Coliseum Theatre
Date: 30th April (Monday), 7:30pm
Seats: Upper Circle E11-14
Date: 30th April (Monday), 7:30pm
Seats: Upper Circle E11-14
(With Richard and friends!)
We have friends in town from Canberra, just for a few days, and when we had dinner on Sunday and they mentioned they were thinking of seeing a show, I was like, 'Well... I can help you with that!' Immediately I suggested Chess as a different and interesting show to see that they wouldn't have seen before. They went to TKTS on Monday morning and picked us up seats together in the upper circle for £30 less than face value!
This was my second time seeing this show, but not this production - I went to Chess in Concert, a concert version which wasn't fully staged, back on my GAP year in 2008. Main cast was Josh Groban (Anatoly), Idina Menzel (Florence), Adam Pascal (Freddie), and Kerry Ellis (Svetlana). It was amazing, even though I had terrible seats, knew nothing of the plot beforehand, and mostly went to see Idina and Kerry. Now I know much more about the story in the musical and the story of the musical.
It was a rush after a hectic day at work, but totally worth it. The first thing I noticed was the staging - full of squares, so it looked like a deconstructed chess board. They had moving set pieces with staircases attached, and the transitions and stage were really well managed. The front square, where they played the chess matches in the show, moved upwards so that everyone could see better. They used camera work and the set was a giant display, even with moving parts to let actors on and off. When it was down, it exposed the orchestra who were sitting above the stage, and when it was up you could even still see through it to the orchestra - I loved that. The cameras worked really well for the chess matches, and the reporting elements of it, sometimes the actors were facing away from the audience but the camerawork still let us see everything.
And the chorus were great! Actually, they had acrobats, aerial silk people, a lady in a hula hoop, and even a cheerleading routine! So so brilliant - all the countries were really well represented and given an atmosphere even though the set itself was very neutral.
Highlights of the more minor cast members for me, I was intrigued to see Sabrina Aloueche as part of the chorus. She was in the cast of We Will Rock You playing Scaramouche when I saw that back in 2008! Interesting to see her again. I also quite liked the guy who played Molokov (Phillip Browne), he was very good vocally, and dropped down the octave occasionally which always surprised me and made me smile.
Of the four main cast, one was definitely more of a disappointment than the others. Alexandra Burke, of X Factor fame, played Svetlana, and she was just too much a pop star for my taste. She had a funny way of moving her face when she sang which I found very distracting and I couldn't understand her words as clearly because of how she was singing, which was a shame.
Freddie Trumper (Tim Howar) was brilliant. He had the perfect mix of old school rocker vocals with enough musical theatre to make it work. Richard thought we may have ended up with the understudy (apparently he left the opening performance 4 days ago after Act One when his wife went into labour!), but he was obviously back, and he was brilliant. So emotional in Pity the Child too.
The main character, Anatoly, was played by the legend that is Michael Ball. Judging by the cheering, he was a main draw for many people at the show, and I thought was very excellent. The only downside I think for me was that when I saw the Chess in Concert performance in 2008, Josh Groban was absolutely incredible and that may have ruined Michael Ball's performance a little. It was absolutely a fantastic performance, but I'm not sure I'd choose him over Josh.
For me, the absolute stand out of the show was Florence. I was amazed to see that she was being played by Cassidy Janson - my very first Elphaba. I first saw Wicked on 13th February 2008, and at the time she was the standby Elphaba. I remember being disappointed she wasn't Kerry Ellis, but she was very good back then. Now she is incredible! Her vocals struck the perfect balance between musical theatre and pop vibes, it blended perfectly with Michael Ball, and she had so much emotion. At the end when they left each other, she even shed a tear. A real tear! So amazing.
I am so glad we have seen this production and not missed it, especially because it is only running for 5 weeks... Except it was so good now I want to try and get rush tickets and see it again (maybe even from the front row?)... I don't if our moving-house-month budget will stretch to that, but I'll campaign hard. I want to see it again SO BAD!
We have friends in town from Canberra, just for a few days, and when we had dinner on Sunday and they mentioned they were thinking of seeing a show, I was like, 'Well... I can help you with that!' Immediately I suggested Chess as a different and interesting show to see that they wouldn't have seen before. They went to TKTS on Monday morning and picked us up seats together in the upper circle for £30 less than face value!
This was my second time seeing this show, but not this production - I went to Chess in Concert, a concert version which wasn't fully staged, back on my GAP year in 2008. Main cast was Josh Groban (Anatoly), Idina Menzel (Florence), Adam Pascal (Freddie), and Kerry Ellis (Svetlana). It was amazing, even though I had terrible seats, knew nothing of the plot beforehand, and mostly went to see Idina and Kerry. Now I know much more about the story in the musical and the story of the musical.
It was a rush after a hectic day at work, but totally worth it. The first thing I noticed was the staging - full of squares, so it looked like a deconstructed chess board. They had moving set pieces with staircases attached, and the transitions and stage were really well managed. The front square, where they played the chess matches in the show, moved upwards so that everyone could see better. They used camera work and the set was a giant display, even with moving parts to let actors on and off. When it was down, it exposed the orchestra who were sitting above the stage, and when it was up you could even still see through it to the orchestra - I loved that. The cameras worked really well for the chess matches, and the reporting elements of it, sometimes the actors were facing away from the audience but the camerawork still let us see everything.
And the chorus were great! Actually, they had acrobats, aerial silk people, a lady in a hula hoop, and even a cheerleading routine! So so brilliant - all the countries were really well represented and given an atmosphere even though the set itself was very neutral.
Highlights of the more minor cast members for me, I was intrigued to see Sabrina Aloueche as part of the chorus. She was in the cast of We Will Rock You playing Scaramouche when I saw that back in 2008! Interesting to see her again. I also quite liked the guy who played Molokov (Phillip Browne), he was very good vocally, and dropped down the octave occasionally which always surprised me and made me smile.
Of the four main cast, one was definitely more of a disappointment than the others. Alexandra Burke, of X Factor fame, played Svetlana, and she was just too much a pop star for my taste. She had a funny way of moving her face when she sang which I found very distracting and I couldn't understand her words as clearly because of how she was singing, which was a shame.
Freddie Trumper (Tim Howar) was brilliant. He had the perfect mix of old school rocker vocals with enough musical theatre to make it work. Richard thought we may have ended up with the understudy (apparently he left the opening performance 4 days ago after Act One when his wife went into labour!), but he was obviously back, and he was brilliant. So emotional in Pity the Child too.
The main character, Anatoly, was played by the legend that is Michael Ball. Judging by the cheering, he was a main draw for many people at the show, and I thought was very excellent. The only downside I think for me was that when I saw the Chess in Concert performance in 2008, Josh Groban was absolutely incredible and that may have ruined Michael Ball's performance a little. It was absolutely a fantastic performance, but I'm not sure I'd choose him over Josh.
For me, the absolute stand out of the show was Florence. I was amazed to see that she was being played by Cassidy Janson - my very first Elphaba. I first saw Wicked on 13th February 2008, and at the time she was the standby Elphaba. I remember being disappointed she wasn't Kerry Ellis, but she was very good back then. Now she is incredible! Her vocals struck the perfect balance between musical theatre and pop vibes, it blended perfectly with Michael Ball, and she had so much emotion. At the end when they left each other, she even shed a tear. A real tear! So amazing.
I am so glad we have seen this production and not missed it, especially because it is only running for 5 weeks... Except it was so good now I want to try and get rush tickets and see it again (maybe even from the front row?)... I don't if our moving-house-month budget will stretch to that, but I'll campaign hard. I want to see it again SO BAD!
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