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September 26, 2018

BREVIEW: MK ULTRA @ The Patrick Centre 21.09.18

Words by Charlotte Heap / Pics by Brian Slater – courtesy of Rosie Kay Dance Company

It is eighteen months since I reviewed the world premiere of Rosie Kay’s MK ULTRA: we were ‘steeped in alternative facts’ then – and now? Some might say we are stewing in a surreal, post-fact society.

Kay, as artistic director, has spent time reshaping the narrative of this psychedelic trip: stripping out surplus conspiracies and focusing on her favourite: the seemingly far-fetched notion that the CIA’s brainwashing programme, for which the show is named, did not stop in the 1960s but continued covertly to create malfunctioning pop star puppets like Britney Spears and Justin Bieber.

Shining a searchlight on society’s obsession with symbolism, hypersexuality and the Illuminati, the show is starkly staged with a high gloss floor reflecting kaleidoscopic projections and the sinuous synchronicity of the dancers. An unsettling, blinking all-seeing eye watches over the audience as we are spun through the story of a star being conditioned, and battling against, a government programme of mind control. Kay’s combination of daring dance, slick visuals and pulsing beats pull us down the rabbit hole with her.

Rosie Kay Dance Company (RKCD) choreography is challenging for both dancer and audience. Familiar moves, such as Michael Jackson’s iconic crotch grab and the ubiquitous twerking of modern music videos, are distorted and developed. The dancers embody the torturous puppet-making process: from the frenetic and, at times, frantic to the sometimes grotesquely sexual, we are forced to confront the conspiracy head on.

The seven dancers, clad in butterfly colours and conspiracy symbols, achieve stunning synergy at times. The solos, almost MTV moments, are intimate and unsettling insights into a visceral struggle for free will. This is clever choreography: it is as hypnotising as it is uncomfortable to watch. Intercut with images of a fragile Britney Spears, it feels voyeuristic to the viewer. Here is the rise and demise of the pop star: like a car crash, it is impossible to look away.

The reworking of the original show has focused the narrative on an individual. Kay felt that as a society, we are now au fait with even far-fetched conspiracy theories, and this enabled her to explore more deeply the supposed collaboration between Walt Disney and the CIA. Symbols are sewn in to the fabric of the show (and costumes): subtlety is not the approach but it needn’t be. The show is stunning to watch but the conspiracy (to me, a cynic) is laughable. The original show cleverly intercut snippets of young Brummies discussing the Illuminati which acted as startling reminder of the prevalence, and passivity, of believers. This show is slicker, with a more defined story: split into the traditional acts of a play, with a documentary-style narrator, it seems to have lost some of its direct challenge to the audience.

MK ULTRA is the final, political episode in an RKCD trilogy – previous installments 5 Soldiers and There is Hope (covering war and religion respectively) demonstrate Kay’s commitment to creating dance that covers unusual but important ground. Societal shifts in the last 18 months (President Trump now makes an unwelcome appearance in the show’s visuals) provide a more sinister backdrop for the story. As a standalone show, it is impactful and impressive – a dark twisted fantasy.

Having seen the original iteration, however, I’m left lamenting the removal of some of the societal context which challenged the viewer to consider their own role in a post-truth world. The individual narrative gives the viewer the opportunity to distance themselves from the cautionary tale: we may be brainwashed, but we’ll never be pop stars. So why does it matter?

MK ULTRA (official trailer) – Rosie Kay Dance Company

Rosie Kay Dance Company are currently touring MK ULTRA across the UK, until their finale show at the LEAP Festival in Liverpool on 10^th November. For full tour details, visit www.mkultra.dance/tour-info

For more on MK Ultra, visit www.mkultra.dance

For more on Rosie Kay Dance Company, visit www.rosiekay.co.uk

For more from The Patrick Centre and the wider Hippodrome programme, visit www.birminghamhippodrome.com

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NOT NORMAL – NOT OK is a campaign to encourage safety and respect within live music venues, and to combat the culture of sexual assault and aggression – from dance floor to dressing room.

