Wednesday 21 March 2018
The Lady with a Dog, Tabard Theatre | Review
The Lady with a Dog
Tabard Theatre
Reviewed on Tuesday 20th March 2018 by Shaun Dicks
★★★
Tonight, we find ourselves at a Chekhov piece. Not one of his plays but an adaptation of one of his short stories. The interesting thing when it comes to adaptations is that it can be either a hit or a miss, in this rare case, it was neither. We find ourselves following the story of two married couples, each with a spouse on holiday alone. They form a bond, and this story follows that bond through a certain length of time. This show tackles the themes of love, open relationships and age differences, all within an age where two out three were taboo. I’ll let you guess which two.
For me the show felt like a show of two halves, the first act seemed a little laboured. There was a lack of intent and pace that didn’t make me want to follow the story or the characters within it. The story itself is decent, it follows the formulaic way of presenting a story of infidelity but contained some interesting characters. The shows use of the spouses that weren’t on the holiday as a Greek chorus was an interesting and ultimately inspired device of storytelling.
However, despite the unnecessary interval, the second half was infinitely better. There was a drive in the second half that the first lacked. The intent shown by all members of cast in the second half really drove the story home and made me care about them as characters and the story of their lives unfolding. Each member of the cast was strong in their own ways but sadly there were a few weaknesses on show that do need improving.
One thing that does need improving overall is the script. The overuse of monologues within the text was arduous at times. The script needed to show more and tell less, it felt like the characters were giving us large amounts of information, when really, they should’ve shown us. Monologues are all well and good but give your audience some credit and let them receive information in a more interesting and creative way.
The Lady with A Dog is a decent show. It is neither good or bad. If you are near to the Tabard Theatre or a fan of Anton Chekhov, then I say go see the show. But if you are looking for something new and exciting, this show isn’t for you. The show needs work both on the performance side regarding pacing and intent but also from the writing side as the script is very formulaic and needs to make some changes before this show becomes something special. This show has the potential to be great and as a fan of Chekhov myself, I want it to achieve that. It just needs to develop to get there.
The Lady with a Dog runs at the Tabard Theatre until April 7th
photo credit: Andreas Lambis
Cilla (UK Tour), New Victoria Theatre | Review
Cilla (UK Tour)
New Victoria Theatre
Reviewed on Tuesday 21st March 2018 by Melanie Mitchell
★★★★
Cilla The Musical, intertwines the story of the rise from teenage typist to number one singing star, with the evolving love story between her and her future husband Bobby Willis.
In the 1950’s Liverpool was becoming increasingly well known, worldwide, for its unique style of music known as the Mersey beat. It was in the clubs around Merseyside that the young Cilla White worked as a coat check girl, often performing on stage along side the likes of Gerry and the Pacemakers and most notably the Beatles. When Brian Epstein discovers the 20-year-old Cilla at the Blue Angel Jazz Club, her meteoric rise to fame begins.
The set design is superb, cleverly changing from the tiny flat in which Cilla lives with her family to the Clubs and streets of Liverpool. You really get the feeling for the area at the time and that you are part of the audience in the now legendary Cavern club.
The lighting changes throughout, reflecting the mood of each scene, especially in the second half when Cilla is an international star with her own UK TV show. My only criticism was that from where I was sitting at times it was quite blindingly bright.
Kara Lily Hayworth is simply superb as the young Cilla. She absolutely brings the character to life, showing not only Cilla’s humour and confidence but also her naivety of the industry at the time. Her Liverpudlian accent is excellent and if you closed your eyes you would of thought Cilla was in the room. Kara’s singing voice is absolutely faultless, perhaps a bit sweeter and dare I say more professional than our Cilla’s was. However, this is probably down to her classical training background.
Carl Au, plays Bobby Willis, Cilla’s long-time boyfriend who goes on to become her manager and Husband. Carl is totally believable in the part and has an extremely good singing voice.
The part of Brian Epstein is played by Andrew Lancel, an extremely talented performer who you may know from Coronation Street and The Bill. You may not know that he also has an excellent singing voice as well. He plays the tortured Epstein brilliantly, giving a sadness and poignancy to the role that I hadn’t expected.
The whole company give a sparkling, lively and energetic performance, especially when playing the various groups such as The Beatles and Gerry and the Pacemakers. However, the standout group performance for me was the casts portrayal of the Momma’s and the Poppa’s rendition of California Dreaming.
