John-John and I went to see the
Soho Divas revue last night - a fantastic show!!
Never having been to the Soho Revue Bar (formerly Raymond's Revue Bar, famous for several decades as a strip joint) we weren't sure what to expect. But the venue has absolutely no hint of seediness, and is in fact an extremely glamorous old-fashioned cabaret club, with individual tables and banquettes arranged in tiers from the floor next to the stage. Remnants of the past remain however, at either side of the seating area, where tables on raised platforms are arranged around the stripper poles...
Our host and MC for the evening was the fantastic
Lea deLaria. Bold, brassy and outrageously butch lesbian diva that she is, she held the proceedings together magnificently with lewd humour - even flirting with the Polish waitresses!
First on stage was jazz singer and Ronnie Scott's stalwart
Natalie Williams, who, despite a bit of a shaky start, wowed the audience with smoky renditions of familiar favourites including an excellent version of
I Will Survive. She was followed by former Shakespear's Sister vocalist
Marcella Detroit - such a sublime voice! Marcella has evidently taken to the cabaret/lounge type of singing with a vengeance and she gave us brilliant interpretations of numbers by Cole Porter and the like, as well as superb renditions of more modern classics including
Nothing Compares 2 U and her own song
Stay.
But the treat of the evening came after the interval with the first ever London appearance of the superb vocal impressionist Jimmy James. With uncanny skill, he brought a selection of divas such as Eartha Kitt, Cher, Billie Holiday and Judy Garland to the stage. But it was his brilliant Bette Davis that brought the house down. Flouting the smoking ban to the full, it was almost as if the bitter old icon was actually in the room!
Headline diva, the supremely talented West End star
Caroline O'Connor (who we saw most recently in
On The Town), had a hard act to follow. But she rose to the challenge, belting out her repertoire of Judy Garland numbers from her recent success in Edinburgh, the hit show
End of the Rainbow. A superb end to a superb show.
But even after the show we were treated to a marvellous late night in the Green Room bar upstairs. Not only were Caroline O'Connor and the players still around, but at their table was none other than the cute Will Young and his pretty boyfriend! But best of all, we were joined on the banquette next to the star table by none other than those lovely ladies
The Puppini Sisters, and they told us all about the evening they'd had.
The girls had been invited by drag hostess
Jodie Harsh to play a guest DJ slot at
Circus, the gay "burlesque" night that followed our revue in the main room downstairs. It hadn't gone entirely to their liking, but they seemed chipper and very chatty. The Puppini Sisters are genuinely lovely, friendly people - how rare among the stars of the music world.
What an absolutely brilliant night!