To sign up to NOT NORMAL – NOT OK, click here. To know more about the NOT NORMAL – NOT OK sticker campaign, click here.

April 4, 2018

BREVIEW: The Twisted Circus @ O2 Academy 30.03.18

Words & illustrations by Emily Doyle

The O2 Academy stage is decked out like a big top in preparation for The Twisted Circus, as Klub Kids are bringing seven world class drag performers to Birmingham. The show is late to start due to traffic on the M5. The audience are eager but good natured, and happy to pose for the charismatic photographer perching on the crowd barrier.

A troupe of dancing clowns starts the proceedings, and the compere arrives. Andrew wears a tasseled ringmaster’s jacket. Our host makes no bones about the fact that the event is running late, ditching the banter and even the interval so that all the performances can run. His “the show must go on” attitude is admirable, and results in a fast paced evening. In a venue as large as the O2 Academy, an interval is no great use to the crowd anyway – a trip to the bar means losing your hard earned space near the front.

Farrah Moan is the first queen to perform. The twenty three year old starlet also got the memo about the circus theme, wearing a red basque complete with knee length tails. Her lip sync performance is sedate and elegant, though in a venue this size it feels a little low energy. She does cut a stunning figure on stage, though, and her fans seem delighted.

Putting in a performance that is most definitely big enough for the back row, is Milk. Fresh from appearing on the latest series of Ru Paul’s Drag Race All Stars, Milk performs a salacious lip sync to Barbara Streisand’s, ‘He Touched Me’.

Her second turn sees her nail a full routine to her own song, ‘Touch the Fashion, Change your Life’, complete with backing dancers and giant inflatable hands. Milk bounces around the stage in a frilly Bo Peep dress, and she is a joy to watch. In a line-up of queens who take their performances very seriously, Milk is a breath of fresh air.

South Korean/American drag queen, Kim Chi, gladly fulfills her billing as a ‘live action anime star’ with her otherworldly looks; her regal performance style and large flowy outfits command the stage. Her second lip sync sees her draped in black sequins with a large feathered headpiece. Statuesque, Kim Chi looks like a cross between Maleficent and the forest spirit from Princess Mononoke.

Central to the show is world-renowned Cher impersonator Chad Michaels, who performs a flawless lip sync to ‘Woman’s World’ and ‘Strong Enough’. Michaels wears a shocking blue peacock outfit and backs up her performance with live footage of Cher wearing the very same. Smart, as many of the audience members are too young to properly remember Cher. Celebrity impersonation feels a little dated among the more avant-garde performers on tonight’s bill, but Michaels carries it off with a smile and delights in judging an audience dance off.

Perhaps one of the most anticipated queens of the night is Violet Chachki. The Drag Race Season 7 winner waltzes on stage in a pink showgirl costume, complete with top hat, cane, and enormous skirts. She treats the audience to an enchanting lip sync to her new single, ‘A Lot More Me’. The burlesque striptease ends with Chachki posing in gold thigh high boots and a thong. She keeps the hat on.

Next from The Twisted Circus is Shea Couleé, showcasing the nights most impressive choreography with a routine to the new single, ‘Cocky’, from her Couleé-d EP. She struts across the stage in a retro-futuristic lime green catsuit and rectangular sunglasses. Her performance is pop star perfect. Over the electro beat, she spits such inspired lyrics as: “Ms. Couleé gon’ be a legend/but congrats ’cause all dogs go to heaven.” On the studio version of the track, fellow Chicago queen The Vixen has a verse. If this is the company she keeps, The Vixen is definitely one to watch on the new series of Drag Race.

Our host, Andrew, takes great pleasure in introducing The Twisted Circus’ next star on stage, “the most expensive body in the world, Amanda Lepore”. Lepore’s attitude is pure punk rock. She comes out to her own track, ‘Buckle Up’, which quickly morphs into a listless rendition of David Bowie’s ‘The Jean Genie’.

