Top Story

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from Top Story at the Old Vic Tunnels which was billed as an ‘apocalyptic comedy’, written by Sebastian Michael. The reviews I skimmed through seemed mixed and a lot of them went on about the location a lot which, cool as the decor in the toilets was, was not overly different to the various other railway bridge theatres that I’ve visited (Southwark Playhouse being the most obvious comparison to make). That said, the theatre itself was lovely with what felt like repurposed seats from an old theatre located within the warren of tunnels that make up the front of house. Even the noise of the trains rushing past was somehow less bothersome than usual, although perhaps that had more to do with the setting of the play itself than any real difference in acoustics.

As for the play, I actually really enjoyed it and I’m so glad I decided to come. I’ve been vaguely considering it for weeks but it wasn’t until tonight that a special offer coincided with one of my rare free evenings and I finally decided to bite the bullet. I wasn’t too sure what to expect, but I found myself sitting there with a grin on my face pretty much throughout. It was funny and clever, deep and silly, melancholy and euphoric all at the same time and I was as enterained as I was fascinated. I adored the two main characters and though I was less fond of the others, they were a necessary break from the living room sofa which likely would have grown a little tiresome if there hadn’t been any relief from it. Of course, I was also rather fond of the homoerotic undercurrent that flowed through many of their conversations but that was far from the only reason I became so enamoured with them!

The premise of the play was essentially based on the concept of how two nice, ordinary guys would deal with the impending end of the world in a realistic(ish) modern situation. No heroics, no battles to fight, no dramatic romances, just reinventing chess in the hope of leaving some sort of legacy as they drink a few cans of ale and watch TV. The rest of the cast made up the various TV presenters and personalities (the gorgeous Chrissie Craven and her many admirers) and two somewhat random angels looking down on it all. I was generally not overly fond of them, though I thought the older one, Angel Alphon, had an element of Back To The Future’s Doc Brown about him. They did, however, have some truly fascinating conversations about infinity, space and time, the universe and G-d. By contrast to everything else, the TV was just lighthearted nonsense, much in the way most TV seems to be these days (although I don’t actually watch enough of it to be so unfairly judgemental…).

Anyhoo, without wanting to give too much away, I thoroughly enjoyed it and found it brilliantly funny at times, especially towards the end. The dancing was something else! The music they used for it (and for one of their ringtones) was incredibly catchy in a polyphonic sort of way and I found myself humming it for quite a while after the show! (EDIT: And indeed, several days later)

I thought the cast were very good, particularly the two boys; Ed Pinker who played Talfryn (what a great name?!) and Lewis Goody who played Gus (which will always remind me of chubby mice!). They delivered their lines as though they really were just chatting with a close friend about the dawning apocalypse. Admittedly I found it a tad distracting at times that Lewis Goody looked like he could be Arthur Darvill’s little brother (they look so similar, it’s uncanny), but I guess in the setting it was kinda understandable given how much I’m used to watching Rory run around trying to cope with impending doom.

I was rather disappointed to discover that there was a proper stage door as well as the exit through the bar, which left me in something of a pickle at the end. I decided to go for the main stage door, hoping that I’d have more chance of getting what I wanted and it couldn’t have worked out better! I got autographs from the entire cast and photos with the two leads, all in the space of ten minutes! I do love it when a stage door works out so well and it left me even more elated than I was at the end of the show. It was made especially wonderful by the fact that I was honestly able to tell them all just how much I enjoyed it . A couple of them seemed genuinely delighted to be asked and it was apparently the first ever autograph from James Messer who played the young Angel Raoul – I told him I was honoured! I was also rather chuffed when Ed Pinker walked past again and not only did he say goodbye, he called me by name! So it all worked out very well, not least because the play text/programme they were selling on the door actually had a proper headshot enhanced cast list in it so my latest addition to the collection is a lovely little piece indeed (I love play texts for remembrance’s sake, I just hate it when all you get at the front is a simple cast list).

Anyhoo, I think it’s only showing until the end of the week, but if you get a chance to see it, I definitely recommend it. Well worth the trip and the chilliness of the venue!

So, I’m back in the vicinity tomorrow night for Kiss Me Kate at the Old Vic (I’ve been waiting a decade to see that show!) and then I’m off to the Lyceum on Wednesday for the Lion King which I haven’t seen in a very long time and really, it’s about time I refreshed my memory. Might have to be a ‘skip the stage door’ night though – I don’t have a clue how I’ll recognise anyone!

Peace, loVe loVe and happiness,
K xx

PS. See, I thought it was so good I made a conscious effort to get the blog published before the show actually closes! High praise indeed, coming from me!

Oh Captain, My Captain

I’ve been so busy worrying about Oxford (weeks trying to get a ticket followed by the stress of how I was going to get there and back) that tonight’s date with the Barlow at my beloved Hammersmith Apollo sort of crept up on me. Still, by the time I’d taken my seat in the front row (woop!) after chatting to various Thatter friends for an hour or so, I was primed and ready for the Captain (my Captain). I didn’t think the front row would be THAT different to the second (see the RAH gig blog, if I ever get around to publishing it), but oh wow was it different. For one, there was no barrier. As I discussed in the interval with one of my friends, there was nothing at all stopping us from simply climbing up onto the stage! I actually had one of those brief I-could-do-anything moments (see the below XKCD comic for clarification) during the first half when I vaguely imagined what would happen if I just did it – before security carted me off, banned me from the Apollo and presented me with a restraining order, that is! When he was front, centre, with the microphone stand he can’t have been more than ten feet away from me, it was a heady feeling! Just imagine how I felt watching him do the pray dance from such close quarters!

It’s only my mental rules (and the threat of security) that stopped me climbing on stage

Unfortunately I lucked out on the venue and he does his walkthrough around the edges so I’m unlikely to get the kiss I missed out on at the RAH anytime soon but I can’t complain too bitterly. I got two handshakes and I mean proper, firm grip, squeezey handshakes, one on each hand and during the second one he winked at me. Weirdly the wink seemed to have more of an effect on me than the handshakes and my knees went weak and I got all shaky. It took me a song or two to recover and it certainly gave an extra sparkle to the rest of the evening! I was even more delighted to find that my attempt at videoing the whole thing actually worked and I not only have clear footage of him Gary Barlow holding my hand, I also managed to capture the wink, just about (ok, so you can’t actually tell he’s winking, but I know he is and that’s what matters)! I think I’m in heaven *does the Pray dance*.

That’s my hand he’s holding, that is!

It was a really phenomenal concert and he was definitely on form, as were the band. I noticed Mike putting his hand up when Gary asked who phoned the helplines when the band split (while Milton laughed his arse off on the other side of the stage) and I also noticed the video behind Gary during the Never Forget encore. I don’t know if he’s used it before and I’ve just been too focussed on him (and that deliciously attractive sequinned jacket), but I can’t really see how I could have missed it. It somewhat resembled the NF official music video only it was Gary’s greatest hits. There were concert clips and official video snippets from Do What You Like (that got a few screams) through Forever Love (the bed and the lifting of the vest got even more screams) right up to Eight Letters at Progress Live (including Howard wearing my garland – woot!) and I would absolutely love a copy of it! It was actually quite distracting though. Much as I love watching the real thing doing his thang (and oh dear Merlin he was REALLY getting into it tonight – all that passion in the ballads and the bouncing at the piano… *fans face*), a twenty foot video of Barlow in bed is going to distract anyone!

Anyhoo, despite my initial fears that the Green Day/rock phase might negatively impact my enjoyment of the evening, I needn’t have worried. I had an amazing night even without the handshaking and winking (and I’m sure I made eye contact several times during the evening, especially while he was singing The Flood (which really blew me away tonight) at the piano) and I cannot wait to spend new year’s eve with him in Oxford!

Peace, loVe loVe and happiness,
K xx

PS. I have to admit I had my eye on his set list all night, taped to the front of the stage close enough that I could almost read it, even though it was upside down at a funny angle. I therefore made a point of grabbing the first crew member I saw and asking for it. He told me it was wrong and that it was only a typed piece of paper that he’d written, but he gave it to me . I shall probably call it quits now and let other people have a chance as tonight was the closest to ‘normal’ it’s been for me so far. As far as I’m aware the only difference was that the Like I Never Loved You duet with Nell Bryden was replaced with Fairytale Of New York.

EDIT: PPS. I was excited enough after the Albert Hall when Mike ‘liked’ one of my photos that I tagged him in on Facebook. Imagine how I felt today [28/12/12] when he commented on one of the photos from last night! Soooo cool in a totally sad geeky sort of way!

Robert Le Diable – Sort Of

I knew even before I got up this morning that the Royal Opera House’s production of Robert Le Diable was going to have to be something pretty damn special for there to be even the slightest chance of it impressing me. I was already in a foul mood after discovering only last night that the ticket I’d been sold as restricted view in the upper slips was actually a listening seat with the words ‘No view of the stage’ clearly printed on it. Later, after fifteen minutes on hold listening to appallingly tinny sounding music (though I did recognise a bit of Sleeping Beauty and Romeo & Juliet), I finally got through to the box office only for my phone to cut me off halfway through. Another ten minutes on hold and I was back onto the same person who kindly reserved me a better seat. Of course, I still ended up paying more than three times the price I’d intended to and given that I hate the phone with a passion, having to call TWICE, not to mention being stuck on hold stressing about it, really didn’t help. As if that wasn’t all quite bad enough, I had to leave work early to get there in time which cost me most of my lunch break (during which my latest batch of soup made me feel so ill that I felt queasy for the rest of the afternoon – I have yet to work out if it was the inclusion of beetroot or the fact it got burnt but even though I’m sure it was the latter, I don’t think I’ll ever try the beetroot thing again!) and merely added to my stress. Finally, I’m far more interested in rock* than opera at the moment, so I really wasn’t in the mood for five and a half hours at the ROH, no matter how gorgeous the place is.

Anyway, I made it on time, picked up my new ticket and took my seat only to find myself next to a very odd bloke who, despite the heat of the top of the amphitheatre, kept his coat and thick gloves on throughout (except when he reached into his pocket to check the time on his travel clock – I mean wtf?) and also whistled like a kettle every time he breathed. Not exactly helpful when I was already in a strop. It annoyed me less once it started, but I still ended up moving after the interval.

Anyhoo, the show itself was ok, but far FAR too long. It honestly didn’t feel like all that much happened and it was a rather predictable and uninteresting story. How the hell the composer managed to drag it out for so long, I’ll never know. The only real highlight for me were the dancers in the fallen convent and half the audience seemed to find them funny – which I didn’t see at all. I thought the choreography was fantastic and the way they moved was brilliant both in terms of setting the debauched tone of the place as well as emphasising the way they were sort of weird zombified creatures.

The cast were good, I’m sure, but I didn’t really notice. The staging was just weird with a slightly comic book-esque style to some of the scenery and random things like primary coloured life sized horses for the competition between the knights. Why they then felt the need to put the knights on the aforementioned horses by suspending them from wires, floating them across the stage and then lowering them, I will probably never know, but it was just bizarre. I also don’t think I’ve ever left before the curtain calls before but this time I didn’t even hang around for the bows. I felt surprisingly bad about that, but I was just to desperate to escape.

So, I should probably add a disclaimer at this point to state that I’m absolutely knackered which is clearly not helping my mood and I’m also thoroughly irritated by the book I’m reading… Fifty Shades Of Grey. You can probably look forward to a truly scathing review when I finally finish it/them.

I think I’m going to abandon all pretense that this is a review at this point – I just wasn’t feeling it tonight and have no real opinions to impart aside from the fact that I’ve never found Billy Connolly’s view of opera so apt as I did tonight:

I’m sure I’d have enjoyed it more if I’d been less tired and irritable, but we’ll never know. I certainly won’t be seeing it again!

