From left: Brian d'Arcy James, Raza Jaffrey, Jack Davenport, Katherine McPhee, Christian Borle, Megan Hilty, Debra Messing, Jaime Cepero and Anjelica Huston (source)
I don't usually watch TV series but of course I had to check out one which basically is about Broadway and about the process of making a musical. Before the people who are not musical theatre fanatics stop reading, I'll have to add that this is a series for everyone, not just musical theatre people. There is lots of that standard American relationship drama which keeps you hooked not to mention that there are some great covers of popular songs and absolutely amazing original tracks (to the extent that you can't often tell which ones have been made specifically for the series).
In short: Tom Levitt (Christian Borle) and Julia Houston (Debra Messing), a composer/lyricist duo decide to write a new musical based on the life of Marilyn Monroe. Two actresses end up battling over the main part: Karen Cartwright (Katherine McPhee) who is new to the industry but shows great promise and Ivy Lynn (Megan Hilty) who is experienced after years in the ensemble and is desperate for her big break. Derek Wills (Jack Davenport) and Eileen Rand (Anjelica Huston) join the team as the director and producer respectively. Not only do we get to see a musical in the making but we also get glimpses into the lives of the characters outside of the rehearsal studio.
Smash is not a copy of Glee. The setting is completely different and the former is aimed at a slightly older audience. It is true that both of them have singing and dancing in them and I agree with what Megan Hilty said in an interview: that Smash would never have been possible without Glee preceding it and making musical theatre cool and popular amongst the general audience and particularly the younger generation, but still Smash is very different - in a good way. One of the things I particularly like is that many of the actors have been chosen as a result of Broadway credits and many big musical theatre names have come to guest star as well. So yes, the singing is top class.
The trailer:
And one of my fave songs from the series so far (sung by Megan Hilty and the guest-starring Will Chase):
How many people knew that The King's Speech was originally written as a play but the stage production was put aside due to the making of the film (David Seidler wrote the script for both)? Luckily they are now touring the play and preparing for a West End transfer because it is an absolutely amazing piece of theatre.
The King's Speech at Richmond Theatre Performance: Tuesday 6th March 2012 at 19:30 Seat: Stalls Cast included: Charles Edwards (King George VI), Jonathan Hyde (Lionel Logue), Emma Fielding (Queen Elizabeth), Joss Ackland (King George V), Ian McNeice (Winston Churchill), Daniel Betts (King Edward VIII), Charlotte Randle (Myrtle Logue), David Killick (Stanley Baldwin), Michael Feast (Cosmo Lang), Lisa Baird (Wallis Simpson)
I have actually seenThe King's Speech the film which in itself is rather a coincidence as I quite rarely watch films. This particular one I liked a lot and naturally, as the film was such a massive phenomenon too, I was keen on seeing the play. An additional positive factor was that it came to one of the closest theatres to where I live, Richmond Theatre, so I could not not go...
The King's Speech definitelygoes onto my list of best plays I have seen: it was concise, captivating and witty. I assume everyone knows the story line so I will not start explaining that any further. The play is very similar to the film but I don't think it drags on as much. For example at the beginning the scenes change rapidly getting Queen Elizabeth to Lionel Logue's office for the first meeting in record time. I can imagine even people who do not usually go to the theatre liking this one because it is not packed with abstract imagery and, frankly, it was fascinating to see people act this one out on stage. The play was funnier than I remember the film being but then, I have only seen the film once so don't quote me on that.
I am sure that people who have seen the film will be able to fairly easily picture the story working well on stage also. In the theatre the free-standing wall in the middle of the rotating stage made the set-changes fluent and enabled the projection of old film footage drawing the audience into the war-struck England for instance.
The cast were great. Charles Edwards most certainly did not come second to Colin Firth as the stuttering Bertie (in all fairness I am impressed by anyone who manages to convincingly play a stuttering character) and Jonathan Hyde as Lionel Logue was another great casting choice. I was also impressed by how well Ian McNeice suited the part of Winston Churchill (it's always interesting to see how the roles of such iconic people have been cast).
The King's Speech will open at the Wyndhams Theatre in the West End on 22nd March 2012 and is currently booking until 21st July 2012.
A play with a little bit of opera... over from Broadway.
Master Class at Vaudeville Theatre, London (limited run until 28th April 2012) Performance: Tuesday 28th February 2012 at 19:30 Seat: 3rd row Dress Circle Cast: Tyne Daly (Maria Callas), Jeremy Cohen (Emmanuel Weinstock), Dianne Pilkington (Sophie de Palma), Garrett Sorenson (Anthony Candolino), Naomi O'Connell (Sharon Graham), Gerard Carey (Stagehand)
Lastminute.com was offering a meal&theatre package at a very reasonable price and since I was intending to see Master Class anyway, I decided to try it out. The meal was at Porter's English Restaurant which was only a short walk away from the theatre. Frankly, I am not one to critique food because I don't really mind what I stick into my mouth but I think the food was decent and, most importantly, the meal was a perfect size (i.e. not massive). We got to select our meal from a set menu which had about six different choices on it. A special mention goes to the lovely waiting staff.
