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Month: February 2019

NAT raise concerns about new PrEP places for gay men in London clinics being rationed

Posted on by Besi

Councils in London may block additional PrEP places proposed for gay and bisexual men.

NHS England announced today that whilst the PrEP Impact trial will double the number of places on the trial in clinics outside London, local authority commissioners in London are still considering what proportion of the proposed additional places they wish to accept. Fifty per cent of PrEP Impact Trial places are for London clinics.

AT least 11 of the 23 London clinics currently have no places available for gay and bisexual men. The result is men needing PrEP are being turned away. Some will go on to acquire HIV as a result.

Additional places agreed by London’s councils will mean clinics can re-open which would be very welcome. But should they turn down some of their full allocation they run the risk of yet again running out of places in the near future.

Deborah Gold
Deborah Gold

Deborah Gold, Chief Executive of NAT (National AIDS Trust), said: “We strongly welcome the doubling of places in England outside of London which we trust will mean sufficient PrEP places until the implementation of a national PrEP programme. We urge all those responsible to now redouble their efforts to agree such a programme as soon as possible.

“The delay from London’s sexual health commissioners and the possibility they may refuse some of the additional PrEP places proposed is immensely worrying. On past form they are simply rescheduling for a few months yet another crisis in PrEP access for gay and bisexual men in the capital, and men in need of PrEP will soon be being turned away once more. We urge London’s councils to accept all allocated PrEP places as a matter of urgency.

“We are acutely aware of the financial pressures faced by sexual health services – but the answer to that cannot be to pick on one group of people and deny them incredibly important and effective HIV prevention. Gay and bisexual men are being used as a bargaining chip in a stand-off between local councils and NHS England. It is a sad and shameful episode in the history of sexual health commissioning in London.”

A London Councils spokesperson said: “We welcome NHS England making more places available on the PrEP Impact Trial.

“HIV prevention is a priority public health issue for London boroughs and we work collaboratively through the London HIV Prevention Programme (LHPP), which has made a major contribution to the capital’s progress on reducing HIV rates.

“PrEP is an important part of our combination approach to HIV prevention. Commissioners are in advanced planning with the PrEP Programme Oversight Board to support the increase of clinic places so more people can access PrEP. We are now looking to commissioners to deliver these increases as quickly as possible, while also ensuring they are carefully planned and sustainable.”

Greens announce team of young candidates for local council elections

Posted on by Besi

Ahead of the Brighton & Hove City Council elections on May 2, Brighton & Hove Green Party have unveiled a team of five young people who are hoping to join the city council.

THEY are Hannah Clare (25) in Brunswick and Adelaide, Amy Heley (23) in Preston Park, Raphael Hill (22) in Goldsmid,  Alice Bennett (22) and Martin Osborne (25) in Hollingdean and Stanmer.

The announcement follows the YouthStrike4Climate, march which took place on February 14.

Caroline Lucas, MP for Brighton Pavilion and Cllr Phélim Mac Cafferty, Convenor of the Green Group on Brighton & Hove City Council addressed the march, which Caroline Lucas called “the most hopeful thing that’s happened in years”.

Martin Osborne,  is an engineering doctoral student based at the University of Brighton. He is also Young Greens co-organiser on the Brighton & Hove Green Party Executive and is standing in Hollingdean and Stanmer ward.

Martin said: “Our climate crisis is big, but young people can provide a fresh, imaginative and positive view, and demonstrate the dynamism required to get stuck in and back up the talk with action. We’ve recently seen just how effective young people can be at the youth strikes for climate and we will continue to act to guarantee that our future is bright rather than gloomy.”

Alice Bennett, also standing in Hollingdean and Stanmer is the co-convenor of Brighton and Hove Young Greens and is completing an MA at the University of Sussex.

Alice added: “I hope to help ward members with any problems no matter how big or small, but I am particularly interested in strengthening the voice of those who have disabilities, both mental and physical. Hollingdean and Stanmer also has some beautiful green spaces which I would love to see flourish.”

Hannah Clare, candidate for Brunswick & Adelaide is the Young Greens co-organiser on the Brighton & Hove Green Party executive and works as Digital Communications Manager for a local charity. She was formerly Co-Chair of the Young Greens of England and Wales.

Hannah said: “It’s not going far enough to have policies that are aimed at young people alone. If we are to protect the future of young people in the city, then young people must be involved in those decisions. For too long, politicians have failed to represent the views and needs of young people – and it’s time for a change.”