Cilla The Musical is showing at the New Victoria Theatre until 24th March 2018. Get a ticket if you still can, not only will you see some fabulous performances and hear some wonderful singing, you are guaranteed to have a most enjoyable evening and a Lorra Lorra fun!
photo credit: Matt Martin
Saturday 17 March 2018
Sondheim on Sondheim, Royal Festival Hall | Review
Sondheim on Sondheim
Royal Festival Hall
Reviewed on Thursday 15th March 2018 by Olivia Mitchell
★★★★
Stephen Sondheim is one of the most loved musical theatre composers ever but because so much of his music is deeply rooted into it's source shows, his songs are rarely performed in a revue style as it tends to make little sense. However, people often try to make it work which is how Sondheim on Sondheim, conceived by James Lapine, was born. Instead of just being a series of songs, it includes footage and commentary from Stephen himself.
There is a mixture of biographical footage as well as more musically descriptive passages which meld into the live performances. Particularly effective moments were when Sondheim describes the various opening numbers for A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum before they're sung live, and when he explains the musical complexities of Sweeney Todd as Julian Ovenden gives a rousing rendition of Epiphany.
The cast of this concert were sublime, with some outstanding ensemble moments including the jazzy, extra-swung version of West Side Story's Something's Coming. Claire Moore and Liz Callaway are both spectacular, with their touching mash up of Losing My Mind and Not a Day Goes By being a stand out of the night as well as their solo performances of Send in the Clowns and Buddy's Eyes. Julian Ovenden showed off his powerful voice in a number of songs, especially the glorious Finishing the Hat from Sunday in the Park with George.
I felt that Rebecca Trehearn and Tyrone Huntley were underused in the concert. However, Rebecca's rendition of I Read and Tyrone's, Being Alive were absolutely wonderful. Both performers are firm favourites of mine and it was joyous to hear them backed by a full, flowing orchestra, even if it was only for a brief period. Damian Humbley replaced Ben Forster and provided some fantastic vocal moments, namely during Franklin Shepard, Inc.
Aside from the vocal performances, the BBC Concert Orchestra were splendid, however at times, especially in the first act, the balance between them and the performers just didn't work and led to very uneven sound. At points it seemed like the microphones were not working at all whilst at others it sounded over amplified.
Overall this was a beautifully moving concert with some light hearted moments as well as some more moving flashes such as when Sondheim describes his relationship with Oscar Hammerstein and talks candidly about receiving a letter from his mother saying she wished she never birthed him. I left the Royal Festival Hall in awe of the performers, in love with Sondheim's music and connected to him as a person. Of course we just saw him on screen but in his candid moments he came across as a genuinely kind person who adores music- something which we can all relate to.
Sondheim on Sondheim will be broadcast on Tuesday 20 March, 7.30pm on BBC Radio 3
photo credit: Mark Allan
Friday 16 March 2018
Female Parts: Shorts, Hoxton Hall | Review
Female Parts: Shorts
Hoxton Hall
Reviewed on Thursday 15th March 2018 by Nicola Louise
★★★★
Female Parts: Shorts tells the story of three very different women through their three very different monologues. A Woman Alone, An Immigrant and A Mother, each one battling their own series of events and demons.
The show opens in a living room, clothes hanging on the wall and baby things over tables and floor; the Women Alone busts into the living room singing and dancing her heart out, it’s not until she notices that a new neighbour has moved in that she starts talking. The Women Alone, played by Gehane Strehler, starts to describe her life as this happy fairy tale, it isn’t until we get further into the story that we realise appearances are not all they’re cracked up to be.
Strehler delivers a fantastic performance as a hard done by woman having to live her life according to her husband. The emotions she displays in this hour monologue pull you into the story wondering what her next move is.
The next monologue is from The Mother played by Rebecca Saire, a woman who just found out her son’s a terrorist. She asks the audience, ‘what would you do?’ You could see the pain in her eyes, as she asked herself: ‘why me?’ ‘what did I do?’. Saire takes you on a journey of love, hatred, and disgust in this 40-minute monologue and I wager a bet that you don’t come out of there questioning the way you look at terrorists and their families.
Saire talks us through a dream she had, being the mother of a terrorist and takes us through her experience. She’s able to add in other characters, completely different to herself and give them lives of their own.
The last performance was The Immigrant portrayed by Clare Perkins, a west indies woman whose dream was always something bigger than what her family had for her back home. She came to London, got an engineering degree, came home and got a job at the UWI (University of West Indies), got married and had a child.
The conversation was aimed towards the Imperial College London graduating class of 2018 where her daughter sat. Perkins spoke about the injustice of her going up into space, how, if she were a man, no paper would ever dare question her role as a parent, papers up and down the country were labelling her as the mother who abandoned her child. Perkins delivers an emotional speech of truth and realisation when she starts to address her daughter and it was refreshing to see that she knew she was more than just a mother … she was an astronaut.
