My hair, my teeth, my boobs, my nose

Yup. Monday again. It comes around too soon..!

Hey ho - on this Tacky Music Monday, I have a faboo new discovery to cheer us up - how about none other than "Baywatch Babe" Pammy's take on "Roxie Hart"?!

That'll do nicely...

Pamela Anderson - Roxie (Chicago, 2022)

The name on everybody's
lips is gonna be... Roxie
The lady raking in the
chips is gonna be... Roxie.
I'm gonna be a celebrity,
That means somebody everyone knows
They're gonna recognise my eyes,
My hair, my teeth, my boobs, my nose.

From just some dumb mechanic's
wife I'm gonna be... Roxie
Who says that murder's not an art.
And who in case she doesn't hang,
Can say she started with a bang.

Roxie Hart.

Boys...

They're gonna wait outside
in lines to get to see...
Roxie
Think of those autographs
I'll sign, "Good luck to ya!"
Roxie
And I'll appear in a lavaleir that
goes all the way down to my waist,
Here a ring, there a ring
every where a ring a ling
But always in the best of taste.

Mmmm, I'm a star...
And the audience loves me,
And I love them.
And they love me for lovin' them
And I love them for lovin' me
And we love each other
And thats 'cause none of us got
enough love in our childhoods
And that's showbiz...
Kid

She's givin' up her humdrum life
I'm gonna be, sing it!
Roxie
She made a scandal and a start
And Sophie Tucker'll shit I know
To see her name get billed below
Roxie Hart!

Have a good week, dear reader.

Mama's Day!

On this Mothering Sunday, I thought nothing less than a triple-bill of tributes would do!

Of course, here at Dolores Delargo Towers, we do like our tributes to come with a twist...

Miss Peppermint - When You're Good to Mama

Christian Borle and Jonathan Groff - If Mama Was Married

Alan Cumming - Don't Tell Mama (Broadway Backwards, 2011)

Have a great day, all you mothers out there!

Mama's good to you

The Daylight Savings Bill was only brought into law in 1916 to help farmers increase food supplies.

British Summer Time is officially here, dear reader - the clocks went forward yesterday, and everyone spent Sunday feeling slightly "jet-lagged" as a consequence - and, true to form, temperatures are set to plummet.

Just in time for my planned annual leave which starts on Wednesday (yay!)... [So it's a very short week for moi, but today and tomorrow are bound to be manic as I try to get a handover sorted.]

Yes, I know Mothers' Day was yesterday - but on this Tacky Music Monday, I felt a bit of Lulu and her magnificently be-quiffed safety gays wouldn't go amiss:

Lulu - When You're Good to Mama

Have a good week, folks.

Slick your hair and wear your buckled shoes, and all that jazz

Sad news today - the lovely, leggy Fosse muse Miss Ann Reinking has high-kicked her way off to Fabulon...

Never quite as famous as her predecessor in Bob Fosse's bed Gwen Verdon, nor a top-billed star in the same way as Chita Rivera, nevertheless her legacy as a choreographer has assured her immortality - for it was she, rather than Bob himself, who created the fabulous "jazz hands" routines for the worldwide smash hit musical Chicago...

Ann Reinking and Bebe Neuwirth - Chicago [Tony Awards, 1997]

...not to mention her dazzling performance in Bob Fosse's semi-autobiographical film All That Jazz:

Ann Reinking - There'll Be Some Changes Made

Pizazz!

RIP, Ann Reinking (10th November 1949 – 12th December 2020)

She's gonna shimmy till her garters break

Another day, another fundraiser, it seems...

Following in the footsteps of the utterly superb star-studded Noël Coward extravaganza A Marvellous Party [in aid of Acting For Others/The Actors'Fund] and this week's mass-participation Children In Need blockbuster, I have another genuine jaw-dropper for you.

An impressive exercise in co-ordination that I couldn't even begin to contemplate, no fewer than 150 cast and orchestra members from worldwide versions of Kander and Ebb's masterful musical Chicago - including Ute Lemper, Sally Ann Triplet, Debbie Kurup, Bonnie Langford, Sue Kelvin, Ian Kelsey, Michael Greco, David Hasselhoff, Annette McLaughlin, Gaby Roslin, and many more - have gathered together (inevitably in these times, remotely) to perform a synchronised version of the show's big number All That Jazz in aid of the COVID-19 relief fund of AIDS charity The MAD Trust.

The result is just amazing...

The Make A Difference Trust - All That Jazz featuring 150 performers and musicians from around the globe

Wow! Just wow.

To make a donation, please visit The MAD Trust emergency assistance fund page.

I don't care for wearin' silk cravats, ruby studs, satin spats

It's cold and frosty again, and we at Dolores Delargo Towers are getting heartily sick of it. The garden looks like something Queen Jadis would recognise, and we can only keep our fingers crossed that some of our "treasures" (such as Salvia "Amistad" and our less robust fuchsias) survive...

However, as we make weary preparation to slide off to work, there are some things worth celebrating - not least the fact that it is our Patron Saint Chita Rivera's (84th) birthday today. And on this Tacky Music Monday, we have a corker of a performance from the great lady!

Señorita Rivera was the star of the show in 2016's Broadway Backwards LGBT charity gala - where men sing songs originally written for women and vice versa - and, on this Tacky Music Monday, here she is as "Billy Flynn" (Chicago's smarmy anti-hero), with All I Care About is Love:

Chita Rivera - All I Care About is Love

What a trouper!

Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero (born 23rd January 1933)

Have a good one, dear reader...

Fosse, gay puppets and crotch-watching in the sunshine

It was certainly a camp way to spend a Sunday afternoon - watching a succession of snippets from some of Theatreland's most lauded musicals, on stage in Trafalgar Square, in the sunshine, free of charge!

West End Live has (remarkably) been going for ten years now, and yet this was the first time (to my chagrin) I had ever been! So when Paul suggested we pop along for a bit of alfresco entertainment, I jumped at the chance to get away from boxes, boxes and more boxes everywhere in our slowly-emptying house.

It was great fun, as we caught the "Ten from Ten" slot that formed the run-up to the two-day event's grand finalé - ten classic shows that are not currently in the West End (some perhaps on tour) by ten leading performers/ensembles. Among the highlights were Leanne Jones singing Good Morning Baltimore from Hairspray, Caroline Sheen singing numbers from Mary Poppins, Charlotte Wakefield singing The Sound of Music, and Vivienne Carlyle and Stuart Boother from another sadly-missed show Blood Brothers.



A particular fave was the ebullient Jodie Prenger (a good mate of Paul O'Grady; she often sits in to present his Radio 2 show when he's away) with As Long As He Needs Me from Oliver and Secret Love from her forthcoming show Calamity Jane. [There was a mad flurry of excitement later when Miss Prenger arrived at Halfway to Heaven to catch the drag show by Crystal d'Canter and Kelly Mild!]

Oh - and the sing-along-a-Sound of Music slot, when we, and the assembled thousands in the audience, got a chance to exercise our tonsils with Do-Re-Mi was great fun, too.



Among the very best of the best, however, were the rather gorgeous Daniel Boys performing Any Dream Will Do and Close Every Door from Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat. [Never mind the songs, get yer kit off!]

Daniel Boys at West End Live 2014

...and the sexy totty brilliant cast of (birthday boy Bob Fosse's) Chicago:

Chicago at West End Live 2014

...and Avenue Q:

Avenue Q at West End Live 2014

...and Priscilla Queen of the Desert:

Priscilla Queen of the Desert at West End Live 2014

Campness abounds!

I shall certainly not be missing this wonderful free entertainment next year.

West End Live