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.

Time Wounds All Heels

I saw Shoes when it first opened at Sadler’s Wells in September and I reviewed it then (you may recall that it was deep in the midst of my post-hair funk and my evening was much improved when I spotted two cast members in the audience). I’m not going to rehash it all here, but if you would like to read my initial thoughts, click here.

Funnily enough, my evening actually started in a similar way to last time (if you tilt your head and squint a bit). I was coffee shop hopping before the show, looking for a decent panini when I crossed paths with someone I was about 90% sure I recognised; Patrick Smyth, who was a swing in Hair and one of the extra lovely people at the stage door.

Unsurprisingly, the suspected sighting, put me in a sparkling frame of mind, made even better when I got to the theatre to find that Holly James (another Hair swing) was in the cast. (Patrick is also a swing in Shoes, but he didn’t perform that night).

The show has changed a fair bit since I last saw it, but I can’t quite recall the original, so I can’t give you too much info. My favourites were still there; the bed scene (Hush Puppies), the holy order of designer shoes (Desire: The Brand) and the cursed family tradition (Old Shoes). There was a new routine called ‘Old Cinders’ and the Sneaker Addict was a man rather than a woman. I’m not sure how I feel about that one, but then the girl who I saw the first time around was one of my favourites.

There were a few familiar faces in this cast, but mostly seemed to be new, at least they seemed to be without further investigation. Chloe Campbell returned and was fabulous, Alexis Owen Hobbs (who I already loved from Never Forget and Sweet Charity) also starred and really impressed me. I found my eyes often drawn to Holly James and while I’m sure that it was mostly because I knew who she was, she really was exceptional. The way she moves is exquisite. Flik Swan was also very good. Unfortunately, I didn’t quite catch who was who with the male cast memebers. Jack Wilcox was rather cute, so I recognised him at the stage door, but can’t quite recall which routines he featured in (though I’m thinking the ‘Your Mum’ glam tap number was one of them). Other than that, I can’t name names. The sneaker addict was good though, as was the hush puppy man.

If you do have the opportunity to see it at the Peacock Theatre between now and April, when it closes, I would highly recommend it. If you do see it, and he performs, say hello to Patrick Smyth for me…

Which brings me to the real highlight of my evening. It was indeed Patrick whom I saw before the show and I saw him afterwards as well, waiting for someone outside the theatre. As I got closer, I smiled at him and not only did he smile back, he said hello. As if that wasn’t awesome enough, he then asked me to remind him of my name. When I did, he knew who I was, surname and all! Thanks to facebook apparently, but even so, I’m still in shock. Those Hair chaps really are a lovely bunch. First Liam, then Patrick… Though I suspect Steel won’t be quite so, er, friendly.

Anyway, I chatted to Patrick briefly about the show and the changes since I last saw it, then moved along to the stage door to get a handful of autographs. It was a bit chaotic, with lots of friends and family hovering, but I got who I wanted and I’m rather pleased with the result given the fact that I almost didn’t bother with it.

I was going to carry on with my usual ‘in other news’ but I actually have quite a bit of other news and this post has already become surprisingly long, so I shall leave it here. I mentioned a few weeks ago that a random post was on the way, so I shall try and actually get that written at some point in the not too distant future.

So until then,

K xx

PS. After seeing the show I had a, perhaps unsurprising, urge to wear my ‘I saw the Sex and the City movie and bought some ridiculously unnecessary high heels afterwards’ to work on Friday. Probably not a urge I should have listened to, given that I ended up going out for lunch and walking far further than my feet were happy with (time really does wound all heels, and little toes – ouch!), but hey. At least it was the only night I didn’t have a show to go to and I did at least have trainers to change into for the journey home.

PPS. Also, rather excitingly, when Jack Shalloo tweeted about having seen Shoes recently, I tweeted back with the fabulous quote that makes the title of this post and *drum roll please* he tweeted back! Ok, so it’s not that exciting and all he said was ‘great line’, but I still get a buzz when a ‘celebrity’ tweets me back!

