Let's Face the Music and Dance

Hello everyone...and here we go again for another blog. I hope you have enjoyed my previous two on The Book of Mormon and my latest visit to see Rocky Horror. Well, time scale wise, it's now Saturday morning (22nd June) and we all know what that means...it's West End Live time!

For those of you who don't know (if so where have you been?) West End Live (WEL) is a concert in Trafalgar Square where musicals and other features of the West End come and perform. It's completely crazy and mad but very, very cool and provides a snap shot of everything the West End has to offer (for more information click here).

The performances started at 11am so my mum and I had planned to join the queue at 10am as the year before it wasn't too long at this point. Well, someone had obliviously been spreading the word about WEL as the queues were four times as long this year! We were quite lucky, however, as, after a bit of hassle, we managed to meet up with some people off a Facebook site I'm one of the admins for (called The Musical Theatre Appreciation Society) who were further up. This, also, made the wait go faster as meeting new musical theatre fans is always interesting and it was lovely to meet some new people...who were lovely themselves, as well :). As a group we had been trying to arrange a big meet up of all the members who were going to WEL, however, in hind sight this probably wasn't the best idea...needle and haystack comes to mind...and I'm sorry to anyone I didn't get to see :(.

When we finally were let into Trafalgar Square we opted for standing on the balcony area nearer the back rather than in the 'pit' section. All the years before (including those when it was at Leicester Square) I'd always stood in the pit and it was always really difficult to see due to the fact you always seem to get someone who is taller than you standing in front of you...I don't think it matters how tall you are there will always be a taller person ready to block your view. From the balcony the view was really good and it was nice to be able to watch the shows without straining to see. I do think that by standing on the balcony you lose some of the atmosphere but then I think it depends on what you're going for...to me both areas are equally good but for different reasons.  

And then it started...now I won't go into describing every show that I saw at WEL as I'd be here forever (I've already written a ton and I'm not even onto describing the matinee I saw...bear with me people!). So my mum and I stayed until about 1.40pm when we decided to go to the TKTS booth that was positioned within Trafalgar Square to get some tickets for a matinee and an evening show. Whilst waiting I, also, bumped into fellow blogger Naomi from Ignited By A Dream and had a nice chat with her whilst booking to see Top Hat followed by War Horse...exciting times.

Before hot footing it (or rather grabbing a taxi) round to the Aldwych Theatre, where Top Hat is on, I had a quick go at the game TKTS was running and managed to win £7 in theatre tokens...result!

And the it was time for Top Hat to start...my mum and I had already seen the show once before (click here for my last blog) but wanted to see it again before it closed. We were a bit worried about the fact that Tom Chambers was no longer playing Jerry Travers (I know what I've said in previous blogs about giving people a fair chance so was trying to keep an open mind...but it was Tom Chambers who is the definition of suave)...well we needn't have been worried as Gavin Lee, who was now playing the role, did a superb job and tapped us into heaven. He maybe wasn't quite as easy on the eye as Tom but this probably was an impossible feat to ask, and he did have an Oscar winning smile.

The rest of the cast were Kristen Beth Williams as Dale Tremont who was the perfect lady but, also, put just enough naughtiness into the character to make her a brilliant Dale. Clive Hayward and Vivien Parry were very good as Horace and Madge Hardwick with their rendition of Outside of That, I Love You being hilarious. Additionally, Stephen Boswell was very, very funny as Bates and he was definitely one of my favourite characters in the show. The only disappointment I had was with Alex Gaumond who played Alberto Beddini. When I'd seen the show before I'd had an understudy (who I, rather foolishly, didn't note down the name of) who was absolutely brilliant and, in my opinion, Gaumond wasn't quite as good as the chap I'd seen before; that doesn't mean he was bad I just think the other chap was a lot funnier.

As for the rest of the show, the plot was just as funny, the songs were true sophistication, the type that make you want to lift up your head and walk (or dance) a little taller (plus were exactly my type of music), and the scenery was beautiful, with the best bit being these sliding grey panels that slid across to reveal the different scenes; a touch of real sophistication I thought.

We'd managed to get seats about 10 rows back in the stalls and to the left. Reading back what I wrote last time, these seats were a lot comfier than the ones from before (or maybe it was just because we'd been standing up for around 5 hours before so any seat would be comfortable). Additionally, the view was perfect and I would highly recommend sitting there to anyone.

To finish with, I must mention the superb tap dancing in this show. It was seeing the show last time that inspired me to actually start tap lessons myself, and seeing it again just boosted my love for tap even more. The guys in this show are flawless and really bring out the sophisticated yet funky air to this beautiful style of dance.