*So, I’m completely addicted to Green Day at the moment. The more I hear, the more I fall head over heels in love with Billie Joe Armstrong’s voice. I’m still a bit bewildered by the fact that when he talks/shouts he has this rough & growly metal voice, yet as soon as he starts singing it melts into something as smooth as caramel. Ok, so maybe that’s a slight exageration, he still has a rasp when he’s singing, but my point still stands; it’s very melodic and sounds totally different. I even found myself watching live videos on youtube just to prove to myself that the two voices are actually coming out of the same person! It’s odd though. I can’t remember the last time I’ve prefered the originals of something to the musical theatre take on them, but give me the Green Day version over the American Idiot version any day – and that should not be taken as a criticism of the cast in any way, simply a glowing review of the band. It’s odd because I knew a few of the songs before hand, some (like Boulevard and Wake Me Up) better than others, but I’ve never really listened to them before. Some of them have turned into real growers too. Holiday is probably my favourite at the moment, but I’m really loving 21 Guns, which as you may recall I specifically said I didn’t like a week ago! Anyhoo, I’m fighting a losing battle over buying a ticket for the tour. They look like an awesome band to see live, it just sucks that once again I will have to face The Mosh Pit Problem. I’d love to be close enough to see their faces [read: I have a crush on Billie Joe based on more than just his gorgeous voice], but I’m far too scared to even consider it, especially alone. *sigh*. Give me a good old Barlow crowd any day.

Anyhoo, looking forward to rockin’ out at the weekend (I’m undecided on exactly what I’m seeing when, but day tickets for Loserville and Rock Of Ages are a given), but first it’s Sweet Smell Of Success tomorrow which I’m actually quite looking forward to.

Peace, loVe loVe and happiness,
K xx

Jeff Wayne’s The War Of The Worlds

I actually had a rather nice day in Brighton with a friend of mine (and my imaginary boyfriend apparently – I told my friend about being chatted up in Embankment a few weeks back and she thought it was hilarious that he accused me of having an imaginary bf), wandering through the lanes, eating far too much pizza, enjoying a cream tea at the Mock Turtle and drooling over expensive guitars in one of the shops. A little before the show started we parted ways and I headed to the Brighton Centre for Jeff Wayne’s The War Of The Worlds. I’m sure I’ll be exhausted after this (I didn’t get home until gone 2am), but I’m glad I picked this venue versus the O2. It was much much smaller and even from my side on, supposedly not great seat, I had a much better view than I would have had from most of the better seats in Greenwich.

So, I have to admit the show wasn’t really my thing at all and I didn’t exactly love it. I didn’t really like the music and it was mostly lyric-less pieces. Generally I found it kinda boring (much like the book actually) which (as with the book) seems kinda insane when the subject matter is considered. It should be an action packed, edge of the seat, dramatic tale, but it’s not, or at least, I didn’t see it that way. I did like some of the songs at least, though I wasn’t fond of the production of them. There was far too much distortion and synth for my taste (though I did like the contrast between the old school rock band and the massive string orchestra). It was also far too loud and it was nearly all just music with a recording of Liam Neeson talking over it. The artwork on the screen seemed a little unpolished and very repetitive and the whole thing just moved slowly. I also didn’t realise how few songs there were. I mean, they had this amazing cast and they hardly did anything – approximately one song each and even then they were drowned out by the overloud music and distortion on their voices. That said, I did like some of them. Forever Autumn was nice (though I’m always going to prefer Gary Barlow over Marti Pellow!) and I liked Kerry Ellis’s song (The Spirit Of Man, with Jason Donovan), though honestly I think that was mostly because she sang it and I just love her voice. Probably my favourite number was Thunder Child. It was a cool song and I loved Will Stapleton’s rock voice. In fact, I may have to investigate his band (Jettblack), I was so impressed. By contrast I was didn’t much like the Kaiser Chiefs’ Ricky Wilson’s song. No reflection on him, just hated the track. I can’t really give the cast much of a review since they were barely on stage. I think the use of the screens and especially the virtual narrator made it even harder to connect with any of the characters.

Staging wise, it wasn’t bad for what was essentially a concert rather than a show (another thing I wasn’t expecting). There were some cool effects, like a bit of interaction between a projected Liam Neeson and the actors on stage (Liam punched Jason, for example). The massive Martian fighting machine suspended from the ceiling above the stage and shooting fire out of the front was pretty awesome too and I liked the leaf shaped confetti during Forever Autumn. I’m not sure any of it was enough to improve my overall impression of the show though. In the end I found the whole thing kinda boring and the music got on my nerves. I don’t regret going, I don’t think, but I certainly won’t be seeing it if it tours again unless there is someone seriously special in the cast! I can sort of see why it’s so popular, if you like that kind of music, but it’s clearly not for me. Lesson learned, I guess!

Still, I waited at the stage door even though I knew I shouldn’t. Whatever I thought of the show, the vocalists were great and I’d have loved to have met them all. And, of course, it would’ve been kinda awesome to get Jeff Wayne (who conducted) to autograph the programme. So, despite my better judgement, I got a train an hour later than I was supposed to, only to find out about ten minutes before I absolutely had to leave that there was a party going on. As a result, I couldn’t get an earlier train and only got the bass guitarist (who I only asked so I’d at least have one autograph to justify my waiting) and then just as I was about to give up Jason Donovan came out so thankfully I got one cast member! I think he only left early because his son was with him so he didn’t want to hang about, but he signed for everyone (there were only about eight of us) and even posed for a quick photo with me which was nice of him! I then had to leg it to the station, but I made it with plenty of time before the last train. Was it worth waiting? I’ll tell you tomorrow if I make it through the day! Kinda gutted I didn’t get to meet the rest of the cast, but it was nice to finally get a photo with Jason plus the other people at the stage door were nice and friendly so it made the wait more pleasant than usual.

Tomorrow, assuming I make it through the day, I’m hoping for a last minute A Chorus Of Disapproval ticket and then I’ve got a ridiculously long opera on Tuesday (gonna be fun staying awake through that), Sweet Smell Of Success on Wednesday (quite looking forward to that one if for no other reason that I can’t wait to hear Stuart Matthew-Price sing again) and then the office Christmas party on Thursday, followed by another marathon show weekend… I think I must be insane! Oh well, all good fun!

Peace, loVe loVe and happiness,
K xx

PS. I’ve been on a bit of a Green Day kick since Wednesday and have been listening to a mix of the Broadway cast recording and the original band tracks on Spotify pretty much constantly. I also now have the original American Idiot album (minus half of the title track thanks to a physical chunk missing out of the cd) courtesy of my sister on my iPod. I have to admit, the show as a whole has massively grown on me in retrospect and if it had been at all feasible I’d have gone to see it again before it closed. I really do love the music the more I listen to it and I’m really quite tempted to go and see Green Day at the Emirates in the summer. I think I’ll need to give the new album(s) a listen first though. In any case I’m kinda crushing just an ickle bit on Billie Joe Armstrong now as well – I’m so fickle, it’s terrible, I know that chances are by the time the tour comes around I’ll have totally lost interest. Still, in the meantime, it was rather nice of Mr. Ratliff to provide me with a suitable background for my phone: Tommy Joe and Billie Joe – don’t mind if I do!

Tommy Joe Ratliff & Billie Joe Armstrong (Source: @TommyJoeRatliff on twitter 29.08.12)

Green Day’s American Idiot

I have to admit, Green Day’s American Idiot was a rather fitting show to see given the world is meant to be ending in less than a fortnight. I knew it was supposed to be set in the recent past, but to me it had a very futristic, post-apocalyptic feel. That said, I often heard it described as set in a post 9/11 world, which I suppose can almost be viewed as post-apocalyptic. Oddly it also opened with a headline about nuclear weapons in North Korea and given todays news had a mention of them launching a rocket, it felt weirdly relevant to today.

Green Day’s American Idiot at Hammersmith Apollo

So, it was nice being back at the Hammersmith Apollo. I think I will always love this venue after Adam/Queen (and Tommy of course), but it was weird seeing it with seats again (even though I’ve seen several comedians here when it was also fully seated). Anyhoo, I had a reasonably central row D seat which I managed to obtain through clever manipulation of the ticket site (they kept trying to stick me on the far left), but apparently karma’s a b*tch and it turned out to be a mistake as I was stuck with a tallish woman in front of me, with an even taller bloke in front of her. Needless to say, their combined heads were right in the way. Was nice being close though, given I found myself crushing on several members of the cast within the first five minutes. That said, there was often a lot going on on the stage at any given time and I felt I was missing out on loads of small things in the background or out of the spotlight as well as the full scale of the larger dance numbers.

I liked the staging, or rather the way they used the set to advantage. It was a wide stage which allowed them to have multiple stories progressing at once without encroaching on each other’s space. It was full of exposed scaffolding and the backdrop was covered in TV screens showing everything from a live feed of the stage to random words and images. Also, the conductor was dressed like Billie Joe Armstrong (or at least he looked like he was from where I was sitting) yet still conducted the rock band spread across the stage the same way one might conduct an orchestra (even if his hand movements were a little jerkier than they might have been for Mozart). It was odd but weirdly enticing to watch – though I only really watched him on and off during the first and last numbers.

I have to admit that to me it felt like just another one of those jukebox musicals built around songs that don’t really fit any particular story. Don’t get me wrong, I may not be much of a Green Day fan, but the stuff I know I really like and I’d be quite content listening to their albums. I’m sure I’ll be listening to the soundtrack for this plenty in the future. Still, the story seemed slow and meandering, interrupted by the songs rather than enhanced by them, particularly early on. I also felt the music also prevented the audience from connecting with the characters as much as we might have otherwise. That said, it sounds like I didn’t enjoy it or didn’t think it was much cop and neither are true. I enjoyed it and thought it was a great rock musical. It had all the vital components; a talented cast, brilliant ensemble numbers and dance routines, a kick-ass soundtrack and enough of a story to keep me interested, if not enraptured. If you like musicals and you like Green Day’s music, it’s great, but if not, it perhaps isn’t for you.

Alex Nee (Source: BroadwayWorld)

Unsurprisingly, I loved the acoustic Boulevard Of Broken Dreams, though I’ll admit I was somewhat distracted watching Johnny’s fingers on the guitar. Still, it’s a beautiful song and I loved the stripped back staging of it when contrasted with the high energy of most of the other numbers. I also loved the female vocals at the end and the sample of City Of The Damned. Are We The Waiting was fabulous as a transitional piece and for progressing Tunny’s story. There’s something about the song that I just love. I don’t think I knew it before today, yet I keep singing it, it’s great. I really liked the physicality of some of the acting, developing the story as much through movement and wordless communication as through song and speech. Johnny and Whatsername (with the pipe for wrapping around their arm pre heroin injections) in Last Night On Earth was awesome and I loved the way they moved together. Also, in Too Much Too Soon I loved the ensemble dressed to resemble Will and Heather and singing their lines for them, though I think I loved the choreography of their fight even more.

Alex Nee & Alyssa DiPalma (Source: BroadwayWorld)

As usual with a show of this kind, the second act was more interesting, with less time spent on set up and more on action. I still didn’t think the songs were great storytellers, but the numbers as wholes with all the trimmings (acting and dancing etc.) flowed wonderfully right through to the end. When It’s Time was gorgeous and kinda heartbreaking really (I loved the way they used the guitar picking from Wake Me Up… to add a bit of synergy between the two numbers), especially when followed with something as opposite as Know Your Enemy and ending the scene with 21 Guns. Whatsername’s voice during the opening verse was simply magnificent. I’m not actually overly fond of the song, but I loved the way they did it. Letterbomb was another tempo change as well as one of the biggest turning points in Johnny’s life and I loved the drama of it.

I knew I’d enjoy Wake Me Up When September Ends and Johnny was sat on the floor behind a speaker at this point so it was only when his mates joined in that I got distracted watching the guitar playing! It was a dramatic scene, starting slow and building and building into what I can only assume was meant to be a reference to September 11th (given that there were loads of the ensemble, many dressed in suits staring up at something, while the projections on the wall suggested something collapsing and the previous date mentioned was September 10th), though I’m not entirely sure whether it was meant as a memorial or what. In any case, it was quite powerfully done, both visually and choreographically.

