Musical of the Month - A Gala Affair

Hey everyone, how's January been for you? Mine's been manic to say the least; going to London twice, having a massive drama assessment at uni, trying to finish my postmodernism (don't ask!) essay in time, meeting up with one of my Priscilla friends for the first time, oh and booking 2 more tickets to see Rocky Horror in Nottingham with some of my best friends (p.s. we got the last 4 seats on the front row which I'm mega happy about!)...so overall a very hectic month!

Anyway, while I was doing all this, I rediscovered a CD to a show I was lucky enough to go to the gala concert of last year, which brings us to this month’s Musical of the Month, Children of Eden. It is even more poignant that Children on Eden is the Musical of the Month as it is exactly a year today that I saw it!

I first heard the music on the amazing local radio show Westenders (for more info click here) and was particularly enamoured because it was written by Stephan Schwartz who, also, wrote Wicked...one of my all-time favourite musicals. The music is amazing; so powerful and moving, it's literally the most perfect soundtrack you could ever wish for. I love all the songs but my personal favourites are: The Spark of Creation; Lost in the Wilderness; A Piece of Eight; Stranger to the Rain; The Hardest Part of Love; and Ain't It Good...yes that's a lot if songs but there are 37 on the soundtrack so 6 favourites isn't too bad!

Anyway, ever since hearing the soundtrack I had wanted to hear the show so when it was announced there was to be a Gala Concert of the show in aid of Crohn's and Colitis UK. I was very tempted. Then I heard Russell Grant (not everyone's cup of tea but I'm a massive Strictly fan!) was going to be in it and I was a little bit more tempted. THEN...I heard Kerry Ellis would be performing at the end and I was a little more tempted! AND THEN I heard Oliver Thornton, my all-time favourite performer, would be in it and I couldn't resist any longer and just had to call the box office.

Finally, after a very long wait, the day came (29th January 2012)...my friend, Alys, and I travelled down to London and after checking in at the hotel, donning our personally made Children of Eden hoodies and having some dinner it was off to the Prince of Wales Theatre we went. When we arrived there was quite a big queue outside to get in, suddenly the woman behind us exclaimed, "Oh My God, you've got my son's name on your hoodies!". It turned out it was Aaron Sidwell's (who was playing Ham) mum and we had quite a nice chat with her.

Soon it was time to enter the theatre, buy out programmes (which we were very lucky to get as they sold out!), cast photographs and signed posters before taking our seats. We were sat on the very right hand side of the auditorium in the middle in what were apparently restricted view seats but I knew from seeing Mamma Mia in these seats that the problem was you could actually see into the wings so in fact they were 'extended view'!

And then the show started...it was just perfect! Like a typical Gala Concert there wasn't much theatricality but then this was to be expected. The set that had been created consisted of some stage boxes and a rather impressive lighting display which was a series of light bulbs hung together...it doesn't sound like much but to me its simplicity and elegance impressed me.

The story of the show is split into two with the first act being the Bible story of Adam and Eve and the second act being that of Noah. Although the story was obviously quite religious I still think you could have enjoyed it if you were not that way inclined as it was still an incredibly moving tale that spoke of love and acceptance on so many levels.

And now we come to the performers...I'll just do a brief review of each as there was too many fabulous actors to go into too much detail!

Well, let’s start with Oliver (who played Adam) as he was my main reason for going. I think the only word is phenomenal! I know I'm slightly biased on this point but he was absolutely amazing...such a talented actor with an amazing voice.

Louise Dearman played Eve and was amazing. She's got such a beautiful voice and she suited the feistiness of the character down to a T!!!

Gareth Gates was Cain and although I'm not too big a fan of his I thought he was quite fantastic and his performance of Lost in the Wilderness was so dramatic and passionate.

John Wilding played Abel and was probably the only person who I thought was ok. He wasn't the most amazing actor in the show but wasn't bad...I suppose it doesn't help when you're surrounded by absolutely fantastic people.

Anton Stephans was Father and possessed such dominance in the role; he was definitely a force to be reckoned with.

