Jesus Christ, Superstar and other events

It's a very late post, but in August, some friends and I went to see Jesus Christ Superstar at the Barbican - because sometimes one just wants to relive one's youth and the fun of seeing a musical!

And it was fun - Jesus and Judas were both excellent, and Pilate was a lot of fun as well.   I am not sure that glitter in place of blood, in the '49 strokes' scene would have bee my choice, but it was oddly effective! 

The same day, some of us went to Mere for dinner, and had a wonderful meal, preceded by some very pretty, and tasty, cocktails.

Glorious Lemon Verbena dessert

Then in September, I met up with a couple of friends, to go to  see Zoë Keating at  King's Place in London . It's the 3rd time I have seen her live, and it was just as good as the last two times.I strongly recommend her work to any one of my friends who don't already know her work.

Then, at the end of the month, I went to Chichester, in order to see John Simm and Dervla Kirwan, as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Before the show, I went to look around the Cathedral , which is small, as cathedrals go, but rather nice. 

Tapestry

Then the show itself.

There is a glass stage, over the 'blasted heath', and the witches enter from beneath it. There is also a glass backdrop.

I really enjoyed Simm's performance, particularly in the second half of the play,  as Macbeth starts to unravel.  However, the play did move slowly at times, and I did feel that the sound and stage design did, at times, overwhelm the play at times 

I'm really glad I got to see John Simm (especially as I missed his Hamlet)

It's on until 28th October

Hamilton!

Last January, tickets for the London version of Hamilton went on sale, and I promptly booked for myself and a friend, and then, after a long wait, we saw the show on Friday evening.

It's great fun. This was actually my 2nd visit, as I got a dingle ticket to see it in February, and having seen it 'cold' that time, without having listened to any of the songs, then got the soundtrack so was much more familiar with the music this time round. 

Stage - pre-show (we were in the 3rd row)

I loved the show both times, and would be happy to see it again - there are so many little details to notice and enjoy. And of course the music is great!

I'm really glad that I saw it  the first time without any prior knowledge - I admit that I went in thinking that it could not live up to the hype. 

This second time, I went in knowing it could, and would. (And determined to spot where the London show has differences to the US / Soundtrack version!)

I should try to do a proper, considered review but I just want to say it was great fun, and if you can get to see it, you should.

Although I do have a question for my American readers. IS John Laurens' life and death well known? The sound track doesn't include the letter telling of Laurens' death, which made me wonder whether it's an addition for the UK on the assumption we wouldn't know who he is, or whether that is in the US show too, but for some reason left out of the soundtrack? I have a working knowledge of the American Revolution but didn't know of him.

For the rest - I really enjoyed Giles Terara's performance as Aaron Burr - I've seen him before, in The Resistible RIse of Arturo Ui , and he is very impressive. And of course, Jameal Westman as Hamilton (who is startlingly tall, compared with the rest of the cast!)

Chess, the musical

If you are going to regress and relive your lost youth, you may as well do it thoroughly. Having seen Miss Saigon on Friday evening, Saturday saw me heading to London to meet up with friends and to see Chess, the musical.

Like Miss Saigon, Chess is a musical I'd never seen live before, although I was very familiar with the score and lyrics. (although I don't think I have the bootleg cassette tape of the original cast recording any more). I had not regretted not seeing it as much as with Miss Saigon, but the chance to meet up with old friends and relive our shared memories was too good an opportunity to miss!

The production was at the Coliseum in London, by the English National Opera, and features Michael Ball as Anatoly,  Cassidy Janson as Florence, Tim Howar as Freddie, Cedric Neal as The Arbiter and Alexandra Burke as Svetlana.

'Chess' Stage

The musical is set in the early 80s, and the stage and set reflect that, with neon squares marking out the stage and back drop, although as the show proceeds the backdrop is revealed to be big screens on which are projected everything from mountains and a jet-plane (for the arrival of Freddie at Merano) to Indian-style shadow puppetry (for the opening 'Story of Chess' song).

Production pic  of 'The Story of Chess' (from @Chessthemusical twitter feed)

The main characters are also shown on the big screens, which was handy for those of us in the cheap seats who couldn't see them at all when they were placed at the front of the stage! 

It was a lot of fun, and the music was excellent, as was some of the singing (I think the theatre had some issues with the sound, as the music drowned out the singing at times, which was a little frustrating.)

