'The Curious Incident'

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at the Gielgud Theatre, London

Performance: Tuesday 7^th July 2015

Cast: Siôn Daniel Young (Christopher Boone), Rebecca Lacey (Siobhan/ensemble), Nicolas Tennant (Ed/ensemble), Mary Stockley (Judy/ensemble)

Director: Marianne Elliott

When I received Mark Haddon’s novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time for Christmas years ago, it took me two days to finish it. I thought it one of the most intriguing novels I had ever read, one of a kind, and I readily recommended it to friends and relatives. Therefore I am slightly ashamed of how long it took me to go and see the stage production even after it received top reviews from every imaginable direction. I just never seemed to get round to it. The novel (and play) tells the story of 15 year-old Christopher who has Asperger’s syndrome. He excels in maths, and likes taking care of his pet rat, Toby. When the neighbour’s dog, Wellington, gets killed, Christopher decides to investigate the case and finds out more than he was perhaps supposed to.

We had seats in the front row of the balcony and the view was absolutely fine. There was nothing we could not see from where we were sitting. I have a feeling the view would have been more restricted from the rear stalls due to the overhang. 

The plot of the play is faithful to the original work. The novel isn’t particularly big and I felt like the play had been stretched out a little unnecessarily (it was as long as a musical!). Particularly the second act was very slow-paced. That is my biggest criticism.

The set is genius and the miniature railway Christopher builds throughout the first act provides continuity and a spectacular finish to the first act both visually and in aiding the story. I have nothing but outmost respect to the ASMs on this show as a single misplaced piece of train track could cause the entire first act to go horribly wrong.

The show is heavy on physical theatre and the set effectively consisted of a few white boxes which were moved around by the actors to create different scenes from a train to Christopher’s neighbourhood.

I was incredibly impressed with Young’s portrayal of Christopher. Playing a character with Asperger’s syndrome convincingly is challenging to begin with no to mention that Christopher hardly leaves the stage. Luke Treadaway who originated the role won the 2013 Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance.

'Seussical' for inspiration

As I will be assistant-directing Seussical at my university next semester, going to see this limited-run production of the show was an ample opportunity to gather some ideas for the visuals and observe how the professionals have brought the characters to life.

Seussical at the Arts Theatre
Performance: Sunday 29th December 2013
Seat: Circle right
Music: Stephen Flaherty
Lyrics: Lynn Ahrens
Director: Kirk Jameson
Cast included: Ste Clough (Horton the Elephant), Elliot Fitzpatrick (Cat in the Hat), Jordan Veloso (JoJo), Kirsty Marie Ayers (Gertrude), Jessica Parker (Mayzie)

Brief plot summary
Horton the Elephant hears the cries of the Whos, a race so small that it is invisible to the naked eye, from a clover. He takes it up as his duty to guard the clover. JoJo, a Who child, gets into trouble for thinking too much and he bonds with Horton, because he, too, has 'thinks'. Meanwhile, Gertrude is trying to impress Horton but feels she is not succeeding because of her virtually non-existent tail and asks Mayzie for help.

The cast of Seussical.

The plot summary suggests a slightly nonsensical children's show. The musical is based on the stories of Dr. Seuss so that offers one explanation. A lot of the spoken dialogue has been left in verse form as per the original books. I think Seussical falls into the same category with shows like Honk in which adults run around the stage in costume, pretending to be animals and therefore just hearing about the show it may be difficult to take it seriously. This particular version was a shorter, one-act version of the original as it was aimed at children. However, it was brilliant fun to watch for someone my age also and I think the longer version, which we will be performing at university, has a lot of potential to appeal to a slightly older audience.

I was surprised to find that Ste Clough, who has taught me dance workshops, was playing the main character. I had a brief chat with him afterwards and, incredibly, he did remember me! I haven't seen him on stage before so it was a fun experience. He did a good job of the mellow Horton.
I was amazed at the extent to which Mayzie had been made stripper-like considering the target audience of the show, but this polarisation was perhaps seen as essential in order to establish the opposing personalities of Mayzie and Gertrude, who, in turn, was presented as shy and geeky, wearing dull clothes. Mayzie was dressed in bright red. Even though the set was simple and the actors were not wearing animal outfits, colours had been used effectively throughout in compensation and the show was a great example of how obvious colour choices can take you far in conveying a message.

This was my first time visiting the Arts Theatre and I fell in love with its intimate atmosphere. When I got round to booking my ticket, there weren't many left and I did not get much choice with my seat so I did not expect much in terms of the view but it was absolutely fine. I should think that almost every seat in the auditorium grants a great view. The small size of the theatre made it essential that the cast be small. It consisted of 12 members in total with supporting characters doubling up but with the smoothness of the costume changes there may as well have been half a dozen more actors. The ensemble work was great.

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Overall I enjoyed the show but I think understanding the story and the characters fully would have been very difficult for someone not familiar with it at all beforehand. I overheard one lady in conversation in the foyer after the show saying that she and her children were very familiar with the stories of Dr Seuss and for them the show had made perfect sense. This was in response to another lady who had been left slightly confused by the whole thing having not read any of the original books. A day in the library reading through all of the Dr Seuss books will be my next stop in preparation for our own production.

Review from the archives: 'Mamma Mia'

Found a shortish review I had written but never posted.

