A New Year, A New Start - 2015 Resolutions and 2014 Reviews

Well hello everyone and a happy New Year to you all. I hope you had a good time on New Year's Eve and there aren't too many sore heads this morning.

Anyway, 2014 wasn't the best blogging year for me, what with finishing uni, my mum having breast cancer and trying to decide what I want to do with life (I'm going to start my PGCE Teacher Training in September 2015) I didn't have much time for blogging. This leads nicely onto my New Year's Resolutions for 2015:

1. Start blogging again and keep up to date with things. However, try and keep posts short so they are more manageable to write (and read!).

2. Develop my YouTube channel...I got a tripod for my phone for Christmas to help with this! I'm going to start making videos of me singing but more importantly doing duets with my puppet (called Dog)...it's a bit crazy, a bit silly but hopefully should be lots of fun for you all to watch.

So that's my resolutions for 2015; now the other part of this blog links back to what I was saying earlier about not blogging much in 2014. Below is a list of shows I saw during the past year with a short comment about each to give you a hint as to what they are about. If you would like more details about the show or the venue please either comment below or tweet me at @GreenGirlsRox.

21st Jan - Matilda at The Cambridge Theatre: A brilliant show, written by wickedly, humorous Tim Minchin that will make you laugh and cry at the same time!

23rd Jan - Les Miserable at The Queen's Theatre: A show I forget far too often that is beautiful, moving and has some amazing songs

24th Jan - Mamma Mia at The Novello Theatre: The perfect girly night out...need I say more?

25th Jan - The Duckhouse at The Vaudeville Theatre: A witty, satirically comedy that I would greatly recommend if it came back to the West End or toured at any time

28th Feb - Priscilla Queen of the Desert at The DeMontfort Theatre, Leicester: Anyone who has read my blogs before will know how much I love this show and how I think everyone should see it. This was the last time I saw the 2013/2014 tour with the amazingly talent Regan Shepard who I'm secretly hoping gets the part of Felicia if the rumours about a 2015 tour are true.

1st Mar - We Will Rock You at The Dominion Theatre: Queen? Check. A cheese-y yet meaningful story line? Check. The chance to jump around at the end? Check. Oliver Tompsett? Check. Equals one happy me!

9th Apr - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at The Theatre Royal Drury Lane: Great Box Office team who helped us get seats that worked well considering we were going with a child with special needs. It actually made me enjoy the story even though I usually hate it and the mother of the boy who played Charlie asked him to give my friend's child with special needs a hug which made the day extra special.

30th Apr - We Will Rock You at The Dominion Theatre: A final visit before it closed and of course another chance to gaze at Oliver Tompsett again!

13th Jun - Rock of Ages at The Theatre Royal Nottingham: A little different from the West End version and found it quite hard picturing Noel Sullivan as Drew when I'm so used to him being Tick in Priscilla but still amazing all the same...I mean there's rock music, come on people!

30th Jul - Matilda at The Cambridge Theatre: A special birthday treat of having use of the VIP Room, special birthday cake, personal usher, private toilet (no interval queuing!!!) and lots of other special treats. Oh and by the way, the swing scene at the front of the stalls is even more tear jerking than anywhere else...sob.

5th Aug - Miss Saigon at The Prince Edward Theatre: Not my usual cup of tea but good all the same; and the score is beautiful.

6th Aug - The Pyjama Game at The Shaftesbury Theatre: A little weird but still fun to watch.

13th Aug - Wicked at the Victoria Apollo Theatre: If any of you know your dates well you'll know that Kerry Ellis was back in Wicked at this time...now I wonder why I went to see it then? Let's just say it's my favourite show and Kerry is just astounding and so Elphaba.

14th Aug - Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at The Savoy Theatre: Funny, clever and generally a superb, glitzy night out.

24th Aug - Oliver Tompsett Concert at The Birmingham Box Theatre: Great to see the grand superstar himself and good to see him encouraging up and coming talent. Oh an can I just mention that I managed to get myself picked to be the audience member that sang the We Will Rock You Medley on stage with him and got a kiss as well, swoon!

