Memphis the Musical in the West End

So on Thursday 30^th July me and Mother travelled to London to see Memphis the Musical (MTM) at the Shaftesbury Theatre. Mother is not the greatest person to travel with as she does have a tendency to sleep during travel which is not exactly exciting for me; so I was with ole Zoe Ball and Jeremy Vine on BBC Radio 2 while she had a snooze. We had a lovely day in London going to a few shops on Oxford Street and mum treat me to a new blazer (thanks Mother). The funniest thing was when we were in Primark (can’t beat it!) at the tills. A lady on the store speaker announces “Can person x please make their way to the exit as your mum is waiting for you”; my mother starts to panic as she thinks the lady on the store speaker has announced “please go to the exits as there is a bomb”. WELL, I am in hysterics at this and cannot stop laughing and cannot walk. This is so funny; Mother is super deaf and miss-hears everything. Anyway what a laugh! Followed by a wine at Leicester Square (I can get three bottles for the price of a large there) and a rushed but enjoyable tea. Then it was off to Shaftesbury Theatre.

 

So we arrive at the Shaftesbury Theatre and this is another theatre I have never visited before; although it has hosted many great hits in the past. This was a gorgeous theatre and the interior décor was to die for; very pretty and grand to say the least. The programme was also divine. As you know I do love a programme and this one is beautiful with big glossy pictures, cast lists and information on how the show was created (a real keeper in my eyes). This leads nicely onto the creative team. David Bryan who is best known as one of the founding members of Bon Jovi and the keyboard player in the band wrote the music and lyrics for Memphis the Musical. It first hit Broadway in 2009 after successful showings from 2003 off-Broadway. It arrived in the West End in 2014 and is sadly due to close late in 2015 (around October I think), as Motown: The Musical is due to start showings in February 2016 at the Shaftesbury (which already sounds exciting). Bryan’s music in the show is immense and I have since bought the original London cast album which I have not stopped playing. With the support from Joe DiPietro who wrote the book and lyrics for the show the original score is addictive. With songs that I can’t stop listening to, including ‘Everybody wants to be black on a Saturday night’, ‘Someday’, ‘Radio’, ‘Memphis lives in me’ and my favourite ‘Steal your rock ‘n’ roll’. As already said the show is due to close in October 2015 which is a great shame and if you can make it go see it before it closes.

 

The show itself is spectacular. It won the WhatsOnStage Award for Best New Musical in 2015 which I believe it truly deserved. It was nominated for 8 2015 Olivier Awards for which it won Best Theatre Choreographer (Sergio Trujillo) and Best Sound Design (Gareth Owen). The dancing routines in Memphis the Musical are pleasing to the eye. I did not know where to look at some points as there was lots going on in some of the routines; which was fab! Everyone was in sync and by the end of the production I was up myself giving it the boogie with Mother. Unfortunately Memphis did not win the Olivier for Best New Musical although it was nominated. The 2015 award was tough competition from Beautiful, Sunny Afternoon and Made in Dagenham. I wish they all could have won as they all have/had their fantastical points. Levels are well utilised in Memphis. The stage is used to its full potential and the big song productions of ‘Steal your rock ‘n’ roll’ and ‘Radio’ are gorgeous. Costume design was great and the 50’s style was evidential. As said previously I love it when you can see the instruments and orchestra on the stage and this was repeated in Memphis the Musical and on some sings a screen was lifted to show them off; which is great for them as they can sometimes be forgotten when so much is going on. There were definitely elements of Hairspray, especially with some of the race and ethnicity storylines. However this does not deter Memphis from being its own huge success; which it definitely is.

 

Beverley Knight’s voice is huge and soulful; giving me a full body of goose pimples. I loved how much she enjoyed being on the stage and portraying Felicia. She appeared so happy with the reaction she received (a full standing ovation which she well deserved). I cannot wait to see Knight portray Grizabella when Lloyd Webber brings back Cats to the London Palladium later this year. The original Huey was portrayed by Killian Donnelly who has now left the production of Memphis and is getting ready for Kinky Boots (I have tickets for this so wait for that post). So I will hopefully be seeing Donnelly even if it’s not in Memphis (however he sings on the London cast album). Donnelly was replaced by the 2010 X-Factor winner Matt Cardle. I was pleasantly impressed with Cardle’s performance. I never really watched him on the X-Factor and felt I would love to go and see him live. Although I am so glad I have eventually seen him live. He gave a great portrayal of Huey, being funny, sincere and cocky near the end. His voice is fantastic and really booms in the auditorium. I really hope this is not the only West End show Cardle will star in. The role of Gladys (Huey’s Mother) is played by Claire Machin and she has a great role within the musical. She is funny and her southern USA accent is fab! Her main song, ‘Change don’t come easy’ is one of my favourites and she really gives it some welly; I found her very impressive. One more mention is the role of Gator (played by Tyrone Huntley). Gator does not speak until the end of Act 1 however when he does break into voice and song, well, you know about it. He is a cute lil thing and his voice is huge. Fab little singer and I think he will soon rise to bigger stardom in the West End. So I urge people to go and see Memphis the Musical before it soon comes to its end. There is a recorded version from the Broadway production which is on sale at the theatre and on the theatre’s shop website (Memphis shop). Although this will not give you the same experience it is still worth seeing. Unfortunately it will not star Knight, Cardle or Donnelly however it will have the fab Broadway cast which I am sure deliver just as good as the West End cast. So only one thing left to say; HOCKADOO!!!