Our seats were supposed to be in the Upper Circle but when we got to the theatre we were told we had been bumped up to the Dress Circle because there were a whole lot of empty seats. The view from there was perfect actually. I can't imagine the view from the stalls being significantly better.
About: Sophie de Palma, Anthony Candolino and Sharon Graham all come in individually for a master class with Maria Callas. Callas conducts her classes in a stern, individual way which causes a number of comic moments and we learn a lot about her personality and her life.
Tyne Daly was amazing, as anticipated. She had an unbelievable stage presence and played Maria Callas stunningly. She seemed so much taller on stage compared to what she actually was when seeing her at the stage door afterwards. She delivered extremely well throughout. She was incredible - not much more I can say about that.
I was very excited about seeing Dianne because I really love her voice and I have been to see her perform in a cabaret but I have never seen her in a part at the theatre. Sophie de Palma was such a great part for Dianne. I started giggling when I realised it was another part which involved crying. It reminded me of an interview in which she said that she tends to get a lot of crying girl parts :P It was great to hear Dianne, Garrett and Naomi actually sing opera with Jeremy accompanying them on the piano as Emmanuel the accompanist (whose name Callas has trouble remembering). The two latter are actually opera singers and Dianne has got a great operatic soprano range as well so quality stuff there. I used to be a big fan of opera at one point and before I began singing musical theatre, I did some classical stuff. Seeing Master Class really inspired me to go and have a look for some classical music to sing for a change :)
The only thing that put me off a little was the fact that I did not know much about Maria Callas from before and although there obviously was a short biography in the programme, I have a feeling the show would have had a greater effect on me had I known a bit more of the background prior to seeing it.
Finally, a special mention to Gerard Carey as well for being an absolutely hilarious stagehand!
I saw Legally Blonde in the West End on my birthday two years ago with two of my friends. I was highly dubious when mum told me she had booked tickets for it. It had only been running for three months then so I didn't know anyone who'd have seen it and, frankly, it did not seem like my kind of thing at all... Despite that, I ended up loving it. So when I heard the show was closing I knew I had to see it once more (even though I end up wanting all the pink dresses...)
Legally Blonde the Musical at the Savoy Theatre Performance: Tuesday 21st February at 19:30 Seat: Centre rear stalls Cast included: Carley Stenson (Elle Woods), Stephen Ashfield (Emmett Forrest), Ben Freeman (Warner Huntington III), Peter Davison (Prof. Callahan), Natalie Casey (Paulette Buonufonté), Tricia Adele-Turner (Vivienne Kensington), Aoife Mulholland (Brooke Wyndham)
What's the thing about Legally Blonde? In the two years it's been running, the musical has gained a rather extensive fan base. For me (being someone who likes an intellectual challenge) the unbelievably witty lyrics did the trick. The musical was not simply full on pink, fluffy and girly; it was actually funny in quite a clever way.
Which songs do I like the best? So Much Better and There! Right There! come joint first. I have much love for Legally Blonde and Ireland too. I enjoy singing the title track especially as with a little bit of editing it works brilliantly as a solo song.
"Some girls fight hard, some face the trial, some girls are just meant to smile. It's not up to me, just let me be legally blonde."
A Finnish production of Legally Blonde ran for the 2011 summer season at an open air theatre and the "Gay or European" had been changed to "Gay or Swedish" to work better for the Finnish audience. It made me laugh so much.
Carley Stenson and the current West End company (Source)
I have to say that I enjoyed the show more the first time round than I did this time. I think it was partly to do with the cast because I liked the original West End cast so much that the experience I had watching them was a very difficult one to top. However, that is not to say that the current cast did not do a brilliant job. Carley was wonderfully funny as Elle, Ben had the right kind of hot-guy-who-gets-all-the-girls look, Natalie made Paulette her own and Aoife was great as Brooke. I still cannot get over the fact that she used a skipping rope to do a pretty full-on work-out while singing perfectly with a steady voice. A special mention also to Lucy Miller, Ellie Kirk and Abiona Omonua who sang the parts of Elle's friends (Serena, Margot and Pilar respectively) amazingly well.
