I was due to go the theatre tonight to watch the play based on the rambunctious Sebastian Horsley’s book ‘Dandy in the Underworld’. But it has been cancelled because Sebastian was found dead this morning.
The book and play was about; well, if I can quote the man himself…
‘I have invested ninety percent of my money on prostitutes, the rest on Class A Drugs, the remains I squandered’.
I think something along similar lines was once said by George Best but thats unimportant now. Sebastian was one of a kind.
The story is of one of Soho’s most colourful real-life characters, a painter and self proclaimed dandy.
I, of course was looking forward to it immensely. I had never met Sebastian but he seemed a very colourful character, along the lines of Oscar Wilde I would think. I am very saddened to hear this news this evening. I am reproducing below, an obituary from a friend of his, Toby Young;
I’ve just heard the news that my friend Sebastian Horsley has died. I didn’t believe it at first because the news comes just two days after the debut of Dandy in the Underworld, a one-man show based on his life at the Soho Theatre. Sebastian once tried to crucify himself in the name of art and faking his own death in order to publicise the play would be entirely in character. But I’ve just spoken to Tim Fountain, the author of the play, who confirmed that it’s true. Tim told me the police are in the process of removing Sebastian’s body from his Soho flat where he was discovered earlier today.
I’m still reeling from the shock. I’ve met a few Soho characters in my day and most of them were drunken bores. Not Sebastian. He styled himself an artist, but his true genius was for conversation. Aphorisms and one-liners came pouring out of his mouth like gusts of fresh air, blowing away received wisdom and herd opinion like so many cobwebs. He was steeped in the works of Oscar Wilde, but could just as easily quote Balzac or Flaubert. I never spent an evening with him without having to write down something he’d said immediately afterwards.
I have no doubt his death was an accident. As Tim said, if it had been suicide Sebastian would not have passed up the opportunity to write a note. He was only 47 and it’s a tragic loss of life, but he was lucky in two respects.
First, the play, which he saw on the last night of his life, is a triumph. The script is a distillation of Sebastian’s wit and the actor playing him, Milo Twomey, manages to strike just the right balance between charm and vulnerability.
But more importantly, Sebastian left a lasting memorial to himself in the form of Dandy in the Underworld
, a ferociously entertaining, beautifully written book. Whenever I miss him, which I surely will, I will only have to dip into his book to remind myself what a brilliant, original person he was.
I went to the theatre the other day to see Mrs Warren’s Profession, a racy (at the time, but oh so tame now) play by Bernard Shaw about prostitution in the Victorian era. Felicity Kendall played Mrs Warren, a high class madam and was excellent. The play was actually banned for thirty years, so of course I had to go and see it :)
Shaw’s production was very clever in its portrayal of Victorian hypocrisy, no wonder it caused such an outcry and to some extent you may say that not much has changed. There is a very sad ending which I wont spoil for you. I thoroughly recommend it, it’s at The Comedy Theatre in Piccadilly.
PS Do you like the picture?, it is called The Courtesan and is by Jan van Beers (1852-1927). I would love the original but I think I may have to buy a print :)
They say that money can’t buy you happiness. Honey, it was never meant to. Money buys you a comfortable life, a certain amount of freedom, oh and some luxuries, thats all. The happiness bit is up to you.
Money or the love of money is the root of all evil. Is it? Is it really? Regular readers will know that I don’t pay much heed to religious ramblings. But I am interested in the human condition and religion obviously has to tap into that so that it can make an impact and gather followers. Ergo some religious ramblings have to be examined.
We know that a lot of evil things are done for money, or to get money but an awful lot of evil things are done not purely for money but for power or for recognition or for spite.
I like money. Oh dont call me shallow! Im not. I think I have a healthy relationship with money. I dont take it for granted and I like to think I know its place in the greater scheme of things too. I don’t go crazy spending and I save far, far more than I spend. But money is for 3 things in my mind.
1. Security
2.Comfort
3. Fun
Things change when you have money. Oh yes they do. For instance; I lived in London when I was a mere slip of a lass of 17. I lasted, oh around about 3 weeks. No money. No decent place to live, no money to enjoy what London has to offer. No life really. So I came back home.
