Tezza's Theatre Place

Paul Hunter (Albin), Simon Hepworth (Mercédès) and Michael Matus (Georges) in La Cage aux Folles [The Play] at Park Theatre. Photo by Mark Douet. So, you’ve gone and done it. You’ve met the love of your life, wined and dined them and finally proposed. They’ve accepted and now it’s time to think about the wedding preparations. But before the big day itself, something else needs to happen. The two sets of parents need to meet. A daunting enough experience for any young couple, but if the respective families come from very differing backgrounds, then the problems can really mount. Welcome to the first English version of  La Cage aux Folles (The Play)  at the Park Theatre. Georges (Michael Matus) and Albin (Paul Hunter) are a fairly normal couple living in Saint Tropez. Well, normal may not be the ‘mot juste’. George is the owner of a nightclub called, La Cage aux Folles, and his partner Albin, is Madame Zaza, the star of the club’s cabaret. George loves his business, even if...

Can one ever choose where the heart leads one? That is the problem for the protagonist in Tim Fraser’s  Candy  at the King’s Head theatre. Will (Michael Waller) is an ordinary northern lad. He’s young, OK looking and reasonably well educated. He lives at home with his mum and Great Aunt, has a pretty good job that he is good at and enjoys nights out with the lads. One of the lads is his old mate from school, Billy. Who has returned home from London. Billy has a band, and really wants Will to go and see them. Reluctantly, Will agrees and goes along. An action that will have a profound effect on his life. For the lead singer in Billy’s band is a lady called Candy, when Will sees her, it is love at first sight. Candy epitomises everything Will thinks of as the perfect woman and he is smitten from the moment the spotlight picks her out. There is only one problem, Candy is actually Billy in drag. Whilst Will knows this, and has no feelings – aside from friendship for Billy – h...

Matthew Baldwin Queereteria TV – Credit PBG STUDIOS Ever had a night at the theatre where, by the end, you’ve thoroughly enjoyed the show but ultimately are totally confused about what you have seen? Well, I had just such a night at the Above the Stag theatre which is currently playing host to  Queereteria TV . Thanks to an accident whilst doing something interesting with a senior member of the royal family, Lady Domina Bizarre (Matthew Baldwin) has caused the planet to be pretty much decimated. Now, thanks to her actions, there is only one television channel available, funnily enough, run by and starring Lady Dominina. The channel comes from an old gay cruising club called Queereteria. Lady Domina’s show is called ‘Club Bizarre’ and, as well as the lady herself is presented by people she is control of including Rupert (Peter Straker) and the former celebrity singer Torsten (Andy Bell) now over 100 and locked in a cryogenic chamber as the show’s resident feature. But the Lady’...

It’s Christmas and Leicester Square has really gone to town. The Spiegeltent has been moved from the South Bank and taken up residence in the winter wonderland that the square has become. Filling the tent with their amazing brand of burlesque, drag and circus are some boys visiting from down under. Yes, once more  Briefs: Close Encounters  is back and ready to bring a spot of Christmas cheer to an appreciative audience. For the uninitiated, let me try and explain the unexplainable. Hosted by the glamorous Shivannah (Fez Fa’Anana) a time traveller from a much better future, who has come back in time with her gorgeous boys (Captain Kidd, Dale Woodbridge-Brown, Thomas Worrell, Louis Biggs, and Harry Clayton-Wright) to show current day audiences how wonderful the future is going to be. This is done with a fantastic and enjoyable mixture of the bizarre and the fascinating. Aerial gymnastics take pride of place with interpretive dance, shameless flirting and the most wonderful ...

Liberty Rides Forth! As I sit at my desk, a blank screen with a flashing cursor in front of me, I sometimes say a silent prayer asking for some form of divine intervention to give me an idea of what to write. This is the same problem facing the hero of David Kent’s new musical  Liberty Rides Forth!  Which has just started its run at the Waterloo East Theatre. In a suburban flat, things are not going well for Trevor (William Hazell). He has a simple life plan, write a hugely successful novel, make millions and get the girl – someone from his office called Susie who he has loved from afar for a long, long time. Unfortunately for Trevor, his plan has one major problem – he can’t write. Trevor is keen, he has done his research on how to write and has started lots of books in various styles but, to date, he hasn’t actually finished one and been able to add those magical words ‘the end’ to his magnum opus. Fortunately, Trevor is about to get some assistance in the shape of three...