Twenty Years Of Theatre – In Programmes

So today I decided it was about time I finally organised my programmes rather than just continuing to throw them into a haphazard heap under my bed while praying they don’t end up completely destroyed. Once I started, however, I thought it might be fun to flick through some of them and it turns out I’ve seen a lot of people I now adore in some old shows back when they would have meant nothing to me. I doubt anyone is all that interested in this, but I found it quite fascinating, so I thought I’d blog about it anyway. Of course, I have no guarantees that some of these people were even on the night that I went, but still…. I also have the problem of recognising people in old programmes but not knowing what I’ve seen them in more recently. But anyhoo, here goes nothing:

(This will mostly be an annotated list in no particular order as I put this together whilst going through random piles with no ordering whatsoever except that glossy brochures and programmes were separate due to shelf size issues)

So to begin, I was busy drooling over old pictures of Liam as Link Larkin in Hairspray and who did I find? David McMullan, the guy I recognised (well it looked a hell of a lot like him anyway and he had a very ‘musical theatre’ sort of manner!) sitting in my row at the Ladykillers last week! It’s just now occurred to me that the reason I recognised him was because I also saw him in Ragtime at the Landor (which was confirmed on finding that programme which also assisted me with working out that the guy I recognised at something – Jingle Balls, maybe? was Alexander Evans). I somehow missed the fact he was also in the ensemble of Love Never Dies though – this is what happens when Ramin is on the stage . I think I’ve already mentioned the fact that Aki Omoshayabi was in it Hairspray, but I thought I’d say it again anyway. Woot, hippies .

Speaking of hippies, Holly James was in Starlight Express when I saw it on tour at the New Wimbledon Theatre back in ‘06, with Oliver Thornton as Rusty (wow I wish I remembered that better) and another familiar face; Tim Driesen (from Never Forget).

Speaking of Never Forget, with the new cast though also in Wimbledon… Scott Garnham played Jose and I’ve even got his autograph to prove he was on that night. What I wouldn’t give to see that again now!

Les Mis, 2004, my first two trips and there was another hippie in the cast – Gemma Baird. Apparently Ollie Thornton was also playing Enjolras back then! Wish I remembered that even more than Starlight.

Mark Evans was Brad in Rocky Horror on the last tour but I didn’t know who he was back then . It wasn’t even all that long ago, but he was just this gorgeous man to drool over then. I didn’t ‘discover him’, so to speak, until Bobby Cronin’s gig when he completely blew me away.

Stuart Matthew Price was a vocalist at Strictly Gershwin when it first opened.

Alastair Brookshaw (who I saw as Leo Frank in Parade at the Southwark Playhouse) was a vocalist the first time I saw Shoes at Sadler’s Wells. Jared Hageman was also one of the dancers. I’ve seen him in Matthew Bourne’s Dorian Grey, but far more importantly, he was one of Take That’s dancers on the Progress Tour. I think I spotted him on X-Factor too.

Chris Passey as Benjamin in the Joseph tour 2007 at the Birmingham Hippodrome!

I knew this already, but Zoe Birkett, who I loved on Pop Idol 2002 and who should have been playing Dionne on the UK tour of Hair (she’s still playing the role in Munich) was in Respect La Diva and I even got her autograph, despite not realising who she was until the Hair tour was announced!

Burn the Floor starring Brian Fortuna and Ali Bastian apparently also featured Artem Chigvintsev and Robin Windsor, before either joined Strictly. Obviously I didn’t have a clue who they were at the time, but somehow managed to get autographs off both of them anyway, even though I only got signatures from six out of twenty+ dancers (and two of those were the ‘stars’). Shame I didn’t bother with pictures (at least I don’t think I did, I should probably check that)!

Many years ago, well, six, but it feels like longer, I saw a play called As You Desire Me which for some reason really stood out for me and I still remember the story, or at least the gist of it, to this day. Turns out it starred Kristin Scott Thomas and Bob Hoskins. Unfortunately, this pre-dated my regular stage door activity, but it’s still kinda funky. Especially since I never could remember the name of that play and it’s rather useful to have rediscovered the programme.

Even more years ago than that, back in 1994, I went to see Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Palace Theatre, Manchester, for the very first time and I guess my love of musical theatre was probably born around then. I still remember that show so clearly, it’s weird, especially since I’ve seen it a fair few times since then, yet it’s that first performance that’s always stayed with me. Darren Day starred and the theatre trip was the culmination of months of constantly singing the songs. For whatever reason, my parents wouldn’t take me to see it, but then my Grandma treated me when I went to visit her and apparently I beamed throughout the whole show!

