Jan | 2019 | ➢➢ Shapers of the 80s ➣➣

Monthly Archives: Jan 2019

➤ Topical issues enliven Leave to Remain, an innovative stage musical about gay romance

Posted on 31 Jan 2019 | Leave a comment

Leave to Remain, Lyric Hammersmith,EDM, Matt Jones ,Kele Okereke, theatre, stage musical, Billy Cullum , Tyrone Huntley ,inter-racial ,gay marriage,

Romantic leads in Leave to Remain: Billy Cullum as Alex and Tyrone Huntley as Obi

➢ Andy Polaris, singer with Eighties band Animal Nightlife, reviews Leave to Remain, a startlingly original new musical at the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith until 16 Feb 2019. Here’s an extract from his blog APolarisView:

“ Leave to Remain is an energetic new musical play jointly created by TV writer Matt Jones and Kele Okereke, the former frontman of indie rock band Bloc Party, who supplies new songs.

Andy Polaris

“ The story focuses on the fast-moving tumultuous romance between a young upwardly mobile inter-racial gay couple embarking on what seems to be a hasty marriage of convenience in a Britain seemingly ill at ease with immigration and suffering status anxiety. Obi (Tyrone Huntley) is a rather conservative well educated son of a first-generation Nigerian immigrant, and has started a relationship with visa-less American Alex (Billy Cullum). Alex’s US employer is planning to relocate from London and in order for him to remain in the UK, he proposes a civil partnership with Obi.

“ This is where the play comes alive. What should be joyous news elicits feelings of apprehension as childhood upbringings reveal contrasting experiences of coming out to loved ones. It is these differences that drive the play forward and there is some laugh-out-loud hilarity from Alex’s visiting liberal parents.

“ Tyrone Huntley’s charismatic performances have been acknowledged by an Evening Standard Emerging Talent Award. As an ensemble, the Lyric cast is strong. . . As Okereke is one of a few out black singers, I’m assuming this is autobiographical material and the songs reflect his roots with percussive African highlife rhythms and language peppering the show’s original mix of EDM soundtrack.

“ What set this show apart are the interesting modern dance moves by director/choreographer Robby Graham that fuse all characters while the two leads move in a beautiful balletic embrace. This intimacy is rare to see for a gay couple on the London stage and it’s something that LGBTQ audiences have been quite starved of. It’s a tribute that both leading actors convey touching believability. . .” / Continued at APolarisView

➢ Leave to Remain, a modern love story with music, is written by Matt Jones and Kele Okereke, directed by Robby Graham, and runs at the Lyric Hammersmith, London W6 0QL, 18 Jan–16 Feb 2019

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➤ Sullivan the wag changes hats at the touch of his paintbrush

Posted on 30 Jan 2019 | Leave a comment

Chris Sullivan, Swinging Eighties, Carioca, Blue Rondo a la Turk, Wag Club

Carioca then and now: left, the cover for Chris Sullivan’s band’s 1982 single Carioca and, right, his new upfront reworking for 2019

Chris Sullivan,Leah Seresin, caricature,

Leah Seresin and mum Deirdre, newly painted by Sullivan

◼ WHO IS CHRIS SULLIVAN THIS WEEK? That all-round creative dynamo who drove much of the Swinging Eighties and ran the influential Wag club for 19 years epitomised that New Romantic era by declaring “One look lasts a day”. Suddenly he is enjoying another creative spurt. Fans will have noticed a series of bold and comic painted caricatures of his friends appearing on Facebook this month. As affectionate portraits they speak for themselves. But then last week he posted one called Carioca, inspired directly by the 12-inch single sleeve for his band Blue Rondo a la Turk. It was included in their album Chewing The Fat which dates from 1982.

Fans will also recall that Sullivan as vocalist not only put the band together as a septet of crazy soul-jazz-Latin musicians on a 0-to-10 sliding scale of eccentricity – where all of them scored at least an 11 – that won them a £500k contract with Virgin. He also painted every one of their vinyl record sleeves in his own playful version of cubism. So here above we can now compare his restrained vamp Carioca from 1982 with her current rather more in-your-face madame for 2019. So what’s this all about, Chris?

Bear in mind Sullivan was one of that gang of St Martin’s heroes who put London clubs such as the Blitz, Beat Route and the Wag on the map from 1980 on, and had studied first on the college’s fashion course, then switched to fine art. I am off to Soho to find out and will be reporting back. . .