Lisa Devaney's Blog

The Wind in the Willows All-Female Revue

nobody@vox.com(Lisa Devaney) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:33:06 +0100

Would, Kenneth Grahame, the author of The Wind in the Willows be delighted or disgusted to know that his fairy tale classic for children has had a makeover?

His four main anthropomorphised animal characters Toad, Badger, Ratty and Mole will be played by a cast of entertaining women who are hell bent on making their own version of the tale rock.

My company the Hai Media Group has produced and cast a new cabaret show that takes inspiration from the lazy river days of life along the river in the very English countryside adventure story. I’m playing Toad of Toad Hall and will present this magical story, that evokes the best of pastoral English settings for summer, to quote the book:

"Believe me, my young friend, there is NOTHING--absolutely nothing--half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats." –The Wind in the Willows

Who’s Who in the Cast?

Toad played by me, Lisa Devaney

Matt Lucas as Toad

Toad of Toad Hall
Badger played by Mary Epworth, lead singer with her Jubliee Band, on the Hand of Glory record label
Mole played by Cheyne Pride, a country rock singer
Ratty played by Lucy Lowe
Weasel, played by Ali Rawlings, aka Punk Rock Dolly
Sexy Rabbit, played by Amanda Mae Steele

We are merrily on our way to The Secret Garden Party, bringing a cast of colourful, loveable, characters who will treat guests to a scrumptious feast of sight and sound at none other than that magical childhood place Toad Hall. Greeting weary travellers who come from far and wide across this great green land of Britain, and beyond, will be our joyful celebration, of dancing, and a spectacular banquet table, in a place to revel.

We’ll debut our all-female revue of The Wind in the Willows at The Secret Garden Party, arts and and music festival this week where Grace Jones is the headline act. Grace Jones:

I've seen that face before...

Our show is among a talented line-up of music acts that will be part of the ‘Come and Play’ area of the festival – a collection of tents that invite guests to play with arcade games, or interact with the performances happening around them.

"The Mole was bewitched, entranced, fascinated. By the side of the river he trotted as one trots, when very small, by the side of a man who holds one spell-bound by exciting stories; and when tired at last, he sat on the bank, while the river still chattered on to him, a babbling procession of the best stories in the world, sent from the heart of the earth to be told at last to the insatiable sea." –The Wind in the Willows

Banquet Feast at Toad Hall

Spread before our guest's eyes will be a dining table, gigantic banquet table, as only would suit Toad of Toad Hall to entertain, along with his friends, all evoking the magical memories of childhood favourite tale The Wind in the Willows. White table cloth, OTT décor and upon this marvellous display, unexpected delights – of poetry reading, dancing and comedy skits, played out spontaneously, between sets of live music.

If you are planning to attend The Secret Garden Party, please plan to see our performance – scheduled for 8 PM, this Thursday, July 24^th, at the ‘Come and Play’ area. We’ll plan to keep in character and costume for the night, so stop by after setting up your campsite and dive deep into this festival’s creative spirit, and come play with us.

"Animals arrived, liked the look of the place, took up their quarters, settled down, spread, and flourished. They didn't bother themselves about the past--they never do; they're too busy." –The Wind in the Willows

Here’s the night’s line-up:

19:00 hrs - 19:30 hrs           DJ Bomber
19:30 hrs - 20:25 hrs           The Ratfinks
20:30 hrs - 20:50 hrs           Hai Media Group Presents: The Wind in the Willows
20:50 hrs - 21:45 hrs           Kid Id
22:00 hrs - 23:00 hrs          The Fontanas
23:00 hrs - 00:00 hrs           DJ Bomber/ I Heart What?
00:00 hrs - 01:00 hrs           Chin Supressor
01:00 hrs - 02:00 hrs           Symmetrik

‘Come and Play’ is an exciting new festival venue, which has been put together by the team

'Come & Play' Area

responsible for bringing Eco-Arcadia to events throughout the UK for the last 5 years. Join in the welcoming feast of the festival, or just sit back, relax and unwind after your travels, to watch the silly, festive antics unfold, enjoy the music, and dine! Dine! Dine! Upon festival delights.

The only question is – are you a Rabbit or a Weasel? Pick one or the other, and join us! Whiskers and bunny ears will be supplied, or bring your own to be a participant in our version of The Wind in the Willows.

"It's never the wrong time to call on Toad. Early or late he's always the same fellow. Always good-tempered, always glad to see you, always sorry when you go!" -The Wind in the Willows

Many thanks to Kate Risker, aka the fabulous Miss Risk, who invited Hai Media Group to produce and perform this new twist of the old tale of The Wind in the Willows.