10th Sept - Book of Mormon at The Prince of Wales Theatre: Hilarious, uplifting and the perfect show to take your man to...put it this way I don't even like South Park (which Book of Mormon is written by the same people) and I love this show!

4th Oct - Evita at The Dominion Theatre: Wasn't what I was expecting and liked it a lot more than I thought I would; was definitely worth the watch.

11th Oct - One Man Two Guvnors at The Curve Theatre, Leicester: Seriously the funniest thing I have ever seen, just could not stop laughing.

25th Oct - Made in Dagenham at The Adelphi Theatre: So much fun, such a great meaningful and empowering story; I think this may be a show I return to again and again and again...

8th Nov - Fairy-Tale Heart at The Cockpit Theatre: For a full review please click here as I reviewed this for LondonTheatre1.com

4th Dec - Made in Dagenham at The Adelphi Theatre: ...and again and again. However this time was more powerful as at the end the lyrics to the song are, 'Stand up, stand up, if you're with me then put your hand up' and during this the audience started by putting their hands in the air and then stood up...was just such an amazing moment.

28th Dec - White Christmas at The West Yorkshire Playhouse: Umm Oliver Tompsett tap dancing and other jazzy stuff with great music by Irving Berlin and a Christmas-ee theme, equals the perfect end to a theatrical year...and p.s. I will fully review this as after seeing it we couldn't resist booking to see the final show on 24th January.

From top to bottom, left to right: Miss Saigon, The Duckhouse, Evita, White Christmas, Dirty Rotten Scoundrals, Enjoying Leicester Square before seeing Fairy-Tale Heart, In the VIP room at Matilda, Oliver Tompsett's Concert, Wicked with Kerry Ellis, Outside Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

So that's my 2014 life in theatre and I promise to be better at blogging in 2015.

Love you all

Kat

xx

Musical of the Month - Minchin Around

Hello everyone...do you know what being at the end of July means!?! That it's my 21st birthday really soon, as in on the 1st of August...eek!!! Anyway this month the Musical of the Month isn't really a musical at all but, panic not, it is relate to a musical.

Basically, I was in HMV recently and in the 'Soundtrack' section there was a CD from one Tim Minchin's stand-up concerts: So F***ing Rock. Well, I was tempted as I love the music from Matilda (for those who don't know he wrote this as well) and was interested to hear more of what he has written. 

To start off with...it's incredibly random and very rude (as you've probably guessed by the title), however if you aren't easily offended and can cope with a good dose of randomness then it's absolutely incredible...so much so that I'm turning it into an honour musical so I can feature it as a Musical of the Month :p 

I think the best bit about every song is that there's a catchy or beautiful tune and all are very intelligently written. Another thing that's brilliant about the majority of the song is that, in addition to the comedy element, they are littered with an awful lot of home truths about the way we live out lives. Also, it's clear how brilliant Minchin is at playing and composing for the piano as it's this that really makes each and every song. 

Currently my favourite songs are 'Canvas Bags', 'Some People Have It Worse Than I' and 'Not Perfect'. 'Canvas Bags' is probably the most random song on the entire album yet it is all very true...basically it's a song about remembering to take your canvas bags to the supermarket...umm total genius! 'Some People Have It Worse Than I' is very catchy and the perfect song to make you realise that your life could be much, much worse than what it is now. Finally, 'Not Perfect' is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard; Minchin describes it as a song about the feeling you have when you feel like you're the smallest doll in the Babushka doll. To me the song is very good at explaining how wealthy we all are just by having a little bit of earth, a body and a brain to call our own. Also, this song is the one that can be related most to Matilda as it sounds like a mix between 'When I Grow Up' and 'My House'.

Overally, I strongly recommend you buying this CD was even though it's not a musical it is we'll worth the title of Musical of the Month!

Have any of you listen to Tim Minchin's music or been lucky enough to see him perform? If so let me know either by commenting below or tweeting me at @GreenGirlsRox. 

