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Who’s the new boss behind the bar @Queens Arms?

Morgan Fabulous pops along to the Queens Arms to chat with new boss John Michael Fletcher who is fulfilling his life’s ambition to run a bar.

The Queens Arms is one of Brighton’s oldest established gay bars providing top quality cabaret for over thirty-five years.

It has seen many legendary managers come and go over the years, and now is managed by John, a retired furniture manufacturer and upholsterer who has a life time of business and customer service experience behind him.

The Queens Arms is known for top quality drag entertainment and its friendly atmosphere – it is also the first bar I visited when I originally moved to Brighton and was welcomed with open arms.

John is intending to shake things up a little bit and is presently looking for new unique acts and singers to perform at the bar, so the entertainment on offer becomes more diverse and appeals to more people.

A few weeks ago saw the successful launch night of Men for Men Monday special, a full strip show, presented and promoted by Davina Sparkle, (unfortunately Davina wasn’t stripping, but it was still a hell of a show). Plans are in place to overhaul the front of the pub, with eye-catching light installations and displays to advertise the week’s entertainment.

John was raised in Lancaster and lived in West Yorkshire until he moved his import/export furniture business to Brighton in 1993 and became the owner of Marthas Barn.

However, he decided he wanted to travel and take his love of furniture with him, so he moved to Cape Town in South Africa and commuted back to Brighton once a month to over-see his business.

After seven years of success in Cape Town, it was time to move back to Brighton as the land that the business was located on was being bought by a major company who didn’t want to continue renting the property for retail, so Marthas Barn sadly closed.

John decided to take his business to Chiang Mi in Northern Thailand, where he made furniture for big brands such as Zara Home. After six successful years there, he decided to retire, left Thailand and moved back to Brighton, where did voluntary work at the hospital for the Salvation Army and for the homeless at the Dorset Gardens Methodist Church.

He returned to Thailand for a holiday where he met his partner. It wasn’t until that point that John came out to himself, after many years in the closet (I had to get that in seeing as he is a furniture maker). He had often thought about his sexuality, but never felt the time was right, until then. He told me that at the time, very few people knew, but I have his full permission to include it in this article.

When he finally returned to Brighton to live he felt like taking on a new project and jokingly offered his services to run the bar at the Queens Arms, which turned into reality a few weeks later and he is now looking for staff to join his friendly team!

John enjoys reading; his favourite book is Katherine, by Anya Seton. He also loves music and listens to everything from Maria Callas to Lady Gaga.

BOOK REVIEW: Queer City: Peter Ackroyd

Queer City

by Peter Ackroyd

Ackroyd delivers an interesting read – yet again – about London, this time our London, queer, gay lesbian and all the wondrous different types of sexuality and fluid genders that this city, which was a city from the start, has thrown up, protected, hidden, suppressed, cultured, twisted and then celebrated. With endless facts to delight, thrill and amuse Ackroyd’s book is a stupendous celebration and investigation it queer life in the British Island from Celtic times to the present day.

Although not always centred on London itself, he manages to give context and understanding along with a lot of wonderfully saucy detail into the various sub cultures, peoples, types, fashions, habits and secret groups of queers and gay men thought-out the last two thousand years. The chapters are laid out chronologically, but also with a dizzying factual dance thought politics, sex, religion, sex,  monarchy, sex, wars, and empire with enough subtext (and sex) to chew on and a seriously good habit of laying things out in the context of their times, making for a deep and thorough understanding of the why, where’s and how’s of Queer life in our glorious capital city.

There’s some familiar stuff included but where it is Ackroyd has deepened its understanding with background info on the political, social and moral ideas of the day, giving an understanding not just of how these people lived, but how they lived openly (or not) and how they were treated. He’s a bit vague on the first thousand odd years, with some very skimpy stuff before he seems to hit full steam on the 17th century and then can’t be stopped. It’s like standing in a drag queens way as they throw stuff out their walk-in closed, glitz, glamour, harness, hat and dildo go thumping down left right and centre and you need to duck and dodge to avoid getting hit.  The tempo of this book is wildly unbalanced but its interesting enough to ( mostly) not bother.

