The show must go on - well with difficulty and so far in the West End there are few signs of life but on the fringe in London rehearsals have begun for Fanny and Stella, a musical by Glenn Chandler (Book and Lyrics) and Charles Miller (Music). Fanny and Stella were two young men who dressed up as women and frequented places of pleasure in 1871 London. They were charged with homosexual crimes but astonishingly they got off - their barrister argued they were simply theatrical and Victorian London agreed. They followed the acquittal by taking their story on the road performing the show in one night stands across the country just like Roxie Hart did much much later in the USA. The performances will be in the new Garden Theatre which has been created in the beer garden of the Eagle Pub in Kennington Road and social distancing and other rules will be obeyed. The show was first staged in June last year at the Above the Stag theatre and received good reviews, but this is a new production.
Willliam Russell