Songs For Swinging Ukuleles - Reviews & Audience Feedback

"Songs For Swinging Ukuleles" at the Not Television Festival, Chelsea Theatre, 30 August 2014

"Tricity’s show, Songs for Swinging Ukuleles, marks the flowering of a longstanding interest in man-drag: earlier in the year, she chopped off her very long hair and bought a very nice suit and the rest is history. It’s a charming suite of songs, a slow-burner that eases you in with a couple of saucy call-and-response numbers about swinging of various kinds then starts to soar. It reaches a dreamy new plane with an infectious waltz about joining the circus (enhanced by audience bum-bum-bumming along), goes dark (red bike light excepted) for a bedroom thriller, tugs the heart with a love song of impossible simplicity then sends you out with a foot-stomping anthem backed by volunteer voguers. Throughout, there are opportunities to lend a hand, in gentle yet essential ways: singing along here, using keys and change as percussion there, being dragged on stage to do drag on stage for a couple of brave souls at the end."
Ben Walters, nottelevision.net

 "Songs For Swinging Ukuleles" at the Edinburgh Fringe, 1-17 August 2014

Here are some audience and published reviews for my solo show, 8.45pm nightly in the Lounge at Laughing Horse @ The Counting House. Full show details here:
 

“Full disclosure: I’ve been working alongside Tricity Vogue for a couple of years now, and this year had the honour of being the technician for her show, Songs For Swinging Ukuleles. Consequently, this meant I heard each of the nine songs in the set sixteen times, which some might consider a way of killing any kind of music. Repetition might satiate that fix you need to hear a hook again, but it can kill even the best songs.

And yet I would wake up every August morning with one of the songs from Swinging Ukuleles playing in my head, and I would still be happily singing along later that evening when watching the show. It’s a testament to Vogue’s songwriting skill, crafting a set of songs that are friendly, catchy, humorous, and lasting beyond the end of the show. In most cases I’m not one for live albums, but with Swinging Ukuleles, I have come to relive the live experience over and over, enjoying the audience participation or additional backing vocals and, consequently, would love such a product to come about. Indeed, even Vogue seems to thrive with a live audience before her. A small crowd of people who sit, smile, and won’t turn their noses up at some audience participation seems to be the impetus that allows Vogue’s personality to shine.

Transferred into studio time, though, the songs are a delight. Though just Vogue and her ukulele, the sonic effects play a key role: On “The Bedroom In A Dangerous Place” Vogue’s voice is affected to sound like a muffled trumpet in the dark distance; and the cheeky yelp on “Bad Showgirl” is a delightful detail. But sweet numbers like “Run Away And Join The Circus”, the alliterative double entendre of “My Favourite Fanny”, or the delicate “I Spent The Night With You” stand on their own. She slides between personal intimacy and rousingly relatable choruses at the flick of a wrist. All this might be criticized as being the subject of bias, but I’m not lying when I say that weeks on from the last performance of Songs For Swing Ukuleles, I still wake up in the morning to the chorus to “Don’t Let Them Drag You Down” playing in my head.”

Ray Finlayson, Unrecorded

“Bowled over by Tricity Vogue's ingenious mixture of her own songs coupled with costume flair (loved the suit!) on the theme which amusingly explored gender. She cleverly entertained us with a collection of original lyrics on varied topics from 'Swing' with delightful sexual innuendos, through educating us on alliteration (focussing on 'Fanny'!) and scary tales of nightmares, whilst allowing us to evocatively share her personal experience and romance. All the while the audience was happily drawn in and encouraged to participate by her spontaneous warm and witty interaction with them, singing along with choruses no more taxing than "Bum,bum,bum!! The tunes resonated and entertained and we all loved it. This was a consummate performance. Miss Vogue you are a star.”

Jo Millar via Edfringe.com

“Great show, great entertainment. Audience very happy to 'bum' along! Also wonderful ukelele playing - better than other ukelele players charging much more in the fringe... Enjoy the circus! Thanks!”

Fiona and Aileen via Edfringe.com

“An hour in the company of the most charming, witty, entertaining cabaret artist. The intimate venue encourages frequent audience participation and you will want to join in. An hour is not enough and we would have happily spent another hour in the company of Tricity Vogue.”