The Homecoming section was oddly heartwrenching given that I hadn’t felt as though I’d connected particularly strongly with any of the characters (particularly We’re Coming Home Again) and it made me consciously aware for the first time that we had not only been following the three stories of three friends, but also three paths that any one of them could have taken. Stay at home, join the army, move to the city… All very different options but [SPOILERS - select the text to read] in the end, they all end up back home where they started, a little wiser, a little more world weary and who can tell who made the right choice? Tunny in the army? He seemed the most content with his Extrodinary Girl, yet he was hardly unscarred from his experiences. Will is obviously miserable and staying home with Heather didn’t exactly work out well for him. And then there’s Johnny – what did he achieve? What was the point in any of it? (What a miserable thought!). Anyway, I thought the final number, Whatsername, was brilliant. Again, I loved the choreographic references to the key elements of the rest of the show. It made it feel like quite a powerful close, which was enforced by the dramatic ‘this is my…’ lines from all the featured characters.

American Idiot (Source: BroadwayWorld)

The cast were great; full of energy and totally looked the part (- I was absolutely delighted to realise at the stage door that none of them wore wigs and all the wacky hair styles were real. A few of them complimented me on my hair too at the stage door, so woot! (It’s currently a mix of faded pink and dark blonde with brown roots showing through on top and some equally faded blueish bits at the tips – not quite intentional, but kinda funky nonetheless)). I already mentioned the crushing on quite a few of them bit (we won’t discuss how young I think they must all be – from the blurbs I read in the programme I think most of them are still in or have just graduated from college…) and I was rather disappointed to realise the horribly expensive glossy brochure was from the Broadway production and therefore did not feature any of the aforementioned beautiful actors. The cast were listed on a separate sheet with headshots at the top and that’s it. Ah well, such is the nature of touring productions I suppose. Fortunately, BroadwayWorld had a lovely collection of photos (click here for the full set: BroadwayWorld) such as the ones dotted about this post (I had trouble choosing a favourite hence the visual overload).

Anyhoo, the point is, I thought the cast were fabulous. Alex Nee played Johnny, who was the star of the show and managed to make me feel sorry for him and think him a total prat all at the same time. He had a great voice, oodles of energy and a pretty face. Everything I could have asked for really! As for his two friends there was Casey O’Farrell as Will (also hot, at least in part because he had blue streaks in his hair ) and Thomas Hettrick as Tunny. I think they were both cast well and thoroughly suited their roles. Whatsername was played by Alyssa DiPalma and though I’ve already mentioned how much I loved her voice, I’m going to say it again here; her vocals were stunning. In fact, I thought she was fabulous generally; vulnerable without being naive or innocent. Trent Saunders was somehow creepy and strangely enticing at the same time as St. Jimmy. I have to admit I wasn’t quite sure who or what he was supposed to be; the twisted opposite of a guardian angel? A straightforward drug dealer and Bad Influence character? The dark side of Johnny’s character or some combination of all three? Whatever he was supposed to be, I liked him and thought he had great stage presence. And finally, my random ensemble crush (based mainly, yet again, on his hair) was, I believe, called Brandon Kalm .

American Idiot cast feat. cute ensemble boy – the tall dude pulling a face in the back row on the left (Source: BroadwayWorld)

The stage door was good – bitterly cold, but they were a nice, friendly, obliging bunch and the security was surpringly helpful (both the man I asked for directions pre-show (I knew where it was, I just wanted to check there would be no weird secondary exits in play) and the poor sod on duty outside at the end). I got autographs from a good chunk of the cast and I think I only missed a selection of ensemble performers who I wasn’t certain I’d recognise anyway, but they all signed their photos so it was harder to see who I’d missed. I also got photos with the key players (including a proper good squeeze from Trent Saunders!) and the random ensemble member who I couldn’t take my eyes off of . Anyhoo, I didn’t have to wait long and it all went rather smoothly, which was nice. On a random note, I kept finding myself drooling over their American accents. Honestly, I thought I’d grown out of that when I was still in my teens so imagine my surprise when I found myself going all weak at the knees everytime any of them opened their mouths to talk to me! Yet again I think I’m going to have to lay the blame at Adam & Tommy’s door(s).

Alex Nee & Trent Saunders (Source: BroadwayWorld)

Anyhoo, I stand by my earlier comments that this was just another one of ‘those’ shows, but unlike with something like Soul Sister, I actually had a fondness for some of the music and the style of the whole show was far more me. I enjoyed it and I’m incredibly glad I had the opportunity to see it. I’d have loved to have seen it on Broadway when Billie Joe Armstrong was on for St. Jimmy (incidentally I just found out BJA is 40. 40! He doesn’t look even close to that!). I’m sure I’ll be singing Green Day for the next few days (I can’t imagine that OperaUpClose’s La Boheme tomorrow will have much of an effect on my Spotify playlist) and I’m itching to have a go at a few more of those songs on my guitar (Boulevard Of Broken Dreams is already one of the best pieces in my repertoire)!

Peace, loVe loVe and more rock musicals for all,
K xx

PS. Rock Of Ages has announced they’re now booking through to the end of the year! Woop, good news indeed, even if I’m still fuming that they’ve stolen my beloved Sunday shows.

PPS. Today was 12/12/12 and I managed (thanks to a colleague giving me a heads up) to remember to screenshot my phone at 12:12 – see!

Tommy at 12:12 12/12/12

Rock Of Ages – Tim D does Drew

I spent most of the day debating whether I REALLY needed to see Tim D play Drew at the Shaftesbury or whether I should just wait, see him at the Garrick instead and see something else on my seemingly never ending list of ‘must see’ shows tonight. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to see Rock Of Ages again that badly anyway (blasphemy, I know!). Then I put the playlist on Spotify (which is a mishmash of the two soundtracks, all the originals plus a few covers and a few related tracks including some of the interval music) and before I hit the first chorus (of Asia’s Heat Of The Moment, in case you were interested) I was raring to rock!

I got me my day ticket with no trouble (which made a lot of sense when I got in and realised how empty it was (so sad) and was even able to request thong side (aka the left). Of course I knew there were no guarantees but you gotta be in it to win it, right ? I didn’t get it in the end, I knew it was between me and the girl two seats down and she got it, but it didn’t half get my heart racing during Dead Or Alive. I didn’t know I cared that much, but apparently I do! Still as cast members go, if I’m only ever going to get one, I’m glad I got Dylan’s! Anyhoo, I didn’t spot any RoAdies which was a shame as I rightly suspected the atmosphere was going to be a little quiet and all I needed was another mad fan to spice it up!Still, given the size if it, they seemed lively enough .

It was an interesting cast though, as well as Tim Driesen as Drew, I had Grant Anthony as Hertz, Andrew Spillett as Joey Primo and Leanne Garretty as Regina (though I’ve seen her play the role before when Jodie was on for Sherrie), which had Scarlette Douglas on in Leanne’s usual young groupie part. It was kinda odd with that many people missing and I’m not used to Tim Howar as Stacee yet either. Even so, I did manage to keep my attention on Tim D for the most part. To be fair, he made it pretty easy! The wig and costume really suit him and I LOVE his Drew. At least as much as Ollie’s *whispers* maybe even more! He was just so sweet and naive, I loved it. It made the contrast between Drew and Tim H’s completely insane Stacee even more profound (Tim H’s Every Rose Has It’s Thorn bit especially was SO over the top, it was absolutely brilliant! Admittedly I don’t fancy his Stacee as much as previous incarnations of the character, but I think that’s because he’s made Stacee more of a crazy caricature and less of a larger than life sex-on-legs rock-god. Though that said, with his constant pout he reminds me a lot of Steel Panther’s Lexxi Foxx and I definitely fancy him . It’s certainly not a bad thing, it’s just different. Stacee is still my favourite character, and I still would… ) . It’s odd to think that last time I was here I saw Tim D as the Jaxx, he’s certainly versatile (*wink*)! I’ll admit I barely noticed Andrew as Joey (except when he was actually Joey which was cool, though he’s no Dylan. I don’t think anyone will ever beat Dyl in that role, even TimmyD *sigh* I still miss him *sob*), but then there was so much else going on that I wanted to watch, that’s hardly surprising. As for Grant, he doesn’t have quite the same stage presence as Rohan and I think it’s much like the Sandy phenomenon, no one else is ever going to be able to compete really. That said, he came across as a much more strict and remote father in a less spoof-like way. It was an interesting portrayal and it might have been nice to see him before Rohan’s interpretation was so heavily cemented in my mind. That said, between him and Tim D, I barely watched Sandy and that’s saying a lot, since I usually can’t keep my eyes off of him whenever he’s on stage. I really REALLY need to see him play Stacee! Back on the subject of missing people, I have to admit I was also a tad gutted to realise that Nick Kendall was amongst those involved in the mass cast disappearing act (as were Steve and Chris).

Anyhoo, it was also interesting to see the show from a different angle. On recent visits I’ve nearly always been on the opposite side and it was a bit of a change. Of course, one of the highlights of that side is seeing Joey Primo get a lap dance, something which was rather less exciting without Tim (or Dylan *sniff*) playing the role, but I saw some of the smaller background bits that I usually wouldn’t have noticed, like Lonny and Simon before the fight scene in Final Countdown.

The stage door was annoying. I dragged my programme along to fill in four missing names: Natalie, Tim H, Cordelia and Steve (of the band) and only the first two were on tonight! There was also a woman there who professed to be a Tim H fan, but still hogged all the attention when Tim D came out. Very annoying, though I at least got a photo with each Tim, found out how you pronounce Driesen (it’s DrEE) from Natalie and was able to enjoy Oliver (the bassist) being nice and friendly as I’m pretty sure he recognised me. He’s lovely . I also got Andrew to sign one of the fake notes he threw into the audience during Beaver Hunt. I nearly missed my chance too as the bloke in the row behind grabbed all but one of them before the end of the show! Now I just need a TimmyD signed one. Though I suspect that next time I come back it’ll be to see his Stacee. And the time after that will probably be the last night at the Shaftesbury so I doubt I’ll get near enough to obtain a note. So maybe the time after that then, when it’s moved to its new home . It’ll happen eventually, I’m sure!

Side note: There were two FOH guys on the door inside the foyer checking tickets and they both tried to scan mine. I’m sure they were just bored, but it was rather amusing and made me feel like they were vying for my attention which was nice, if a tad deluded on my part! Then the guy on door of stalls asked how many times I’ve been now (I told him I’ve lost count, but I reckon it must be somewhere betweemn 10 and 15. Not that many really!), so he clearly recognised me!

So, I have to say, I still wasn’t sure this trip was the best idea. I really have been spending far too much time and money on this show lately, BUT seeing Tim’s Drew was worth it. He’s so good, it’s unreal and his voice… I mean I knew he could sing from the Never Forget days, but wow. His big notes are incredible (I loved his ‘hold on’ in Oh Sherrie – the ‘hold’ was as long and powerful as it should be, but he cut it a tad shorter than he needed to in order to give the ‘on’ some serious welly. It was fabulous!) and the rest of it is equally brilliant. I already mentioned that I loved the way he acted the part, but really he was just the perfect Drew shaped package. I loved his expressiveness, the way he looked at Sherrie, the differences in tone he had sometimes which brought new meaning to certain phrases… I just wish I had the ability to say some of that to his face. Trouble is, when actually confronted with him, or in fact anyone I really like and/or admire, all my conversational skills evaporate and all I can manage is: “You were amazing!”. I mean, it’s true, he was, but I’d like to be a little more articulate about it on occassion. I can’t imagine any of them would object to me waxing lyrical for a moment or two about how brilliant I think they are! Oh well. Maybe I’ll just tweet a link to the blog (if I manage to get it published before the show posts closing notices, that is!) and see what happens! I got a tweet off Dylan about my Kissing Dance blog once, so hey, dreams can come true !

Actually, on the subject of ‘celebrity’ responses, Mike Stevens ‘liked’ the photo I posted of him playing sax from Gary’s RAH gig (I tagged him, ya see). Anyways, I am fantastically excited by this fact even though I’m sure he’s ‘liked’ plenty of pictures. It’s awesome anyway, so woot!

Cabaret tomorrow. I’ve never been a fan of that particular show, so not expecting much really, but hey, maybe I’ll be surprised.

Peace, loVe loVe and rock kick-assery,
K xx

PS. Simon went with the ‘you’ve been in Mamma Mia?’ line during the improv bit (I in fact didn’t know Tim had been in that, but turns out he has). Simon clearly likes singing Chiquitita! He also pointed out that Tim had done s***ty 70s disco and 80s rock and was very versatile. It wasn’t overly different to some of the Ollie ones and I’d still love to hear a Never Forget one. I wonder if they’ve ever done it!

