After I discovered that I can actually see stats on what posts are the most popular and what key words people use to find my blog, I realised that there are lots of people who have come across my blog by trying to find out about things to do with Finnish personality and Finnish culture. If that's you then I am proud to announce that there will be more frequent posts about that in the future.
Today I would like to draw your attention to mobile phones which are an essential part of the Finnish culture. We have Nokia which unfortunately sometimes is slightly behind other brands with the development of products but, frankly, many Finnish people still opt for a Nokia phone because they want to support anything that is Finnish. Or, alternatively, they opt for a Nokia phone because that is the only one they can navigate (it is so confusing with the menus of different brands, you would not think that but it is when you've only ever done it in one way!).
Many Finnish children get their first mobile phone when they start school at the age of 7. I was nine years old when I first got one. It was my mum's old phone. My first brand new phone was a Nokia 3410 which I got for my 11th birthday. This is what it looks like today and, as you can see, it is still in full working order:
Okay, I am an extreme case, I admit. Most Finns do not hang onto the same phone for as long as I have hung to this. This model along with the 3310 (which was the more popular one at the time) became known as the unbreakable phones. If you go into a Finnish home today and turn it upside down, you are very likely to find at least one phone like this somewhere in the cupboard. It has not been thrown away because there is something wrong with it but rather because the owner wanted to update their phone and everyone had one of them in 2002-2003.
In Finland land line phones are fairly close to extinction as a great proportion of the population has at least one mobile phone. Apparently foreign people joke about the fact that Finns tend to have an extreme number of working phone lines. Quite a few have a work mobile and a personal mobile separately, that's true but surely this is the case in other countries as well.
Another thing I have heard foreigners say about Finns and mobile phones is the fact that although Finns are fairly quiet and reserved, the way to get them talking (to check they are not mute) is to give them a mobile phone. Sit on a bus in Finland: all passengers will sit quietly unless their phone rings. They will answer it and discuss their dinner plans in, well, not a loud voice but there is no way in which you will not be heard in a silent bus.
Going back to having old mobile phones in the cupboards. You know how Finns have competitions for everything. I now present to you the Mobile Phone Throwing Championships (I have no idea why the video is without sound):
Based on the well-known film, Ghost (1990) (which, because I do not watch many films, I have not seen), this musical is a new one having been performed for the first time in Manchester in March 2011 and beginning West End previews in June. It is now due to start previews on Broadway in March with the original West End leads Richard Fleeshman (Sam Wheat) and Caissie Levy (Molly Jensen) having left the London production before the official cast change date in order to open the production in New York. So, bring on the first performance of the new leads!
Ghost the Musical at Piccadilly Theatre, London
Performance: 13th January at 19:30
Seat: Third row of the Grand Circle
Cast included: Mark Evans (Sam Wheat), Siobhan Dillon (Molly Jensen), Andrew Langtree (Carl Bruner), Lisa Davina Phillip (Oda Mae Brown, u/s), Ivan de Freitas (Willie Lopez)
Note: This was the first performance of Mark and Siobhan.
Going to see this was rather a last minute decision. It was just before five o'clock in the afternoon when I spotted someone selling a spare ticket on Twitter and decided to just go for it (these are the moments when I cannot get over how lucky I am to be living so close to the West End). I was very excited as this was not only my first time seeing Ghost, but I would be seeing Mark as well. He blew me away with his voice as Fiyero in Wicked and he is one of my favourite musical theatre performers.
Firstly, the front of house staff at the theatre were some of the friendliest I have ever encountered. I would happily go there again just for those smiley and polite people! Thanks, Piccadilly Theatre staff for that. It's a shame the people in charge of making the programme had decided to either be lazy or cheap and there were only a couple of pictures of Mark and Siobhan. The majority featured Richard and Caissie. I suspect they are waiting for the actual cast change to take place before completely redoing the programme.
Both Mark and Siobhan were stunning. Siobhan's voice gave me shivers, it was so clear and pure and Mark sang amazingly, as always. There was also a nice chemistry between the two of them which was cute to observe. I think my favourite song was With You sung by Molly. It was absolutely beautiful. I would love to get a backing track I could sing that to. Here Right Now was very catchy. That's the one I was singing as I left the theatre. Also Lisa Davina Phillip did a great job of Oda Mae!