When I left university I worked for charities. If you want to be highly qualified and feel noble but get very low pay then I highly recommend it. I also experimented with living a simple life. I lived in communes and I even considered living at Findhorn. I once spent a weekend at a place that turned out to be a cult. I ran, well I walked :) Searching for something? Maybe. I prefer to think I was exploring different, alternative ways of living. I didnt find any that sat comfortably with me.
I know, I know, you wouldnt think that now. And please dont come and see me thinking I am a little bit alternative, a bit of a hippy. I’m not at all. I am very conventional, very far removed from that lifestyle. I just had to find my place in the world and it was the one I left behind a little while ago. So here I am back again. Its an interesting story, if you are interested in those kind of things.
So these are the things I have played around with. I dont come from a wealthy family and no-one has ever given me anything. Like most people I suspect.
But money. You know, it changes things. It changes a taxi driver from grunting at you to calling to Ma’am. You wouldnt think it would you? Its true.
It sounds as though I have won the lottery doesnt it? No I havent.
But money. I like it. I like the things and the experiences it can give me. I work hard (not just at this vocation, but at other things too). I pay my taxes and I dont sponge off the government. Just like you. Oh and I like nice things.
What does money do for you though darling? Does it bring you all the things you want in life? It shouldnt, not everything, but it sure makes things comfy -but you already know that dont you ;) x
PS I did have an amusing clip from Cabaret, you know, the one with Liza Minelli singing ‘Money makes the world go round’ until to my horror, I found that if you use Internet Explorer, which most people do, as soon as you land on my blog you get the full rendition. Not good if you are in a sensitive environment or if you tend to get fed up with Liza Minelli. So, dear friends, it is gone, disappeared, no longer, Kaput, oh dont start me off on the Monty Python parrot sketch :)
Yes, am back safe and sound. Phew, what an action packed few days I have had. I managed to get most things done and even squeezed in a little sightseeing too. I popped into Madam Tussauds, thats expensive isnt it?!! £25 to see some wax models. I only had an hour to do it but managed to buzz around and see everything. Some naughty boys tried to scare me in the house of horrors – purleeze! Still, some of the wax works were incredible – the Winston Churchill one for instance was scarily real, even down to the little thread veins on his cheeks – yes I did get that close!, but some were not that good in a ’Dont be silly!’ kind of way. I’ll tell you what was nice, my hotel overlooked the house of commons and big ben. I could see him from my window and it was very surreal to hear the chimes on the hour, after hearing them for so many years on News at Ten. Half of me expected to see that lovely Trevor McDonald come out of my bathroom with the news :)
I was treated to a lovely champagne flight on the London Eye, a fab, fab Michelin star dinner and a hilarious show by the name of Le Clique at the London Hippodrome. (My profuse thanks once again, sexy. You know who you are x) I wanted to put a link here for the show so you could a get a feel for it (as it were ;) but I left the programme on the train (doh!) and cant seem to find a direct link on t’internet.
Anyway, it was burlesque meets the circus meets comedy – excellent! My favourite was Miss Behave, a totally naughty girl :) ( I loved her) and there was a rather fine boy doing a male burlesque routine in a bath tub – I am more than sure he is/will be a gay icon. Going back to the train though, we got delayed at Exeter because we had to wait for the police to escort some rather loud and intoxicated young scallywags off, that’ll be the same ones that the buffet car was happily supplying copious amounts of booze to for hours then. Hmmm. So back in Plymouth until my January tour in Bath. (27/28) It’s nice to go away but its nice to get home too :) Now, just how much did you miss me? x
Well did you? :) Yes I am back and what a fabulous time I had in New York! Saw all the usual sites, Ellis Island, Miss Liberty, Trump Tower (hehehe), Empire State Building etc etc etc. Too much shopping to mention, put it this way, my tootsies are pretty sore and that Carrie Bradshaw is a little liar – no way could you traipse around the streets of Manhattan in killer heels. So what else did I get up to? I was very well looked after. (My heartfelt thanks, Gentlemen) xx
I recommend a particularly charming French restaurant that is filled with the heady fragrance of fresh flowers and has the prettiest website – Le Grenouille. I have also learnt today that it was a favourite of the Astor family. If you go, try the lobster ravioli – magnifique! Ohh and I saw a superb Broadway show – Chicago - what a cast!, what brilliance! – I am getting quite spoilt recently with regards to the excellent musicals I have seen. So what of the new pics I hear you say? Well, I am going to spend a little time looking for the ones I like the best so in the meantime, I am treating you to a particularly saucy image of Miss Liberty (thanks Mr T :)
It seems I have only just got back and yet I am off again! Away 7-14 October. My diary is filling up fast so if you want to see me before I jet off again, please call/email asap. See you soon! xx
Well, the other evening I went and saw what was, to me, the best musical I have ever seen. Blood Brothers. I do like the theatre. In fact the only times I venture out in Plymouth is to see a show or for dinner. So, I can’t even begin to tell you how thrilled I was to watch this STUNNING production. Honestly, if you get the chance, you must see it – outstanding! This has apparently won so many awards, including best UK musical – and now I know why. I told a few gents that I was going to see it and I was told ‘You will definitely love it and take your hankies’ You were right on both counts.