Keith Phillips via Edfringe.com

“It don't mean a thing if you ain't got that swing... And Tricity NEVER fails to disappoint... With more witty self-reinvention than Madonna ever envisaged, and command of her small instrument, she will woo the crowds at the Fringe once more with her delightful one-woman show. We sat in a first night throng, overflowing from the small room, in sweltering heat, but even that could not dent the lady's 'cool'. It was a charming delight of a show. And the singalong chorus from the Circus song had everyone happily 'bumming along'... For days afterwards in fact, as my hosts could not stop singing and at any given moment that refrain would be trilled along to. Gorgeous. And as ever, hilarious, and poignant too. Tricity takes you on a journey. And you will only ever leave entertained and upbeat. And that, in the world at large at the moment, is a gift. Keep strumming, you talented plucker, you. :)”

Amelia Clark via Edfringe.com

“Tricity Vogue is one of those performers who I would travel anywhere to see, Her Songs are Beautiful and memorable, I have been singing them in my head all week now...”

Steve Mackenzie via Edfringe.com

“I turned up at this show and was greeted by the most charming lady herself in a three piece suit. She looked so cool. Before the actual snow started Tricity was charming the audience with her cheeky ways and hit. The show itself is a delight. It went by too quick as Tricity played her funny and catchy tunes and encouraged the audience to join in with her, which I find always such fun.”

Clive Holland via Edfringe.com

“The sheer number of shows at the Fringe can make it hard to truly find a niche, but Tricity Vogue has managed it with her ukulele drag cabaret. Playing songs on a variety of themes, it’s impressive how much enthusiasm she’s able to eke out of the cramped room her audience were up for it within minutes. Vogue involves them in almost every song: two people are hauled up as drag backing dancers, one is the object of a love song and another provides atmosphere by holding up a bike light (why yes, this is a free show!). Vogue ends on a number from an in-progress “drag action musical” that I’m now desperate to see. A storming slice of cabaret.” **** 
ThreeWeeks

"Great show this evening, loved it!
Came away thinking about 3 things: Victor Victoria (predictably); Regina Spektor (your scary night song); and Chaucer\'s Wife of Bath:
Gat-tothed I was, and that bicam me weel;
I hadde the prente of seinte venus seel.
As help me god! I was a lusty oon,
And faire, and riche, and yong, and wel bigon.
Good luck for the Uke of Edinburgh... "
Fiona via email

“Tricity Vogue, well known for her cabaret shows accompanying herself on the ukelele, has staged a preview of her new show to be taken up to the Edinburgh Festival.

Playing with the concept of cross-gender and drag, she dresses up in a beautifully tailored suit and, displaying great commitment, sports a slick man’s haircut – cut live on stage in a previous show at the same venue.

Songs for Swinging Ukeleles consists entirely of her own compositions, with anecdote and changes of costume, at one point re-applying her own shorn hair. The atmosphere created evokes a feeling of 1920s Weimar, though with less of the darkness associated with that era, and is refreshingly light and charming.  The theatrical effect takes us gently into another world where we willingly suspend our disbelief.

As the title suggests, she sings of swingers (both of the sexual and dance kind), showgirls, sartorial elegance, love and her fear of joining the circus- she has been invited by a French one, it transpires.

Throughout the show, Vogue uses various devices to keep the audience participating and investing in the piece, and such encouragements are subtly and playfully done. She is a very engaging performer, cheeky without being crude and quite delightful.

The standout items, though, were the ones that struck a different note.  The song on nightmares changed the tone of the piece reaching a deeper level, demanding a greater degree of attention, and her ballad on a date starting as a one-night stand and leading to a declaration of love added contrast.

The preview was performed in a South London pub, the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, on one of the hottest nights of the year, thus attracting very little audience.  Nonetheless, Vogue was able to sweep the small rather disparate group along and it was clear everyone had a very enjoyable night.

Both Vogue and the show deserve bigger crowds up in Edinburgh – she should do well.”