One comes away with feeling that there’s nothing new under the sun ( or on the streets of London)  and the types we see on the streets of Soho and Vauxhall have been there, in one way or another since the dawn of the metropolis, forming it, being part of it and being part of the vibrant culture of this huge mixing pot that is the capital city of the United Magic Kingdom.  I take issue with Ackroyd’s summing up of the changes in acceptance and law being akin to a great tide in social acceptance that ebbs and flows of its own volition as its bold people that grab the ship’s wheel of society when it’s afloat on such a full sea, and demand and force change to happen, but overall it’s a fun read.

Ackroyd connects us modern-day queers up with our Celtic and Roman forbearers and all the benders, faggots, dykes,  trannies, queers, inverts, perverts, queens, Ganymede’s, sappho’s, cross dressers, gender twisters, fops, dandies, genderqueers and utterly baroque non binary beauties (and run of the mill) gay boys in between. Who were all after the same things, same-sex love, identity on their own terms and sex and often going about it in surprisingly familiar ways.

A seriously good queer read.  Validating, interesting and endlessly fascinating, just like us in our infinite variety.

Out now

Hardback £16.99

For more information, click here:  

Brighton businessman bids to become Mr Gay Europe – Campaign Day 17

Just four days left to vote!

Matt Rood has lived in Brighton for the last fifteen years. His job is his passion. He’s a dog walker and trainer and has his own company called ROODDOG. His other passion is fitness and he goes to the Underground gym in Brighton five or six times a week.

The last two years have been an emotional journey for Matt following the breakdown of his marriage. A friend came across the competition for Mr Gay Europe and encouraged him to apply.

Matt said: “I’m a very enthusiastic guy and love setting myself new challenges so I went for it. I hired the best personal trainer in town Sam Bird to help keep me focused and positive enabling me to be successful and reach my goals.”

A formal interview with Stuart Hatton former Mr Gay World 2014 followed, then a cv round, a photo round and two Skype interviews with the board of directors of Mr Gay Europe. He completed each round successfully and was awarded his new title, Mr Gay England.

Contrary to common perception, Mr Gay Europe isn’t a beauty pageant, it’s more about understanding LGBT+ law, LGBT+ rights and being cultured within the LGBT+ communities.

The Mr Gay Europe competition takes place in Stockholm, Sweden from August 1-6 when Matt will be competing against contestants from fifteen other countries.

The competition includes different rounds ranging from a formal interview, a written exam on the contestants knowledge of LGBT+ law, a social media challenge, a team challenge, a congeniality round, a fitness round and a round on the contestants campaigning work.

Matt’s campaign for the competition is called Pride Families. For three years he was a foster carer and helped ten children. He wants to use his new title as Mr Gay England and his experience as a foster carer as a platform to promote awareness showing that LGBT+ people can adopt and foster children providing them with loving, safe and nurturing homes.

In September, Matt will be working with Brighton and Hove City Council to launch a new fostering and adoption campaign and on July 8 he walked on the London Pride march with the fostering and adoption charity, New Family Social.

He added: “I’ve linked up with a local school too, as I believe the only way to combat discrimination in future generations is to work with children and teach them through respect, happiness and love for each other.”

Voting for Mr Gay Europe goes live on July 17 and you can vote online until August 4. Matt needs your votes as this counts for 20% of his final marks. Most importantly you can vote everyday the online voting is live to get a campaign going for him.

Matt concluded: “This has definitely been a whirlwind journey so far. I am loving every minute and I know if I win Mr Gay Europe the hard work starts there. I have the passion, motivation and drive to be a positive role model for our LGBT+ communities. So please vote for me.”

To vote for Matt and bring the title of Mr Gay Europe to Brighton, click here:

You can vote each day as Matt’s campaign gathers speed.

 

REVIEW: Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus – Showtime @St Georges Church

It is difficult to find new things to say about the Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus that I have not written before, but here we go.

At their pre-Pride Concert (July 29) at St Georges Church, Kemptown, they once again turned in a highly polished performance, highlighting the strength in-depth of the chorus’ soloists and the supreme quality of the music team behind this great choir.

Matt Thompson and Chris Wellings were up to the challenges posed by Agony from Sondheim’s Into the Woods. Notoriously tricky to pull off, the pair were more than up to the challenges the number posed. Fabio Leone’s I am Adolfo from The Drowsey Chaperone was deliciously camp and beautifully performed as was Crazy Little Thing Called Love featuring the vocals of Andy Williams who could sing the telephone directory and make it sound cool and contemporary.