This musical reminded me of a contemporary film more than anything. The costumes were not that kind of fancy things one expects to see in musicals and it used video projections to set the scene. Most memorably, perhaps, the New York subway had been created using this method with actors sitting behind the curtain so it looked like they were on the train. Personally I prefer more traditional musicals (I was delighted over the slightly random tap dance number in the midst of the action) but I think Ghost is an interesting one to see for those who are into films. Still, I enjoyed the singing so I will be going to see the show for a second time. Ghost still engaged me to a great extent. I decided that after realising how frustrated I was over the fact that Sam could not communicate with Molly. If I did not care, I would not have felt so strongly about it.
In true West End style I waited for the actors at the stage door afterwards. It was not crowded, perhaps partly due to the freezing cold weather. It was great meeting Siobhan for the first time. She is a really really lovely person. And Mark, well, I don't quite know why I still keep asking him for an autograph every time because I already have about five of them :P
Conclusion: I now finally understand what the slogans "Believe" and "Ditto", which have kept popping up in relation to Ghost, are about!
The trailer for the musical featuring the original West End cast:
Yet another show ticked off my to-track-down-and-see list of musicals. Initially my dad offered to come and see this with me. I politely declined. Although I did not precisely know the story beforehand, I knew it would be about drag queens and would most likely contain a lot of sexual references. The kind of stuff you would not necessarily find so funny with your dad sitting next to you. So I opted to see this with two wonderful musical-theatre-fanatic friends of mine. How better to pass the day of a New Year's Eve than by going to see a musical comedy? The Finnish title, Lainahöyhenissä, literally means 'In borrowed feathers' (Finnish is such an awesome language that those three words can be expressed as one).
Lainahöyhenissä at Helsinki City Theatre, Finland Performance: 31st December 2011 at 14:00 Seat: Stalls right, second row (Areena stage) Cast included: Pertti Koivula (Georges), Sami Hokkanen (Albin/Zaza), Antti Timonen (Jean-Michel), Marika Westerling (Anne Dindon), Markku Haussila (Jacob), Eero Saarinen (Edouard Dindon), Leena Rapola (Marie Dindon), Riitta Havukainen (Jacqueline)
I had never seen anything on this particular stage before (the Helsinki City Theatre has a couple of different auditoriums so they can have several plays going on at once). The auditorium was fairly small and modern and the genius things was that we had so much legroom that we did not have to stand up to let people past us while in our seats. The majority of the audience were middle-aged and above. The funny thing is that that used to be the image I had of theatre when I was younger: Excluding plays that were specifically aimed at children, it was only older people who went to the theatre. I don't think going to the theatre is in the least fashionable in Finland. The Finnish production of Wicked may have brought together some theatre addicts from the younger generation but West End is still a whole other story.
I would be very interested in seeing an English production of La Cage aux Folles now that I have seen this. I greatly enjoyed it and I would love to know what kinds of original choices had been made with the costumes and props. There were a couple of things such as a chair with a penis-shaped back rest and photographs of naked men on the walls which I did not consider to be out of place because... it was a Finnish production. Somehow that makes it okay. I just could not imagine the same happening in a Broadway/West End production (so I would be intrigued to hear about an English-language production or indeed another international production from anyone who has seen one). I guess that is because whatever happens in 'big theatreland' will make the headlines. Those productions will be seen by tourists who come from different cultures. There is more pressure for whatever is shown to be appropriate and accessible. In Finland the circles are smaller. The language barrier usually prevents tourists from going to the theatre in Finland so you feel like an insider when you are able to do it. I think that might be why the atmosphere in the Finnish theatres is so different compared to the West End and there is a particular bond between actors and the audience (fellow Finns are welcome to present their opinions on this).
One thing that struck me about this musical was the plot that was surprisingly complicated for a musical. One could spot the French origin in it. It reminded me slightly of a production of Mark Camoletti's Don't Dress for Dinner which I saw last summer. It might have been a little dragged out but generally musicals can be excused for that. The plot was wonderfully funny and so awkwardly funny that I ended up putting my fist in my mouth (the equivalent of a face palm but without blocking my view of the stage) so many times that my hand was sore afterwards due to me having been biting it. For those who do not know the plot: In short, it is about an aged gay couple who own a gay night club and perform there. One of them, Georges, has a son who has found a girl to marry. The problem is that the girl's father is a famous political figure known for his anti-gay views. Somehow Georges and Albin as well as Georges's son, Jean-Michel, need to survive the meeting of these parents.
The costumes were fantastically flashy and really grabbed my attention (I love sparkly things and have recently started wishing that I was good at textiles so I could attempt some replicas of my favourite costumes). The Cagelles (the backing singers&dancers at the night club consisting of six men dressed as women) moved so comfortably in heels and dresses that it was unreal. Not even just dancing but doing cartwheels and flips in those clothes. I can imagine that the guys must have had a ball rehearsing and that they probably have a ball every time they get to perform it. Speaking of men dressed as women, a honorary mention goes to Sami Hokkanen who flawlessly put on mascara and lipstick on stage while singing. The mention for the best singing voice goes to Pertti Koivula. I was not surprised to find out that he was a trained classical singer.
