dark looks » Music

The Enchanted Pig

Mike — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:56:08 +0000

If Bluebeard was Lear, and Cordelia was Cinderella, or vice versa, and you added in some iron shoes, metamorphoses, the worship of stellar bodies, and then wrapped the whole thing up in a sort of para-parable about the nature of, and boundaries between, faith, fate, fidelity and trust (not to mention love, or perhaps better Love), then you would start to get an idea of what Dove and Middleton’s The Enchanted Pig is about.

First Cordelia- I’m sorry, Youngest Princess Flora- and her sisters invade the hidden room in the castle basement, discovering the Book of Fate. Whatever one reads will become true; and so the first in a series of self-fulfilling prophecies kicks off, as the sisters read of their impending marriages to the King of the West, the King of the East- and in Flora’s case, a pig (from the North, as the book, sung by the wonderfully characterful and very busy Beverley Klein, scrupulously points out). From this point, it’s almost every fairytale you’ve ever read (well, all right; technically it’s an Aarne-Thompson 425A) in a riotous succession of failures and proofs of faith as Flora desperately tries to find, then save her porcine husband from the machinations of the scheming Old Woman and her marvellous disharmonic daughter.

Whilst Pig might benefit from some gentle trimming toward the end of the first act, especially for the younger members of the audience, the second act sweeps in with great assurance and some of what, if this were not in the workmanlike surroundings of the ROH’s Linbury Studio, I would be tempted to call ‘catchy numbers’. There’s some neat wordplay in the libretto throughout, too, which culminates in some truly delicious couplets, all of which escape me now but which made sufficiently different sense to kids and grown-ups to provoke the odd coughing fit. (Remember, kids, a spindle’s not a plaything….) Some witty costuming helps — I loved the three princesses’ wigs — and the cast give every impression of having a great deal of fun with it.

There’s pizzazz in the staging, though personal taste would have made more use of the vertical space the studio affords, undeniable comedy throughout, and if the idea of kids puts you off, bear in mind this is still the ROH – Tarquin and Jocasta were kept well under thumb.

It’s All Because the Gays Are Getting Married

Mike — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 21:47:54 +0000

via Queerty

Delivery

Mike — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 10:30:23 +0000

In line with previously-stated policy decision in re: theatrical shenanigans, went with S t’other night to see Into the Hoods, a hip-hop dance-based musical reworking of Sondheim, I kid you not.

Obviously hip-hop is my thing now. I am buying my spray cans this afternoon and will be practising my “tag” all afternoon in a well-ventilated area. Just as soon as I’ve done the washing.

The Wild One

Mike — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 23:32:37 +0000

He may be forty, but Brett Anderson put on a pretty darn good show at Bush Hall tonight. Of course, I remembered after about 3 seconds what my problem with Suede gigs always was: I can never take my eyes off Matt Osman. Not, I add in a leisurely fashion, due to hopeless physical attraction; it’s because he weaves like a snake and I turn into a wholly hypnotised rabbit. Genius stage presence. Makes your man Mr. A look a little showy, which is a shame, since he’s putting heart and sweat into the whole frontman thing, but nonetheless mesmerising. A darklooks.com recommended gig of the year.

Morrissey, Moz moz morrissey

Mike — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 02:02:11 +0000

Morrissey moz-moz, mozzer Morrissey morrisey morrissey. Morrissey “S. Patrick”, morrissey Wembley Arena morrissey mosh. Moz, mozzer morrissey, morrissey “How Soon Is Now”, “Please, Please Please Let Me Get What I Want”, morrissey morrissey. Morrissey — STEVEN PATRICK — moz morrissey “Disappointed”, morrissey moz-moz.

ps: Boz Boorer. I thank you.

Meejah

Mike — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 18:56:05 +0000

Right. This evening’s meejah round-up as follows:

Avenue Q: Very good, definitely not safe to describe to colleagues unless they quit some time ago.

Untold Stories: Very Alan Bennett, much more to my taste when I imagine his voice than when I hear it (as in the endless trailers on R4) for some reason. Sorry Mr. B., no idea why that should be. Nonetheless the kind of eminently readable and slightly tart prose which it’s hard not to read.

The Prestige: Actually rather good. Although I admit to being a sucker for anything with Hugh Jackman in, and, fair enough, anything with Christian Bale in, and, fair enough, anything with David Bowie in, and, fair enough, anything with Andy Serkis in… I thought it had its own merits as well ;> Even if the “shocking twists” retained their shock, they certainly weren’t surprising; a couple of unaccountabilities in the film earlier on clearly signpost the way. Ah well. Nonetheless an enjoyable couple of hours’ romp.

Oh, and I bought a filing cabinet this morning. Does anyone else think I should get out more?

A little more conversation…

Mike — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 09:31:27 +0000

I have caught, mesdames et messieurs, an earworm. And what’s more, it’s the worst kind: a little snippet, a single line of a song… with the words in the wrong order. All together now, in your best Elvis: “A little more conversation, a little less action please….”

Just that. No more. Over and over. Soon I will start giggling like Madeline Kahn at the end of Clue. Or join the People’s Whatever-it-was of Judea (“This calls for immediate discussion!”).

There’s no particular reason anyone but me should be interested in this: but I do want people to realise, as I stare over their shoulders glassily, that it’s nothing personal, simply that some reptile part of my treacherous brain has decided to torture me 24/7 just for the moment.