Hello all; this has been a busy
week for musicals and I apologise that it has taken me so long to write my blog.
I have suffered with the ol’ man flu this week and it hasn’t yet gone. I have a
low pain/illness threshold so a cold is a serious thing for me. Anyway on
Tuesday 13th October I travelled to Birmingham to see ‘Annie’ at the Birmingham Hippodrome. I
was working in Shrewsbury and had little to do during my evening so planned to
go and see Annie. I really couldn’t
be arsed to go with my man flu but as I had paid the money I motivated myself
to go. I rushed for the train as I have serious panic when times are involved;
hate being late for a train or performance. So I manage to get to the train just
in time! I have an awful story to share. I was sitting on the train happily
minding my own business, reading one of my books when a man turns to me and
asks what time the train is due to arrive at Birmingham New Street. I answer
the man politely, “six pm”, and he thanks me. Well the next thing he places his
hand down the front of his jeans and starts to rub his genital area, this is so
light itch. Well I am absolutely shocked and don’t really know how to approach
this situation. I mean if it was Colin Farrell I wouldn’t have exactly minded
but as it was an old guy on a Shrewsbury to Birmingham train my desire for him
was non-existent. I thought the best thing to do is stare at my book and
pretend to read; I couldn’t actually read I was appalled and mortified at this
man’s behaviour, in a public place – in day light! Luckily another gentleman
with decent social standards sat next to me and blocked the view of the man
having a quick Tommy Tank on the train. Right I have digressed into something I
had to share but want to permanently forget now. So I arrived in Birmingham and
had a little stroll to the Bullring where I had my Nando’s and a nice glass of
Pinot Grigio. The restaurant was so busy being 6:15pm so now I begin to panic
as I think will I get my food in time and will I make it to the Hippodrome?
Well I did get a table, I did get my butterfly chicken in time and I did down
my wine and ran to the theatre. Apart from my indigestion pains and heart
palpitations (me and running have never mixed) I got to the theatre in plenty
of time and settled in my seat. You may have realised I am all by myself on
this theatre trip. Some will think sad, and you are most probably right!
So the Birmingham Hippodrome is a
very modern theatre; even though it first opened in 1895. It did have an
exterior re-vamp in 2001 and it has had some serious work done to the interior
to, I imagine. It is a very nice place to go and see some shows and the décor
is really lovely and modern. The Hippodrome has all the facilities you would
expect to see in the West End which is why many of the big touring productions
have a stint at the Hippodrome. It is also a huge place seating just shy of
2,000 people. The staging was beautiful. I had never seen Annie on the stage before. I have seen three different versions of
the film production (my favourite one being the 1982 one with Carol Burnett as
the wicked but remorseful Miss Hannigan). I am not one for modernising
something that is fab so the new Annie
was good but nowhere near my favourite (although I do love Sia’s modernisation
of ‘You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile’ – I am such a hypocrite). The
props and staging were outstanding; and the jigsaw pieces reminded me of the Matilda staging. I am not sure if the
jigsaw pieces are usual staging material for Annie performances in the past, however it was really effective. Lighting
was also another positive of this touring show; the jigsaw pieces lit up and
the mood was wholesomely set from the lighting. I also loved the costumes in Annie; set in the poor streets of New
York City and the homeless people in Hooverville to the extravagant rich dress
sense of Daddy Warbucks and his staff are beautifully wonderful. One thing that
did let the costumes down was Miss Hannigan’s tights that were all scrunched up
at the bottom and this put me off (for this Mr Revel Horwood I give you a 6! –
Jokes loved you). The final thing I comment on before discussing the cast is
the songs; how I love the Annie
soundtrack and I have been singing (making up my own lyrics of course) all week
and visiting Mother and Father this weekend well it has got on their nerves;
“Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I love ya, Tomorrow”. Of course the classics of ‘Maybe’,
‘Hard Knock Life’, ‘Little Girls’, ‘Easy Street’ and ‘Tomorrow’ were all
fabulous and Annie’s songs melted my heart. I have of course purchased a
soundtrack and due to the popularity of Annie
there are so many to choose from. On iTunes many were Broadway productions
however being a huge West Ender I decided to go with a 1998 original studio
cast album. The cast (including Ruthie Henshall; love Ruthie as Grace Farrell),
has been in the car, in the shower and prior to sleep all week. Love It!
Right quick rundown of the cast
and my thoughts on them as I need to get two more posts done and due to
sickness and business I still have not written them. I have to say that the
cast were fantastic and all gave it 110%. I will start with my favourite
character, the horrible and mean Miss Agatha Hannigan. As I said the Strictly
Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood played Hannigan. He was great, good
singer, had the moves, funny character and that New York accent was fab. Apart
from his tights he really did the role of Miss Hannigan justice. I was worried
as I really wanted to see Horwood play the role however Lesley Joseph (best
known for her portrayal as nosey neighbour Dorien Green in Birds of a Feather)
is playing the part on Saturdays and I would still love to see her in the role
(it is running for a while so I may have to go back on a Saturday). Joseph has
played Hannigan before in the West End, at the same time as Lily Savage (a.k.a
Paul O’Grady), and boy would I have liked to see her (him) play the role. I am
sure Joseph gives a great performance so don’t be disappointed if you do not
get a chance to see Horwood; hopefully she can feature more heavily in a future
post. The role of Annie was portrayed by Sophia Pettit on the night I went to
see it (Team Waldorf; there are three sets of child casts alternating on this
tour, the others being Team Roxy and Team Astoria). What a bloody powerful
voice for such a little girl. Her voice really suited the songs of ‘Tomorrow’
and ‘Maybe’ and she deserved the standing ovation she received. The other
children (Molly, Pepper, Kate, July, Duffy and Tessie) also had great little
voices and boy did they have some moves; really puts my drunken Macarena to
shame! The other main characters who deserve a mention are Alex Bourne playing
Daddy Warbucks, Jonny Fines as Rooster and Grace played by Holly Dale Spencer.
All three of these had fantastic voices (I almost wish I had this cast recorded
album) and really added to the performance. As I have said I could have easily
been sat on Shaftesbury Avenue with a dreaded tube journey looming sitting
watching this rendition of Annie. The
final mention of the cast goes to Sandy played by Amber the dog (I do love a
live dog on stage for a musical). I really would urge people to go and see Annie on tour, I am thinking of going
again as it was honestly spectacular. The tour is showing until June 2016
however Horwood is stopping the role of Hannigan prior to this date where I
think Joseph will take over the role full time (not confirmed). It is going to
some big towns and cities up until this date so go and check it out!
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