La Clique has performed seasons all over the world, including Sydney, Melbourne, Montreal, Dublin, New York and the Edinburgh Fringe, where its regular appearance in the Spiegeltent in George Square Gardens has recently become a fixture, assuming cult status.
La Clique is described in press materials as "a sexy, funny and dangerous experience . . . [that] is impossible to define and impossible to resist. It is an ever-changing, motley assortment of some of the most outrageous, hilarious and downright bizarre and beautiful acts." These include Norway's Captain Frodo, whose eye-watering flexibility brings new meaning to the word contortion; Spain and the UK's Ursula Martinez, whose show-stopping routines literally strip cabaret down to its barest essentials; Germany's David O'Mer, who has reinvented the pleasures of a nice soak in the tub; Kiev's Yulia Pikhtina, widely considered to be one of the finest exponents of the ancient art of hula hooping; The English Gents performing their inconceivable feats of human strength and skill; London's own Miss Behave – a larger than life, PVC-clad cartoon character with a fetish for swallowing pointy objects; the amazing puppets of Montreal's Cabaret Decadanse; and last, but not least, Mario, Queen of the Circus, a veteran of the New York alternative comedy scene, an uber-cool leather-bursting reincarnation of Freddie Mercury - if he'd ever run away and joined the circus.
London's Hippodrome was first constructed by celebrated theatre architect Frank Matcham in 1900 as a home for a water circus, with the venue's early performances featuring elephants, polar bears and sea lions, which all frolicked in its 100,000-litre pool. A hugely varied history has seen it operate as the location for one of Harry Houdini's greatest escapes; and in the sixties and seventies the stage was graced by the likes of Judy Garland, Shirley Bassey, Ethel Merman and The Temptations in its incarnation as the dinner-dance venue Talk of The Town. It was purchased in the early eighties by Peter Stringfellow, who turned it into a nightclub and returned it to its original name - The Hippodrome. Most recently the venue has been used for private events, and now with the arrival of La Clique, it will return to its former glory.
The London season will be produced by La Clique Productions, Chocolate Factory Productions, Mark Rubinstein and Mick Perrin.
Performances will be held on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 PM and on Sunday at 6 PM. There will be additional late night performances on Saturdays at 10:30 PM from Oct. 11 and Fridays at 10:30 PM from Oct. 31. There will be extra Tuesday evening performances in December, on Dec. 9, 16, 23 and 30. To book tickets contact the box office at 020 7907 7097 or visit www.lacliquelondon.com.
