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.  

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’.