One of my favourite moments in the musical: When Albin comes on wearing a white Marilyn Monroe style dress and a guy rolls a fan on stage and positions it behind him to make the dress flow like in that famous picture.
Conclusion: Finns, go see it. It's entertaining and laughs are guaranteed. Warning you though, if you don't want to end up being asked to touch Albin's fur coat, you might not want to sit by the middle aisle in the stalls. However, if you sit in the few front rows, you might get a cheeky wink from one of the hot guys!
"You are crazy. I can't believe you're going all that way to see Wicked. Is it in Dutch? You don't even speak Dutch."
That, roughly, was the reaction of most people when I told them I was going to the Netherlands over the Christmas holidays to see the Dutch production of Wicked. In my defense, the flight from London to Amsterdam only takes an hour so it's not like I travelled a ridiculous distance, right? And, incidentally, I did study Dutch for those two months I spent at university not to mention that I speak Swedish which, as another Germanic language, helps an awful lot. Those who know me will also be aware that I know the musical rather well so at least I will not be lost with the story.
Now, one of the main reasons I wanted to make this trip was that I was inexpressibly keen on seeing Willemijn Verkaik as Elphaba. For those readers who have not hear of her, she is a Dutch singer who has also done musical theatre in the Netherlands. She became known around the world when she originated the role of Elphaba in Germany and then played her for three years in the country before coming to play the part in the Netherlands. In a poll, she was voted the favourite Elphaba currently performing (you can view the results of that here). Personally I love Willemijn's voice; vocally she had been my favourite Elphaba for quite a while so I was naturally interested to see whether her acting would match that and to hear her sing live.
I was very lucky to have help with obtaining tickets from our Dutch family friends (big thank you to them for also letting me stay at their house and for joining me at the theatre). I could not believe they were on the phone for half an hour in order to get us second row centre seats... I know I asked for "seats not too far back" but I never imagined second row. I was thrilled to hear it of course. Sitting at the front gives you the opportunity to absorb the action complete with facial expressions and the smallest gestures. However, it is not ideal when seeing a show for the first time as you are unable to see the whole stage at one glance so you have to keep turning your head.
(A good justification for seeing a show for a second time: "I have not seen it close up yet!")
Cast: Willemijn Verkaik (Elphaba), Céline Purcell (Glinda, alt.), Jim Bakkum (Fiyero), Bill van Dijk (De Tovenaar aka the Wizard), Pamela Teves (Madam Akaber aka Madame Morrible), Christanne de Bruijn (Nessarose), Niels Jacobs (Moq aka Boq), Jochem Feste Roozemond (Dr. Dillamond)
Note: The quoted parts in italics are extracts from my travel journal. I wrote the entry right after seeing the show when it was still fresh in my mind.
Observation #1 at the theatre: The unusual seating plan. You can view it here. Look at the seat numbers: seats 1 and 2 of every row are in the middle, the odd numbers ascend to the left and the even ones to the right. It seemed odd to me until I realised that it might be a good system as the people with even-numbered seats can enter the auditorium from one door and those with odd-numbered seats from another door rather than having a guess-game as to which side the seats might be on as you sometimes have to do with the regular arrangement. In addition, when booking, you will roughly know how centrally you are sitting in relation to the stage rather than knowing how close to one end of a row you're sitting. However, the main problem with this arrangement: I don't know whether everyone in the audience will appreciate the ingeniousness of it. Signed: Initially confused theatre-goer.
The Wicked merchandise they sold was exactly the same as in London with the addition of the German soundtrack being available (no Dutch soundtrack has been made). At this point I might mention that the Dutch production is a replica so everything from costumes to scenery is the same as in the original Broadway production. The only difference is that the script has been translated into Dutch.
I will attempt to do a bit of a chronological run-through and go into quite a bit of detail about specific bits in the musical so I apologise to those people who do not know the musical that well and who perhaps feel like they are a little bit lost.
First though, I cannot contain myself any longer: Willemijn was phenomenal! She did not play Elphaba, she was Elphaba. It was almost freaky how natural she looked with a green skin and the detail in her acting was astonishing. She delivered some of the lines in a way I have not heard them done before but somehow it was very obvious why she had chosen that way of expressing it:
"Although I did not like the way in which Willemijn rushed the 'Do I have something in my teeth?...', even that made perfect sense as Elphaba would logically be irritated by having had to explain the same things to everyone she has ever met. It just did not give people any time to laugh which I think is the reason West End Elphabas usually break the rant up."
