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.

Legally Blonde

I saw Legally Blonde not long after it first opened, back when the incomparable Sheridan Smith was playing Elle with Alex Gaumond as Emmett and the delectable Duncan James (of Blue fame) as Warner. I’ll admit I expected it to be awful, but ATG were offering heavily discounted tickets to fill up a press-night and I think I only paid about £10 for central stalls seats. Well worth it for a glimpse of Duncan, I thought. So imagine my surprise when it turned out that show was spectacularly good!

The music is fabulously cheesy and I suspect I wasn’t the only one who left unable to get ‘Omigod You Guys’ out of my head. It’s a great song and a fabulous opening to the show. On this visit, primarily arranged to see Lee Mead as Emmett before he left, we had the cheat seats at the back of the stalls. They weren’t really restricted, but the overhang of the dress circle does make one feel rather detached from the action. Still, worth the dosh, I reckon and we could have moved forward a couple of rows if we’d wanted to.

The show sticks reasonably closely to the books, but adds a liveliness and extra comedic elements that make it work well on stage. The music enhances what is already a cheesy story and the songs are catchy, memorable and amusing. I was about to list some highlights and then got stuck trying to choose… I love the opening number, as I’ve already mentioned, ‘Serious’ is brilliantly written and still makes me laugh. ‘Take It Like A Man’ is also great and the ‘Ireland’ reprise is genius. It’s not so special when heard as part of the soundtrack, but combined with the choreography and Kyle ‘I’ve got a package’ the UPS guy, it’s fabulous.

The cast were brilliant and major props to them, so you’ll have to forgive the rather long paragraph ahead with rather more shout outs than I would normally give. Carley Stenson was Elle Woods and she was brilliant. I probably don’t need to tell you that I enjoyed Lee Mead as Emmett Forrest, but I will say that a) I wasn’t keen on the accent. There was nothing wrong with it, I just prefer his usual English one and b) I’d really like to see him back in a role like Joseph. Not that Emmett isn’t a major character, but he doesn’t have all that many songs and cute as he is, I really like him for his voice. Paulette was played by Natalie Casey and she was very good. I’d actually have liked to see her play opposite Sheridan, but even so she was fab. Peter Davison is still playing Professor Callahan so I have nothing to compare him to, but he’s certainly doing a good job of it. I liked Simon Thomas as Warner Huntington III, particularly in ‘Serious’. I’ve seen Tamara Wall before, but I think only as an ensemble member in Never Forget. This time she had a more leading role as Brooke Wyndham and her energy was great. Siobhan Dillon was wonderfull posh as Vivienne Kensington and Suzie McAdam was fabulously butch as Enid. Chris Ellis-Stanton played several charcters (apparently including Dewey) but he certainly made the biggest impression as Kyle. The way he moved and carried himself was fabulous. Finally, I was rather chuffed to see a couple of familiar faces in the ensemble. Stephane Anelli of Never Forget fame and Stephen Webb (not to be confused with my beloved Stevie (Steven) Webb) from Hamlet the Musical (who I also spotted in Paul (the bakery) just before the show).

The stage door at the Savoy was a bit of a pain and we had to wait a fair while. I got most of the leads, including Lee and Carly, but there was a second exit around the other side so I think I missed a few people I wanted because of that. I’d have liked to grab the ensemble guys I mentioned above as well as Simon Thomas and Peter Davison, but it wasn’t to be. In the end I was just relieved I managed to catch Lee as I wasn’t convinced he’d show, especially since it appeared that he then went on to Wicked’s 5th birthday party.

Anyhoo, randomly, I nearly walked into Holly James in Covent Garden, which put a smile on my face (I wonder if I’ll ever get to a point where I don’t get excited anymore about spotting ex-hippies? I doubt it somehow!). Even more randomly and even more off subject, I spotted the following on the label of my sister’s Naked Hair Rescue stuff that I was considering stealing a bit of:

“We don’t believe in testing on Bambi, Lassie or Skippy.”