Overall, I was really pleased that we decided to go and see Top Hat again...it reminded me just how much I'd loved the show and I was amazed at how much I had forgotten. I would thoroughly recommend that you go and see this show before it closes as it will leave you with a glow in your heart and a spring (or should I say tap) in your step.

So, all that's left is to leave you with a few pictures from WEL and Top Hat...

 

The Square Filling Up

Wicked

Once

Top Hat

Les Miserables

Billy Elliot

We Will Rock You

Matilda - really can't get over how brave this girl was!!!

Jersey Boys

 

Mum and Me at WEL

Me outside the Theatre at Top Hat

 

and say, have any of you been to see Top Hat? If so what did you think? I'd love to hear from your, either by commenting below or tweeting me at @GreenGirlsRox.

Love you lots

Kat

xx

 

Making Things Up Again...

Hello everyone again...here's the second post of four about the shows I saw in the past few days...hope you're keeping up so far.

Well, after reading my last blog, you'll know that I'd just seen Rocky Horror in Manchester so that meant last Friday (21st June) consisted of driving back to my home town Lincolnshire to drop my friends Holly and Ellie off before picking up my mum to head to London for a mad couple of days which would include seeing West End Live and The Book of Mormon...it is the latter which this blog is all about.

Well the journey down to London was pretty smooth and getting to our hotel was relatively easy, especially when compared to finding the Travelodge in Manchester! It was then time to set off for some dinner and a cocktail at one of the Bella Italia's in Leicester Square before heading over to The Prince of Wales Theatre to see The Book of Mormon.

I was extremely excited about seeing this as it is the latest big thing in London with the tickets being the hottest thing to have in the West End...and there my mum and I were with some! Like with most theatres pictures were forbidden, however, in most you can normally get a sneaky one of the stage curtain but not here...any sign on a photo being taken and you were pounced on! The curtain itself was a not very impressive blue-y colour, nevertheless, the sides of the proscenium arch were made up of pillars with stained glass windows and at the top of the arch in the centre was a gold statue which twirled round as each act began.

We were seated about two or three rows back and just off centre so had a really good view. However, in terms of the seats themselves they were not the most comfortable in the world...but let's not dwell on that.

Ad then the show began...and well what can I say...it was the oddest thing I have ever watched! For most of it I sat there wondering what on earth was going on...especially in the song 'Spooky Mormon Hell Dream'. However, despite all this I can honestly say I LOVED IT!

There were two things that really struck me about the show...firstly it was nowhere near as rude as I was expecting. It was definitely offensive if you took things too seriously but it was nowhere near as rude as Avenue Q, especially as the first three songs passed without any swear words! The other thing that struck me was that for a musical which takes the piss out of a religion it has a very strong religious message...it doesn't matter how you come to God just as long as you do, as well as promoting the fact that everyone has value of some sort.

I have to say that I don't think The Book of Mormon is really for the big fans of shows like Les Mis, Phantom and Once as it is rather cheesy and camp, however, you'll never know unless you give it a go. That's all I can really say about the plot as it truly was a very absurd musical...just go and see it for yourself.

The effects and costumes during the show were, for the most part, pretty standard...that is until you go to songs like 'Man Up', 'Spooky Mormon Hell Dream' and, my personal favourite, 'Turn it Off' where there was tap dancing in the dark!

As for the cast, both Gavin Creel (Elder Price) and Jared Gertner (Elder Cummingham) were hilarious and work very well together as a team. Alexia Khadime was amazing as Nabulungi and her performance of 'Baptise Me' with Gertner was so funny! It was, also, lovely to see Olivia Phillip (part of the ensemble) again after last seeing her at West End Bares and watching her as a Diva in Priscilla before that. Overall, the cast were all fabulous and deserved the standing ovation they got.

I, also, managed to get a few pictures of my trip...

 

The Theatre

 

Me Outside the Theatre

 

So there we have it, the hottest show in town, The Book of Mormon...let's just say that seeing is believing!

Have any of you seen the Book of Mormon? If so what do you think? I'd love to hear from you either by commenting below or tweeting me at @GreenGirlsRox

Love you all#

Kat

xx

Behind the Basque

Hi everyone, I hope you're having an amazing June. I most certainly am as after having a few weeks off from the world of theatre I managed to cram four musicals into three days plus the West End's biggest musical extravaganza! So I'll start at the beginning (as Julie Andrew's famously said, 'It's a very good place to start') and keep your eyes peeled for the three blogs after this that will look into The Book of Mormon, Top Hat and War Horse, but for now it's time to show the world your fishnets as we head to the wonderful world of Rocky Horror!