Fiona-Jane Weston, capitalcabaretsandshowsscene.net

tessa bamkin ‏@palinodial

With @tricityvogue at the counting house at the fringe festival.Women in suits and good make up are very attractive. pic.twitter.com/l4x5RQSlTi

Tessa Bamkin via twitter

The sheer number of shows at the Fringe can make it hard to truly find a niche, but Tricity Vogue has managed it with her ukulele drag cabaret. Playing songs on a variety of themes, it’s impressive how much enthusiasm she’s able to eke out of the cramped room her audience were up for it within minutes. Vogue involves them in almost every song: two people are hauled up as drag backing dancers, one is the object of a love song and another provides atmosphere by holding up a bike light (why yes, this is a free show!). Vogue ends on a number from an in-progress “drag action musical” that I’m now desperate to see. A storming slice of cabaret.
Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, until 17 Aug.
tw rating 4/5 | [Jon Stapley]
- See more at: http://www.threeweeks.co.uk/article/ed2014-cabaret-review-tricity-vogue-songs-for-swinging-ukuleles-tricity-vogue-free-festival/#sthash.HvU5daLj.dpuf 

"Tricity Vogue's new show is sublime. Edinburgh-ites, you are in for a treat.  *# proudoftalentedmate ,.  *# wishididnthavetoleavethelockin ,... the ballad, and lovely circus song were highlights, plus all the lovely naughty you come to expect. Night terror song also hilarious well done Uke diva, well done!!! Xxx lovely company, host, and audience too... "

Amelia Clark

 

Photo by Clive Holland

"Our thanks to the funny, flirtatious and frankly 'fenomenal' Tricity Vogue. Another winning show."

Anne-Sophie & Emma-Jane Dallison

"Thoroughly enjoyed @tricityvogue's preview last night. Favourite songs were the soppy ones. Oh how I've changed as I've gotten older."

@maaaud via twitter

"Tricity Vogue re-defines entertainment with a ukelele! A truly unique, charming and funny show."

David Carr

"Tricity Vogue's show is great fun. It's glitzy and glam with catchy songs and lots of opportunity for audience participation. A definite must see!"

Helen Morrissey

Photo by Clive Holland

"What A Show, What A Gal, What A Great New Look… Tricity Vogue: Sharper Than Ever!"

Alastair Choat, Landlord, Coach & Horses

"Your manner is so fun, you can get away with anything."

Heather Uprichard

"I really enjoyed your show and was glad I went. It had a genuine Music Hall feel with a modern twist. You are clearly a talented player of the ukulele and singer. I particularly liked the audience participation elements - it was great fun and perfect for the venue and size of audience. Your play on drag and gender was very tastefully done and I thought you looked fantastic - the make up must take some practice!"

Rachel Bull

Photo by James Millar

"Tricity vogues new show  "Songs for Swinging Ukuleles": it's not what you think, it's even better. You'll have the most swinging, tuneful, fun-filled night you can have with your clothes on. Tricity Vogue is cabaret's answer to Eurovision, but wth so much better songs. She's part showgirl, part sharp dressed lady in a mans suit (without a beard!). This is a show that make you want to swing and sing and laugh and smile. Tell all your friends about it. Don't miss."
Clive Holland

"Loved the show... you create such a special atmosphere. I came away with a lovely nice glow." 
Pete Saunders 

Photo by Clive Holland

Casting Call for Heels Of Glory, A Drag Action Musical

Auditions

'Heels Of Glory': A Drag Action Musical by Tricity Vogue & Richard Link

Heels of Glory is an original musical with an action movie plot, a ’60s comic book aesthetic, and the kind of tunes that would have graced a vintage James Bond movie — if they’d ever made one with song-and-dance numbers and a drag queen spy.

The Artistic Team:

The show is written by composer Richard Link (Two Blondes With A Passion, Watch Me Shine, A Little Princess) and cabaret performer Tricity Vogue AKA award-winning screenwriter Heather Tyrrell (Byker Grove, My Family, Totally Frank).

Direction & Choreography will be by Russell Lucas (Julie Madly Deeply, Goldsmiths New Musical Festival)

Heels Of Glory will be staged at The Albany Theatre, Deptford on Friday 5 July 2013. We have secured research and development space at the theatre for six days prior to the scratch performance which is when we will explore, direct and choreograph the show. An intense few days - not for the faint-hearted!