Already after Wijn samen zijn een (=The Wizard and I) I was convinced that Willemijn's vocals were as good as I had imagined. It was not her best song but it still made an impact.
Madame Morrible, Moq and Nessarose were all very good. Moq was the perfect height. Just slightly shorter than all the females in the cast. Nessarose had very long hair! From the front you could see it being in the way every time she turned her head.
"I find it hard to pin down a reason for this but I thought Dr Dillamond was very good. I also got a confirmation for the fact that Dillamond really puts a piece of Elphaba's sandwich wrapper in his mouth and does not take it out on stage. Either it must be some kind of edible paper or he somehow stores it in his mouth and spits it out later."
"Dillamond pronouncing Galinda's name as 'Glinda' worked really well in Dutch because of the way the letter 'G' is normally pronounced in the language (note: it is sort of like in between a French 'r' and a German 'ch'). Obviously Galinda's name was pronounced in the English way by everyone else so not only did Dillamond leave the 'a' out but he also pronounced the 'g' in the Dutch way which I have heard other Dillamonds do as well but in this instance it made more sense."
No one cheered at Fiyero's entrance as I had been told might happen. Jim Bakkum became famous after winning a Dutch X-factor type of contest so lots of people do not take him as a serious musical theatre actor but he is popular with the teenage girls. He was not bad-looking and although for some reason most of the costumes did not look that flattering on him in my opinion, he still came across a cocky Fiyero type of guy so in that sense he suited the role. "Jim's singing was alright: he had quite a pop style voice but he did Dancing Through Life pretty well in my opinion."
"I really began admiring the training wand that Galinda receives. I have never before noticed the detail on that wand. Rather than simply being a white stick, it also had glitter on it, a round tip and a shaped handle."
"The blue sleeveless dress that Elphaba wore in this scene (that is Ozdust Ballroom) drew my attention to the skintight green, long-sleeved top that she wears underneath so she will not have to paint her arms green. It went around her thumbs in order to keep the sleeves from slipping up the arms and wrinkling. There was also a zip at the back which was surprisingly visible."
"Populair - Céline rushed this a little and she did not do anything extraordinarily funny with her performance. I liked the Dutch translation of 'Oh look, it's tomorrow!': literally 'Look, it's the next day!'. I think this made me understand the meaning of the original line better. I was surprised to find people laughed at Galinda asking Elphaba whether she could call her 'Elphie' rather than Elphaba's 'It's a little perky.' (the word might be difficult to translate). For 'You can call me Galinda', Céline did little circles with her hands in the air which I thought was good. She also added a lost-in-thought moment during the song after 'I know exactly what they need' which I am surprised I have not seen anyone do before because it was very effective. Céline's finish of the song (after Elphaba has run off) was great: she really caught the strong lower notes well. By the way, the correction Galinda did in the song was from 'lar' to 'lair' with the 'r' being very pronounced in the corrected syllable."
"In the train station scene a mention goes to Céline who, after declaring she was going to change her name to Glinda, curtsied, bowed her head and told Elphaba and Fiyero to shush while this went on. 'I've been thinking-' 'Yes, I heard' effectively triggered a laugh from a Dutch audience also."
"One of the absolute highlights of the first act was Elphaba's face when the Wizard's head shuts down after the Wizard has realised it is Elphaba who has come. 'Willemijn, that was absolute classic,' I thought in my head. The Wizard himself was amazing. To begin with, he was about half-a head shorter than Elphaba, he had his top hat slightly sideways on his head which contributed to the crazy-old-inventor-man-in-a-Disney-film' effect."
"Ik lach om zwaartekracht (= Defying Gravity), just one word: EPIC. I do not think I have ever heard the song performed as well as that. Willemijn's voice gave me the shivers already when she got to 'the rules of someone else's game'. She sang with so much ease; at no point did it seem like she had to work for the solid voice (just for the record: neither Elphaba nor Glinda sounded nasal in the least). She did not attempt to go unnecessarily loud either. She relied on the placement of sounds. Everything was beautifully controlled. While Elphaba floated in the air singing, the lights added their own input to the scene: the white lights pointing at Elphaba and streaming across each other with some assistance from the theatre smoke somehow broke up into thinner rays glistening and flickering in various shades of rainbow. My seat offered me a view to one of the most amazing musical theatre experiences ever. My heart was beating double speed. That has never happened to me in a theatre before."