Russell Grant was The Snake...now I know quite a few people weren't amazed by his performance but I actually really enjoyed it...maybe it's my Strictly bias but that's my opinion anyway. Plus he tweeted us during the interval which added a little extra sparkle to the night!

Tom Pearce was a lovely Noah and portrayed the strong yet gentle character with great feeling. As did Waylon Jacobs in his character of Japeth...such a believable, beautiful performance by the two of them.

Lauren Samuels was such a beautiful Yonah and her version of Stranger to the Rain was so heartfelt...truly amazing!

Aaron Sidwell was amazing as Ham and really made the character come alive.

One of the most brilliant performances though was Brenda Edwards as Mama Noah. She was just phenomenal which could clearly be seen by the fact she got a standing ovation at the end of her main song, Ain't it Good! Trust me it took about 10 minutes for the audience to calm down after she'd finished!

Mentions must also go to Daisy Tonge (Aphra), Daniella Bowen (Aysha), Jamie Papanicolaou (Shem), Ben Radcliffe (Young Cain) and Marcus Billany (Young Abel) as well as to the Storytellers Craig Rhys Barlow, Matt Brinkler, Chloe Hart, Jo Kirkland, Robbie Scotcher and Gemma Sandzer all of whom were incredibly brilliant and talented. And finally, an extra special mention to the dancers (all Priscilla boys) John Brannoch, Steven Cleverley, Will Peaco and John Phoenix...some of the best dancers in the world.

See what I mean, if I went into any more detail we'd be here til next Christmas!

At the end of the show, and a full 10 minute standing ovation, the book writer John Caird got on stage and spoke a little bit about the show, as did the shows director, Drew Baker, to who's sister the show was dedicated. Both these speeches were really touching and added a little sparkle to the show.

To end the performance Kerry Ellis made a special performance to sing Heal the World, which was a song written by Vaughan Kennedy specially, in aid of Crohn's (please click here to take a listen). The song was so moving in itself with lyrics that really touched the heart (I don't think I've ever cried so much) and to be sung by the amazing Kerry Ellis...perfection is all I can say.

After another 10 minute standing ovation we left the theatre and like any true theatre goer headed to the stage door, which was completely packed. However, although we managed to get our programmes signed by Oliver, not too many of the cast came out as there was an after show party (which sadly we hadn't known you could but tickets for) but rather than being sane, sensible people we figured they would have to come out of the after show party at some point so decided to wait in the theatre foyer until then. This was the best decision ever as there was only one other guy waiting, who we had quite a nice chat to, which meant that we got to have nice long chats with the performers as they came out. One of the highlights of this was we spent approximately half an hour talking to the writer, John Caird, who was incredibly impressed with our hoodies that we'd made. We, also got to meet Russell Grant (who was lovely to us), Antonio Stephans, John Wilding, Gareth Gates, Tom Pearce (who was really lovely especially as we caught him outside the theatre and he chatted for a bit even though he was turning blue with cold!), Aaron Sidwell and Oliver Thornton (who was amazing and is such a lovely chap...a true gent!). So you can see, as I said, the wait was completely worth it and was the perfect way to finish the perfect evening!

Overall, this was one of the best nights of my life and I will remember the magic of it forever! On a final note, I would highly recommend that you buy the CD even if you didn't see the show as the music is just breath-taking!!! I'll leave you with the official cast pictures and some of the pictures I got on the night...

 

Our view of the stage

 

Signed Poster

 

Signed Programme

 

Me and Alys with Russell Grant

 

Me with Tom Pearce (it was very cold!)

 

Alys and Me with Oliver Thornton

 

Official Cast Pictures (left-right, top-bottom)

Brenda Edwards, Tom Pearce, Russell Grant, Anton Stephans, Louise Dearman, John Wilding, Kerry Ellis, Oliver Thornton, Oliver Thornton, Gareth Gates, Lauren Samuels and Waylon Jacobs.



 

Did any of you manage to see Children of Eden? If so what do you think? Please let me know either by commenting below or tweeting me at @GreenGirlsRox...I'd love to hear from you.

