Hippodrome hosts quirky La Clique

First Published 28 August 2008, Last Updated 28 August 2008

La Clique, the international entertainment sensation, is to play its first ever London season this autumn, opening at the Hippodrome in October.

A successful company the world over, having performed in Sydney, Melbourne, Montreal, Dublin, New York and Edinburgh, La Clique describes itself as a “melange of cabaret, new burlesque, circus sideshow and contemporary variety, a sexy, funny and dangerous experience”.

Among the acts collected in La Clique’s international menagerie of the bizarre are Norway’s outrageously bendy Captain Frodo, hula hoop’s finest exponent Yulia Pikhtina, the PVC-clad Miss Behave who has a penchant for swallowing pointy objects, and Ursula Martinez whose show-stopping routines literally strip cabaret down to its bare essentials.

Once one of London’s most recognised names, the Hippodrome has recently become a venue for private events. La Clique hopes to restore the historic venue to its former glory as an entertainment landmark.

Originally constructed as a water circus, with a 100,000 litre pool in which elephants, polar bears and sea lions could be seen, the Hippodrome has hosted performances from artists as wide ranging as escapologist Harry Houdini and singers Shirley Bassey and Judy Garland. Before becoming a private events venue, the Hippodrome was a nightclub run by Peter Stingfellow.

La Clique opens at the Hippodrome on 10 October, following previews from 2 October, and is booking until 1 February.

MA

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