SOUTHEND THEATRE SCENE
  • Home
    • About
    • Contact
    • Main feature writer - Kim Tobin
  • COMING UP
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
    • David Streames Interview
    • Daniel O'Donnell
    • Matt Wycliffe Interview - Million Dollar Quartet
    • Ian Anderson - Jethro Tull
    • Tony Stockwell Interview
    • Priscilla Queen of the Desert Tour - Interview with Emma Crossley
    • Phil Walker - Guitar Heroes
    • Rock for Heroes Review
    • Once the Musical - We interview Daniel Healy & Emma Lucia as we are invited to watch the cast rehearse!
    • The Overtones 2019
    • Derren Brown - Showman
    • Stephen K Amos Interview
    • Geoff Norcott INTERVIEW
    • Diversity and Kev Orkian Interviews
    • Giles Cooper talks about Nigel Slater's TOAST
    • Kristian Lavercombe - Riff Raff - Rocky Horror Show
    • Dan Partridge & Martha Kirby talk Grease the Musical
    • Village Green Festival 2019
    • Lee Mead, David Streames & Richard Foster
    • Craig Revel Horwood
    • Jenny Gayner
    • Nigel Slater
    • Alex Bourne Interview - Annie Tour 2019
    • Beverley Craven Interview
    • Gary Barlow and Tim Firth Interview - Calendar Girls
    • Tom Stade 2019 Interview
    • Karen Gibson - The Kingdom Choir
    • AJ Pritchard
    • Jonathan Wrather - The Picture of Dorian Gray - Tilted Wig Productions
    • Kevin Clifton & Graziano Di Prima Interview - Burn the Floor
    • Elesha Paul Moses Interview - Tina Turner - What's Love Got To Do With It?
    • Juliet Mills & Maxwell Caulfield Interview
    • Juliet Mills Interview
    • Holly Liburd - The Bodyguard
    • Alexandra Burke - The Bodyguard
    • Janine Duvitski Interview
    • Matthew Kelly & David Yelland
    • Aled Jones Interview
    • Quadrophenia Live Interview with Doug Freeman
    • Diversity's Ashley Banjo, Jordan Banjo, Perri Kiely & Terry Smith
    • Ali James & James Cranfield
    • Ed Speleers, Mairi Barclay & Adam Lilley
    • Rachel Lumberg & Faye Christall Interview
    • Rain Main - Mathew Horne & Ed Speleers
    • Charles Sharman-Cox
    • Matt Terry & Antoine Murray-Straughan
    • Collabro Road to the Royal Albert Hall Interview
    • Steve Michaels - Elvis
    • Paul Young Interview
    • Joe Pasquale
    • Jersey Boys Interview
    • Colin Blunstone - The Zombies
    • Dave Kelly - The Blues Band
    • Clive John - Johnny Cash Roadshow
    • Paul Opacic & Richard Walsh
    • Vincent Simone & Flavia Cacace
    • Alexander O'Neal Interview
    • Kevin Whately - Our Finest Hour
    • Jenny Eclair - Grumpy Old Women Tour
    • Séan Aydon - Great Expectations
    • Joe McElderry Live in Concert
    • Nichola McAuliffe Interview
    • Natalie Anderson & Jonathan Halliwell
    • Geoff Norcott Interview
    • Mark Steel - Comedian Interview
    • Debra Stephenson & Alice Barlow
    • Dr Feelgood's Kevin Morris
    • Ali James Interview - Oh Yes It Is!
    • Tom Stade Interview
    • Sarah Earnshaw - Nativity the Musical
    • Karina Jones - Wait Until Dark
    • The Stylistics
    • Tom Chambers & Charlotte Wakefield
    • Jessie Wallace - Deathtrap
    • Paul Bradley - Deathtrap
