Much as I’d love to claim authorship of the above, it’s actually a line from ‘Priscilla, Queen of the Desert’.
I’m a massive fan of the film and I was excited but slightly nervous when I heard that a stage musical version was coming to town. Such a wonderfully original and quirky indie film unleashed on the theatre-going world as a big budget musical? Could it work? So many similar offerings have been universally panned, finished their run early or failed to reproduce the smallest iota of the excitement or authenticity of the original incarnation that it’s better to expect the worst. Anyway, having gone to see it for myself last night, it seems that the reviews (mainly good) and the word-of-mouth (all good) were completely justified.
From curtain-up, when three glamorous divas were lowered from the gods to swing mid air and belt out the opening number, we all knew it was going to be good.
The casting is fab, the cheese factor has been judged superbly and the choreography is stunning. However, it’s the ‘no expense spared’ costume and set design that really pulls the show into a league of its own. Seriously, they’ve splashed the cash and haven’t missed a trick. There are so many fantastic little details where corners could have been cut without anyone complaining.
There’s plenty of exposed, toned flesh to keep the straight ladies and gay men’s eyes firmly glued to the stage and I was pleased that they hadn’t toned down the innuendo and blatant sexual references too much and turned it into a watered-down ‘ooh, er missus’ version of the film.
I wasn’t the only person who enjoyed it – a packed house all got up for a standing ovation at the end. Well, apart from the three elderly ladies in the row in front of us. They cackled their way through all the penis jokes, admired the bare buttocks pretty vocally but unfortunately mobility issues meant they couldn’t jump to their feet for the finale.
Friday, 29 May 2009
Wednesday, 27 May 2009
Just Take the Damned Drugs
I've just been listening to Jeremy Vine on Radio 2 while eating my lunch and I've been compelled to come back to the computer for a rant.
It was a discussion about the pros and cons of taking pain relief while giving birth and the bit I caught seemed to almost exclusively feature the "hair shirt" brigade.
The big natural birth argument seems to revolve around the old adage that childbirth is the most natural thing in the world and that women have been doing it for thousands of years. Well, yes, they have but I just don't get the logic - the same could be said about periods but I can't imagine anyone going without the modern conveniences of sanitary wear just because that's how it was done in days gone by.
Having gone through two births I feel I've got some inside information about the subject. Much as we'd all love to see our babies sliding gracefully into the world after a few mild labour pains and a couple of pushes, the reality for most people is a very different experience. I personally found the whole thing pretty horrific. Having been lulled into the whole natural birth philosophy during my first pregnancy I was determined to have a water birth with no intervention. The best laid plans and all that... After 36 hours of excruciating agony, someone realised the baby was lying back-to-back, her head was stuck and I'd have to have a forceps delivery. Fancy trying that without any pain relief? Neither did I.
No one is denying that childbirth is natural but one could argue the same about kidney stones or appendicitis and you wouldn't dream of suffering either ailment without some knockout pain relief. There's definitely a school of thought that maintains you've had a much more real and connecting experience if you've given birth naturally, with an almost corporate boardroom one-upmanship (or should that be one-up'woman'ship) amongst those who've done it all with just one slug of gas and air and a couple of pulses of a Tens machine. But why should those of us who opt for a little pain relief be made to feel as if we've somehow cheated?
I've got nothing but admiration for women who do manage to give birth without the aid of drugs but it just isn't an option for everyone. After two days of full-on labour, with a 91/2lb baby that was stuck, I took every damned drug that was offered to me.
It was a discussion about the pros and cons of taking pain relief while giving birth and the bit I caught seemed to almost exclusively feature the "hair shirt" brigade.
The big natural birth argument seems to revolve around the old adage that childbirth is the most natural thing in the world and that women have been doing it for thousands of years. Well, yes, they have but I just don't get the logic - the same could be said about periods but I can't imagine anyone going without the modern conveniences of sanitary wear just because that's how it was done in days gone by.
Having gone through two births I feel I've got some inside information about the subject. Much as we'd all love to see our babies sliding gracefully into the world after a few mild labour pains and a couple of pushes, the reality for most people is a very different experience. I personally found the whole thing pretty horrific. Having been lulled into the whole natural birth philosophy during my first pregnancy I was determined to have a water birth with no intervention. The best laid plans and all that... After 36 hours of excruciating agony, someone realised the baby was lying back-to-back, her head was stuck and I'd have to have a forceps delivery. Fancy trying that without any pain relief? Neither did I.
No one is denying that childbirth is natural but one could argue the same about kidney stones or appendicitis and you wouldn't dream of suffering either ailment without some knockout pain relief. There's definitely a school of thought that maintains you've had a much more real and connecting experience if you've given birth naturally, with an almost corporate boardroom one-upmanship (or should that be one-up'woman'ship) amongst those who've done it all with just one slug of gas and air and a couple of pulses of a Tens machine. But why should those of us who opt for a little pain relief be made to feel as if we've somehow cheated?
I've got nothing but admiration for women who do manage to give birth without the aid of drugs but it just isn't an option for everyone. After two days of full-on labour, with a 91/2lb baby that was stuck, I took every damned drug that was offered to me.
Working for Free
I'm not sure if it's down to the recession or just the fact that so many people are willing to work for nothing in order to break into journalism but I've noticed so many posts and ads for jobs recently that contain those worrying words - 'intern' or 'unpaid'.
I know there's always been a culture of doing a bit of work experience or submitting a few free articles in order to get bylines and/or experience but it really seems to have reached the point of ridicule lately. Whilst a recent graduate or someone with no credits should definitely be prepared for a bit of 'voluntary work' on publications, it's undoubtedly going to have a knock-on effect for people who've carved out a career and are actually trying to make a living working as copywriters and journalists.
