La Soirée
Encyclopedia
La Soirée is a cabaret/variety show presented by Brett Haylock, Mark Rubinstein and Mick Perrin for Just for Laughs Live that debuted in London in October 2010. The show featured a number of artists who previously appeared in La Clique
, a variety show created by Brett Haylock, Markus Pabst and David Bates. Haylock was the Creative Producer of La Clique
. La Soirée is traditionally presented with a small, circular red stage as its centerpiece, with the audience sitting in rows surrounding the stage. The show features a rotating cast of approximately 25 artists, with the acts varying from night to night.
The cast of La Soirée's first season in London included previous La Clique
artists Captain Frodo
, David O'Mer, The English Gents and Miss Behave. The cast also included returning La Clique
artists Ursula Martinez
, Camille O'Sullivan
, Meow Meow , Cabaret Decadanse, Le Gateau Chocolat, Marawa and Jess Love, as well as new cast member Mooky Cornish. The season took place in the South Bank Big Top tent on London's South Bank
, behind the Royal National Theatre
.
Some of the cast of La Soirée first performed together as La Clique
in 2004 at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Since then, La Clique
has performed in several cities, including London, New York (as "Absinthe: Les Artistes de La Clique
") , Paris, Sydney, Stockholm and Dublin. In 2009, La Clique
won a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Entertainment for their 2008 London season hosted by Haylock.
artists Captain Frodo
, David O'Mer, The English Gents, Miss Behave, Ursula Martinez
, Camille O'Sullivan
, Cabaret Decadanse, Le Gateau Chocolat, Marawa, Jess Love, Bret Pfister, Hugo Desmarais and Meow Meow, as well as new cast member Mooky Cornish.
In November 2010, the producers of La Soirée announced that its London run was extended to 27 February 2011 due to phenomenal demand. The original ending date for the season was 30 January 2011.
In October 2011, London newspaper Evening Standard
shortlisted La Soirée for an Evening Standard Award in the category of Best Night Out at the Theatre, calling it "a joyous evening of the outrageous, bizarre and beautiful, as variety blended with cabaret and threw in some burlesque for good measure." La Soirée was nominated against long-running London West End productions “Chicago (musical)
,” “Les Misérables (musical)
” and “Wicked (musical)
”.
In November 2011, La Soirée was also nominated in the first annual London Cabaret Awards, which celebrate the growing cabaret
scene in London. La Soirée was nominated in the category of Best One-Off Show.
in 2010, La Soirée announced that it was returning to Umeå's Idunteatern and Stockholm's Gröna Lund
for a six-week season. The cast included Ursula Martinez
, Captain Frodo
, The English Gents, David O'Mer, Cabaret Decadanse, The Skating Willers, Amy G, Yulia Pykhtina and Le Gateau Chocolat, all of whom have appeared in previous seasons of La Clique
or La Soirée.
in Aarhus, Denmark as La Clique
, La Soirée returned to Denmark, playing at the Skråen i Nordkraft venue as part of the Aalborg
Fringe Festival. The cast included previous La Clique
artists Yulia Pykhtina, The English Gents, Hugo Desmarais, Captain Frodo
, Amy G, Susannah Martinez, David O’Mer and Le Gateau Chocolat, as well as new cast members Chris Iris.
for a ten-week season. La Clique
previously played at The Roundhouse
during the 2009 Christmas season, where it broke box office records for the fastest selling show in pre-opening sales, grossing over £500,000 in sales before its first performance.
in Sydney as part of Sydney Festival
, La Soirée’s producers announced that La Soirée would return to perform a season at the iconic Sydney Opera House
.
, The Daily Telegraph
, The Independent
, The Sunday Times
, Financial Times
, Evening Standard
, Metro (British newspaper) , Boyz (magazine)
and UK websites MusicOMH
and Whatsonstage.com. The show received five-star reviews from Sunday Express and Pink Paper
. Positive reviews for La Soirée were also received from The Stage
, Official London Theatre and the UK comedy website, Chortle.
