Posts with the label Laura Harrison
Showing posts with label Laura Harrison. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Laura Harrison. Show all posts
Tuesday, 12 February 2019
Rocky Horror Show (UK Tour), New Wimbledon Theatre | Review
Rocky Horror Show (UK Tour)
New Wimbledon Theatre
Reviewed on Monday 11th February 2019 by Olivia Mitchell
★★★★
A Transylvanian delight, Rocky Horror will have you laughing in delight and dancing in your seat from the moment it begins in all its sparkly, transsexual glory.
Newly engaged couple Janet and Brad find them selves heading to an old castle when their car breaks down in the middle of a storm. There they meet Transylvania Transvestite Frank N Furter and his amazing and adoring entourage.
Rocky Horror brings a whole range of people to the theatre and everyone is welcome. Between those in full costumes and those in their normal everyday clothes, one thing is common: everyone is excited for a high energy night out. A whole range of ages and types of people clearly love this show and the smiles on everyones faces as they leave the theatre is a reminder of just how wonderful theatre can be, especially in trying times.
The show opens with a bang as the band bring the score to life (led by George Carter) and Laura Harrison as the cinema usher belts the opening number, Science Fiction/Double Feature, to rapturous applause. Laura is also fantastic as Magenta as she slinkily makes her way round the stage throughout and leads the Time Warp with high energy and oomph. Fellow slaves, Miracle Chance (Columbia) and Kristian Lavercombe (Riff Raff) also provide stellar, well characterised performances.
As Frank N Furter, Stephen Webb absolutely commands the stage. He struts around like he owns the theatre and everyone on it as as he embodies sass and sex as well as providing killer vocals.
As naïve lovebirds, Joanne Clifton (Janet) and Ben Adams (Brad) are well cast as they deliver engaging and suitably wide-eyed performances. The pair work very well with each other and bring this wacky story to life with fun and energy.
Making his theatrical debut, Dom Joly as the narrator is wonderful as he steers us through the highly chaotic tale with charisma and natural charm. Responding to the audience and adding in 'local humour' makes the piece just that bit more entertaining.
Nick Richings' lighting brings vibrance to every part of the stage and he does an outstanding job of being over the top without being unnecessary. Sue Blane's costumes are suitably glittery and indulgent, whilst, Nathan M Wright's choreography delivers punch after punch to accompany the high octane score.
Christopher Luscombe has directed a highly fun production with just enough space for audience interaction and all the ups and downs we expect from Rocky Horror. Whether you've seen the show before, or are a new viewer, there's no reason for you to dislike this wildly entertaining musical.
Rocky Horror runs at the New Wimbledon Theatre until 16th February before continuing its tour
Tuesday, 10 October 2017
Five Reasons to See Legally Blonde on Tour
Last night I visited the New Victoria theatre to see the UK tour of Legally Blonde. Seeing as I've already seen the show and reviewed it here, I thought I'd do a bit of a different post and tell you some of my top reasons to see it.
The production is great and all my thoughts were pretty much the same during my second viewing; the only difference was that Rebecca Stenhouse was playing Elle. Whilst I'm not re-reviewing I have to talk about Rebecca for a little bit. Her debut performance as Elle was completely outstanding, her voice sounded beautiful and she perfectly embodied the role. If I hadn't known she was the understudy I would have noticed zero difference or nervousness; Rebecca owned the stage and won over the audience with her heartfelt performance.
So now my moment of gushing is over, lets get on with the reasons to see the show...
It's Feel-Good Fantasticness: Legally Blonde is brilliant because it's exactly what it claims to be: a feel good, pink and positive show. So many shows I've seen recently have been depressing or try and be dramatic, moving or life-changing so it's really a breath of fresh air to see something fun and lighthearted. You'll leave the theatre smiling and feeling great- what more can you ask for?
Dogs: Need I say more? Who doesn't love a cute little pup scuttling across the stage? Whilst they're not in the show a lot, their moments in the spotlight gain "aw's" all around and are as cute as can be!
