5 OF THE BEST... CELEBRITY SUITES
London Lite

Sleep like a star in a celeb's bed...

RESOUNDING SUMMER FOR MAGPIE DANCE
londondance.com

What's your reaction when you hear an ear-piercing screech? Run away? Cover your ears? Screw your face up?
Performers from Magpie Dance, an inclusive contemporary dance company, have been exploring their responses to this and other less painful sounds as part of a pioneering choreographic project at the Siobhan Davies Studios.

http://londondance.com/content.asp?CategoryID=1286

MAGPIE DANCE COMPANY REVIEW
londondance.com

Magpie Dance Company flew their Bromley nest this week for their first performance at Deptford’s Albany theatre. This was also my first encounter with the inclusive dance company and their union of youths and adults, with and without learning disabilities, resulted in six refreshing and uplifting performances...

http://londondance.com/reviews_details.asp?C=Magpie%20Dance%20Company&P=&V=Albany,%20Deptford

5 OF THE BEST... FOOD-THROWING FESTIVALS

London Lite

Where you're allowed to play with your food...

5 OF THE BEST... THERMAL POOLS
London Lite

See which one floats your boat...

5 OF THE BEST... TENNIS HOLIDAYS

London Lite

Work on your serve and your suntan at the same time...

BIG BROTHER CONTESTANT INTERVIEWS
Press Association

Here are my interviews with former Celebrity Big Brother contestant Tina Malone and BB2 housemate Stuart Hosking...

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5i94796wRZUUXOtdbg-RswMCQlWvQ?index=0

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5hZ3aIyjb970Sf9dv5ui0M_9rJl8Q

ZANNA, DON'T!
Upstairs at the Gatehouse
Camden New Journal

You can’t have an American school musical without a moral message. Whether it’s Hairspray tackling racism or High School Musical teaching tweenies to be true to themselves, it’s all about equality beneath those chirpy tunes, spontaneous dance routines and ballads of adolescent angst.
Off-Broadway hit Zanna, Don’t! doesn’t mess with this formula, but adds a twist. In this world, it’s not just OK to be gay, it’s the norm...

http://www.thecnj.co.uk/review/2009/061809/theatre061809_01.html

LOYD GROSSMAN INTERVIEW
Press Association

I interviewed Loyd Grossman recently about the S.Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants List, the effect of the credit crunch on the restaurant industry and his plans to get the British public entertaining at home...

http://entertainment.uk.msn.com/celebrity/news/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=16394431

5 OF THE BEST... POD HOTELS
London Lite

A round up of cheap sleeps - what they lack in space they make up for in style...

SHOUT!
Arts Theatre
Camden New Journal

Marijuana – check, permissive behaviour – check, monochrome fashion – check. Every element of the Swinging Sixties is present in Shout! a compilation musical about three northern girls who move to London at the start of the decade.
Unfortunately, Ruby (Marissa Dunlop), ­Betty (Shona White) and Georgina (Tiffany Graves) find themselves in not-so-swinging south ­London, where Ruby’s aunt Yvonne (Su Pollard) owns “the most luxurious hair salon in all of Peckham”. It’s hardly Carnaby Street...
http://www.thecnj.co.uk/review/2009/043009/theatre043009_02.html

JOHN BARROWMAN INTERVIEW
Press Association

I recently interviewed John Barrowman about his current BBC show Tonight's The Night...

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5gqIQakovuFWGCoVUZtxTrGiQziNQ

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5hro3RWz9oBTSM3d8GWQ470cw3HsA

G & I
New End Theatre
Camden New Journal

Oh what a lovely war! G & I doesn’t dwell much on the conflict of the Second World War, with more nostalgic name-dropping than bomb-dropping. Anton Burge’s gentle, musical comedy follows legendary leading lady Gertrude Lawrence over four days as she returns to London...

http://www.thecnj.co.uk/review/2009/041609/theatre041609_03.html

HOWIE THE ROOKIE

Old Red Lion Theatre
Camden New Journal

(Image courtesy of Christian Smith)

Tiptoeing round the bodies on the floor, through the foreboding Irish mist, you know you’re in for a tragic tale from the moment you enter the Old Red Lion Theatre.Howie The Rookie takes the form of two monologues, delivered by a pair of Dublin lads, Howie Lee (Johnny Vivash) and Rookie Lee (Kieran Gough)...
http://www.thecnj.co.uk/review/2009/040209/theatre040209_03.html