Yes, you're right I have already seen this show twice, once in Grimsby and once in Cambridge (please click to view) and am soon to be jetting off to see it again in Cardiff...I'm crazy I know. However, this time's adventure was to the bright lights of Manchester for a very special trip as my friends and I had booked a Behind the Basque package.

So let's begin...after picking my friend Holly (if any of you have been looking at Adult Child/Dead Child blog I've mentioned before then you'll know Holly from there) up from her house on the Wednesday (19th June) night, waking up ridiculously early on the Thursday morning (according to Holly) and walking my gorgeous dog, Meggie, we set of to pick up the other member of our party, Ellie. And soon we were on the road...the journey to Manchester didn't take too long and passed relatively smoothly, however, finding the Travelodge where we were staying was nearly impossible. We'd realised that the postcode from the website wasn't recognised but hadn't thought this would be a problem...well after driving round Manchester/Salford, finding the wrong Travelodge, parking in a very expensive NCP car park in the hope that this Travelodge would give us directions, losing the parking ticket, getting very brief directions, finding the parking ticket, getting out of the very tight car park, driving aimlessly around, asking two random chaps, screaming at one because he pointed out our Travelodge and finally finding the correct car park and Travelodge we arrived!!!

After all this it didn't give us too long to get ready in and I was rather pleased we'd set off early (well 10.30am ish). So after donning half our costumes (we were going to dinner first) and doing our hair, make-up, etc., we were ready and off we set (in a taxi this time) to have some dinner before arriving at the theatre to have our backstage tour. We ate in a little Italian restaurant just across from the theatre where the staff were really lovely, changed into our full costumes in their toilets and headed to the theatre.

When at the theatre we were shown inside to the bar to wait for the tour to begin. Whilst waiting we chatted to some of the other people who would be on the tour with us, all of whom were really lovely...and then in began. Now sadly and obviously I couldn't take too many pictures but I was able to get one looking out from the stage into the auditorium. During the tour we learnt that Dani (Janet) has to stand on a box in the bed scene so she can be seen and that they had to change the reveal of Rocky when Harry Neale was playing the part because he was too tall to fit through the hole in the revolve so ha to be covered with a sheet instead. We, also, got to touch the note that Eddie writes to Dr Scott, Eddie when he had been chopped up and most impressively, Frank's feather boa and cape (a cape which cost £3,000! and had been worn by Oliver Thornton...swoon!).

After this amazing experience we decided to go and get our programmes, glow sticks and other merchandise before the masses came, however we ended up hanging round the merchandise desk and chatting to the lovely guy behind there until the show began...who we still don't know the name of even though we went back to visit him in the interval and had some pictures taken with him!

And then it was time for the show, which was incredible. Once again Oliver Thornton stole the show for me but the rest of the cast was awesome too. The new members from the last time I saw it were: Dani Harmer who made a wonder Janet, very cheeky and very feisty but, also, innocent when needed; Henry Davis was the new Rocky and was absolutely super... in my opinion he wasn't quite as muscular as Harry Neale, who I'd seen before, but, as the show confirms, he only needed one big one :p!; sadly Abigail Jaye wan't able to play Magenta that evening, however we were treated to a stella performance by Maria Coyne who played Magenta very differently to Abigail but just as amazingly.

The other big surprise was that this was a signed performance but, not only that, it was signed by the same guy, Andy Higgins, who signed the performance of Priscilla in Southampton that I saw...spooky I know. I'd loved Andy in Priscilla but he was completely fantastic in Rocky Horror as he even signed the audience shout outs and had some great interaction with Philip Franks (The Narrator). I know that performances are signed for serious reasons but after these two experiences I'm starting to think that all performances should be signed as in both these occasions it made the shows even more hilarious than they original are...which is saying something!