Now, I can see what they’re trying to do there, but I have several issues with this. Firstly, is it strictly necessary for them to tell us that they don’t test on fictional characters? I mean I think I’d have noticed if there’d been a bit in Bambi where some scientists suddenly showed up, washed his hair, then monitored the results. Secondly, assuming that they are suggesting that they don’t test on those animals rather than only those specific characters, I’d also like to know how often people tend to test hair products on kangaroos and deer. Finally, I’d also like to point out that they make no mention of Thumper or Minnie and Mickey who I suspect would be far more under threat from potential product testing. So what exactly is the brand trying to tell us? They don’t test on loveable, named animals? They don’t test on certain types of animal? And also, just because they don’t ‘believe’ in it, doesn’t prevent them from doing it. All sounds a bit dodgy to me! (For the record, yes I know they’re just using an amusing phrase to stand in for ‘we don’t test on animals’ but I like to have long showers and I thought I’d share some of the weird and wacky things that floated round my head after seeing that particular statement. Also, my father assures me that they couldn’t get away with using a phrase like that to hide the fact that they do in fact test on mice and rabbits, so should I actually decide to use it, I may do so with a clean conscience… well other than the fact that it technically belongs to my sister and would be theft, in a manner of speaking…!)

Anyways, didn’t mean to rant about that for quite so long, but there ya have it!

Peace, loVe loVe and happiness,

K xx

The Eventual Sober Reflection

So, I finally worked up the courage to read the IDP (linky) from a few weeks ago and despite the lack of coherency in parts and somewhat crazy ramblings throughout, I’ll admit it’s not quite as bad as I expected it to be. I’m not sure I cleared things up in quite the way I intended, but then, I was drunk. And one rarely does what one intends when one is intoxicated (unless what one intends is a really stupid thing to do, in which case it often goes swimmingly well).

Anyhoo, welcome to the ESR (or, if you prefer, the ‘Eventual Sober Reflection’). I think what I meant to say then was: Apologies for all the ramblings and ravings about Steel. I have a crush, which in this case is a rather bad one, and I’ve already driven all my friends mental talking about it/him. This little blog o’mine was sort of a last resort. One final place in which I could rave as much as I wished without inconveniencing or irritating anyone, (and not quite resorting to doodling little hearts, tacking ‘Burkhardt’ on to the end of my name and writing little fantasy lovey-dovey stories in my journal (yes I still have one) on an almost daily basis).

The issue then, was that it occurred to me that Steel himself (or someone who knows him) may come across this someday – lets face it, at this point there’s not a huge number of hits if one sticks “Steel Burkhardt” into google (including the quotes theres ‘only’ about 2000) and its theoretically possible I may be ‘discovered’ as it were. Suddenly I became aware that I have potentially rather embarrassed myself with the crazy-stalker routine and though it is unlikely ever to matter, I just wanted to clear up a couple of things: I’m not actually a crazy stalker girl, nor am I going to do anything about my ‘crush’. For that matter, half of me doesn’t even consider it a proper crush, since I don’t consider him to be any more ‘real’ than Gary Barlow or Orlando Bloom, or any other ‘celeb’ I’ve had a thing for over the years (that point may actually have been made successfully in the IDP, but i’m not taking any chances!).

So, the point (i’m really not very good at getting to it, am I?) is, if I am ever lucky enough to meet Steel again (most likely at a stage door in the West End or on Broadway – I see great things in his future), I will do my usual ‘wow the show was amazing, can I have an autograph/photo, thanks ever so’ and that will be all. Maybe I’ll go more than once, maybe the photo might even qualify for my facebook profile picture, BUT. That. Will. Be. All. (Unless of course he has an unexpected and overwhelming desire for more – sorry, couldn’t resist!)

So, I make no ridiculous unkeepable promises that I will keep my mouth shut about him in future, but at least (I hope) I’ll come across as a tad less crazy than I have done up until now.

Anyways, moving on, Departure Lounge tonight – woot! And I also hear Gavin Creel is back in London. I shouldn’t be so excited by that (its a rather large city!) but I am, so neh.

K xx

PS. Not sure what this blog really achieves, but hey!

PPS. This is now the 10th post to contain a tag for Steel… out of 16. Perhaps I do talk about him a tad more often than strictly necessary!

PPPS. Also, just want to throw in a shout out to the guys n girls from the various Lee Mead forums who found me yesterday! I was rather chuffed by the unexpected spike in my readership stats! (And I saw Wicked last Tuesday, for those who were wondering.)

Wicked

So, Wicked was wicked, Lee Mead was luscious, Louise Dearman was delightful and Rachel Tucker was ruddy spectacular.

I’ve seen the show on two previous occasions – I just caught Adam Garcia before he left (though Idina had already left and I missed Kerry Ellis as she was off that night) and then saw it again, what must be almost 2 years ago now. Again I saw the understudy for Elphaba.