Recursion. And Dorian Gray

At the risk of becoming somewhat recursive, I just wanted to say – woo! Wondered why I had a weird spike in the volume of traffic coming to this little blog of mine (since I don’t publicise at all, I’m rather intrigued as to how people are finding me and where they’re coming from) and from over analysing my stats page, it turns out its because Aaron Sillis linked me on his fb/twitter pages. One assumes this is at least in part due to the fact that I gave him in particular a good (and thoroughly well deserved) write up (see: Shoes, shoes and more (sparkly) shoes), but I’m still immeasurably chuffed by it! Anyways, I do hope that one or two of you that found me through him might stick around in the future. More reviews to come… (And I promise I won’t talk about Steel TOO much more! Though I am rather down now that I know so many of the beautiful, beautiful tribe are back Stateside. Will miss them all more than I can possibly say )

Anyhoo, when looking for Aaron Sillis videos on youtube I discovered a montage/advertising type video for Matthew Bourne’s Dorian Gray and thought I’d share. From there, I’ve sorta ended up with a mini review ,though I saw the show a long time ago and my memory is a tad hazy. That said, I highly recommend it if anyone has the opportunity to see it. I saw it with Richard Winsor as Dorian (also saw him as the Swan/Stranger in Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, which is incredible as well – the male swans are indeed magnificent, but I do admit to missing the sparkly tutus and point shoes from the traditional version. I saw it in the round at the Royal Albert Hall with about 60 swans – now that was breathtaking. Anyhoo, For those who may be wondering where they’ve seen him on the big screen, Richard’s also in StreetDance 3D. It took me about half the film to work out where I recognised him from though!). Jason Piper played Basil and I thought he was absolutely incredible, but now rather wish I’d seen it with Aaron as well (‘as well’, note, not ‘instead of’. I very much enjoyed Jason’s performance), having now seen him live and had my socks blown clean off. Will definitely be keeping tabs on him in the future as I’d be interested in seeing him perform again.

So back to Dorian Gray. The show masters the darkness of the story rather well, I thought. When I saw it I’d read the book, but for the most part had forgotten what happened, who the various supporting characters were etc.. But I thought the modernisation was done very well – the photographer instead of the painter etc. It brought the story up to date without changing too much of the feeling behind it or the way I pictured the interplay between the characters. Lord Henry is a woman (Lady Henrietta), which confused the hell out of me at first, but only because I couldn’t work out who she was meant to be until I read the programme during the interval. The billboard poster was a stroke of genius, I felt.

And, of course, I loved the homoerotic choreography. The whole show is fantastically sexy and erotic, but the bedroom scene pas de deux between Dorian and Basil was by far the highlight for me. (Incidentally, I never realised how much I liked bedroom dance scenes, but I’m beginning to detect a theme! Shoes, Dorian Gray… and though I gave up on ‘So you think you can dance’ well before the end of the series, I did last a week or two longer than I intended purely thanks to the bed routine by Hayley Newton and Drew McOnie (who incidentally was also in ‘Shoes’ – don’t you love the interweave of cast members between shows? More on that in the future, I’m sure, as its something that fascinates me)).

I have to say, especially as its one of the things I love most about his productions, Matthew Bourne always does homoeroticism well, but then that canalmost be called the theme that unites his works. Though, I suppose it’s an inevitable by-product of such male-heavy casting, whether deliberately or not (though one assumes its entirely intentional!). In any case, I shall be purchasing tickets to see his production of Cinderella that opens this Christmas – should be good.

Anyhoo, until next time, enjoy:

K xx

Shoes, shoes and more (sparkly) shoes!

So, I have a couple of random (minor) celeb spottings to share, but this post is meant to be about ‘Shoes’, not the audience, so I shall be good and save that til the end!

‘Shoes’ was a fanatbulous show – funny, well executed and beautifully choreographed. I didn’t really bother doing the research on this one, so I was expecting a relatively sedate dance performance with a variety of shoes. What I saw was far, far more and far better than I expected. Some of the routines were truly magnificent – specific favourites include the scene with three girls in bedrooms and one man between them (wearing Hush Puppies). Another highlight was a routine about passing one pair of shoes through the family. Very well done – with a giant rotating picture frame that contained the family members. Difficult to explain, but wonderful nonetheless! There was also a great tap routine in glam platforms, some dancing sheep to showcase the ugg boot and a hymn like chant about designer shoes was also great!