The show does have a very weak plot, but the performers gave it their all, and in the moment one can forget and forgive the lack of coherence or character development!

My favourite part remains the Embassy Lament (although I was disappointed that they have taken out the percussion typewriters)

I did not care for the use of mirror images when projecting the singers images - once noticed that the images were mirrored it was impossible not to notice, and be distracted!

The run ended on 2nd June, so it's no longer available, but it was fun.

Miss Saigon

When I was a teenager, I, and a small group of my friends used to go to the theatre most weeks, travelling in to Bath by bus, paying for standing room tickets, and then persuading one or other of our parents to take us home, as the last bus went far too early. 

We would occasionally see a musical, but those rarely came to Bath, and while they did come to Bristol, were far more expensive, so my experience of big-budget musicals mostly involved listening to the soundtracks, rather than actually seeing them on stage. 

All of which means that while I was, at one point in my life, pretty much word-perfect on the lyrics of Miss Saigon,  I had eve actually seen it, so when I saw that the touring production was visiting Bristol, I decided to go.

It is a big, polished production, and fills the stage. Including, of course, the famous helicopter scene which i have to admit is very impressive!

Production picture (c) Cameron Macintosh Ltd

I was impressed with the performance of Sooha Kim as Kim, and also that of  Ryan O'Gorman as John - a less showy role, but important, and very well done. 

And of course, the choreography is very slick.

I'm glad I finally got to see it, and realised that I am still pretty much word perfect on all the big numbers! 

The Addams Family Musical

I really wanted to like the Addams Family Musical. 

It seemed like a nice idea. The basic premise is that Wednesday Addams is now 18, and in love with a 'normal' boy, who she invites, with his parents, to meet her family.

And hilarity ensues. 

Or not.

It's good visually, the stage set is suitably spooky, and Morticia (Samantha Womack) and Gomez (Cameron Blakely) look the part, and Carrie Hope Fletcher looks just as you would expect an 18 year old Wednesday Addams to look.

But the plot is thin and clunky, and while a really good musical can get by with next to no plot, in the case, the musical numbers are...fine, but not enough to make up for the productions other shortcomings. 

It's a shame, because the cast are good, it's just that they don't have much to work with.

I think if you want 'normal' people meeting strangers in a spooky house then the Rocky Horror Picture Show has much better music and plot!

Its fair to say that I seemed to be in a minority in this view - the audience was, for the most part, highly enthusiastic and clearly enjoyed the show a good deal more than I did. 

But for me, I found the production distinctly underwhelming. 

2/5 Stars.

If you want to judge for yourself, the production is on tour around the UK until November. 

Another weekend

On Friday, I had the unusual experience of having to go to a Beer Festival for work. Which was interesting, and quite entertaining. We had sponsored one of the barrels, so naturally we had to go along to say hello, and to make sure that they were treating our beer well. 

They were, although (whisper it) I found two other beers which I liked better than the one we sponsored. Clearly I shall have to consider more carefully next year when the time comes to pick one to sponsor (assuming, of course,that we do it again) 

And it was nice to relax and unwind a little with a colleague. Especially as he agreed to be the designated driver!

Then on Saturday night,  after a grey and drizzly day, during which I managed to do a little bit of housework, and cut the grass because it really, really needed it, despite being a bit too damp for proper lawn-mowing, and failed to go shopping for curtain rails because I couldn't face the thought of B&Q, I headed into Bath, to the Theatre Royal, to see 'Mrs Henderson Presents', a brand new musical version of the film, based on the true story of the Windmill Theatre.

It was fun - it could have used a larger cast, so they could make the big ensemble numbers bigger, with more chorus girls, and I was, I admit, disappointed to see that, unlike in the film, the gentlemen of the cast were only seen from the rear during the 'everyone gets naked' scene.

There's a strong cast, minimal plot, catchy songs, and lots of naked women.

Tracie Bennett plays Mrs Henderson, and is appropriately tart and posh. 

Emma Williams   appeared as Maureen, tea-lady turned performer.

I particularly enjoyed Graham Hoadly's Lord Chancellor, perfectly stuffy, and with more than a nod to Gilbert and Sullivan. (and, of course, the freemasons...)

This show premiered in Bath, but I think is going to be seen in London later this year. Its a lot of fun. A very good evening out. And it was clear thatthe entire audie ce was enjoying itself!