A proud & stupid Toad am I,

-Lisa

Hai Media Group Logo by Dan Boultwood

Who’s Lisa Devaney?

I head the Hai Media Group, a multimedia communications company based in London, offering client’s traditional public relations, combined with new technology marketing strategies. I also perform, creating original Cabaret-style comedy skits for festivals, theatre and parties. Find out more about me, and the talented entrepreneurs I collaborate with, by visiting: www.haimediagroup.com

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Come Celebrate Co-Dependence Day in London July 4th 2008

nobody@vox.com(Lisa Devaney) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 22:38:59 +0100

My comedy cabaret show the House of Hee Haw! will be back on stage this coming Friday, July 4th, to celebrate:

In Co-Dependence Day

Co Dependence Day Party_July4th_2008

"Get used to it! Your're stuck with us!" said Cheyne Pride, the event organizer and performer.

The event will be a lively celebration of Americana-style music, and a DJ spinning souful favourites, along with rock and some cowboy country music. Our growing cast of hillbillies is proud to be part of the new London country rocker club night Little Bit Country Little Bit Rock n Roll. We'll be hee hawing it up alongside a fantastic line-up of live music, and even Cheerleaders! from the dance troupe Cheer-A-Go-Go.

**Download your flyer here and bring it along to claim your

FREE red hot dog and cowboy hat.!

This party is going to be country fried finger-liking good fun.
*And I bet a £1 that everyone will be hee hawing it up all night. No party poopers welcome, this is dance all night, sing all night wild and wacky fun.

***Please note, the artists request that you please leave your hat at the door, following pretend cowboy, cowgirl and hillbilly fun times at the party -- so we can use the hats the next time!

LITTLE BIT COUNTRY, LITTLE BIT ROCK N ROLL…PRESENTS:

Union Jack

US flag

AMERICAN

CO-(IN)DEPENDENCE DAY

FOURTH OF JULY

CELEBRATIONS!

Featuring...

♥♥♥ Cheer-A-Go-Go! ♥♥♥

(Sweet & Innocent Go-Go Dancing Cheerleaders!)

☻☺☻House of Hee Haw! ☻☺☻

(Hillbilly Comedy Cabaret)

♫♫♪♫♪ HellzaPoppin’ ♫♫♪♫♪

(Rockin’ Stray Cat-Style Trio)

London debut of:

♫♫♪♫♪ The WildCat Tamers ♫♫♪♫♪
(Country,Soul,Rock’n’Roll)

♫♫♪♫♪ DJ Jon the Boatman ♫♫♪♫♪

& Surprise Special Guests

Barbecue & Grill. Very Reasonable Bar Prices

Friday 4th July 2008. Doors 8 ‘til late. £6/£5 concs.

Inn On the Green, 3-5 Thorpe Close, Portobello Green, London W10 5XL.

1 minute walk from Ladbroke Grove Tube Tel: 0208 962 5757 www.iotg.co.uk

www.myspace.com/littlebitcountryuk

Happy to be hee hawing it up for the
red, the white and the blue -
- of both countries!!
-Lisa

Hai Media Group Logo by Dan Boultwood

Who’s Lisa Devaney?

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Helping London to Hee Haw!

nobody@vox.com(Lisa Devaney) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 18:16:04 +0100

Well last Friday night my performance art group helped a great bunch of folks kick-off a new club night here in London called Little Bit Country Little Bit Rock n Roll, an evening presented by artist and musician Cheyne Pride, who, if you remember the 80s, had a hit dance track called Call Me Mr. Telephone.

Check out Cheyne on this YouTube video for some flashback memories of that era:

Cheyne - Call Me Mr. Telephone (1985)

As part of my hillbilly comedy cabaret art, I wrote new material to present an evening performance featuring my Hee Haw! House.

The audience laughed out loud over the show, featuring a cast of characters who went at it SMACK-down style in cabaret wrestling! I loved the mash-up style of the evening that mixed country rock lovers with British punk rock lovers and a lot of other pop cultural influences inbetween. We teamed up with Cheer-A-Go-Go to energize the audience for the evening, and get them ready for the fantastic headliner band JC & The Disciples, formed by a couple of legends from the original London punk rock scene.

Check out a few of my favourite photos from the night, here:

Jasmine JUMPS! as the Country Karate Girl

Hee Haw for Little Bit Country Little Bit Rock n Roll 30th May 2008 Inn On The Green Ladbroke Grove

Hee Haw! For Cheer-A-Go Go

Hee Haw for Little Bit Country Little Bit Rock n Roll 30th May 2008 Inn On The Green Ladbroke Grove

The hillbillies of the Hee Haw! House

Hee Haw for Little Bit Country Little Bit Rock n Roll 30th May 2008 Inn On The Green Ladbroke Grove

You can check out the full photo set on Flickr HERE!