Love you lots

Kat

Xx

A Sparkling Gem

Hello everyone, as you know I am a massive Priscilla fan I am, thus, hugely addicted to anything Australian, even to the extent when I convinced my friend that our drama assignment should focus on Australia!!! So when my friend told me that there was a new musical type film coming about that was based around a singing girl group from Australia, called The Sapphires, I got very excited. However, all this excitement appeared to be for nothing as the film was showing in around 10 Odeon's in the whole of the UK and what a surprise none of them were near me! My friend even travelled around 2hours to see the film!

So there's me thinking I'm going to have to wait to see this amazing film until it came out on DVD (which is never quite the same) until I flick through the student magazine at my uni and see that the Lincoln Film Society Cinema called The Venue (which is based at my uni) is showing the film on 23rd January!!! Well naturally I just had to go...it was the perfect coincidence!!!

So the day comes round and to tell you the truth I'm incredibly excited. When we get to the cinema we take our seats and manage to get a spot with loads of leg room right in the centre. The cinema is quite disappointingly empty but then what more do you expect when you combine a cold, snowy night with a little know film?

To give you some background the film is based on the 2004 stage play of the same name and if you're expecting you're traditional Les Mis style musical you'll be disappointed; this is more in the style of Dreamgirls! The story itself is set during the Vietnam War and follows four Aboriginal girls who are trying to make it big and end up getting a job travelling around Vietnam entertaining the American troops with their, frankly amazing singing. The story shows the difficulties the girls (and their manager, Dave) face during their trip and how they grow and develop as people due the circumstances they face. It is a beautiful little musical film and, as the title of this blog suggests, a real gem.

The music is amazing, as well, and includes songs such as 'Land of a Thousand Dances', 'I Heard it Through the Grapevine' and 'What a Man', however what really sells the show is the talent. Jessica Mauboy (Julie McCrae) had a truly stunning voice that was just a pure pleasure to sit and listen to. The other girls, Deborah Mailman (Gail McCrae), Shari Sebbens (Kay McCrae) and Miranda Tap (Cynthia McCrae), all had beautiful yet different voices which blended beautifully together to create an amazing sound.

This film is a definite must see for all musical theatre lovers, especially if you love Dreamgirls. Please go and buy this beauty when it comes out on DVD, it deserves so much more credit than it's got.

Did any of you manage to see The Sapphires, if so what did you think? Please let me know either by commenting below or tweeting me at @GreenGirlsRox.

Lots of love

Kat

Xx

I Dreamed a Dream...

Hi my lovely readers, hope you're all well! Well it's time for the inevitable Les Mis film post...sorry this hasn't been done earlier (I'm appalled that it's a week since I saw the film and I haven't posted yet!) but I've been busy writing an essay on postmodernism (don't ask!) for uni so haven't had much time for blogging. Anyway here we go...please note there may be spoilers ahead so if you haven't watch the film yet go and do so and then come back and continue reading!!!

Well...I went to see Les Mis last Friday and I cannot tell you how excited I was for this film...I'd even brought tickets as soon as they'd come out just to make sure I got them. It was lucky I did as people were actually queuing to get into our local Odeon and that was with a viewing at nearly every half hour!

Well after a ridiculous amount of adverts (thank God you don't get those when you go to the theatre) the film started and just blew me away from start to finish. The main thing that impressed me was how much it was like the stage production. I know it wasn't exactly identical but it really seemed to say to people this is what a musical really is, isn't it great, come and join our world!!! This was quite refreshing after so many musical films changing just to give the general public a good time and seeming to throw away the true essence of the musical...well done Les Mis on staying true to your routes!!!

The casting was superb and the singing was just phenomenal; the fact that it was actually done on set made it so real and the emotions seem a lot more raw! The sets all looked incredible...it was just an amazing film to watch. My only two overall criticisms are that: one, there so needed to be an interval after One Day More, it was just crying out for it; and two, I was a bit unsure about Javert's death, although I think this was more to do with the amazing way the stage show portrays it which just wouldn't have been possible in a film.

Right, so on with the cast...well Hugh Jackman made a brilliant Valjean; his singing was beautiful with 'Bring Him Home' being so heartfelt. He gave the character the real depth it needed.