And then in 1998, also in Manchester, I saw Oliver starring Gary Wilmot as Fagin. Turns out Michael Cotton was in the cast too. Wonder what I’d have thought back then if I’d known all these years later I’d see him dancing around in the buff in Naked Boys Singing . I suspect I’d have been shocked and appalled given I was only about 13 and I was oh so sweet and innocent back then!

Back into the noughties and I went to see Ewan McGregor in Guys and Dolls in 2005. All I really remember was being stuck right up at the back and not getting to see Ewan at the stage door afterwards, but turns out the show also featured a rather young looking Summer Strallen.

One of my bigger ‘ wow, really?!’ moments came when I found the programme for The Pirates of Penzance at the Savoy in 2004. I remember the show and remember being rather excited about Anthony Head playing the Pirate King. What I obviously wouldn’t have been excited about at the time but would so love to see now, was Hadley Fraser as Fredric!

Adam Pearce (who I know from Love Never Dies) was one of the brothers in Joseph when Lee Mead was starring. Stephen John Davis (who I saw as Emile in South Pacific) was Reuben too.

I’ve no idea when I saw Beauty and the Beast, but given that it was on at the Dominion, it must have been a fair few years ago since We Will Rock You has been on there for the past decade. According to the programme it premiered in 1997, so I’d guess at the date being sometime around then. Anyhoo, a quick flick through the programme produced the info that Barry James (Firmin in Phantom) played Cogsworth and Earl Carpenter was in the ensemble!

One particular programme I’ve been looking for for a while, is the Far Pavilions. I don’t think it was much of a success, but I remember enjoying it. Obviously I don’t remember Hadley Fraser in this either, but I’ve known for a while that he was in it so it was kinda nice to finally find the programme and see the picture with my own eyes.

Spamalot starring Tim Curry was an interesting find. Mark Evans was a swing, so there’s a good chance I didn’t see him and Craige Els (Never Forget) was a walking understudy, so I’m almost certain I wouldn’t have seen him either, but Hannah Waddingham was the Lady of the Lake and I’m pretty sure I saw her at least!

I’m loving these old programmes too, the head shots are so dated – all those massive perms on the women and boyband curtains on the men! Anyhoo, another trip to the Manchester Opera House some time around 1996 and Alexis Owen-Hobbs was playing Cha-Cha. (Shane Richie was starring as Danny, but he was off when I went to see it. I have no clue how I still remember that fact though!).

Oliver Thornton was also in Chicago back when I saw it. Who knew I’d seen him in so much!

The weirdest by far is actually a concert programme, from Party in the Park 2000. It’s in rather horrific condition as I can still remember the way it poured down for most of the day (which resulted in my programme getting completely sodden through and all the pages getting stuck together. I remember the concert and even the nightmare of getting tickets, what I’d forgotten were the acts. I remember Ronan Keating and I remember being very disappointed when Stephen Gateley didn’t perform despite being on the bill. I remember that the only time I sat down all day was during Moloko because I didn’t much like them and I remember Lionel Richie (though he’s not actually on the programme, so I’m wondering if I imagined that or if he replaced someone else (like Gary Barlow replaced him at the BBC gig in Hyde Park that I missed last summer). I also have a vague recollection of Five performing with Queen – mostly cos I liked Five . The thing is, I saw some seriously cool acts that day. Perhaps some of them weren’t as famous then as they are now, but even so. Amongst others, assuming the programme is correct, I saw: Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, All Saints, Christina Aguilera (I think I actually remember her singing Genie in A Bottle), Elton John with the Backstreet Boys (man I wish I remembered that!), Kylie, Destiny’s Child (when there were still four of them!), Craig David, Steps, Westlife and Billie Piper!

