Art and commerce battle for the soul of London's Soho after the closure of famed burlesque and sex clubs and skyrocketing property prices
Madame Jojo's is dead, but the risque London institution is not passing quietly.
The closure of the venerable burlesque nightclub has ignited a battle between developers, residents and entertainers for the soul of Soho, the city's late-night hub, red-light district and creative heart.
As soaring London property prices fill once-scruffy areas with glass condos and office buildings, protesters including actor Benedict Cumberbatch are rallying to try to stop Soho going the way of New York's Times Square, a tourist playground with the rough edges removed.
'I think it's a robbery. It's a robbery from the people who visit Madame Jojo's, and it's a robbery of the people who perform there,' said musician Tim Arnold, standing in front of the club's locked doors and unlit sign.
A singer-songwriter who performs as the 'Soho Hobo,' Arnold has enlisted friends and fellow performers including Cumberbatch, actor-comedian Stephen Fry and Roger Daltrey, lead singer of The Who, to try to reverse the closure.
Arnold has Soho blood in his veins. His grandmother was a performer in circuses and variety shows. His mother was a 'Windmill Girl' at Soho's first nude revue club, the Windmill Theatre.
Arnold has seen many music venues close over the years, but losing Madame Jojo's was the last straw. Everyone from Adam Ant to Adele has performed at a venue famed for its art deco interior and eclectic lineup of DJs, musicians, comedians, burlesque shows, drag acts and cabaret nights.
'All areas of culture cohabit in Soho,' said Arnold, who sees the club as a symbol of the area's diversity. 'That's the success of it. It's a microcosm of what really we'd all like the world to be.'
The club was closed in late November after an altercation in which bouncers attacked an unruly customer with a baseball bat. But local officials had already approved the site for demolition and redevelopment as a 'high quality' complex of retail outlets, restaurants, offices and apartments.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2866581/Art-commerce-battle-soul-Londons-Soho.html-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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