Writing for Sunday Express, Mark Shenton commented that "Christmas arrives earlier every year, it seems, but La Soirée, a rebranded but happily not repackaged version of the circus burlesque La Clique
previously seen at Hippodrome, London
and The Roundhouse
, is the first show to engender all-year-round festive cheer." Caroline McGinn of Time Out rated La Soirée "Show of the Week" and said "La Clique
's sequel, 'La Soirée', has the same winning formula plus a line-up that's the strongest yet" and is "something you won't find elsewhere in the mainstream: variety that's genuinely varied - and burlesque with balls." The Critics' Choice section of the same magazine noted "the freakishly talented folk from 'La Clique
' are back in a plush new South Bank tent and the line up, with old acts doing new tricks, and some new faces, is better than ever."
In The Guardian
, Brian Logan wrote: "Beautiful. Funny. Impossible. La Soirée's triumph is that there's not a single moment when one, two or all three of those terms don't apply" and described the show as "timeless and unpretentious, captivating and almost as light as air." Stu Hurford of Pink Paper
wrote that "the whole evening offers a quirky sense of fun, which is the true genius of a show like La Soirée." In Boyz (magazine)
, Joseph Cattell commented: "Funny and surprisingly touching, La Soirée is not only testament to the breathtaking beauty and strength of the human body, but proof that freaks really do have all the fun. An unmissable evening." Evening Standard
's Fiona Mountford commented: "The exuberant international stars of last year's award-winning entertainment La Clique
are not the sorts to be down in the dumps for long, which is why their sparkling new show, celebrating the ongoing revival of the variety/cabaret genre, is just the thing to combat the gloom." The Daily Telegraph
's Charles Spencer echoed this sentiment: "Mixing good humour and glamour with a thrilling frisson of danger, La Soirée offers a wonderfully warm and welcoming refuge from the cold, scary world outside."
Ian Shuttleworth of Financial Times
called La Soirée "the continuation of La Clique
...as a return to this alternative cabaret show's roots" and stated that "shows such as La Soirée confirm that variety cabaret isn't dead yet, and that it would be a shame to lose it." David Jays of The Sunday Times
commented that the show "generates enough cheer to survive the bleakest winter" and naming La Soirée "Theatre Pick of the Week", said "the team behind La Clique
bring supreme talent to bear on madcap acts." Metro (British newspaper)'s Keith Watson said "La Soirée is La Clique
rebooted, with most of the top acts from last year's giddy marriage of acrobatics and burlesque giving their tricks a new twist. But even if you caught La Clique
, you won't feel shortchanged." Writing for MusicOMH
, Sam Smith stated that "La Soirée is essentially the new incarnation of La Clique
, and retains some of the original production team, many of the original performers, and undoubtedly the same spirit of wacky, alternative and mesmerizing fun."
and cabaret
genres, particularly in London. Mark Shenton wrote in The Stage
that "burlesque
has undergone something of a resurgence in the last few years, and La Clique
/La Soirée have been a pioneering exponent of packaging it as something hip, accessible and intensely theatrical." In The Sunday Times
, Stephen Armstrong writes: "Burlesque
is striding into the mainstream, heels high, arms akimbo and nipple-tasselled chest thrust firmly forward. Although new burlesque started in America, it has been embraced with more fervour over here. La Soirée, for instance, brings together contortionists, male pole dancers, acrobats and comedy." In Evening Standard
's ES Magazine, Richard Godwin concurred: "Burlesque
is booming. In 2008, the alternative variety show La Clique
, which featured Ursula Martinez
's subversive, pyrotechnic striptease among endearingly eccentric circus acts, won a Laurence Olivier Award and ran for nine months at the Hippodrome, London
before smashing box-office records at The Roundhouse
. The follow-up, La Soirée, is doing a roaring trade on the South Bank
, where the run has been extended."
In a special issue dedicated to the flourishing London cabaret
scene, Time Out's Ben Walters says, "Thanks to La Clique
and La Soirée, the Cabaret
scene in London has never been bigger...West End crowds flock to grand-scale shows like the Olivier Award-winning La Clique
and La Soirée." In the same issue, in listing La Soirée as a top burlesque
pick and critics' cabaret
choice, Time Out stated "West End hit La Clique
put cabaret
performance on the mainstream map, and La Soirée is making sure the party continues."
In November 2011, La Soirée was nominated in the first annual London Cabaret Awards, which celebrate the growing cabaret
scene in London. La Soirée was nominated in the category of Best One-Off Show.
La Clique
La Clique was an award-winning cabaret/variety show with Australian roots first conceived for the 2004 edition of The Edinburgh Festival Fringe...
, a variety show created by Brett Haylock, Markus Pabst and David Bates. Haylock was the Creative Producer of La Clique
La Clique
La Clique was an award-winning cabaret/variety show with Australian roots first conceived for the 2004 edition of The Edinburgh Festival Fringe...
. La Soirée is traditionally presented with a small, circular red stage as its centerpiece, with the audience sitting in rows surrounding the stage. The show features a rotating cast of approximately 25 artists, with the acts varying from night to night.
The cast of La Soirée's first season in London included previous La Clique
La Clique
La Clique was an award-winning cabaret/variety show with Australian roots first conceived for the 2004 edition of The Edinburgh Festival Fringe...
artists Captain Frodo
Captain Frodo
Captain Frodo , also known as “The Incredible Rubberman”, is a Guinness World Record breaking contortionist living in Australia. He is the son of a famous Norwegian magician known as “The Great Santini”....
, David O'Mer, The English Gents and Miss Behave. The cast also included returning La Clique
La Clique
La Clique was an award-winning cabaret/variety show with Australian roots first conceived for the 2004 edition of The Edinburgh Festival Fringe...
artists Ursula Martinez
Ursula Martinez
Ursula Martinez is a London-based Anglo-Spanish British writer, performer, and cult cabaret diva noted for her use of nudity and non-actors....
, Camille O'Sullivan
Camille O'Sullivan
Camille O'Sullivan is a Irish singer, actress, and entertainer. -Background:...
, Meow Meow , Cabaret Decadanse, Le Gateau Chocolat, Marawa and Jess Love, as well as new cast member Mooky Cornish. The season took place in the South Bank Big Top tent on London's South Bank
South Bank
South Bank is an area of London, England located immediately adjacent to the south side of the River Thames. It forms a long and narrow section of riverside development that is within the London Borough of Lambeth to the border with the London Borough of Southwark and was formerly simply known as...
, behind the Royal National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
.
Some of the cast of La Soirée first performed together as La Clique
La Clique
La Clique was an award-winning cabaret/variety show with Australian roots first conceived for the 2004 edition of The Edinburgh Festival Fringe...
in 2004 at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Since then, La Clique
La Clique
La Clique was an award-winning cabaret/variety show with Australian roots first conceived for the 2004 edition of The Edinburgh Festival Fringe...
has performed in several cities, including London, New York (as "Absinthe: Les Artistes de La Clique
La Clique
La Clique was an award-winning cabaret/variety show with Australian roots first conceived for the 2004 edition of The Edinburgh Festival Fringe...
") , Paris, Sydney, Stockholm and Dublin. In 2009, La Clique
La Clique
La Clique was an award-winning cabaret/variety show with Australian roots first conceived for the 2004 edition of The Edinburgh Festival Fringe...
won a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Entertainment for their 2008 London season hosted by Haylock.
London, United Kingdom; October 2010 - February 2011
La Soirée's inaugural season debuted in London at the South Bank Big Top in October 2010. The cast included previous La CliqueLa Clique
La Clique was an award-winning cabaret/variety show with Australian roots first conceived for the 2004 edition of The Edinburgh Festival Fringe...
artists Captain Frodo
Captain Frodo
Captain Frodo , also known as “The Incredible Rubberman”, is a Guinness World Record breaking contortionist living in Australia. He is the son of a famous Norwegian magician known as “The Great Santini”....
, David O'Mer, The English Gents, Miss Behave, Ursula Martinez
Ursula Martinez
Ursula Martinez is a London-based Anglo-Spanish British writer, performer, and cult cabaret diva noted for her use of nudity and non-actors....
, Camille O'Sullivan
Camille O'Sullivan
Camille O'Sullivan is a Irish singer, actress, and entertainer. -Background:...
, Cabaret Decadanse, Le Gateau Chocolat, Marawa, Jess Love, Bret Pfister, Hugo Desmarais and Meow Meow, as well as new cast member Mooky Cornish.
In November 2010, the producers of La Soirée announced that its London run was extended to 27 February 2011 due to phenomenal demand. The original ending date for the season was 30 January 2011.
In October 2011, London newspaper Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
shortlisted La Soirée for an Evening Standard Award in the category of Best Night Out at the Theatre, calling it "a joyous evening of the outrageous, bizarre and beautiful, as variety blended with cabaret and threw in some burlesque for good measure." La Soirée was nominated against long-running London West End productions “Chicago (musical)
Chicago (musical)
Chicago is a musical set in Prohibition-era Chicago. The music is by John Kander with lyrics by Fred Ebb and a book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal"...
,” “Les Misérables (musical)
Les Misérables (musical)
Les Misérables , colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz , is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo....
” and “Wicked (musical)
Wicked (musical)
Wicked is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. It is based on the Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West , a parallel novel of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and L. Frank Baum's classic story The Wonderful Wizard...
”.
In November 2011, La Soirée was also nominated in the first annual London Cabaret Awards, which celebrate the growing cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
scene in London. La Soirée was nominated in the category of Best One-Off Show.
Umeå and Stockholm, Sweden; March - April 2011
After a successful Swedish season as La CliqueLa Clique
La Clique was an award-winning cabaret/variety show with Australian roots first conceived for the 2004 edition of The Edinburgh Festival Fringe...
in 2010, La Soirée announced that it was returning to Umeå's Idunteatern and Stockholm's Gröna Lund
Gröna Lund
Tivoli Gröna Lund or Grönan is an amusement park in Stockholm, Sweden. It is located on the seaward side of the Djurgården island and is relatively small compared to other amusement parks, mainly due to its central location, which limits expansion. Gröna Lund is a popular venue for concerts during...
for a six-week season. The cast included Ursula Martinez
Ursula Martinez
Ursula Martinez is a London-based Anglo-Spanish British writer, performer, and cult cabaret diva noted for her use of nudity and non-actors....
, Captain Frodo
Captain Frodo
Captain Frodo , also known as “The Incredible Rubberman”, is a Guinness World Record breaking contortionist living in Australia. He is the son of a famous Norwegian magician known as “The Great Santini”....
, The English Gents, David O'Mer, Cabaret Decadanse, The Skating Willers, Amy G, Yulia Pykhtina and Le Gateau Chocolat, all of whom have appeared in previous seasons of La Clique
La Clique
La Clique was an award-winning cabaret/variety show with Australian roots first conceived for the 2004 edition of The Edinburgh Festival Fringe...
or La Soirée.
Aalborg, Denmark; October 2011
After performing for two consecutive years at the Aarhus FestugeAarhus Festuge
Aarhus Festuge, in English referred to as Aarhus Festival , is literally translated to "Aarhus Party Week", however, it represents a yearly arts and culture festival in the city of Aarhus, Denmark...
in Aarhus, Denmark as La Clique
La Clique
La Clique was an award-winning cabaret/variety show with Australian roots first conceived for the 2004 edition of The Edinburgh Festival Fringe...
, La Soirée returned to Denmark, playing at the Skråen i Nordkraft venue as part of the Aalborg
Aalborg
-Transport:On the north side of the Limfjord is Nørresundby, which is connected to Aalborg by a road bridge Limfjordsbroen, an iron railway bridge Jernbanebroen over Limfjorden, as well as a motorway tunnel running under the Limfjord Limfjordstunnelen....
Fringe Festival. The cast included previous La Clique
La Clique
La Clique was an award-winning cabaret/variety show with Australian roots first conceived for the 2004 edition of The Edinburgh Festival Fringe...
artists Yulia Pykhtina, The English Gents, Hugo Desmarais, Captain Frodo
Captain Frodo
Captain Frodo , also known as “The Incredible Rubberman”, is a Guinness World Record breaking contortionist living in Australia. He is the son of a famous Norwegian magician known as “The Great Santini”....
, Amy G, Susannah Martinez, David O’Mer and Le Gateau Chocolat, as well as new cast members Chris Iris.
London, United Kingdom; November 2011 - January 2012
In early 2011, the producers of La Soirée announced that for the 2011 Christmas season, La Soirée would return to perform in The RoundhouseThe Roundhouse
The Roundhouse is a Grade II* listed former railway engine shed in Chalk Farm, London, England, which has been converted into a performing arts and concert venue. It was originally built in 1847 as a roundhouse , a circular building containing a railway turntable, but was only used for railway...
for a ten-week season. La Clique
La Clique
La Clique was an award-winning cabaret/variety show with Australian roots first conceived for the 2004 edition of The Edinburgh Festival Fringe...
previously played at The Roundhouse
The Roundhouse
The Roundhouse is a Grade II* listed former railway engine shed in Chalk Farm, London, England, which has been converted into a performing arts and concert venue. It was originally built in 1847 as a roundhouse , a circular building containing a railway turntable, but was only used for railway...
during the 2009 Christmas season, where it broke box office records for the fastest selling show in pre-opening sales, grossing over £500,000 in sales before its first performance.
Sydney, Australia; January - February 2012
After having previously played as La CliqueLa Clique
La Clique was an award-winning cabaret/variety show with Australian roots first conceived for the 2004 edition of The Edinburgh Festival Fringe...
in Sydney as part of Sydney Festival
Sydney Festival
Sydney Festival is Australia's largest and most attended annual cultural event running every January since it was first held in 1977. Its program features around 80 events including contemporary and classical music, dance, circus, drama, visual arts and artist talks...
, La Soirée’s producers announced that La Soirée would return to perform a season at the iconic Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...
.
Critical reception
The 2010 London season of La Soirée opened to numerous strong reviews from theatre critics. Following its press night on 21 October 2010, La Soirée received four-star reviews from Time Out , The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
, The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
, Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
, Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
, Metro (British newspaper) , Boyz (magazine)
Boyz (magazine)
Boyz is a free, London-based magazine, targeted at gay men and distributed mainly through gay bars, clubs and saunas in the United Kingdom. Published weekly, it tends to focus on news about the gay scene and celebrities popular with young scene-going gay men.Boyz is relatively light on "serious"...
and UK websites MusicOMH
MusicOMH
musicOMH is a United Kingdom-based website which publishes independent reviews, featues and interviews from across all musical genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B.-History:...
and Whatsonstage.com. The show received five-star reviews from Sunday Express and Pink Paper
Pink Paper
The Pink Paper is a UK publication covering gay and lesbian issues. Founded in 1987 as a newspaper, since June 2009 it has been available only on the Internet....
. Positive reviews for La Soirée were also received from The Stage
The Stage
The Stage is a weekly British newspaper founded in 1880, available nationally and published on Thursdays. Covering all areas of the entertainment industry but focused primarily on theatre, it contains news, reviews, opinion, features and other items of interest, mainly to those who work within the...
, Official London Theatre and the UK comedy website, Chortle.
Writing for Sunday Express, Mark Shenton commented that "Christmas arrives earlier every year, it seems, but La Soirée, a rebranded but happily not repackaged version of the circus burlesque La Clique
La Clique
La Clique was an award-winning cabaret/variety show with Australian roots first conceived for the 2004 edition of The Edinburgh Festival Fringe...
previously seen at Hippodrome, London
Hippodrome, London
The Hippodrome is a building on the corner of Charing Cross Road and Leicester Square in the City of Westminster, London. The name was used for many different theatres and music halls, of which the London Hippodrome is one of only a few survivors...
and The Roundhouse
The Roundhouse
The Roundhouse is a Grade II* listed former railway engine shed in Chalk Farm, London, England, which has been converted into a performing arts and concert venue. It was originally built in 1847 as a roundhouse , a circular building containing a railway turntable, but was only used for railway...
, is the first show to engender all-year-round festive cheer." Caroline McGinn of Time Out rated La Soirée "Show of the Week" and said "La Clique
La Clique
La Clique was an award-winning cabaret/variety show with Australian roots first conceived for the 2004 edition of The Edinburgh Festival Fringe...
's sequel, 'La Soirée', has the same winning formula plus a line-up that's the strongest yet" and is "something you won't find elsewhere in the mainstream: variety that's genuinely varied - and burlesque with balls." The Critics' Choice section of the same magazine noted "the freakishly talented folk from 'La Clique
La Clique
La Clique was an award-winning cabaret/variety show with Australian roots first conceived for the 2004 edition of The Edinburgh Festival Fringe...
' are back in a plush new South Bank tent and the line up, with old acts doing new tricks, and some new faces, is better than ever."
In The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, Brian Logan wrote: "Beautiful. Funny. Impossible. La Soirée's triumph is that there's not a single moment when one, two or all three of those terms don't apply" and described the show as "timeless and unpretentious, captivating and almost as light as air." Stu Hurford of Pink Paper
Pink Paper
The Pink Paper is a UK publication covering gay and lesbian issues. Founded in 1987 as a newspaper, since June 2009 it has been available only on the Internet....
wrote that "the whole evening offers a quirky sense of fun, which is the true genius of a show like La Soirée." In Boyz (magazine)
Boyz (magazine)
Boyz is a free, London-based magazine, targeted at gay men and distributed mainly through gay bars, clubs and saunas in the United Kingdom. Published weekly, it tends to focus on news about the gay scene and celebrities popular with young scene-going gay men.Boyz is relatively light on "serious"...
, Joseph Cattell commented: "Funny and surprisingly touching, La Soirée is not only testament to the breathtaking beauty and strength of the human body, but proof that freaks really do have all the fun. An unmissable evening." Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
's Fiona Mountford commented: "The exuberant international stars of last year's award-winning entertainment La Clique
La Clique
La Clique was an award-winning cabaret/variety show with Australian roots first conceived for the 2004 edition of The Edinburgh Festival Fringe...
are not the sorts to be down in the dumps for long, which is why their sparkling new show, celebrating the ongoing revival of the variety/cabaret genre, is just the thing to combat the gloom." The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
's Charles Spencer echoed this sentiment: "Mixing good humour and glamour with a thrilling frisson of danger, La Soirée offers a wonderfully warm and welcoming refuge from the cold, scary world outside."
Ian Shuttleworth of Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
called La Soirée "the continuation of La Clique
La Clique
La Clique was an award-winning cabaret/variety show with Australian roots first conceived for the 2004 edition of The Edinburgh Festival Fringe...
...as a return to this alternative cabaret show's roots" and stated that "shows such as La Soirée confirm that variety cabaret isn't dead yet, and that it would be a shame to lose it." David Jays of The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
commented that the show "generates enough cheer to survive the bleakest winter" and naming La Soirée "Theatre Pick of the Week", said "the team behind La Clique
La Clique
La Clique was an award-winning cabaret/variety show with Australian roots first conceived for the 2004 edition of The Edinburgh Festival Fringe...
bring supreme talent to bear on madcap acts." Metro (British newspaper)'s Keith Watson said "La Soirée is La Clique
La Clique
La Clique was an award-winning cabaret/variety show with Australian roots first conceived for the 2004 edition of The Edinburgh Festival Fringe...
rebooted, with most of the top acts from last year's giddy marriage of acrobatics and burlesque giving their tricks a new twist. But even if you caught La Clique
La Clique
La Clique was an award-winning cabaret/variety show with Australian roots first conceived for the 2004 edition of The Edinburgh Festival Fringe...
, you won't feel shortchanged." Writing for MusicOMH
MusicOMH
musicOMH is a United Kingdom-based website which publishes independent reviews, featues and interviews from across all musical genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B.-History:...
, Sam Smith stated that "La Soirée is essentially the new incarnation of La Clique
La Clique
La Clique was an award-winning cabaret/variety show with Australian roots first conceived for the 2004 edition of The Edinburgh Festival Fringe...
, and retains some of the original production team, many of the original performers, and undoubtedly the same spirit of wacky, alternative and mesmerizing fun."
Burlesque and cabaret scenes
La Soirée has often been cited as an example of the recent mainstream popularity of the burlesqueBurlesque
Burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects...
and cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
genres, particularly in London. Mark Shenton wrote in The Stage
The Stage
The Stage is a weekly British newspaper founded in 1880, available nationally and published on Thursdays. Covering all areas of the entertainment industry but focused primarily on theatre, it contains news, reviews, opinion, features and other items of interest, mainly to those who work within the...
that "burlesque
Burlesque
Burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects...
has undergone something of a resurgence in the last few years, and La Clique
La Clique
La Clique was an award-winning cabaret/variety show with Australian roots first conceived for the 2004 edition of The Edinburgh Festival Fringe...
/La Soirée have been a pioneering exponent of packaging it as something hip, accessible and intensely theatrical." In The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
, Stephen Armstrong writes: "Burlesque
Burlesque
Burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects...
is striding into the mainstream, heels high, arms akimbo and nipple-tasselled chest thrust firmly forward. Although new burlesque started in America, it has been embraced with more fervour over here. La Soirée, for instance, brings together contortionists, male pole dancers, acrobats and comedy." In Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
's ES Magazine, Richard Godwin concurred: "Burlesque
Burlesque
Burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects...
is booming. In 2008, the alternative variety show La Clique
La Clique
La Clique was an award-winning cabaret/variety show with Australian roots first conceived for the 2004 edition of The Edinburgh Festival Fringe...
, which featured Ursula Martinez
Ursula Martinez
Ursula Martinez is a London-based Anglo-Spanish British writer, performer, and cult cabaret diva noted for her use of nudity and non-actors....
's subversive, pyrotechnic striptease among endearingly eccentric circus acts, won a Laurence Olivier Award and ran for nine months at the Hippodrome, London
Hippodrome, London
The Hippodrome is a building on the corner of Charing Cross Road and Leicester Square in the City of Westminster, London. The name was used for many different theatres and music halls, of which the London Hippodrome is one of only a few survivors...
before smashing box-office records at The Roundhouse
The Roundhouse
The Roundhouse is a Grade II* listed former railway engine shed in Chalk Farm, London, England, which has been converted into a performing arts and concert venue. It was originally built in 1847 as a roundhouse , a circular building containing a railway turntable, but was only used for railway...
. The follow-up, La Soirée, is doing a roaring trade on the South Bank
South Bank
South Bank is an area of London, England located immediately adjacent to the south side of the River Thames. It forms a long and narrow section of riverside development that is within the London Borough of Lambeth to the border with the London Borough of Southwark and was formerly simply known as...
, where the run has been extended."
In a special issue dedicated to the flourishing London cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
scene, Time Out's Ben Walters says, "Thanks to La Clique
La Clique
La Clique was an award-winning cabaret/variety show with Australian roots first conceived for the 2004 edition of The Edinburgh Festival Fringe...
and La Soirée, the Cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
scene in London has never been bigger...West End crowds flock to grand-scale shows like the Olivier Award-winning La Clique
La Clique
La Clique was an award-winning cabaret/variety show with Australian roots first conceived for the 2004 edition of The Edinburgh Festival Fringe...
and La Soirée." In the same issue, in listing La Soirée as a top burlesque
Burlesque
Burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects...
pick and critics' cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
choice, Time Out stated "West End hit La Clique
La Clique
La Clique was an award-winning cabaret/variety show with Australian roots first conceived for the 2004 edition of The Edinburgh Festival Fringe...
put cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
performance on the mainstream map, and La Soirée is making sure the party continues."
In November 2011, La Soirée was nominated in the first annual London Cabaret Awards, which celebrate the growing cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
scene in London. La Soirée was nominated in the category of Best One-Off Show.