Taboo, the Boy George musical set around the London club scene of the 1980s, first opened ten years ago, then transferred to Broadway. Now it’s back in a new production at a new venue, the Brixton Club House.
While it was in rehearsal David McGillivray met most of the major players – director Christopher Renshaw, writer Mark Davies Markham, choreographer Frank Thompson, costume designer Mike Nicholls, make-up artist Christine Bateman, and of course composer George himself…
SCENE: BRIXTON CLUB HOUSE
THE PRESENT
QX: Why are we here rather than the West End?
George: Back in the 80s I had a friend who lived on Railton Road called Wendy Wattage, this mental drag queen, who used to walk around on stilts. I think Brixton is a kind of a funky place. Taboo is a funky show and I think we fit in here. The original Blitz scene was trying to be post-war Berlin and there’s a little bit of that in this building.
Mike: Brixton has its own vibe and I like it very much. It’s been cleaned up a bit lately but I used to come to Brixton and you’d walk out of the tube and there’d always be a woman playing a comb and that was your entrance into Brixton.
Chris: When we first had the idea, I wanted to do it in a place like this. It’s like coming back to its roots for me. It was built as a hospital in 1930, I think. The [current] management’s only taken over for about a year or so and it’s now quite famous for parties, which they do on the roof. But this has never been used as a show room.
“I remember all these Dutch people going, “Urrgghh, it’s disgusting!” And I said, “No. It’s art.”
FLASHBACK: THE ORIGINAL TABOO NIGHTCLUB
1985-87
QX: Which of you went to the original Taboo?
Christine: I got dragged there by my sister.
George: Her sister was married to Leigh Bowery.
Christine: She said, “Christine, you’re coming with me. Wear something.”
QX: What was your most memorable experience at Taboo?
Mike: It’s a bit of a blur really.
Christine: I remember meeting…
Mike: Me.
Christine: Yes, meeting you. And meeting George as well. But what was really exciting was finding I was dancing next to Jimmy Somerville.
George: Is that the best you can do?
Mike: They were all fantastic nights. It was like going into a Technicolor Top of the Pops world.
George: One of my favourite things was that Leigh used to make up these imaginary guest lists and there’d be ridiculous people like Joan Collins, Des O’Connor and Irene Handl.
Mike: And Mark [Vaultier] on the door was great. He used to vet all the people coming in. If you were wearing clothes from Debenhams for example, you know, forget it.
QX: Did Jeffrey Hinton really play the slip mat?
George: Possibly yeah. He was also a great DJ as well. But people used to get quite messy at Taboo. Drinking… other stimulants…
QX: We have to talk about other stimulants.
George: We don’t have to! [Cackles].
QX: No, let’s. Because it’s true.
George: It is true. But not for everybody.
Christine: It wasn’t for me. I was quite innocent really. I wasn’t a goody two shoes. I’d just go around finding all the drinks that people had put down and drinking them because I couldn’t afford to buy my own. So I used to get very drunk.
George: The biggest narcotic was drag.
Mike: Exactly. You’d spend the whole week thinking what you were going to wear and the whole day getting ready. We’d all been around clubs before Taboo. There was the Blitz, there was Batcave and the Mudd Club. But when Taboo started it raised the bar.
George: Leigh injected a real energy into London.
QX: Let’s pay tribute to Leigh because there are people on the scene today who are still copying his looks.
George: Absolutely. Leigh came along at a time when a lot of us had done a lot of things already, in terms of fashion and being exhibitionist, and we’d become quite cynical. I remember the first time I saw Leigh. I used to have a blue face and I was like, oh, I’ve done that look. The blue face look? Oh, please! And then, kind of against my better judgment, I took a closer look and thought, ooh, it’s pretty interestingly done.
Leigh had been in Australia watching us in London and I suppose planning how he was going to get to London and take it that much further. I often used to see Leigh and think, well, he’s dressed as Hitler down a toilet. There’s nowhere else to go. And you know what? There always was.