This is the third version of the musical, following a rehearsed reading in April 2012 and a sold out work-in-progress performance at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern in January 2013. Please note that at this stage everyone will be working for free but a professional approach to the work is paramount. This will be an incredible opportunity for networking though, building experience and being part of an exciting fast paced week, plus the chance to add to the genesis of an innovative piece of musical theatre.

Cast requirements:

We are looking for three “triple threat” drag queens, a “triple threat” diva plus two “triple threat” drag kings.

You do not have to have been a drag queen/king at any point. We are seeking confident performers who will be versatile enough to play anything we throw at them.

Character names and minimum requirements:

- Splendorella. International drag queen superstar (and spy). High baritone singer with star quality. A first class bitch.
- Allura. Creative Director of Supreme Cosmetics, every drag queen’s go-to brand (and evil villainess plotting the annihilation of all drag queens). Singer with strong belt and a heart of pure evil.
- Honey. A drag queen wannabe and Splendorella super-fan. A baritone singer, and a baby bitch with upstart attitude.
- Jay. Honey’s best friend. A vintage James Bond geek and reluctant drag queen. A tenor singer and an innocent with hidden talents.
- Albertina. Allura’s henchman, hit man, barman, backing dancer, bodyguard, and thwarted showgirl.
- Bertilda. Allura’s henchman, hit man, barman, backing dancer, bodyguard, and thwarted showgirl.

Auditions

Auditions will be held on Friday 10 and Saturday 11 May, at a pre-allocated time between 10am and 5.30pm. Venue TBC. These will be workshop style auditions.

When you have sent through your details we will contact you to let you know if you have got through to a workshop audition.

Call backs will be held on Sunday 12 May - time TBC.

Please note that your audition will last 90 minutes and you will be in groups of eight. Although you will perform solo, sometimes other actors will be in the room. We are looking to create a company of artists that are open and supportive and wish to encourage a safe, risk-free environment from the outset. The artistic team will also be leading exercises, games and giving you specific direction.

Material

We ask that actresses bring a song from the 60's and actors bring a song for a female voice from the 60s.

Please also bring a prepared piece of text that you may need to use in the workshop. This can be from theatre, films, poems, books - anything that you love!

Rehearsal dates:

Thu 27 June, Fri 28 June, Mon 1 July, Tue 2 July, Wed 3 July.

Time: 10am to 6pm

Performance is 5th July

The whole company will be needed from 10am to 9pm.

All rehearsals and the performance will take place at The Albany Theatre, Deptford (Deptford or New Cross station, zone 2)

If this sounds like you then we would love to hear from you. Please send a Headshot of yourself a CV or Spotlight number and a one-page covering letter telling us all about you to auditions@heelsofglory.com

Application deadline is Monday 6 May by 12 noon.



Poster art by Steve May

25 Confessions about how I became what I am

1. I am named after a fridge. I was given this name by my best friend, Edward Hollis, while staying with him in Edinburgh in 1995, 9 years before Tricity Vogue came to life and performed on stage under the name. Ed’s mother had a 60s fridge with the words “Tricity Vogue” inscribed on it. She may even have it still, somewhere in darkest Totnes.

2. Edward Hollis is therefore the begetter of Tricity Vogue. This is the nearest I ever got to consummating my deep love for him. He is the man for whom and about whom I wrote the song “The man I love loves only men”. http://tricityvogue.com/Music/the_man.htm. Loving someone you can’t have is quite possibly the most powerful creative inspiration there is.

3. I first had the idea for who Tricity Vogue would be in 1999 and I pitched it to a woman who ran a cabaret agency. “I can’t see the point of hiring a woman to wear fabulous gowns and sing jazz songs,” she said. “I might as well hire a drag queen who can do it better.” I confided what she had said to my boss and mentor of the time, physical theatre guru Joss Houben (http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2008/jan/16/theatre), and he told me to take absolutely no notice and do what I wanted anyway. It took me 5 years to follow his advice. “Do as you please” is, ironically, one of the hardest lessons to learn.

4. Performance poet Aoife Mannix was the midwife of Tricity Vogue. She it was who in 2003 took me along with her to a poetry and music night, where she was featured on the bill, and insisted that I put my name down for an open mic spot. The open mic performer before me was so terrible that the host decided to ditch the next spot, but by that time I had geared myself up to perform, so I browbeat him into letting me have the microphone by promising to be quick. I told the audience that my Big Band had stood me up, so they would have to imagine them on stage with me, and then I sang my song “Well I didn’t want you anyway” acapella.

