Madame Tussauds, London

Madame Tussauds is famous for the long line of eager tourists waiting outside and one of the most exciting things about visiting this attraction was avoiding the ominously long queue! I feel ashamed that Thoroughly Modern Milly, as an ambassador for London, has never visited before as this place has become a rite of passage for tourists visiting our city.

I wasn't prepared for what is housed in this great turquoise dome. The waxworks are plentiful, each room more impressive than the last. Sometimes it is even tricky to distinguish between the masterful sculptures and the mimicking visitors. The camera flashes are constant as visitors pose sillily with their favourite celebrities. I can't mock too much as I did my fair share of tourist participation and was particularly excited to have my photo taken with my childhood idol John Travolta. Other favourites include a ravishing Johnny Depp, the legendary Michael Jackson and some hilarious Royal Family statues.

This attraction isn't just a museum of waxworks, there are various interactive experiences to take part in too. We tried the terrifying Chamber of Horrors, took a ride on the Spirit of London train and watched the impressive 4D Marvel Superheroes Experience... all included in the ticket price. It is good to know that Madame Tussauds is constantly evolving, bringing in new, relevant waxworks all the time, and offering exciting extras for those revisiting.

I left feeling like a much more complete Londoner, Madame Tussauds is certainly a place everyone has to visit once.

Visit the Madame Tussauds website to book your tickets here.

Hot on the Highstreet Week 47

I’d like your opinion on WILDFOX, the American vintage-inspired women’s knitwear brand. Childhood friends Emily Faulstich and Kimberley Gordon felt that things had got too serious in the fashion world and started the Wildfox brand inspired by dreams, fairies, sleepovers and having fun. Since opening in 2006 they have had huge success and have extended the reach of their designs as well as introducing Littlefox, the new kids division, in 2009.

Celebs seem to go crazy for Wildfox, and images of them in their favourite tees and jumpers have been cropping up in magazines for a while now. My first impression was that the clothes were tacky, covered in bright patterns and quotes. After visiting the Wildfox section in Harvey Nichols my mind began to change. The clothes are well made, soft, comfortable and incredibly fine fitting. All the tops I tried sat perfectly and were surprisingly flattering.

But for £60 a t-shirt and £95 a sweatshirt, I wasn’t going to splash out on something I wasn’t 100% sure on. I left empty handed and tried not to think of Wildfox’s alluring designs anymore. Then a few days later, while browsing on the King’s Road, I noticed Adhoc’s eclectic display, which includes Wildfox garments. I went into this colourful madhouse to discover they have a permanent Wildfox sale on in the shop and online, selling the classic designs from last season at up to a third of the price! I bought a super soft, white baggy t-shirt, with a simple peace symbol design, costing £20 rather than the original £65!!

The other shop assistants assured me that new Wildfox stock would be coming in every week, so pop along and have a look. You’ll be killing two birds with one stone: checking out Wildfox’s exuberant collection and experiencing the wacky wonderland of Adhoc.

E.O. Hoppe at The National Portrait Gallery

The first major E. O. Hoppe exhibition in thirty years begins with a dazzling silver print self portrait. I went along to the National Portrait Gallery for a lunchtime excursion on a sunny day last week. Even at 2pm on a Monday afternoon the gallery was busy, so I can only imagine what it is like at weekends. Notebook in hand I wandered round ready for my first Hoppe experience.

In the 1920s Hoppe was one of the most famous photographers in the world, and yet when he died in 1972 he was almost forgotten. He was a well connected man, a close friend of George Bernard Shaw, and evidently from this show, acquainted with rather a lot of other progressive and creative people. Celebrity portraits range from Thomas Hardy to Albert Einstein, King George V to Mussolini, and numerous names in between. All of these unique portrayals can be seen hanging side by side like a wall of fame. Many of the photos have been forgotten or lost and unseen before.

Hoppe’s images catch the sitter’s spirit, character and even mood. A rare picture of dancer and choreographer, Nijinsky shows him hanging his head in exhaustion, eyes closed, backstage after a performance, it certainly is not a conventional photo of this flamboyant icon. Hoppe is keen to express individuality and seems adamant that a genuine attitude should come across in the subject’s gaze, whether they are looking into the lens or gazing elsewhere.

When he wasn’t mixing with the stars, Hoppe was a pioneering street photographer, often using undercover equipment to capture his subject unaware. Most often he would use a hidden Kodak Brownie wrapped in brown paper, this enabled the remarkable spontaneity of the photographs.

Easily my favourite photograph of the lot is ‘The Pearlies’. This image (shown above) captures the concentration of a little boy tucked tightly into his stiff mini pearly outfit complete with cap. I was fixated by this little man, it reminded me of my own brothers posing and staring at the camera when they were toddlers.

The Westminster Gazette commented that Hoppe “may indeed claim to have made the camera sing” and I couldn’t agree more. With such illuminating portraits, I am just surprised it has taken so long for his revolutionary photography to be properly celebrated.

Show continues until 30 May 2011, book here.

Les Dennis in 'Drowning on Dry Land' at The Jermyn Street Theatre

Alan Ayckbourn seems to be a fashionable choice for independent theatres at the moment, with the Print Room staging ‘Snake in the Grass’ and now Jermyn Street Theatre presenting ‘Drowning on Dry Land’. There are many Ayckbourn traits and characteristics that the two plays have in common, most obviously the mysterious outdoor settings: SITG is set in an old tennis court, DODL takes place in the protagonist’s garden. I felt frightened and unnerved by the Print Room’s production, and though there are still eerie undertones in ‘Drowning on Dry Land,’ it is predominantly a harmless comedy.

