White Wedding at Upstairs at the Gatehouse

I have to say I really, really dislike musicals, so it was with some trepidation that I went up to Upstairs at the Gatehouse in Highgate Village with Rob, Emma, Sophia and Kate on Saturday night. We were going to see a workshop production of White Wedding, a musical comedy set in 1980s club-land, featuring hits of the period, directed by ex-Radio 1 DJ Mike “Relax” Read. Frankly, it sounded like my idea of purgatory, and I only agreed to go as I knew one of the cast members.

Despite the fact that the theatre felt like a sauna with a broken thermostat, it turned out to be a thoroughly fun show, with its tongue well and truly lodged in its cheek. Characters ranged from sleazey nightclub owners to sledgehammer-wielding S&M psychos/nuns (perhaps wielding it a little too freely, as she whacked one of the cast over the head with an audible “crack” that drew a sharp intake of breath from the audience). There were plenty of laugh-out-loud cheesey gags to match the suitably pun-tastic cheesey hits, which included the likes of Gold, Rio and Temptation. My favourite moment being when one of the characters produced a pile of coke at the (white) wedding, to a chorus of the Human League: “Here comes the mirror man…”!

The overall standard of acting, singing and choreography was high, with James Pearson (“Manic Monday”) being particularly good, as were Lucy(?) and Joanne “Calm down, calm down” Entwisle. After the show we went for a drink with some of the cast (by which point Lucy was sporting a large lump on her head from the earlier sledgehammer incident). Jo Jo also introduced me to the writer — who I’ve just read has previously produced acts like Ian Brown and The Fall — but unfortunately not Mike Read, who was abscent, off doing Pop Quiz on a boat cruise. Still, we had a really enjoyable night, and I sweated off about 7 pounds.

So it seems I may have conquered my phobia of musicals — next stop David Hasselhoff in Chicago?

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