Review – UNWRAPPED: May Contain Strallens & Musical Nuts, Leicester Square Theatre

We must declare an interest.

UNWRAPPED: May Contain Strallens & Musical Nuts came to us not just with Strallens and nuts but contained the Whingers’ patented “Strallometer” (see below) which we created to grade any show containing one of the ubiquitous Strallen clan. It was used with our full permission and cleverly animated using technology way beyond our technical wherewithal.

For this was a one-off Sunday evening cabaret produced by Strallen père, Sandy Strallen* to show off the not inconsiderable talents of 2 of his seed (Summer and Zizi), with the “Musical Nuts” coming in the form of the Casey sisters (Natalie and Anna-Jane). One might be tempted to call them “nut Caseys”.

Review – Desperately Seeking The Exit, Leicester Square Theatre

We have observed before how carefully one must choose the title of one’s show lest critics, sub-editors or even pesky bloggers get their hands on it and turn it on its head and here is Peter Michael Marino doing it to himself, sort of, with a bit of help from Charlie Spencer.

Having eventually recovered from a year long bout of depression and a severe case of haemorrhoids the writer of the 2007 West End flop musical Desperately Seeking Susan has nicked a quote from Charles Spencer’s review and used it for his one man piece Desperately Seeking the Exit (director John Clancy) which explains what went wrong.

The Whingers never saw DSS and we’re not even sure why. We’re both very partial to The Blondie, whose songs were purloined to musicalise the plot from the 1985 film (memorable because (a) it featured Madonna and (b) she wasn’t terrible in it).

How bad could the musical version have been? As bad as Paradise Found? Viva Forever! (which has just announced it is not quite forever)? Or the so-bad-it-was-(almost)-good Too Close to the Sun? Surely not.

Review – Leslie Jordan – Fruit Fly, Leicester Square Theatre

Walking through Leicester Square last night en route to a post-show tincture the Whingers were discussing the square’s new look. Phil related a story about how he was criticising the square’s new metal railings to a friend, not realising he was talking to the person behind its redesign. Oops.

Phil then rambled on about the new(ish) look of Kensington High Street and how it has a very clean feel. “Your mother would like it” replied Andrew sagely.

Andrew is often telling Phil, “You sound like your mother” despite never having met her. Both Whingers spent the Mothering Sunday weekends with their respective mothers and Phil can confirm that he becomes more like her with each passing day. Andrew is probably making the transformation as well (hopefully into his own mother, not Phil’s), but has yet to admit it.

Anyway, in Fruit Fly, Leslie Jordan (Will and Grace‘s Beverley Leslie) asks if it is the fate of all gay men to turn into their mothers and by illustrating his show with some fabulous family photographs he makes a pretty good case.

Review – Celebrity Autobiography, Leicester Square Theatre

This post is briefly to say that Phil has been called upon to verify Andrew’s gushing Edinburgh review of Celebrity Autobiography and has concurred with the findings of Andrew’s original report. These are words you are unlikely to hear again: Andrew was right. Urg.

The Whingers dropped in to the Leicester Square Theatre on Thursday evening when the line up (which varies from night to night) featured CA creators Eugene Pack and Dayle Reyfel plus Bridget Christie, Doon Mackichan, James Lance, Tiffany Stevenson, Smack The Pony‘s Doon Mackichan, Ugly Betty‘s Michael Urie and someone called David Tennant.

Review – Blowing Whistles, Leicester Square Theatre

The world of promiscuity is a place that has passed the Whingers by for reasons that are a mystery to them but perhaps clear as day to other people.

Their own promiscuousness is confined to making too many casual and bad choices – a couple of unfulfilling hours in a darkened theatre with hundreds of strangers.

But both Whingers can hold their hands up and quite categorically declare that neither of them have ever fornicated with Russell Brand. And, in the unlikely event that they had, they’re quite sure these would be liaisons Brand would definitely want to keep to himself.

But a casual choice was made on Tuesday evening seduced by four stars from Michael Coveney, Time Out and de Jongh with the latter comparing it to Ibsen’s A Doll’s House.

High praise indeed. So why did the Whingers still approach Matthew Todd‘s Blowing Whistles at the Leicester Square Theatre with such dread?