Mat Ricardo sez,
Last year I started a monthly variety show in a small East London venue. It was a little personal project that let me show my vision of what a variety show could be. Well, happily, it was a bit of a success – all the shows pretty much sold out, we got nominated for some awards, and The Stage named us the best light-entertainment show of the year. We were very pleasantly surprised to find out that there was a passionate audience for the kind of shenanigans I staged!
So for the 2013 season things are getting bigger and crazier. “Mat Ricardo’s London Varieties” will run a season of six shows, once a month, and we’re in a London West End theatre! I’ve been working hard for the last few months putting together the absolute best variety bills you could wish for. Some big names, some not so well-known, but every single performer is the absolute best at what they do. Magicians, circus performers, acrobats, clowns, comedians, singers, dancers, purveyors of thrills, skills, spectacle, beauty and silliness – every single one of them a top-of-their-game headliner through and through.
There hasn’t been a real, knock-down, drag-out, no-apologies variety show in a West End theatre since the heydays of my heroes in the 60’s and 70’s, and this is a real labour of love – a childhood dream come true for me, but also something special for the performers and for all the fans of variety who have seen something they love go out of fashion. Well, we’re back, and we’re taking no prisoners!
The opening night is Feb 28th, at the Leicester Square Theatre, London, at 9.30pm.
“Mat Ricardo’s London Varieties” comes to London’s West End!
(Thanks, Mat!)