A little bit about the story…
Twin brothers separated shortly after birth lie reunited in death at both the rise and fall of the curtain of Willy Russell’s musical drama. Who is responsible? There are many suspects: two women who strike a deal to trade in human life; a younger woman whose love for both men will drive a wedge between them; an errant older brother whose trajectory towards crime seems inevitable; a certain weakness in will on the part of both of the boys which may be something to do with their having been robbed of their birthright of unity.
A grim narrator takes center stage at the end and asks if it is fate, superstition, or “that thing we have come to call class,” which is really responsible. Given that the play was written in the economically depressed, socially divided Great Britain of 1983, the suggested answer is unsurprising. Liverpool-born playwright Russell turned his hand to the musical genre for the first time here, having already achieved success with dramas and comedies including One for the Road, Stags and Hens, and, most importantly, Educating Rita, the latter a comic drama in which the class divide which separates a student and her professor proves only an illusory determinant of the true power to change. Russell’s credentials as both a keen observer and a social polemicist were thus well established and the musical seemed like a strange place to go next. The result was a significant success though, a show which continues to run in London and tours the rest of the world.
The question of blame hangs heavily over all of the dramatic action, but though there are many human factors in play, Russell’s ire is firmly directed at the class system. The boys have led very different lives, one in the impoverished back street terraces of the city of Liverpool, the other across the park in the more respectable end of town. The children were disunited when their mother, Mrs. Johnstone realized that she could not afford to raise them both. She struck a reluctant bargain with her childless employer, Mrs. Lyons, that she would give her one of her then unborn twins and never reveal the truth. Ironically, as if drawn to one another by forces larger than geography or economics, the boys meet and become friends. Realizing they share a birthday, they swear to be blood brothers. Each finds the other a fractured mirror wherein all his hopes and desires are reflected. Fate, naturally, intervenes in their relationship, and a plethora of human frailties and the mixed motivations of those around them both eventually bring them into conflict.
I bet you think I am awfully naughty. You would be right! I am so naughty I am planning naughty things as I type. Only a few of you know what my ‘naughty happening’ is going to be but I will tell you very soon. x
Forgot to tell you that I went to see Starlight Express the other night. It was fab! I really liked the whole show and especially the guys dressed in black – I can’t tell you what they were called as I gave my friend the programme. There is something deliciously exciting about a man in uniformed dress. A cliche I know but so true. Is it the same for you guys? Do you like ladies in a uniform – should I get some? What would you suggest – policewoman? nurse? Let me know, and if you have the odd ladies uniform kicking around in the back of your wardrobe – here’s a good home waiting!
This here blog thing started as a way to express my saucy self. But do you know what? There's more to me than the saucy bits! So herewith you will find all sorts of thoughts, ideas, funny things (lots of them), deep and meaningfuls, occasionally - a mixture of everything really, just like life. I hope you like it here. I like it here. It's cosier if you are here too so stay a while.
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I was due to go the theatre tonight to watch the play based on the rambunctious Sebastian Horsley’s book ‘Dandy in the Underworld’. But it has been cancelled because Sebastian was found dead this morning.