Russell Crowe's Javert was so commanding and powerful. I'd heard quite a few bad things about him in this role but I seriously don't know where people are coming from...he was amazing. Plus, his version of 'Stars' just blew me away...the emotion he portrayed in that song was immense.

Now here's for the shock...I personally wasn't too keen on Anne Hathaway as Fantine. I think this is probably just because I can't see her as anyone other than Princess Mia from the Princess Diaries. She did nothing technically wrong and her version of 'I Dreamed a Dream' was beautiful but she just didn't work in the part for me.

Amanda Seyfried (Cosette) and Eddie Redmayne (Marius) both did brilliant jobs; they were so passionate and connected towards each other it was beautiful to behold (and this is coming from someone who isn't particularly fond of Cosette and Marius as characters!) and Redmayne's 'Empty Chairs at Empty Tables' sent shivers down my spine!

Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen did a fantastic job as the Thenardier's. Similar to Crowe, I've heard a bit of criticism about Cohen but, personally, I didn't find any problem with him and was actually quite impressed. This was possibly because I'm not a big fan of his and rather dislike his other films (Borat etc.) so wasn't expecting much in the first place. Carter was brilliant as usual and I found the banter between the two of them really provided a touch of light relief to the film...when Cohen referred to Cosette as courgette I just couldn't stop laughing.

A special mention needs to go to Isabelle Allen who gave a beautiful and heart felt portrayal of the young Cosette. Natalya Wallace was a brilliant young Eponine and I could seriously see her wowing the crowds as one of the Matilda's sometime in the future! And then there's Daniel Huttlestone who was the most perfect Gavroche you could ever wish for...enough said.

And then we come onto my star of the show...Samantha Barks! Her portrayal of Eponine was unbelievable and I have never been so moved as when she sang On My Own...I don't think I've ever cried so much. Maybe it's because Eponine's my favourite character, maybe it's because I feel some sort of connection with her but for me Sam really was the best thing about the whole film!

Finally, I just have to mention that I brought the Les Mis – Highlights from the Motion Picture Soundtrack today and while I haven’t listened to it yet I am a little disappointed as ‘Do You Hear the People Sing’ and ‘A Little Fall of Rain’ have been missed off. Now I know I only have the highlights version but to me these songs are two of the best in the whole show and it just seems a little odd that they are missing!

However, my overall verdict is that Les Mis is a must see film...if you are in any doubts just go and see it and be wowed. It truly is one of the best musical films I've ever seen!

So that's my view...what do you guys think? Please let me know by either commenting below or tweeting me on @GreenGirlsRox...I'd love to hear from you.

Love you lots

Kat

Xx

Come to the Cabaret!

Hiya everyone, hope you're enjoying the New Year, I certainly am having been to two shows already (the second of which this blog is about) and having booked 3 more tickets for Priscilla and 1 more for Rocky Horror plus I now have a lovely, personalised Priscilla phone case...2013 couldn't get much better!!!

Soooo...on with the blogging! Well on 9th January I went down to London with my friend Rachel for a hospital appointment and as you all probably know you CANNOT go to London without seeing a show!!! The show we chose was Cabaret as it is closing soon plus my friends Jane and Faye had seen it and loved it so much they went back again!!! To make the day better, my friend, Sharon, who I hadn't seen since West End Bares (WEB), was coming with us.

To cut a long story short the hospital was a disaster as after waiting for an hour we left as we were still no closer to being seen...well at least I'll have to go back to another appointment and see another show!!!

As we were running quite late, Rachel and I hot footed it over to Balans to meet Sharon who was waiting for us there. It was lovely to see her again and we started chatting straight away, whilst drinking our Pornstar Martinis (what else?), which, I'll say it once again, are delicious!!!

After eating we ended up getting a taxi to the theatre so that we could get there in time. We just managed to get to our seats and get settled when the show began and wow, just, wow! I know you lot are probably going to get suspicious that I only do positive reviews but seriously there is so much good stuff in the West End at the moment that it's hard to do a bad review!!!

