The Dreams You Come In With May Not Always Be The Dreams You Leave With But Hey They Still Rock!

Hey guys...hope you're having a great time :). Well throughout last week I was feeling a little sad as there was a Priscilla reunion in London on Saturday and it didn't look like I was going to be able to make it because I was working. However, I got talking to one of my Priscilla friends, Jane, on Thursday evening and found out that a few of them were going to see Rock of Ages on the Sunday. So, to cut a long story short, I spent Friday morning buying train tickets for Sunday and that was that, trip to London sorted!

Well Sunday morning came round and, needless to say, I was very excited, although I was, also, a little bit scared as it was my first time travelling down to London by myself! However, other than the fact that my train was slightly delayed and incredibly busy meaning I spent the entire trip sitting on the floor doing my uni work and feeling very student-y, everything was fine.

My train got in at just after 10.30, which meant I had just enough time to get to Covent Garden and do a bit of browsing before heading over to the Shaftesbury Theatre at 12 where we'd arranged to meet.

Being well prepared I got to the Shaftesbury with ten minutes to spare but it was quite lucky I did as there were already 4 sets of people queuing to get tickets!

Now I'd never met Jane, and her friend Faye before, although we'd talked quite a bit on Twitter, but I instantaneously knew who they were as they crossed the road to meet me. After hugs and hellos we immediately started chatting like we'd know each other for years!

All that was left was to find the fourth member of our group, Rob, who I'd met twice before and is probably the most Priscilla obsessed person in the world!!! We met him at the Palace theatre (our previous home) with the news that we'd got four seats together in row BB (which is basically the front row) for the matinee performance of Rock of Ages!

By now it was 12.30 so we had three hours before the show started...now what do you do when you've got time to spare in London?...well you hot foot it over to the nearest cocktail bar. The nearest one to us was Balans which Jane had been to many times (although she's never had a cocktail before!) and one of our other Priscilla friends, Lisa, has a loving relationship with their Porn Star Martinis. Well after a bit of persuasion Rob managed to persuade Jane into having the Porn Star and, thus, she was officially inducted into the world of cocktails and the Porn Star is definitely the way to start...put it this way, I'd definitely be going back again for one!

Well we spent a good two and a half hours in Balans, had a good old natter and had an absolutely fantastic time getting to know each other and just generally chatting the day away! In the time we were there we had a total of six cocktails, three for Rob (Porn Star, Weeping Jesus and Sicilian Kiss), two for me (Apple Martini and a Porn Star), one for Jane (the famous and beloved Porn Star) and a coke for Faye...well someone had to be sensible!

We arrived at the theatre at 3.15 so had 15mins to get settled before the show started. Our seats were amazing and we had a great view of the stage, although the actors at the back were missing their legs but this didn't really impact too much on the overall show.

Firstly, we were really pleased as Simon Lipkin was playing Lonny. I was even more excited as the last two times I'd come Simon had been understudied and even though Nathan Amiz was brilliant it wasn't the same. Well, as you can probably gather, Simon was absolutely fantastic and the highlight of the show for us was being the ones he picked on at the start. He started off with yours truly but then decided that I may be too young (which nearly made me fall off my seat with laughter!) so decided to change to 'my mum' Jane who was apparently 'more in the appropriate age range'! Well we all completely lost it at that point and although it was slightly embarrassing it, also, completely made the show for me, especially as I now have a new (and very beautiful) mum who in my opinion doesn't look nearly old enough…love you Jane!

The rest of the show was completely amazing, for a more complete review please see my previous blog 'Rally the Masses People'. Nevertheless, since then there has been a cast change. The main change for me was the fact that Oliver Tompsett (Drew) had been replaced by Ross Hunter. Now it would take a lot for anyone to better Oliver for me, however, Ross brought a new, more boyish style to the role which worked very well and I was actually very impressed! The cast change, also, meant Stacee Jaxx was played by Tim Howard and Dennis was played by Daniel Fletcher. Both of these two were amazing and it seemed like they had been playing the roles for years! Well done guys…you rock!!!

