Sorry my review is basically me ranting on about the audience but oh well.
Wednesday, 19 May 2010
3 Mini Reviews
Lion King
Wow!!! What an amazing show, spectacular set and dazzling costumes. Go and experience it for yourself, you will NOT be disappointed.
Love Never Dies
Another Andrew Lloyd Webber one to add to the mass collection, although surprisingly good. Hugely talented cast, amazing scenery and use of projection, some catchy tunes, a show worth catching.
The Woman in Black
A truly gripping, chilling and mysterious story, you will want to know how it ends. Well told by two talented actors.
Tuesday, 18 May 2010
Blood Brothers Review
This was meant to be a podcast but as I don't have a dictaphone I had to do it like this. I hope it is alright, there may be a few little jumps and pauses, my webcam obviously doesn't like working properly so sorry.
Anyway this is a review from the national tour of Blood Brothers, I hope you enjoy it :) x
Saturday, 24 April 2010
Happy Birthday Billy!!!!
Happy 5th Birthday Billy
Billy Elliot the Musical
31st March
Victoria Palace Theatre
As I walked down the red carpet surrounded by paparazzi I knew tonight was going to be special.
The atmosphere in the theatre was electric, I have never felt such a huge buzz in a theatre and the anticipation of what was to come hung prominently in the air.
7.30 came and went and the audience was getting restless with excitement. 7.40 rolled around and on to the stage stepped Stephen Daldry, Lee Hall and Elton John. They gave a very personal speech about how working for Billy Elliot has affected them, including tears from Elton and then it started.
The show was absolutely brilliant. It is no wonder it has survived five years in the West End despite the economic troubles that have faced many productions.
The adult cast was fantastic but it has to be said that the true stars of the show are the children, they completely outshine the adults and how they have so much talent at such a young age is beyond me.
Billy was played by thirteen year old, Londoner, Tom Holland. The talent that he possesses is just unimaginable. He owned the stage and had the audience on their feet on more then one occasion. The applause when he finished the signature dance of Electricity with a wall flip was totally out of this world, it was like an explosion.
Eleven year old, Connor Kelly took on the role of Billy’s best friend Michael and he did so with so much passion. During his song Expressing Yourself he totally owned the stage.
At the end the audience were treated to a mind blowing Billy Elliot mega mix featuring nineteen of the past, present and future Billy Elliot’s. It was so fast paced with flips here and flips there, blink and you missed it but it was amazing to witness as it is unlikely to happen again.
If you are yet to see the show, make sure you do and here is to hoping it lasts another five years, if not longer.
Some articles/videos from the night;
http://www.hellomagazine.com/celebrities/201004013211/elton-john/billy-elliot-musical/anniversary/1/
Thursday, 18 March 2010
The Spare Room
The Spare Room
Hammerpuzzle Theatre Company
Chapel Arts Centre, Bath
Wednesday 20th January 2010
The Spare Room is an adaptation of Swiss dramatist Friedrich Durrenmatt’s, 1956 tragicomedy The Visit. The original play focuses on themes of punishment, moral strength, greed and revenge and features a whole town of characters. Hammerpuzzle’s interpretation still heavily focuses on the original themes but the characters have been cut right down to five making a much more intense, claustrophobic atmosphere.
One of my friends said, “I felt the performance was very much of GCSE standard” If that is how I performed when I did my GCSEs I think I would be a famous actor by now.
I thoroughly enjoyed the play, it was intensely gripping and had me hanging onto the edge of my seat right up until the final plot twist unfolded.
The actors were all extremely talented, especially the ones playing children as that can often proof very difficult. I actually felt like I was watching children act as opposed to watching an adult act like a child.
The set was simplistic; everything on stage had a purpose. A table doubled up as a bed. This added to the stylised feel of the piece and the audience having to use their imagination.
I feel this play would do really well as a touring production that visits primary schools. It is highly entertaining and humorous yet educational due to its themes. I think this play would really appeal to a younger audience; it would be easy to understand and would grip their attention.
I look forward to seeing what Hammerpuzzle ‘s future productions will bring.
If you fancy checking them out for yourself visit the companies website at http://www.hammerpuzzle.co.uk/
The Pillowman Man
The Pillowman
University Theatre - Friday 19th February 2010
Having watched an A Level short performance of The Pillowman I was really interested to see what the play was like as a whole and I was not disappointed.
The play was written in 2003 by Irish playwright Martin McDonagh. An exhilarating dark tale of a writers twisted child murdering stories coming to life.
The acting was completely flawless; you could not say a bad word about any of the actors. They were a very talented group of young adults that could go on to be stars.
Chris Caines as Katurian, the author had an unbelievable amount of lines to learn and had to hold together the whole play but he did so amazingly, he was word perfect and delivered each line with the right amount of emotion.
Michal the brother with learning difficulties was absolutely brilliant. His movement and speech was spot on. He really created a sense of vulnerability and innocence, which then contrasted well with what he had done in acting out his brothers’ stories.
Ariel and Tupolski, the cops where like a comedy duo, playing the ‘good cop bad cop’ stereotype perfectly, they injected humour into the piece which had the audience in fits.
The set was very simplistic but I liked that as I think it gave the actors the chance to stand out and show how talented they are, that they do not need big fancy sets in order to look good.
Although this play was almost three hours long I found the time seemed to fly by as I was so gripped by the action. As a first performance by a newly developed theatre company I would say it was a great success and I wish them every luck in the future.
Link to the events page for this production http://www.bathspampa.com/bathspalive/event-view.php?location=%2Fevents%2Fevent257
5 Mini Reviews
Mini Reviews For Blog – Term 2
Legally Blonde
Omigod you guys, it is amazing. A breath of fresh air, just want the West End needs. A hugely talented cast of actors and not forgetting dogs. Gives the audience real escapism into a world of fashion, sorority and Chihuahua’s. One not to be missed.
The History Boys
Alan Bennett triumphs again. The play set in a 1980s fictional Grammar school tells the story of a group of boys preparing for Oxbridge entrance examinations with guidance from three contrasting teachers. The boys are interested in sex, sport and doing as little work as possible to gain their university place, which makes for witty entertainment.
The Pillowman
An exhilarating dark tale of a writers twisted child murdering stories coming to life. You could not fault the talent of the actors, an extremely strongly acted piece. All the characters were portrayed so differently, whether by the use of accents or gestures etc that made it interesting to watch as no character was similar to another.
The Spare Room
Everything changes when Sophia comes to stay. A successfully adapted version of The Visit. Funny, entertaining yet the climax is ultimately chilling.
Hedda Gabler
Although the simple set design was stunning and the script well acted it was slightly slow moving. Maybe too naturalistic, it lacked a wow factor.
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