The initial backdrop was black with the word 'Willkommen', which means Welcome in German, on it. The space in between the O opened up to reveal the Emcee. This was such a classy opening to the show and really set if off as a great and technically pleasing piece of theatre.

The rest of the set was grand enough to make you feel like you were at the theatre but simple enough to not over complicate the message of the show. Small simple bits of set were used and during the cabaret scenes the back wall opened up to reveal the band, which as an amateur musician myself, I thought was a lovely touch.

Moving on, I'd tried to watch the film of Cabaret some years ago but in the end gave up as it was too random, thus, I was quite worried about seeing the musical. However, it was so different from the film, which, if I've done my research correctly, is because it was recommend that the scenes outside the cabaret were taken out; the director of the original musical ignored this whereas the director of the film followed this. These scenes were for me what made the show and meant that it was a meaningful show rather than being just the random life of a cabaret actress. (Sorry if I've got this wrong but that's what I've heard!) On this topic I found I very refreshing to see a musical with such a strong political message, as well as a message about life. I do like the happy, feel good shows as much as the next person but it's sometimes nice to see something a bit different...I mean two of my favourites are Hair and Spring Awakening so I've always liked show that actually makes a strong comment on the wrongs of society.

Furthermore, I had listened to the soundtrack before but not for a while; well going to the show reminded me how fab it is! The songs are so fun and quirky with a few lovely ballads thrown in there to provide real flavour...a real treat for the ears! I loved all the songs in one way or another, although the performance of Two Ladies was hilarious to say the least.

Finally, we come to cast and what a cast they were!!! In the show that we saw Emcee was played by Nuno Silva rather than Will Young. I wasn't too fussed by this as I hadn't gone to see Young anyway so it didn't bother me too much. Anyway, Nuno was AMAZING and I seriously don't know how he could be bettered! He was the perfect mix of hilarious, serious and slightly crazy that was so needed for the role and with a great voice thrown in on top of that, hopefully we'll be seeing a lot more of Nuno in the years to come!!! Michelle Ryan was the perfect Sally Bowles, perfectly ditsy and superbly talented. Sian Phillips was just amazing as Fräulein Schneider and totally made the role come alive with her humour, sarcasm and wonderful voice. Matt Rawle was fantastically talented and made an excellent Clifford Bradshaw; he totally made the role come alive!!! I could go on and on about the talents of the cast forever and I'm sure we'll see them it major roles in the future, especially with vocals like theirs. Before I finish a special mention has to go to John Brannoch (Victor) and Matthew Wesley (Bobby) both of whom were brilliant and were the two I was most excited to see as they had been in Priscilla, plus I have a brilliant photo of Matt at WEB...they did not disappoint!!!

To finish off the day we went to the stage door and met Michelle, although sadly John and Matt didn't come out. After this we went for a browse round Covent Garden and took a few pictures with Sharon and telephone box (I don't remember if I said in one of my WEB posts we had a lot a fun with a telephone box but since then they're one of our symbols of friendship as they join us is a common experience!). Finally, we headed for some tea (and chatter); we ended up in a restaurant near Covent Garden called Wildwood as all the ones I normally liked were full...well I can highly recommend it as the food was delicious and they ever served a few cocktails!!!

All too soon, however it was time to say goodbye to Sharon and head home back to reality.

Overall, I had a brilliant day with great friends, great cocktails and a great musical to top it off! I would well recommend Cabaret to anyone who likes something a little bit different from your average show...I loved it!!!

In true me style I'll leave you some pics of my time...

 

The Stage

 

Me with Michelle Ryan

 



Me at Platform 9 and 3/4 

 

Sharon and me with a Black Telephone Box

 

The Reindeer and Covent Garden

 

Have any of you seen Cabaret? If so what did you think? Please let me know either by commenting below or tweeting me at @GreenGirlsRox...I'd love to hear from you!

Lots of love

Kat

Xx

Beauty and the Geek

Hello everyone, hope you all had a brilliant new year! Well I'vebeen to my first theatre show of the year and what a way to start!!!

On the 2nd JanuaryI headed off to London with my mum to go and see Loserville the Musical whichI'd brought her tickets to for Christmas. I didn't really know anything aboutthe show but being a theatre freak I had to see it before it closed this Saturday(5th January).