 

Sunny Afternoon, The Kinks Musical

So day two in London begins and me and Ma Beezie had a fun night in the Belgrave Hotel near King’s Cross. As this is not a blog about hotels I have stayed in I will not dwell on the night in hand – it was not the best hotel I have stayed in. However we had a fun night and we even dragged me up; see my alter ego Facebook page (Erica!) currently named Erica Shon but thinking of adapting my name to Mis Sogynistic (comments welcomed). This is a work in progress and one day I will be as big as Ru Paul (LOL!). Anyway we start the day by going to visit ZSL London Zoo – I do love a zoo and love wildlife and the natural Kingdom. It is crazy to think that a zoo is in the middle of London and right next to Camden Town. There were some gorgeous animals there and some really really cute babies such as the baby gorilla and baby monkeys.  I prefer ZSL Whipsnade Zoo but the London cousin is still impressive although I would like some of the enclosures to be a little bit bigger and one lizard tried to escape! The eventful part of the visit was by far the giraffes. Well what seemed like a mating ritual the two giraffes were obviously in love and wanting a little giraffe in 15 months. We were not sure if they were displaying mating and courting behaviour (after a Google search on the way home we confirmed some of it was and some was new behaviour undocumented). Well I wish the giraffes of ZSL London Zoo all the best for their future. But the funny part of the visit was the parents explaining what the animals were doing: “Oh they are cuddling each other”, “maybe they are mother and daughter”, “the girl is kissing the boy giraffe”. BE HONEST WITH YOUR CHILDREN – THEY ARE MAKING A BABY AND IT DON’T INVOLVE NO FLYING STORK. Anyway wherever me and ma Beezie go there is always a drama LOL!

 

So I will move onto the second show we saw, Sunny Afternoon on Tuesday 28^th July 2015 at the Harold Pinter Theatre. Again this is not a theatre I have been to before and I love it. A small theatre tucked away just off Haymarket. It is so beautiful inside with baby blue and gold decor it really is a spectacle and I hope to visit this theatre again in the future. The stage comes out into the audience and some of the seats are set up like being in a little cocktail bar with seats and a table (and of course the Prosecco). I am not sure if this was only for this production but it was certainly effective. Anyway I only wanted to see this show as it won the 2015 Olivier Award for Best New Musical so I thought if it wins that it has got to be worth seeing. Watching ‘Made in Dagenham’ and ‘Beautiful’ (both nominated for the same award) earlier in the year (and unfortunately before this blog started) I was expecting great things as these shows were amazing and after seeing them I thought they deserved the award. Well Sunny Afternoon definitely deserved the award and Ray Davies has definitely a success on his hands which I hope runs for a long time as I would definitely see it again. If you are not sure of the story of Sunny Afternoon it follows the development and career of the famous band The Kinks. From their start up, difficulties keeping royalties and giving their managers way too much, from dynamics in the band going from good to bad to break up and also the relationship and love of Ray Davies with his wife Rasa. I absolutely loved this musical and would recommend all to see whether you are a fan of The Kinks or not.

 

Any fan of a rock concert and a musical will feel very at home seeing Sunny Afternoon. It incorporates the big productions of some of the famous Kinks songs alongside some dancing, gorgeous costumes and some comedy; where can it go wrong (it doesn’t). I am a big fan of actors on stage playing the instruments themselves (‘Once’ is another good musical where this style is used and succeeds in every manner). All the actors on stage play an instrument at various points of the performance. As I said it is like going to see a rock concert so if you struggle with loud noises take some bloody ear protectors. Some of the great songs such as ‘Lola’, ‘Sunny Afternoon’, ‘Waterloo Sunset’ and ‘You Really Got Me’ all feature in the musical and delivered in a unmistakably Kinks finesse; which if you closed your eyes would feel like one of the albums was being played. I also love a bit of confetti falling from the heavens of the theatre and if this ever happens I get some as a souvenir from my visit to the theatre – in my programme now I have a handful of red, white and blue confetti.