The Judas Kiss

I have to confess, I booked my ticket for David Hare’s The Judas Kiss solely for Freddie Fox related reasons, but he certainly didn’t disappoint (Oh man, did he not disappoint *fans face*).

I’ve never been to the Hampstead Theatre before and I did rather like it. I was at the far end of the fourth row of the stalls and it was a very good view. It’s a nice modern venue and it looks like they have some interesting shows in the pipeline so I may well be back again before the year is out.

I though it was an interesting play. I previously knew very little about Oscar Wilde beyond the fact that he was punished harshly for his homosexuality (and obviously that he was a fabulous writer, but that was somewhat irrelevant to the plot). The play was split between two important moments in his life (Note; From here on, this post contains spoilers, although they’re more on the subject of Wilde’s life than specifics of the play). Act one was set in an English hotel room where Oscar debates his situation and ultimately, despite his friend Robbie’s pleas, he listens to Lord Alfred; Bosie, the boy he loves and chooses to stay and fight his case. Several years later, act two finds Wilde in Naples, living with Bosie after having served his prison sentence. Over the course of a day or so, we see the end to their relationship in a rather miserable sort of way.

Freddie has always reminded me of Draco Malfoy (this gets relevant, trust me!), perhaps inevitably, given that he’s so very pale, blond and really rather posh (I adore the way he speaks!). The fact that I’m currently reading a novel length fic in which, so far, Draco has been far more real and in-keeping with his character as JK wrote him (not very nice and horribly prejudiced, still living in his father’s shadow and weighing his every action by Lucius’s standards) seemed to bring the parallel to an extra level. Not that Bosie was prejudiced, at least not in the way Draco is, but he was an arrogant posh boy who cared far more about himself and his own perceived victories (in this case over his father, but hey, give that father the name Harry and we’re talking). He annoyed the hell out of me throughout the first act and it irritated me even further that I knew Oscar would ultimately listen to him and give in. Robbie, by contrast, spoke many of the words I’d have chosen if I’d been in his position, but the fact he was unable to truly make himself heard, or rather, he was heard but ignored, bugged me almost as much as the rest of the characters did. I liked the serving staff though! And Arthur (played by Ben Hardy) did have a very nice arse – which was on full display at the very start of the play . Small as their parts were, I liked the comic relief they provided from the more serious aspects of the first act.

Bosie annoyed me far less in the second act, or at least, I much preferred him in the earlier part. Believe it or not, my reasons were not even (entirely ) based on the fact that he started off completely naked and spent much of the rest of his opening scenes wearing nothing but a sheet tied around his waist, leaving his chest bare and flashing a dangerous amount of leg. In fact I found him really quite distracting (big surprise there, I find him distracting fully dressed!). Of course the tanned, muscled Adonis, Galileo (played by Tom Colley), who didn’t even bother with a sheet… and then made a brief appearance dripping wet, really didn’t help my concentration either (I’m awful, I know, but lusting after pretty, yet completely unattainable boys is such fun…)!

Unfortunately the sexiness couldn’t last and with the return of clothing came the return of Bosie’s more irritating characteristics. He was an arrogant little twerp in the end and he made me rather mad by the time he finally made his departure. He came across as completely self serving and with no real principles save the ones that most suited his cause at that given moment. His cause, however, was not love or honesty or gay rights or anything so noble. His cause was himself and screw anyone who no longer fit with what he felt to be best for him at that specific time. Can you tell he bugged me?! I think it was his ranting and raving about fighting for gay rights – which is very much at the forefront of my mind what with Adam Lambert and Gavin Creel and all – followed not long after by his pronouncement that he wasn’t really one of them, he wasn’t really like that and so on and so forth that really annoyed me. With that final speech he almost seemed worse than the people who condemned Wilde to jail in the first place. (Having flicked through the programme after the fact, it does seem that Lord Alfred was a world class git through most of his life).

Anyhoo, I’m not really sure what to say of my overall opinions. It was a good play, certainly; well acted and well presented. It was enlightening and on an artistic level I could appreciate its greatness. My only criticism really was that the characters bugged me, but then that was evidently how they were written. They weren’t especially nice people, though that was true of some more than others, and they definitely weren’t heroes, but that made them far more real. Personally, I like the fantasy of perfection, whether that be happily ever after, or the perfect tragedy doesn’t matter overly much, but this was real and wonderful as the play was, I can never quite like it as much as I’d have liked a fantasy.

The cast were fabulous though, doing a truly magnificent job of bringing those irritatingly flawed characters to life. Admittedly, I couldn’t quite take Rupert Everett seriously, although that’s almost entirely my own fault. My constant Freddie/Draco comparison, along with the drawl in his tone and the hair style often summoned up images of Professor Snape, whilst the character (and I suppose the knowledge that he once played him in a film) and also the hair, I suppose, reminded me often of Stephen Fry. Mostly, however, I found myself recalling Rupert’s role in St. Trinians (I only saw it last weekend, having had no idea what to expect and was totally bewildered by it), which really wasn’t in-keeping with the character he was supposed to be playing and I found slightly distracting at first. That said, he did a fabulous job and by the second act I’d completely bought into the character. I think there may still have been the occasional Stephen Fry comparison, but I think that’s understandable in the circumstances. Freddie Fox was also fabulous as Bosie (or to give him his full title, Lord Alfred Douglas), no matter how much he made me grind my teeth! He was full of (self-)righteous indignation and shouted speeches, but there was a soft childishness to him that managed to break through every so often that really showcased his talent as an actor. (And he looked very nice naked as well ). Finally Cal MacAninch played Robbie Ross, full of a quiet passion. Of all the characters in the play, I felt he was the most emotionally entangled with the whole situation. He really cared, more so than Oscar who seemed to make light of everything, and certainly more so than Bosie. In every one of his speeches and movements, he made his underlying feelings clear and I enjoyed the subtlety of that a good deal.

The stage door was a success, granting a full house of autographs and photos with the three leading cast members. Freddie was wearing his hat again, of course, and my delightfully crap back-up camera left me with a faintly blurred photo, but he still looks pretty and I’ve met him before, so I can deal. Rupert was lovely, which was unexpected though I’m not sure why. I suppose I was expecting movie star divaness, but it didn’t happen. There was one professional autograph hunter who I spent most of the wait for the cast disparaging in my head whilst trying to justify why they annoy me so much. They’re not hurting anyone really and I suppose most of them watch the actors they chase in their TV or film careers so it’s not as though they aren’t supporting the performer’s career in some way. Perhaps my dislike stems from the knowledge that there are enough actors now who refuse to do anything because of people like that, but generally it’s not really a problem for me. I always compliment the actors on their performances, so they know that I was there at least (plus I’ll primarily get a programme signed, which generally suggests attendance at the theatre) and it’s rare that there are enough professionals to prevent me from getting what I want in term of autographs and photos, so why do I get so irritated with them?

Anyhoo, I’m actually free next week, as in, I have NOTHING booked… *gasp*, so I have no idea when I’ll next be back. I’ve got a vague intention to try and see Jumpy and/or Hedda Gabbler, plus the hope of day tickets for (finally) the new Rock Of Ages cast a week on Sunday, but I suppose we’ll have to see. I’ll definitely end up at something though. It’s been two years, give or take, since I went a week without a single show and I don’t mean to start breaking that record now!

Peace, loVe loVe and pretty naked blond boys *sigh*,

K xx

PS. I found out today that Oliver Thornton is playing Frank N Furter in next year’s 40th anniversary tour of Rocky Horror. There’s a teaser video on youtube, but I don’t think the news was meant to be announced until next week. After several people located my blog via the search terms ‘Oliver Thornton Rocky Horror’, however, I decided to do a bit of digging, having more than a passing interest in the subject myself (I have one ticket already, but had every intention of purchasing more dependent on casting). It seems that the Priscilla Facebook page leaked the news early and with that in mind, the video does seem to back it up. Of course, I await an official announcement, but it does look as though that may be the case. I’m not actually sure how I feel about it. I could see him as Brad, or even Rocky, but Frank? The idea is certainly growing on me, helped I’m sure by the anticipation of watching him in knickers and suspenders (the video also added to the excitement – lots of shots of toned thighs in fishnet stockings ), but initially I must confess I was a little doubtful. I know he can do drag, he was fabulous as Felicia, but he just seems a bit young and pretty to play Frank. He also seems a bit to sweet, in a weird way, even though my second favourite memory of him (the first being that pink sequinned thong *swoon*) was his opening number in Priscilla, complete with leather and whips… I do wish I’d managed to justify seeing him play that role one last time *sigh*. Anyhoo, still can’t wait to find out who the rest of the cast are, but honestly, no matter what my initial reaction was, I can’t wait to see Ollie back on stage.

PPS. Interestingly, or perhaps not very interestingly, but I’m going to say it anyway, the Draco Malfoy in my head when I read fanfic changes depending on what’s going on in my life at any given time. Very occasionally he looks something like Tom Felton, usually after I’ve watched one of the films, and often he’s simply a random blond boy/man that I’ve conjured up with my own imagination. For a long time that image had more than a passing resemblance to Tommy Joe Ratliff and, more recently, during and immediately following my Rock Of Ages marathon, the Draco in my head had more was essentially Dylan Turner with blond hair. Tonight, however, Draco Malfoy is Freddie Fox. Between the character he played in the Judas Kiss and the version of Malfoy in the fic I’m reading, I really can’t see how he could be anyone else!

Kerry Ellis, Live At The Hippodrome

I vaguely recall debating whether I really wanted to book for Kerry Ellis’s run of shows at the newly opened Hippodrome Casino in Leicester Square. Evidently I decided that I would and I’m glad that I did. It was a nice intimate evening at a new venue and Kerry really does have a stellar voice. I’ve seen her perform a couple of times before, though only at gala evenings, and she’s never failed to blow me away. This evening was no exception and I’ll admit I now find myself tempted to go and see her on tour next year. That said, I’d still rather see her in a show, so I hope she finds her way back to the West End stage before too long.

Kerry came across as a genuinely lovely person and she was friendly and entertaining even when she wasn’t singing. The highlights for me were: Take That Look Off Your Face and Tell Me On A Sunday, both of which she injected with a wealth of understated emotion and her rendition of Katy Perry’s The One That Got Away (I ended up watching the official music video when I got home and nearly cried! It’s a stunning song though) was beautiful and poignant. Other than that, I also enjoyed the new, slower arrangement of Defying Gravity as well as her version of Lady Gaga’s Paparazzi. When she chose I Dreamed A Dream as her nod to Les Mis, I’ll admit I was concerned; that song has been all but destroyed in recent years, but she sang it so well that I forgot how easily that song can irritate me now! Needless to say, I was delighted that her special guest was Oliver Tompsett and he made me laugh within moments of getting up on stage (Kerry said she thought it had been three years since they last sung together and he pointed out, not to sound like a stalker or anything (while moving closer and speaking in a rather intense voice) that it had been four. Silly, perhaps, but I was amused and oh I do love him these days!). They sang a song from a new musical written by Kerry’s MD who’s name escapes me, and while it was a lovely song and a fabulous performance, I think I’d have liked to hear something more well known. Anyhoo, Ollie’s cameo was far too brief, but very enjoyable. On the subject of the band, I loved the backing vocalists, especially Jennifer Tierney and was rather excited to realise that the bassist was Neil Fairclough (as Kerry mentioned, he recently toured with Queen and Adam Lambert – I was stupidly excited just to hear Adam’s name mentioned in passing!). The drummer, James Turner, was also rather cute .

It was an enjoyable evening and I was glad to have the opportunity to try out yet another new venue. The Matcham Room was on the first floor of the Hippodrome and it’s a lovely setting for a cabaret performance. Admittedly, to reach it one has to walk through the casino which is a tad daunting when one is alone and uncertain where to go. Plus the casino’s clientele seemed to be almost exclusively male which again can be a bit intimidating when I’m feeling on edge (which always happens when I don’t know where I’m going). I don’t think I’ve ever actually been in a proper posh casino before, with card and roulette tables and such. It’s not quite the same as the arcade by Blackpool pleasure beach!

