We start with an upbeat warm up and stretch; the ideal way to shake off the fast pace of London living. We then go straight into a recap of the moves we learnt the week before – and build up from just a handful of steps to a complete dance. All the while the music is loud enough to drown out the noise of London for an hour and a half, so you walk out feeling energised and ready to go again.

Our teacher Daniel was superb, really approachable and very patient, getting us all in the mood to have fun. The class was paced to cater for all levels of ability with Daniel adapting and adjusting the routines by speeding things up and adding harder moves. 

City Academy’s Street Dance class was extremely rewarding – especially when you surprise yourself and get a few moves right!  The class is also a great way to meet people, this it what some of the class had to say about the experience:

“I loved it and found it amazing. Dancing in front of other people really helped me come out of my shell.”
Michelle, 27 

“Better than Star Wars”
Dave, 32 

“It’s really good fun, makes you feel happy.”
Freya, 29

“Let your inner Sasha Fierce out!”
Blair 24  

“Daniel is the best and nicest dance teacher. He made us laugh so much, I’m in love when I watch his dancing! Everyone was amazing and really supportive – great atmosphere!”
Min, 28 and Carol, 27

“Everyone works better as a team. This class was something completely out of the norm for me, a personal risk that was really worth it.”
Iain, 27

“Best dance class I’ve found in London. You think you can’t dance? Think again. I’ve done other dance classes and this was the best.”
Karen, 29

Fancy a go? City Academy offer a range of dance, theatre, comedy and performance classes in London.

Les Miserables has returned to the Barbican for a short-run of just 22 performances this September and early October.

I watched this adaptation of Victor Hugo’s novel last week and was blown away. It is spectacular.

The ensemble work is instrumental in delivering this brand new version of the world’s longest-running musical. It’s a powerful, heartfelt, crisp and visually stunning performance and the best musical I’ve ever seen.

The pace of the production is nearly perfect and is delivered with pin-point precision – barely a beat after the final scene this cast had the entire (very theatre-savvy) audience on its feet.

I sat next to the proud father of one of the cast who informed me that the art that comprised the backdrop of the set was Victor Hugo’s own work. The fact that the author’s images matched every other stylistic aspect of this production is testament to the passion, attention to detail and hard work that has been poured into this great piece of theatre.

Get a ticket – if you can.

Into the Woods is perfectly at home in the beautiful surrounds of Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. The musical is a hodgepodge of fairytales seen through the eyes and ears of a young boy who has run away from home.

The script is fun and never takes itself too seriously.

It’s very clear the actors enjoy performing the linguistic stunts of Steven Sondheim’s acrobatic script as they weave in and out of the multi-tiered platforms that make “the woods”. With its own series of twists and turns the musical sometimes feels as though the dialogue is growing exponentially almost of its own accord.

The runaway boy’s imagination in turn runs away with him and brings the audience along for the ride.

The imagined characters climb up hills, trees, Rapunzel’s golden hair and a giant beanstalk to fulfill their fairytale quests: Jack must sell his beloved cow, Little Red Riding Hood is off to deliver tasty delights to grandma and Cinderella yearns to go to the King’s festival. But, as we’re told by the horrid witch (wonderfully played by Hannah Waddingham), life isn’t that simple and multiple quests in a single wood result in a series of comic mix-ups. Little Red Riding Hood enjoys being eaten by the wolf and the Baker’s wife (played by Jenna Russell) has a spontaneous roll in the undergrowth with Prince Charming (who then proceeds to prance off with, “I was brought up to be charming, not sincere”).

One moment in particular moment proved to be a crowd-pleaser: a life-sized  giant peeping through the real-life trees of Regent’s Park was so beautifully conceived that the audience applauded as the monster appeared. The surprise was only compounded when the giant spoke using  Judi Dench’s distinctive voice.

As the fairytales take place within the mind of the runaway boy, an adult audience is relieved of any knee-jerk reaction to dismiss them as juvenile. Instead, we head straight into the woods with the characters and enjoy the adventure.

Into The Woods offers a charming evening of light entertainment in arguably the most beautiful outdoor theatre in England. It runs at 2hours 45mins so be sure to take advantage of the barbeque before dusk… or take along some magic beans.