It's a shame this West End production is closing. That will be one proper feel-good musical out of the door. Then again, there is currently a UK touring production not to mention worldwide productions (the next production due to open in Sydney this year) so I'm sure that this won't be the end of Legally Blonde:)
Fact from the website: "There are 18 songs in the show and Elle sings 16 of them as well as having 19 costume changes." - impressive! UK website:http://www.legallyblondethemusical.co.uk/ Legally Blonde the Musical closing in the West End on 7th April 2012.
'New' in quotation marks because they have been playing the parts for two months now so I don't know whether you can really call them the new cast anymore but this was my first time seeing them. As usual, I'm going to focus on the things I liked about the show rather than ranting on about things that were bad :)
Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre, London
Performance: Saturday 11th February at 19:30
Seat: Front stalls right, slightly restricted view. We were seated only a couple of rows from the front in front of the loudspeaker. The sound quality was terrible there so will avoid those seats in the future.
Cast included: Rachel Tucker (Elphaba), Gina Beck (Glinda), Matt Willis (Fiyero), Desmond Barrit (the Wizard), Julie Legrand (Madam Morrible), Lillie Flynn (Nessarose), Adam Pettigrew (Boq), Christopher Howell (Dr Dillamond)
I was very excited to see Gina as Glinda as I saw her a few years ago as Christine in The Phantom of the Opera and I could imagine her being suited to the part of Glinda as I quite like Glinda to have an operatic voice. The feedback I had gotten from people who had already seen her had been mixed: many people said she was good but that they missed Louise's characterisation.
Personally I found that Gina's Glinda corresponded well with that mental expectation I have of the character. She was very bubbly and smiley which I liked (she has a kind of cute, girly way of smiling which makes her whole face light up and she made that a part of the character very effectively). Overall Gina came across to me as quite a natural and convincing Glinda. She made the character believable. Oh, and she has a lovely voice well suited for No One Mourns the Wicked and Thank Goodness. She impressed me especially with the latter by nailing the optional high note at the end. Found a recording of her doing NOMTW. Have a listen. Vocally she is a very strong Glinda in my opinion:
An interesting thing that I noticed (Gina and Matt both did this during the course of the show): they rushed a one or two of their lines to the extent that they actually sounded like normal speech. I don't mean it in a negative way. It is just peculiar how you don't notice the way in which most lines are spoken slightly slower than normal conversation pace until someone does not do that.
Matt is actually more attractive live than in pictures I think. He has a very pop-style voice which is not the kind of voice I would pick for my ideal Fiyero but I don't see a reason why it would not work for some people. He also played the arrogance of Fiyero well. Having someone like Matt who is already famous in non-musical theatre circles will persuade new people to come and see the show. That in turn means that the show is likely to run for longer :) I am surprised there had been no attempt to cover the tattoos on Matt's arms which, although they may suit him, I did not think were particularly appropriate for Fiyero.
Some souvenirs ;)
I was very impressed by Desmond Barrit as the Wizard. I really liked Clive Carter especially because he was a very good singer so I did not expect to like his follower but Desmond sang very well. We had a word with him afterwards at the stage door and and he said he finds the singing terrifying :P
Random points:
Gina said "Our paths did cross as students" instead of "at school".
It was strange seeing Nessarose with ginger hair to begin with (the wonder of Nessarose not wearing a wig).
I liked Gina's ending to Popular. She made it funny and different.
Loved Julie's 'Nooo' when Glinda asked if she could touch the Grimmerie.
Rachel's growl in the last 'Ah' of Defying Gravity <3
Lillie and Adam did a good job of Wicked Witch of the East, I rather liked Lillie's voice.
Rachel's No Good Deed <3 (I was never a big fan of the song until I heard Rachel sing it; I think it's her best number).
In For Good, Gina reminded me vocally of Annaleigh Ashford.
Gina had chosen to play quite an upset Glinda in For Good. She probably didn't cry for real but she was convincing anyhow.
Overall I salute Rachel for doing a good job despite having been ill a lot lately and still recovering from that.
According to Gina, Galinda is not in the second classroom scene because she has dropped the class being tired of Dr Dillamond harping on about the past (the popular interpretation is that she is hung-over after the party).
According to Rachel the reason why Elphaba abruptly stops carrying a bag in the second act is because she has become more mature and the bag gives a bit of a school girl image.
If anyone has read Voltaire's Candide, the story of Pippin is a little similar: a story of a young man's travels. This new London production has taken the 1970s musical into the 21st century by having Pippin complete levels in a video game.
Pippin at The Menier Chocolate Factory
Performance: 4th February at 15:30
Seat: G4, quite good view. Because the stage was the same width as the auditorium, I don't think the very front row seats would have been particularly good.