Spotted: I saw the girl from the Rock Of Ages queue who ‘convinced’ me to buy matinee tickets and had a lovely chat with her before the show. She was there with a friend of hers who also happened to be Paralympic swimming medalist. She had her medal with her, though I didn’t see it close up, which was kinda awesome too! I also spotted Jack Shalloo, but I did know he’d be there in advance thanks to twitter, I’d just forgotten until I saw him across the room. I think he saw me and he looked as though he might have recognised me, but I wasn’t certain and definitely didn’t want to intrude on his evening so I stayed away. It did remind me that it’s been a long while since I saw him perform though. I should probably try and do something about that next chance I get!

The Judas Kiss tomorrow with Freddie Fox (which sounds like he’s coming to see it with me rather than starring in it… if only ), so stay tuned.

Peace, loVe loVe and happiness,
K xx

PS. I only found out last night (thanks to several days offline) that Ramin Karimloo was planning a final show for his Road To Find Out tour, back in London. Conveniently, I hadn’t missed out on tickets and was all set to purchase one when they went on sale this morning. On the way to work, however, I thought it through and debated the wisdom of such a purchase. On the one hand, the show was on Sunday night, which was unlikely to get in the way of anything not Rock Of Ages related, but on the other I have seen it before, I’m not madly in love with the album, much as I like it and I’m sure there are many others who’d have wanted that ticket more than me. In the end I specifically decided NOT to purchase a ticket. That resolution lasted until I saw Ramin tweeting about it when I got into work and the next thing I knew, I was the proud owner of a ticket… Oops. Still, I know I’ll enjoy it and I’d probably have wound up regretting it if I hadn’t bought one. Ramin ended up adding a second date after he got such a good response and I couldn’t have made it to that anyway, so all in all, I think it worked out well!

Pirates Of Penzance & Jest End

I’m on a roll, sort of. Assuming I actually managed to post Monday’s review before this one. And assuming I manage to post this one before the end of the week…! [EDIT: I did, woot, go me!]

So, I’ve wanted to see Pirates of Penzance for ages and whilst Sasha Regan’s production, currently at the Hackney Empire, wasn’t the most traditional, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I wasn’t really sure what to expect bearing in mind it was an all male production, but they actually played it relatively straight (ha ). They had boys dressed as girls singing the girls parts in proper high voices and it worked surprisingly well. The cross-dressing merely added to the comedy value, though Mabel’s ‘Ah, Leave Me Not To Pine’ was unexpectedly poignant.

It was intelligent and well staged, even with the limited props and set. They had a little mound/steps at the back and a rope that appeared briefly for one of the pirates to hang from and it was all very effective. I also quite liked the way they cast it. They started with a few leads; Frederic, the Pirate King and Ruth, surrounded by pirates. Then Mabel was introduced and the pirates became her sisters. Slowly, as the different groups developed, the pirates, sisters and policemen, different people were earmarked as those characters and I thought it was a very effective way of using the cast size to its greatest potential. The pirates looked like pirates, white shirts and cut off trousers with heavy boots (Frederic had a waistcoat to distinguish him and the Pirate King had a load of (manly ) jewellery, (very sexy) eyeliner and a long and fancy, skirted sleeveless jacket), the girls had corsets and petticoats, the policemen had blue shirts with big shining buttons, blacked up eyebrows and oversized fake novelty moustaches on sticks instead of truncheons. The choreography was also fabulous, managing to look suitably inkeeping with the time period and the nature of the operetta, while occasionally highlighting the masculinity of the entire cast for comic effect.

I adore the music anyway, more so since I’ve grown up and actually got to grips with the plot (I grew up watching a video of it starring Kevin Kline and Angela Lansbury but only realised I had no clue what it was about when I saw Anthony Head starring in it at the Savoy several years ago, couldn’t hear a word and had no idea what was going on). I’ve since rewatched the film and knew the plot in advance of this evening, but it was well enunciated and I don’t think I’d have had trouble following it had I not been forewarned.

It was a cast of eighteen (plus a single pianist) and though not the strongest company I’ve ever seen, they were certainly talented. The whole production lacked the polish of a West End show, but didn’t actually suffer for it. The leads were very good. Alan Richardson as Mabel was shockingly impressive – that voice! And Matthew Gent was wonderful as Frederic. To be fair, he will probably always be a young Michael Ball to me after his triumph at West End Eurovision, but I thought he was very well cast, perhaps even because of the Ball comparison. He was the perfect story book hero, a bit of a floppy (or curly in this case) haired Hugh Grant type, who’s gentlemanly and charming and almost a little too good. In other words, the perfect Frederic. [EDIT: It did just occur to me that the only time I've ever seen Michael Ball in a show he was playing a cold-blooded murderer and doing it phenomenally well... but when he's not Sweeney Todd, he does have a somewhat cherubic quality to him!]. Nic Gibney as the Pirate King was also brilliant, just the right mix of smouldering and ridiculous. Ruth was hilarious, played by Joseph Houston.

The stage door was more successful than expected. I got autographs from the entire cast excepting two ensemble members who I thought I might’ve missed and wasn’t certain I’d recognise even if I hadn’t. I got photos with Matthew and Nic, which was the main aim photography wise and enabled me to experiment with my old Casio camera from Boston to see if I can really cope without my proper camera for three to six weeks while I send it off for repairs. Not that I really have a choice, but I at least needed to know I would not be abandoned at stage doors (it’s not great, the flash is blindingly bright and washes everything out, plus it can’t handle anything unusual and the zoom sticks so it’s pretty much unusable… Man, I hope I get my real camera back before Paris *worries*). Anyhoo, cast were lovely and friendly. One even pointed out to his friends that he was signing an autograph! I also finally had the chance (never having spotted him at the Adelphi stage door) to tell Matthew how brilliant I thought he was at WE Eurovision. He thanked me and told me it was a career highlight, which isn’t overly surprising!

So, from the raving, I’m guessing it’s quite obvious how much I enjoyed it. I must have grinned the whole way through and I’m thoroughly glad I went.

Anyhoo, I was done with it all, stage door and everything, before ten o’clock, which was both a blessing and a curse as I then found myself legging it to the West End on the off chance that when I arrived in Leicester Square I would still be able to purchase a last minute ticket for Jest End. I resisted temptation Wednesday night, knowing it was a bad idea to have such a late night after fasting all day and when I still had two days of work to get through. One day, however, before a four day weekend… It was just too tempting!

I made it to the theatre just before 10:30 when the doors opened and easily purchased a ticket. I’m sure I’ll regret it in the morning when I’m crawling wearily out from beneath my duvet, but hey. As I said at the weekend when purchasing tickets for both RoA shows, you’re only young one and I certainly didn’t regret that decision. Turns out I didn’t regret this one either. It was hilariously funny and very clever.

The support act, for want of a better term, were the Tenors Of Rock who were phenomenal to the point I may have to investigate gigs. I recognised several of them, but the only one I could place was the guy who works at the Shaftesbury and was on Superstar (Jonathan Williams). They were all incredible though.

The show itself was a collection of spoof songs based on musical theatre songs. They were all fabulous but the highlights for me had to be The Voice (Rachael Wooding as Nathan from Superstar), Hairspray (Carl Mullaney very camply singing about Gays in showbiz), Supercali… (Rachael again singing about ‘silly chore[ography]‘ in the form of random arm movements and doing a fabulous Julie Andrews impression). As well as a few mini bits ‘Tell me that it’s true’, for example and ‘Tune Never Dies’. The second act started with Focus from Ghost leading into Wannabe, or rather ‘I’m A Wannabe’. Of course that lead nicely into a Jesus Christ Superstar critique which I mostly agreed with. I still don’t get why they cast Chris Moyles, but as Matt Henry (who had an uncanny resemblance to Will-I-Am when he dressed up as him in the first act) pointed out, he didn’t exactly need to sing Herod’s Song! Rachael’s Not The Show We Wand to Whitney’s Queen Of The Night was fabulous as was the mish-mash of Les Mis songs, with Stars being the highlight of that bit (I can’t quite recall what was so genius about it, but it was written from the actor playing Javert’s point of view), though Carl’s Wolverine/Hugh Jackman was brilliant. Speaking of the brilliance that is Carl, his No More Jazz(All That Jazz) was fabulous, as was his Reviving Old Adaptations (Reviewing The Situation) sung as Cameron Macintosh. The big finale of Can’t Stand This Theatre (Can’t Fight This Feeling) wasn’t the best lyric wise, but Matt’s dancing was brilliant (mostly impersonating the girls, but he did Stacee’s backwards walk from DoA with the wide swing) and it was a great tune for them to end on for me personally for obvious reasons! I think the overall highlight, though, if not Stars, was Popular. A rendition aimed at Rachel Tucker and performed by Rachael playing Louise Dearman. It was brilliantly funny and her impression was fabulous.

I mostly came to see Carl Mullaney because he’s fabulous and he certainly didn’t disappoint. His Dorothy was hilarious (as were the Village People-esque Lion, Tin Man and Scarecrow) and even though I’ve yet to see Matilda, his Ms. Trunchbull was genius. Other than him, by far the artistic hightlight for me was Rachael Wooding who I’d forgotten about after the last time I saw her, but wow. She has the most incredible voice and for such a tiny little thing she has great stage presence. I think I may have to keep tabs on her in future, she’s certainly worth seeing again. [EDIT: She's joining WWRY with Ollie, how perfect is that?!]

Anyhoo, even though I was so tired by the end that my eyes felt all dry and weird, I’m so glad I went. It was hilariously funny even with my exhaustion and that’s saying something. I may not feel the same way tomorrow, but damn it was good. A huge round of applause for everyone involved. Bravo and bring on next year!

Spotted at the Hackney Empire, NOT at the Leicester Square Theatre!: Blokey from Les Mis, though I didn’t know his name. He was sat in the row behind me, a couple of seats over and admittedly I doubt I’d have recognised him had I not heard him mention the show. (He was a tall guy with glasses and longish straight hair. He played one of the students if that helps!)

Spotted at the LS Theatre (somewhat less surprising): Various Les Mis cast members I recognised but couldn’t name (mostly because they were female, I suspect ). I did, however, see James Charlton, which is always puts a smile on my face, as does spotting Adam Linstead and I was right in assuming the little blond guy in the beret on the other side of the theatre was Craig Mather . Other than that, Sierra Boggess, Tam Mutu, Shaun Dalton and Robert Vickers (the guy I always see on the tube) were a couple of rows behind with various people I recognised so assumed were from the show now, though I don’t recall having seen them in it. Matt Lucas was there too, but no Liam that I could see. Stupidly disappointed about that, I must admit. I hadn’t expected him to be there in advance, or even when I spotted the occasional cast member floating about. Once I realised that pretty much the entire cast were filling the rows directly behind me, however… I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised really, he never seems to be places I want him to be. Plus I suppose it’s possible he was just on the other side so I didn’t see him, but there isn’t really all that much benefit to me if I don’t see him, is there?! Of course, I promptly stopped caring about Liam (well, I cared less anyway, when I caught sight of Nathan Amzi! I didn’t realise how much I’d miss Rock Of Ages, making myself take a break after such a marathon week, but I’m dying to see it again. Anyhoo, I also saw Ivan De Freitas from Ghost, again who was sat three seats away. I’m pretty sure the guy next to me is in Ghost too.

I also randomly bumped into a girl I met at the Queenbert gigs. She’s a Queen fan, not Adam, but we spent most of the first day in the queue chatting to her and it was nice to see her again, unexpected as it was! She has seen WWRY a hell of a lot though, so perhaps not so surprising.

So, now I’ve got a nice relaxing break over the long Succah themed weekend and then I’m back next week with Kerry Ellis at the Hippodrome Casino and the Judas Kiss featuring the delectable Freddie Fox. I can hardly wait (for Freddie that is, I’m relatively indifferent over Kerry, although I think her special guest that night may be Ollie Tompsett, in which case I’m somewhat less indifferent and rather more excited. Yay)!

Peace, loVe loVe and rock ‘n’ roll,

K xx

[Obviously this wasn't actually published on 27th as the show hadn't finished yet. But it was published on 28th - go me!]