Folks liked it so much that we've been invited back for more, and are now invovled with helping the organizers get ready for a big bash here in London celebrating the Fourth of July! If you are in London, please mark your calendar and I hope ya'll can come on out and join us at Inn On the Green in Ladbroke Grove on Friday, July 4th!

Hee'n and a haw'n,
-Lisa

PS: I've been trying to decide on what to call my performance art project, and was considering the House of Hee Haw! for awhile, but I've decided on the name Hee Haw! House because it rolls off the tounge a little better. This show is taking on a whole new life of its own that is featuring a lot of original content comedy marterial for a wide variety of audiences, so it needs a short easy name to remember that appeals to all audiences. We have a lot of plans to deliver plenty of country-fried fun for the whole family in London, as well as rock n roll music and entertainment.

PPS: Hey, do you want to be part of our urban hillbilly fun? We are looking for all kinds of artistic collaborators for this adventure. If you can do things like play a washboard, harmonica, banjo, pots 'n pans, jews harp, square dance call, line dance, or whatever you think an urban hillbilly might get up to -- please get in touch with me! Drop me a note here on my Vox blog, or email me: info [at] haimediagroup [dot] com

Hai Media Group is a London-based multimedia communications company. Visit: www.haimediagroup.com

Who’s Lisa Devaney?

I head the Hai Media Group, a multimedia communications company based in London, offering client’s traditional public relations, combined with new technology marketing strategies. I also perform, creating original cabaret-style comedy skits for festivals, theatre and parties. Find out more about me, and the talented entrepreneurs I collaborate with, by visiting: www.haimediagroup.com

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Hee Haw! For A Little Bit Country A Little Bit Rock-n-Roll

nobody@vox.com(Lisa Devaney) — Tue, 27 May 2008 22:15:28 +0100

Hee Haw! Whore House

Ya’ll will have another chance to check out my Hee Haw! House comedy cabaret act, this coming Friday night, as we are performing as part of a new club night A Little Bit Country and a Little Bit Rock N Roll. The night promises to be an Americana-style celebration offering up country western, blues and good old fashioned rock-n-roll music, along with dancing and performance and DJs, and great big grins at the Inn On The Green .

A Little Bit Country A Little Bit Rock N Roll

Yes, smiles will be a plenty among this crowd, a gathering being organized by the talented

country western, and rock ‘n roll, singer Cheyne Pride. She’s brought together talent for the first of her new regular club nights with an Americana theme that will leave Londoners feeling warm and fuzzy about the good ‘ol stars and stripes and the fantastic music, art and cultural talent that has brewed from the USA.

Cheyne Pride

Headlining the night is the band National Debt, a country blues rock band based in London, founded by Ronnie Smith and Michael Messer, with backing vocals by Cheyne Pride, sound engineer Chris Clarke, and Ed Genis contributing on guitar. The band’s debut album ‘From the Horse’s Mouth’ was released last spring, earning attention from music press in the UK, including airplay on BBC Radio 2, when Mark Lamarr took a liking to the band's tune ‘Oozlin’ Daddy Blues’.

National Debt Album Cover for 'From A Horse's Mouth'

This band will get you slapping your thighs, lifting your cowboy hats in tribute and tapping your feet along with the beat. Added bonus of the night is JC & the Disciples and dancing cheerleaders from Cheer-A-Go-Go, along with my very own Hee Haw! Whore House comedy. As The Madam of the Hee Haw! Whore House, I’ll be presenting new comedy material SMACK-down style with cabaret wrestling!

Well I hope ya’ll can come on down this Friday, and if you can’t make it this week, do mark your calendar for July 4^th to enjoy an American-style celebration of the national holiday, right in the heart of Londontown at Inn On The Green.

Here are the details for Friday:

Cheyne Pride On Stage

Cheyne Pride Presents:

A Little Bit Country A Little Bit Rock-n-Roll

A new London country western and rock ‘n roll club night featuring:

National Debt

JC & The Disciples

Cheer A-Go-Go

Hee Haw! House

Doors Open at 7:30 PM

(Yes, there is a cover and it will be less than a tenner)

INN ON THE GREEN

3-5 Thorpe Close W10

(Ladbroke Grove tube - cross over and walk under the motorway - look for a balcony and come upstairs)

Buses 7, 15, 23, 52, 70, 295

Feeling a little bit country and a little bit rock ‘n roll,

-Lisa

Hai Media Group Logo by Dan Boultwood

Who’s Lisa Devaney?

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

London Loves to Hee Haw!

nobody@vox.com(Lisa Devaney) — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:16:25 +0100

Hee Haw! Whore House Photo by Darrell Berry

Inside every Londoner is an inner hillbilly, just a hoot in’ ‘n a hollering to get out!