QX: What was the most outrageous thing you saw him do?
George: The enemas. I was there in Amsterdam. We were at the Roxy and he came down on a pulley in a sort of tutu and did a… sort of… enema. And I remember all these Dutch people going, “Urrgghh, it’s disgusting!” And I said, “No. It’s art.”
Mike: I was at the ICA one night and he was dressed in a swastika jacket and was pissing up against a wall and they threw him out. I remember that. I think he was banned from the ICA for life.
QX: Those of you who didn’t go to Taboo, what’s your impression of the club?
Chris: It must have been extraordinary and dangerous and sexual and fabulous and Mick Jagger couldn’t get in. I’m sure I wouldn’t have been allowed in.
Paul: I was talking to some friends and they said that there hasn’t really been a time like that since. It was so creative in terms of how people presented themselves.
Chris: And that’s what they say about London internationally. In the 80s London was leading everything, way ahead of America. We should be proud of London in the 80s.
FLASHBACK: THE FIRST PRODUCTION OF TABOO
2002
Mark: I’d never written a musical before. But I had a great teacher with Chris Renshaw. This time round, having done other musicals since, I’m coming back into it with that kind of education. There were things we always wanted to do so this is an opportunity to go back and re-visit them and enhance what we’ve got already.
QX: Paul, did Philip Sallon come to see the show?
Paul: Ha ha ha! Philip was around a lot especially when we first opened. In fact he came backstage in the middle of the first preview and gave everybody notes. Chris chased him out of the dressing room and said, “You’re not to speak to my actors like that.”
Mark: I like Philip but he can be very, very tricky. When I was writing the character I said to him, “It can go two ways, the audience can love you or hate you.” They loved him.
Paul: It evolved that way. But there’s a moment in the show when Philip gets beaten up, which is ironic now that that’s actually happened. We had nights when he got beaten up and they cheered.
Chris: That was only his friends!
QX: What did Philip think of your impersonation of him?
Paul: First of all he said, “[Impersonation] I don’t speak like that.” And then he grew to love it. He saw the reaction that the show got and I think he was secretly quite chuffed about it.
Chris: Flattered.
Mark: Flattered and long live Philip.
QX: The Broadway production was a bit tempestuous?
Mike: I think something was lost in the Broadway show. In the London show it was sort of in the round and quite intimate. You know it’s based in a night club so you want an intimacy and in the Broadway show you were suddenly behind a proscenium and something was lost.
George: It was an amazing experience I have to say. Every night was fun.
Mike: It was one of the best times of my life. But Rosie [O’Donnell] wanted it to be like a family show. But then on the other hand she wanted to have all these transgressive characters. There was definitely a conflict there. I think she did it with the best intentions and a good heart and we did have the most fantastic time.
George: Taboo has had a very interesting life and I wouldn’t take any of it back. When we talked about going to Broadway I said to the guys, “We’re all mates, but the deals we’ve been offered in New York aren’t amazing. Everything Rosie’s promised us will probably be reneged upon. It’ll probably end in tears. What do you think we should do?” And everybody unanimously said, “We gotta go to Broadway!” I’m strangely affectionate towards Rosie now. I went through a period of wanting to strangle her. But we Tweet each other now.
TABOO, 2012
QX: What do you think kids today will make of the 80s club scene?
George: There is a scene now in London and there is a nucleus of club kids and they probably think they invented the wheel. You’ve got to be really careful not to say, “Ooh, back in my day…!” There’s always exciting things happening. Maybe the group is smaller but then, when I look back at Blitz and Taboo, it was kind of a pinhead in the grand scheme of things. It was only a handful of people. But they managed to get a lot of exposure and attention, which I think is the key, isn’t it?
• Taboo runs at the Brixton Club House, 467 Brixton Road, SW9 8HH, until 23rd December. Box Office: 08444 771000 or www.ticketweb.co.uk/BrixtonClubHouse
