Hi there
December was busy. So is January. Grab your hats and join me for some new year adventures.
- Catch the premiere of my new show with Olga on Sunday 12 January (3pm) at London's Kings Place. Storytelling for grown-ups. It's wild.
- We perform some of the new show live on BBC Radio Three on 9 January
- Solo gig at Walthamstow Folk Club on 19 January. Anything goes!
- That recent appearance on BBC R4 Front Row
- December music hall fun
Plus more, including What I wish I'd thought of saying on Radio Four...
The humbug is over. On with the humblebrag...
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Step carefully in the forest
Would you like to be scared a bit? Maybe more than a bit. Would you like to jump into the visceral reality of a greek myth? As dusk falls on Sunday 12 January, come along to Kings Place in London, at 3pm, and hear Olga and I present our new show Step Carefully in the Forest.
I've written a new version of the story of Diana and Actaeon. Olga improvises alongside with the music of Ravel. The result is hard and enticing. Not just a damn good story, but an unconscious leap into the stormy pool of gender relations.
The show is for grown-ups and teenagers. It lasts just over an hour and also features our signature version of The Flaming Firebird and the Princess Vasilisa. There are still some tickets left. Do join us.
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Have a listen to us on Radio 3
Olga and I will perform live on In Tune on BBC Radio 3 after 5pm on Thursday 9 January. We'll play excerpts from our new story Diana and Actaeon. Details here.
We'll also talk about the unusual way we work. Our style of combining story with improvised classical piano has evolved naturally between us - but it's turned out quite distinct from other storytelling. Adults particularly love it, hence our desire to create this new work for grown-up audiences.
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Solo gig - with new material
That picture makes me look earnest. And this solo show at Walthamstow Folk Club will have serious moments. But there'll be other stuff too. I'm excited at the chance to weave together the different strands of my work - music hall and singalong, traditional storytelling, political/historical tales, folk songs and shanties, plus of course the joys of musical theatre...
And there will be new material, even for those who have loyally followed my gigs from the early days of the Big Muddler, through the London Lubbers, Human Cargo, The Transports and music hall. And there may be a taster for my big new summer show The Collecting of Nathan Twist.
Tickets (£8 and £6) are available here.
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That appearance on R4's Front Row
So how was your new year's eve? I went along to BBC Broadcasting House to join the end of year celebration/quiz of Radio Four's arts programme Front Row. I sang a couple of drink-related songs - New York Girls and Oom-Pah-Pah - with my pal Michael Hebbert on duet concertina. I talked a bit about drinking and folk music, and I joined in the quiz...
I say, joined in. I think I got one correct answer. And d'oh! I clean forgot that Springsteen released his Western Stars album this year.
But I did get to share with the nation my love of Cats the Movie. I'd seen a pre-release screening - the film's first showing in the UK - where there was massive security inside and outside the cinema to ensure a press and social media embargo. For me, the film is a delight. It's got all the music and dancing I loved from the original, but with a breathtaking visual boldness. Some things don't quite work. And if you WANT to hate it, that's not hard. But I didn't. I loved it.
Though I'm not sure how well this view went down with my cultural colleagues. You can listen to the show here.
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December music hall fun
Site-specific gigs work well, as when I recently took my music hall show with Michael Hebbert to two gorgeous old London buildings.
First we performed in Jarndyce Booksellers opposite the British Museum. There's a wonderfully Victorian feel to this bookshop. The audience were tightly packed and, well, tight (thanks to wine poured liberally by the managers, including my pal Ed Lake). The above pic shows us concluding Umbrella Man. Not the song by Rihanna, but the earlier treat from Flanagan and Allen.
Then we took our 'entertainment' to the Geffrye Museum in East London. Another well lubricated audience sang along with gusto. Both gigs were benefits and raised some funds as well as laughs.
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That's it for now folks. I hope you're feeling rested after the break, and ready for the battles ahead. Auden described the 1930s as a 'low dishonest decade'. I reckon we're a few years into a similar cycle and it could get a lot worse before it gets better.
Good luck in finding your path through this mayhem. But remember, there's always consolation in live music.
Best wishes, Matthew
PS How often have you walked away from some public event and felt - I wished I'd thought of saying this. Here's what I've post-scripted for my NYE appearance on BBC Front Row:
On being told Boris Johnson's favourite ficitional character is Flashman. 'Oh, you mean a man without conscience or morality, with a near psychotic need to abuse every woman he meets. Flashman, that is...'
As people reviewed Scorsese's The Irishman. 'We were sold a pup. I thought it was going to close the page on gangster films, like Eastwood's Unforgiven showed the true horror of wild west violence, but no. The Irishmen is totally in love with these toxic men. At a time when the world is riddled with the cancer of 'strong man' politicians, that's no joke. Of course it's gorgeously directed and acted. It makes Scorsese a worthy successor to Leni Riefenstahl.'
But probably best I didn't say all this. Don't want to sound too sour...
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