Mamma Mia! at Prince of Wales Theatre, London
Performance: Thursday 23rd August 2012 at 19:30
Seat: Left Rear Stalls
Cast included: Sally Ann Triplett (Donna Sheridan), Charlotte Wakefield (Sophie Sheridan), Joanna Monro (Rosie), Rebecca Bainbridge (Tanya, u/s), Gary Milner (Sam Carmichael), James Gaddas (Bill Austin), Neil Roberts (Harry Bright), Andreas Gyllander (Sky)

I personally can't believe this was my first time seeing Mamma Mia! on stage. Having spent my childhood in Finland, I had been exposed to ABBA's music from an early age and as a teenager I even went through a stage when I would be listening to ABBA all the time. Of course I have seen the 2008 film and, well, thought it was okay. Whatever anyone else says, I personally think that Mamma Mia! has a decent plot considering it is a jukebox musical (silly but decent) and the songs do mostly tie in well with the story.

My experience at the Prince of Wales was not the most amazing as there were people somewhere behind me applauding at inappropriate times and a middle-aged man two seats down on my left singing along whenever he knew the lyrics to the songs. By the middle of the first act the thought of leaving at interval seriously crossed my head - it was that bad. I decided to stay until the end though. At least I can now say I have seen the show.

The show itself was entertaining anyway. To start with, it had many more jokes and sexual innuendos than the film - some of them truly funny and some of them I found myself laughing at because they were rather cringe-worthy. The stage version included more songs as well even though the story was effectively the same as in the film version - complete with guys in swimwear.

The whole set radiated a light, feel-good atmosphere with its tropical blues, yellows and greens.
Out of the cast, I greatly enjoyed Sally Ann Triplett's performance as Donna. Joanna Monro was hilarious as Rosie also. Rebecca Bainbridge was a little bit young for the role of Tanya but considering that and as she was an understudy, she did a great job too. 
Of course the music of ABBA played a principal role in the show but none of the arrangements or performances of the songs were near as good as the originals. However, if you love the film, do go and see the stage show! Even if it did not particularly appeal to me, the fact that it has been running in the West End for over 10 years not to even mention all the tours and international productions, does suggest that audiences are enjoying it and recommending it to others. It is one of those shows which, along with other long-running shows such as We Will Rock You and The Lion King, attracts a lot of tourists even if you cannot imagine a local person to go and see the show several times.  

"We roll along... merrily, merrily..."

Poster for the 2013 London revival. (Source)

When I got round to booking tickets to see Merrily We Roll Along at the Menier Chocolate Factory, it was unfortunately already sold out so all I could hope for was a West End transfer and I am still over the moon that this actually took place and I got the opportunity to go and see another Sondheim.

Merrily We Roll Along at Harold Pinter Theatre, London
Performance: Wednesday 24th April 2013 at 19:45
Seat: Front row Circle
Cast included: Mark Umbers (Franklin Shepard), Jenna Russell (Mary Flynn), Damian Huntley (Charley Kringas), Clare Foster (Beth), Glyn Kerslake (Joe Josephson), Josefina Gabrielle (Gussie Carnegie)

Merrily We Roll Along was a very different kind of musical to anything I had seen before. The narrative flows backwards from the main character, Frank, now having a successful career to when he was young and inexperienced. It highlights the key moments in Frank's life explaining how he got to where he is. The show is to a great extent about the friendship between Frank, Charley and Mary and the way it has changed over time.


The first Broadway production of the musical, in 1981, did not do well despite the involvement of Stephen Sondheim and Harold Prince. The reviews were bad and the production closed after 44 previews and 16 regular performances. Merrily is a fairly difficult one to put together and it's not your box standard Broadway musical so if you are looking to see lots of big, flashy ensemble dance numbers, this is not the show for you. The complexity of the narrative stems from the certain abstract element and the fact that it has been reversed makes it different to many other musicals. Personally I think Merrily could even be viewed as a play with singing rather than a musical in a similar way to Blood Brothers for instance.

The score is ingeniously woven together to connect the main characters and this made the whole production feel complete and because many of the songs sounded musically similar, it was easy to focus on the plot and the lyrics instead of getting carried away with the melody - something Sondheim does very well. In addition, I particularly liked the smooth scene changes which were accompanied by the ensemble singing a reprise of the title song. (I have a big problem with awkward/slow scene changes in general but in this show they were top notch on every possible scale.)

Trailer for the West End production:

I guess one of the big challenges with Merrily is that you have to find actors for the three leads who are able to play the characters at all ages. You can't choose anyone too young because they are unlikely to have the life experience to convincingly portray the character at an older age but on the other hand, you can't take it to the opposite extreme as that is likely to generate the opposite problem with the actors not necessarily being convincing as youngsters. I thought the casting overall was very successful. I was surprised to see Clare Foster walk on stage too. I did not realise she would be in this show. I saw her play the female lead in Crazy for You at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre in 2011 and really enjoyed her performance then. Seeing her now as Beth really made me appreciate her versatility as an actress as the two characters are very different.

'Singin' in the Rain' - didn't get wet!

Trying to post some of these old reviews here...

This was my second visit to Singin' in the Rain and a very impromptu one for that matter. I found earlier on in the day that Charlotte Scott, the understudy for the female lead, would be playing Kathy Selden that night and of course I had to go and support Charlotte. For those of you who haven't read my blog before, Charlotte used to be one of the understudies for Glinda in Wicked and she is a phenomenal triple threat performer. This was my opportunity to see the show again as well which I had planned on doing because when I went to see it in August last year, I had a balcony seat and could see very little.

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Singin' in the Rain at Palace Theatre, London
Performance: Tuesday 9th April 2013 at 19:30
Seat: Row F Stalls, bought just before the show for £25
Cast included: Matthew Malthouse (Don Lockwood, u/s), Stephane Anelli (Cosmo Brown), Charlotte Scott (Kathy Selden, u/s), Jennifer Ellison (Lina Lamont), Peter Forbes (R F Simpson)

This time round I had a brilliant seat which was just out of the catchment area of the splashes so I had great fun sitting and watching everyone in front of me getting wet (for those of you who don't know, this West End production has actual rain falling on stage and the actors enjoy kicking the water into the audience so if you sit in the first 3-4 rows, you tend to get wet). The tourists, to begin with blissfully unaware of what they had put themselves in for by sitting at the front, were the most entertaining.