Lepore seems well-aware of her status as more of a living sculpture than a performer. She wastes no time in stripping down to pasties and holdups, and basks in the spotlight. Lepore is later joined on stage by Farrah Moan and Violet Chachki for an impromptu routine to ‘Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend’, where the three of them are luxuriated in rhinestones and furs.

When The Twisted Circus finally drops the curtain, just before curfew, it’s hard to believe it was all packed into ninety minutes. But despite the delays, all tonight’s performers and the team at Klub Kids pulled through and delivered a fabulous evening. One that neither motorway traffic nor the ever-present threat of more snow could stop Birmingham coming out to enjoy.

For more on Klub Kids, visit www.klubkids.co.uk

For more from O2 Academy Birmingham, including full event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.academymusicgroup.com/o2academybirmingham

March 27, 2018March 27, 2018

BPREVIEW: The Twisted Circus @ O2 Academy 30.03.18

Words by Emily Doyle

On Friday 30^th March, national promoters Klub Kids present ‘the biggest and most unique show of drag HERSTORY’ – as The Twisted Circus comes to town, stopping off for one night at the O2 Academy Birmingham.

Doors open from 6pm for VIP ticket holders and 7:30pm for general admission. Minimum age of entry is 14, with under 16s requiring adult accompaniment. Standard tickets are priced at £25 (Eventzilla) and £30 (Ticketmaster) plus booking and service fees. VIP tickets, which include a meet and greet with the stars performing, are priced at £100 from both outlets – although the booking and service fees do vary.

The Twisted Circus is presented by Klub Kids – for direct show information, click here to visit their Facebook event page. To buy tickets online, click here for Eventzilla and click here for Ticketmaster.

March has been a great month for drag in Birmingham. We’ve had Alyssa Edwards bringing her The Secret Is Out Tour to The Glee Club Birmingham, with BenDeLaCrème hot on her heels for a show at the same venue on 29^th March.

On top of all that, the lovely people at Klub Kids are rolling into town with The Twisted Circus. Taking place at the O2 Academy Birmingham on Good Friday, the show is set be quite the spectacle – featuring seven glorious performers, from rising stars to original New York Club Kids. The Twisted Circus line up (in no particular order) is as follows:

Former figure skater and Marc Jacobs model, Milk, will be appearing at The Twisted Circus. No stranger to the glitz and glamour of showbiz, Milk was recently announced at the new face of Madonna’s skin care range, MDNA. Now fresh from her appearance on Ru Paul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 3, Milk promises to be ‘udderly fantastic’.

Next is international seductress, aerial acrobat, and Drag Race Season 7 winner, Violet Chachki. Having performed drag and burlesque alongside icons such as Dita Von Teese, Chachki blends striptease, fetishwear, and her unmistakable vintage aesthetic, all in the name of ‘distorting the gender binary’.

Twenty-three year old Texan starlet, Farrah Moan, is also appearing at The Twisted Circus. Starting out her on stage drag career in Texas, Moan’s Barbie doll looks have seen her cast on Drag Race Season 9 and perform on the Las Vegas strip.

The Twisted Circus also presents Kim Chi, a towering 7ft queen and ‘ever evolving chameleon’. Born in the U.S. and raised in South Korea, Kim Chi’s upbringing informs her high concept looks which ‘encapsulates the transcendental nature of drag’ and celebrates performance art. Chi is also the name behind the doughnut scented ‘Kim Chi Liquid Lip Color’, alongside other products for the Sugarpill Cosmetics.

Next up, The Twisted Circus welcomes Chicago based model and musician, Shea Couleé. Having just released her visual EP, Couleé-D, Couleé uses her background in costume design to create breathtaking fashion and film. Just don’t mention Azealia Banks.

