Shrek the Musical on tour

So this evening (Friday 19th June) I have been out to Norwich Theatre Royal to see Shrek the Musical (shortened to Shrek for my sanity and potential finger arthritis) on tour. This is not the first time I have seen Shrek; I first saw it last year at The Leeds Grand Theatre with my best friend Kayleigh - way before this blog began. The first time was a fabulous evening, although we were late to the show and missed the beginning. An evening performance of Shrek starts at 7:00pm sharp not the typical 7:30pm, so if you are going to see this show on tour - be aware and don't be late. I hate late people and if I owned a theatre late people would be turned away.  Shrek has been the only time I have been late for a show, and I intend it to be the only. I bought these tickets for the Shrek performance as a present for my sister's 20th birthday . However, as my sister likes to be dramatic, she decided to give birth to my gorgeous little nephew a month early so he arrived this week as opposed to mid-July; however I wish her and him all the best and they are both doing really well. I show you me and my baby nephew and my nearly three year old niece.

So welcome to the world Arnie! So last minute I asked my mother's best friend Wendy (and one of my bestest too) to come along to Shrek and mother said she would pay for it as an early birthday present for Wendy. Well anyone would have mistaken us for two 14year old girls at school. All we did was laugh constantly and take the piss out of other people; Wendy brings the worse side of me out. We had started off the evening with a meal and glass of Merlot (250 ml of course). Have to say thank you to Uncle Neil for the meal; shame the Ivy was closed. As always I digress but we had a fab night, lots of laughing and talking about old times (an old wrestling friend had me and Wendy nearly wetting ourselves - but we will leave that as our little secret). All that matters is this is not the one and only time I plan to go to the theatre with Wendy.

I will talk about Shrek now as that's what the blog is about. What a fantastic show, really loved it. Although it is aimed at children I think adults will absolutely love this show and there was definitely a lot of adults without kids there tonight. The music and lyrics are fabulous and all original songs which I love (apart from I'm a believer of course - which is a fab curtain call to end on) so thanks David Lindsay-Abaire (book and lyrics) and Jeanine Tesori (music). My favourite songs have to be 'I know it's today', 'morning person', and 'this is our story'. The best song for me is 'who I'd be' and I personally find this song emotional - even if it is about an Ogre. The acting and singing were fab, although one character steals the show for me and that is Lord Farquaad (portrayed by Gerard Carey); he plays a fabulous camp short guy and the character works really well within the whole show. Dean Chisnall (Shrek and was in the West End production of the show), Faye Brookes (Princess Fiona) and Idriss Kargbo (Donkey) were also great. The perfect singing voice comes from the dragon (Candace Furbert) who has a gorgeous and powerful soulful voice and I think will be someone we will see more regularly in musical theatre. One thing I really enjoyed about the musical was the references to other very well known musicals; this was something any regular theatre goer would appreciate. The references to Gypsy, Les Miserables, Lion King and Wicked were obvious to me. I am sure there were others I missed so would love you to let me know about them.

I would highly recommend people going to see this show, especially while it is on tour in the UK (Shrek on Tour); currently running until February 2016. If you and your children are big Shrek fans check out the new London Shrek Attraction ( Shrek Adventure). It is great to take your kids to see or other young persons in your family. Equally it is perfect for a date night or just for good friends to go along and see. There is frequent subliminal adult humour and Julian Clarey would love the double entendres. One thing that can be a 'pain' for some people is children in the theatre. I had kids near me moving and fidgeting, falling asleep and talking throughout (poor Wendy had the gold medallist for laughing behind her). This is something that is expected when seeing a musical for kids unfortunately. If you are unable to go see this on tour or do not like the idea of a theatre full of children there is a filmed version of the Broadway production available on DVD which is fabulous (I have seen it twice). The leads Brian d'Arcy James and Sutton Foster are amazing and there are some differences between the West End/UK tour and Broadway versions (personally West End wins outright on the Dragon scene). So definitely go and see it; you will never look at an Ogre the same way again.