Idiots Of Ants

Inkeeping with my new year’s resolution (which I only made today, but it’s not Yom Kippur yet, it still counts), here I am, back again. Betcha didn’t see that one coming? (Guess the show quote… No prizes for realising it’s from RoA, but you do get a bonus point if you can tell me who said it and when ).

Tonight was Idiots of Ants at the Soho Theatre. It was a late start, but only an hour long show, so I ended up leaving around the same time as normal what with stage dooring it afterwards. I adored their show at Edinburgh and this was equally brilliant. There were a few familiar sketches (the angry bee getting pissed off about having his honey nicked and the sound effects for the silent movie, for example), but there were plenty of new ones too. I sat in the second row, chickening out of my usual spot in the front row at the last minute. I don’t think it would have mattered too much in the end as they only really picked on the guy in the middle, but it was a good seat anyways.

WARNING: The rest of this post contains SPOILERS.

They started off as if they were showing Andy around their flat as a potential new roommate, going on to explain that the only drawback was that there was an audience there who seemed to expect them to perform a comedy show. It was a strong start and it continued well after that (and not just because Jimmy half stripped off in the first sketch – I think I have a slight crush. I always think of Elliott as the cute one and totally forget about Jimmy until he’s right there in front of me, at which point I can barely keep my eyes off of him. Nice arse too ). To be honest, one of the best things about them is that even when things go wrong (and by their own admission, many things did), it’s nearly impossible to tell what was supposed to happen and what wasn’t. That said, I’m pretty sure Jimmy wasn’t meant to fall over when climbing over the back of the sofa during a song and he certainly wasn’t meant to break the set whilst doing so! I’m also pretty certain the glasses weren’t meant to get broken during the ‘what if every time anyone said the word ‘fire’ everyone thought they actually meant there was a fire’ sketch, but since there was clearly meant to be water flying everywhere, I have no idea which bits were scripted and which weren’t. Whatever was supposed to happen, however, the stuff that actually happened was hilarious.

I wish I could recall more of the highlights because there were many of them. The song about Elliott taking the audience out to dinner was genius, from throwing half a glass of water at us so that we could taste the wine (in response the audience threw the bread back at them that they’d previously thrown at us) to the end when (through lines projected on the back wall) they had us break up with him as a group. I also loved the talking books, from the upside down childrens’ book making odd noises, to tearing pages out of a violent novel to use as a hand grenade or to shoot Jeremy Clarkson by placing a page in a Top Gear magazine. They ended with an air instrument studio and an air orchestra made up of the audience. They had us all on our feet by the end, singing and dancing along to the Jackson 5′s Want You Back. It was almost like being back at the Shaftesbury .

Anyhoo, I waited for them after and they came down together without Andy, who they said was coming. I got them to autograph a flier and they chatted for a moment – I told them I’d seen them in Edinburgh the night their show ran late and then we saw them again straight after at Best of the Fest. One of them joked that we could have shared their cab and I pointed out that’s what we’d said (then felt silly, but hey ). Jimmy then went to get Andy as he hadn’t appeared yet (leaving a suitably awkward pause while I stood with Elliott and Ben) and a kind bystander took a photo with me and all of them. I look horrible and red-faced plus at that distance (a whole six feet or so) in non-daylight, my camera is crap, but it’s still kinda cool having a pic with the four of them.

Tomorrow night I suspect will be somewhat less entertaining, though there will be singing – at the Kol Nidre service, but I’m back on Thursday with an all male production of the Pirates of Penzance. I can’t wait!

Peace, loVe loVe and rock ‘n’ roll,

K xx

The Original West End Cast Of ‘Rock Of Ages’ Rock Out With A Bang (And Jazz Hands)

So, after a six month accidental hiatus, I’m back! Did you miss me?! (Don’t answer that )

I’ve actually been writing blogs the whole time but never got around to publishing any of them (they all needed at least a quick once over and many of them never even made it past the notes stage). I’m hoping to get them all posted eventually, though any of you who may recall The America Trip from 18 months ago (the blogs I wrote there STILL haven’t made it out of the drafts folder) will probably be aware that it’s somewhat unlikely to ever happen. So, in the meantime; new leaf. I will start again from now which leads me to…

[WARNING: This post contains spoilers and is going to be loooooooooong (and a bit fragmented as it was written over the course of the day and hasn't really been edited much). Back with a bang huh? *jazz hands*]

My latest obsession is Rock Of Ages (the show, not the film), which is doing a fabulous job of filling my time while I wait for Adam to do something international with Trespassing, or Robbie’s new album to be released in November, or even Lawson’s debut album to be released next month (Lawson being another new interest, though it has yet to reach obsession level – watch this space!). Today marked the final day of the original West End cast and I was there for it all…

Rock Of Ages – Original London Cast

There are no excuses. None. Even for Hair I didn’t do this, but… I queued for Rock Of Ages day tickets for the original West End cast’s final performance from earlyish. [Note; this is not the bit that needs excusing]. It was a reasonably respectable hour, I felt, especially given there were campers. I wasn’t holding out hopes of proper day tickets, but I figured if I could get cheaper stalls seats it would still be well worth the time. I passed a rather enjoyable few hours chitchatting with the people around me and then, finally, made it to the box office. To my complete shock and excitement, being a sad loner paid off far better than I ever could have dreamed – I got a proper day ticket in row BB! It was on the far side on the right and I thought I preferred the left at the time of purchase, but damn, it couldn’t have been better really! High on my success, I left the box office to talk seat number with my queue buddies and all one of them had to say was three words: ‘muck up matinee’ and suddenly I found myself at the back of the queue again purchasing matinee tickets as well [Note: this was the bit that, from some perspectives, may have needed excusing]. Not so lucky this time, which was my own stupid fault for taking so long to decide I wanted the ticket in the first place rather than buying it when I was at the front the first time, but I got row E, also on the far right (they only had row M on the left), which was pretty damn good really, in the circumstances. I know it’s silly. I knew it when I bought the ticket, but hey, it’s only money. Call this my last treat before payday and the return to sensible spending – I may or may not have mentioned that for the first month in my new job I allowed myself to splurge on whatever I wanted (within reason, of course) without worrying too much about savings. As of next week, however, that’s all over and it’s back to monitoring everything I spend, so here’s to my last hurrah!

Admittedly I did spend several hours wondering if I’d made a mistake, but damn the matinee was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen! To be honest, it was worth every penny as soon as I saw Dylan (instead of Zizi) sprawled out in front of Shayne on the big screen wearing nothing but his underpants! It was both hilariously funny (Shayne couldn’t quite keep a straight face while fondling Dylan’s arse ) and brilliantly hot at the same time. Before that was almost as good, when Simon ran through the street with his pants down followed by Justin… and the rest of the cast also with their pants down, including Dylan *swoon* (Sandy dropped his notebook and looked even more horrified than usual)! There were loads of tiny things that you’d only notice if you’d seen the show a lot (like Stacee wearing novelty guitar sunglasses for his set), but it just drew the fans in even more, making us all part of the joke.

The second act was even better. Simon and Justin finally, FINALLY kissed and they really frickin’ went for it! It started with an Adommy-esque tongue lick, but suddenly they were practically devouring each other. After a year of foreplay it was about damn time! Of course, I’ve forgotten most of the other little bits and pieces, but Jamie was on the leash at the Venus club instead of Twinnie, wearing a bra and all, though I couldn’t actually see him through the curtain, unfortunately . Another personal highlight was when Jodie asked if [jumping] was crazy for the second time and no one (except Justin who apparently missed the joke?!) popped out to shout yes and instead the band started singing Van Halen’s Jump! This was funny enough as it was, esp. when Jodie didn’t know what to do (in the end she just carried on as normal with a ‘Fine!’), but it was made extra brilliant by the fact that it was Nick Kendall doing the vocals. I think I’m in love .

I’m sure plenty of other bits will come back to me and I may add them here if I feel the need. For example, the three backing dancers during Hit Me With Your Best Shot were wearing the boys’ black and white costumes which turned out to be hiding their own Regina glitzy leotards. Instead of a newspaper with the news of Arsenal’s split, it was a copy of FHM and Natalie had her own newspaper to read while she waited for Ollie to finish his massive note at the end of ‘Oh Sherrie’. By contrast, the Simon/Ollie bit was less amusing, though still funny. Apparently Ollie’s been in Puppetry of the Penis too, who knew? Certainly not Ollie . Rohan also shouted in German for ages to call Sandy while he was talking to Regina. I couldn’t tell what he was saying but he ended with Bratwurst, so I’m guessing it was just a jumble of German words or German sounding gibberish. Sandy went with ‘that means I have to go’ in response! Simon’s slow clap (pre-Oh Sherrie) was great too – he did the big arms, then stopped before his hands met. The audience, however, did not and clapped anyway and Simon made a show of looking around with a WTF expression. Hard to explain but hilariously funny. (Note: I think I’m just going to keep adding these as and when I remember them!) When Simon threw the reasonably priced souvenir brochure off the stage, following the usual ‘Oww!’, the programme came flying back at him! He apologised contritely, then carried on as usual. Probably shouldn’t have been as funny as it actually was! Aaaand, when Simon walked across the stage in We’re Not Gonna Take It, he brought Jamie with him, arms linked and both acting incredibly camp . Also, when Ollie gave Natalie the mix tape, it was all unwound and he wrapped the chewed up tape around the cassette before giving it to her.

[EDIT:] In fact, I’m going to cheat and add all of these bits, which I didn’t remember until I saw them written on the RoA facebook page, but the whole thing was just so brilliant, I don’t want to forget a moment of it…

Justin “fell” down the stairs at the beginning (I wasn’t actually sure if this was on purpose or not, but apparently it happened multiple times – though I didn’t notice it, so I’m guessing it was intentional!). Simon had eyeliner on his binnoculars during I’ve Been Waiting, like a proper old school prank, that left him with lovely black marks on his face . Speaking of faces, Nathan actually licked Natalie’s face when she first arrived on the strip. It was sorta gross, but very funny! Nathan also got VERY touchy feely with Ollie in the record company office. Shayne slapped Justin when he ordered him to fire Sherrie and Sandy whacked Simon in the face with his suitcase before Rohan appeared to smooth everything out at the end. That was particularly excellent as Justin went off on one at Sandy saying it’s just a show, how could you?! while Simon milked it as much as he could. A particular highlight was Justin saying he wanted “Drew’s ass [MASSIVE pause...] behind the bar, right after his set” . Simon’s line to Dennis about him being wrong and that ‘Phil Collins is Kick-Ass sometimes’ became ‘Michael Jackson is black sometimes’ (which he actually kept in for the evening show!). Sandy settled down with a beer and his feet up in the Bourbon Room while Hertz threatened Dennis. Simon gave Ollie a proper dressing down for being a liar after he denied telling Sherrie that they were ‘just friends’. The rant was brilliant both for its unexpectedness and the childishness of some of the things he said . Amy and Zizi had a bit of a make out session instead of a cat fight at the Arsenal gig – and the boys seemed to enjoy it too (or at least Dylan and Shayne did ). Scarlett came on in Sherrie’s costume (the black t-shirt/purple skirt combo) in Oh Sherrie and Ollie saw her and said ‘Sherrie?!’ in a surprised tone, though it was quiet enough to make it easy to miss. Ollie also seemed determined to keep the baby from Franz at the end, though I don’t know why (did I miss something?!) and kept giving him dirty looks. Natalie really overdid the lipstick on Ollie’s face pre-I Wanna Rock, so there was still loads of it even after he tried to wipe it off! Sandy started with ‘Dennis, Dennis, Dennis…’ befgore he did his ‘it feels like Easter morning when I say it’ bit and then added another ‘Dennis’ after ‘you have a sadness inside of you’ all of which had everyone in fits of laughter for no obvious reason other than, perhaps, the tone of Sandy’s voice (I seriously love him as Franz and cannot imagine anyone else ever coming close to being that brilliant). Speaking of Dennis, when he called Stacee, he ended with ‘remember when you tea-bagged that baby llama, you sick bastard’ (the last three words were new ) and instead of saying ‘I’ll do it’, Shayne went with ‘f**k you!’. Justin also swore (FFS) in response to the usual audience boos when he points out that he’ll have to clear the entire area (pointing at the audience). There were also multiple clangs (rather than one) when Nartalie hit the pole with her head when she first starts at the Venus Club. Her look of confusion was highly entertaining! And finally… I didn’t actually see this, but apparently Nathan had a picture of Dylan in his pizza box with a sign saying “Hire Me”! (BTW, I apologise for the mish mash of actor and character names in all of that, but if you know the show well enough to know what I’m talking about I’m sure you can work it out! If not, I’ll try and stick a full cast list in at some point.)