Amy Heley, candidate in Preston Park ward  is a final year student. She currently sits on the executive of the Young Greens of England and Wales and works for Our Future Our Choice, a campaigns organisation seeking to involve the voices of young people on Brexit.

Amy said: “I put myself forward for election because I’m passionate about getting more young people engaged and involved in politics. If I become a councillor, I hope to be a voice for the students and young people in the city who have been let down by cuts to youth services, the housing crisis, the lack of mental health support and the uncertainty about the future that austerity and Brexit have brought.”

Raphael Hill, candidate in Goldsmid ward is the co-convenor of Brighton and Hove Young Greens and a trained teacher of English as a Foreign Language.

Raphael said: “I want to give people hope that their voices will be listened to. I want to support residents over their concerns on major building developments, including Lyon Close – issues like excessive height and density.  We must fight to use the precious land we have to build housing with social rents and council housing, not barren tower blocks nobody can afford. I love and cherish our community and I will fight to protect it for all residents.”

INTERVIEW: Just One Bullet

Posted on by Eric Page

Eric Page, our Welsh firebrand, chats with Irish writer, Peter Paul Hartnett, to gain some personal insight to his fiercely provocative poetry.

Your books are exquisitely crafted. What’s the reasoning behind this understated stylish presentation? 

“A signed limited edition hardback has a personal touch. So many books are spat out at the press of a button, they feel disposable, tiresomely generic, invariably way too corporate, lacking heart. Readers want something tangible, the feel of print in their hands, a book with a spine, that smell. An artisan approach is suited to the writing, poetry that skids into prose – something to keep, deserving a space in the physical world.”

Poetry? Why?
“I left mainstream publishing to develop writing that is not deemed to have commercial potential. This focus is a way of developing material without worrying about the confines of plot, structure or the dictates of a prissy editor. My interest is upon taboo areas that some view as unpublishable. I’m drawn to ideas that many writers run from.” 

Who do you read for the pure joy of it? 
“I learned much from court transcripts, psychological case studies and the early fiction of writers such as Dennis Cooper. Cooper’s blog is an amazing online resource for those seeking all things ‘alt’. I loved the High Risk anthologies of the early 1990s, ‘forbidden writing’ edited by Ira Silverberg and Amy Scholder in the US. I’m currently enjoying Crush by Richard Siken and profiles within recon, grindr, scruff and fabswingers.com contain many a candid disclosure that I swoop upon.”

Which song stirs you to sing along? 
“So High and Dear Jim by Zerocrop are two tracks I play to death, releasing albums for almost 20 years their music is a hypnotic mix of complex melodies and spoken word on unsettling themes, set against a rich backwash of dulcimer, pedal steel, guitars and electronics. He has such a seductive voice, I’m a fan. His tone of voice is phenomenal. Casey Spooner of Fischerspooner also hits the spot.” 

What words of advice would you share with younger LGBT+ wordsmiths?  
“Morrissey’s Sing Your Life could act as a motivational starting point. It encourages everybody to walk to the microphone and name the things they love, they loathe, not wishing to go through life with a tale untold. There’s a life lesson in its lyrics. So many queer themes are rarely explored. The stretched-to-f**k AYOR boundaries of chem sex, actively seeking to become pozzed up and the dynamics of intergenerational relationships are three areas of interest.” 

Do you have a muse? 
“I’m drawn to anonymous objects of desire, random moments that quicken the heart, snapshot sightings which raise the blood pressure, jigsaw moments. I see so many ‘characters’ on the commercialised scene, from rainbow-flagged bar to dank cellar f**k club. The reality of compulsive urban sex is often edited out, dumbed down in PC publishing.

“England is a country which suffered censorship that was absurd, crippling and pernicious.

“I’m an unremitting defender of artistic freedom and the next generation of LGBT+ writers need to go at it raw, refusing to work within confined establishment standards.

“A small number of major publishing houses dominate, with writers being uni-educated workshopped bores who produce proposal after proposal meeting all the tedious tick box requirements. Playing along with the media in-crowd has always been of zero interest. I’m drawn to agitate fine nerve endings, a mission I will not compromise. I believe in the hard punch, not the light touch. Forgive me if I rant, but I’m not the happy homosexual, spouting upbeat soundbites. I’m not the frothy scene queen, spewing on-trend gibberish.”

