Mike’ and even Superman makes an appearance.

Adonis Cabaret

Over the years Adonis Cabaret have supported the gay community in Brighton & Hove by donating £2,000.00 to the Rainbow Fund who give grants to organisations providing front line services to LGBT people in Brighton & Hove.

This year they entered the Pride Gay Icons Parade for the first time with a ‘gay’ marriage car to celebrate the new gay marriage legislation. The Just Married themed car, complete with the Adonis Hunks and Drag Queens were a huge hit with the crowds especially at Muscle Beach on Preston Park and two of the guys appeared on stage with Davina in the Cabaret Tent sponsored by Legends.

Adonis Cabaret

Tony, from Bournemouth, who had his Stag night at Adonis Cabaret Brighton, said:

“I had the best night ever in Brighton ! Thanks to the Adonis Lads and Davina Sparkle of course for a brilliant time.  I can highly recommend this show to other groups of gay ‘Stags’. Thanks so much we’ll definitely be back again for my Birthday lol”

If it’s your birthday, office party or pre-wedding celebration, Adonis should be on your list of top ten things to do when visiting Brighton & Hove.

Adonis also have shows running every Saturday night in Bournemouth, London, Newcastle, Leeds and Blackpool.

To book, CLICK HERE: 

 

 

Dame for a Laugh in Eastbourne

Eastbourne Dame for a Laugh

It was a case of ‘Dame for A Laugh’ on Saturday for Eastbourne’s first five kilometre walk with a unique twist – all participants completed the walk dressed as panto dames!

Brighton’s Billie Lewis hosted the pre-walk warm up pulling up on stage Eastbourne’s game for a laugh mayor, Cllr Mike Thompson.

The walk will become an annual event for Eastbourne, raising vital funds for St Wilfrid’s Hospice, Eastbourne. Since 1982, the hospice has cared for over 15,500 terminally-ill patients and continues to work within the local community to transform views on end of life care, including opening a new 20 bedroom hospice later in the year.

To find out more CLICK HERE:

Dame for a Laugh

Bulldog benefit Helps The Heroes

Bulldog Help for Heroes

The Bulldog staged a benefit for Help The Heroes, on Sunday, August 12 and raised a magnificent £1244.73 for the charity which provides help to soldiers injured in the line of duty and their families.

Artists appearing included: Misty Lee, Wilma Fingadoo, JP Christan, Trudi Styles & The Pianoman, Fonda Cox, Maisie Trollette, Dave Lynn, Connie Conway, Laurie La Mour, Sally Vate, James Bedford, Davina Sparkle, Lascel Wood, Darren Hamlin, Candy Slag in Drag and the Actually Gay Men’s Chorus.

For more information about Help For Heroes, CLICK HERE: 

 

 

PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT: The Congress Theatre, Eastbourne: Review

Pricilla Queen of the Desert

Five stars:

There’s a strong heartbeat underlying Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Yes, the 500 costumes used in each performance are never less than stunning (now iconic even), and the mix of gay anthems and pop classics is a sure-fire winner, but it’s the characters who shine most vividly in Simon Phillips seven year old musical, based on the award-winning film of the same name.

This is a tale of three people, all more or less comfortable in their own skins amidst the general tolerance of the big smoke, but when they’re thrown into the Oz Outback and up against the attitude of the locals, their metal is tested to the limit.

Pricilla Queen of the Desert

First up, there’s the happy-go-lucky one, Adam/Felicia (Graham Weaver), a youngster with a love of Kylie and all the boundless energy of a licky puppy plus its capacity to annoy the hell out of you. Then there’s Tick/Mitzi (ex-Hear’say’s Noel Sullivan) who’s keen not to pigeonhole himself and has a rather surprising couple of secrets. Lastly, there’s Bernadette (Richard Grieve), an elegant transexual, older than the other two, who’s been there, done that, and got the t-shirt (although she’d rather be seen dead than wear anything as unflattering as a t-shirt, dahling).