When we got toLondon we headed to my favourite cocktail bar, Balans, for some lunch and adrink. The food was very nice and incredibly reasonable but the highlight wasthe Pornstar Martini I had...it was even better than I'd remembered. We thenheaded to Covent Garden to do a quick bit of shopping before going to theGarrick Theatre.

I've walked pastthe Garrick Theatre many times but have never actually been in so I was quiteexcited to be going to a new theatre. Also, Rock of Ages is transferring thereso I was interested to see the theatre it was going in to. After looking roundthe auditorium I can just about see Rock of Ages working there but would needto see it to get the full impression...I think some changes will be made!

Anyway on withLoserville...because we'd booked our tickets in a 48hr sale on lastminute.com(I love this site so much) we could only pick them up an hour before theperformance. I always get a little nervous doing this but really should learnthat there's no need as this time solidified even more as we got Row B 15 and16 in the stalls (three rows from the front as an extra had been added) whichwere dead centre and had the most perfect view ever!

And then the showstarted...well to start with I was a little underwhelmed but by the 2nd song Iwas hooked and totally in love with the whole concept of the show.

The story is astory about geeks, computers, love and overcoming adversity. There wasn't toomuch complexity to the story but its message packed a punch which is somethingI like to see in a show. There were quite a few Star Trek references that Ididn't quite get not being a Trekkie and all but the show could still befollowed without this knowledge.

The thing I wasmost impressed with was the sets. The main back drop was lots of metalcontraptions that were made to look like the insides of a computer. However, tocreate different area cardboard type panels with pictures on were held by castmembers and could be folded or flipped to change the picture. These were, also,used to introduce the characters and who was playing them at the start, which Ithought was a really nice touch. This probably doesn't sound very impressive inwriting but the scenery that was created was amazing. This was added to by themajority of props being made from pencils put together in different ways, forexample to create binoculars, I thought this was very creative andexceptionally refreshing.

Additionally thelighting deserves a mention. For most of the show the lighting was verystereotypical of your average musical about life, with not much going on.However, there were two bits of lighting that were spectacular. Firstly, at onepoint a shooting star shot out from either side of the stage which was justbeautiful to behold. Secondly, there was a scene in the planetarium which wasjust beautiful...enough said.

Carrying on, themusic was superb and very much to my liking. It was quite rocky with quite abit of it being taken from Son of Dork's album 'Loserville'. I'd never heard ofthis band (please don't kill me hard core fans!) but am contemplating gettingtheir album as I loved the songs in the show so much. The music was quirky,happy, a little bit random and totally amazing; very much to my taste! I thinkit's a real shame that a cast recording hasn't been done as I, for one, wouldhave certainly booked it.

Finally, thecast...all that really needs to be said is WOW!!! Everyone was totally amazingand it really felt like a team effort. It would be wrong to say that no onestood out because they all did! The only two I'll mention individually are the leads;otherwise I'd be here all day raving on about this fantastic cast! Eliza HopeBennett played Holly and was brilliant for the role, her acting was reallyfresh, her dancing was sharp and her singing was phenomenal...a true performerin the making! Aaron Sidwell played the other lead, Michael Dork. I was quiteexcited about seeing Aaron as I'd seen him play Ham in Children of Eden andthought he was super then...well I'll tell you one thing, he's only gone andgot better with time...I don't think anyone could have made a more perfectMichael Dork!

So what would Isay overall, well really all that needs saying is that I really don'tunderstand why it's closed as it was a truly fantastic show and deserved to runfor years!!!

I hope you enjoyedreading about Loserville. We're any of you lucky enough to see it before itclosed? If so what did you think? Please contact me by commenting below ortweeting me on @GreenGirlsRox...I'd love to hear from you.

I'll leave youwith some pictures of my trip to enjoy...

Me with my Mum in Balans with my beloved Pornstar

Covent Garden at Christmas

 Me with a Telephone Box!

The Loserville Stage

Me and the Christmas Tree at St Pancras Station

Love you lots

Kat

Xx