Review – Ruthie Henshall Sounds of Hollywood, Royal Festival Hall

“Julie Andrews was my inspiration,” gushed Ruthie Henshall as she steeled herself to wrestle another semi-anecdote to the ground before it could emit a punchline.

In the sense of doing a show in which you leave most of the performing to other people?

Yes.

Review – Sandi Toksvig’s Christmas Cracker starring Ronnie Corbett

The Whingers have been  displaying an awful lot of festive cheer of late. Too much.

They were charmed by Cinderella, agog at Aladdin and have generally and uncharacteristically been joining in all opportunities for audience participation as though they were finally in touch with their inner kiddie-winks (although sadly Phil’s inner child has already turned 23, has just finished university and is temporarily working as a barista until some company desperate for someone with a 2:2 in art history comes knocking) .

But perhaps it was Monday night’s trip to see the disappointing Nine (to which Andrew awarded a Three and Phil a Six. That’s out of Ten, you understand, not Nine) that proved their inner and outer grumps to be alive and well and on track to see out the festive season intact.

But who would have thought it would be a trip to the Royal Festival Hall to see Sandi Toksvig’s Christmas Cracker Starring Ronnie Corbett that would have them crawling the walls and screaming for mercy?

Review – David McAlmont at the Clore Ballroom, Royal Festival Hall

Well, not a review really. More of a “heads up”.

The Whingers are almost certainly not going to see The Wizard of Oz at the Royal Festival Hall because it isn’t Christmas. Even the lure of the legendary Roy Hudd was not quite enough to overcome their seasonal prejudices.

Still, the Royal Festival Hall has a series of free Dorothy-related events running over the summer and if last night you missed David McAlmont singing the Harold Arlen songbook in the Clore Ballroom, make sure you catch it tonight (Saturday) at 6pm.

He’s accompanied by the fantastic Natasha Panas on the piano and together they deliver a top class appraisal of classics such as “Ac-cent-tchu-ate the Positive”, “Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead”, “One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)”, “Over the Rainbow” and “The Man That Got Away”.

Unmissable stuff for lovers of show tunes and the great American songbook.

David McAlmont and Natasha Panas

Here’s McAlmont at his very campest: