Fascinating Aïda - on the road to Henley Festival
April 2009
"Well, we did it! We got the show up and running, we recorded it, we nearly died of exhaustion, but we're out on the road now and having huge amounts of fun." Fascinating Aïda
Organisers are delighted to be welcoming multi-award winning comedy trio, Fascinating Aïda to The Henley Festival. Dillie Keane, Adèle Anderson and Liza Pulman will be performing in the intimacy of the Club Marquee, bringing their new touring show to the riverbank at 10.45pm on Thurs 9th July.
As anyone knows who has seen them, Fascinating Aïda are together 3 of the funniest women in showbiz. They've been memorably described as "Absolutely Fabulous meets Noel Coward, as sung by the Andrews Sisters", which certainly suggests the flexibility of their talent, but doesn't quite do justice to the bubble of pure hilarity they induce in their audiences.
This current show is nothing if not topical, including, as it does, references and jokes about the venue they're playing. It is also about them. As Dillie Keane has said, "We have pared down the show so it travels more easily, we don't have fancy scenery and a wardrobe full of enormous gowns. All we travel with is two bentwood chairs, a rubber snake, a prop phone, a book of music and our microphones.
And she continues in typical 'Grumpy Old Woman' mode, "Diehard fans may, of course, be rather disappointed that we have abandoned the sequins and the shimmering frocks. All I have to say about that is that when you get to my age (and size) you look awfully foolish and mutton-like in a bloody great dress. And because we started out this summer with a budget of approximately 25p for costumes, press and marketing, we had to wear our own clothes on stage and it seemed rather good."
On the same evening at Henley Festival, Thurs 9th July - and included in the same ticket - lucky Festival-goers can also see the New London Consort performing Handel's Water Music, red-hot young jazz singer Mishka Adams, Soothsayers with their fusion of nu Afro beat and dub, spectacular fireworks, street art to make you laugh, gorgeous galleries and lawns of painting and sculpture - and chill and thrill to the most fabulous performance of Puccini arias on the Festival's Floating Stage, hosted by BBC Radio 4's James Naughtie.
Henley Festival 2009 runs from 8th-12th July. For more information call the Box Office on 01491 843404 or visit www.henley-festival.co.uk. Generous sponsors of this year's Festival include: Invesco Perpetual, Westcoast, Laurent-Perrier champagne, Courtiers, Lavazza, Hotel du Vin, Southern Electric.