This is Ayckbourn’s 66th play, written in 2004 about the idiocy of celebrity culture. B-list star Charlie Conrad has caught the public’s attention by continually failing, and over seven years has transformed himself from approachable likeable guy to aloof megastar, with no time even to attend his six year old son’s birthday party. Fame seems to bring him little joy and slowly everything worth having slips away from him.

The attraction for many going to see ‘Drowning on Dry land’ will be the appearance of Les Dennis who takes on the role of Charlie’s kind, smooth-talking agent Jason Ratcliffe. Much to my surprise he steps up to the challenge and comes across convincing and at times quite hilarious. Christopher Coghill has a tricky job playing the ignorant celebrity, and he mostly succeeds though is occasionally a bit lacklustre. Emma Swain seems nervous as the princess wife, Linzi Conrad. Helen Mortimer is awkward as Marsha Bates the young woman entertainer, who turns into freakish clown, Mr Chortles. Her alter-ego clown becomes the focus of the play.

The real laughs come in the second half from Mark Farrelly and Russell Bentley as the two snappy lawyers Hugo de Prescourt and Simeon Diggs. Farrelly has a charming eloquence that immediately adds heat to the on stage debate, and catches the audience’s attention in a way not achieved previously. Bentley is an instinctive comedian who thrives with Ayckbourn’s humour, when he entered I found I was leaning forward in my seat to enjoy the hysterical banter.

Apart from the unpleasant heat this boutique theatre is truly unique in its layout and well worth a visit. You immediately feel involved - a quality perfect for Ayckbourn drama. Be warned though – toilets are on stage, so be sure to go before the lights go down.

Drowning on Dry Land continues until 19 March, book here.

X FACTOR - The Results Show

You can pretend not to be interested, but really X-Factor is irresistible, and inevitably most of our nation get involved in the hype, even if that is just ‘loving to hate it.’ I love to love it, and even auditioned for the programme this year, keen to experience the process for myself. (Read about my audition here.)

With a stroke of genius luck I got invited to the live show last Sunday, in none other than the VVIP section (that’s right Very VERY Important Person!) I went along with my best friend. We met up a few hours before the show to get ready and prep ourselves for the night ahead. With a little guidance from my younger sister and other helpers we decided on sequined dresses – of which I have two, a glitzy Primark number for my pal, and I wore my beautiful vintage Butler and Wilson dress that normally hangs in pride of place on my bedroom wall. Make-up was applied, sparkly gems glued to our cheeks, heels fastened and feathers tucked into our perfected hair. We were finally ready to go.

The journey in the car there was relatively easy, the venue, Fountain Studios in Wembley, isn’t far away from my house. We passed rowdy queues of excited fans as we circled the studios trying to find a parking space. Thankfully we didn’t have to queue, in fact we just quoted our names and waltzed in with the other lucky VVIPs. The ladies toilet was where we found our first exciting encounter of the night – one of Nicole Scherzinger’s dancers, noticing her (even more glittery) make-up we plucked up the courage to chat to her.

We were soon ushered into the, surprisingly small X-Factor studio which, I later found out, was in fact the largest in Europe. We sat in our seats (about 10 rows behind Louis Walsh), and waited for a painfully exciting 15 minutes. With five minutes to go the audience warm-up man came up on stage to prepare us with cheering instructions. It all came and went by very quickly, but I absolutely loved every second – the atmosphere, the music, the bitchiness, the celebrities. We decided that perhaps the most intriguing part was seeing the action in the studio when the cameras weren’t filming: who talked to who, which contestants were friends and which judges demanded the most pampering.

Performing on Sunday night’s show were The Wanted, Nicole Scherzinger and mini popstar Justin Bieber. They all put on a fantastic show, and it was fascinating to see how swiftly the management team transformed the stage. The Wanted boys drove around in dodgems and Nicole came down from a circular construction in the air. The star of the three was little Bieber, who I had previously dismissed as a phoney untalented kid... as it turned out, his new single is pretty catchy and as a dancer he is absolutely exceptional. Adorably he played up to the audience too, throwing his leather gloves to nearby screaming girls.

I don’t need to tell you who was evicted, I’m sure you all know, once Katie Waissel had gone it was down to Louis’ two contestants, Mary and Wagner to wow the judges with a final offering. Both belted out classic songs, but it was (unsurprisingly) Mary that made it through, with all four judges choosing the Tesco check-out lady over wacky Wagner. I liked Wagner and his presence in the show, and was sad to see him go; he left the stage with great dignity.

After the live show, we went into the special canteen-type room to greet (well more like mob) the remaining X-Factor contestants. The One Direction boys were super cute and very friendly, all of them willing and enthusiastic about having their photo taken with the fans. We chatted to One Direction Louis’s little sister for a while about what it was like being the sibling of one of these famous young boys, she seemed unphased and instead told us all about the news from the X-Factor house, and some excellent gossip! We shamelessly fought through the people to meet most of the X-Factor stars, and have the photos taken to prove it! I have to say after meeting them all, my alliances have changed rather dramatically... with One Direction and Matt Cardle firm favourites at the top.

An unforgettable evening!

Apologies for the ultra long post – I assumed you’d all want to know EVERY detail!