ON THE BOX
The man with the square eyes is Mark Ritchie and this month he comments on new developments in Strictly Come Dancing. Mark reports from the West-End of London, where new ‘Strictly’ presenter Johannes Radebe, where the much-loved star is appearing in a production of the hit musical, Kinky Boots.
It is all-change on ‘Strictly’ and some people believe the new presenting team will prove to be a huge success. With the best will in the world, the out-going pair, Tess Daley and Claudia Winkelman, are auto-cue readers who got lucky and landed a big job. In my view, the format needs a comedian and obviously, to me at least, someone who can actually dance!
Josh Widdicombe is the new kid on the dance floor and I have to admit, I have never seen him live on-stage. I have no idea if he is the right comedian to put out there on the edge of the dancefloor. What I do know for sure is, when called upon to do a bit of ‘business’ with the audience, or fill-in with an ad-lib, young Josh will be far better equipped for the job then two TV-land women who are stuck as soon as the prompter stops prompting them.
Moving on to Johannes Radebe, my wife is a fan and that is putting it mildly! For her birthday treat, just a few weeks ago, we went to stay in London for a couple of days. Her favourite restaurant is Rules, which is situated in Maiden Lane, just off Covent Garden and a short after-dinner stroll took us London Coliseum Theatre, where Johannes was live on stage.
With music by Cyndi Lauper, Kinky Boots is a tale of a struggling shoe factory, which is re-born when the owner (played by X-Factor winner Matt Cardle) is persuaded by a drag queen (played by Johannes Radebe) to manufacture the eponymous fetish footwear to adorn the feet of drag artistes.
Cardle is terrific in the show and it is good to see a former TV Talent show luminary realise the continuation of a career, post ‘Appointment with Cowell’.
The TV camera loves Johannes almost as much as my wife, who tells me she wants to move Johannes into our home and ‘mother him’.
Given the opportunity, I would not put it past her!
To express your views on UK-TV, please e-mail the editor. mark.ritchie@ukcabaret.com