Céline in particular improved as the show went on. I had not been that impressed by her opening number in the first act. Yes, all the notes had been correct by themselves and she had a good voice but somehow I thought it lacked the flow of a song. Willemijn did very well in the second act too. I think the more mature, serious and suspicious Elphaba was a part more suited to her than the school-girl Elphaba of the first act.
"In my mind I congratulated Céline for her performance of Thank Goodness. She impressed me with that number. That song has never been the one I am particularly fond of but Céline actually made me like it. Definitely the song in which she shone. Fiyero was being very cute here with his arm around Glinda whenever possible. Fiyero's uniform, however, was much too loose on Jim and it kept sliding up so he had to keep tugging it down."
"As Long As You're Mine was good. Again, Fiyero's hands were in exploratory action. The kiss at the end was followed by Fiyero kissing Elphaba's neck before moving back to the lips."
"The word 'Wicked' had not been translated but left in English. I was told that the word really came out of the blue; that it did not make sense in the Dutch translation because Elphaba is not called a 'wicked witch' in Dutch. So the word was there because it was the name of the musical and it had to be tied in there somehow." There were also a couple of other expressions that had been left untranslated. For instance, Madam Akaber exclaimed "Mission accomplished" at one point. However, I was informed that in Dutch, it is common to use English expressions such as that so they all made sense aside from that "wicked".
"The catfight scene: Strangely enough, no one laughed at Elphaba's "We can't all come and go by bubble" and there were only very few chuckles at Glinda's "a lot of us are taking things that don't belong to us, aren't we" but Elphaba's subsequent line was received with a roar of laughter. Willemijn did one of the best witch cackles ever."
"For Good was a beautiful track. Céline had gotten better towards the end. Willemijn's warm mezzo at the beginning of her verse was absolute bliss to listen to. However, I did not agree with the way that Elphaba stood there pretty much expressionless while Glinda was singing. The early stage at which Elphaba took Glinda's hand was very sweet though: she already held it at '...and just to clear the air...'."
The audience (because I enjoy observing cultural differences)
"The behaviour of the audience overall was politely restrained compared to an average West End audience. After the opening number they clapped only briefly and there was no cheering despite Glinda's high notes at the end. The applause died very quickly allowing the performance to continue."
I have to say that I had to focus in order to stay with the crowd so I did not keep clapping by accident. However, the audience made up for the quietness at curtain call:
"The entire audience was on its feet before I knew it, as if by command. I was astonished when Madam Akaber got a big cheer, bigger than the one the Wizard got, but it turned out upon retrospective inspection that Pamela Teves has acted in some well-known Dutch TV series. The two girls on my left began screaming when Jim took his bow; my ears died a little. 'So those were the Jim Bakkum fans I was warned about,' I thought to myself."
"Céline and Willemijn naturally got the biggest cheer and applause, Willemijn being the main trigger as because evident when the ladies took their separate bows. Céline laughed at the massive thank you Willemijn received."
Below is a recording of Willemijn singing Ik lach om zwaartekracht at the roof of the Circustheater (11th Oct 2011). Genius idea to promote the show I think!
Bloopers (because I know everyone enjoys reading them)
In What Is This Feeling?, Elphaba and Galinda got so close to each other at one point that their voices were picked up by each others' microphones as well as their own resulting in a double amplified sound.
In Dr Dillamond's class scene when he has dismissed the students, Elphaba pushes Nessarose's wheelchair to the side telling her to go ahead. The strap of Elphaba's bag got stuck in the wheelchair and Willemijn had to fiddle around for a little bit to get it off.
In Dancing Through Life when Fiyero threw Boq's book, it did not fly off-stage. Instead, it hit the wing and landed back onstage.
After Fiyero and Elphaba had run off and Glinda turned to go complaining about a headache, Glinda's wig was not properly on and some dark brown hair was visible from underneath it.
The blooper I was happy did not take place: At the very beginning when the monkeys come on stage and one of them swings on a rope. He did not fall off. If he had, he would have fallen on me.
Conclusion: The trip was worth it! I will now continue learning Dutch so I have a good reason to not only go and see Willemijn again but also to see other Broadway/West End musicals in Dutch. I reckon that can only be good for my language skills.
Website of Wicked Netherlands: http://www.musicals.nl/wicked.asp Disclaimer: Only the second picture from the top has been taken by me. The rest I do not own, they belong to their rightful owners. Those pictures can be found here. The video also was not filmed by me.
