Theatre Trip: Man of a La Mancha

MAN OF LA MANCHA

Coliseum Theatre

Date: 29 May (Wednesday), 2:30pm

Seats: Stalls, Row C 7-8

(Seen with Jess!)

Notes: I was introduced to this show by the Theatre Club Podcast, and although it had already been on my radar, I had heard mostly negative things about the show. But it was reviewed positively on the podcast so I figured we'd give it a go. Jess and I went to the matinee showing during half term, and although we got our tickets through the TodayTix rush, the tickets aren't selling well so the rush seats are prime seating in the stalls which are worth up to 400% what we paid!

I was a little conflicted about this casting. They had cast Kelsey Grammar in the lead role, and I really had no experience of him as a stage performer. His acting was great and I thought he was a great character, but vocally he just didn't have the chops. He was mostly in tune, but it lacked the oomph that I wanted and it was quite often flat. I think though that this show needed a "name" to help sell tickets, because it's a show that hasn't been on stage really at all since it was first on in 1968. It would not have done well without a mainstream name to help things sell, I just wish they could have found someone who was a bit stronger vocally. However, they did a great job casting everyone else. The ensemble was fantastic, but the main reason I had come to see this show was Cassidy Janson, who was playing the role of Aldonza/Dulchinella. She is sharing the role with the opera singer Danielle de Niese, but because I have seen CJ in many roles (most notably as Elphaba in Wicked and in Chess last year as Florence) I really wanted to see her play this role. It worked out well because CJ does all the matinee performances and it's currently half term. She was brilliant - she truly is a superb musical theatre star.

The plot of this show is a little... Mad. It's set in a prison where the prisoner is putting on a play. The play is about a man who is mad and believes himself to be a knight (Don Quixote). So it's a play about a delusional man within a musical. Luckily this works because the songs and lyrics lean into the crazy and the show as a result was much funnier than I expected, with funny songs as well as lines. I did enjoy the plot as I didn't know what to expect and I think that was a positive for this show.

The real highlight for this show was the music and the orchestra. Being a musical about a Spaniard, the music is very heavily flamenco inspired and the Coliseum really took advantage of that by using a 40 piece orchestra to play... And they were fantastic! A sweeping score with trumpets and multiple guitars to really enhance the Spanish flavour of the show. I love a show with a full orchestra.

So this show was a lot better than I expected. The reviews I read implied it would be kind of a train wreck, but I found great music played by a beautiful orchestra, a funnier than expected plot, an incredible supporting cast and a fabulous lead female performer. I just wish that Kelsey Grammar had been stronger vocally.

Theatre Trip 50: Ain't Misbehavin'

AIN'T MISBEHAVIN'

Southwark Playhouse

Date: 21 May (Tuesday ), 7:30pm

Seats: The Large, Row C 11

Notes: When listening to the Theatre Club podcast, they recommended the show Ain't Misbehavin'. When the tickets became discounted, I picked one up for just £15 for Tuesday night. It was kind of a whim, and I am very grateful for that.

This production was at the Southwark Playhouse, a new theatre to me. It has a full bar out front and many people were bringing drinks into the show as well. There are two theatres in the Playhouse: the Little and the Large. We were in the Large, although it was still quite small, with what must have been 100 people max in the whole space. It had a real community feel and was a really intimate feeling performance.

I was seated next to a group of older people (although it was a much older audience overall) and the man next to me kept interrupting the show. I realise that he was probably just overexcited but he kept saying "wonderful", "well done" and other things during the numbers. He also clicked/clapped along when no one else did, and even got told off for tapping his wine glass on his metal chair by the people in front. It did ruin the experience a bit for me as it kept bringing me out of the show and back into the real world, but I was able to (mostly) ignore it. Other than that I didn’t mind going to the theatre alone, and that’s probably good because I’ve booked a couple more solo shows over the next few months!

