Stage: Flying the flag

Eurovision (Your Decision)
written and directed by Tim McArthur
with Lucy Penrose, Tim McArthur, Leigh Pollard, Steven Serlin
also Ben Watson, Leanne Jones, Maisie Sellwood, David McMullan
Wonderville, London • 29.Apr-13.May.23

Above the Stag's Eurovision (Your Decision) returns for a third triumphant year, which after the theatre's sudden closure last summer has relocated to Wonderville in the West End, as well as travelling to Brighton and this year's Eurovision host city Liverpool. It feels more confident this year, avoiding the more broadly comical numbers for more polished performances that are still blissfully ridiculous. These are sharply observed pastiche recreations of memorable songs over past decades, designed to keep the audience laughing, cheering and singing along with the up-for-it cast.

Our fabulous hosts Katie and Demetrius (Lucy Penrose and Tim McArthur) are back to lead us through a series of 15 songs that are in the running for the top prize. More than half of the numbers are new this year, including appearances from Irish legend Johnny Logan (1987 winner Hold Me Now) and Celine Dion (Switzerland's 1988 winner Ne Partez Sans Moi). We also now get to enjoy Serbia's bonkers 2022 entry In Corpore Sano, which is performed in its original Latin. 

Thankfully, the wacky Ukrainian entry Dancing Lasha Tumbai (2007) and Iceland's superb Think About Things (from the cancelled 2021 competition) are still in the running order, as are UK favourites Making Your Mind Up (1981's winner) and Flying the Flag (2007), plus an appearance from a rather hairy Sonia with the power ballad Better the Devil You Know (1993). 

Once again, a superstar guest performer arrives after the interval to belt out a couple of big numbers (Hairspray star Lizzie Bea brought the house down on press night) before the riotously silly international jury dials in with their selections, which are combined with an audience vote to declare a winner. The show is superbly written and choreographed, packed with rude innuendo, camp comedy and knowing nods to Eurovision's singular blend of outrageous musicality. 

This show is hugely physical, featuring a riot of corny wigs and costumes as the four cast members incarnate dozens of characters each in elaborately staged musical numbers. Penrose, McArthur, Leigh Pollard and Steven Serlin are gifted musicians who are unafraid to make idiots of themselves on-stage (other performers will appear throughout the run). Each has spotless comical timing that makes everything feel fresh, even as they are also in on the joke. But it's the power of the music, presented with such a skilful blend of respect and satire, that gets us on our feet.

Review of the May 2022 production: EUROVISION (YOUR DECISION?) >

Also at Floral Pavilion, Liverpool 5-6.May.23, and at Ironworks, Brighton 10-11.May.23. For information, visit ABOVE THE STAG > 

Photos by PBG Studios • 30.Apr.23

Cabaret: Making your mind up

Eurovision (Your Decision?)
writer-director Tim McArthur
with Lucy Penrose, Tim McArthur,
Sarah Moore, Christian Andrews
Above the Stag, Vauxhall • 6-14.May.22

Celebrating its #secondcoming after last year's hit run, this superbly well-assembled cabaret show counts down to the real Eurovision Song Contest by taking audience members on a gleefully irreverent trip through the competition's long history. And while it sometimes gets a bit silly, the show manages to strike just the right balance between snarky satire and heartfelt homage. It also features some seriously gifted performers in a terrific venue, complete with table service throughout the show.

As hosts Katie and Demetrius (Lucy Penrose and Tim McArthur) surge onto the stage with their shimmery outfits and ludicrous accents, we immediately know right where we are: a grand European arena filled with screaming fans, ready to watch a parade of colourful musical numbers, hopefully of the bonkers variety. What follows are 14 Eurovision hits, staged with elaborate choreography and performed with a riotous succession of wigs and costumes by four up-for-it performers: Penrose, McArthur, Sarah Moore and Christian Andrews.

Sound of Silence

The musical highlight is Penrose's soaring rendition of Sound of Silence (Australia 2016 - right), while the most enjoyably nutty number is the spacetacular Dancing Lasha Tumbai (Ukraine 2007 - below), only marginally more camp than the original version. A strong second place in this category would be the amusingly quirky staging of Think About Things, Iceland's catchy entry to the cancelled 2020 competition. The UK is represented by four numbers, including the blissfully choreographed ditty Flying the Flag (2007), Ooh Aah ... Just a Little Bit (1996), Making Your Mind Up (1981's winner) and a pastiche rendition of Cliff Richards' Congratulations (which only missed the top spot by one point in 1968).

Sweden's 2015 winner Heroes

All four of the performers display impressive vocal and dance skills along the way, always with a sly wink to the audience. They are also more than willing to lose all of their dignity along the way. During the interval, we get to vote for our winner, followed by a special performance from a guest singer who delivers the standards All of Me and I've Got You Under My Skin with effortless charm. Finally, there's the voting tally, which is as ridiculous as we hope it will be, followed by a frantically quick change to get back into the right wigs for the big reprise finale. It's impossible not to have a great time at an evening like this, and it's hard to imagine that it's not on its way to becoming a beloved annual event on its own.

Dancing Lasha Tumbai

For information, visit ABOVE THE STAG >

6.May.22

Critical Week: In at the deep end

Passing the 100-day mark in the London lockdown, this week also included my birthday, so I took it a little easier as far as screenings were concerned. There was also continually shifting ground relating to the reopening of UK cinemas. Most are now waiting another month, and won't open until August, because both the cinemas and the distributors need as much capacity for seating as possible in order to pay the bills. Press screenings are much less likely, because these are usually tiny rooms with very few seats, so it's looking like online viewing links will be the only option for us for awhile. I miss going to the movies for a communal experience. But even film festivals are bypassing press screenings, moving everything to streaming. So this may become a permanent change, but I hope not.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
A White, White Day
Four Kids and It • Cut Off
PERHAPS AVOID:
The F**k-It List
FULL REVIEWS >

As for the films I watched this past week: The F**k-It List is a well-acted teen comedy-drama (Eli Brown, above, is particularly good), but it's full of badly contradictory messages that sound great but are actually very dodgy. Will Ferrell's passion project Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga really should be more sharp-edged than this. But as an homage to the annual competition, it has some iconic moments of its own, and a great soundtrack. And Four Kids and It is a lively family adventure with some quirky comedy that nicely subverts any sentimentality. It's not terribly complex, but is enjoyable while it lasts.

Further afield, Cut Off is a strikingly well made thriller from Germany with a superbly complicated plot and the always terrific Moritz Bleibtreu. Midnight Kiss is a strongly written slasher comedy about a group of friends on holiday in Palm Springs over New Year when a killer strikes. Black Magic for White Boys is a close-to-the-knuckle freeform comedy with some provocative racial overtones. And for my birthday I revisited a favourite from 1987, that gloriously snarky fairy tale for adults The Princess Bride. Bliss.

Coming up this next week, I'll be watching Charlize Theron in The Old Guard, Garrett Hedlund in Burden, Tobias Menzies in Carmilla, the romcom Desperados, the thriller Parallax, the comedy Saint Frances, the Japanese musical We Are Little Zombies and the doc Mucho Mucho Amor.