The posters up at tube stations really do speak the truth when talking about London's best new guilty pleasure musical or whatever the exact wording is. I had heard pretty good things about Rock of Ages. However, since I am not a complete rock music fanatic, I was not in too much of a rush to see it right away. The opportunity presented itself on Monday when I found out there were £12 stalls tickets (inc. booking fee) available for 16-26 year-olds for this particular performance. Not missing out on a deal like that! The seats we were allocated were brilliant as well! Almost bang in the middle of the auditorium so we could see the whole stage without obstruction.
Rock of Ages at Shaftesbury Theatre, London Performance: 16th December at 17:30 (such a random time for a show! No wonder they have cheap tickets for this and no wonder the show was u/s dominated) Cast included: Grant Anthony (Dennis, u/s), Shayne Ward (Stacee Jaxx), Jamie Muscato (Drew, u/s), Jodie Jacobs (Sherrie, u/s), Simon Lipkin (Lonny), Zizi Strallen (Regina, u/s), Rohan Tickell (Hertz), Sandy Moffatt (Franz), Rachel McFarlane (Mother), Carly Mercedes Dyer (Mother, u/s, took over in the second act)
According to the programme, the show would include 31 rock hits (of which I only recognised 7). That made me scared: How on earth would they fit that many songs as well as a plot of some sort into a 2,5h show? There was no way for it to overrun too much either since the next performance was due to start at 20:30. The answer: Surprisingly well. It was to a great extent a rock concert but there was an attempt of a plot: Sherrie moves to California to become an actress. She meets Drew, an aspiring rock star, at the club where he works, which is owned by Dennis. Hertz and his son Franz appeal to the Mayor in order to create a rock 'n' roll place of the much beloved city and Regina (who wishes her name to be pronounced so it rhymes with 'vagina'), the Mayor's PA, makes it her task to protest against the reform which the Mayor agrees to. The two men then go on to tell Dennis that the club will be shut down. Drew and Sherrie, predictably, fall for each other but Drew does not communicate his feelings clearly enough and so Sherrie ends up getting off with Stacee Jaxx, the real rock star whom all the girls are after. I will not reveal any more for those of you who want to go and see it but, well, the plot is fairly predictable. It should perhaps not be criticised for that, however, because this musical is very much a feel-good one focused on the songs and might suffer rather than benefit from having a complicated plot. Having seen We Will Rock You, I preferred Rock of Ages in terms of the storyline.
I recognised Jamie Muscato from the children's sitcom My Parents Are Aliens which I used to love. That was slightly surreal to begin with but I forgot that as soon as he started to sing as his vocals were phenomenal. I did not expect a voice as big as that. Jodie did a brilliant job of Sherrie who, as a character, initially reminded me of Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. The slightly breathy quality of voice suited the genre perfectly. Simon Lipkin was an absolute legend. Lonny, his character, acted as a narrator for the story so he addressed the audience and commented on what was going on. It seemed almost like he was improvising some of his performance. Particular point where I suspected this was when he was explaining Drew that he is an actor in a musical and showing him a copy of the very same Rock of Ages programme that was lying in my lap. Lonny said something along the lines of: "Look, there you are! Awww, look at that baby face. You have short hair there but long hair here *tugging Drew's hair*. Short there but long here. How old are you here *points at Jamie's picture in the programme*? Four?" He then went onto saying how he thought Drew should do his hair. Both Simon and Jamie were cracking up at this point but it was not a big deal as the moment was not too serious. So Simon Lipkin was very relaxed and funny.
Other special mentions go to:
Rohan Tickell's gorgeous voice
Sandy Moffatt who was responsible for the funniest line in the play: "I'm not gay, I'm just German!", he reminded me of a male version of Galinda in Wicked (if those two were in a show together it would turn out a complete disaster)
Shayne Ward who was a great actor
The fabulous dancers
Not only did the actors address the audience, they were also running around, through the audience as a part of the show which was a nice add. The audience was really encouraged to get involved (although not quite as involved as a bunch of girls on our right across the aisle did with the help of some alcohol - not only were they loud at inappropriate points but they also got up to go to the toilet constantly). This sort of involvement and a kind of team spirit that developed is not that common in the West End I think. The only other time I have gotten the feeling that the audience really is there to support the performers was at Shrek the Musical so it really is not given. (And that resulted in the hot guys sitting on my left even saying 'hi' to us!)