Tell us something about your grandmother?
“You’re kidding? Oh, you’re not. My father’s side of the family were a farming community from the Beara Peninsula, Cork. My mother’s side of the family were stage-directed by my somewhat OCD grandmother. My father came from a family of 12; my mother was one of five, a relatively small family, all in a two-roomed house. Both women had backbone and were incredibly liberal; believing that in terms of queer there’s invariably one in every family.”

What is courage in this age?
“A certain patience, perseverance and bravery is needed to confront the angst of an uncertain future. As a mentor, I encourage students to avoid a university education, the lure of digital is too much of a distraction and eyes need to look away from telephonic toys to process this overwhelming world we live in. Everything is a choice, from what we eat to a smoke of some synthetic shit, to the deep and meaningful scribble of an impulse tatt. It takes courage not to blend in with the herd.

“In an age when freedom of expression is under grave threat, if not from the State then from fear-engendered by social media pressure groups and religious intolerance, I will not dick around in the way that the so many long-serving bores do, homosexual heavyweights whose work feels better suited to the markets of another century. I relate more to American, European and the new wave of Japanese writers, who have an air of subversion. When I look at the Twitter accounts of award-winning writers, I’m repulsed by the selfies and self-promotional branding and blatant networking. Urgh upon urghs.”

Do you have a favourite word?

“Possibly.”

What’s your safe word?

“Exit.”

Where do you come from?
“I’m from turbulent decades, which so many of my peers did not survive. The scenes were fuelled by amphetamines, alcohol and self-absorbed narcissism. Fast-lane moths, straight to the flames. Then came capital letters E, G, hitting hard. The late 1970s were a time of exhibitionism, voyeurism… fetishists, on parade. Towards the end of the 1980s, Ecstasy created monsters of suburbanites at raves. Messed-up, loved-up smilers, heading for Casualty. I was there, documenting ever-evolving cycles of youth in transition as a photographer and writer. Dry-eyed, sober, drug-free.

“As both a writer and photographer, I’ve specialised in social trawling, with an eye upon innovative style tribes within non-conforming ‘alt’ scenes, especially those identifying as LGBTI. Since the age of 18, I’ve detected and tracked changes in the way brave souls both race and rage from the closet, motivated to express themselves. I document the ‘braille’, the bumps that protrude within an urban setting and clubland, style-fixated landscapes. From punks in bondage trousers to pups in rubber.

“Right now, so many within the fast f**k lane are entrusting their wellbeing to PrEP. Sexual compulsives tick the RATHER NOT SAY / NEVER option list on recon.com re safer sex. It’s that area of risk taking that interests me. I find profiles on sex-based sites to be of more interest than the latest hyped products from Alan Hollinghurst. Barebacking profiles rather than over-priced hardbacks There is a social backbone within my creative work that should be interpreted as a form of constructive activism. It is my hope that forthcoming published work will challenge, motivate and inspire.”

You’ve a new book out this month, what can excited followers of your work expect?

“A piece at the end – The User Experience – goes as far as I can on the mind-set and detrimental development of a Catholic priest named Yuuto. I use retractions as a stylistic device, self-censoring my own work. In my writing that so often has a focus upon the immoral and highly illegal, I work within the law.

“To use a tabloid term, SEX MONSTERS are rarely considered beyond the sensational storm that journalists descend upon after a string of victims. In many respects, that has been my mission since the publication of my first novel, Call Me, back in 1996, exposing uncomfortable truths.”

I Shouldn’t, Must Stop by PP Hartnett, is published by Autopsy costing £10.

University of Brighton takes partnership approach to tackling loneliness

Posted on by Besi

Finding ways to tackle loneliness and the affordable housing crisis are two of seven new research projects being supported this year by the University of Brighton in partnership with community organisations.

Tackling loneliness, photo by Bruno Martins on Unsplash
Tackling loneliness, photo by Bruno Martins on Unsplash

THE University’s incubator initiative is designed to foster new community-university partnerships, as well as to help them “sustain themselves into the future for the benefit of the local area”. As part of the Ignite programme the partnerships will be given £4,000 seed funding to undertake new activities together for the benefit of the community.

The seven partnerships were chosen by an Advisory Group made up of members from local community organisations and the University.

Prof Tara Dean
Prof Tara Dean

Chair of the Group, Professor Tara Dean, the University’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise, said: “We had a lot of interest in the Ignite programme, both from our University researchers and community organisations, and it was significantly oversubscribed.