I was delighted to find that this time, I was third time lucky and managed to catch Rachel Tucker as Elphaba, and believe me, she did not disappoint. Not that the other actresses were in any way lacking, I hasten to add, but its always nice to see the billed cast as opposed to standbys and understudies.

Now, I went to the show to see Lee Mead. And he was good. Really good. His voice is lovely and he’s very pretty (I really need to stop referring to men as pretty, but anyhoo), especially when hanging off a ladder only a few feet away from me whilst wearing deliciously tight trousers (apparently my face at this point was somewhat amusing). However, Fiyero is not a role which demands attention. In fact, in that way, I thought he played the part very well, never attempting to steal the limelight away from the two witches. Unfortunately, I can’t really say much beyond that. I enjoyed his performance immensely and I’m very glad that I went to see him (and also glad I saw him and not Lewis Bradley, the understudy. I’m sure he’s great, but I never took a shine to him), however, it would be nice to see him again in a role a little more central. That said, ‘As Long As You’re Mine’ was beautifully done by both of them and I thought his acting was rather good throughout. In fact, I really enjoyed all the scenes between Elphaba and Fiyero and that was, at least in part, down to the skill and talent of the two actors involved.

And so to the witches. They were indeed marvellous (or should I say wonderful?). Rachel Tucker has a magnificent voice and I enjoyed every minute of her presence on stage. To be honest, the only thing I found lacking was her ‘wicked witch cackle’ which left a fair bit to be desired. Beyond that she was simply breathtaking. Her ‘Defying Gravity’ was epic and I loved her ‘No Good Deed’. I was very, very impressed. Louise Dearman was also fabulous and I thought she played the blonde ditz with a somewhat hidden intelligence very well.

I had rather good seats for this, which was nice after my previous tickets which had been located somewhere towards the back of the circle, miles away from anything (I think I’m beginning to get rather spoiled! Its gonna be rubbish when I’m back up top!). We had ‘Limited View’ tickets in Row B of the stalls (I was seat 12, I think, second from the end), but to be honest there were very, very few scenes in which it was even an issue, and then it was only because the occasional chorus member/flying monkey was stood in the way. It was fantastic being so close, seeing their facial expressions and the magnificent detail of the costumes.

I found myself truly fascinated by the amount of time and effort which must go into the designing and creation of each costume, particularly those worn by the chorus. The detail is exquisite, yet can only really be seen by the first few rows. And even then, for the most part the chorus just add to the atmosphere, the costumes becoming a blur of colour amongst the scenery while the focus is on the deceptively plainly dressed lead characters. I actually found myself thinking about working on costume design as a hobby. Even if I never create them, it might be fun to really let my imagination have its way. (Actually, I like to pretend I’m a writer and the series of novels I have in my head could work quite interestingly on stage – the costumes for that could be great fun to design, though perhaps a little simple.) I might even really go for it with something and create something totally crazy for a costume party. I always want to go all out and never quite manage it. Maybe this year will be different! But I digress.

The seats were fab, especially for the price, and I highly recommend them for those who may be interested.

Now, I’m aware that all my reviews so far have been along the lines of ‘OMG it was awesome, s/he was awesome, everyone was awesome, and so on and so forth. This is mostly because I tend to go and see things I know I will enjoy. Other than that, many are shows I’ve seen before, or involve stars I particularly like. There is also the fact that my attention is easily captivated (though not often for an extended period – with that in mind, I should warn you that another post about ‘Hair’ is likely to be forthcoming, especially now that the touring cast has been officially announced and as of today, rehearsals are under way) and in the immediate aftermath of a show I often find myself totally wrapped up in it all. The point of this blog, for the most part, is to allow me a way of raving about my current captivations without driving my friends and family totally insane (not sure that’s working really – think I’m still driving them mad, but this helps a little!).

So, next up: Departure Lounge tomorrow (cannot WAIT! Hopefully should be good – the cast list sounds impressive, to me at least, and I get to see the lovely Liam Tamne, who I liked anyway (post Hairspray) but since he’s one of the few British links to ‘Hair’ left open to me, well, lets just say I’m clinging and he’s one of the few things/people left for me to cling to – that doesn’t involve £1000 and a solo trip across the Atlantic!).

Til then,

K xx

PS. And yet another long post. I really do try to keep it under 1000 words, honest!