Love you all

Kat

Quacks and Laughs

Heya everyone, finally here it is my blog about The Duck House, which I saw back in January (January 25th to be precise)...OMG that's really bad, please forgive me! Anyway, The Duck House is an amazing political satire which was playing at The Vaudeville Theatre. For me it is quite strange to see a play, particularly when I'm down in London, as musicals tend to be more my cup of tea. However, I'd seen this advertised and decided to pop along as I'm rather into politics and love anything that can make a joke out of it; yes i'm an avid watcher of 'Mock the Week'! The other advantage The Duck House had was that it was starring Ben Miller, who I've always found to be really funny, so this was just a bonus in my book. 

I was sat quite near the back of the stalls for seeing the show, which felt quite restricting as the overhand from the Dress Circle was very low. We'd (my mum and I) had been assured by the booth we'd brought the tickets from that they weren't restricted view so were quite shocked when we got to the seats to find how low the Dress Circle was, in addition to the fact that the tickets actually had 'Restricted View' printed on them (check your tickets before you walk away people). Nevertheless, when the show began all the action happened on the ground so we didn't really miss anything in the way of the action of the play, it just would have been nice to not feel quite so hemmed in.

The play itself had just the right level of humour and actually had some bits that made me laugh out loud...for someone who really likes comedy I'm not really your rolling round the floor laughing type of person so this is a real mark of respect to the show. The plot, as simply as possible focuses on the MP's expenses' scandal and the way MP Robert Houston and his family try to worm their way out of the trouble that they are now in by not paying for everything quite legitimately. Anyway, I won't say too much more incase the show goes on tour and I promise the show is a lot better than my description.

As for the cast they were all brilliant and worked well together with all the relationships being believable. As previously mentioned, Ben Miller led the cast as Robert Houston, the MP whose life the play focuses on. Nancy Carroll plays Houston's wife, Felicity, a very snobby and stuck up woman who believes the way to impress people is by things looking good. Debbie Chazen played the hilarious Ludmilla, the Russian housekeeper to the Houston's, with James Musgrave playing the Houston's student son, Seb, Diana Vickers playing Seb's girlfriend, Holly, and Simon Shepherd playing Tory grandee, Sir Norman Cavendish. I think all the cast have to be commend for their fabulous portrayal and quick delivery; they were what made the show so hilarious.

Overall, if comedy plays centred around politics is your idea of fun I'd definitely recommend you see this show if it ever goes on tour, and if it's not, why not give it a go anyway; you could surprise yourself. If you have any more questions about the show, or anything else musical theatre related, please comment below or tweet me at @GreenGirlsRox; I'd love to hear from you.

Love you all.

Kat

xx

Musical of the Month - Do You Want To Build a Snowman?

Well hello everyone, I back...did you miss me? To start off with let me give you my reasons as to why I haven't been blogging; the first part is that I have now officially finished uni so, basically, up until the end of April I was busy, busy, busy writing essays and putting on a play with my friends.  Also, the other major thing that's been going on is I found out at the end of January that my mum had been diagnosed with breast cancer so life has been a whirlwind of hospital appointments meaning that there's not been a lot of time to sit down to do blogs. On that matter, two weeks ago I completed the Race for Life at Clumber Park, Nottinghamshire, in 36minutes and 4 seconds, to raise money for Cancer Research UK; if anyone would like to sponsor me for this please click to be taken to my JustGiving page. 

Anyway, back to blogging...now I have a bit of a backlog due to the time I have taken off but coming up shortly, and i do mean shortly, are my blogs on: The Duck House; We Will Rock You; Rock of Ages on Tour; the closing of the Priscilla Tour; and West End Live. Please keep your eyes peeled for these as I will be posting them in the next few days.

So that's all the background information, now it's time for June's Musical of the Month...I know it's now July but I hope you can forgive me. I bet many of you have guessed from the title of this post that the musical I am going to be talking about is Frozen...now I know this is technically a Disney film but it does have songs set to the story line, there is talk about it turning into a stage musical and the music (the songs with singing) was written by Robert Lopez who, also co-wrote the music to The Book of Mormon and Avenue Q.

