Hilary Burrage

16th-19th May 2007 (Weds - Sat) @ 7.30pm

Una Voce Opera Company is performing
Donizetti's The Daughter of the Regiment
Southport Arts Centre, Lord Street, Southport, PR8 1DB.

A Comic Opera in Two Acts, sung in English.

We have a super Cast, including Nick Hardy, Samantha Chambers, Sioned Ellis and Radio Legend Johnny Kennedy as ‘Hortensius’.

The Opera is set in the Tyrol in 1805 as Napoleon’s Army crosses Europe and depicts a love story, with a happy ending, is suitable for all ages and tastes and embraces the history of the time.

Tickets: £15.00 (£12.50 cons.); £10.00 (£8.00 cons.) + Group rates.

Tickets available from:
UVOC 0151 924 8972 or Theatre Box Office 01704 540 011

In support of Jospice International, Thornton.

Thursday 17th May, Downstairs at Royal Court Liverpool.
Doors open 6.30 for 8.30 p.m. Bar till midnight.

Burlesque Review

Downstairs at the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool was the place to be last month... and where you should be on Thursday 17 May as well. Especially if you like glamour, beautiful surroundings, sequin-studded hilarity, and lashings of camp old nonsense.

The sumptuous Art Deco Bar provided a comfortable array of sofas, softly-lit tables and just the right air of intimate sophistication for the first Burlesque Review. The audience started to sashay in, some dressed in Victorian finery, others in garb ordinaire…

The International Society of Flaneurs (Liverpool Branch) made a fine showing, with striking headgear and emphatic trousering. The ladies boasted corsetry to rival that of the Burlesque Performers and raised the glamour quotient considerably.

There was also a delectable Louise Brooks lookalike, and some fascinating flappers. Zoot suited wide boys, spivs, playboys, and one faintly puzzled biochemist made up the rest of the men.

Canapés and wine were served on this opening night and the atmosphere was one of tingling anticipation. If this was what the audience looked like, what on earth would the performers have to show us?

As the suitably Art Deco period house music faded and the lights went up the stage was seized amongst a hail of scarlet glitter by our Something of Ceremonies, Jonathan Mayor.

Jonathan looked like Liz Hurley’s upstaging Bollywood Bridesmaid and proceeded to gleefully rampage around the audience in the Julian Clary/Dame Edna style which had them wriggling with a mixture of terror and delight. This kind of thing is a lot harder than it looks. Insouciant, fearless as to taste and very light on his feet, Jonathan’s intelligent wit scattered over the punters like the extra glitter that was sent out for at the interval.

For a rampagingly egotistical drag queen he was also a generous, professional compere and introduced the acts in such a way that they all got a big warm hand on their entrances…

First up was Miss Hedy Heights, a kittenish brunette whose gorgeous curves and cheeky 50s’ pastiche burlesque dancing left the audience breathless, for all sorts of reasons, and clearly wanting more…

To general surprise, we were then treated to one of the very few male burlesque performers, Warren Speed, whose Chaplin-meets-50 Cent number was clever, funny and all too brief.

Then came Lady Bond, a relative newcomer, who performed a witty little escapology routine which whisked us into the Interval.

A few snifters later Jonathan hurtled into the second half, introducing a bravura performance from Miss Kitty Bang Bang. She demonstrated her skill, grace and ability to make balloons look like perfectly acceptable items of clothing. Temporarily.

Another number from Warren as “Carrington” who demonstrated both an impressive physique and a fondness for corsetry, which elicited delighted giggles and a few hot flushes from the crowd.

Then we were happily at the mercy of Jonathan, who has none. He tore through a series of anecdotes and one-liners, had the audience at his eight-inch platformed feet, and kept the show as tight as a very tight thing indeed.

Hedy and Kitty rounded off the evening, and yes I do mean rounded, with a vivacious couple of numbers showing off their dancing skills, ingenious costumes and pretty bodies appealing to everyone present. No Size Zero Tolerance here. Interestingly there were as many, if not more, women there than men. In fact, only the Dirty Old Man Community was underrepresented.

At the end, the audience were properly appreciative, not least because they still had two hours drinking time ahead of them in a very nice bar surrounded by attractive people of all ages, persuasions and permutations.

Afterwards a line of lovely undergraduates were queuing up to ask the performers how they could escape their dreary lives in law, finance and medicine to become part of the wonderfully cheering world of the Burlesque Show.

The atmosphere was congenial and chatty, everyone mixed, minced and mingled, and the question on everyone’s lipgloss was “When is the next one?”

The answer is: On the 17th May, Downstairs at Royal Court Liverpool.

Tickets £15.00 through the Box Office 0870 787 1866. Price includes bubbly and nibbles.