Hello everyone, well we're at the end of January already and I still haven't written my Dreamboats and Petticoats review...I will do it I promise. Anyway, it's time for the Musical of the Month so let's get going.
This time I'm going to do it a little differently as I'm not going to do a specific show but a type of show: the revisited type. This is the type of show that draws you back in again and again. Before you get scared this isn't another Priscilla blog, although I have seen that a lot, no, the reason behind this blog is that last week I was down in London as decided to take the time to see three shows that I'd wanted to see again for ages but hadn't got round to it.
The first show I saw was Matilda, which I'd seen twice before and had been lucky enough to have a back stage tour thanks to the lovely Mark McGowan. This show is truly magical and the kids are super talented; I don't know who else I had but Georgina Pemberton played Matilda and was fabulous. The adult cast is super, as well, but special mention must go to Joshua Wyatt (Michael Wormwood), Lisa Davina Phillip (Mis Phelps) and Alex Gaumond (Miss Trunchbull). The scenery is, also, quite something and Tim Minchin's score is quirky and brilliant. To see the show I was sat a few rows back in the dress circle and had a great view, which was made better by only paying 50p of my own money thanks to saving up my theatre tokens that I'd got from previous birthdays and Christmas'. Overall, this was a truly great show and I was glad I went back to watch it again.
The next show I was lucky enough to revisit was Les Miserables, which was made all the better by meeting fellow blogger, Dawn Smallwood, and her friend, Alexandra Lewis, at the stage door after the show. For this performance, Simon Shorten played Valjean and was superb at it, as was Tam Mutu (Javert), Na-Young Jeon (Fantine), Cameron Blakely (Thénardier) and Wendy Ferguson (Madame Thénardier)...well actually the whole cast was fabulous but these were my favourites. The show itself was fantastic with some great scenery and the classic score (made better by my front row seat in the dress circle for only £45), which made a truly phenomenal night out at the theatre. I was really pleased to see this legend of a show again as I have wanted to see it another time ever since I saw it when I was about 15ish but I had always put other shows in front of it, going back made me realise what a great show it was and how I probably wouldn't be leaving it so long before going back.
The other show I revisited was Mamma Mia, which again I think I saw when I was 15/16 so was a good 4 - 5 years since I'd been. I'd, also, been meaning to go back for a long time as I had to leave before the finale the last time I saw it so I could catch my train so needed to go back and see this part. Once again I managed to get a brilliant day seat; front row of the Dress Circle for £20 with the most perfect view ever (the ticket said restricted but it really wasn't)! I was a bit doubtful of the cast to begin with, mainly because they weren't what I pictured in my head (naughty me for watching too much of the film), but after the first few songs they grew on me and gave a super performance, particularly Dickie Wood who played the mischievous Pepper. As many of you probably know the songs are taken from the music that the band ABBA wrote and as an ABBA fan this means they are just my cup of tea and produced a good party atmosphere. The set itself was good, however, I think more could have been done to decorate the stage area as it ended up looking like a blue box, and the dangling tree was a little questionable as well. Nevertheless, once I got into the show this was forgotten and with some truly comic as well as touching moments the show was definitely worth the revisit.
But what makes a revisited show so special, well I think it allows you to really explore the show and to focus on some on the details that you may have missed the first time. Also, it's interesting to see how different cast portray the characters differently and how a show changes when put in a different theatre (aka Mamma Mia). Additionally, if you're like me you'll find that you forgot certain magical moments from the first time you saw a show and it'll touch your heart when they're played out and you remember them. Furthermore, shows do change and are adapted to fit with the times; there was quite a few moments in Matilda that had been updated since the last time I saw it and it was interesting to see what changes had been made. And, finally, I think if you really enjoy a show there's no harm in going to see it again and again; theatre is there to make people happy so I see nothing wrong in seeing the same show again and again if it makes you really happy. It's because of these reasons why "The Revisited Show" is my Musical of the Month for January :)
I hope you've been having a theatrical month; are there any shows you like going to see again and again, if so please comment below or tweet me at @GreenGirlsRox, I'd love to hear from you.
Love you all
Kat
xx
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