Soho Songs: A new Song Cycle by Barb Jungr & Mike Lindup

Premier Performance of a new song cycle by Barb Jungr and Mike Lindup.

Featuring an ensemble cast of 4 fabulous singers: Lucinda Lawrence, Kate Johns-Burke, Nate Rogers and Robbie Noonan.

With a trio of stunning musicians: Mark Edwards -piano; Arnie Somogyi -bass; Darren Beckett– drums.

Soho. A magical place. Where everyone comes to make their dreams come true. A pub bar. A day dawns. The homeless person sees everything. The Landlady prepares for another bloody scrap to keep her pub open, as Soho is eroded by developers’ who eat the past and regurgitate everything into another block of super flats. Trafficked women, bouncers, the pit musician, drag queens and burlesque dancers, croupiers, actors and luvvies, dancers and chancers; they all come to the legendary Shangri-La pub to share their stories, have a laugh or to tell their tortured tales  As the night welcomes another dawn, the disco lights spin on, the glamour fades and the homeless man returns to his pitch. Come and join us at Shangri-La before last orders.

Staged and directed for Crazy Coqs by Peter Glanville (Artistic Director of Polka Theatre).

For some time singer and writer Barb Jungr, entranced by its unique history and her experiences of working there for the last 40 or so years as a singer and performer, wanted to make a piece of work about Soho. Mike Lindup’s relationship to Soho is formed over half a century, as a child visiting with his parents, both of whom were working musicians and as an adult as a musician himself, both in the pit and on stage. Soho Songs is their homage to London’s most extraordinary square mile.

Crazy Coqs regular cabaret and recording artist Barb Jungr and founder member of Level 42, composer and arranger, Mike Lindup previously wrote all songs and music for Liver Birds Flying Home which ran at The Royal Court Liverpool for 4 weeks in 2018.

Lucina Lawrence

Lucinda Lawrence is an actress and choreographer. She is currently the narrator of BBC 1’s Garden Rescue, and this summer, is choreographing a new commission for NYMT; ‘A Kiss For Cinderella’. She met Barb and Mike in 2018 when she played Young Beryl in Liver Birds Flying Home (Royal Court, Liverpool) Film credits include: Matilda (Netflix); Wonka (Warner Bros); and The Final Bow (Kutaykollectiv). Recent theatre credits include: The Taxidermist’s Daughter (Chichester Festival Theatre). Roz Keith in 9 to 5 (UK Tour); Velma Von Tussle in  Hairspray (UK Tour); and Cherry Sundae in Charlie And The Chocolate  Factory (Theatre Royal Drury Lane).

Kat Johns-Burke

Kat is a West-Midlands performer from the sunny town of Stafford. She graduated from The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts in 2020; where she studied Acting. Performing, singing and generally prancing about are things Kat enjoys most and takes great pride in. She has been involved in a variety of productions since then; from Christabel Pankhurst singing Alanis Morisette’s Oughta Know to an ex-lover (Ladyfriends), to the gritty and driven New York gangster Pearl St Clair (Peaky Blinders: The Rise). Kat always loves bringing big and bold characters to life and is excited to do the same with those in Soho Songs.

Nate Rogers

Nate is a singer and has been performing since his early 20’s playing the lead in many community productions including Company, Sunday in the Park With George and Chess. He runs The Electric Theatre in Guildford and  performs with a number of big bands and sings regularly in care homes across the South East. He released his first single “Ghost Light” (written by Barb Jungr and John McDaniel in response to the pandemic and its devastating effect on the arts industry) in 2020. He followed that with “Christmas Is Coming” in December 2020 and released “Watching the Clouds” (Barb Jungr and Simon Wallace) on Kristalyn Records on 23rd April 2021. Nate is extremely excited to be performing in Soho Songs on the stage of The Crazy Coqs.

Robbie Noonan

Robbie graduated from The MTA in 2018 where he performed as Jojo in Suessical, Mother Goose in Mother Goose and Alec d’Urberville in Tess of the d’Uerbervilles. He debuted his acting career in Beast Quest (Rose Theatre, Kingston/ Hampton Court Palace) moving onto The Snow Queen (Simply Theatre Productions), Avenue Q UK no.1 Tour (Selladoor Productions) and Beauty and The Beast (Bedworth Civic Hall). Robbie is so thrilled to be working on new and exciting writing in Soho Songs!

Soho Songs Band

Mark Edwards -piano

Arnie Somogyi -bass

Darren Beckett- drums