Plot summary (the plot closely follows that of the 1952 film of the same name): Set in 1927, Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont are a famous on-screen couple during the silent film era in Hollywood. According to Don, their relationship is strictly professional despite Lina's objections and the wedding rumours circulated by fan magazines. Don bumps into Kathy Selden, an aspiring actress with both singing and dance talent, and falls for her, which Lina certainly is not pleased about. At the same time, the audiences are going crazy about the newest invention in the film industry, the 'talking picture'. Will Lockwood&Lamont, who have up to now been known for their looks alone, be able to continue satisfying their fans? And what about Kathy?

Poster for the West End production. (Source)

 Singin' in the Rain is in the style of a traditional Hollywood musical. Not only is the plot the same as in the film; the whole show is very, very similar. Personally I really enjoy the old-fashioned style for those long dance breaks in the music for grand ensemble numbers and the often featured tap dancing.

Charlotte did a wonderful job as Kathy. It was great to see and hear her performing again. She really does have an exceptionally beautiful voice and I have never seen her tap before so that was new. She and Matthew, who played Don, had a lovely chemistry between them. Stephane Anelli as Cosmo did an excellent, hilarious performance of Make 'em Laugh, one of my favourite songs from the show. Frankie Jenna's dance solo also deserves a mention as I was in total awe of her. In terms of Lina Lamont, I had really enjoyed Katherine Kingsley's portrayal of the character back in August and I knew topping that would be quite impossible. That is one difficult part to play, I must say. She is one of those unintentionally funny characters, funny without realising or thinking she is funny, so if you try to play her funny or over the top (which is also very easily done), it doesn't work. Katherine Kingsley, for me, found the perfect balance.

I do recommend this show both for those people who have seen the original film and for those who haven't. Seeing a musical live is an experience on a whole new level to just seeing something on a screen. Watching it rain inside is a surreal experience for a start. Singin' in the Rain is currently on a UK tour. 

'The Wizard of Oz' - colourful and sparkly

This show was not at the top of my list of things to see but I did want to see it and hurriedly booked my ticket when I found out the production was closing.

The Wizard of Oz at the London Palladium
Performance: Sunday 29th July 2012 at 15:00
Seat: Front stalls, right
Cast included: Des O'Connor (the Wizard), Sophie Evans (Dorothy), Paul Keating (Scarecrow), Terel Nugent (Tin Man, u/s), Martin Callaghan (Cowardly Lion), Emily Tierney (Glinda), Marianne Benedict (Wicked Witch of the West)

(Source)

The story is, for those unfamiliar with this new stage production, the same as in the original musical film from 1939 and the music from that film has been retained also. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice have teamed up to add some new music. I fell in love with one of these new tracks, Already Home, from the end of the show. It is a very simple track but there was something profoundly sweet about Glinda singing it and Dorothy and the rest of the company joining in.
I must say Sophie did an excellent job as Dorothy. I did love the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion too: it was funny watching the actors play these parts. Sometimes when you see people play characters that are not supposed to move in exactly the same way as humans do, you aren't perhaps quite convinced as moving like an animal (or as if you didn't have a brain or something) is not necessarily the easiest thing to do. However, Paul, Terel and Martin definitely managed to convince me with their portrayals.
One of the stars of the show was, of course, Dorothy's dog Toto, who was played by a real Westie; a very well-behaved one too.

Danielle Hope as Dorothy (Source)

I absolutely loved Emily and Marianne as the Good and the Wicked Witches respectively with their gorgeous voices. They would float above the stage with the Wicked Witch even coming down from a trap door in the ceiling of the auditorium once (this seriously scared me but surely that's understandable: it's not like you have a live green witch hanging above your head on a broomstick every day). The Wicked Witch's broom spat out fire on a few occasions and where I was sitting you could actually feel the wave of heat caused by it. Things like that look magnificent live on stage. The show was visually attractive with lots of colour and these... can you call them 'special effects'? A honorary mention goes to Glinda's dress. I should have thought that the cast would have become blind after looking at it under the stage lights for a few months, eight shows a week. I can honestly say I have never seen a more sparkly dress. 

Emily Tierney as Glinda. An idea of the dress, doesn't look as sparkly in the photo though. (Source)

What amuses me about The Wizard of Oz in general is that the Wizard is one of the main characters and is always credited as such as he is vital to the plot but the amount of time he is actually on stage is next to nothing compared to many of the other characters. So when people asked me afterwards: "How was Des O'Connor as the Wizard", I felt I had to reply that he was good but that I didn't feel I could really review him as such because he wasn't really in it.
And speaking of funny/peculiar things to do with The Wizard of Oz, do read this blog entry if you haven't already: 5 Reasons The Greatest Movie Villain Ever is a 'Good' Witch . Sharply written and actually very accurate when you think about it, how Glinda is actually the bad one in the film.

Anyway, I did enjoy the show. It was much better and more impressive than I had expected it to be. I would not have taken very young children to see it though because there are scary bits and bits that make you jump. It is still a family show though and I cannot imagine teenagers and adults going to see the show over and over   so maybe in that respect it isn't surprising it only ran for a year and a half. 

This is the track I mentioned earlier, Already Home:

Also Red Shoes Blues sung by the Wicked Witch is well worth a listen. Sung by the incredible Hannah Waddingham:

'Wicked' with Charlotte Scott in the bubble

I think after one has seen a show three or more times, writing a box standard review becomes rather difficult and because you obviously enjoy the show immensely and are able to connect with it. hence the more diary-style entry and -photos. 