Gypsy, Savoy Theatre

So on Saturday 13^th June 2015 I travelled to London with my Nan (yes I mean Nan not man, HAHA!) to see the matinee performance of ‘Gypsy’. Just a quick note on my lovely Nan (Cora); My Nan was the lady who got me into (somewhat hooked) musicals when I was a young boy (I sound old I am 26). The first musical I saw was ‘Cats’, one of the best from Lloyd Webber. ‘Cats’ is my favourite musical to date (I have seen it 4 times, one with Nicole Scherzinger and I am hoping to go see it again with Beverley Knight as Grizabella). Anyway the point I was trying to make was that my Nan is often my companion to many of the shows I see (and a woman who has had two knee replacements managing to get around London and use the underground network, well she’s a great hero and musical role model). Anyway I have divulged and it’s my first blog of a show – sorry (if you are going to be a regular reader you may have to get used to my divulgent personality J).

 

So, Gypsy. Well I have to say it was an amazing show and I am so glad to have seen it. I knew very little about the show and story before going to see it (the story being great so let’s thank Arthur Laurents). The main reason for my purchase of the ticket was to see a favourite actress of mine – Imelda Staunton (For whom I love for her roles in Harry Potter and Pride. As well as this I know she won the Olivier Award for best actress in a musical for her portrayal of Mrs Lovett in ‘Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’ in 2013 – I did not see this although there are some awesome YouTube clips of her immense skills, so check them out - Imelda in Sweeny Todd - Priest).

 

 

So as I was saying I did not know much about the show or its back story. I had heard of Gypsy Rose Lee and I love a bit of burlesque. Well the show was amazing I absolutely loved it. The music from Jule Styne and the lyrics from the great Stephen Sondheim were fabulous and some of the songs I had heard before. I have since downloaded the 2015 cast album and is my current driving music. I actually did not like the character of Rose (played by Imelda Staunton). I have never been a fan of pushy parents and wished they would let their kids be free – look what happened to Baby June. Although I do see the good Rose gave her kids from her pushiness, they were both great successes. I loved the fact that the show was focused on the mother and not on Gypsy (Louise) herself. As I said on my introductory post I am also interested in psychology and understanding the reasoning behind Rose’s pushiness was that she was living her own dreams through her children which in itself is quite sad.

 

Imelda Staunton has a fabulous voice and her American accent was cute. She belted out ‘coming up roses’ and ‘Rose’s turn’ which gave me goose pimples. I really hope she is nominated for the Oliver Award for Best Actress 2016 for her role as Rose. Both supporting actor (Peter Davison as Herbie) and actress (Lara Pulver as Louise) were also good however I feel the outstanding performance from Staunton outshone both of their performances.

Gypsy is only on a short run at The Savoy Theatre (a great theatre, my first visit although the stairs are a nightmare – again well done Nan!). Visit the website (Gypsy) to find out more about the show, cast and creatives and GET A TICKET! I thoroughly recommend seeing this show before it ends on 28^th November 2015 (which is the extended date); who knows I hope there will be a tour. I would be very tempted to go see this show again. I guarantee you the show will “entertain you and make you smile!” A joke for the Gypsy fan.

 

 

Hello and Welcome to my Blog!

I have been thinking about writing a blog for a long time now and have never gotten around to writing it. My biggest passion and hobby in life is theatre, particularly musical theatre. I am often found on my days off in the West End or travelling to see touring shows. I absolutely love watching a musical and wanted to write ‘reviews’ for the shows and plays I see. I put ‘review’ in quotation marks as I am not going to be overly critical I just love the majority of musicals; however I want to share my experiences and encourage others to go see shows or chat to others who share this passion – so get in touch!

 So although I have seen loads of musicals in the past (and I certainly do not have the time to trace back and write a ‘review’ for each one) I am going to start from the last one I saw. I have called my blog ‘Addicted to Musical Theatre’; as I work in psychological services when I am not blogging I would say I do have an addiction to my hobby (although this does not impact on my functioning and therefore not all addictions are necessarily bad – sorry I divulge). Anyway please read on and get in touch would love to get to know all those other ‘addicts’.