Would I recommend Rock of Ages? Yes, I would. If you like rock music, even better I'm sure but my friend and I don't know very much about rock music and we still agreed that it was a great night out. Go see it. The theatre staff are very friendly as well and they gave us small glowy things that we could wave in the air during the performance! :D
Those people who know a bit more about me and my interest in musical theatre have expressed their shock when I have told them that I have neither seen this legendary musical nor know what it is about. I own a copy of the audio recording of the 10th anniversary concert (much love for Colm Wilkinson, Philip Quast, Ruthie Henshall etc.) and I have had that playing in the background but I had not listened to the lyrics particularly carefully. And of course I was familiar with some well-known songs like On My Own,I Dreamed A Dream and Do You Hear the People Sing? but aside from that I was very much in the dark until yesterday.
I will put down some of the things I discovered and liked about the show. No heavy criticism as I don't want to offend anyone. Again, feel free to add your own comments :)
Before the show: I thought Les Mis was was a story about war in which everyone dies. That will sound absolutely ridiculous to those of you who know the musical. It sounds ridiculous to me now that I have seen it. And I walked into the auditorium quietly singing Do You Hear the People Sing? to myself (and I left at the end still singing that).
Les Misérables at Queen's Theatre in London Performance on 14th December 2011 at 14:30 Seat: Quite far back in the upper circle but in the middle of the row so I could still see the whole stage. I had binoculars with me. Cast inc.: Ramin Karimloo (Jean Valjean), Hadley Fraser (Javert), A J Callaghan (Fantine, u/s), Alexia Khadime (Eponine), Lisa-Anne Wood (Cosette), Craig Mather (Marius), Liam Tamne (Enjolras), Cameron Blakely (Thénardier), Katy Secombe (Madame Thénardier)
I very much wanted to see Ramin in this since I've seen him in both The Phantom of the Opera and Love Never Dies before and I absolutely adore his voice. He sang beautifully; especially Bring Him Home was incredible and that long note at the end of Soliloquy genuinely made me jump - I just did not expect it to come out as strong as it did. The audience was quite lame and that combined with the fact that there are not many breaks for the audience to applaud in, everyone sat fairly silently. The only time there was a proper cheer before the curtain call was after Bring Him Home so there really was something extraordinary about that performance. I have been hearing people doubting how well Ramin could play the part of Jean Valjean because they simply could not picture him do it. A friend of mine pointed out that Enjolras, whom Ramin has played before, is probably a more suitable part for him. While I am not denying that Ramin was incredible and he adapted his vocals perfectly to the role, I can still see why some people might lean towards preferring him as Enjolras. His voice would have been perfectly suited to that part.
What was the best thing about the show? If I was to say just one thing I would say Javert's coat. I think his coat was really cool! Well that got me nicely onto Javert and the fact that Hadley Fraser was great in the part. And I thought it was brilliant how the part-allocation had worked out here thinking back at The Phantom of the Opera 25th anniversary concert in which Ramin played the Phantom and Hadley played Raoul. Anyway, Hadley has a great, great voice!
Many have wondered how Alexia did as Eponine. If I am honest, she did not leave as big an impression as some of the other actors did. I have heard so many great things about her though, that I have come to think she might simply have had a bit of an off-day today. Her voice is very powerful and on occasion it stood out a little bit too much from the cast as a whole in my opinion, slightly due to nasality as well. However, she did add a riff to On My Own which I liked very much!
Particular mentions go to:
Lisa-Anne Wood who sang Cosette beautifully. She has quite a pretty, unique voice and I have a feeling we will be hearing of her in the future. Landing a role like this pretty much straight from drama school is no easy thing so she does have talent.
Katy Secombe came across as the perfect Madame Thénardier (what a name to spell - I keep having to re-check the spelling every time!) both considering voice and comic ability.
An amazing soprano voice in the ensemble whose owner I failed to identify but in some ensemble sections I could hear it above everyone else.
The little boy who played Gavroche, he seemed so comfortable on stage and made the audience laugh!
Observations:
This musical consists pretty much completely of singing so for people who are not used to paying overly close to attention to lyrics (like me), it is not the easiest one to follow if you do not know the plot.
I was surprised by how good the plot was. I am not quite sure why since a legendary musical such as this cannot really afford to have a dull or weird plot.
This show relies a lot on a great ensemble and the ensemble numbers were impressive.
There are so many markings on the stage - from the upper circle they are really visible.
This is no musical for little children; the gunshots really scared me.
In the barricade scene, from my seat I was able to see the 'dead' people getting up and exiting the stage behind the barricade.
They have effectively taken advantage of the fact that there is a rotating stage.
I am aware that I am probably in the minority by actually reading the synopses in programmes so: If you have a copy of the Les Mis programme but have not read the synopsis, go and have a read for entertainment value. It is quite funny if you imagine how confusing it is for someone who does not know the plot. Not only are there tons of names, some of the sentences are also very long with several clauses, not to mention the occasional imprecise use of personal pronouns:
"Valjean confesses the truth of his past to Marius and insists he must go away."