Rod Edmunds and Sadao Ueda’s rendition of In His Eyes from Jekyll & Hyde was really special. Both singers connected with the lyrics giving me personally the best musical moments of the evening.

The best technical moment of the evening came during Nick Ford’s And I’m Telling You from Dreamgirls – a massive number for any male singer to tackle. Nick’s performance showed us how secure his vocal technique is, how big his voice is and most importantly, how much in control he is of it. He received the largest cheer of the evening from a very appreciative audience. It was well deserved.

Andy Williams, George Leach, Joe Paxton and Jon Taylor pooled their wide-ranging music and acting talents together for a clever performance of Turn if Off from Book of Morman. The comic timing was genius and gave a real lift to the second half of the show.

Finally a mention for musical director, Marc Yarrow, whose version of This Is The Moment from Jekyll & Hyde was a masterclass in how to effectively phrase a big number like this.

And all this was just the contributions from the soloists….

The title of the show was ShowtimeAn evening celebrating some of the most beloved Broadway and West End Musicals. The chorus contributions to the evening included a clever arrangement of Aquarius and Let The Sun Shine In, from Hair, a stirring performance of Climb Every Mountain from The Sound of Music, and a new and delicious one to me, Tapestry from Beautiful – The Carole King Musical.

The second half of the show included Xanadu, The Impossible Dream from Man of La Mancha, Stars from Les Miserables and a glorious anthemic arrangement of Bowie’s Life On Mars from Lazarus. All show stoppers in their own right, beautifully arranged and performed and linked together with little vignettes by St John Effingham Smythe played by John Buckeridge.

A small technical point to mention is that during some of the big choral arrangements the first tenors were swamped by the choir and the melodies were temporary lost.

Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus is supported by a first class music team consisting of musical director Marc Yarrow, deputy musical director and accompanist extraordinaire Tim Nail and assistant musical director Joe Paxton who conducted a couple of numbers towards the end of the first half.

To send us on our way happy and ready for Pride at the weekend, the chorus donned wimples to sing I will Follow Him from Sister Act the Musical – a perfect end to a perfect evening.

Bucket collections on the night amounted to £634.85 and were donated to the Rainbow Fund who give grants to LGBT+/HIV organisations who deliver effective front line services to LGBT+ people in the city.

If you want to sing with the Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus they have a new members evening on Tuesday, September 12, at the Brighton Unitarian Church, New Road, Brighton, starting at 7.30pm

Their Christmas show this year will be at All Saints Church, Hove on Friday, December 15.

For more information about the chorus, click here: 

P&O Cruises to offer same-sex marriages at sea

P&O Cruises has become the first British cruise line to be able to conduct same-sex weddings at sea.

Azura

The first ceremony will be held in the Caribbean in January 2018 and follows a recent Supreme Court ruling enabling same-sex marriages in Bermuda, where all the ships in the P&O fleet (except Britannia) are registered.

The first wedding will be held on Azura in the Caribbean in January 2018, performed by the ship’s Captain with the marriage license being issued by Bermuda.

Paul Ludlow
Paul Ludlow

P&O Cruises senior vice president, Paul Ludlow, said: “I am delighted that following this much-anticipated change in the legalities we are now the first British cruise line to be able to arrange same-sex weddings on board. Weddings at sea are very romantic and getting married by the Captain in the middle of the ocean is an unforgettable experience.”

Same sex couples can now purchase a P&O Cruises Weddings at Sea package, which costs from £1,200 and includes:

♦       A romantic ceremony at sea conducted by the Captain or deputy Captain

♦       Wedding ceremony venue with floral arrangements

♦       Traditional wedding music

♦       Services of the on-board Wedding Coordinator

♦       Attendance of a professional photographer at the ceremony

♦       Commemorative wedding certificate

♦       An official copy of the marriage certificate

♦       The cost of the license fees

♦       A bottle of Champagne in the cabin on arrival

♦       Champagne for a toast after the ceremony

♦      Invitations and thank you notes

♦      An additional 5kg luggage allowance for the couple if travelling on a P&O Cruises fly/cruise holiday

♦      Wedding outfit pressing service

For more information, click here:

Or telephone P&O Cruises on 0344 33 88 595

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