We had to start the "Festering Season" somewhere - and what better way to do so than in the company of that faded Vegas icon, Miss Hope Springs and her Christmas Agogo! show - at one of our favourite venues, the swanky cocktail bar Crazy Coqs at Brasserie Zedel?
Apparently based on her "lost 1971 Granada TV Special, considered by many to be an unaired classic", Miss Springs reminisced about her co-stars (including Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop - who came to a drug-fuelled end at a Los Angeles pool party, allegedly - Sonny and Cher, Mama Cass, Harry Belafonte, and many more stars of the day; well, in her imagination, anyhow), and her own "Ritz to the pits" journey from Vegas to Paris to her current abode in a mobile home in - erm - Dungeness.
Every one of the "festive" numbers on the bill - despite her woozy attempts to get the audience to sing and clap along as though they'd known them for years - is her own creation; she included such delights as Santa is a Woman, Christmas Calypso, the quite sad ballad Paper Snow, the hilarious Bagels and, of course, her show-stopper The Devil Made Me Do It - all of them brilliant.
With her "Dusty in Memphis" 'do, and her "Joey Heatherton" pill-popper stare, Miss Hope Springs is the masterful creation of none other than Lionel Jeffries' [of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang fame] son Ty Jeffries, and it is obvious that beneath the sequins lies a great musical talent indeed. But when it comes to intimate cabaret, of course, it's sequins that spell success!
We adored this show.
Miss Hope Springs: Christmas Agogo! is touring the country as we speak - catch her if you can!
She was fab.
ReplyDeleteLoved the show and just adore the Crazy Coqs at Brasserie Zedel
We always have a great night there.
We'll be back there again in the New Year, too... Jx
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