 

John Dagleish who played Ray Davies was amazing – he interacts so well with the audience and portrays Ray with ease. His voice is great and as said previously definitely could leave the Harold Pinter Theatre and start up his Kinks tribute band and live quite happily off the profits. Dagleish deserves his 2015 Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical. The other band members Edmund Derrington playing Pete Quaife and Adam Sopp as Mick Avory also give an outstanding performance. The role of Dave Davies is usually played by George Maguire who won the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical. The performance I was at Dave was portrayed by understudy Ryan O’Donnell and he definitely will go far in his musical theatre career and would be the ideal replacement if Maguire decides to leave the show. Elizabeth Hill plays, at parts of the performance, Mrs. Davies the mother of the brothers and her performance is definitely of comic value and I wish I was sat in the seat where she interacts with the audience member when The Kinks are on Top Of The Pops. One more mention of a part is to Tam Williams who plays Grenville Collins – because he was gorgeous and his accents are to die for – grand job. So if you want to go see The Kinks, a West End Musical and get up and have a dance I suggest going to see Sunny Afternoon (KINKS!) as this will kill three birds with one hell of a gemstone.  

 

The Elephant Man, with Bradley Cooper

Hello again! I know it has been a while but I have been to see a show in a while and I thought seen as this was a musical theatre blog it would seem silly to just pop in and say hello (maybe I will next time there is a lull in my theatre antics). But, I am back and like buses, you wait ages for one and then three come along at once and this week I am going to see three shows in the West End so a lot of blogging to be had. My first two consisted of a double bill with Ma Beezie (Kayleigh who has been mentioned previously). We had arranged to go see a play and a musical this week and god I am glad we did. Before I get onto the first play we saw, The Elephant Man, I have to tell you briefly about our first day in The Big City. Well we arrived and headed to St James Park as I really wanted to see the pelicans. Well after what seemed like a twenty mile walk and a 20p toilet stop off (ridiculous) we found the pelicans and I was very pleased. They were quite far away but we did see them (however if you want a better look at pelicans go to ZSL London Zoo – see next blog). However I have provided picture evidence of the pelicans. This was followed by a little trip to the V&A Museum. I do like a museum and The V&A is a very grand one. We went to see the section they have on theatre and performance – it was fantastic to see some of the old costumes that were wore in the theatre and some modern ones too. I even tried one on but I am not providing a picture of that as I had the worse double chin ever – a visual illusion I still protest. However as always I have digressed and taken up a huge paragraph of my blog. So The Elephant Man …

 

 

So, on Monday 27^th July 2015 I went to see The Elephant Man at the Theatre Royal Haymarket (I love Haymarket and why the hell is it not on the Monopoly board – answers on a postcard please). Well as the blog suggests this is a musical theatre blog and I do love me some musicals. However I do also like the odd play although I do not often go and see them. I would not have seen this play however Ma Beezie wanted to go and her fiancée bought it as a birthday present for her. So I agreed to go along too and well I was very impressed. The theatre is a gorgeous little theatre – been past it loads of times as its right near Trafalgar Square, the only thing I did not like was the camera police who were crazy and also the Oscar Wilde room which row M (the row we were on) were all allowed in – we never saw the door to this room let alone the inside of it. Anyway following the huge success this play received on Broadway it has come over to The West End. All three main characters received nominations for Tony’s and I hope they are nominated for the 2016 Olivier’s as they definitely deserve it. Bradley Cooper plays John Merrick (aka The Elephant Man). Cooper by far is the best on stage from start to finish and it is completely different from some of his Hollywood performances we are all familiar of. He portrays Merrick in such a caring, innocent and empathic manner and he deserves high recognition for it. It also doesn’t hurt that Cooper starts off the play in his briefs which is worth the ticket cost even if the play was rubbish (which it wasn’t!).  Alessandro Nivola, another famous actor from Hollywood, gives a grand performance and is on stage more than any other character I perceived. He portrays Dr Frederick Treves who helped and cared for Merrick. Again the relationship between Merrick and Treves is compassionate although sometimes overly medicalised but this is a reflection of the times the play was based on. Again with two brilliant actors this relationship was portrayed gorgeously. Patricia Clarkson who played Mrs Kendal also played a smashing part and even had a naked seen (never seen a live naked scene in the theatre and it was somewhat artistically beautiful). The only thing I wish to have seen was some prosthetics on Cooper. Although he played the part of Merrick wonderfully with his body language, limp, immense facial expression and the adaptation of his voice a bit of prosthetics can’t go a miss. However who needs a fake face and head when Cooper delivers the part.

 

 

Unfortunately this production of The Elephant Man only had a 12 week run in The West End and closes on the 8^th of August 2015 (The Elephant Man). This is such a shame as I know there will be thousands of people who will not be able to see this fantastic, warming and emotional play. I would love to see this play go on tour around the United Kingdom and even if the three main parts are not played by the three talented actors I saw I still believe with the creative team working hard as they do this could be a successful smash-hit tour. I need to go and see more plays and not focus so much on musicals (but I love them too much). If by chance you are in London and there are spare seats at the Theatre Royal Haymarket get your cash out and go see it – you will not regret it. Right got to write blog #2 now.