5. I have sung with a real life 22-piece Big Band only once in my life. It was about 12 years ago, in Nottingham. My first couple of numbers went well, then I got pissed at the bar with a seasoned old jazzer who kept buying me drinks and telling me about 1930s singers I sounded a bit like. When I went onstage to sing my final number, Hey Big Spender, I started singing in the wrong place. Half the band followed me and half of them followed the score, with the result that the whole number collapsed. The conductor managed to bring them back together to finish the tune and give me the Look of Death at the same time. Funnily enough they never invited me to sing with them again, and I learned a valuable lesson about drinking on the job. Honest.

6. I wrote my first “Tricity Vogue” song “Well I didn’t want you anyway” the day after a night of romance with a work colleague. Under the eyes of the whole office, I had invited him for a coffee, and when we were alone I asked him if I could see him again. He told me he was too neurotic for a relationship. I told him I didn’t want a relationship, just another shag… but nothing doing. I wrote the lyrics (and the tune, in my head) as soon as I got back to my desk, and emailed them to a friend, who emailed me back with the words, “You’re mad.” http://tricityvogue.com/Music/well_i.htm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfSo4um8Y8A&feature=channel_page

7. Rosa Conrad is the Fairy Godmother of Tricity Vogue. All I had were a bunch of melody lines and lyrics, and no idea how to turn them into proper songs that a band could play. I sang them to Rosa and she put chords to them and made them real. She was always baffled by my awe at this feat: “But the chords were implied in your tune already,” she protested. I maintain that she has Magic Ears.

8. The words and tune to “Under Your Thumb” were written after a conversation I had about my love-life while on my way to the gym. My confidante remarked “Well, you’ve certainly got him under your thumb.” I told her that actually it was the other way round, and then I wrote the whole song in my head, including the key change, while I was getting changed into my yoga kit in the locker room. http://tricityvogue.com/Music/under_your.htm

9. I came up with “St Tropez” after a Fat Cat gentleman friend of mine told me he wanted me to write a song about him. I don’t think this was exactly the song he was hoping for. He stopped taking me out for expensive dinners shortly afterwards. http://tricityvogue.com/Music/st_tropez.htm

10. The worst chat up line anybody ever used on me was “You’ve got great ovaries.” This did not work on me, and neither did the seductive prod in the stomach that went with it.

11. The worst post-seduction line anybody ever used on me was “We have barely scratched the surface of our relationship, and already I’m infected.” I left him to lick his wounds on his own.

12. The most effective chat up line anybody ever used on me was “I am dying of a fatal illness. You may be the last lover I ever have.” He’s still alive and I wasn’t.

13. Dress designer Stephane St Jaymes was the Nursery Nurse of Tricity Vogue. While we sat together discussing ideas for my first dress, we also debated Tricity’s family history. According to Stephane, Miss Vogue was conceived when the Royal Train came off the rails somewhere in Yorkshire, and the King invited a local northern wench to come and entertain him in his carriage while he waited for his train to be fixed. Alternatively, I suspected that Miss Vogue’s mother had worked behind the bar in a northern Jazz Club, and was such a conscientious groupie that she was unable to identify which of the many jazzers to pass through her establishment was the father.

14. My first band was called The Tricity Vogue Sextet. There were only five of us but I thought of my dress designer Stephane as the sixth member of the band. Also, I wanted to call the band something with the word ‘sex’ in it. We performed our first gig at the Lincoln Lounge, Kings Cross, on Tuesday 16 March 2004. Stephane was still sewing me into my gown in the Lincoln Lounge’s beer cellar minutes before I first walked on stage. Stephane’s best friend Darcy added the final touch by painting in my lips in bright scarlet and adding huge dollops of lip-gloss. I had been planning on keeping my make up subtle. However, there was no mirror in the beer cellar so I was none the wiser until after the gig. I have never looked back.

15. On the day of my first band gig I took the day off work to prepare, and that afternoon while I was walking along Neal Street in white sunglasses I was stopped by a young man who asked me the name of the band I was in, because he could tell just by looking at me that I must be in a band. I took this as a good omen.