Pricilla Queen of the Desert

Together, they set off on a journey of self-discovery through the wonderful land of Oz with the audience being towed in a rather large trailer at a discrete distance behind the eponymous not-so-trusty bus.

The marvel of it is that within a span of just 180 minutes so much is packed in. Fully fleshed-out characters (well, OK, Felicia is a bit sketchy, but only because she’s still a baby) spring out from the stage amidst a sea of glorious numbers that really do come at you every few minutes. It zips along at a real old lick, stopping every now and again to show us a deeper aspect to a character before it revs up and starts bombing along the dusty road again.

Pricilla Queen of the Desert

This slightly pared-down touring version of the show still fills the whole of the stage with it’s Greek chorus of Mr Whippy-haired angels hovering above everyone’s heads and it’s simple background of an LED curtain of lights which adds pazazz to every scene just by twinkling in different colours. The bus may be just a metal frame compared to the full one used in London but it works just as well, with four mounted screens set up to show us the journey she and we are taking through Oz. There’ve been a few cuts to the script to tighten it up a little but all of the best bitchy lines are still included, and pretty much all of the best characters (although the Aboriginal chappy has gone completely).

Priscilla abounds with memorable cameos even if, in a minor quibble, they’re mostly women and mostly unflattering. Bouncy-titted bar owner Shirley (Ellie Leah) is still making every woman’s eyes water, while ping pong punanied Cynthia (Frances Mayli McCann) has probably the best comic turn of the evening as the shrill, limelight-loving wife of Bob (Giles Watling), Bernadette’s love interest. She managed to raise the biggest and heartiest laugh of the night, while Miss Understanding’s (Alan Hunter) Tina Turner impression came a close second.

Pricilla Queen of the Desert

I wasn’t holding out much hope for Noel Sullivan simply because I was being a reality TV snob, but he played Tick perfectly. He’s got a lovely voice, well suited to musical theatre as he can go from belter to tearjerker in the blink of an eye (his duet with his son at the end had my mum in tears, but then that’s not difficult – I manage it almost every day). He’s also surprisingly gorgeous on stage.

Graham Weaver’s Felicia grew on me as the evening went on. An ensemble member in the London cast, Weaver has a fine, subtle voice which felt a little lost to begin with, but what his voice lacks in oomph his body makes up with in phwoarr, running around in tight little pants when he’s not costumed up to the hilt. His Adonis chest is worth the admission price on its own.

Again, reading the programme before the curtain went up, my anti-TV, anti-reality show prejudice kicked in when I saw that Richard Grieve had been not only in Neighbours, but also Home and Away and (god help us all) Emmerdale. By the end of the evening I’d had a good old rethink as his Bernadette is pretty much as good as Tony Sheldon’s, the actor who developed the musical role and played her for five years. Tall and beautifully elegant, dressed in timeless classics, Grieve plays the part much as Sheldon did, with a quiet grace masking metaphorical balls of steel. And it’s so nice to have an older character to root for, even one played by a youngish actor!

There’s not much more to say apart from the touring Priscilla is just as much of an out-and-out joy to behold as the static version. If you missed it in London then you’re in for a huge treat: if you did catch it at the Palace, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how well it’s translated. It’s certainly the fullest, biggest, brightest, glitziest, classiest show I’ve ever seen at a provincial theatre and the audience who gave it a standing ovation even before it ended seemed to agree.

If you can’t catch it this week, remember that it’s the Theatre Royal Brighton’s answer to the Christmas Panto this year, playing from December 17 through to January 5.

WHAT: Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

WHERE: Congress Theatre, Carlisle Road, Eastbourne, then at the Theatre Royal, Brighton over Christmas

WHEN: Until August 17, 7.30pm, Thurs & Sat mats 2.30pm, then from December 17 – January 5 at the Theatre Royal, Brighton

TICKETS: £15 – £37 concs available

RUNNING TIME: about two and a half hours, including interval

MORE INFO: CLICK HERE:

WOULD I SEE IT AGAIN: Why yes, of course. Oz awaits at the Theatre Royal Brighton this Xmas……

 

 

 

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