Wicked at Apollo Victoria Theatre, London

Performance: Wednesday 25th July 2012 at 14:30

Seat: A23 (day ticket), £27.50

Cast included: Rachel Tucker (Elphaba), Charlotte Scott (Glinda, u/s), Matt Willis (Fiyero), Christopher Howell (The Wizard, u/s), Julie Legrand (Madame Morrible), Lillie Flynn (Nessarose), Adam Pettigrew (Boq), Kieran Brown (Dr Dillamond, u/s)

We had been planning this trip to say-seat Wicked for a month. Therefore, coincidences do happen. Some people call it luck. Whatever the name is, I got very excited (even that is an understatement) when I found out the performance we were going to see would be Charlotte's first show as Glinda. To quote an old blog post of mine which I wrote after hearing the lady perform in a cabaret for the first time: "What an amazing voice! And the acting and comic timing were spot on. I am now determined to try and catch a performance of Wicked with her as Glinda."

It was my first time queuing up for day-seats as well. Once Charlotte had announced she was going on as Glinda, we knew we had to get there even earlier than we had originally planned in order to secure great seats: we expected hardcore fans would be planning last-minute trips to the show following the exciting news. I was the second person in the line so my seat was nicely in the middle.

Stage-doorers enjoying the 30 degrees: Becki, Sam, Carla and Amanda

General information for people who are thinking about day-seats for Wicked (a couple of my lovely Finnish followers have asked me about this), it is not necessary for you to get there by 6am. Apparently 7.30-8.00 is okay in general. Most tourists would turn up closer to 9.00 (box office opens at 10.00). The earlier you turn up the better but it is very much down to chance as to how many people there will be queuing on any given day. Sometimes you can get a brilliant seat by coming at 9.30 (some of the front row seats on the sides are restricted view so you don't want to end up with those). It literally depends on how many people have come up with the thought "Hey, let's get day-seats for Wicked on that same date!" .

Charlotte seemed remarkably calm when she stopped for a brief chat with us on her way into the theatre. I suppose she had had time to prepare for this mentally as she had known for a while she would take on one of the leads for this performance. Normally she is in the ensemble but she is the understudy for both Nessarose and Glinda. She has been on as Nessa in the past but as first cover Glinda (i.e. she will go on only if the principal actress as well as the standby are unavailable), this was going to be her first time playing that part. She was excited (well, who wouldn't be in her position: about to play one of the most sought-after female roles in musical theatre on West End stage). She had some new costume and all. We were all thrilled for her. I knew she would be brilliant but how brilliant I could never have imagined.

Us at the theatre: Rukaya, Becki, Sam, Carla and Nic 

The front row seats were great and the sound quality was perfect. Enter Glinda in her bubble. The blonde wig did suit Charlotte! She came and delivered. It was a privilege listening to her effortlessly hitting the high notes (already in No One Mourns the Wicked but particularly at the end of Thank Goodness). She captured the character of Glinda very convincingly and she had the perfect innocent blonde face. She had come up with her own little leg flick thing for Glinda: We got a "Toss, toss *flick*" in Popular for instance. Elphaba of course then has to copy whatever Glinda does so we got an entertaining attempt of this "toss, toss, *flick*" from Rachel.
And I don't know whether it was intentional or whether Charlotte just miscalculated the momentum at which she would land on the bed when it came to the 'planking' but I don't think I have ever heard as massive a thump as the one with which Charlotte landed.

Rachel was incredible as per usual: her Wizard and I and Defying Gravity are mind-blowing every time (she has been on as Elphaba every time I have seen Wicked in London) not to mention No Good Deed which I think I enjoy listening to her sing the most. That song did not particularly appeal to me until I heard Rachel sing it. She and Charlotte worked brilliantly together and I thought their voices blended exceptionally well. 

Me and Charlotte before the show

No, you could not tell this was Charlotte's first show as Glinda. Only those who had seen the show multiple times may have noticed some slight fiddling with the pink flower when trying to attach it to Elphaba's hair and that doing the clasp of Elphaba's cloak took a beat or two longer than usual but little things like that hardly count. Charlotte's Glinda is now definitely one of my favourites. I just hope she gets to play the part at least once more before she leaves the company at October's cast change. 


I think someone has uploaded some audio of this particular show on YouTube so go and have a search around there if you fancy a listen. 

Since this post seems to be about the greatness of the understudy, I must mention Christopher and Kieran too. They both were great! I like the Wizard to have a good singing voice as well as being able to act the part and be funny and Christopher definitely fills these criteria.  

A big thanks for the company to those lovely people who came to see the show with me! I had a great time :)

'Phantom of the Opera' - The Brilliant Original

Despite The Phantom of the Opera being my favourite musical of all time, this was only my second time seeing it on stage. I have seen the film and the 25th anniversary concert on DVD countless times of course but somehow I have not gotten round to revisiting Her Majesty's. So much has happened since the last time I went there in 2008. This time I was much more observant of little details and having gained a greater understanding of musical theatre I was more capable of appreciating the show.


The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre, London
Performance: Wednesday 4th July 2012 at 19:30
Seat: Stalls D6
Cast included: Peter Jöback (The Phantom), Claire Doyle (Christine Daaé, u/s), Killian Donnelly (Raoul), Cheryl McAvoy (Madame Giry), Anna Forbes (Meg Giry), Wendy Ferguson (Carlotta Giudicelli), Jeremy Secomb (Ubaldo Piangi), Barry James (Monsieur Firmin), Gareth Snook (Monsieur André)

Gina Beck and Ramin Karimloo - the two I saw on my
first visit. (source)

The show was magnificent of course. Even my sister whom I had dragged with me stated that she had forgotten how impressive the music was. I love Phantom because of the show in itself: the music and the story (however sloppy-romantic it may be). Hence I am generally not fussed over which actors are playing the main parts. I must say, however, that knowing Peter only for having dubbed the voice of Aladdin for the Swedish-language release of the Disney film, I was most interested in seeing him as the Phantom.