The Music is Crazily Catchy: I think Legally Blonde is a pretty underrated musical, I don't really hear people talking about it much, but they should! The music is catchy, upbeat and has so many witty lines. There are various styles and so many wonderful vocal moments. You'll definitely have the tunes stuck in your head.
The Performances are Brilliant: A great show with rubbish performances is pretty pointless to see, luckily they're fantastic in this production. I've gone into detail in my review but the cast are super strong and very attractive as the larger than life characters. Especially great is Helen Petrovna's 'Whipped into Shape' which makes me out of breath just watching!
It Has Lots of Heart: The story of Elle following her man to Harvard and realising she's more than a typical Malibu blonde is sweet and heartwarming. The romance, drama and humour makes you root for the characters and provides a fantastic night out.
So there (right there!) we have five reasons to see Legally Blonde. To sum up, it's a fun, lighthearted, brilliant show which you will definitely enjoy. As the days get shorter and colder, Legally Blonde is precisely the pop of warmth and light that you need.
Legally Blonde runs at the New Victoria Theatre until October 14th before continuing on its tour.
Friday, 22 September 2017
Legally Blonde (UK Tour), Churchill Theatre | Review
Legally Blonde (UK Tour)
Churchill Theatre
Reviewed on Thursday September 21st 2017 by Olivia Mitchell
★★★★★
Pink, energetic and a whole load of fun, the current tour of Legally Blonde is a joyous way to spend a carefree few hours at the theatre. It tells the story of Elle Woods, a sorority girl who hatches a plan to get into Harvard Law School to win back her ex-boyfriend Warner who would rather marry someone “serious”. Once there Elle realises she’s more than just the dumb blonde she’s been brought up to be and, joined by her Greek chorus and adorable dog Bruiser, she turns the world of law upside down.
Lucie Jones is a complete triumph as Elle. Having seen her in Les Mis, a solo concert and Rent, I was looking forward to seeing how she'd take on the role of Elle and she just does it wonderfully. Her comedic timing is completely perfect, bringing laughs in left, right and centre with her various one liners, squeals and movements. Lucie’s voice is as clear as a bell, her beautiful tone rings out on every word and she is just outstanding from start to end.
Alongside Lucie is David Barrett as the hard-working, slightly dowdy, Emmett. They have a wonderful chemistry and bounce off each other to create a believable blooming relationship. David has a lovely voice and he perfectly balances his calm and collected self with Elle's hyperactivity. Liam Doyle and Laura Harrison take on the roles of Warner and Vivienne well, both with lovely voices and good characterisation to show their development throughout. The audience were drawn Rita Simons as Paulette as she poured her heart out at her first meeting with Elle; she radiated warmth and nailed the comedic role although her singing could've been slightly more powerful at times.
The ensemble are great and full of energy, especially during Whipped into Shape and There! Right There! both of which were stand outs of the show with the UV skipping ropes in Whipped being particularly effective. I do feel that the Greek chorus could have been developed a little more with extra emphasis on the personality of each member, but their vocals were spot on and I loved their costumes, especially their Heathers-esque court room attire.
The choreography worked well with the piece and was energetic and fun enough to keep the momentum up throughout. The movement in There! Right There! was especially enjoyable to watch and the build throughout the piece was fab. The cheer section in What You Want could definitely be developed more to actually include cheer moves and give it more power but it was by no means unenjoyable.
I have a few reservations with the costumes purely from a picky point of view, such as Vivienne's heels being too high to fit with the frumpy look she is supposed to have and Elle's final court room suit just not having enough oomph and again being a little old-fashioned. Some of the costumes could have been updated to make them look less dated but I did enjoy the various changes and the various shades of pink!
The megamix at the end was over the top and quite unnecessary as, in my opinion it somewhat cheapens the production but it did work well to get everyone clapping along and smiling their way out of the auditorium and I certainly left feeling warm and joyful...
though I would've anyway without the mix!!
Overall this is a really enjoyable production. It's the perfect mix of lightheartedness and a little drama, it doesn't claim to be anything it's not and it's the ideal show for a girls night out. Charming and funny it reminds us that being yourself is the most important thing and will definitely leave you wanting to channel your inner Elle... I'm finding pink, sparkly clothes this minute!
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