Get them young

"...You, my youth, are our nation's most precious guarantee for a great future, and you are destined to be the leaders of a glorious new order under the supremacy of National Socialism. Never forget that one day you will rule the world…" - Adolf Hitler, 1938.

More chilling news from the world's biggest fundamentalist society, the United States.

Wal-Mart has apparently started selling Christian-themed children's "action figures", presumably in an attempt to twist small children's minds towards the type of mindless religion fuelled hate that pervades much of the good ol' American Way™ these days.

Read the whole sad story



You've Got to be Carefully Taught (Rodgers & Hammerstein)
from the musical South Pacific

You've got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught
From year to year,
It's got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught

Adieu, Zaza

Sad news today - Michel Serrault, unabashed star of that marvellous camp classic film La Cage Aux Folles, is dead.



As the outrageous drag queen Albin (whose alter ego Zaza was queen of the nightclub run by her boyfriend Renato), Serrault set a superb precedent of hysterical camp that could not be matched by any future pretenders to the throne - not even the fab Nathan Lane, who reprised the role for The Birdcage with Robin Williams.

The film itself was ground-breaking stuff in 1978. Its sympathetic portrayal of two ageing gay men and their relationship with each other - and their cultural clash with so-called "normal" life as Renato's son prepares to marry the daughter of an ultra right-wing politician - was practically unheard of in its day and quickly became a cult hit, even though it is entirely in French. It was nominated for three Oscars, and won several awards including a Golden Globe.

Those giants of Broadway Jerry Herman and Harvey Fierstein were inspired to make a hugely successful musical out of the story, which spawned an uber-gay anthem in I Am What I Am, and one of my favourite songs The Best Of Times Is Now.

And of course without La Cage, where would such films as Torch Song Trilogy, Priscilla Queen of the Desert and To Wong Foo be?

Farewell, Zaza!

The Best of Times is Now (from La Cage Aux Folles the musical)
The best of times is now.
What's left of Summer
But a faded rose?

The best of times is now.
As for tomorrow,
Well, who knows? Who knows? Who knows?

So hold this moment fast,
And live and love
As hard as you know how.
And make this moment last
Because the best of times is now,
Is now, is now.

Now, not some forgotten yesterday.
Now, tomorrow is too far away.

So hold this moment fast,
And live and love
As hard as you know how.
And make this moment last,
Because the best of times is now, is now.

So hold this moment fast,
And live and love
As hard as you know how.
And make this moment last,
Because the best of times is now,
Is now, is now
Is now, is NOW!

La Cage aux Folles (film) on Wikipedia

La Cage aux Folles (musical) on Wikipedia

Michel Serrault - BBC article

Old Spice

Bored already with this bloody Spice Girls reunion! What is Geri thinking of?

According to reports, each member of the new Old Spice will use their own private jet to accommodate their entourage of assistants, family members, and massive egos. Each is planning to take 10 hair stylists and make-up experts, as well as fitness trainers, nutrition advisors, personal assistants and child minders. No mention of the people who airbrush their publicity photos...

Hello Dolly!

That spectacle of glitter, sequins and hutzpah Danny La Rue is 80 years old today! Danny was a camp phenomenon of the mid 20th century - he made drag "respectable" in an era when gay sex was punishable with a prison sentence, playing to any kind of audience without giving offence.



With his catchphrase "wotcha mates", he swept on stage in spectacular costumes and wigs, impersonating such celebrities as Elizabeth Taylor, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Dorothy Squires, even Margaret Thatcher. He was feted by some of the dodgier characters of the 1960s including various hangers-on of the likes of the Krays, but rose to become one of the highest-paid entertainers of that decade.

Danny La Rue was the first female impersonator to perform for the Queen at the Royal Variety Performance, and was befriended by many stars who attended his nightclub in Hanover Square including Marlene Dietrich, Barbara Windsor, Judy Garland, Shirley Bassey, Noel Coward, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Elizabeth Taylor and even (famously) Princess Margaret, who walked in on him while he was naked in his dressing room!

Noel Coward described him as "The most professional, the most witty...and the most utterly charming man in the business." Danny's mainstream career continued for many decades after his 60s heyday, in TV specials, on the big screen (albeit to limited success), and in pantomime. And of course, he made a real name for himself when he landed his most famous stage role - that of Dolly Levi in the musical Hello, Dolly!



Never obviously a great one for supporting gay rights when he was younger, Danny spent much of his career pretending to be a straight man who just happened to dress up for the stage. In truth, Danny lived for decades with his partner and manager Jack Hanson, until Jack's death in Australia following a major stroke. Danny - recently awarded an OBE - went into semi-retirement in 2006 after he too had a stroke, but has apparently stated his intention to tour again in 2008. I look forward to it!

