Theatre Trip: Jeremy Jordan

JEREMY JORDAN

Cadogan Hall

Date: 26 October (Saturday), 7:30pm

Seats: Centre Gallery, D33

(Seen solo!)

Notes: After getting back from Majorca less than 24 hours ago, I was already off to my next concert! This concert was scheduled for last year, however was cancelled before I bought tickets. I was going to go with my friend Karla last year, but now she has moved back to Australia, so I went on my own.

Cadogan Hall is a new venue for me, and it was lovely! Even my £12 seats had a great view, and I'm not sure there would be a bad seat in the house. It's a large hall with a church kind of aesthetic and acoustics and it was lovely.

Jeremy Jordan was amazing! I wasn’t familiar with his entire history, but he was fantastic in Smash and I’d seen other clips of him singing and knew that it would be a great concert.

He sang a lot of medleys, mostly for things he had been in - Smash, Bonnie and Clyde, Newsies, plus a Disney princess medley as well! He also sang an original song as well as some pop songs. I think, for me, the most interesting part was when he did a whole  bit about the Greatest Showman movie. He actually recorded the demos of the album, and was on track to play Philip Carlyle (the part played by Zac Efron in the film), and he went into the green light performance to sing both that part and for Hugh Jackman. Unfortunately, that didn't go well because Jeremy was unwell, and then he also found out that they had Zac Efron in talks. It just sounded like the most frustrating situation.

Such a lovely concert and we got two curtain calls before he shooed us out! He was also very funny which was not expected and made the night all the more special. I'm definitely going to keep my eye out on other concerts at Cadogan Hall in the future.

Half Term Holidays: Majorca Escape

This last week we have been enjoying perhaps the most relaxed holiday I’ve ever had (certainly it has been the most relaxed since I got married) and it has been such a pleasant time. I was going to do a daily blog post, but then I was also too busy relaxing - plus, we haven’t been doing enough stuff to warrant a post every day.

We got up Sunday morning and took the long route to Heathrow (the district line trains weren’t running last weekend, which was a pain). With a lunchtime flight, we didn’t have to get to the airport too early which makes a nice change to previous trips. The flight was fine - we had been warned that it might be bumpy, but that didn’t really eventuate which was good. We landed around 4pm local time and then went straight to the coach for the transfer to the hotel. It took us about an hour to get to the hotel. We were in a 4 star, adults only hotel which I requested after the last half term of business at school! Our room was small but there are lots of communal spaces which we certainly used.

Every day we went to the beach, which is only a few minutes walk away from the hotel. The weather certainly wasn’t great early on in the week, with lots of threatening clouds and rain on and off, but when it was clear we tried to make the best of it. A typical day looked like this: sleep in until 9-9:30, breakfast buffet, the Husband going for a ride and me crafting/relaxing/going for a walk/having lunch, then us going together to the beach, then resting in the room, before a shower and going out for dinner. Then it was time to sleep and do it all over again.

In terms of dinners, most were fine. We had 2 tapas, one italian, but the highlights were the seafood restaurant we went to (Las Sirenas) and the burger place (my personal favourite - called New Cacao). They were great! 

I have to say that was so great. Even when on holidays at home, I feel the pressure to do things - whether it is washing, sewing, or other busy things. Here I only had the things I brought, so I could be much more relaxed. I read a whole book (Carrie Hope Fletcher’s newest novel, In the Time We Lost), finished a cross stitch, and generally had a lovely time.

Now today is Friday and it’s going home day. And the weather is great today! Luckily out flight isn’t until 10:20pm, and our coach pickup is 6:40pm outside the hotel. So we basically get another whole day! The downside is that now we might not get back until 2am from the airport, but at least we don’t have any plans until Saturday afternoon. On the plus side, we are already intending to make this a yearly October half term trip - for the Husband to cycle, and me to relax!!!

Theatre Trip: Ian McKellen on Stage

IAN MCKELLEN ON STAGE

Harold Pinter Theatre

Date: 18 October (Friday), 7:30pm

Seats: Royal Circle, B7-8

(Seen with Richard!)