Female Parts: Shorts is a moving and outstanding look at the highs and lows women go through and deserves to be seen.
Female Parts: Shorts is playing at Hoxton Hall until the 31st March 2018.
photo credit: Sharron Wallace
Wicked (UK Tour), Bristol Hippodrome | Review
Wicked (UK Tour)
Bristol Hippodrome
Reviewed on Thursday 15th February 2018 by Isobelle Desbrow
★★★★★
Come with me to the Emerald City...
Wicked is a phenomenal show that has been taking the West End by storm over it’s 11 year run and I’m pleased to say that the tour equally amazing. The cast couldn’t have been better and it was a privilege to be able to watch Glinda’s understudy take to the stage during the matinee performance at the Bristol Hippodrome.
Amy Ross’s Elphaba is the seamless combination of good and wicked. Every note she sings is bone chillingly beautiful and her stellar diction allows us to hear every word and become immersed in the story. A stand out was ‘Defying Gravity’ which was a perfect way to end Act 1 and left me eager so the final half.
Unfortunately Helen Woolfe (Glinda) wasn’t performing for this performance. Instead we were treated to the equally cheerful and Popular Charli Baptie who has an excellent voice and plays a fabulous, frilly, humourous Glinda who manages to have depth, light and shade in her performance.
The glorious music is note perfect and I was pleased that it was not too loud (as I have experienced previously) so dialogue could still be heard whilst it was being accompanied.
The dancing was crisp and spell blindly visually; whilst the cast’s singing made each song sound new and exciting. The quality of this tour is almost West End standard and I’d thoroughly recommend anyone who can’t get to London, to see this show as it flies round the UK on it’s current tour.
If you get the opportunity, spend One Short Day watching Wicked as it’s a tour not to be missed!
photo credit: Matt Crockett
Thursday 15 March 2018
Bat Out of Hell, Dominion Theatre | Press Launch
Yesterday afternoon I attended a strobe filled, electrifying press launch for Bat Out of Hell's sure-to-be-triumphant return to the West End as it prepares to take over the Dominion Theatre from April.
Now I must admit, I didn't adore the show when I saw it at it's Coliseum press night but I think that's because I had no idea what to expect. Seeing the performances yesterday put the show into a new light for me (quite literally) and made me really appreciate the skill and talent that goes into it. It's true that Bat Out of Hell has a very random and vague plot, but this show, the performances and the way its presented is unlike anything currently in the West End and for that it should be applauded.
The event took place at the American International Church; an out there choice for an out there musical. The brightness and space of the room perfectly showcased the music and the juxtaposition of a rock musical being performed in a church was really very special.
Once the doors opened we were ushered in, handed a branded notebook, pen and lanyard and shown the way to our seats to get a wonderful view of the wild performances. The pews and upstairs area quickly filled up with a selection of excited fans who'd won tickets, as well as press and other guests. For those that couldn't be there, the launch was also live-streamed and as we counted down to go live there was a buzz of excitement in the air.
The event was co-hosted by Planet Rock Radio and their presenter Paul Anthony who stepped out in a flash of light and introduced us to the rocking cast. From then on it was high energy entertainment as the cast performed five songs and showcased their talents brilliantly. The small venue felt like a full-scale arena as it was filled with loud, rock music, dry ice and lots and lots of lights. The cast opened with Bat out of Hell then performed Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad, What Part of My Body Hurts The Most, Dead Ringer for Love and finally, the rousing I Would Do Anything For Love. The cast gave each song their all and seemed to genuinely be loving what they were doing.
After the performance we were invited to meet Andrew Polec, Christina Bennington, Sharon Sexton and Rob Fowler, we took a very quick photo and briefly congratulated them on their work before heading to the Dominion Theatre for some drinks and a sneak peek at the get in.
With a cast of 34 and 145 people on the payroll each night, everything about this show is big, including it's set which filled 17 containers and took 5 weeks to get back to London after the shows run in Canada. It was extremely impressive to see the hard work that goes in behind the scenes to make this show what it is and also to see how passionate everyone that's a part of it is.
Despite not being a number one fan of Bat Out of Hell when I made my way to this launch, I can now say that I am more than excited to see the show as its rocks, rolls and rages at it's new home, the Dominion Theatre from April 2nd. The energy, talent, passion and drive from the performers and everyone involved in this show is infectious and is sure to take the West End by storm on it's second run.
If you missed the livestream you can watch it here.
Post written by Olivia Mitchell, Editor
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