Side note: I only noticed on Saturday night that Dylan had a beaver puppet during Every Rose, but I wasn’t sure if I’d seen right from such a distance. At the matinee I couldn’t see it because he and Rohan were all cuddled up, but I chceked again in the evening and it was definitely a beaver. As Lonny would say: love it!

I hung around by the stage door between shows for lack of anything better to do, but it was rather pointless. I saw a few people but the gap between shows is so short they didn’t hang around and I didn’t get near any of ‘em. Ollie, Simon and Dylan ran in through the door at one point, but didn’t stop so I couldn’t get my photo. Back inside for the evening performance and the guy who tore my ticket recognised me (asked if I was back for more), which was amusing and embarrassing at the same time! I also said hi again to the cute FOH guy I saw when I went to the bar in the matinee interval. I’m assuming he recognised me, but at least he’s friendly if not!

I have to admit, after four hours sleep and my trek yesterday, I was kinda knackered by the time the evening show rocked around. I still loved it though and it didn’t really feel like I’d been to see it already today. Natalie got all choked up at the end of More Than Words/Heaven and couldn’t get the words out and Justin kept crying which was rather sweet. Other than that, the first act didn’t seem overly special until Here I Go Again which was electric. The audience were on their feet and it felt pretty special. Though of course it helped that Dylan was directly in front of me on the stage, less than ten feet away… Man I’m going to miss him after tonight, probably more so than anyone else that’s leaving. I do hope he does something new soon *sigh*.

The second act was more emotional. Can’t Fight This Feeling was weird, but in a good way. Felt far more real and emotional, even though it was still funny, I guess, since it really was goodbye. Then there was Simon’s ad-lib with Ollie, which was perfect. He started by saying he wanted to be serious after months of telling people Ollie had been in shows such as Bob The Builder and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, even though he hadn’t (and now thousands of people believe he has). Then he told Ollie good riddance . It’s all a bit hazy now, to be honest, but the band provided a musical rendition of Another One Bites The Dust which had everyone on their feet and then Simon gave Ollie a t-shirt as a leaving gift, which he made him put on. It was plain white with the words ‘Lonny Loves Me!’ written in black marker on the front (I am very tempted to make one similar ). On the back however was something to the effect of ‘Drew likes it here’ with a big arrow pointing to his arse. Ollie was stuck wearing it for the rest of the scene with no idea what was written on the back.

It just got more emotional from there and the atmosphere at the end, both on and off stage, was fabulous. When Simon said ‘Well, that’s how our story wraps up’, I don’t think there was anyone who cared even the slightest bit about the cast change that didn’t have a lump in their throat at that moment *sniff*. Even Simon looked emotional and he didn’t really let any of that show during the performance (at least, not that I noticed). I’m so glad I made it to both shows, crazy as I may seem to most people who know me.

On a random note; it was a bit weird… the girl next to me didn’t seem to be into it at all. Barely clapped, never cheered etc.. That wouldn’t be odd of itself, it’s just that I was in the day tickets and pretty much everyone else camped overnight to get them, so you’d think there’d be a bit of passion there. It was a shame though, since I was on the end – it separated me from the atmosphere a bit when people were sitting down, but to be honest, I got so into it that it sorta stopped mattering by the end.

The stage door was just as mental as I’d anticipated, but there were a lot of Justin and Shayne fans who clustered around the door. I didn’t even bother trying to get close, just kept an eye out for some of the others. I got a photo with Carly, as she was the one person I wasn’t sure if I’d previously met and two with Ollie, again (I’m so greedy ), the last of which, finally, is one I’m satisfied with! And of course, there was Dylan… He was lovely and I couldn’t resist asking him for a hug. Of course he didn’t catch what I said the first time and I felt even sillier having to repeat it, but he was perfectly obliging and very huggable… *sigh*. All those muscles felt lovely, even if they were hidden beneath a coat . Then he thanked me for all my support, which even though I know it’s his stock thank you and I must’ve heard him say it a dozen times, I still felt rather fuzzy about. It really won’t be the same without him *sob*. I didn’t cry, but I certainly felt pretty emotional by the end. I didn’t stay for the band, mostly because I forgot I wanted to until I was already on the train, but according to one of the girls, they’re all staying, so I’m sure I’ll get the opportunity to ask Nick about his music some other time.

So that’s that, I guess, the end of an era. I can’t see the new cast for at least a fortnight and it’ll probably be more like three weeks as Sundays are so much more convenient than weekdays. In the meantime, I have plenty of other shows to see, starting with Idiots of Ants tomorrow night and including the Judas Kiss at some point which means one very important thing; Freddie Fox. I’m sure he’ll help ease the pain of losing my semi-regular Dylan fix .

Peace, loVe loVe and rock ‘n’ roll,

K xx

Roger Rees’ What You Will (& Yet More Rock of Ages)

I have to admit, after the hour long walk back to my hotel post Superstar, followed by 2+ hr walk this morning (which, including a brief sit down for lunch in Leicester Square, lasted almost the entire duration of BOTH Rock of Ages (Broadway & Hollywood) recordings. I reached the Apollo Theatre just as the last track in the playlist started (in case you’re interested it was the Broadway opener; Just Like Paradise/Nothin’ But A Good Time)), I was somewhat knackered. I don’t think it helped much that I then spent several hours aimlessly wandering around the Covent Garden area between shows either, but hey, it was worth it in the end.

Roger Rees’ What You Will was a somewhat random selection for my afternoon entertainment, based mainly on the fact that I wasn’t overly bothered about stage dooring it afterwards. That said, I did end up hovering fruitlessly for a bit, but I wasn’t too upset about my lack of autograph opportunities. It’s a shame, but you can’t win ‘em all. If I’d really cared that much I probably could have asked at the stage door anyway.

So, to the show itself. It was a fabulous performance, both funny and intelligent without being too intellectual for a very tired person on a Saturday afternoon. I found it to be an interesting insight into Roger’s life, which was fascinating despite the fact I’d never actually heard of him before. It combined speeches from Shakespeare’s plays with snippets from other sources, both well known (Dickens, for example) and not (random internet sites). It was all delivered with panache and I found the entire show engaging and entertaining. I laughed often and found myself considering aspects of the plays that I’d never previously thought of. For example, what if Macbeth and his lady were not, in fact, behind the murder of the king? As usual, I find myself hard pressed to recall most of what he said, but he ended on a fabulous rendition of what the Hokey Cokey might have sounded like, had it been written by Shakespeare that I thoroughly enjoyed!

The staging was nice, filled with what looked like random props from Shakespeare plays and Roger made good use of random books to make it more obvious where his particular speech was coming from. For example he held an exercise book whenever he was quoting entertaining mistakes from homework about Shakespeare (apparently it’s written in Islamic pentameter ) so he didn’t need to explain his sources every time he returned to the subject. Roger himself I found to be very charismatic and made the show feel nicely intimate, almost like a chat rather than a performance, at least in parts. I thought he was fabulous and I’d certainly be interested in seeing him again in the future, whether in something similar or actually in a Shakespeare play. He may not have scaled the same superstar heights as Ben Kingsley (who joined the RSC at the same time), but he’s certainly a talented actor.

I’d very much recommend the play if you have even a passing interest in Shakespeare and the theatre. It was a highly enjoyable way to pass an hour or so of my afternoon and in fact, my only criticism is that it wasn’t longer.

Anyhoo, here’s another brief ‘spotted’ section, before I continue with the evening’s entertainment. Rock Of Ages… again…

Spotted: One of the guys from Barbershopera playing guitar whilst advertising coffee in Covent Garden. Richard Mylan (Oliver from Coupling) walking down Endell Street, which was kinda cool, I must admit.

So, back to Rock Of Ages. Just in case you haven’t heard enough from me on the subject .

I sometimes wonder if this would have eventually happened with Hair, had it lasted longer in the West End. With or without Steel and co. as a draw, I think I’d probably have ended up in a similar position; investigating various understudies, returning whenever the mood took me and I had nothing better with which to fill my evening… Still, I suppose we’ll never know. I continue to hold out a hope that the hippies will one day return to town, but by that point I very much doubt I’ll still have the freedom to follow shows the way I do now. But that is beside the point. The current obsession is Rock Of Ages and once more I found myself chilling at the Shaftesbury Theatre, enjoying a night of rock ‘n’ roll goodness.

I couldn’t quite resist the temptation to stroll past the stage door on my way to the theatre, since the matinee had just kicked out and I have to admit, silly as I felt, it was worth it. I saw a fair few of the cast, which was cool enough in itself, but I was strolling down Grape Street when Dylan and Jamie suddenly sprinted down the road towards me, presumably racing each other but it was really quite amusing and more than a little bit hot . I chilled out by the door for a bit after that and saw most of the cast, plus finally got a picture with Twinnie Lee Moore and one with Shayne Ward, since he was there ‘n’ all, but I had hoped to see Justin. I was also kicking myself for not getting one with Dylan looking delicious in all his make-up (though he’d taken the black lipstick off, unfortunately). Tomorrow I may need to give it a shot pre-show though .

It was very much the Dylan Turner show for me this evening. I barely took my eyes off of him when he was on stage and when I did it was usually because Shayne was on stage and I think Stacee will always grab my attention no matter who’s playing him. On that note, I have to admit, much as I adore Dylan as Stacee, there is something to be said for seeing him as Joey Primo, or rather, as part of the ensemble. He may have fewer lines (obviously), but he has far more time on stage and he does look hot in that costume! I also adore watching him dance, something he does a lot more of when he’s not on as Stacee. I’m glad I got the chance to see him do it again before he leaves and with any luck, I’ll get to see him do it all over again tomorrow, preferably from somewhere a little closer to the stage!

And for those poor deprived people who don’t know what they’re missing, this is Dylan (with Ian McIntosh) as Joey Primo [Source: Dylan's twitter]:

Dylan Turner & Ian McIntosh

Still, it was kinda nice to see the show as a whole again. I had a better overall view from row E on Wednesday, but front row of the grand circle, while a tad distant, did allow me to see it all, which was a refreshing change. That said, climbing the stairs HURT! Fortunately, the dress circle is around ground level so it wasn’t too far. I suspect it will be worse tomorrow trying to get up all those stairs afterwards, assuming I actually manage decent tickets – I’m certainly not holding my breath on that, there were already at least 10 people in the queue when the show kicked out this evening . My high vantage point did give me a different perspective though. I was rather entertained to notice all the sparkly confetti on all the elegant ledges around the top of the theatre and I also noticed the traffic light with a ‘Sunset Blvd’ street sign for the first time. ‘Spose it must have been above my head when I was in the stalls. I also noticed what is essentially a Take That logo bang in the middle of the stage . (The black and red floor tiles are a bit mish mash and right in the middle is a TT sign. It’s pure chance, I’m sure, but I found it hella amusing.)

Anyway, as for the performance itself; it was a good crowd tonight with Simon getting plenty of laughs. Oddly, I still find his (and the rest of the show’s) jokes funny, though nearly all of them (barring the occasional ad-lib) I can anticipate a mile off. It always gives me warm fuzzies when it feels like the audience is getting behind them, though. He used the ‘I can’t believe you’re leaving me for Freddie Mercury, you bastard’ rant for his narrator bit with Ollie again though he added a hug which was rather adorable!

On another note, possibly related to my criticisms of the interval music at Superstar. Cherry Pie and Pour Some Sugar On Me (in a completely unrelated way to the film) are almost as much a part of the show now as the soundtrack, given their position as the last couple of songs before curtain. Plus Eye Of The Tiger, I guess, since I usually walk in to that one. I wouldn’t mind a copy of their interval CD actually, it’s a pretty good selection!