The music for this show is all the music of Fats Waller, who wrote most of his music in the 1930s and 40s. Jazz is not a musical style which I am familiar with but it was bouncy and bouyant and just so full of life. I only recognised one song, which I had sung in my school choir days, and that was ‘Handful of Keys’ but we had sung it in a very different style and so I barely recognised it.

The show had a cast of only 5 and they were all referred to only by their real names - Adrian Hansel, Renee Lamb, Carly Mercedes Dyer, Landi Oshinowo, and Wayne Robinson. And they were fantastic! On for pretty much every minute of the show, there was very little dialogue so it was all singing, all dancing all the time. I think my favourite performer was Renee Lamb, who was so physical and extremely sassy throughout! Her voice was familiar to me as I have been listening to the cast recording of Six on repeat and she was the original Catherine of Aragon in that. All the perfomers were fantastic but I think for me tonally and in terms of the timbre of her voice Renee was my highlight.

Because of the physicality of this and because there are so many songs, the runtime of this show was quite short. Each act was 45 minutes with a 20 minute interval in between and actually that was the perfect length. I didn’t look at my watch once which is always a good sign! A fantastic way to spend a Tuesday evening and a brilliant way to spend 15 pounds. You couldn’t get a more different experience from my last 15 pound show (American Idiot) if you tried!

Theatre Trip: American Idiot

AMERICAN IDIOT

New Wimbledon Theatre

Date: 17 May (Friday), 8:30pm

Seats: Dress Circle Row G 7-8

(Seen with Jess!)

Notes: When TodayTix had a £15 sale on, I had a look through tickets and was reminded that this show was coming to Wimbledon on tour. For £15, why not? This musical is using the songs from the Green Day album American Idiot which was an album I was obsessed with at one point in my teenage years. So this was a great way to spend a Friday night!

The music of this show is all the music from the Green Day album American Idiot. While I always thought it was more of a concept album, this musical has lyrics by Billie Joe Armstrong (lead singer of Green Day), and he also co-wrote the book so it is very closely linked. In fact, there are also b-sides from that album and a few songs from their other album 21st century breakdown.

This did lead to issues with the plot though - it was never very clear what the characters were doing and where their arcs were headed. In fact, I got the whole way through the show without even realising what the names of the characters were (St Jimmy was obvious, but it took other characters within the show referring to others by name for me to work it out), especially for those characters who aren't named after songs (Whatsername, Extraordinary Girl).

The cast was pretty great for this. They all had a fantastic energy which allowed them to really have the energy required for the umping around and head banging. The main trio - Tom Milner (Johnny), Joshua Dowen (Tunny), and Samuel Pope (Will) - all had their respective strengths and were all perfectly cast given their storylines. I think my favourite character was St Jimmy (Luke Friend), as he was so full of life and even a rebel when compared to the main three. I also really liked both the lead females, as played by Sam Lavery (Whatsername) and Alexandra Robinson (Libby) as they were very engaged and emotional (particularly Libby).

The staging of this production was interesting in that it didn't change for the whole show, but a few set pieces would come in and out during the show. There was a bit more suspension of disbelief than most other shows. There was a smaller part of set which was up above the main stage, which allowed for two stories to be taking place simultaneously. The upper floor was half this set, and half the band, which left when they weren't playing, but were on stage for a lot of the show. And honestly, I think the band was the best part of this show.

Unfortunately, for some audience members they clearly didn't pay attention when booking - I spoke briefly with a lady in the bathroom queue who had booked thinking this was a concert by the actual Green Day. I don't know why you would think that Green Day would play the New Wimbledon (sorry Wimbledon), but they did seem both confused and disappointed. And I think quite a few people were disappointed, because there were definitely more empty seats after the interval.

And I think I might agree - it definitely wasn't great, but given we only paid 15 pounds and the New Wimbledon is such a lovely theatre, I definitely don't regret it. Glad to have had it as a theatre experience, as always.