Into The Woods runs until 11 September. Book tickets here

From the first glimpse of the high-hatted, high-shouldered, high-heeled silhouette and for the full two- hour gig audience members  were elevated to the status of angelic monsters.

There’s a real skill in a performer that can connect not only herself with the audience but the audience with itself. Monster hits Just Dance, Poker Face, Lovegame, Telephone and Paparazzi had the full house of 23,000 people on their feet, hands in the air and screaming like beautiful banshees.

There was so much going on – brilliant lighting effects, quirky characters, hilarious quips, flirtations, ridiculous costumes… hang-on, let’s just pause there: Lady Gaga wore a red rubber cape nearly double the size of her body; a bra and knickers set that shot fireworks; a massive white fairy costume with moving wings. She wielded oversized props including a sceptre that turned into a torch for spying on the audience and climbed scaffolding after fixing a car engine in a silver bodysuit. This was pop-art brought to the stage.

In one of the few quieter moments she made her affection for us known. Seated at a piano engulfed in flames she gushed: “no other popstar will love you as much as I love you. I just… I just… I just wanna eat you (she pauses for giggles) do you want me to eat you?”. “YES!! EAT US!! AAHHH”, we screamed (not an exact audience quote but you get the gist).

The vocals throughout were crystal clear. The O2 has such superb sound capabilities that it’s really no surprise at all this is now the world’s most popular music venue. It’s as if you were wearing earphones. If you haven’t already experienced a concert at The O2 you seriously should. Staff were friendly, service was fast, the place was clean, tidy, easy to enter and exit and most importantly the focus was 100% on the music.

Lady Gaga is playing London again at The O2 on 16 and 17 December.

Don’t miss it.

If you’re in London for the next few days and are keen to learn more about the World Cup and watch quality theatre at the same time, check out live comedy show called Bend it Like Beauty. This is a one-man performance by highly acclaimed and award winning South African actor Ben Voss. He plays well-to-do business woman of the year Beauty Ramampelepele who has flown to London to welcome the world to the World Cup in South Africa.

This charming satire offers a fascinating insight into the humour and openness of South Africa and its people, right here in London. It is an hour-and-a- half comedy performance that had me in stitches. Ben Voss offers hilarious tongue-in-cheek tips on best practice for attending the World Cup: “when you pack – take trainers, you will have to run” and “please, if you’re British, don’t dance”.

This is theatre away from the flashing lights and big-set productions of the West End and based just a short distance from the Brit Oval: the home of another much-loved British sport (cricket). The play is a simple, comic satire with a wonderful script that manages to remain light and funny while still managing to convey serious truths about a young African democracy in the high-profile role of host nation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Mid-way through a fascinating chat with her audience Beauty answers the phone with “no, don’t worry its fine, I’ve had enough now”. Not too long after this she is gone – leaving us wanting more from the magician who made one and a half hours in a small basic theatre feel like an entire week with a good friend.

Bend it Like Beauty runs at Oval House Theatre until 12 June 2010.

If you want to sink your teeth into a story of real depth All My Sons at the Apollo Theatre could be just what you’re looking for.

I saw this play last night and bawled my eyes out (there, I said it!). There are many light-hearted moments throughout but there is a constant underlying tension that bubbles beneath the surface in this bleak yet touching post-World War II story. The script, infused with this tension, encourages the audience to investigate the dark mysteries behind the perfect American family seen on stage.

The cast are no strangers to the stage and screen. Acting-royalty David Suchet and Zoë Wanamaker disappear expertly behind the characters of Joe and Kate Keller and are joined by a talented cast who transform into their close friends and family.

This intimate play is set in the mid-west of the USA and tells the intriguing story of the Keller family and their once-neighbours, the Deevers. Beneath the charm of their American 1940s smiles and laughter lies a stomach-wrenching truth that slowly makes its way to the surface. It is this constant balance between light and dark that holds our attention.

I won’t give away too much, but there were shrieks and gasps from even the back rows of the theatre when the dark truth bubbled to the surface and the play ended. These audible shocks might even have come from Richard E Grant or Mrs Laurence Olivier (Joan Plowright) who we had spotted during the interval!