“However, this enabled us to choose seven outstanding new partnerships. These draw on the considerable experience of the community and the University to help identify and address important local issues – many of which will also offer insights that can be of benefit nationally and internationally.

“The Ignite programme also draws on the University’s 15 years’ experience of supporting partnerships via our Community University Partnership Programme (CUPP) which creates sustainable partnerships that benefit the local community and the University.

“The aim now is to develop a new generation of partnerships focused on some of the most significant issues facing our local communities whilst enhancing our teaching and research.”

One Ignite partnership is with the Hangleton and Knoll Project which supports community groups and works with local residents to set up new groups.

Joanna Martindale, its CEO, said:  “We know that people living on our estates, older people, and people whose activities are limited by health or disability are less likely than the rest of the city to engage in creative arts or events. 

“The partnership with Dr Helen Johnson (Senior Lecturer in the University’s School of Applied Social Sciences) and the University will enable us to train local people to become arts researchers and help understand what needs to be done to encourage broader arts access.

“This research, and the opportunity to take part in the Ignite programme, will be pivotal to informing the development of a neighbourhood arts steering group and a new city-wide community of practice aimed at increasing arts inclusivity and diversity and, crucially, directly impacting future commissioning of the arts.”

Another project ‘Microplastics in the Marine Environment’ is a partnership with Chichester Harbour Conservancy. Others: Moulsecoomb Community Research Project – Trust for Developing Communities; Housing Brighton – Brighton and Hove Community Land Trust; Health as a Social Movement – West Sussex Parent Carer Forum; Tackling Loneliness through co-creation in a Living Lab – The Bevy Community Pub; The clothes on our backs – Diversity Lewes.

The Ignite initiative will be delivered by CUPP and includes a series of shared learning event and mentoring support. It will also involve producing an online guide to community-university partnerships in collaboration with the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement. The initiative has attracted funding from the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

Dr Jenni Chambers, Head of UKRI’s Public Engagement Programmes, said: “We are delighted to have been able to support CUPP and the University of Brighton through our recent Strategic Support to Embedding Public Engagement with Research (SEEPER) funding programme. The innovative and inclusive approach to sustaining genuinely impactful collaborations between local communities, recognising their knowledge and experiences, and University researchers for mutual benefit is commended.  We anticipate that the Ignite programme will provide much useful learning for the HE sector as these seven exciting partnerships progress.”

For more information on Ignite, click here:

Or email: Dr Nicolette Fox, CUPP’s Development Manager at n.c.fox@brighton.ac.uk

 

 

Bristol Pride Festival is on the move

Posted on by Besi

Following last year’s record numbers attending Bristol Pride, organisers announce their expansion and development plans that will see the annual LGBT+ festival move to Durdham Downs.

Photo credit: Neil James Brain
Photo credit: Neil James Brain

THE move will see the festival double its capacity after welcoming 36,000 people to the event last year.

With the increased venue size, Pride will introduce new areas and activities, including a new stage in partnership with national lesbian publication DIVA Magazine, as well as expanding current festival areas. Other new additions this year will include a giant circus tent in partnership with Bassline Circus with performances throughout the day, a wellbeing and mindfulness area, and a silent disco.

The team at Bristol Pride will be celebrating their 10th Anniversary in 2019 during which time Bristol Pride have become one of the largest LGBT Pride events in the UK and one of only four Pride’s in the UK to be named in the Global Top50 of Pride festivals worldwide.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Sophie Ellis-Bextor

As part of the celebrations, the team are inviting previous acts to perform again at the festival including Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Sonique, NINA, Saara Aalto, and Bristol’s own Dr Meaker.

Whilst many more acts are yet to be announced others set to perform on Pride Day include Boney M, X Factor finalists Four of Diamonds, Hazell Dean and Ru Paul’s Drag Race’s Peppermint with fellow star Manilla Luzon performing at a special Friday event at clubnight ESDR.

Sonique
Sonique

The festival will again run for two weeks with events taking place across the city from June 29 until July 14.

As well as the ever ‘pup’ular dog show, events include theatre performances at the Wardrobe Theatre, with Riot Act on Thursday, July 10 marking the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.

The Pride Comedy Night returns on Tuesday, July 9, which this year features their biggest ever line-up including Mawaan Rizwan, Tom Allen, Suzi Ruffell, Jayde Adams, and Zoe Lyons.

