| 27.04.2003. Hoping America will take to Taboo I MUST admit to feeling sad that Taboo the musical, the drama, the smell of the old greasepaint, is no more as of yesterday. We received notice a couple of months back that we would be shutting on April 26 and the whole cast has been gearing up for the end of what has been an adventure for us all. Sharing a cramped dressing room and working on the same project for the past five months has been like having a job and I wish I could say it has given me some discipline but I'm no closer to the pipe and slippers. I never, ever imagined that I would enjoy performing in the theatre and I feel privileged to have worked and learned so much from the trained actors who have been the glue of Taboo. Only one major row in a year is not bad going and that only occurred because the cast thought, wrongly, that I was aware of what was being planned by the money men. It's fair to say that Taboo survived longer than I believed it would and aside from my various TV and press interviews to promote it, very little was done by the producers to keep the public aware. Imagine how shocked I was to learn that AKA, our production company, had taken on the job of promoting Our House, the Madness musical that beat us to Best New Musical at the Olivier Awards? Its argument that it was "business" did not cushion the feeling of being kicked in the teeth. Taboo has attracted a varied audience and not the type I assumed would show an interest. The deal to transport Taboo to Broadway seems finally to be in place and we had the pleasure of being visited by our New York producer, Rosie O'Donnell, who rather sweetly jetted over to London for the final show. In some respects it will be nice to have a rest from the gruelling schedule. So, next stop the Big Apple and back to the jitters and worry about how the critics and American audiences will take to the show. We open at the Plymouth Theatre on November 13, which is the birthday of my old mucker Philip Salon, who has been a good omen so far. Paul Baker, the actor who brought him to public attention, won the Olivier for Best Actor and 13 is my lucky number and also the number of Philip's penthouse hovel which I lived in for several months while Culture Club became a household name. Until then it's time to get back to making music and spinning records, and, who knows - a trip to Ibiza in June. I can feel the withdrawals already. LISTENING to the radio the other day I was horrified by the rushed announcement of the tragic passing of the great jazz legend Nina Simone. News of her death was, for some unknown reason, shoved next to the sad news that S Club were retiring. Nina's great achievement was typically her least favourite song, My Baby Just Cares For Me, but anyone with a passion for music will know that her legacy is too vast to fit into a brief sentence. She was openly racist towards her white fans but having suffered hideous racism during the early part of her career, she became blatantly bitter and did not realise she was loved and appreciated by so many of the people whom she ranted against. Simone was part Malcolm X and part Joan Crawford and one never knew what to expect. If you ain't wise to her great works, start with the album Baltimore - you'll be rooting for more of her spiky and melancholic music. The music industry treated her with unforgivable disrespect but her legacy will live on in the hearts and ears of those who know genius when it blazes defiantly and full of pride. |
| Some of the previous columns |
"Keeping a straight spine with Cyndi" - 1th of August "My freedom goes up in smoke again" - 29th of July George in Bosnia - 15th of April |
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| Taking his famous hat off for Elton John - 13th of January |
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