The music is one of my favourite things about Frozen as you seriously cannot get the songs out of your head and I have ended up singing them for days on end. The other thing is how much Olaf  from Frozen sounds like Elder McKinley in Turn It Off (Book of Mormon), Elder Cummingham in Two By Two (Book of Mormon) and the Bad Ideas Bears (Avenue Q). It always makes me smile when I hear the songs and can see the other characters singing them. Additionally, it's nice to see that Lopez can create beautiful, serious music as well; let's just say Let It Go always gives me goose pimples, which I know is partly due to the amazing-ness of Idina Menzel's voice but is, also, due to the beautiful way the song has been written...well done Lopez :)

I, also, think the story is pretty cute, no, it's not the most complex and in-depth plot but it definitely does have some good features and shows that self sacrificing love doesn't have to be between a romantically involved couple but can be between two sisters, two brothers, two friends, etc. The film, also, has some really sweet quotes like, 'Some people are worth melting for.'.

The final things I love about Frozen is how cute the characters look, particularly Sven. Additionally, it's nice that they used well known people is the musical theatre world; Jonathan Groff as Kristoff who is known for Glee and Spring Awakening amongst others, and Idina Menzel as Elsa who is best known for her performance as Elphaba in Wicked in addition to starring in Rent and the concert version of Chess and is currently starring in If/Then on Broadway.

(From Left to Right and Top to Bottom: Anna, Hans, Else, Kristoff, Olaf, Sven and Pabbie)

The other thing I want to share with you on the topic of Frozen is this little video that a friend from uni filmed of me singing Love Is An Open Door, now it's not the most technical but it is quite funny, or so everyone at work has told me.

Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed this blog and if you haven't already please go and watch Frozen :)

Love you all

Kat

xx

Musical of the Month - Playing the Game

Hi everyone, yes I know I've still got to post my blog on The Duck House but I've only got two months at uni left so bear with me :) Anyway, it's the end of March so that means it's time for Musical of the Month. I thought I was going to struggle this month to pick something as, although I'd been listening to musicals, nothing had really stood out to me as being exceptional. That is until just over a week ago when I was copying out some notes for uni and thought it would make it more exciting to listen to something. Now I didn't want anything to lively as I would concentrate but I wanted something new-ish that would keep my interest (by new I mean something I hadn't given much time to before). The musical I went to was Chess and since then I've been hooked. 

I'd always liked the song 'I Know Him So Well' so when they released the concert CD and DVD in 2009 I bought them both, however, I'd never really got into either of them. I did watch the DVD once but found it really confusing and had to keep reading up what was coming next; let's just say it wasn't the most enjoyable experience. 

I decided to give it a second chance and fell in love completely from the first note to the last. I think the thing that really got me about the music was the mixture of styles that were used; one minute you're listening to a slow, soothing ballad the next an unbeat pop song, then it's a piece akin to the classical era and the next thing you know it's your listening to a song that would fit into a Bollywood movie! If we're comparing it to musicals I'd say there's elements of Wicked (though I don't know whether that's the composers doing or the fact Idina Menzel plays Florence), The King and I, Miss Saigon, Les Miserables and Sister Act...an odd combination I know but that's the main reason I love the music; it keeps you on your toes. Another thing I like about the music is how meaningful all of the lyrics are; there isn't a wasted lyric insight. The best example of this is 'One Night in Bangkok' which is so thought through it's amazing. It references Yul Brynner who, as many of you will know, is famous for playing the King of Siam in The King and I (with Siam being the previous name for Thailand where Bangkok is the capital of). It, also, mentions the Tyrolean Spa which is a direct reference to Merano, where the first act is set (in the UK version). The other main interesting point is the fact the song mentions Iceland, The Philippines and Hastings which are the places where chess is most popular. The song, also, contrasts Bollywood style music (at least I think that's what it is) with your more tradition musical theatre style so as to show the difference between the culture of Thailand and the sophistication of chess as a game. This could sound quite negative to Thailand (and was thought that by officials in Thiland as it was banned there in 1985 for it's disrespect to Thai culture, in addition to Buddism), however, in my opinion it seems to be making a point that things aren't always as they seem as the sophisticated chess game that is suggested is not what is shown during the plot of the musical. 