Believe it or not, Justin actually came out of the stage door at the end! I couldn’t believe it. He didn’t hang around long, but I managed to get a photo with him which I was rather pleased about. I’m pretty sure I now have the entire cast, but I suppose it’s possible I’m missing one or two without realising it (I have my doubts about one of the girls). That would, admittedly, be incredibly annoying, but it’s far too much effort to go through all the ones I have and work out who’s I’ve missed. I’m sure there will be other chances if I’m that desperate and a lot of the cast are staying anyway.

So, I’m still undecided on my plans for tomorrow. I’m definitely going… at least I think I’m definitely going. There are still seats available online and worst comes to worst I’ll just buy a normal seat at a normal price somewhere in the auditorium! I’m guessing day seats are out without camping or at least first train-ing it in the morning and honestly, I don’t love the cast so much that I have to be there that badly. I’ll be very disappointed if I can’t see their last show, but it’s not as if the show is closing. I’ll be back again in a few weeks to enjoy Tim Driesen and I’m sure Dylan will go on to do something else soon enough. It’s not like it was with the hippies when they all jetted back to New York and I already know Ollie is doing WWRY, so I’ll see him again soon… Still, there’s no point wasting money on booking fees at this late stage, so I may as well at least go to the box office in the morning. I only need one ticket, so maybe they’ll be able to fit me in somewhere. The question is, how early do I go? I suspect it depends on how soon I can get to sleep when I get home, bearing in mind that if I’m spending most of tomorrow out and about with bugger all to do, it would be convenient to take my half-finished jeans with to sew (I’ll try and post a picture when I’m done. They’re very rock and heavily inspired by Nick Kendall’s trousers in the show). Only I need to finish putting the eyelets in first and that may take some time… which means I’ll want more sleep… Still, I only have to make it through a day and a half before I get a lie in (not that Yom Kippur can generally be considered relaxing, but at least I’ll get some sleep!), so hell, maybe I should just go early and screw it. Of course if the mission is a failure I’ll be more upset than if I’d just stayed in bed, but I don’t want to end up regretting it either… You’re only young once, right?

Peace, loVe loVe and rock ‘n’ frickin’ roll,

K xx

PS. I realised on my walk back to the station post-show that I live for this stuff; the obsession and the passion. It doesn’t matter all that much what I happen to be crazy about this week, whether it’s my boys (TT), Adam and/or Tommy or a show, but when there’s something I love this much, indulging in it makes life that bit brighter. People may think I’m mad, hell, maybe I am a bit, but I’m damned happy about it. Admittedly it doesn’t have quite the same buzz as a tour, but in the gaps between TT/Adam/Robbie(/Lawson???), it’s nice to have something else that’s capable or rocking my world.

PPS. Apologies for the somewhat random and fragmented nature of this post, but I tend to just write down whatever I’m thinking when I’m not just writing a straight review. I’m sure tomorrow will be just as bad, if not worse. Woot!

[Actual publish date: 25/09/2012]

Dylan Turner’s Very Last Stacee Jaxx *sob*

So, when Dylan announced on twitter that he had two more shows as Stacee, there was no decision to me made really. Cheap last minute tickets and I was in row E to see Dylan’s last Stacee. I know It’s getting a bit ridiculous, but I can’t bring myself to regret it; I had a blast! I actually ended up chatting to the woman next to me and she turned out to be a somewhat more ‘normal’ fan. At least, she’d seen the show a similar number of times to me etc.. Although she does live in Scotland now so doesn’t have the same freedom as most of the RoAdies.

This isn’t going to be much of a blog, it’s more a reminder to myself that I was there and a note of this: Simon’s ad-lib was the best yet. He said he’d heard a vicious rumour that couldn’t possibly be true that Ollie was leaving them at the end of the week. He made a few comments about We Will Rock You (and the band played a snippet of Queen until Simon told them off for encouraging [Ollie]). He even did the clap, clap, hands thing, only his version was clap, clap, middle finger! He pretended to get emotional and all, it was brilliant.

The stage door was the same as usual. I got a random selection of photos etc., though not as many as usual. There was Dylan, of course, and Ollie, plus a couple I thought I might be missing from the set. I’m still missing Justin, though, who didn’t come out yet again. Admittedly, I actually saw him pre-show heading inside (second time that’s happened, actually. Last time I had my mouth full so couldn’t stop him) but this time I was too busy writing Drarry angst to notice him in time to react!

Anyhoo, Dylan was wonderful as always *sigh*. What I wouldn’t give to lick whipped cream off of that chest… *ahem*. Speaking of that chest, if you haven’t seen this, you’re missing out:

So, can’t wait for my next show Saturday night! Although I do actually have three other productions to see between now and then…!

Peace, loVe loVe and rock,

K xx

PS. There was a guy sat further along the row that I was certain I recognised from somewhere, but couldn’t place him for the life of me. Then the woman I was chatting to told me that one of the FOH staff was one of the Superstar boys and I initially misunderstood thinking she was talking about the guy in our row. Turns out both the FOH bloke (who I’d actually recognised on a previous occasion but been unable to place) and the guy in our row were on the show!

[Actual publish date: 27/09/2012]

Rock Of Ages, Again!

So I probably shouldn’t have done, but feck it, I had an awesome time seeing Rock Of Ages again! I just couldn’t resist going to see Dylan Turner as Stacee again and it was definitely worth it. I rocked up after work (for my first solo trip to see the show in London) and still managed to get a cheap ticket in the third row. It was right at the side, but it was the opposite side to the last time so I got to see some bits I hadn’t noticed before.

Simon’s improv moment was brilliant once again, ‘mistakenly’ mixing up Ollie’s bio with Justin Lee-Collins’s before ‘correcting’ his mistake and adding that he was sure Ollie had done cool stuff too, like Mamma Mia… It got a good laugh and a bit of a woot for Ollie .

I didn’t have a shot a catching Stacee’s thong this time, but Dylan was leaning against the pole right in front of me during Here I Go Again and when the lights weren’t on him, I’m almost sure he saw me. Given the bright pink hair and that I was at the last show (it feels like there was a gap between visits but since the Shaftesbury is dark on Mondays, I’ve actually been to see two shows in a row. Oops ), it’s even faintly possible that he recognised me. As usual I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. On the one hand it always makes my day when actors recognise me, on the other it makes me feel like a crazy stalker… Ah well, swings and roundabouts .

And here’s Dylan *faints* [Source: Dylan's twitter]:

Dylan Turmner as Stacee Jaxx

Anyhoo, I’m thinking one last trip for this cast at some point during their final weekend and then, obviously, I’ll be back for the newbies, whoever they may be.

The only downer was the couple next to me who kept singing along. I mean, it was great that they were enjoying themselves, but I do wish they could have done it quietly. Did end up chatting to a nice friendly guy next to me though. He was from Stoke originally (nice accent), but works in Bradford and was down in London on business and bored. He also plays guitar so that kept me occupied for the 15mins before curtain up!

I felt like a right wally going to the stage door (see my earlier comment RE crazy stalkerness), but I bought the new programme so I had to go and get it signed. I’m actually planning on cutting it up – using the photos for a collage and tucking the autographed pages into the first programme, but it still required signing! In the end I don’t think anyone did recognise me, but hey, I had a pretty good haul; only missed a few of the band and ensemble (and Justin Lee-Collins, obviously, but he doesn’t count ‘cos he’s a stage door git) and got photos with everyone. I’ve also developed quite a crush on Nick Kendall, the lead guitarist.

Anyhoo, bit of a brief post, I’m afraid, but there really wasn’t that much to say I didn’t already say after the first Dylan as Stacee show. So, I’ll leave it there for now. Bring on the next trip!

Peace, loVe loVe and sexy Stacees,

K xx

[Actual publish date: 27/09/2012]

Stacee Jaxx’s Thong (Rock Of Ages London, Take 3)

Soooo, Dylan Turner was frickin’ awesome. Like seriously awesome. And he flicked his thong at me which just about my night! (I got him to sign it at the stage door afterwards and I’m now considering it as the centrepiece of a new Rock of Ages themed collage (to go with the Hair one)). He has a great voice though and he played the part perfectly. He also has a very (VERY) nice chest, with a sexy as hell happy trail right down his stomach *melts*. And he threw his underwear at me! Sorta . It was awesome though. I saw him looking for someone to aim at, made a point of catching his eye and it worked! I know it’s a silly thing to be excited by, but still. I think the fact that it was Dylan and the main reason I was there tonight was to see him just made the whole thing that much sweeter!

I absolutely loved the show and the cast was phenomenal as always. Simon Lipkin outdid himself and his little improv bit when he introduces himself to Drew as the Narrator was pure brilliance. He told this little kid in the second row to put a ‘magic penny’ (aka nothing) under her pillow when she gets home and when she wakes up in the morning there’ll be a £20 note. And if there isn’t her mother doesn’t love her!!! Mean but frickin’ hilarious! He also made a comment about the page in the ‘reasonably priced souvenir programme’ with the ‘big stars’ on it, though he pointed out that Shayne wasn’t on tonight – because X-Factor was starting and he wanted to be at home to watch it on TV. He then pointed out he’d get in trouble for that, which is rather likely given that Shayne commented on twitter a while back that he felt he was being erased from X-Factor history (I think they missed him out of some promo thing or something) and he was then quite put out when someone accused him of being petty about it. Still, it was funny. Sorry Shayne .

I adore Sandy Moffat too and he was just as brilliant as always. I think he’s absolute theatre gold. The part is well written but he brings it to life so damn well. Ollie Tompsett was also fabulous and I love the slightly husky quality his voice gets sometimes even as he hits every note. Then there’s his massively long note at the end of ‘Oh Sherrie’ which I’m sure went on even longer tonight than it has when I’ve seen him in the past. Seriously awesome. Speaking of Sherrie, I saw my fourth actress this evening; understudy Cordelia Farnworth who totally nailed it. Justin Lee Collins was better than I’d thought (I don’t really remember him from the first time). He’s got a pretty decent voice and great stage presence. He still didn’t come out of the stage door though, which kinda bugged me.

Stage door was fun and I got a decent collection of photographs with the various cast members plus filled in a few noticable gaps in my original programme, specifically Ollie and Sandy. Plus I got the lead guitarist and the drummer (who even drew a cute little picture of a drum kit!). I was rather gutted to find that Dylan is joining the mass exodus of the cast change, however, which leave me dangerously tempted to make a return trip later in the week to try and see him as Stacee one more time before he leaves. I do wonder who’ll be taking over though. I’ve been a bit out of the loop, but I’ve not heard any rumours about any of them.

Anyhoo, given that I killed the majority of the seven hours or so between purchasing tickets and curtain up at the British Museum being cultural it made it even more fun to let my hair down and rock the hell out! In other cultural news I went back to the Noel Coward to purchase tickets for the RSC’s Much Ado and the entirety of the Michael Grandage season. Conveniently, as I turned up at 6:30, they stop selling advance tickets at 6pm but given that I could buy a spare ticket for the price of the booking fees for that many shows I ended up waiting around for an hour and they agreed to sell me tickets after the last of the stragglers arrived for that night’s performance. (I’ve never done that before; been outside a theatre just after curtain up. It was depressing how many people turned up late and just didn’t seem to care. I mean, I get that it happens sometimes and it’s unavoidable, but at least make an effort to hurry the hell up! It’s just rude.) Anyhoo, the guy who served me had more than a passing resemblance to David Tennant and a manner that reminded me oddly of the Doctor. He was lovely, though, was perfectly nice despite me listing six different plays and specifying the seats for all of them (for four of the six I got my first choice and the other two I got my second choice, so not bad going really). I did vaguely entertain the fantasy that the actual Doctor was hiding out in the Noel Coward box office as part of some mission. In any case, his general attractiveness and helpfulness dramatically improved my mood after I’d been somewhat irritated by having to waste an hour on what seemed like the off chance of saving £10.50 (it should have been £12, but I bought an ice cream while I was waiting ).

Anyhoo, Abigail’s Party tomorrow and then I’m off to Edinburgh on Wednesday! Possibly via Rock of Ages on Tuesday… Wonder if anyone else would be up for it…

Peace, loVe loVe and rock ‘n’ roll,

K xx

[Actual publish date: 27/09/2012]