I recognised a few of the cast – a couple off ‘So you think you can dance’ (which I watched half of), the guy who played Jose in the original cast of ‘Never Forget’ and the guy who played the doppelgänger when I saw Matthew Bourne’s Dorian Grey. But I thought they were all great. Think the best were Teneisha Bonner who really stood out in the bed routine and also did a couple of impressive street/locking style routines about trainers and Aaron Sillis also of the bed routine, but somehow just stood out for me throughout. I do wonder if (only in part, mind, he was a terrifically talented dancer) it had just a little to do with the long hair… I’ve gotten rather too used to watching out for a specific long-haired gentleman both on and off stage!

I did feel the finale was perhaps a little weak, but only because it didn’t seem to have as much of a point as the rest of the show. I felt a little uncertain as to whether it was actually the end until they took their bows. That said, I enjoyed the routine and costumes nonetheless. The whole show was vibrant and interesting, even for those who are maybe not so interested in straight dance. The storytelling was fantastic, as was the set and the collection of (I’m told) over 250 pairs of shoes! So, overall, a huge thumbs up from me .

Anyhoo, saw a few flyers at the theatre and think I might have to book to see Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo next week as well – really fancy it and its on at Sadler’s Wells, so not exactly inconvenient. Just need to hope it won’t clash with something else if I do go ahead and book it. Also, hoping I can see Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella which is coming up this Christmas.

And the aforementioned celeb spotting titbits:

I saw (at least I’m about 90% sure I saw) Jonathan Groff (aka Jesse St James in Glee) at Aspects of Love on Sunday. It seems a reasonable suspicion since he’s in deathtrap in London. He is rather cute, but perhaps not quite my taste (aka, not Gary Barlow or Steel Burkhardt – not that the two of them have anything much in common looks wise, but hey!).

I also saw, and this was more exciting by far for me personally, Kaitlin Kiyan and Ato Blankson-Wood sat 3 or 4 seats along, in the row in front of me at Sadler’s Wells. I wasn’t going to say anything, but as we were leaving I just said a quick ‘Hi, saw you both in Hair, I thought it was amazing.’ They seemed happy enough to be recognised/appreciated. Thought that would be the end of it, but I then ended up stood next to Kaitlin in a queue and had a quick chat – she’s also joining the touring production when she gets back to the states. I also saw them greeting Patrick Smyth on the way out, but I kept my mouth shut this time as I didn’t want to interrupt.

Anyways, seeing them made my night, to be honest! (Not to take anything away from the show, which was fab. I’m just still far from over my post-hair funk. In fact, I’m relying on Gary n Robbie this weekend at the Help for Heroes concert (first live performance of ‘Shame’, you think I’d be more excited really. Just shows how much Hair has effected me!) – if they can’t get me out of this little hole i’ve dug myself, theres no hope!). I think the trouble was, spending half of Monday daydreaming about running into Steel, I was beginning to get a bit irritated with myself – I mean, what are the chances that I’ll run into him, or any of the cast for that matter, especially given that half of them are already back in New York. Seeing them, though not as exciting as seeing Steel, or one of the overly friendly cast members (namely Gavin, Andrew, Anthony or Allison (Case) – which, to be fair, would be rather unlikely given that according to their respective FB/twitter pages they’re all back in NY), just made me feel a little less ridiculous for day dreaming about it! And if I’m honest, probably better for my sanity that I saw them and not Steel. I think I would be far too terrified to talk to him at this point, or I’d embarrass myself horribly saying something stupid and either way end up regretting whatever I did or didn’t do. I always seem to get the impression he doesn’t like me. Paranoid, I know, given he doesn’t know me, like, at all. But I’m weird like that. He doesn’t seem a particularly fan orientated person and apparently I take that personally!

And, yes, yet another post has descended into full-on Steeliness. I shall endeavour to avoid the subject in future, but make no promises since it’s highly unlikely I’ll be able to resist. And I still have plenty to natter about from my two stage door trips post-phone number (to be seen at some point in The Steel Saga – Part 2). And, ya know, there’s always the chance that something might happen before he goes home – never know who you might run into in this city. Millions of people, yet one often runs into people one knows… Yes, I’m a muppet. This has been established, accepted and happily glossed over.

Anyhoo, I’ve written far too much, yet again (I do try and keep it under 1000words, honest!), so, until my next Steely ramble…

K xx