Cast included: Matt Rawle (Leading Player), Harry Hepple (Pippin), Ian Kelsey (Charles), Frances Ruffelle (Fastrada), David Page (Lewis), Carly Bawden (Catherine), Stuart Neal (Theo), Louise Gold (Berthe)
I had been putting off seeing this one for a while mainly due to people saying it was a bit weird and not that great but I decided to take up a cheap ticket as I was still keen on seeing another show with music by Stephen Schwartz.
Very effective lighting design not to mention the set. The space they had had been used effectively. The most amazing thing was that the 'walls' of the stage were composed of strips of fabric forming an initially solid-looking composition but they allowed actors to literally enter the stage from anywhere as they could pull the fabric apart and slip through. I feel that I should also mention the extending of the set into the passage through which the auditorium was entered. To begin with I thought I had ended up in the wrong place (you never know with these small off-West End venues especially since the Menier Chocolate Factory also does arts exhibitions and such) when I walked through something that resembled a bedroom with a guy playing video games. I did realise he was an actor because one of the people trailing into the auditorium tried to ask him something and he just ignored her but the purpose of him being there only dawned to me afterwards.
Another thing that impressed me was a sword-fighting scene between Pippin and a shadow projected onto the back wall. First I thought it was a trick of light and that there was a person fighting him because all of the sound effects of metal clashing together were so perfectly timed with Pippin and the shadow's swords.
I only found out Frances Ruffelle was in this when I started flicking through the programme. She most famously played Eponine in the original London and Broadway casts of Les Misérables. I had never seen her perform before so I was quite excited. She has a very unique voice and a great stage presence and she suited the part of Fastrada very well.
Another special mention goes to Louise Gold and her rendition of No Time at All. I can't recall when I have last heard the applause and the cheers go on for as long as that after a single song in a musical. However, that might have also been partly due to the fact that it was the third last of Louise's performances in the part (I don't know who is taking over for the rest of the run). The choreography was particularly interesting for me to watch as I have recently been familiarising myself with Bob Fosse's work and he was the one who choreographed the original Broadway production of Pippin. I noted happily that this new production had kept a lot of Fosse routines.
In this musical the actors addressed the audience directly on occasion and, even though I did not exactly know what this musical was about, I had heard of the Leading Player extending his hand to someone in the audience and saying "Come" towards the end of the musical. The lady who was chosen this time actually did get up and follow the Leading Player. Wonder where she was taken. Surely they would not have denied her the end of the show? The ending, by the way, is slightly different to the ending of the original production and I think it works brilliantly with all the futuristic alterations that have been made to the musical.
This was the first preview and, as I also found out, technically a dress rehearsal since there had been no time for a dress run. Even not taking that into account it was a great performance.
Plot summary: Michael (early 20s) lost his mother Amanda three years ago when she was run over by a car. He now lives with his uncle, Will, and since Amanda's death he has not spoken a word. Lauren, who is Michael's ex-girlfriend and who is now dating Wolf, a member of the band Michael used to be the lead singer of, starts visiting Michael regularly at Will's request to try and help Michael over his mother's death.
Performance: 31st January 2012 at 19:30 (1st preview) Seat: The third row or something (non-allocated seating)
Cast: Liam Doyle (Michael), Tori Allen-Martin (Lauren), Greg Oliver (Wolf), Stephen Rolley (Teenage Michael), Ashleigh Gray (Amanda), Stevie Webb (Will)
So Tim Prottey-Jones has become pretty famous in the world of musical theatre for the music he has composed and After the Turn is based on his songs. If you like his music, I most certainly recommend for you to see this production. Ashleigh being in this was my main reason for booking a ticket and it turned out to be a worthy reason as well. Excellent vocals and she actually is very scary in the part of the controlling mother. Stevie Webb also delivered brilliantly both vocally and acting-wise. The rest of the cast was younger and although obviously they all had great singing voices, I noticed that the rock style songs which encouraged shouting and forcing volume did wear their voices as the show progressed. However, this could have been to do with nerves as well and I think all this will improve at every performance. It would be interesting to go and see this again in the last week of the run or something to see how different the show has become (also, Sarah Earnshaw will be taking over as Amanda for the last week).
I have to admit I was not that familiar with Tim Prottey-Jones's music before mainly because I am rather fond of the traditional Broadway musical style music rather than the popular music that many musicals in the recent years have adopted. Despite that, I was rather fond of many of the tracks. If I was to just pick one favourite it would probably be Just One Look but also Closer to Home and Mother, Mikey among others stood out to me. The musical was heavily focused on the music rather than the story line. A couple of things, especially with the ending, left me a little confused but that's all been cleared up for me now!
Especially Greg and Liam acted very well; particular credit to the latter for keeping up the 'mute' role. By the way, all the promo pictures and posters I have seen for this musical indicate that there is a lot of making out and undressing in the show but that is not the case so fear not; seeing this with an elderly relative will not be awkward.