I guess the most melancholy (at least based on programme findings plus the fact I was looking through the glossy brochure too and sulking about not getting to see it again) was from Hair in the West End. For some stupid reason I only bought the one, back when I first saw it and Will Swenson was still playing Berger. I did get Steel’s autograph and a fair chunk of the named cast, but I’m missing so many tribe members, it’s really rather sad. It was also before Liam joined the show, so he’s not in it either. I’m kicking myself now for not buying a second one later in the run and I did actually try to get my hands on one through various sources after the show closed and I realised how stupid I’d been, but nothing came of it. Such a shame . Still, I suppose I had an incredible summer (of love) with my beloved hippies and I’ll always have those fabulous memories plus the ones from Boston even if I don’t get another chance to see Hair again anytime soon. (I’ve also listened to the album the whole way through today, which didn’t help! – Let the sun shine in)

And finally on a slightly chirpier note, I apparently saw Michael Barrymore as Wishee Washee in Aladdin at the Manchester Opera House all the way back in 1992 . I think that’s the oldest one I found, except perhaps Rainbow which I saw live on stage when I was very very small, but I don’t know what year it was.

Anyhoo, in case you were wondering what that many programmes look like (or if you were wondering why it took me FIVE hours to go through them all), this is the whole lot of them:

On average I’d guestimate that there are about 20 per stack, maybe a few more. Of course there are shows I didn’t get programmes for, either because it was many years ago when £3 was just too much to spend or because they simply weren’t available. There are also shows I have several versions of; Phantom, Les Mis, etc. etc.. It’s a good collection though and I’m pretty proud of it. At least next time I lament the fact that life always seems to pass by far too quickly, I can look at this lot and think ‘Well at least I’m not wasting it’.

Anyways, there were countless other names that appeared time and time again, but the above were the ones that really stood out and made me go ‘oooh, cool’. I gotta say, it’s just another reason I love theatre, following careers from the early days. I think that’s even part of the reason I’m so fond of Liam, having seen (possibly) every show he’s been in since he started out. I still see big things in his future and I love watching that ascension from nobody to universally acknowledged star. One day I’ll be watching him play some massive part *cough*Phantom*cough* and I’ll be able to look back and say ‘look how far he’s come’ and know I’ve been there since the beginning.

Peace, loVe loVe and happiness,
K xx

PS. And now I get to do some serious tagging . Overkill, thy name is random posts about 2 decades of theatre trips and deciding to tag every single person/show/theatre mentioned!

PPS. I have a multitude of almost finished reviews, so fingers crossed I’ll get at least some of them posted in the next few weeks.

Les Miserables

Just to give you a heads up, this is going to be a rather thorough, and therefore long, review (I actually made notes during the interval and on my way home!) and will contain a couple of spoilers (both relating to the plot and the production). I will make sure to give warning of the paragraphs that contain them, however, so that they may be avoided (I’ll even put them in white so they only show up if you select the text with your mouse).

So, the 25th anniversary production of Les Miserables at the Barbican was… Epic. Amazing production, beautiful set, fantastic cast. I highly, highly recommend this production whether you’ve seen Les Mis before or not. If you have the chance to see it, go! (Unfortunately, it finishes at the Barbican this weekend, but I think its going on a US tour, so if you live across the pond and you can manage it, go see it! (And ‘Hair’ while you’re at it! Tell Steel I say hi! (No, I’m still not over that, in case you wondered.))

So firstly, to the cast:

Jean ValJean (John Owen-Jones) was superb. His voice was beautiful and I very much enjoyed his performance. He reminded me just a tad of Ramin Karimloo (another of my major musical theatre crushes) which got me to thinking that he would make a fantastic Phantom. Having checked the programme, however, its unsurprising really that its a role he’s already played! I’ve now heard his version of ‘Music of the Night’ and it was just as good as I thought it would be. He has just the right quality to his voice. (Incidentally, I’m now thinking it would be fab to see Ramin play Valjean in a few years time!)

Earl Carpenter’s Javert was also impressive. His intensity during ‘Stars’ actually gave me tingles. He gave the character an almost sinister air and I was absolutely blown away by him. Unfortunately, he turned out to be the ‘rush past before you even realise its him’ bloke at the stage door, so I didn’t manage to get a piccy/autograph, but still, a truly talented actor (who I believe has also been a Phantom in his day – Now he could have played an awesome Phantom, given the sinister quality of his Javert. He could be properly terrifying if he chose to be!).

I thought Eponine (played by Rosalind James) was great as well (reminded me a little of a sorta ‘common’ Lea Salonga – btw, this is a good thing!), which I felt was quite important as she’s always been my favourite character. ‘On My Own’ was (is) sorta like my anthem (in a slightly pathetic head-in-the-clouds sort of way). Enjolras (Jon Robyns) was also good, though he had a weird long blond wig (at least I hope it was a wig! missed him at the stage door, but not sure if its cos I didn’t recognise him or if he just took so long that I left before he emerged). It did make me long to see Ramin in the role (looks like the big show at the O2 will be released on DVD though, so I’ll hopefully still get to see/hear him, even if I can’t see it live – Enjolras has a fair few great lines/notes that would be simply breathtaking sung by Ramin!) and I also thought it would be an awesome part to see Simon Bailey play. Gavroche (Robert Madge) was also very good and adorable at the stage door as well!