16. That same afternoon I bumped into an old flame while walking along Carnaby Street. He was with a bunch of work colleagues, who were evidently Very Important People. When he saw me he did a double take, tripped over, then pretended not to recognise me. I decided that this was the urban equivalent of a black cat crossing my path.

17. At the beginning of my first band gig I annoyed Donald the then barman of the Lincoln Lounge immensely by badgering him to turn off the lights so I could come on in the dark and do a ‘gown check’ before the band started, then turn them on again for the first number. At the end of the night, after everybody else had gone, he told me that I had a nice personality and everything but I really needed to work on my singing voice because I had murdered a couple of the numbers. I was, naturally, devastated. When I reported this feedback to Stephane, he informed me that he recognised Donald from Madam Jojo’s and that Donald was in fact an ex drag queen who had him(her)self frequently sung on stage. Stephane attributed Donald’s critique of my performance to ‘gown envy’. On learning that my critic was a drag queen, the rest of the band burst into a rendition of “Donald where’s your trousers?”

18. I learned how to put on false eyelashes from Stephane, himself an ex drag queen, and he also gave me my first lessons in stagecraft, based on what he had learned during his own time wearing gowns (before he got bored of having to wax his chin every day - something which I don’t have to do, luckily). “Never mind what the band are doing behind you,” he said, “You can’t afford to take your attention off the audience for a moment, or you’ll lose them.”

19. I learned my first ukelele chords from my singing partner Miss Honey Mink, who has a dayjob as a children’s entertainer and runs a ukelele class for children called “Uke Can Do It”. The first time I played ukelele on stage was with her, at Cheese and Crackers on the Battersea Barge. She and I walked on in our evening gowns and explained our Big Band had stood us up, so we were going to recreate the Big Band sound on two ukeleles instead. We then performed the Big Band Blues together. http://tricityvogue.com/Music/big_band.htm
At the point where the horn section should have come in, Honey launched into a kazoo solo that brought the house down. From that night on I was hooked on the ukelele and bought my first pink Mahalo on ebay shortly afterwards.

20. The first song I wrote on the ukelele was “Aint Gonna Get No Sleep Tonight” about waiting in for a booty call. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwUxtrITgVI
The tune is a straight rip-off from a spiritual called “Joshua fit the battle of Jericho”. Only one audience member has ever spotted this, and he was a jazz buff from New Orleans. Luckily, he didn’t seem to mind, and even thought my act of profane plagiarism was in the true spirit of jazz.

21. In 2008 Stephane made me a new black and white gown for the Tricity Vogue Slinktet’s gig at the Scala for White Mischief. Once again, it wasn’t finished until the last moment, and Stephane had to thrust his way past the bouncers on the door to bring it to me in the dressing room, where he proceeded to shoehorn me into it in a manner that caused even the world-weary Mr Dusty Limits to raise his eyebrows. When I was about to go on, I realised that the dress was so tight I couldn’t actually lift my legs to climb onto the stage, and had to ask Mr Limits to give me a hand up. Stephane pointed out afterwards that I could have actually hitched the skirt up. This did not occur to me at the time.

22. After I came off stage at the Scala in my new gown, I shared a cigarette with Stephane down in the smoker’s courtyard, and he said to me, “You are the best drag queen I know.” I glowed with pride.

23. Shortly afterwards my boyfriend dumped me for looking too much like a drag queen and not enough like a real woman.

24. Tricity Vogue is about to give birth to a daughter – the Blue Lady. The birth of this new cabaret character will take place at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern at Dusty Limit’s night Kunst on Friday 27 February. The Blue Lady will be born exactly nine months after my boyfriend dumped me. My ex is therefore the begetter of the Blue Lady. Dusty Limits will be her Midwife, production designer Salvatore Forino will be her Nursery Nurse, and Rosa Conrad will, once again, be her Fairy Godmother.
www.myspace.com/kunstuberalles

25. Creating the Blue Lady is my way of dealing with the break up, in lieu of throwing plates, screaming or losing the plot generally. Then again, maybe painting my face blue and dressing up as a painting is losing the plot. Or maybe losing someone you love is the most powerful creative inspiration there is.