Peter's take on the role was very different to what I have witnessed before. I found myself having more pity for him than normal since his younger voice and shorter statue (in comparison to what I have been used to seeing the Phantom have) made him come across more human rather than a supernatural being.
Claire impressed me greatly with her Christine as she had a lovely innocence to both her looks and her voice.  I have heard recordings of people with stunning voices singing Christine but they have sounded too mature and had I seen something like that on stage I don't think I would have been convinced. So Claire did a great job. 

Peter Jöback and Sofia Escobar
Photo Michael Le Poer Trench

I loved Killian as Raoul. This was my first time seeing him perform live and I found he has a great stage presence. I found myself fixated on what he was doing during Prima Donna for example rather than watching the overall action. I very much enjoyed Anna's take on Meg. She was genuinely funny to watch with her sharp facial expressions but she did not come across exaggerated. I had never thought of a comedy side to Meg before so it was lovely to see Anna bring that up. 


It was a little strange for me seeing some of the 25th anniversary concert cast members on stage playing their respective parts - that made me half expect Sierra Boggess or Ramin Karimloo to walk on - but they were all brilliant and their acting felt very familiar and "right" due to the fact that I have seen that DVD several times. 


As one expects to happen, I walked out of the theatre after the performance randomly humming some of the recurring melody snippets of the score. My main thought was: Why have I not come to see the show again sooner? I need to try and come back more often than every four years as I had almost forgotten how incredible the original stage show is. I am hoping to go and see the UK touring production this autumn also. 

'Matilda the Musical' - the one everyone's talking about

Of course I could not avoid seeing this one. It is the one all of London is buzzing about at the moment and it has received so many awards that surely it must be special somehow. Besides, Matilda was one of the books I used to love when I was younger so I was intrigued to see what they had done with it.


Matilda the Musical at Cambridge Theatre, London
Performance: Sunday 3rd June 2012 at 15:00
Seat: 3rd row Dress Circle
Cast included: Bertie Carvel (Miss Trunchbull), Haley Flaherty (Miss Honey), Melanie La Barrie (Mrs Phelps), Steve Furst (Mr Wormwood), Lucy Thatcher (Mrs Wormwood, u/s) and Hayley Canham as Matilda

The plot of the book had been slightly altered for the stage show. The key moments, the sections which I remember most vividly from reading the book such as Bruce Bogtrotter and the chocolate cake and Matilda tilting a glass of water with her eyes, were still there. However, the musical focused more heavily on Matilda's love for books and reading and on her relationship with Mrs Phelps, the librarian. And, without giving the ending away, I must say they had tied the whole thing together very nicely in my opinion.

The child actors were absolutely incredible, all of them. They delivered every song and every dance routine with confidence and they really acted their heart out. Haley Flaherty was lovely as Miss Honey. Likable and gentle, not one to stand up for herself - exactly as she is in the book. However, if there was one performance that stood out above all the others, that was Bertie Carvel's portrayal of Miss Trunchbull. It was incredible beyond words: funny but threatening at the same time. Having a male perform the part in the first place was definitely the right decision as it would be hard to find a female to match the height and the physique of the character (Miss Trunchbull was made to look very similar to Quentin Blake's illustrations in the book). 

Another honourable mention goes to Tim Minchin's hilarious lyrics. The music is a little different to what I expectedl and I have to say I was not too keen on it on the first couple of listens but eventually it started growing on me too. I have had a few Finnish friends say that they did not like the show much because they did not understand the show at all and I can see where they come from. There is a lot of humour hidden into the dialogue and the lyrics of the songs (many of the songs are very wordy) plus into the characters' ways of speaking so for someone whose native language is not English, this may not be the easiest musical to understand.
Matilda is a very British show and I am intrigued to see how it does on Broadway once it gets there. If the general British public's reception is anything to go by, Matilda will be running in the West End for quite while.
I also enjoyed the very book-heavy staging (I mean there were literally books everywhere: attached to the ceiling etc.) and the way in which they convincingly conducted the chocolate cake scene. Oh, and the choreography with the swings was lovely! 

A video of the Matildas performing the song Naughty from the musical at this year's Olivier Awards ceremony:

If you love Roald Dahl's Matilda, I do recommend seeing this. It is different to the book so don't spoil your visit by intentionally attempting to compare the two but it is a lovely show and it is child-friendly :)
Official website: http://www.matildathemusical.com

'Blood Brothers' - another legendary musical

People (myself included) are often initially surprised to hear that Blood Brothers has been on in London since 1988, making it the third longest running musical in London's West End, because they have never heard of the show before. I imagine one of the reasons for this to be that Blood Brothers was never particularly successful outside of Great Britain: where all the other long running shows such as Phantom and Les Mis also became famous on Broadway, Blood Brothers only played a 2-year Broadway run and one year-long national tour. (Thank you to the amazing Wikipedia for all this information.)

(Source)

Blood Brothers at Phoenix Theatre, London
Performance: Wednesday 23rd May 2012 at 19:45
Seat: Stalls right, second row (very close to the stage but the stage slopes so the view was fine)
Cast included: Vivienne Carlyle (Mrs Johnstone), Philip Stewart (Narrator), Mark Rice-Oxley (Mickey), Paul Christopher (Eddie), Abigail Jaye (Mrs Lyons), Louise Clayton (Linda), Michael Southern (Sammy), Kevin Pallister (Mr Lyons)

Plot summary for those not familiar with Blood Brothers: It is the story of Mickey and Eddie, twins separated at birth, out of whom one grows up in the wealthy Lyons family and the other in poorer conditions with Mrs Johnstone (the biological mother) but both equally unaware they have a twin brother and the mothers are determined to keep it that way. However, at the age of 7 the boys happen to meet each other and they become the best of friends.

