In 2022, Barb Jungr and Mike Lindup launched this new song cycle about their beloved Soho at Crazy Coqs in embryo form. This first stage of this brand new piece of song cycle theatre drew a slew of wonderful responses.Now they present the second performance of Soho Songs at Crazy Coqs in the heart of Soho with additional songs.Soho. A magical place. Where everyone comes to make their dreams come true. A pub bar. A day dawns. The homeless person sees everything. The Landlady prepares for another bloody scrap to keep her pub open, as Soho is eroded by developers’ who eat the past and regurgitate everything into another block of super flats. Traffickedjob women, bouncers, the pit musician, drag queens and burlesque dancers,croupiers, actors and luvvies, dancers and chancers; they all come to the legendary Shangri-La pub to share their stories, have a laugh or to tell their tortured tales. As the night welcomes another dawn, the disco lights spin on, the glamour fades and the homeless man returns to his pitch. Come and join us at Shangri-La before last orders.Staged and directed for The Crazy Coqs by Benji Sperring (‘Liver Birds Flying Home’, ‘An Act of God’, ‘Night Of The Living Dead: Live!’).For some time Barb Jungr, entranced by its unique history and her experiences of working there for the last 40 or so years as a singer and performer, wanted to make a piece of work about Soho. Mike Lindup’s relationship to Soho is formed over half a century, as a child visiting with his parents, both of whom were working musicians and as an adult as a musician himself, both in the pit and on stage. Soho Songs is their homage to London’s most extraordinary square mile.Barb Jungr and Mike Lindup previously wrote all songs and music for ‘Liver Birds Flying Home’, which ran at The Royal Court, Liverpool for 4 weeks in 2018.Cast:Emma Salvo Theatre includes: ‘Come From Awa’y (Phoenix Theatre, West End); ‘The Toxic Avenger ‘(Arts Theatre, West End, Broadway HD)Hannah Nuttall Theatre credits: ‘Yeast Nation’ (Southwark Playhouse), Regina the Rat in Dick Whittington (Theatre Royal Wakefield) with a nomination from the Pantomime Awards 2023 for UK Best Villain.Will De Renzi-MartinTheatre includes: Duc d’Alencon in Shirley Roden’s Jeanne (The Turbine Theatre), Titania in‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ (The Lord Chamberlain’s Men).James GullifordTheatre includes: ‘The Jungle Book’ (UK Tour), ‘Yeast Nation (Southwark Playhouse); ‘Hobson’s Choice’ (Theatre on the Coast), ‘The Gunpowder Plot’ and ‘War of the Worlds: The Immersive Experience’.Stephen Lewis-JohnstonTheatre includes: ‘Yeast Nation’ (Southwark Playhouse), ‘Dogfight’ (Southwark Playhouse).