Finally, to Mr Gareth Gates. I loved him on Pop-Idol, way back when, and was gutted (at the time) that he didn’t win. Since then (other than secretly rather liking ‘Anyone of us (Stupid Mistake)’ and his version of ‘Unchained Melody’) I wasn’t overly fond of him. Somewhat surprisingly, I’ve now found myself rethinking that sentiment. He was a fantastic Marius (though perhaps a little forceful/jerky with his hand movements), just the right level of shy and quiet with the underlying passion for his cause and those he holds dear. ‘A Little Fall of Rain’ was beautifully done, and I loved the singing and acting from both cast members. I admit at times I felt Garth’s voice was perhaps not quite strong enough, but his ‘Empty Chairs at Empty Tables’ was a credit to him – absolutely exquisite, technically brilliant and breathtakingly poignant. And to continue waxing lyrical for a little longer (or a lot longer, since the vast majority of this review is rather effusive!), there can be no doubt that his voice is a thing of beauty. I had forgotten how good he actually is and he’s now far better than he was at 17 on reality TV. (He’s also rather taller than I thought – just thought I’d throw that out there as well!)

The production as a whole was very well done. The West End version has a revolving stage and I was intrigued as to how they would cope without it, but to be honest, I hardly even noticed the lack of it. The set was great and the backdrop was done with a projector so it changed and even moved when needed. It gave a lovely effect to the revolutionaries marching down the streets and made the scene in the Sewer look fantastic. With very little beyond a moving backdrop and some (what I would consider) clever lighting, a reasonably short scene was made to look like an extensive journey through a dark underworld. The choreography, for want of a better word, was also great, particularly the way the character’s movements interacted with the set/lighting design to create the desired effect. I don’t want to ruin it by going into explicit detail, but I thought the whole scene was very well put together.

Spoiler (select text to view): Javert’s suicide was done beautifully. The bridge set was lovely, but the actual jump was spectacular. It was actually deceptively simple, I think, but wire work was used for it and combined with the projected backdrop, it was very effective. One of the highlights of the show for me, visually.

And another spoiler (select text to view): In fact, the only criticism I have of the show is of the very end of the battle at the barricade. One of the most visually stimulating scenes in the West End production is when the barricade rotates to reveal Enjolras lying dead across the vibrant red of the revolutionary flag. In this production, the barricade splits (I think) to reveal a cart in which the body of Enjolras on his flag is accompanied by the crumpled little form of Gavroche. No less hearwrenching, of course, but less visually dramatic. For me personally, I didn’t think it worked anywhere near as well, which was a shame, but couldn’t really be helped given the touring nature of the production.

So, not to put too fine a point on it, I thought the production was fab!

To finish up, a couple of mini-tales from the stage door – weirdly, soon after I staked out my spot by the door, a couple of youngish guys turned up. One of them was wearing a white blazer and looked like Justin Beiber (or someone like that anyway!) and I was certain I’d seen him at the stage door at the Gielgud – in fact, I’m sure I recall chatting to them while trying to recall Steel’s surname (believe it or not there was a time when I wasn’t quite this obsessed!). Anyways, I was umming and ahhing over whether to say anything or not when I overheard one of them saying something about ‘Hair’. Figured I may as well say hi, but I think they just thought I was a bit weird! There were a few American girls there as well though who were nice n friendly. I’ll admit I always feel a tad pathetic standing at stage doors on my own! (Though not pathetic enough not to go, of course!) Other than that, I thought I’d indulge my inner 16 year old by grabbing a pic with Gareth, but I have to admit, despite the slightly orange tan, he did look rather lovely, and I found myself indulging my current self just as much!

Anyhoo, I saw Wicked yesterday, which was indeed wicked, but that review shall have to wait for another time.

Also, coming up next week: Departure Lounge at the shiny new Waterloo East Theatre and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at the Queen’s Theatre in Hornchurch, another venue I’ve never been to.

So until then,

K xx

PS. Woah, long post. But I can’t be bothered to split it now!