They've made a Blood Brothers stamp!
(Source)

Blood Brothers is a remarkable musical. I should like to say it is more like a musical play than a musical. That is not because there isn't enough singing in it but rather because one cannot classify it as full-on cheesy, I think. Blood Brothers is about death (no, that's not a spoiler because that's revealed right at the start!) and economic depression. The show has become increasingly relevant again now that the economic situation is not looking promising and even though its setting is very specific in terms of location and historical context, Blood Brothers can be enjoyed also by those who do not have this background knowledge. The one thing I would point out to those whose first language is not English, though: some of the characters speak in a fairly strong accent so you may not catch absolutely everything they say. Don't be frightened off by that though, and I thought this one was easier to understand than Billy Elliot.

One would expect Mickey and Eddie to be the main characters and in a way yes, they are the ones referred to in the title and without them there really would not be a story to tell. However, it is Mrs Johnstone who sings and is featured the most along with the narrator who eerily hovers around. The part of Mrs Johnstone has been portrayed by many famous singers because that distinct musical theatre voice is not essential to play the part. And now that we are on the characteristics of Blood Brothers that make it different to most musicals, I might mention that it does not have tons of those spectacular in-real-life-no-one-would-dance-there-like-that kind of dance numbers - you know what I mean. 


All of the cast did a great job, especially Vivienne Carlyle as Mrs Johnstone and Louise Clayton as Linda. The former had a very pleasant singing voice and the latter succeeded particularly well in conveying Linda's aging process (one could really see her getting old before her time). Abigail Jaye also had a gorgeous voice (a little more of a musical theatre one) and she is the understudy for Mrs Johnstone - it would be most interesting to see her play that part. On the whole, however, I don't think this musical is as much about who's in it. People will go and see it regardless because it has gained the classic status. 


Tell Me It's Not True from the 1995 London cast recording (if people know one song from the musical, it is usually this one): 

'Sweeney Todd' - My favourite Sondheim

I am sure lots of people with an interest in musical theatre and otherwise have seen the Tim Burton film, starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. The film is based on this Stephen Sondheim musical which was first performed on Broadway in 1979. 


Sweeney Todd at Adelphi Theatre
Performance: Friday 18th May at 19:30
Seat: Rear left Dress Circle, £30
Cast included: Michael Ball (Sweeney Todd), Imelda Staunton (Mrs Lovett), John Bowe (Judge Turpin), Peter Polycarpou (Beadle Bamford), Robert Burt (Pirelli), James McConville (Tobias), Lucy May Barker (Johanna), Luke Brady (Anthony), Gillian Kirkpatrick (Beggar Woman)

This always reminds me of a film poster.

This production transferred to the West End after a successful run at the Chichester Festival Theatre. Its popularity does not surprise me. After all, the film has made Sweeney Todd the musical more popular, and it stars Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton. I would happily have paid fora ticket just to see the two of them perform. Michael Ball has done a lengthy career both as a stage actor and a solo singer having played, amongst others, Marius in the original London cast of Les Misérables, Alex in Aspects of Love in both West End and on Broadway as well as more recently Edna in Hairspray. Imelda Staunton is perhaps nowadays best known for her portrayal of Dolores Umbridge in the Harry Potter films but she has also participated in a large number of stage productions.

Photo: Jonathan Hordle/Rex Features

Staunton pretty much stole the show: she acted the part of Mrs Lovett brilliantly and her comic timing was excellent. I had had a difficult time imagining Professor Umbridge as Mrs Lovett to be honest but as it turned out, Staunton's portrayal of Mrs Lovett was nothing like Umbridge. You could not tell it was the same person behind the two characters! She also sang well: her voice was rough and focused on acting and character rather than attempting to make it sound pretty.
Michael Ball did a great job of Sweeney. He also had a 'Sweeney voice' - his singing as the character sounded very different to the sound I have learnt to associate him with and I was very much in agreement with the choice he had made there as it suited the character.
The third special mention goes to Gillian Kirkpatrick for her portrayal of the Beggar Woman. In comparison to the film, the part of the Beggar Woman had been given much more weight in the stage version throughout.


Having just made a comparison between this stage production and the film (because you do that automatically if the film is the reason behind being acquainted with Sweeney Todd in the first place), I feel obliged to point out that they are completely different from each other and that one probably would not get very far if they went to the theatre expecting to see a replica of the film. The characterisations are totally different and obviously that famous artistic touch Tim Burton tends to add to all his work is naturally not there. You will get much more out of it if you go and treat the two as separate things.

Photo: Catherine Ashmore

Visually Sweeney Todd was amazing. The overall darkness and gloom had been brilliantly captured. I did not expect there to be as much fake blood as there was as well. I thought Todd would be cutting the throats open out of view but with a bit of blood you could well do it in front of the audience. There was even a chair which tipped the body down the passageway in the floor. All this was very believable! I should not even need to comment on the music - it is magnificently powerful. This one is now definitely my favourite Sondheim musical.


Sweeney Todd is only doing a limited run, until 22nd September 2012 so get your tickets booked!
Official website: http://sweeneytoddwestend.com/

'The Lion King' - something visually stunning

The Lion King... one of my favourite films of all time. That's right. Not only one of my favourite Disney films but one of my favourite films overall.