Like many new productions, the actors could do with a few more performances to really settle in. The large house on set, for example, feels less like an old family home and more like a new prop to which the actors aren’t completely familiar. We don’t get a true sense that this is their home and has been for over 20 years. Perhaps more minor practical interactions with the house (eg. uprooting a weed or checking a wood panel) rather than gazing off into the sunset in a nostalgic stupor would help.

The play is filled with eye-opening moments of pure agony, family love, blind responsibility and gut-twisting realisation that keep the cast and audience enthralled.

I’d gladly watch it again.

All My Sons plays at the Apollo Theatre until 11 September 2010

Earlier this year, I took part in one of City Academy‘s 12-week acting courses.

When I started the course the only thing I knew for certain was, in 12 weeks time, I’d be performing on stage at Sadler’s Wells and the public would be paying to see me…

Our rehearsal room was in Finsbury Town Hall. It was pretty basic with nothing but a few chairs and tables to keep us company. There were 11 of us in the class: a City entrepreneur, a charity CEO, a handful of students, a barman, a film actress (we didn’t know this until much later when we rushed to a laptop to see her in action) and one or two ex-actors like myself looking for a creative outlet.

Our motley crew had two things in common:  firstly, we all had a certain desire to perform on stage and secondly we realised that Sadler’s Wells had reserved two two-hour time slots for our performances in 12 weeks’ time. No pressure then.

We met once a week for 12 weeks. In the first five weeks, we learnt the vocal, physical and emotional necessities of a theatrical performance. In week six, we were put in pairs and given a script. Having the scripts enabled us to put into practise what we’d learnt, using words by Shakespeare and Euripides as well modern writers such as Durang and Pinter.

After last-minute tweaking and script-learning (some left it very late!) friends, family and the general public were given the call to attend our performance at Sadler’s Wells in Islington. From the safety of the dark backstage we 11 amateurs stepped out under the warm lights of the London stage. Under the new-found safety of our characters we fought and glared, screamed and stared, laughed, jumped, broke down and fell in love all before our (mostly) captive audience.

Perhaps there wasn’t the standing ovation Enron or Les Miserables see on a daily basis but – shock horror – the audience stayed awake!

Throughout the course we had many laughs, many disagreements and many pints in the local pub after each lesson. I met some fantastic people. Our course co-ordinator, Cat Clancy (Head of Acting at City Academy) struck the perfect balance between educating us and giving us the freedom to make our own creative choices. I thank her and strongly recommend you take a look at the courses City Academy has on offer. Options range from one evening or 2-3 days, up to six, eight, 10 or 12 weeks. If acting isn’t your game they have salsa, tap dancing, singing, bollywood, improvisation and even musical theatre courses. Visit www.city-academy.com

West End: watch out!

Sweet Charity burst into the West End last night and this acclaimed 60’s musical is super slick. The 2010 cast has jived and jiggled it way across The Thames from The Menier Chocolate Factory to Theatre Royal Haymarket in the West End.

It’s a charming old-fashioned tale about a New York girl called Charity Hope Valentine (played by Tamzin Outhwaite) and her dream of a better life. Charity is an unlucky idealist who wants to find a man to care for, who will care for her. While the first part of her goal is easier than proves healthy, it’s the second part that is more challenging. The result is that the audience care for her more by the minute.

Think tea at The Berkley with Holly Golightly followed by a night out at Ronnie Scotts with Foxy Cleopatra. Yikes.

Did I mention it’s funny? The pace of this production is super – only one musical number, set in the confined space of a broken elevator, seemed to carry on too long and lost my attention.

The performances are strong and confident, the set is effective, the costumes are glitzy, the music is brilliant and the story is sweet but never sappy. There are plenty feisty dance routines with superb choreography to keep our eyes, ears and hearts entertained. Musical numbers belted out or whispered super-sensually include 1960’s hits Hey Big Spender, If My Friends Could See Me Now and The Rhythm of Life.

Slick, gusty performances work well to deliver the story into the hearts and laps of the audience.

Loads of fun and definitely a shakin’ night out!