Surviving the Big Smoke

I haven't posted for a while mainly because I've been waiting for my photo CD to be developed (I still don't have a digital) so I can show you all the things I've been up to like:
Drinking lots of caipirinhas on my birthday last week


Watching a Greenpeace protester getting beaten up by a Petroleum trader in the lobby at my office

Or reuniting with my university friends over dinner at Kettners, two of which we discovered are in the club - but you'll have to wait until I get the photos back to guess which two.

CB

I went to see The Producers on Wednesday night with my brother and a group of people from work and it was absolutely hilarious. It's about 2 guys who try to produce the worst show on broadway because they have worked out that they can keep any money left over from their sponsors if the show flops. So they get $2 million in sponsorship and spend as little as they can on the show. They go about choosing the worst play possible and get the worst director and the worst actors in town. The opening number of their show, "Springtime for Hitler" is one of the funniest things I have seen recently. It's a huge 1930's Hollywood affair with beautiful show girls (not these ones though - who are actually from Nottingham) descending a massive staircase, their costumes celebrating different German icons, like one girl has a huge Wurst on her head, another a Pretzel and another has wings like the Third Reich's black eagle itself. Finally Hitler appears at the top of the staircase. Because the main actor has just broken his leg, the camp director is playing the part tonight and so he positively minces down the staircase in his lederhosen.

Meanwhile, the dancing girls have given way to a line of stormtroopers all marching in time to "Springtime for Hitler and Germany". Most of them are mechanised dummies, either side of a real person. They change formation to make the sign of a swastika on the stage which rotates clockwise, then anticlockwise, just like the girls with feathers in the movies. Anyway, the show goes on and of course it is a huge success so the two producers are ruined but you'll have to see it yourself to find out what happens at the end.

By the way, I usually find Lee Evans irritating when he's within the confines of a tv screen but on stage he was brilliant, especially his panic attack.
Most of my party really enjoyed it, but 3 people were not amused. 2 said it was "alright" and I haven't yet quizzed them why, but one was quite vocal about how presenting Nazis in this way was not funny. "Why would you laugh when people have suffered so much?" and "wouldn't Germans be offended?" A colleague from Hamburg said only ex-Nazis and a few older Germans might take offence but most people would probably laugh. I think the question should have been whether these people would be offended. I tried to explain the joke to the objector but then realised that by the time I had finished, it would definitely not be a laughing matter. But it did make me wonder how long after a tragedy are we able to laugh at it? And is it a matter of time or just a shift in mood? And has this show ever been produced in Germany, seeing as it is against the law to buy anything with a swastika on it (and indeed to display it - correct me if I'm wrong)?
Would it incite violent acts amongst some of the nutters that are still around today?

I went to see my favourite band at the moment - Jazzinho - on Sunday night at the 606 club and they were fab as usual. Most of the songs they played I knew from their album but they still sounded really fresh as the the instrumentation was different and the improvisations that the band do are always innovative. It's Guida da Palma's band and she is the lead singer. Her vocal acrobatics are really something for the ears and eyes to behold. She makes all kinds of sounds like from the side of her mouth comes a sort of brass sound and she does tropical rainforest too. That is only for effects though - most of the time she is singing and embellishing the songs. I've never seen a mouth open as wide as hers when she goes for the full belt. Nice molars! She is such a great performer too really energetic and warm and she seems to involve every single person in the audience. What a hero! I would love to be able to perform like she does. I had one private singing lesson from her last year and after 3 years of singing lessons it's the one I remember the most. The funniest thing she told me is that when I go for the high notes, you need to use more of my lower abdominal muscles to support the sound and asked me to imagine I was doing a poo and then sing a high note at the same time! So far no accidents.
I got home at 1 in the morning and had to get up again at 5.30 am to go to work so I have only just caught up on my sleep. Off for an early night now in fact. Got The Producers tomorrow evening - oh the perils of being a citybitch! By the way - the piano player in Jazzinho was my teacher on the Certificate of Jazz and Pop Music at Goldsmiths last year. He is amazing too. This is a picture of Jazzinho playing "Telefone" (you can see why I know that) by Roberto Menescal but most the songs she writes herself.

I've only done these things once this week:
1. Entertaining an American colleague by taking him to see The Mikado at the Orange Tree in Richmond. I was at university with the guy playing Nankipoo, but his voice had nearly completely gone. It was more of a theatrical production than a musical one. There were a couple of good voices though. I like a lot of the songs (We are gentlemen of Japan / 3 Little Maids etc)but I wasn't sure about setting the whole thing on a cricket pitch. I don't think my guest was that impressed either as he is used to seeing the Philadephia opera. Pretty good for £11 though. And I managed to pick up some gossip about our American office.

2. Getting feedback about my interview the other week. The Sales Manager said he thinks I could do the account managing part well but slightly lacking in the conviction of being able to sell. Got to get a bit of practice selling. My citybitch tutelage continues!

3. Being tipped off by my manager about a job that might materialise in the US that I could go for. Princeton isn't much of a city but it's near New York so I could finish my cityB schooling there.

4. Rehearsing with Gabriel for my gig at Mum and Dad's 50th wedding anniversary.
This is my song list:
Lullaby of Birdland - George Shearing
Agua de Beber - Tom Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes
Perfidia - Alberto Dominguez
Georgia on My Mind - Hoagy Carmichael

In France they Kiss on Main Street - Joni Mitchell
New Coat of Paint - Tom Waits
Moondance - Van Morrison
Stand by Your Man - Tammy Wynette and Billy Sherrill

5. Booking some tables at Cafe Kick in Shoreditch for my birthday. I've booked a Football table too. Kind of a Spanish / Brazilian vibe. Come along if you're in the hood: 5.30pm onwards.