I said hello, Dolly,......well, hello, Dolly
It's so nice to have you back where you belong
You're lookin' swell, Dolly.......I can tell, Dolly
You're still glowin'...you're still crowin'...you're still goin' strong
I feel that room swayin'......while the band's playin'
One of your old favourite songs from way back when
So..... take her wrap, fellas.......find her an empty lap, fellas
Dolly'll never go away again

I said hello, Dolly,.....well, hello, Dolly
It's so nice to have you back where you belong
You're lookin' swell, Dolly.....I can tell, Dolly
You're still glowin'...you're still crowin'...you're still goin' strong
I feel the room swayin'...while that ole band keeps on playin'
One of your old favourite songs from way back when
So...golly, gee, fellas....find her an empty knee, fellas
Dolly'll never go away....I said she'll never go away
Dolly'll never go away again!!

http://www.dannylarue.com/

Fascinating Rhythm!

What a show!

We went to see Lady Be Good at the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park last night with a group of friends. For once we actually had a dry, warm sunny day - and it stayed that way all evening, which was a blessing. We started off with bottles of Cava and a picnic, and carried on drinking wine the whole evening... at least fifteen bottles between ten of us (oo-er).

Anyway, this current revival of the George and Ira Gershwin show is absolutely brilliant! The mainly youthful cast tapped, giggled, danced and hammed their hearts out as the silly, camp story of love triangles, mistaken identity and high society parties unfolded. And the songs...you can't fault a show that contains such classics as Oh Lady Be Good, Sweet and Low Down, The Half of It Dearie Blues and of course Fascinating Rhythm!!

Against a beautiful and gloriously over-the-top set comprising Art Deco stairs in the design of piano keys and drums, the ladies in their fabulous sequinned frocks sparkled in the dimming light, and the dancing boys - well, twink is the word!

Director Ian Talbot was sufficiently reverent about this Fred and Adele Astaire classic for it not to lose its period magic, but the way the characters emphasised some of the double-entendre lines was perhaps a bit of a nod to the supposedly more "aware" modern audience. (Mind you, with the number of liver spots and bad rinses that surrounded us I felt sure half of last night's crowd were around for the premiere of the original!)

A great night out in a great venue.

Oh! Lady Be Good
Listen to my tale of woe,
it's terribly sad but true,
All dressed up, no place to go
Each ev'ning I'm awf'ly blue.
I must win some handsome guy
Can't go on like this,
I could blossom out I know,
With somebody just like you. So...

Oh, sweet and lovely lady, be good
Oh, lady, be good to me
I am so awf'ly misunderstood
So lady, be good to me

Oh, please have some pity
I'm all alone in this big city

I tell you I'm just a lonesome babe in the wood,
So lady be good to me.

Oh, please have some pity
I'm all alone in this big city

I tell you I'm just a lonesome babe in the wood,
So lady be good to me.

Read the Official Theatre website's review

Absolute bloody shower

That magnificent actor Terry-Thomas, who portrayed the archetypal "cad" in so many glorious films of the 1960s, would have been 96 years old today...

His gap-toothed lustful leer and well-groomed faux aristocratic air brightened up our days in such classics as Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, School for Scoundrels and Lucky Jim. Who could resist his charm?

Terry-Thomas - School for Scoundrels

Terry-Thomas on IMDB

He lived for gossip

A man after my own heart! Described as "the hack who lived for gossip", Nigel Dempster - unrivalled lord of the society columns and stalwart of Private Eye jibes for decades - is dead.

Dempster's columns in first the Daily Express, then later the Daily Mail, concentrated on revealing the foibles and indiscretions of the gentry, the rich, the famous and not-so-famous alike. As Roy Greenslade says in his tribute in the Guardian, "There was a vicarious pleasure in reading about the illicit relationships, the divorces and the parties."

Although his days were numbered with the onset of rival (and much cheaper and easier to digest) slag-mag columns in the tabloids, the rise of the TV and pop "celebrity" and Hello! and OK! magazines, his spirit still lives on - if only in their envy at his ability (and their failure) to get the true stories before they happen.

Dempster accurately predicted the planned resignation of Harold Wilson as prime minister - an event which came as a bolt from the blue to most of the political establishment. He was also first with the story about Prince Andrew's plans to marry Sarah Ferguson. These are the kinds of scoop the big celebrity magazines would die for...

But after all, only a true journalist can root out the lowest facts about the most "untouchable" people, and present them (as he did) in a matter-of-fact way amongst the photos of polo matches and charity balls, then sit back and wait for the fireworks to begin!

RIP

Roy Greenslade on Nigel Dempster

BBC Online's obituary