I'm by no means putting myself up there as a seasoned hack; I'm pretty small fry in comparison to the big guns on the dailies and large circulation glossies. However, I don't see why the career that someone's been building up for years should be belittled by assuming that they'll be prepared to work for absolutely no renumeration. Not just that, but they should be thankful for getting the opportunity to slog their guts out over an article, or to trudge across town in rush hour and work ten-hour days for three months with just a travel card and a couple of luncheon vouchers to show for their troubles.
When I left uni, I did a few weeks' of work experience at a publishing company and that did lead to my first editorial job so I can hardly moan about the use of the system - it worked for me. BUT, and it's a big but - I had absolutely no experience at the time and it was a great (and possibly one of the only) way to get your foot in the door. It just feels like many companies are now exploiting this common route into publishing by using unpaid staff for longer contracts and more responsible jobs. In short, they're trying to pull in career writers and editors to work for bugger all.
I know there's always been a culture of doing a bit of work experience or submitting a few free articles in order to get bylines and/or experience but it really seems to have reached the point of ridicule lately. Whilst a recent graduate or someone with no credits should definitely be prepared for a bit of 'voluntary work' on publications, it's undoubtedly going to have a knock-on effect for people who've carved out a career and are actually trying to make a living working as copywriters and journalists.
I'm by no means putting myself up there as a seasoned hack; I'm pretty small fry in comparison to the big guns on the dailies and large circulation glossies. However, I don't see why the career that someone's been building up for years should be belittled by assuming that they'll be prepared to work for absolutely no renumeration. Not just that, but they should be thankful for getting the opportunity to slog their guts out over an article, or to trudge across town in rush hour and work ten-hour days for three months with just a travel card and a couple of luncheon vouchers to show for their troubles.
When I left uni, I did a few weeks' of work experience at a publishing company and that did lead to my first editorial job so I can hardly moan about the use of the system - it worked for me. BUT, and it's a big but - I had absolutely no experience at the time and it was a great (and possibly one of the only) way to get your foot in the door. It just feels like many companies are now exploiting this common route into publishing by using unpaid staff for longer contracts and more responsible jobs. In short, they're trying to pull in career writers and editors to work for bugger all.
Monday, 25 May 2009
Fun in the Sun
With two kids now in tow, holidays aren't quite the relaxing oasis of sunbathing, reading and wine consumption that they used to be. Still, on the upside, I did manage to read almost half a book, sit out in the sun for at least half an hour every day and try out most of the local beers.
I also managed to do a bit of writing and it was fab to sit outside under the shade and write. I knew I wouldn't get much done so I didn't bring the laptop but writing longhand was actually quite a nice change, even though it took a while to get rid of the shakes as I don't usually write more than a sentence with a pen these days. I've just finished adding the words to the manuscript and I reckon I managed a couple of thousand so not bad.
I really looked forward to a few minutes of quiet writing time and was a bit twitchy to get going again when we got back at the weekend. Hopefully this enthusiasm will last - I keep reading about other people coming to a standstill at around the 30-40,000 word mark. I don't have a great track record of persevering with projects so I'm desperate to push on through with the first draft. Now I've got the chapters (very roughly) marked out into scenes, I'm hoping this will help to get me through any really bad patches.
I also managed to do a bit of writing and it was fab to sit outside under the shade and write. I knew I wouldn't get much done so I didn't bring the laptop but writing longhand was actually quite a nice change, even though it took a while to get rid of the shakes as I don't usually write more than a sentence with a pen these days. I've just finished adding the words to the manuscript and I reckon I managed a couple of thousand so not bad.
I really looked forward to a few minutes of quiet writing time and was a bit twitchy to get going again when we got back at the weekend. Hopefully this enthusiasm will last - I keep reading about other people coming to a standstill at around the 30-40,000 word mark. I don't have a great track record of persevering with projects so I'm desperate to push on through with the first draft. Now I've got the chapters (very roughly) marked out into scenes, I'm hoping this will help to get me through any really bad patches.
Friday, 15 May 2009
The Writer's Life for Me
I work for myself and I work from home so I've got the luxury of being able to knock-off a bit early if I want to. Of course, in reality this rarely happens but I always harbour thoughts of hanging out in cafes or going for long walks around London, searching for inspiration and a bit of downtime.
Anyway, I actually managed the former on Wednesday. I didn't have that much work on so I shut off the computer around 3pm and took my novel notebook to the local deli for a coffee and a bit of writing. The notion of writing in a cafe iss a bit like picnics, or days on the beach: not quite as decadent and romantic as it plays out in your head when you're imagining the life of a writer. On the next table, a woman was with her financial advisor, discussing ways to keep her business afloat, while the man behind me slurped and chomped his way through lunch to the point that I felt like ramming the damned sandwich down his throat.
On the upside, I did manage to map out the remaining chapters of the book - very roughly into key scenes for each chapter and it was great to get away from the computer at home and out into the real world for an hour.
Anyway, I actually managed the former on Wednesday. I didn't have that much work on so I shut off the computer around 3pm and took my novel notebook to the local deli for a coffee and a bit of writing. The notion of writing in a cafe iss a bit like picnics, or days on the beach: not quite as decadent and romantic as it plays out in your head when you're imagining the life of a writer. On the next table, a woman was with her financial advisor, discussing ways to keep her business afloat, while the man behind me slurped and chomped his way through lunch to the point that I felt like ramming the damned sandwich down his throat.
On the upside, I did manage to map out the remaining chapters of the book - very roughly into key scenes for each chapter and it was great to get away from the computer at home and out into the real world for an hour.
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