Colin Colin Colin
Then we got on with the first musical, which featured our Colin as Gary the dance instructor. {Kermit arms} And I have to commend his courage! He was pretty much the first performer on stage (with the band in the background), and for several minutes it was just him, dressed all in pink, and warming up for his class by going through an energetic and rather idiosyncratic series of moves, commentating for himself all the while with ‘Flashdance! … and Gaga, and Gaga’ and so on. And oh boy can he move! Supple and full of energy, not to mention putting his whole self into playing a very flamboyant gay character.
His costume was almost totally pink, from a pink headband to a pink-and-white striped top, to pink yoga pants rolled up to the knees, bare calves, and then big flashy trainers. This was capped off (if you don’t mind a mixed metaphor) with a black bum bag with diamantes, worn low and to the front. Despite which attempt at modesty, there was still much to see. {nudge nudge wink wink} (I did warn you already I’m a Dirty Old Woman, didn’t I?)
In fact, my splurge on a fourth row seat was soon amply repaid when Gary started bending right over with his pert little butt aimed directly towards me. What sweetly curved cheeks that man has!
Colin used his own Armagh accent, but very camp, and at times reminding me of the Dolma. He didn’t sing a solo, but he joined in a four-way chorus at the end, and certainly did well enough. I think with this sort of show the main thing is to really give it a go and put your heart into it; he certainly did that.
The musical was all about being yourself. It turned out, for instance, that Gary wasn’t gay, but he’d felt that a straight dance instructor just wouldn’t have the same credibility. Similarly the woman who played his eventual love interest wasn’t Polish but from Cambridge (or was that Canterbury?) and had only put on the accent in order to win a job as a minority worker so she could be near Gary in his day job. At one point while they were ‘waltzing’, Gary swept her into a dip… oh my! Colin certainly more than earned his place in the musical with his dancing…
Celia Imrie played the mother of young Freddie Fox, who was in love with a much older woman; the dance class was one of their dates. I really enjoyed their love song, which was performed with sincerity despite being full of ironic reflections about the difference in their ages. I am currently writing a May-December romance, so that was all a lot of fun - and I was rather disappointed when it turned out that the woman had only been pursuing the relationship as revenge on the young man’s mother.
The final song in which Colin took part enjoined us to be ourselves, and ‘Drink at Starbucks!’ Advice which I certainly followed. I like to think that Colin spotted me in the audience during his bows and acknowledged me, so don’t anyone disabuse me of that notion. In any case, it’s the kind of guy he is, so let’s assume it happened!
source; merlinlocations.livejournal
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