All in all, I have to say this was my favourite time of seeing the show, although I'm uncertain as to whether that's because of the show or the company I was in…probably a mixture of the two! Nevertheless, I've always said that for a show to be brilliant I have to cry and for the first time I found I had tears in my eyes during Don't Stop Believing!

After the show we went outside and met Simon and had a picture with him! It was then back to the hotel where everyone else had stayed so they could pick up their cases before heading over to Paddington where Jane and Rob were getting their trains. All too soon it was time to say goodbye, which was really hard and I felt very emotional as I got the tube back to Kings Cross.

Overall, I had an amazing time with some great friends at a great show! I would highly recommend Rock of Ages to everyone as it is such a fantastic and feel good show, however, I would, also, recommend to everyone to start talking to people who love the same show as you, or just theatre in general! Meeting Jane, Faye and Rob was truly fantastic and I can't wait to meet them again...if there's one thing I'm sure of is that we, and the rest of my Priscilla pals, will be friends for life!!!

I hope you enjoyed my rather random and very long blog about the amazing time I had! Please subscribe below and you can follow me on Twitter at @GreenGirlsRox, oh and please message me as I'd love to hear from you!

Before I go I'll leave you with a few pics from the day...hope you enjoy :)

 Me with the lovely Simon Lipkin <3

 Rob and me in Balans

Jane with her very first cocktail :)

The Shaftesbury Theatre

 Jane and me in the Shaftesbury

Rob and me in the Shaftesbury

Love you all 

Kat

xx

An Idiot in America

Hey guys, sorry I haven't been on in a while but I've been busy with uni work...no excuse I know! Anyway last week I went to see Green Day's American Idiot at The Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff!

Now let's just say I don't really follow Green Day and had absolutely no idea what the plot would be about so I was going in blind!!!

The plot itself was quite confusing to begin with and it was not made clear that one of the characters was another's alter ego. By the end of the first act I was in quite a bit of doubt as to whether I liked the show. However, halfway through the second act it all clicked into place to deliver a very potent and relevant message. It is for this reason that I'd say the show is not for everyone and if you like a linear style plot then I'd definitely advise you to stay away. If you like Hair, however, then go and book a ticket now as, in my opinion, the plot and its delivery was Hair but modernised.

The cast was fabulous and worked extremely well as a unit. The principals were Alex Nee (Johnny), Thomas Hettrick (Tunny), Casey O'Farrell (Will), Alyssa Dipalma (Whatsername), Kennedy Caughell (Heather) and Trent Saunders (St Jimmy). All were absolutely fantastic and really made the show; their voices were strong and they played the parts with conviction. Additionally, Ashley Tobias who was part of the ensemble was brilliant and is a real star in the making. Overall, the cast was one of the strongest I've ever seen and it was exceptionally refreshing not to have any celebrities playing roles!

Moving on, the set design and lighting were really clever and worked really well, although there was an awful lot of strobe lighting so at times I felt like I'd been blinded. The backdrop was mainly made up of TV screens which were very effectively used so that if your view was slightly restricted you wouldn't miss too much of what they were showing.

And now, for the most amazing part, the theatre was just breath taking. I wasn't expecting much as I wasn't in the West End, however, it was so much more beautiful than any of the theatres in London. The stage itself was massive (quite akin to that of the Gershwin in New York) and the architecture of the auditorium was simply beautiful! The outside of the theatre was, also, magnificent and not what you'd have expected a theatre to look like. Overall, I was incredibly impressed and I think I have fallen in love with The Wales Millennium Centre; if you're ever in Cardiff just go and see a show simply to view this beautiful building! Here are a few pictures, taken by my friend Rob Jones (who in my opinion is amazing at photography),  so you can admire the beauty!

 

 

 

Overall, I would highly recommend seeing the tour of American Idiot, if you're into the more abstract musical. It was a great show with a lot of promise, oh and an amazing soundtrack!

Have a good day guys,

Love you all

Kat
xx