    • George Kemp - The Wipers Times
    • Joe McElderry - Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
    • Ian Hislop & Nick Newman - The Wipers Times
    • Chris Simmons, All or Nothing the Musical
    • Caroline Flack, Tom Chambers Interview
    • Ruth Madoc
    • Scott Reid - Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time
    • Samuel Clemens, Director
    • Elizabeth Elvin
    • Ray Cooney - Out of Order
    • Susie Amy
    • Sue Holderness
    • Shaun Williamson
    • Carrie Hope Fletcher & Oliver Ormson
    • Geoff Norcott
    • Navi - King of Pop
    • Damian Williams Interview
    • Carrie Hope Fletcher Interview
    • Samantha Womack Interview
    • Les Dennis Interview
    • Clive Mantle - The Verdict
    • Stephen Bailey Interview
    • Steve Hackett Interview
    • Alastair Whatley - The Original Theatre Company
    • Paul Carrack Interview
    • Janine Johnson - Back to Bacharach Interview
    • Lewis Griffiths - Dirty Dancing
    • Ben Portsmouth Elvis Tribute
    • Paul Nicholls - Shawshank Redemption
    • Anne Odeke - Night Must Fall
    • Elaine Paige
    • Jimmy Osmond - Christmas Extravaganza
    • Brian Conley & Gok Wan
    • Jonathan Kiley - Qdos Pantomine Producer
    • Lee Mead - Some Enchanted Evening
    • Maximum Rhythm & Blues
    • Joe McElderry - Northern Light Tour
    • Carol Harrison - All or Nothing
    • Paul Cattermole - The Rocky Horror Show
    • Tommy Steele
    • Cheryl Baker - Formerly of Bucks Fizz
    • Gabrielle Cocca from Cats the Musical
    • PJ Proby Interview
    • Ashleigh & Pudsey - Mission ImPudseyble
    • I'm Cold - Alex Thorn
    • Mon Amie - supporting Jason Donovan
    • Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
    • Richard Ede - The 39 Steps
    • Collabro
    • The Searchers
    • Fanny Galore
    • Paul Carrack
    • Rose Marie
    • Gary Wilmot, Noel Sullivan, Carley Stenson
    • Megan Terry
    • Sharon Rose - Little Eva in West End's Beautiful
    • Roy Chubby Brown - Britain's Rudest Comedian
    • Fascinating Aida's Dillie Keane
    • Ben Portsmouth - Elvis Tribute Artist
    • Ugly Sisters, Martin Ramsdin & David Robbins - Cinderella
    • Lauren Hall (Cinderella)
    • Michael Harrison, West End Producer
    • Brian Conley
    • Sharon Rose - X Factor
    • The Bodyguard - Zoe Birkett Interview
    • Alex Bourne (Daddy Warbucks)
    • Michael Corbidge Royal Shakespeare Company
    • Ashton Moore - Samson
    • Joe Pasquale
    • Phill Jupitus
    • Michael Sharp Playwright
    • Ray Cooney OBE
  • MUSIC
  • YOUTUBE
  • Features
    • Echoes From Essex
    • Immersive Actor Training
    • Afternoon Tea at the Cliffs Pavilion
    • N-Act Theatre Stage - Village Green
    • Chameleon Productions
    • Sheku Kanneh-Mason
    • Aladdin - Panto Cast Announcement
    • Sounds Familiar Music Quiz
    • N-Act Theatre in Schools
    • Ray Cooney comes to see Lindisfarne perform his play
    • Theatre Etiquette
    • Leigh Operatic & Dramatic Society's Backstage Crew
Picture
REVIEW
​Fanny Galore's Buns and Bubbles
Maritime Room, Cliffs Pavilion, Southend
14th July 2018 
Fanny will return on 14th October 2018