Also performing is international Cher impersonator, Chad Michaels. Part of Califonia’s longest running female impersonation show, The Dreamgirls Revue, Michaels went of to be the winner of Drag Race All Stars Season One and has since appeared in Jane the Virgin and 2 Broke Girls.

Finally in our box of Twisted Circus treats, we have Amanda Lepore. Said by photographer David LaChapelle to have, “the most expensive body on Earth”, Lepore is a model, singer, performance artist and transgender icon. Following her time as an original New York Club Kid in the early nineties, Lepore has gone on to release two albums, a memoir, and even her own Swatch watch.

The Twisted Circus comes to the O2 Academy on Friday 30^th March, as presented by Klub Kids. For direct show information, with links to online tickets from Eventzilla, visit The Twisted Circus Facebook event page – click here.

For more on Klub Kids, visit www.klubkids.co.uk

For more from O2 Academy Birmingham, including full event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.academymusicgroup.com/o2academybirmingham

March 23, 2018March 23, 2018

BREVIEW: Evita @ Birmingham Hippodrome until 24.03.18

Words by Eleanor Sutcliffe / Production shots by Pamela Raith

I adore Birmingham Hippodrome. Granted, I’m not the most well-versed theatre critic, however there is something rather decadent about settling yourselves into the plush red seats ready to absorb an hour or three of theatrical roguery.

Hurling ourselves into the world of 1940s Argentinean politics, it is the opening night for Evita – the long running musical written by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, that focuses on the life and untimely death of Argentinean political and social icon Eva Perón.

Church pillars and weeping mourners set the scene as Eva Perón’s casket is brought onto the stage. It is during this opening sequence that we meet the three key performers for the evening. Che, played by Gian Marco Schiaretti, is our narrator; sporting a black flat cap, he ponders the true motives behind Evita’s charity and her rise from poverty to political aristocracy. Next is her husband, Juan Perón, who is brought to life with military precision by Jeremy Secomb.

And finally, silhouetted against a portrait donning the church walls, is Evita herself. Madalena Alberto has had plenty of practice in this role since her critically acclaimed performance in the West End revival of Evita back in 2014, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed. As the lead role, Alberto is simply captivating throughout the entire production – from the sprightly 15 year old who runs away with tango singer Agustín Magaldi to Buenos Aires, to the blonde, sophisticated flame of Juan Perón, her impeccable acting skills pay tribute to the late First Lady with class and demeanour I could only wish to have.

The first half shows Evita’s lust for power, as she slowly makes her way to the top of the social ladder in Buenos Aires. At a time where sexual promiscuity was considered sinful and wretched, watching Evita manipulate various lovers to obtain social power was truly entertaining, especially when coupled with the song ‘Goodnight and Thank You’.

This rise to stardom results in her colliding with Juan Perón at a charity concert, and after seducing him with the promise of becoming an asset to his career they soon become an item. The stage glides to and fro as balconies are pushed forwards and backwards for different scenes, from the staging of a military coup using musical chairs during ‘The Art of the Possible’ to the energetic choreography of ‘Eva, Beware of the City’, the cast make use of every inch of the Hippodrome stage with minimal props.

Following an interval (and a glass or two of wine) we returned to the reveal of Juan Perón’s successful election as Prime Minister, with Evita delivering a powerful speech as the First Lady bedecked in a glittering white ball gown. The second half passes in the blink of an eye, as we witness Evita embark on her renowned ‘Rainbow Tour’ of Europe without her husband, and her resulting ill health. Despite this, she seemingly perseveres with her saintly actions, setting up a charity and literally showering her supporters with money.

This is where Che truly comes into form – stripping back the glamour that Evita covers herself with, he reveals a woman spurned by political aristocracy who has carefully moulded the Argentinean people into supporters for her husband. Sombre and lonely, he narrates Evita’s life as she tirelessly works to prove herself as a saint not only to Juan Perón and her critics, but to the people of the world. The scenes surrounding her demise and following death are truly heart wrenching – the performances given by both Secomb and Alberto are harrowingly beautiful as Evita laments for the life she could have lived, had she not pursued fame and glory.