The Lion King at Lyceum Theatre, London
Performance: Wednesday 2nd May 2012 at 19:30
Seat: Rear left stalls, £42.50
Cast included: Andile Gumbi (Simba), Carole Stennett (Nala), Shaun Escoffery (Mufasa), George Asperey (Scar), Brown Lindiwe Mkhize (Rafiki), Stephen Matthews (Zazu), Jamie Golding (Timon, s/b), Keith Bookman (Pumbaa)

I won't go into explaining the plot because I am sure pretty much everybody knows what happens in The Lion King. Consequently, I am sure most of you can also imagine how difficult staging something like that is. The stage production does a great job of recreating the famous Disney film: the story line and even parts of the script have been kept the same with some added material to extend it to a full-length musical.

Rafiki, who didn't speak a lot of English (Source)

For those planning on seeing The Lion King: I strongly recommend getting Stalls seats if you can as the actors move around in the audience and it was interesting seeing some of the costumes close-up including a giant elephant which I literally could have touched when it passed (imagine the shock I felt when I turned around to see what everyone else was looking at and saw this huge thing at least twice as tall as me).
An enormous amount of creativity had been used with the costumes and the puppetry. Of course one cannot expect it to be completely realistic: you do remain aware of the fact that there are people jumping around the stage with two heads dressed as lions and others running back and forth with decorated sticks that represent birds.

Footage of the Original West End cast doing their thing: 

The Lion King I think is a show you go and see for the costumes and the amazing merchandise rather than the story line. The musical has become a part of London's street view by now; it has been playing in the West End continuously since 1999 so it obviously is something people want to go and see. These Disney musicals seem to do pretty well (think Beauty and the Beast for instance). Personally I would love to see The Little Mermaid come over. Sierra Boggess kind of should be Ariel for that... not trying to be greedy or anything... 

Wallace Smith and Kissy Simmons in the
Broadway production (Source)

Anyway, back to The Lion King: had I not known the story from before, I may have ended up a little bit confused because some scenes were slightly abstract: well presented but abstract and arty (for instance I don't know if my 6 year-old half-sister who has seen the film maybe once would have quite understood the whole show). Even the visually challenging scenes from the film (especially the one where -SPOILER- Mufasa dies; that was one of my favourite scenes) had been brilliantly staged.
One of the most surreal things was hearing and seeing all the songs from the film (which is one of the very few films I have seen umpteen times) sung live. In a way it never dawned to me that a group of people have actually gone and recorded the songs for the film - I knew it but the realisation only hit me while watching the musical. 

Aren't those giraffes awesome! (Source)

This time the special mentions go to the little boy who played young Simba (you never find out which one of the children it is) who acted the part brilliantly as well as having a great singing voice, the ensemble members who played the giraffes and the guy who played Pumbaa because he sounded exactly like Pumbaa in the film - I couldn't believe it! 

I'm happy I went to see this one as it was definitely worth seeing once. I just had one question when leaving the auditorium and I cannot say I have figured it out yet: Why did Mufasa not have a tail?

My West End cabaret experience

As a part of the 12-week Sunday intensive musical theatre course I took at the American Musical Theatre Academy of London, known just as AMTA, my course mates and I got this amazing opportunity to perform in a cabaret at Charing Cross Theatre (i.e. actually in the West End) with an ensemble and four West End soloists.

Insane About Broadway at Charing Cross Theatre
On 29th April 2012 at 19:30
Main soloists: Kenneth Avery-Clark, Mark Goldthorp, Alice Fearn, Kirsty Hoiles


Our call was at 10:30am. It really wasn't my morning: Not only did I succeed in getting lost while changing tubes at Earl's Court underground station (note to self: never change there, however desperate you are) but I also had trouble finding the theatre. It is slightly hidden from view with the entrance in an alleyway underneath an arch which read something like 'Arches Shopping' over it. In addition, it was still down on the maps under its former name: The New Players Theatre. Obviously I did successfully arrive in the end, otherwise this blog post would cut rather short. 
Charing Cross Theatre is one of those gorgeous, old-looking venues. You know when you think of the word 'theatre' as a building, you probably think of the interior as something like Charing Cross Theatre. It seats 275 people so it is decent size as well: very nice for a cabaret.

Fave! Me with Elaine and Bronwyn in Skid Row. 

Alice's gorgeous shoes.

Kaisla's Dorothy shoes.

We only had the theatre for the day of the cabaret so we did all the tech and finalised the blocking then. Of course we had blocked all the ensemble numbers previously but we did not actually know whether it would work on the stage we had or not (mind you, we did have to make a fair number of changes due to things like the stairs on either side of the stage not being lit enough for people to stand on them during numbers). The best you can do is keep track on all the changes. Preparing for this cabaret really made me realise what a huge responsibility each ensemble member has. A group of people put on stage together does not automatically transform into an ensemble but each person needs to put in maximum effort in order for the ensemble to function.

Alice, who had a matinee to do at Shrek the Musical (she in in the ensemble playing the Sugarplum Fairy and Gingy as well as understudying the role of Princess Fiona), rehearsed her solo numbers and duets first. I decided to sit and watch. Alice was on as Fiona when I went to see Shrek last August. She was brilliant in the part and I absolutely loved her voice. While I was sitting there listening to the rehearsal progress, the realisation that I would get to be a part of all this finally hit me. I smiled and snuggled deeper into the comfortable, cushioned seat absorbing in that special theatre atmosphere which I have grown so very fond of. It was great watching the professionals work, you can really learn a lot by doing that although sometimes they make you roll your eyes by saying how badly they did even though it sounded perfect to you. Obviously Kenneth, Mark and Kirsty also had fabulous voices (go Google them all!). I listened with particular interest to Kirsty's rendition of Somewhere That's Green from The Little Shop of Horrors as that is one of the songs I have recently learnt but have not had the chance to perform anywhere yet. 