So what is the plot, well I won't go to much into it so if you want to buy the 2008 Concert Version on DVD and find out about it yourself you can. Firstly, it is necessary to say that not only is the storyline complex itself, pinning down what the official story is as it has seen many changes and adaptions over the years. Nevertheless, in the booklet that comes with the DVD, Time Rice (part of the original Chess team) says that this it what he would call the official version, which is why my brief plot discription is based on the 2008 Concert (in addition to the fact that it's the version I've watched). So in brief then, the show I know, centres around the world chess championships over two years, firstly in Merano, Italy, and then in Bangkok, Thailand. The theme of chess is greatly overshadowed by a deeper and darker world of politics. The show is set in 1979 and 1980 so falls within the boundaries of the Cold War (1947-1991 approximately), which is at the heart of the show. The main characters are either Russian or American (to some degree) meaning that the majority of play goes on inside the world of politics rather than the world of chess. To me the meaning of the plot is that the Cold War is a big chess game with America and Russia (the Soviet Union) trying to psychologically outplay each other and not caring who got caught up in the cross fire. 

Linked in with this, the song "Nobody's Side" really embodies the depth of the play because, as my mum pointed out, at first it sound grammatically incorrect as the line "Nobody's on nobody's side." would technically mean that everyone was on everyone's side. This got me thinking about the plot and in actual fact I think the grammar is correct for all the characters have their own agenda and dislike the majority of the other characters, however, the majority of them all end up working together to achieve their personal goal. This, therefore, means that everyone is on the same side yet no one really is, a.k.a. Nobody's on nobody's side. The only character who ends up going against this idea is Anatoly who decides that the only way to win is by staying true to himself and not getting involved in anyone else's schemes; he sees this as the only way that he can grant himself self peace and give his lover, Florence, the one thing she wants, her father. 

Florence's father is another interesting political concept as Florence and her family originally came from Hungary but in 1956 the Hungarians revolted against Russian control and Florence's family were either captured or killed (she doesn't know). This theme interlinks with the song "1956 - Budapest is Rising" (Budapest being the capital of Hungary), which sings of the Hungarian revolt and briefly what happened during it. 

The other song of importance is "Anthem" (a great song in itself) but within the show, where it is sung at the end of both acts, it demonstrates that people know where they are from; there is no escaping your nationality and not many people want to entirely. The song comments on how people may not be entirely happy with the politics of the country of where your from but it will always be your country just the same; "...my land's only boarders lie around my heart."

Before I move onto cast I do need to say that my favourite songs, in addition to the ones mentioned, are "Where I Want To Be", "Someone Else's Story" and "I Know Him So Well"...just so you know. 

The cast for the concert version were, in my opinion, fantastic...but then my two favourite leading ladies do star in it. The main cast list is as follows: 

Josh Groban - Anatoly Sergievsky - Russian (plays for Russia in Act 1 but seeks British citizenship at the end of Act 1 so is playing for Britain in Act 2). 

Idina Menzel - Florence - Hungarian (Freddie's second and lover in Act 1 and Anatoly's second and lover in Act 2). 

Adam Pascal - Frederick "Freddie" Trumper - American (defending world champion in Act 1 and presenter for Global, the TV company, in Act 2). 

David Bedella - Alexander Molokov - Russian (it is quite clear that he works for the Russian government but it is suggested he's working for the KGB, which is the Russian Secret Police). 

Kerry Ellis - Svetlana - Russian (Anatoly's wife who Molokov brings over to distract him in Act 2). 

Clarke Peters - Walter de Courcy - American (Freddie's commercial agent in Act 1 and a presenter for Global TV Company in Act 2). 

Marti Pellow - The Arbiter - neutral. 

So there you go, a stella cast if ever there was one who have made this special show truly astounding. 

Well, I hope you've enjoyed this month's Musical of the Month about Chess, sorry if it's been a little deep but I hope you've inspired you to listen to the CD and buy the DVD and give it a chance so you can fall in love with it as I have. 