The fortnight of events also will showcase the return of the Pride Circus Night at Circomedia, Milk Poetry and the Pride film festival Queer Vision at the Watershed. Alongside some of the best LGBT+ films, Queer Vision will host a special evening partnered with IRIS Prize, where Bristol Pride (and the audience) select a winner for their Best of British short film competition.

Unite Students have been confirmed as the headline sponsor for the festival for a third year in a row.

Daryn Carter
Daryn Carter

Daryn Carter CEO of Bristol Pride said: “I’m really excited for Pride 2019, we’re celebrating our success but also securing our future. It’s been an incredible 10 years and we’ve rapidly grown to a Pride that consistently named as one of the biggest and best in the country, as well as being named in the Global Top50.

“Moving to The Downs not only means that we can deliver a bigger festival for everyone wanting to attend but allows us to develop new festival area and present our biggest and most diverse line-up to date.”

Richard Smith, Chief Executive of Unite Students added: “Understanding and valuing diversity amongst our employees and students alike has been instrumental in creating homes and workplaces where there is room for everyone. That’s what makes us particularly excited to be the headline sponsors of Bristol Pride for the third year running. By helping support the expansion of the festivities to the new site, we are securing the opportunity for even more people to get involved and join this important event. We can’t wait to make the 10th birthday the biggest celebration of inclusion yet!”

Pride Day will start with the Parade march in the city centre, which last year saw 12,000 people take to the streets in a colourful, display to showcase visibility for the communities and to declare loudly and proudly that hate and prejudice doesn’t belong in Bristol. A message more important than ever this year following a 23% increase in LGBT+ hate crime in the region.

Boney M
Boney M

£7 Supporter Wristbands for Pride Day are available now from the Bristol Ticket Shop.

As well as helping keep the festival going they offer dedicated entry lanes on Pride Day and great money saving rewards such as money off the onsite bars all day, discounts or freebies with festival food traders, £1 journeys with Bristol Ferrys and other offers including 20% off G&Ts at the Watershed Café Bar, 10% off spirit and mixer at Christmas Steps. Super Supporter, Day+Night, 10th Anniversary commemorative fast track Fabric wristbands and donation entry options will all also be available.

For more information on artists, events and supporter wristbands, click here:

Peppermint
Peppermint

MUSICAL THEATRE REVIEW: FOLLIES @The National Theatre

Posted on by Besi

From the moment the ghostly floating winged images of the idealised long-gone Follies girls seem to glide across the vast Olivier stage, and the orchestra plays its opening wistful chords, you know you are in for one of the best Sondheim show nights of your life.

Re-creating and partially re-casting its 2017/18 hit run, the National Theatre company is still on top form.

Two of the four principals are new – Joanna Riding is outstanding as the vulnerable deluded Sally, unhappily married to the bumbling adulterous salesman Buddy, played again by Peter Forbes, with a jovial bravado that covers his basic misery.

Alexander Hanson is the glamorous but mentally tortured Ben, playing opposite Janie Dee, who reprises her acidic, bitterly cold. Phyllis, who has most of the best one-liners in the evening.

Their chemistry is subtly timed and played, more resigned and  depressed than angry.

Dominic Cooke’s ever-flowing direction and Bill Deamer’s characteristically brilliant, funny, yet balletic choreography help to get us through the rather episodic nature of the piece. It’s a long haul at 2 and a quarter hours non-stop with no interval, but through to the end we stick with it.

Tracie Bennett’s show-stopper I’m Still Here is a little darker and sharper than last time but still terrific. The moment you will take away with you will be Joanna Riding’s rendition of  Losing My Mind. She starts the song in a very restrained way, facing upstage, singing into her mirror.

When she turns to us, her face is clown-like, mascara running onto her cheeks, too much lipstick, and a very swept-back wig. It’s as scary as Norma Desmond in her madder moments and in a very similar vein. And as she reaches the final or am I losing my mind? she yanks the wig off,  holding it up like Salome with John the Baptist’s head. It’s a spine-tingling moment.

The direction chooses constantly to intertwine the the older generation of hoofers at their 40th anniversary show reunion with their younger versions and at times the stage gets cluttered, especially with the monumental ruins of the Weissman Theatre revolving among  them.

But Bill Deamer masters the space, and the fantasy sequence Loveland gives us delicious Busby  Berkeley campness from his highly talented young dancers and singers.

Sondheim and his collaborator James Goldman, remind us that we all make bargains with one’s life and the bitter sweetness of this brilliant show lives in all our lives.

Follies is playing a limited season at the National Theatre, in London.

