LA SOIRÉE CAST ANNOUNCED

Roll up, roll up! The Roundhouse is the place to be this Christmas, with tickets for LA SOIRÉE’S festive season now on sale. Promising a night of thrills, shocks, tears of laughter and disbelief, LA SOIRÉE will banish the winter blues and leave you wanting to see it all over again. Running from 23rd November 2011, LA SOIRÉE will play a strictly limited season until 29th January 2012.

A theatrical phenomenon, a unique and inspirational night of live entertainment, LA SOIRÉE’s heady cocktail of cabaret, new burlesque, circus sideshow and contemporary variety has taken the world by storm. This troupe of artists first performed together in Edinburgh and has gone on to perform around the world, conquering Paris, Sydney, Stockholm and New York with their twisted take on cabaret and variety. They are thrilled to be returning to London, the city where they performed sell-out seasons at The Hippodrome in 2008 (where they were part of the cast that won the Olivier Award for Best Entertainment), a record-breaking season at The Roundhouse in 2009 and the decadent South Bank Big Top in 2010.
 

Reviving the passion, heart, style and good old-fashioned showmanship that have made them London darlings, LA SOIRÉE has assembled a fabulous line-up of old friends, lost friends, new faces and some of the cabaret world’s favourite stars which will include:
 

The phrase ‘little and large’ doesn’t quite do justice to German acrobatic duo Chris-Iris. At 6ft 5 Christopher Schlunk fairly eclipses the petite but perfectly formed Iris Pelz, which makes tossing her into the air, throwing her about like a rag doll, and balancing her on his head seem as effortless as bouncing a ball. After all, why juggle with clubs when you’ve got your partner on hand? Recently awarded the jury prize at the prestigious Leipzig Circus Fest 2011, it is with great excitement that LA SOIRÉE introduces London audiences to these rising stars and welcomes them to the London fold.
 

 

It’s been quite a year for Le Gateau Chocolat, the opera-singing diva with a penchant for being wrapped in body hugging lycra and a passion for laughter. Since first guesting with us at the Hippodrome, Le Gateau Chocolat exploded onto London’s cabaret scene and has been garnering praise and adoration across the globe – from Edinburgh to Melbourne, and from TV screens to the cover of Time Out. This delicious confection is a killer baritone who delivers outrageous yet moving renditions of everything from pop-rock to opera. A real showstopper, Le Gateau Chocolat has a warmth that will see the whole world addicted to chocolate; that is if you aren’t hooked already!
 

We’ve swooned over Canadian Hugo Desmarais and had our heart stolen by the mesmerising Katharine Arnold. Now LA SOIRÉE brings you two of the cabaret world’s finest aerial artists as they premiere their electrifying and sultry duet created specially for this Christmas season. Suspended above the audience in ‘The Cage’, a unique structure first seen at the Roundhouse in 2009, Desmarais and Arnold’s exquisite display of rare passion and intensity is guaranteed to send a shiver down your spine.
 

A showman of exceptional talents, Clarke McFarlane's Mario is a leather-bursting reincarnation of Freddie Mercury - that's if you can imagine a Freddie who had been able to juggle, ride a unicycle and if indeed he had ever run away to join the circus. Mario's greatest skill, however, is to make even the most intimate of venues into a rocking arena spectacle, and to unite even the largest venues into one arm-waving excuse for a crowd-surf.
 

Sit back, relax and enjoy the chaos. Cooper delivers a jaw dropping performance that is sure to put you in stitches, figuratively speaking of course. Try to imagine Charlie Chaplin tap dancing on roller skates whilst juggling razor sharp machetes and you will only be scratching the surface of what Cooper has in store for you. From the sublime to the ridiculous is an understatement. On the street in New Zealand or in an arena in Las Vegas, Cooper delightfully charms the pants off of himself.
 

It’s a very special season for LA SOIRÉE darlings the Skating Willers. For thirty years Jean-Pierre Poissonnet and Wanda Azzario have been spinning at breakneck speeds, disregarding gravity and amazing audiences around the world in one of the most extraordinary displays of physical skill you are ever likely to see. True circus royalty – Poissonnet is the great-grandson of legendary circus impresario Billy Smart – the Skating Willers are now legends in their own right.
 

And though we can hardly believe it ourselves, Wanda will be hanging up her skates after this Roundhouse season and biding adieu to life on the road. We are extremely proud, honoured and more than a little-teary eyed to welcome back for the very last time these true dinosaurs of the variety world in what is their final, swan-song Season together!
 

Forget what you think you know about hula hooping; the beautiful Yulia Pykhtina has something to show you. Born in Kiev in the Ukraine, Yulia lives and breathes the mystery of the Near East and trails many a broken heart in her wake. Captivating, graceful and impeccably poised, Yulia turns the ancient art of hula hooping into a spectacular display which is both erotic and exotic.

Further acts to be announced and many surprise special guests to be discovered throughout the run!