Sorry, who must go away? :P
Conclusion: Yes, I am intending to go and see Les Misérables again :) I am not sure how and why I have gone this long without seeing it. In addition, I know the original book by Victor Hugo is big but I might still have a go at reading it!
P.S. If someone knows what the initials in 'A J Callaghan' stand for, please share. I am curious to find out!
I have been asked by a couple of people to give some details about what muck-ups took place in the matinee performance on 10th December at Wicked London.
What is a muck-up matinee?
A brief explanation to those who are not familiar with the concept. In the West End shows, musicals in particular, tend to have long runs and there will be changes in the cast along the way. The last matinee of a cast before they leave and another cast takes over is traditionally called a muck-up matinee. In this performance the cast members may choose to tweak the show a little bit by doing ad-libs, swapping costumes or props or by saying each others' lines for instance. Most of the time the changes are of such nature that people who have not seen the show before do not realise that there is anything wrong and in principle it is still a normal performance of the show.
Here goes:
Principal cast: Rachel Tucker (Elphaba), Louise Dearman (Glinda), Mark Evans (Fiyero), Clive Carter (The Wizard), Julie Legrand (Madame Morrible), Zoe Rainey (Nessarose), Ben Stott (Boq)
This was the last matinee for all principal cast except Rachel and Julie as well as for some ensemble members.
ACT I
Arrival to Shiz: Nessarose was wearing a blue hat which could later be seen on one of the Shiz students.
What Is This Feeling: Elphaba made a face at her reflection in Galinda's mirror.
Dancing Through Life (when Glinda decides to give the black hat to Elphaba): Jennifer Tierney (ensemble) used her Scottish accent for "Galinda, what in Oz name?!". She also does this later for "Like a terrible green lizard throughout the land she flies."
Ozdust Ballroom: Elphaba did a half-improvised dance which involved her rolling on the floor. Galinda copied her.
Popular: Elphaba and Galinda took a really long time to say "green".
Popular: The lipstick Galinda put on Elphaba was bright red and sparkly.
Popular: Elphaba: "This is never going to work." Galinda *goes to her shoes*: "Ooooh! Shooooooe!"
Popular: When Galinda threw her wand off-stage, someone threw it back on and it landed at Elphaba and Galinda’s feet. They looked at it for a long time before Galinda carefully picked it up and threw it off again.
Classroom: Fiyero: "It's just, you've been Galindafied. Toss toss! *giggle*".
Classroom: The man who brought in the lion cub had made a small ponytail in his wig and he could not say his 'R's.
Lion cub scene (just before 'I'm Not That Girl'): When Fiyero ran across the stage with the lion cub to exit, Galinda ran after him.
Train station: Boq: "I can't do this anymore. Toss toss!"
Train station: Fiyero gave Elphaba a green envelope instead of flowers.
ACT II
The Wicked Witch of the East (as Elphaba exits): Elphaba to Nessarose: "Frankly, dear, I don't give a damn."
As Long As You're Mine: Not a muck up but I have got to give a mention to Mark's beautiful riff.
As Long As You're Mine: Some proper arse-grabbing from Fiyero, Fiyero and Elphaba looked like they were eating each others' faces off during the kiss at the end. It was unclear from where I was sitting whether it was Fiyero pulling Elphaba or Elphaba pushing but they ended up lying onstage on top of each other still kissing.
Cat-fight scene: Elphaba and Glinda were fighting for longer because the guards delayed their entrance.
Fiyero's capture (after the cat fight): When Fiyero pointed his gun at Glinda, she stepped forward and pressed her forehead against the muzzle.
March of the Witch Hunters: One ensemble member carried a spray-bottle instead of a pitchfork.
March of the Witch Hunters: One of the women had a moustache on.
March of the Witch Hunters: Some of the wigs had been switched around; some wigs from 'Thank Goodness' were used.
Chistery handing Elphaba the note about Fiyero's death: Some other pieces of paper fall onto the floor from Chistery's hand.
Curtain call: Rachel and Louise both wore funny glasses: Rachel yellow and Louise pink ones.
Curtain call: Mark did his 'Moves like Mevans' (explanation for that can be found in this video).
This was the first time I attended a muck-up matinee and it was only my second time seeing Wicked in London so I am fairly certain I did not catch all the muck-ups that took place. Please feel free to modify or add to the list by commenting :)
Big thanks to Gemma for adding to my list and to Alisha for confirming a couple of uncertainties.