After the show had finished we were shown back down to the bar for the cast meet and great. During this time we got chatting to some of the other people there as well, including the lovely Charlotte, Sarahlouise, the guy who's name I can't remember but who was really nice and dressed up as Frank in the lab and the lovely lady in purple amongst others. This to me made this experience as well for chatting to other fans is always nice and it just made it feel like a family event :). Additionally, it was a really nice way to meet the cast as you could take your time and have a chat with them without feeling that other members were going to run off and you'd miss them...plus it was WARM!!! So after getting all the autographs and photo's we needed...Oliver even signed my iPhone case but this has sadly rubbed off...oh well...we headed back to the Travelodge (in a taxi who had no idea where he was going!). Oh and it was only on the way back that Holly realised that Dani Harmer and in Tracy Beaker Dani Harmer was Janet and that she'd stood next to her and had a photo...it was at this point where we were all subject to a very loud scream that nearly shattered the windows of the taxi...I dare say I'll be killed for including this bit...oh well ;)

So that was all for that day. I'll leave you with some pictures of my experience...less cast one's this time as I normally put up cast photo's so I'll treat you to some different ones...

 

 

Looking out at the Auditorium from the Stage

 

Ellie, Holly and I...a.k.a three hot chicks ;)

 

Ellie and I with the Lovely Merchandise Man

...not forgetting Rocky Number One (who I'm holding) and Rocky Number Two (on the desk at the front!)

 

Some of the Lovely People we met at the Meet and Great

 

Well I just had to include my photo with the lovely Oliver Thornton didn't I? 

 

I hope you enjoyed reading that...look out for my next few blogs...Book of Mormon will be next.

Love you all

Kat

xx

Going South!?!

Well hello everyone and here we are in June. I have finally finished uni for the year but somehow seem to be busier than ever what with having my Grade 5 music theory exam in under two weeks (arrrgghh...not that I'm panicking or anything :p). As well as this my friend from uni and I have started rehearsals for the production of Adult Child / Dead Child that we are putting on in October...if you want more information about this please click here to view our blog/live diary which will feature pictures and sound and video clips from our rehearsals. 

But enough of all that...I'm here right now to tell you about my latest theatre visit on 29th May, which was to see Priscilla in Southampton. I'm going to try and keep it short as I have already blogged 3 times about it (to view them please click the numbers 1, 2, 3). 

So what had changed? Well the part with the road kill animals had been cut; I don't know if this is permanent or just happened that night but I know they'd had a few difficulties with it the times I'd seen the show before. 

The audience was, also, rather disappointingly empty which meant that the atmosphere want as electric as it had been in Wimbledon (however I think it may be hard to match that). However, by the end the audience had got into the swing of things and people were dancing around during the last song. 

Sadly Alan Hunter (Miss Understanding) was ill but this did mean I got to see Regan Shepherd (Farrah/Young Bernadette) perform Miss Understanding who was fabulous. I love both these guys and it was nice to see Regan do Miss Understanding and he brought a different twist to the role. However, I do love it when both of them are in the show...my dream is to go to one of the performances when Alan is Bernadette and Regan is Miss Understanding...now I feel that would be good. 

Another casting change was that Noel Sullivan was playing Tick instead of Jason Donovan. Now he didn't look as much like Tick as Donovan did and was a tad too young boyish for my liking, also, the Neighbours joke really didn't work as he didn't have the connection that Donovan did. However, Noel was vocally stronger and I really enjoyed seeing the part played different. By the end I'd come to the conclusion that if you mushed Noel and Jason together you'd get the perfect Tick. 

The other major change was that this performance was signed. I know some people are a bit dubious about seeing a signed performance as it may be rather distracting but I actually really enjoyed it...I think the sign guy (Andy Higgins) was a bit shocked when I whooped as he re-entered after the interval. I did find myself focusing on him quite a bit but as I'd seen the show before it doesn't really matter and it was interesting to see how he signed some of the Priscilla-ism. I have to say my favourite part was when Bernadette is explaining why Trumpet was called Trumpet (he had a very large foreskin, so large that it could cover a ginger nut biscuit) which is sign language was hilarious...I'm not sure if there are any more signed performances but if there are I urge you to go just to see this bit!

All in all I had a great time (and yes I managed to get on stage again) and fully inducted my half-sister, Jude, and other half-sister’s daughter, Jessie, to the show. I, also, had a great time seeing the rest of my family who live down there and do need to thank my half-sister, Felicity, for letting us stay :). 

Before I go I'll leave you with a few pictures of my visit:

 

 

Me in the Theatre

 

Me with Graham Weaver (Felicia)

 

Me and Richard Grieve (Bernadette)

 

Me and Regan Shepherd (Farrah/Young Bernadette + this time's Miss Understanding)

 

All that's left to say is that I hope you enjoyed reading this. Have any of you seen Priscilla? If so what did you think? I'd love to hear from you either by commenting below of tweeting me at @GreenGirlsRox. 

Love you lots

Kat

Xx