True, the production is somewhat lacking in what my mother would describe as ‘fancy stuff’. But that is the beauty of a theatrical piece such as Evita – it simply is not needed. Props and lights could never replace what this cast deliver, which is a highly emotionally performance guaranteed to resonate, to some extent at least, with anyone who is lucky enough to see it.

Evita runs at the Birmingham Hippodrome until Saturday 24^th March. For direct show information, including a full breakdown of dates, times and online ticket purchasing, visit www.birminghamhippodrome.com/calendar/evita

For more on the Birmingham Hippodrome, including venue details and further event listings, visit www.birminghamhippodrome.com

March 16, 2018March 16, 2018

BPREVIEW: Evita @ Birmingham Hippodrome 20-24.03.18

Words by Ed King / Production shots by Pamela Raith

Evita runs at the Hippodrome from Tuesday 20^th to Saturday 24^th March – as produced by Bill Kenwright, with special arrangement from The Really Useful Group.

Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s long established musical comes to Birmingham following ‘smash hit runs’ in London and beyond. Evening performances will be held at 7:30pm every night from Tues 20^th to Sat 24^th. Matinee performances will be held at 2pm on Weds 21^st and Thurs 22^nd, with a further matinee scheduled at 2:30pm on Sat 24^th.

Reflecting the Hippodrome’s wider programme, provisions have been made of those who are hearing or sight impaired at the following Evita performances: Weds 21^st at 7:30pm (captioned), Thurs 22^nd at 7:30pm (BSL interpreted), Sat 24^th at 2:30pm (audio described).

Tickets are priced at £15-49, depending o the date/time of performance and positioning within the theatre. For direct show information, including a full breakdown of dates, times and online ticket purchasing, click here.

One of the century’s most recognised female public and political figures, Eva María Duarte de Perón climbed her way from a socially and fiscally forgotten childhood to become the First Lady of Argentina.

On the way up the ladder, she was also a revered actress, model and radio star – eventually becoming co-owner Argentina’s most prominent broadcaster, Radio El Mundo. And if cancer hadn’t taken Eva Perón at the young age of 33, she may well have become Vice President of Argentina – sitting in office alongside her husband and el predidente, Juan Perón.

Wildly popular with the working classes of Argentina, Eva Perón became to stand as a beacon of hope for the proletariat – having risen up the ranks herself, yet still mistrusted by the country’s political elite and social bourgeoisie. Many argue that it was Eva Perón, standing beside her husband at many a rally and public appearance, that cemented the political progress of Juan Perón from Minister to President.

But many also argue to the contrary, claiming the often contradictory administration – that would spawn the continuously contradictory political movement known as Perónism – was a merely a disguised dictatorship that only played ‘the people card’ for political gain and even personal glory. It is this dichotomy that Rice and Webber brought to the stage with their musical Evita, when they turned their rock opera album into a West End production in 1978. Forty years later and Evita is still touring the world, with its name sake still considered a ‘Spiritual Leader of the Nation’ after being officially awarded the title in 1952.

This current production of Evita sees Madalena Alberto return to the title role, after playing Eva Perón in the 2004 West End revival. The role of Che, who acts as the story’s narrator and filters into many supporting and ancillary roles, will be played by Gian Marco Schiaretti.

Evita @ Birmingham Hippodrome 20-24.03.18 (featured cast members may vary)

Evita runs at the Birmingham Hippodrome from Tuesday 20^th to Saturday 24^th March. For direct show information, including a full breakdown of dates, times and online ticket purchasing, visit www.birminghamhippodrome.com/calendar/evita

For more on the Birmingham Hippodrome, including venue details and further event listings, visit www.birminghamhippodrome.com