Hold on to your handbags (no seriously, hold on to them) because Fanny Galore, Southend’s favourite drag queen, has taken residence at the Cliffs Pavilion, Maritime Room with her ‘Buns and Bubbles’ and I promise you - afternoon tea will never be the same again!

Once a month, Fanny will be taking over the Maritime Room at Southend’s Cliffs Pavilion to host an afternoon tea with a difference.

On arrival you are greeted with the choice of an ice cold glass of Pimms (this was Wimbledon week) or an orange juice before taking your seats at one of the many white linen adorned tables in the Maritime Room which, incidentally, has wonderful views of the Southend cliffs and seafront.  On this particular afternoon, the whole of the Maritime Room was full to bursting with ladies clearly out to have a great time.  There were tables filled with a few people celebrating birthdays, some school mums, a few couples but mostly of girls out for a lovely afternoon getting a chance to catch up and have some fun.

After a short while, tea, sandwiches and cake were delivered to our table which comprised of a nice choice of cucumber sandwiches, salmon bagels, chicken wraps, scones with jam and cream and a selection of delicious cakes with Fanny bursting into the room mid-course.  This gave us a chance to not only digest our 'buns' but also to take in just what we had in store with Fanny, a vision of perma-tanned delight, decked out in a leafy dress of outrageous bright green, sporting a huge bouffant blonde hair-do and killer gold heels to die for.
Fanny, (as any one who has seen her evening cabaret shows will tell you) is larger than life, full of fun and takes no prisoners!  This is not the afternoon tea to come to if you’re the shy wallflower type.  Fanny will have you singing, clapping, dancing and even blaspheming like an east end docker by the time she’s finished with you on this exhaustingly epic, three and a half hour afternoon tea extravaganza.  

The premise of the afternoon is that all of us girls should have some ‘me time’ - we deserve a treat and so the afternoon is all about us.  With this in mind, Fanny gets us all to write down our favourite songs which will be played throughout the afternoon.  This also gives Fanny the opportunity to grab the mic and encourage us all to clap and sing along with her to every song all the while interacting with the audience.

Men in the audience beware - outrageous Fanny loves to get her legs around any man and she will find you, much to the delight of everyone else.  No one is safe, not even a few unsuspecting passers by outside the Maritime Room which had its doors open on the gorgeous hot sunny day we were there.  Also, hang on to your handbags because she'll have no hesitation in whisking them away when you're least expecting it or not looking and run along the cliffs with them - and yes, she did grab mine!  There's no doubt that Fanny is one crazy queen!
Picture
This afternoon tea is probably not for the faint hearted amongst us, but it is all in good fun and Fanny goes all out to keep everyone entertained with constant howls of laughter to be heard throughout the song singing, dancing and polishing off of cucumber sandwiches and scones.   

Fanny even gives away an “I LOVE Fanny’ t-shirt to the best dancer of the afternoon and believe it or not, there are plenty of contenders!

By the time the afternoon comes to an end, I for one, am exhausted. The strange thing is, I feel like I’ve known all of the people in this room for ages and that Fanny has become our new best friend.  We’ve even sung that rude version of Smokey’s Living Next Door to Alice (changing the name to Fanny and screeching ‘Who the f**k is Fanny!’ at the top of our lungs - I know, right!?)  I barely have time to stick my face in Fanny’s hole (it’s one of those cardboard cut out things) before it’s time to say our farewells to the fabulous Miss Galore, who takes the time to make sure that everyone who wants one, gets a selfie with her.

This may not be the afternoon tea you’d take your maiden aunt to, unless of course she’s Pat Butcher, but it’s a great girls, gays and guys who aren’t afraid to feel the drag queen love, afternoon out full of tongue in cheek humour and outrageous innuendoes. 

If you want to see more of Fanny check out her Big Night Out monthly cabaret show which is next on Friday 20th July.

For tickets go online to www.southendtheatres.org.uk  01702 351135
What did you think of the afternoon?  Here's a few comments so far but feel free to leave yours in the COMMENTS below!

Lisa, 49, Tilbury
"I would highly recommend going to see Fanny.  I had a really great afternoon.  The food was nice and wherever you sat you could see as she walked round interacting with everyone.  Everybody seemed to feel at ease to dance, sing and play a long.  My jaw ached from laughing and smiling and I would definitely go and see her again."

Anne, Yorkshire

"Had a fantastic afternoon today. Thank you so much for the entertainment and making us laugh so much."

Sarah Gardiner
"Was a fantastic afternoon. Thank you for making us laugh so much."
Picture

Home

About

MUSIC

INTERVIEWS

FEATURES

Copyright © 2015