Review by Brian Butler

Jason Lee – King of the high C’s

Posted on by Besi

Jason Lee, the Brighton-based singer/entertainer, talks to Brian Butler about his musical family, Freddie Mercury and being Frankie Valli.

JASON Lee was destined to be a singer and musician – it’s in his genes for sure. One of 4 sons of a highly talented musical family, he began life in the Cotswolds surrounded by the sounds of music at home.

“There was no other path that seemed available” he says. And it’s a path that has taken him all over the world, on cruise ships and in show bars, theatres and concert venues since he was a teenager.

Now turned 40, he says he has enjoyed every minute of his 25-year career.

As a child he wrote music and has continued to do so. After studying drama and music at school and playing gigs with local bands – mostly rock and roll – “where my heart lies“ – he decided he needed to discover himself . “So guitar on my back I travelled through Europe as a teenager. I can’t believe I did that – playing in restaurants on the Costa Brava and then down the coast from Estartit. I followed the sunshine,” he says, laughing.

Joining a small production company got him into musical theatre – which has endeared as his chief love. He spent 5 years in a show bar in Tenerife as their principal singer. While there he met a holidaymaker who became his husband to be. They have been together for 16 years.

Once into musical theatre he widened his knowledge and tastes to shows like Les Mis, Chicago and the works of Stephen Sondheim.

“We came to Brighton for a visit and fell in love with the place . We decided we needed to move here.“ And so they did.

After gigging in pubs Jason played in a few showcases and landed the part of Frankie Valli in a touring spin-off show about the Four Seasons. It’s a characterisation that he has continued to develop and it’s now a big part of his repertoire.

But he’s also played Brian Wilson in a touring show Good Vibrations for a couple of years. On and off cruise ships he played both singers in separate shows.

“My earliest memory is of singing with my mother in our dining room. She was a great fan of the Beach Boys and along with the Four Seasons were always being played on the gramophone.”

“I had always had a falsetto voice and I always knew where the break in my voice was to get the head tones.“ And that enabled him to get Valli’s famous high notes.

“I never had any training as a singer so I never thought that I would get into big permanent shows. I haven’t had a career path; I just try to keep happy in what I’m doing. I would love to do Sunset Boulevard, Les Mis, Phantom, Sweeney Todd and the Boy from Oz – a little appreciated musical about the life of Peter Allen.”

He admits he is still waiting for a show which he can look back on as his ‘big thing’ but admits he doesn’t know what it will be. Asked who his biggest influence has been he says quickly “Freddie Mercury … he was just amazing the way he held an audience in his hand- it’s an absolute craft.”

Asked to give advice to his young self, he says; “Don’t stop writing music and stop worrying” admitting that as a young gay man in a village was at times confusing for him. “Don’t hold back” he adds.

His future plans in Brighton include An audience with Jason Lee – A Davina Sparkle event on Sunday, March 24 over lunch at the Jury’s Inn Waterfront, where he promises Valli and many more offerings.

And he will be hitting the road to panto land in Brighton’s alternative pantomime – this year at the Phil Starr Pavilion on Victoria Gardens during the B Right On, where he will be playing Dick in Big Dick Whittington and His Pussy from April 4 to 14 along with Brighton’s best including Dave Lynn, Davina Sparkle, Miss Jason, Lola Lasagne, Sally Vate, Allan Jay, Christopher Howard and Stephanie Von Clitz.

“I don’t make a lot of plans for the future though I am extremely busy this year. I thought I would stop when I was 40 but I didn’t. I don’t think I’ll ever stop performing. It’s like a drug isn’t it?”

He’s no longer keen on long periods away on cruise ships, and now tends to get flown out for one night and flown back.

“It’s all about selling that song – even if you’re playing to a handful of people.”

On the vexed question of the future of the Pride Village Party, Jason is very clear: “It’s the heart of pride and of the Brighton community. It would be a real shame to lose that. Long may it continue as it is.”

MUSICAL THEATRE REVIEW: Come From Away @Phoenix Theatre, London

Posted on by Brian Butler

Among our indelible memories of 9/11 are undoubtedly the fall of the Twin Towers, the heroism of the NYC firefighters and the resilient spirit of the city’s residents and visitors.

BUT in far-off Gander, Newfoundland, there was a different manifestation of the goodness of the human spirit. That day when the US airspace was closed, some 200 planes were diverted to a little known airport “on a rock in the sea” in Canada.

