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easter monday drinks 5 april 2010
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MOST POPULAR LINKS... FRONT PAGE... MONTHLY DRINKS NIGHT
NEWSREVUE
Verdict: Political humour on the edge of taste
Run of 17 April - 25 May 03
NewsRevue parodies current affairs. It's written by a team of about 30 writers. There are four actors, a musical director (pianist) and a director, who change every 6 weeks.
Tonight the venue's sold out and there's a vibrant crowd including a token drunk heckler.
It's a strong cast, superb in song and speech and stunning to look at:
Victoria Leigh, blonde-haired, slim, beautiful, and petite, with fabulous voice. James Marson, dark-haired, good-looking in a reckless way, a face
mobile with comedy. Neill Ellis Roy, tall, handsome, rugged, granite-jawed - chap to have on your
side in a fight. Lorna Watson, gifted voice, pretty, graceful and elegant, with tumbling brunette curly hair.
Sam Fluskey's on piano, his
soaring chromatic riffs and imaginative arrangements anchored in perfect classical technique. Geoff Aymer directs with wit and masterful comedic understanding.
Highlight 1 of the evening is an inspired sketch about David Beckham's possible move to Spain to the tune of 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go'. It's written by Marc
Blakewill, creator of some masterful NewsRevue sketches and here in top form. It uses the full cast, with extremely sharp direction from Geoff Aymer. Posh is
Victoria Leigh in black wig, to Neill Ellis Roy's Beckham. They sing and act superbly together, driving the action in
a wholly convincing parody of the UK's First Couple. Lorna Watson and James Marson counterpoint with inspired
visual performances as Spaniards, spiking the song with sharp, witty verbal interventions.
Highlight 2's a one-off, a hilarious spoof of Renée Zellweger screen-testing for Eastenders. Unique, because it depends
on Lorna Watson's astounding ability to impersonate the Bridget Jones star (when thin). It's an ensemble piece, with
Victoria Leigh delivering an inspired barmaid Sharon, with Neill Ellis Roy and James Marson as her customers. They're all in drab black. Enter Renée sparkling in evening dress, dispensing patronage: 'I'm humble, and really severe', her eyes almost closed and ready to flutter. Quite simply - brilliant. Writer - Lorna Watson
There's an entertaining sketch (by Neill Ellis Roy), putting together Jordan (Lorna Watson), Professor Stephen Hawking (James Marson) and Johnny Vaughn (Neill Ellis Roy). It's a smart piece of writing, elegantly acted.
There's a sketch (by James Marson) about civil engineers Jarvis running schools. It's funny, but some may find its premise (that builders could make more of a mess of our education system than teachers have already) debatable.
Victoria Leigh is outstanding as Kylie Minogue, in a fabulous duet with the equally gifted Lorna Watson's Jennifer Lopez - 'The Cracks Of Our Rears' (by Marc Blakewill).
There's a delightful piece of choreography by Cats star Jack Rebaldi. Saddam Hussein The Mystery Cat (by Chris Bryant) parodies President Saddam's invisibility to American invaders courtesy of Andrew Lloyd Webber. Danced blissfully by Lorna Watson and Victoria Leigh.
Two sketches appear at first sight to have been written repectively by the Daily Mail, and - London's voice of Mossad - the Daily Telegraph:
50 Ways To Enter Dover (by Geoff Aymer), has run in NewsRevue for several weeks. It's a song about the various ways asylum seekers can get into the UK (to Paul Simon's 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover). NewsRevue's mission is to steer extremely close to the wind. Some may feel that
this song can trip over that delicate barrier, into ridiculing frightened, desperate people. With this cast, and this director (the writer of the song), it's handled with wit and precision, preserving the dignity of those it portrays. Just.
When is Anti-Semitism a good thing? When it's (a) by Americans, and (b) directed against the majority Semite population of the Middle East, the Arabs. Mullah Lite (by the gifted and acute writer John Cowen, fine performances by the whole cast) appears at first to lampoon the prayer-ceremonies of the Arabs in such an astoundingly offensive way that it could be a leader in the Daily Telegraph. First, the call to prayer is mocked to the point of excoriation, then the name of their deity ('Alla-luia')is savagely ridiculed. But the sketch bends round to mock the ignorance of Americans thinking in these terms. Ostensibly, therefore, it's irony.
Writers credited during this run of NewsRevue include (alpha order) - Geoff Aymer, Caroline Bainbridge, Matt Bates
Marc Blakewill, Chris Bryant, Noel Christopher, John Cowen, Dan Davies, Director and Cast, Christopher Hale, James Harris, Tracy Ingham, Paul Jones, James Marson, Terry Franks Newman, Simon Ounsworth, Neill Ellis Roy, Jason Smart, Mike Tier, Tanya Tier, Unknown, Lorna Watson, Ron Winkworth.
Credits: Choreography - Jack Rebaldi. Technical Manager - imaginative lights and sound by Jacob Wiltshire match and create the fast pace of this complex show. Box Office - Louis Brownhill greets warmly. Producer - Emma Taylor.
END
John Park
reviewed 9 May 03 / Canal Café Theatre
Producer Emma Taylor tells us that NewsRevue welcomes new
writers - contact her on 020 7289 6056 or email
mail@newsrevue.com.
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2010
