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REVIEW: Reputation @ Other Palace studio theatre, Victoria

Reputation

Other Palace studio theatre

Victoria

In this post-Weinstein , Me too era , a musical about an injustice done in Hollywood to a talented woman is about as topical  as it gets. But this is  no sex abuse scandal ; it’s the artistic crime of plagiarism.

The fresh-faced , naive  Michelle, closeted with other bored rich girls in a 1930’s Paris deportment school has written a novel which she wants to see made into a film. It’s a tale of a female stenographer and a Mafia mobster.

Answering an advert in Variety, she finds her script has fallen  into the fraudulent hands of the aptly-named Freddie Larceny, who passes her work off as his own to a major Hollywood studio. It’s a good old-fashioned musical with lots of nice tunes and none the worse for that.

And like all morality tales we know it’s bound to have a happy ending. There’s a love interest too, to keep us gripped – between the ingenue and a rather handsome but pretty useless lawyer. Round it off with a mellifluous , melodious Gilbert and Sullivan style judge and a chorus of highly talented girls to keep the action going and it seems a sure-fire formula for success .

Altogether a pleasant first outing as composer/co-author/lyricist/producer for ex-businessman Alick Glass. The 25 songs,played with brightness and pace by director/MD Warren Wills (piano ) and Jordan Brown (double bass) are short and very sweet.

Maddy Banks as Michelle has a bright, clear voice and her  tunes are always pleasing to the ear. And there’s a delicious tango-paced solo Paranoia for the devilish  villain, played with venomous delight at concert hall volume  by Jeremy Secomb to end the first half.

Cory Peterson as the slightly dippy judge is clearly having a whale of a time and his deep rich voice adds colour to the role.

This is clearly a big musical at the development stage. It needs fewer longer songs, a bit less Michelle and a lot more Larceny and a second song for the Paris night club chanteuse played on her professional debut by Priscille Grace.

Look out for a reincarnated Reputation – it’s sure to be a hit.

Reputation plays at the Other Palace studio theatre, Victoria, London more info or to book tickets here: 

Until 14 November.

Talking about St James Street #3- Transport & Environment

Talking about St James Street #3- Transport & Environment

The Police and Council are holding the third meeting, this time with a focus on Transport & Environment. Following vocal community concerns earlier in the year around the safety of the St James St area they are trying to find better ways to work with residents and businesses around St James Street to improve the area so that it feels a safer and more welcoming place for all, and to listen & collaborate with the community to help  make this happen.

The Police and Council have held a two previous community events looking at key local issues – so far this has included a general ‘big-picture’ event which took place in June, and a focus on crime and community safety in October.

The next event, which will take place on Wednesday November 13th, will be looking at the local environment – cleaning and greening – the streets and parks and how they could be improved. The meeting will be at the Dorset Gardens Methodist Church from 10am – 12 noon, and  will be attended by officers from Sussex Police and Brighton and Hove City Council & local councillors.

A BHCC council spokesperson said “The aim will be not just to identify problems and concerns, but to start developing actions and a positive vision for change, and the findings of the event will go toward developing a neighbourhood action plan for the area.”

See here for a summary of process so far, and further information .

You can report crime and incidents online to Sussex Police here: 

 

 

Local Company looks to Redressing the Media (im)balance.

Queering up the ad world. Or Redressing the Media (im)balance.

Local business LibertiPix are holding an open casting in Brighton this coming Saturday – 9th November – and are looking for LGBTQ+ models who depict real life in Brighton & Hove, and beyond.

LibertiPix are a stock-photo agency whose ambition is to provide the world with images that represent the queer community, in a more authentic way.  Their key aim is to go beyond the usual clichés and stereotypes defined by gender identity and show members of the LGBTQ+ as real people with real jobs, real families and real hobbies.

It doesn’t matter if you have never been in front of the camera before as they are not looking for professional models – genuine faces that people can relate to.

As one of their models, you’ll have fun on set, make money, and at the same time help better represent the LGBTQ+ community in mainstream media.

Open casting is this Saturday (9th Nov) From 1.30 pm until 5 pm

At:  Junction Studio –  1 Sydney Street  Brighton  BN1 4EN

Why not pop in and get your name and face on our books? They want to meet anyone identifying as queer between the ages of 18 and 108; single lesbians, lesbian couples, single gay men, gay male couples, single people and couples who identify as trans, gender-fluid or non-binary.

And if you can’t make it on the day, you can still submit two pictures to info@libertipix.com, shot on your mobile phone. You will need to send a full-length shot (showing yourself from head to toe) and a close up of your face. (You need to be smiling, showing your gnashers).

For further details and questions, email info@libertipix.com

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