Interval photos, with Michelle, Elaine,
Bronwyn, Claire and Rachel

Everyone shared one small dressing room which, as I am sure you can imagine, ended up hot, stuffy and crowded. I took forever getting ready as usual. Apparently I also looked too pale on stage and I was trying to figure out how to dispose of the problem without ending up looking orange. Clothing-wise I had only brought one dress with me: the only one I own which could be considered vaguely "glam" (I think I need to get some more nice dresses) and which was not extreme in terms of the colour. Some people had brought several outfits and were trying to decide which one to wear for which number.
There were five group numbers: Skid Row from The Little Shop of Horrors, 'Til We Reach That Day from Ragtime, Seasons of Love from Rent, One Short Day from Wicked and In Whatever Time We Have  from Children of Eden as well as a group of six girls (Claire, Michelle, Elizabeth, Irina, Elaine and Chiara who all deserve to be mentioned by name because they did an amazing job) singing and dancing to Cellblock Tango from Chicago and most of the boys sang What You Own from Rent as a group number. Some of the students on the full-time programme at AMTA performed solo songs. Incidentally, one of them happened to be Finnish - very surreal but it was nice to chat to someone in Finnish for a change. We also had some of the full-time students doing stage management. Thanks for being such a great help! 

Mark (left), Alice, Kirsty and Kenneth in the last number:
In Whatever Time We Have

Was I nervous? Of course I was. Excited-nervous though, and only just before the show began. I am one of those people who just tends to go into calm-mode. Once I got on stage, I enjoyed being there too much to have any second thoughts. With the number of times we had rehearsed all the songs, there really was no reason to panic. Everything was in muscle memory.


Special thanks to all the people I had the privilege of meeting and working with over the 12-week course, our teachers Duncan, Ross and Alex and Kenneth and Christie for giving us this fantastic opportunity to perform :) I had such a great time on the course and on the day of the cabaret and I suppose it goes unstated that I would love to do something similar again in the future. (Such a sloppy way to end the post...)

I was on a post-show high or something... My "cousin", Lumi, was in the audience :)

'Dreamboats and Petticoats' - another feel-good

This show has been going on for quite while now, both on tour and in the West End, and there has been talk of going ahead with productions in New York and Australia so I thought it was about time for me to check out what the fuss was about. I discovered this musical demonstrated the aspect that first made me realise the world of musical theatre is the one where I belong, the same sensation I got when I saw the Finnish production of Wicked: an incredible sense of togetherness and an incredible atmosphere.

Dreamboats and Petticoats at The Playhouse Theatre, London
Performance: Thursday 19th April 2012 at 19:30
Seat: Dress Circle (5th row centre), £22.50 (lastminute.com deal)
Cast included: Scott Bruton (Bobby), Harry Neale (Norman), Charlotte Jeffery (Laura), Richie Hart (Ray u/s), Susannah Allman (Sue), Gemma Salter (Donna), Roger Martin (Phil/Older Bobby)

I did not know this would be another one of those jukebox musicals. I generally tend to avoid those because the story lines in them are rarely great and the story line, for me, is one of the most important things in a musical. I suppose that is one of the reasons why I like Chess so much: the story is remarkably complex considering it is a piece of musical theatre. That is also the reason why I did not particularly enjoy We Will Rock You. Of course the singing and Queen's music was great but the story line was far too obscure for my liking. In Dreamboats and Petticoats the story was a standard one with teenagers' love troubles (the geeky girl likes the main semi-geeky guy who likes the popular girl who likes the popular macho guy who seems to be eyeing every girl around him) while at the same time the youngsters are trying their hand at a songwriting competition.

The story is set in the early 1960s and I ended up falling in love with some of the costumes. (I totally want a dress similar to those the girls were wearing!) Naturally the music consisted of hits of the 50s and early 60s. Songs such as Do You Wanna Dance?, Hey Baby and Bobby's Girl were featured. As a consequence, the audience consisted mostly of older people who grew up with the songs and remember them first hand. Of course I ended up sitting close to some old couple who insisted on singing along through most of the second act. This keeps happening to me! People singing along somewhere near me I mean. I can't stand it. Although with jukebox musicals it isn't as bad as it is with something like Chicago for instance (this also happened to me although the culprits were two young ladies). I recognised some of the songs but most of them were unknown to me. However, because I like old music I really enjoyed listening to it. The only drawback was that the singing could not always be heard due to the music being too loud. This was mainly a problem at the start. 

Photo: Tristam Kenton (source)

I had not heard of any of the cast members before. However, I think that made me concentrate on the musical as a whole rather than directing my focus on just one of the actors. I don't think they could have picked a more perfect actress than Charlotte Jeffrey to play the part of Laura. She had a powerful voice despite having a sort of innocent blonde girl look. I also liked Harry Neale as Norman and Susannah Allman did a great job of Sue. One felt sufficient sympathy for Scott Bruton's Bobby. What I loved about him was that he did in no way steal the show despite playing the main character and I think that worked very well. 

The most amazing thing was though, one as an audience member could just tell the actors were having a ball doing the show and performing together and the energy spread out to the audience also. As stated, this is the kind of thing that always makes me aware of how much I love musical theatre and why I first began enjoying it. There is a tendency for West End shows to be (too) perfect and have a certain sense of routine (understandable when the same show is performed 8 times a week) which may sometimes alienate the audience instead of truly engaging them. This one didn't come across like that.


I am currently trying to find a date when I could go see this one again. I just have to see it one more time. There are lots of cheap deals currently for Dreamboats and Petticoats as well so I recommend this in particular to theatre-lovers and people who enjoy 50s and 60s music.

(Source)