Come from Away is a staggeringly beautiful , resonant and life-enhancing musical based on real-life testimony of both stranded passengers and crew and the residents of Gander , whose population grew from 9,000 to 16,000 in just one fateful day.

From its high energy opening number Welcome to the Rock, the hit Broadway show, written by Irene Sankoff and David Hein, makes us laugh and cry in equal measure but is never for one second sentimental or blindly optimistic.

With songs and dances in a punchy, bouncy Gaelic rock style, it takes us into the lives of ordinary and yet extraordinary people .

It’s an ensemble piece but there are stand-out performances from Clive Carter as Gander’s beleaguered mayor, and Rachel Tucker as Beverley Blass, America’s first female airplane captain.

Carter is jovial, firm, harassed, compassionate and down to earth. Tucker is resilient, determined and yet shattered by her 9/11 experiences. Her song Me and the Sky is a high point in this 100 minutes of inventive, lively and thought-provoking entertainment.

And it’s no straightforward biopic or rosy view of humanity. There is fear, anger, mistrust and misinformation – just like everywhere else in life.

But what the cast of 12 pulls off is something quite magical. We meet Catholic, Muslim, Jew and non-believers rubbing on alongside each other – the local cop, bartender, college principal and rooky TV reporter on her first assignment – and we grasp that real drama can be found in the most mundane places.

Director Christopher Ashley keeps the cast at a frighteningly high-speed momentum and MD Alan Berry gets a variety of sounds and moods from his fellow 7 musicians. Our toes are tapping throughout.

Musicals based on real-life events tend to have a short shelf life, fading with the passing memories of the audience.

9/11 is clearly not in that mould, and I’m guessing that in 20 years, somewhere they’ll still be singing Welcome to the Rock.

Come from Away is at the Phoenix Theatre, London, booking through till September.

Review by Brian Butler

REVIEW: Benidorm Live @Theatre Royal

Posted on by Brian Butler

When Benidorm hit our TV screens in 2007 it was in a rich vein of sit coms, dating back to Hancock in 1956.

AND millions tuned in each week over its 70 + episodes, ending in 2018.

But Derren Littlen, its creator, isn’t done with his baby and so Benidorm Live has toured the UK for the last few months, hitting the boards in Brighton this week.

Half a dozen of the tv stars are in this musical interlude – notably of course for Brightonians is Brighton-based Tony Maudsley who plays the outrageous hairdresser Kenneth.

But here too live in front of a highly excited audience are heartthrob barman Mateo (Jake Canuso), middle-aged swinger Jacqueline (Jane Duvitski), gay-or-not gay Liam (Adam Gillen), hotel manager Joyce (Sherrie Henson), and tour guide Sam (Shelley Longworth).

The audience of course are huge TV fans so each principal gets an ovation on their carefully crafted separate first entrances.

The script is quick-fire with one-liners worthy in their innuendo of any Carry On film.

And they’ve even kept one of the TV highlights – a famous performer playing themselves – in this case it’s singer/impersonator Asa Elliott, reminding us so much of Tony Hadley in the TV version,

The storyline carries on from the final TV episode, with the Hotel Solana up for takeover and everyone’s job on the line. The plot develops into a mystery story as the staff try to find out the identity of an undercover hotel inspector, with hilarious results.

It isn’t really a musical and it isn’t really a play, though it has dialogue, songs and dances, all camply delivered by the stars and ensemble. It’s a show – a good old-fashioned seaside – end of the pier show, with a fabulous revolving set and everyone performing at the top of their game.

Expect one-liners like someone reading the menu and referring to Jacqueline saying “she likes a sausage in cider” – just read it out loud dear reader, and that’s what’s in store for you.

All six principals play their characters pitch perfect and even if you’re a Benidorm virgin like me, the storyline is funny, touching and just joyous to follow.

Derren is said to be considering a film version. It’s a hit formula that may well give and give.

Benidorm Live plays at the Theatre Royal, Brighton till Saturday, March 2, and then continues its national tour.

‘We’ll always have Paris’ says Roger Wheeler

Posted on by Besi

When Rick said this to Ilsa in Casablanca, no one realised that it would become one of the most famous lines of all time from a film.

Notre-Dame de Paris
Notre-Dame de Paris

SO 76 years after the movie, we still, occasionally, gaze at each other and quote ‘the’ line, these days expressed with humour rather than deep passion.

Let’s go to Paris for Christmas?, said my beloved, Mais Oui?, said I. So we went.

