17th Jun2018

The Happy Prince (Film)

by timbaros
_MG_8210Rupert Everett has reached a new pinnacle in his career with the release of his new film “The Happy Prince.”
In a film in which he wrote and directed, Everett plays Oscar Wilde in the final years of his life. Everett, if you remember, played Wilde a few years back in London’s West End in the critically-acclaimed show ‘The Judas Kiss’ which won Everett awards. Now, and ten years in the making, sees Everett play the role he was practically born to play. It was ten years of struggling to get funding for this film, and once Colin Firth had signed on (he is an Executive Producer as well as playing Reggie Turner, one of Wilde’s best friends, in the film), ’The Happy Prince’ was finally made, and what an excellent film it is.
In the very late 1890’s, Wilde was a penniless man, living in France, with lots of stories to tell yet not a whole lot to his name. However, three years prior to his death (in 1900), Wilde had been released from prison where he served time for sodomy and gross indecency. Before his prison sentence, Wilde had enjoyed being a member of high society and was usually the centre of attention (we see as flashbacks in the film), and in ‘The Happy Prince,’ we see this side of his life portrayed. We also see the desperate side in the opening sequence in the film where he happily takes money from an old friend in a dark alley while he struggles to come to terms with the fact that his life will never be the same ever again. He does, however, have occasional contact with friends, and with his long-forgotten wife (yes he was married) Constance Lloyd (Emily Watson) – the mother of their twin sons – while he surrounds himself with young men, cocaine, and not much else.
It’s a bravura performance from Everett that makes ‘The Happy Prince’ both an ode and tribute to a man who has been the subject of many a book and show. By making ‘The Happy Prince’ his way, Everett will reap the respect, and the rewards and awards, that he truly deserves for making this magnificent film.
Category : Film
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17th Jun2018

McQueen (Film)

by timbaros

©AnnRay MCQUEEN_C03-016 2mbFashion designer Alexander McQueen was a genius He had an eye for fashion but was also a troubled soul. The new documentary ‘McQueen’ shows the highs, and the lows, of McQueen’s life.

Alexander McQueen, born in London’s East End in 1969, seemed not to be destined to become one of fashion’s hottest and most successful designers in the 1990’s, but according to the documentary, he had talent, talent that can only be described as natural – he was born with it.
‘McQueen’ begins with old footage of McQueen talking directly into the camera, footage that was taken at the height of his illustrious career. He enrolled as a student at Central St. Martin’s College of Fashion, and then moved on to Paris to learn the trade, then became a tailer, but it was when he met Isabella Blow, who happened to take him under his wing and, which is, according the documentary, made him what he was. But McQueen was extremely talented, and not only did he launch his own fashion brand, but at the same time he was also head designer for fashion brand Givenchy all the while picking up various people along the way who became his trusted staff, people who speak to the camera effortlessly and honestly about McQueen and their time together.
But all was not meant to be. McQueen dabbled in cocaine and London’s gay fetish scene, he was under enormous pressure to put together several collections a year, including haute couture, and he had a falling out with Blow, who would commit suicide at the age of 46, which put on more pressure and guilt on McQueen. But it was when his dear mother died when McQueen decided that enough was enough, and ended his pain. He committed suicide at the age of 40 in 2010.
‘McQueen’ is an excellent testament to the man who was also called Lee. Through his friends, associates and sister Janet, we really feel that we get to know who Lee actually was ourselves. But it’s through the footage of his fashion shows where we get to see the real talent that he had. His shows were events, some very dark (which explains how deep and troubled he was), and showed how gorgeous, and emotionally beautiful, his creations were. Alexander McQueen died way too young, but through this documentary you can at least experience his life and work, which was cut way too short.
Category : Film
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17th Jun2018

San Domino (Theatre)

by timbaros

San Domino 3 The company Photo by Rachael CummingsSan Domino is an island off the east coast of Italy that was once an island where people of a certain ‘way’ were exiled to by the facist Benito Mussolini government. He banished prisoners there to pay for their ‘crimes’ – some of the crimes being speaking out against the government. It was also a place where homosexuals were sent as well.

A new show by the name of ‘San Domino’ beautifully tells this story that very few people are aware of. 
Now playing at the Tristian Bates Theatre in Covent Garden, ten men, in 1939, are having a great time in a bar in Catania, Sicily. They have not committed any crimes, but a knock on the door will change all their lives forever. According to the government, they were degenerates because it is suspected they were homosexuals and thus were sentenced to five years. These men include men from all walks of life, including older Carlo (Matthew Hendrickson) and young handsome Claudio (Alexander Hulme). San Domino tells the men’s stories, through dialogue and music, in a show that is poignant, dramatic and superbly acted, especially when the show moves from the jovial atmosphere of the bar where the men are being themselves to the camp where they share bunkbeds and are kept under careful watch of the prison guard and the very mean chief of police.
Andrew Pepper is just superb as the androgynous Pietro, sensitive and always looking for love in all the wrong place, and Pietro never holds back and says what’s on his mind. The rest of the cast really work well together in a show that really is a must see.
San Domino first previewed to an enthusiastic audience at the Courtyard Theatre in London, then played to a full house at the Arcola Theatre’s Grimeborn Festival in 2014. With Book & Lyrics by Tim Anfilogoff, and music composed by Alan Whittaker, with Direction by Matthew Gould, ‘San Domino’ excellently tells the story of the one night in 1939 when many gay men were rounded up. It’s a story that’s should’ve been told years ago. 
To buy tickets, please go here:
Category : Theatre
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17th Jun2018

Beautiful Thing (Theatre)

by timbaros
IMG_2586n2-1There’s a fantastic new show at a fantastic new venue where both are drawing in theatre crowds.
The show is the 25th anniversary production of ‘Beautiful Thing,’  the classic gay young love story, and the venue is Above the Stag’s new beautiful home just steps away from Vauxhall tube station (instead of making a right out of the station to the old venue, make a left and it’s just past Chariots Vauxhall).
‘Beautiful Thing’, originally performed at the Bush Theatre, was turned into a hit movie in 1996. The story deals with two young men (Ste and Jamie) who fall in love and happen to live next to each other on a housing estate. In the new play, these roles are performed by the fantastic Ryan Anderson and Joshua Asaré. Their memorable next door neighbor – Leah – who also goes by the name Mama Cass – is brilliantly played by Phoebe Vigor – and she has scenes that she eats up! Kieran Mortell ably plays Tony, the boyfriend of Jamie’s mum Sandra, excellently played to perfection by Kyla Frye. The story, as you already probably know, deals with the ups and downs of Ste and Jamie experiencing first love. The story takes place on the balconies of a housing estate as well as in Jamie’s bedroom – effective for a story where it’s all about the acting, and the cast hit their marks and Vigor and especially Frye rising above and beyond.
Above the Stag’s new venue is the culmination of years and years of having a bigger venue to call home in which to stage their very popular productions. The new venue has two fabulous two theatres – a 110 seat main house and a 60 seat studio. There is also a large bar with plenty of sitting room to enjoy the drinks, and floor-to-ceiling windows that look out towards the embankment. It’s a new beautiful space, and it’s another production that Above the Stag can be proud of. Go see it, both the new venue and the new show. ‘Beautiful Thing’ is a beautiful thing.
Photo provided by Above the Stag
Category : Theatre
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