And I hope you have a great April. 

Love you all

Kat

Xx 

Musical of the Month: Let's Go Fly a Kite!

Hi everyone, hope you've had a good, theatrical February and are ready for all the joys that March will bring you. I realise that I've still got my blog of The Duckhouse to write but thought I better do February's Musical of the Month first as we're nearly at the end. 

Being truly honest, this month I've been raving about three shows but I've blogged about two of them before, Book of Mormon (first blog and second blog) and Witches of Eastwick. The other show that I've had a bit of an obsession with is Mary Poppins. I re-found my liking for this show after seeing the film Saving Mr Banks at the end of January; if you didn't catch it at the cinema I really recommend that you buy it when it comes out on DVD. Anyway seeing the film made me decide to pop my Mary Poppins musical CD in my car CD Player and I've loved re-listening to the songs.

The CD had always used to be the CD my family listened to when we went to see my friend, Megan, in Kent. My favourite song then used to be 'Brimstone and Treacle (Part 2)', however, nowadays I'm in love with, 'Let's Go Fly a Kite'. This is partly because it's such a great song but, also, because the part of Saving Mr Banks that went to this song was so beautiful and happy it would capture anyone's heart. The other song I really love is, 'Being Mrs Banks' which is really sweet, romantic and, to me, embodies what the story is really about.

As for the show itself, I saw it ages ago, when I first started getting into musicals, when I was about 11 or 12. I remember the plot being a bit of a shock at the start as it was quite different to the film and a lot more scary, nevertheless, once I relaxed into it, it was a really great show. From what I can remember the set was amazing and the cast were brilliant and, overall, it was such a beautifully, sweet show that was suitable for all the family; I really wish it would come back or at least tour. 

Anyway, that's enough for now; did any of you see Mary Poppins when it was in the West End and what are your opinions on the musical?
Let me know either by commenting below or tweeting me at @GreenGirlsRox

Hope you have a good March.

Love you all

Kat

xx

Dreaming Baby Dream

Well, well, well, finally here it is, my blog about Dreamboats and Petticoats which I saw at Nottingham Theatre Royal in November last year...yes it does feel like ages ago doesn't it! If you haven't read my blog before I have been meaning to write this post for ages and haven't got round to it what with all the chaos that has been going on in my life (I won't explain as I'll be here for pages and pages and you'll get bored and switch your computers off) in addition to writing my dissertation for my third and final year at uni...scary!

So what of Dreamboats and Petticoats, well if you're wanting to go to the theatre for a highly educational and deep production with lots of twists and turns then this show is not for you. However, if you want a little bit of light hearted relief from your day to day life then go on and buy yourself a ticket (the tour finishes at the end of May in St Albans so you've got plenty of time yet). Basically, the show itself is pretty cute-sie with an decent plot and some great tunes. 

The song list is truly phenomenal, well I do like music from that era, and is really what makes the show, however, I won't go on about this too much as I reviewed the music on my blog previously so if you want to see a more in depth discussion of it click here. Nevertheless, seeing the show in the flesh really brought the music alive particularly as there was a live band on stage. The only annoying bit about this was one of the Saxophone players seemed to have a thing about bending her head backwards so the Saxophone was vertical; now I do agree that this can look cool and jazzy when done once or twice but when she did it two or three times during every song it got a tiny bit repetitive...just a little moan there. However, the rest of the cast were brilliant and truly brought the teenage love story feel to life.
The set and lighting were simple but just right for the show. Everything was very realistic, which was just the right tone for the show. I particularly liked the realism during the fairground section when the dodgeums were brought onto the stage...I don't know what it is but seeing a fairground brought to life on a stage always makes me smile :)
I think that's all I've really got to say...so if it Dreamboats and Petticoats comes to your area I'd definitely say you should get a ticket if you want a fun, cute night out to escape from the reality of the world.

If you've seen the show or just fancy a chat please either comment below or tweet me at @GreenGirlsRox.

Love you all

Kat

xx