London Burlesque Dancer Tiara Diamond Performs in the Hee Haw! Whore House

With the debut of my new comedy cabaret act the Hee Haw! Whore House this week, I helped the closeted hillbilly spirit inside my fellow Londoners unleash itself for the Finger in the Pie cabaret festival at Madam JoJos.

The venue was packed for showtime last Sunday, April 6^th, and the crowd responded well, whooping it up for our cast of urban hillbillies with applause, laughter and even participation. As The Madam of the Hee Haw! Whore House, I packed in some fast & furious slapstick American-style hilarity, with non-stop silly antics and a few surprises for the performance.

The Madam of the Hee Haw! Whore House & A Horny Punter

Our little whore house kicked-off a fabulous night for Finger in the Pie, with other really enjoyable new artist acts. I particularly liked the creativity and friendly backstage camaraderie of Lheila Oberman & Timothy Dodd of Aliens Ate My Schnitzel. It was also a pleasure to share the stage with Kittyktja, Victoria L'Etoile, Marianna Harlotta & Ruby Corsette, Miss Rose Thorne as Squaw Blimey, and Frankie Chalet. Many thanks to Vixen DeVille, the evening’s temptress MC who held the night together, and super American-style cheers for the organizers of the monthly Finger in the Pie cabaret festival, a fantastic showcase and supportive environment for new London performance acts. Do check out a future show, for details about upcoming performances make friends with them via MySpace or find the group on Facebook.

Who Loves to Hee Haw!?

Moonshine Jug Prop from the Hee Haw! Whore House

James Whatley as a Drunken, Horny Punter in the Hee Haw! Whore House (Photo by Darrell Berry)

James Whatley, aka Whatleydude, was fantastic as our drunken punter, stumbling about with his very own bottle 'o moonshine and making audiences laugh during his performance and a pantomime-style chase scene. No whore house is complete without some whores, and we had two! One pretty, and one, well, butt ugly. The audience oooh’d and ahhh’d over beautiful Tiara Diamond who wowed them with her burlesque dancing skills and sparkly pasties. Shock + horror was on order for Stewart Wright’s hilarious portrayal of our ‘bargain bang bang special’ whore. Stewart saved the show, stepping in last minute as 'understudy' for the night, as our original cast member had a family emergency to tend to.

Our crew also made sure the Hee Haw! Whore House made its stage debut, with my

Diana Munduru, costume designer of the Hee Haw! Whore House with Lisa Devaney

supportive husband John having to make a mad dash back home to get my forgotten makeup case and costume accessories. He also helped on many fronts, from helping to make our flyer, to burning our music tracks and the list goes on. Costume designer Diana Munduru helped us get ‘in character’ backstage in the dressing room, with her skilled ability to make clothing do what it is supposed to do.

Stewart Wright Performs in the Hee Haw! Whore House

Hee Haw!

Comes to London's West End Stage

It was an honour to officially perform on a ‘West End’ stage, of sorts. Madam Jo Jo’s is in the heart of London’s Soho district, which, in addition to being the centre of West End theatre is also the city’s red light district. Next door to Madam JoJos is the Soho Revue Bar, which historically was the very first strip bar to open in London. That venue was hosting the grand finale of London’s Burlesque Festival on the same night, and, I was thinking that the spirit of porn pioneer and baron Paul Raymond, who recently passed away at age 82, must have enjoyed such a fantastic festive night in his corner of London.

I hope you enjoy some of the pictures I’ve found from the night, and our Hee Haw! Whore House may even feature in a restrospective book in the future, as the photographer Peter Lavery, who documents circus performers, joined the artists backstage to take pictures of our pre-show preparation. Plenty more photos can be found here.

Credit for the above pictures goes to Flavia Fraser-Cannon, courtesy of Finger in the Pie Cabaret Festival, and BigShinyThing.com's Darrell Berry.

It was all great showbusiness experience, and I’m now thinking about what’s next for the Hee Haw! Whore House here in the UK. Festival season is coming up, and there are plenty of other venues that might appreciate a good ‘ol hillbilly time. If you have any suggestions for where this comedy performance may be appreciated, please email me at info@haimediagroup.com, or leave me a comment.

Can't wait to hee haw! again,

-Lisa

Hai Media Group Logo by Dan Boultwood

Who’s Lisa Devaney?

The Official

Hee Haw! Whore House 'Playbill'

Here's your very own memento, from the Hee Haw! Whore House:

Just print out these PDF flyers (front and back side) and you've got your own DIY piece of our show:

Official Playbill for the Hee Haw! Whore House

Read and post comments | Send to a friend