Your Country’s Gerred Sings Dirty Ditties in Soho

Though he won’t be heading to Oslo for the 55th annual Eurovision Song Contest, Alexis Gerred, runner-up in BBC One’s Your Country Needs You contest, will be on stage in May. He’s signed up to make his West End debut in Dirty White Boy: Tales of Soho, the adaptation of Clayton Littlewood’s blog-turned-memoir, which will 30 April to 23 May 2010 (previews from 26 April) at Trafalgar Studios 2.

Dirty White Boy is based on Littlewood’s bizarre experiences running an upmarket menswear shop in bohemian Old Compton Street in the heart of Soho. From his window on one of the world’s most colourful street corners, he sat and blogged about the real-life characters who passed through his doors: the aging ‘polari speaking’ Leslie, Sue and Maggie from the brothel upstairs, Angela the feisty transsexual, the bizarre ‘Thongman’ and Chico, the campest queen on the street.

Littlewood’s blog became a popular column in thelondonpaper and was subsequently published in book form by Cleis Press in 2008. The stage adaptation now comes to the West End, with Littlewood himself acting as narrator, joined in the cast by award-winning solo performer David Benson (whose myriad credits include Think No Evil of Us: My Life with Kenneth Williams). Gerred, meanwhile, will sing torch songs as the eponymous “Dirty White Boy”.

Dirty White Boy is directed by Phil Willmott, whose most recent credits include Naked Boys Singing, Fucking Men and Once Upon a Time at the Adelphi. It’s presented by Seabright Productions.