La Soiree Prepare For Royal Variety Performance And Announce New Acts!

Roll up, roll up - the circus continues in town! Multi award-winning cult hit La Soirée is celebrating its return to the capital, and bringing some new faces to join the party.

As La Soirée waved a fond farewell to Jonathan Burns, Puddles Pity Party and prepares for Marcus Monroe's departure on 22 December, they will welcome a host of new acts for December.

Internationally acclaimed cabaret star Le Gateau Chocolat will be re-joining the troupe on 9 December. The sumptuous opera-singer has won fans around the globe with his outrageous yet hugely moving interpretations of pop, rock and operatic classics.

Le Gateau Chocolat will be joined by another of La Soirée's original cast members Captain Frodo until 22 December. A holder of two Guinness World Records and the son of a famous Norse magician, Captain Frodo is known for his jaw-dropping contortion.

Tap-dancing and juggling supremo Nate Cooper will return to La Soirée from 26 December. Cooper will amaze with his death-defying routine all spectacularly performed on roller skates.

Australian maestro Joel Salom is a veteran of Circus Oz and Teatro Zinzanni and will be making his London debut in La Soirée from 23 December. A one man band of beats, balls and boom Salom brings the stage alive as master of all things electro-circus.

As well as welcoming new acts, La Soirée is set to appear on this evening's Royal Variety Performance on ITV1. The English Gents will be performing their inconceivable feats of acrobatic skill, strength and balance and Hamish McCann will present his one-of-a-kind pole routine. The Royal Variety Performance will be broadcast on this evening at 7.30pm on ITV1.

La Soirée opened at its new home on the South Bank on 11 November and has once again charmed critics and audiences alike, garnering a host of five-star reviews and resounding praise. Performing as part of the Southbank Centre's Winter Festival, La Soirée's sumptuous Spiegeltent - a velvet draped salon of carved wood, polished mirrors, crystal and leadlight - is at the heart of the festive offerings, running for a strictly limited season until 11th January 2015.

La Soirée's heady cocktail of cabaret, new burlesque, circus sideshow and contemporary variety is more potent than ever and with new acts joining throughout December their hottest line up yet just keeps getting better, so step in from the cold, leave your troubles at the door as you prepare to be amazed, astonished and aroused by the very crème de la crème of the cabaret world:

LE GATEAU CHOCOLAT
Le Gateau Chocolat is an opera-singing diva with a penchant for being wrapped in body hugging lycra and a passion for laughter. This delicious confection is a killer baritone who delivers outrageous yet moving renditions of everything from pop-rock to opera and has garnered acclaim around the globe. A real show-stopper, Le Gateau Chocolat has the warmth required to see that the whole world addicted to chocolate.

NATE COOPER
Sit back, relax and enjoy the chaos. Cooper delivers a jaw dropping performance that is sure to put you in stitches, figuratively speaking of course. Try to imagine Charlie Chaplin tap dancing on roller skates whilst juggling razor sharp machetes and you will only be scratching the surface of what Cooper has in store for you. From the sublime to the ridiculous is an understatement. On the street in New Zealand or in an arena in Las Vegas, Cooper delightfully charms the pants off of himself.

CAPTAIN FRODO
The son of a famous Norse magician, this wunderkind has graced the stage since he was four. Possessed of an utterly beguiling charm, and famed the world over for bending, contorting and manipulating his body into shapes that are as astonishing as they are unnatural, Frodo is one of a kind. You will never look at a tennis racquet, much less a baked-bean tin, the same way again.

JOEL SALOM
A one man band of beats, balls and boom, Australian maestro Joel Salom brings the stage alive as master of all things electro-circus. A sharp and supremely well travelled performer with more than 20 years of touring under his colourful Vegas-style belt, Salom is an irrepressible comic who will wow with his crackerjack timing, ambidextrous expertise and astounding balance.

DAVID & FOFO
Dynamic Swedish duo David and Fofo's oral ability has mesmerised audience members for over 12 years. London is the next stop on their quest to change the world with a ping pong ball. With power, beauty and sensuality, these stars of the European circus world invite you to follow them onto the stage as well as up in the air.

JESS LOVE
This whirlwind of energy is Australian dynamo Jess Love. A veteran of Circus Oz, The Candy Butchers and The Burlesque Hour she has an array of traditional skills to her name but a very unorthodox approach to using them. She's a sassy physical comedienne with a cute-as-a-button demeanour, who nevertheless tips a cheeky wink to the twisted soul of burlesque. Succumb to the quirky charms of this doe-eyed charmer, and in a flash of fizzing rope, she will have stolen your heart and left you swooning.

SCOTTY THE BLUE BUNNY
The spandex-clad spectacle Scotty sings, twirls and busts really big balloons with his butt. A comic philosopher who's gotten a lot further, for a lot longer, in a bunny suit than a person probably should.

THE ENGLISH GENTS
Denis Lock and Hamish McCann are two delightfully devilish and cordial "English" gentlemen who perform inconceivable feats of acrobatic skill, strength and balance, whilst casually puffing a pipe, reading the newspaper and sporting the stiffest of British upper lips. The act mixes their highly skilled feats with a dry English wit, unexpectedly climaxing with the two hilariously baring near-all for Queen and country and in the process displaying more pure sex appeal than ever before seen under a bowler hat.

And as for Hamish McCann's one-of-a-kind pole routine, let's just say it's sure to leave you 'feeling good'...

URSULA MARTINEZ
Hailing from Spain via Croydon, Ursula Martinez is a renowned writer, actress and cabaret performer. Her cult striptease act with its mischievous disappearing hanky is a jaw-dropping sensation. From high brow to low brow and from live art to loquacious party tricks, Martinez treads where few performers dare to go, with the audience right there along for the ride. Expect to emerge from her acts with a rudimentary knowledge of bawdy Spanish and a surprising awareness of anatomy.

ASHER TRELEAVEN
LA SOIRÉE is proud to welcome sexual gentleman and overall bon vivant, Asher Treleaven, into the folds of its ample bosom. One of Australia's most critically-acclaimed comedians, the former drama school dropout but accomplished circus school graduate has travelled the world over with his unique blend of physical comedy, socially responsible rhetoric and overenthusiastic sexual patter, racking up awards and nominations on his winding path. Not sure whether to laugh or blush? Have no fear - sit back, try to relax and enjoy this indescribable ride!

SAULO & ANNA
It is with pulses racing that we proudly introduce Saulo & Anna, the world's one and only flying pole duo. Smouldering Spaniard Saulo Sarmiento won the Cirque du Soleil Special Prize for innovation and originality for his astonishing act on the aerial pole - an awe-inspiring piece of kit we're pretty sure you've never seen before. Throw into the mix the ethereal beauty and spell-binding skill of Finland's Anna De Carvalho and we can guarantee that sparks will fly as the two soar through the air in a bittersweet aerial duet.

MARCUS MONROE
Comedian and juggler extraordinaire Marcus has brought his unique brand of humour, wit and specialty juggling to audiences from China to the Caribbean, now he joins LA SOIRÉE for the first time in London - be prepared to be captivated by his electric on-stage presence!

Further acts to be announced and many surprise special guests to be discovered throughout the run!

La Soirée is presented in London by Brett Haylock, Mark Rubinstein and Mick Perrin.