DARK TALES
Lion and Unicorn Theatre
Camden New Journal

Have you heard the fairy tale about the severed head in the flowerpot? No, that one never featured in my bedtime stories either. Giant Olive’s Dark Tales eschews Hans Christian Andersen’s most well-known stories in favour of his more macabre fables of vanity, greed and love...
http://www.thecnj.co.uk/review/2009/040209/theatre040209_02.html

LIVE FROM LEICESTER SQUARE: MISS POLLY RAE AND HER HURLY BURLY GIRLYS
Leicester Square Theatre
whatsonstage.com

Following the demise of the Soho Revue Bar, cabaret is looking for a new home. Miss Polly Rae and her Hurly Burly Girlys have decided to take their brand of vintage burlesque onto the stage of the much larger, and more mainstream, venue of the Leicester Square Theatre - Live From Leicester Square is their weekly, late-night, Friday residency...
http://www.whatsonstage.com/index.php?pg=207&story=E8831237226713

OBAMA ON MY MIND
Hen & Chickens
Camden New Journal

Less talk, more action – a criticism levelled at many a politician, and something this musical comedy could certainly learn from.
It all started so well. A lively opening number lampooning Obama’s “lipstick on a pig” comment, with a perky Sarah Palin in a pig-suit, whipped me up into a positively American state of euphoria.
Half an hour later, and only three songs in, silk purses and sows' ears were springing to mind. Let’s hope Obama’s honeymoon period lasts a little longer...
http://www.thecnj.co.uk/review/2009/031209/theatre031209_02.html

AUSTENTATIOUS
Landor Theatre
whatsonstage.com

(Image courtesy of Michael McAdam)

Austen purists should probably avoid - if they haven’t left by the interval, then Elizabeth Bennet’s climactic, New York-based tap-off with her Pirate Queen sister Lydia, will surely send them running back to their texts to double-check the footnotes...
http://www.whatsonstage.com/blogs/offwestend/?p=1089#more-1089

ONCE A CATHOLIC
Upstairs at The Gatehouse
Camden New Journal

Catholic guilt is all the rage at the moment. Having recently watched Meryl Streep’s pursed performance in Doubt, I was looking forward to some lighter convent-school capers in Once a Catholic. Unfortunately, I think I laughed more watching Doubt...
http://www.thecnj.co.uk/review/2009/022609/theatre022609_02.html

RESOLUTION! DANCE FESTIVAL
The Place
Resolution! Review

The Resolution! festival, billed as the biggest new dance platform in the UK, drew to a close this week. I've been reviewing a one-off triple bill every week, under the guidance of top critic Donald Hutera. Catch up on our reviews here:
http://www.theplace.org.uk/16607/resolution-review-2009/fri-20-feb.html
http://www.theplace.org.uk/16488/resolution-review-2009/sat-14-feb.html
http://www.theplace.org.uk/16420/resolution-review-2009/fri-6-feb.html
http://www.theplace.org.uk/16094/resolution-review-2009/fri-23-jan.html
http://www.theplace.org.uk/15916/resolution-review-2009/mon-12-jan.html
http://www.theplace.org.uk/15857/resolution-review-2009/tue-6-jan.html

MR WRIGHT IS ALL WRONG

The London Paper

My mother is obsessed with surnames. It’s the first question she’ll ask about my ­latest hot date. To her, it’s right up there with having good prospects, your own home and nice shoes – and rightly so. No, not because it conveys a certain class or ancestry, or even because it goes well with my first name, but because it could have a major impact on the future of my children...

http://admin.thelondonpaper.com/talk/columnists/the-columnist/eileen-strong-takes-a-closer-look-at-the-school-register

THE CARAVAN
Royal Court Theatre
whatsonstage.com

The prospect of spending a cold February evening in a caravan was not an appealing one, even if it was parked in the salubrious area of Sloane Square. The Caravan is a documentary theatre piece on the UK’s 2007 floods, performed in a slightly shabby caravan, to a cramped audience of just eight...
http://www.whatsonstage.com/blogs/offwestend/?p=1029

CASANOVA
King's Head Theatre
Camden New Journal

It’s a wonder the Carry On team never turned their attention to the true tale of the notorious Casanova. Not only does it have great alliterative potential, but the exploits of the 18th-century philanderer are ripe for such treatment...
http://www.thecnj.co.uk/review/2009/021209/theatre021209_01.html