Eurostar is just a train like any other except that it takes over an hour to get on board, never mind about passport control, it’s all automatic anyway. The main problem was the size and amount of luggage people were taking, all of which had to go through security scanners, some cases were as big as the owners and that’s saying something.

The trains were all fully booked, as it was Christmas we upgraded to Standard Premier, just as well, we had big comfy seats, lunch and drinks. Seasoned travellers as we are, on arrival at Gare du Nord we grabbed the first taxi and got royally ripped off. 35€ for a 10€ journey, only ever use a taxi with a green Parisienne Taxi sign, we knew that didn’t we?

Paris is a beautiful city at any time with thousands of tourists from the Far East and assorted US citizens.  The French don’t really ‘do’ Christmas, they put a few lights up and adorn some of the more famous buildings with some glitter but apart from that not a lot happens. Christmas Day is just like any Sunday, everything is running as normal except the museums are closed, as it can take about three hours queuing to get in to most of them we gave them a miss anyway.

We checked into a rather unusual hotel in the Marais, quite nice but nothing to write home about so I won’t.  It was called Les Jardins du Marais since you ask.

Sacre Coeur
Sacre Coeur

Up to the Sacre Coeur on Christmas Day, we felt that we should, just to get trampled and shoved by our oriental chums. The weather was brilliant and we did get a fleeting glimpse of the view, we’d seen it before anyway. To be fair, if you have never been to Paris this is a spectacular view on a beautiful day, if you can handle the crowds, it’s worth a visit.

As this was hardly our first visit to Paris so why did we bother to go see the other famous sites but we did anyway, so Eiffel Tower ✔ Place de la Concorde ✔ the Louvre ✔the Champs Elysees ✔ etc, still there and still the same. But no sign of any yellow jackets, everything was very clean and tidy.

Centre Pompidou
Centre Pompidou

We did visit the Centre Pompidou with some quite expensive advance tickets, if you like very modern art then this is for you.   With over 100,000 works, the collections of the Musée National d’Art Moderne make up one of the world’s leading references for art of the 20th and 21st centuries.  The building was regarded as quite bizarre in 1977, all very brutalist, but nowadays, with Frank Gehry and others, there is no real shock.  The view from the top offers spectacular views of the city.

Mike and Roger cruise on the Bateaux Mouches
Mike and Roger cruise on the Bateaux Mouches

During our visit we also took a dinner cruise on the Bateaux Mouches.  Never done that before, it’s for tourists we thought, but so are we, so we went.  Not cheap, in fact quite expensive at 150€ each, it was Christmas after all. This was a complete surprise; in fact quite brilliant, amazing food and wine, incredible staff and a lovely trip right along the river. Seeing Paris by night from the boat was really very lovely and dare I say, quite romantic, my cynicism took a few hours off.

Paris can just mean shopping to some and of course Les Grands Magasins should be visited if only for the incredible Christmas decorations, there are some.  Once again we were almost trampled underfoot by sharp elbowed tourists, we didn’t stay long. Here again if you go right up to the roof you get to see all of Paris, this time for free.

This is a city to walk around, but it was cold so we used the metro, buying a ‘carnet’ of 10 at a time saves money, at just 1.9 Euros per trip it’s a bargain and you can go all over the city.  Tickets are available at every metro station, the machines work and are in English.

We did take an unanticipated stroll down Boulevard St Germain through the famous Latin Quarter which is stuffed with incredibly expensive boutiques and fascinating cafes as well the Sorbonne University and the Jardin du Luxembourg, but  not much to see there in December.

Eiffel Tower
Eiffel Tower

So yes we will always have Paris, next time it will be in the summer when all the residents are away and its only tourists. Wonderful!

Top 5 must sees in Paris

♦   Sacre Coeur and Montmartre (www.sacre-coeur-montmartre.com/english/)
♦   Eiffel Tower, passing the famous flame on the Pont de l’Alma (www.toureiffel.paris/en)
♦   Notre-Dame de Paris and Ile de la Cité (www.notredamedeparis.fr/en)
♦   Champs-Elysées and Arc de Triomphe (www.paris-arc-de-triomphe.fr/en)
♦   Louvre and Louvre Pyramid (www.paris-arc-de-triomphe.fr/en)

You can travel to Paris in just two hours fifteen minutes on Eurostar from St Pancras International station in London, or pick it up at Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International in Kent. EasyJet fly direct from Gatwick to Charles de Gaulle airport.

 

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