Notes: Ian McKellen is a legend. He is so well known for many things, from Gandalf to Magneto, and he has been around so many famous actors and actresses. And when he turned 80, instead of throwing a fabulous party (which to be honest, he may have done anyway), he went on tour doing a solo show around 80 venues. He is now settled in London and we booked tickets which were above our usual budget (of about 25 pounds) to get to see him live.

We met 45 minutes before the show and picked up a swift sushi dinner so that we weren’t going hungry... And then we headed straight in! We were booked in the Royal Circle, the second floor up and although even in Row B we were supposed to have the safety rail in view, which we did but it was barely noticeable so I definitely would recommend those seats for the price.

This was really a show for theatre lovers. The first act, Ian opened with the famous speech that Gandalf does in Lord of the Rings (YOU. SHALL NOT. PASS!) and then he talked about his family, his childhood, and how he got into acting. He began by attending shows and fell in love with the theatre, and then he wanted to be behind the scenes, then on stage... It really resonated with me. My favourite moment in Act 1 was actually when he talked about poetry, then he recited Gus the Theatre Cat by T. S. Eliot! I love those poems and the Cats musical, and Ian is playing Gus in the film which is out in December; it was quite magical to hear him recite this.

Act 2 was really interesting. Ian has done a lot of Shakespeare in his time, and he had with him a copy of every single Shakespeare play. Then, with the house lights up, he invited the audience to call out the names of Shakespeare plays - we were able to name them all eventually. As they were called out, he picked up each copy and told a small story - about something famous and interesting in the play, about his roles in them, and for some he even recited sections (Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet). That was really interesting and makes me want to see more Shakespeare - particularly I want to go and see the RSC at Stratford-Upon-Avon next summer! So hopefully I can do that.

Sir Ian McKellen really is an amazing human being, and he has so many interesting stories to tell! We really have been lucky to experience him live, and he really is doing amazingly at 80 and beyond. I feel so lucky to have had that experience.

Theatre Trip: Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT

New Wimbledon Theatre

Date: 11 October (Friday), 7:30pm

Seats: Upper Circle, G1-2

(Seen with Jess!)

Notes: This trip I had booked quite a ways in advance, not wanting to miss out on this classic Australian  show. It has actually been around for quite a while, but when it was on in Australia I missed it (I don't know how) and I didn't want to miss my chance  again. Priscilla is based on the film from the early 90s which is perhaps one of the most iconic Australian films of all time. Weirdly, Jess has never actually seen it, but I had seen it many times and know it very well. I knew that it could never replace the film, particularly with such iconic actors in it (Terence Stamp, Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce) and such a bold story.

They adapted the movie into the musical really well. It maintained its character quite well, with most of the iconic moments and lines remaining in the show. The biggest change they made was to the costumes, with none of the costumes from the movie in the show. I assume that was simply logistics, with the three main boys changing costumes into and out of drag quite a lot and needing to be able to sing and dance in them night after night. But the best lines and moments were all there for those who know the movie like me! The accents in the show were quite good too, despite only one actor being Australian (oh, actually, I was guessing about that based purely on the Neighbours and Blue Heelers in his credits - a pretty safe guess though!)

The music in this show is fantastic. It uses songs featured in the movie such as 'Shake Your Groove Thing' and 'Finally' plus so many other chart topping hits. It really has you dancing, clapping and wanting to sing along! As they don't sing (in the film), when the boys are performing they have actresses on stage singing the tunes so that it is still live.

I thought the casting was great on the whole. The biggest disappointment for me was the role they added to the beginning of the show, to ‘warm up’ the crowd I guess. She was Miss Understanding, and she was camp and over the top in the worst possible way. I thought she was tacky and was very glad when, after her initial introduction, she came off stage and barely returned for the rest of the show. For the best, I think. The standout in the main cast was Jacqui Sanchez (Cynthia). Her part was just hilarious and had everyone in hysterics (I was crying with laughter!)

But then there were the three boys! Miles Western (Bernadette) was beautiful and graceful and had a lovely face to pull off drag. Nick Hayes (Felicia/Adam) was absolutely gorgeous - the first time you see him it’s just his butt, and that got a cheer! But he was fabulously camp and made a really good Adam. His acting was also great during the tough moments in the show that he goes through! Then there was Joe McFadden (Tick/Mitzi). He played really well in both the male and female roles, I thought he passed for both really effectively! His is a big role and he really did it well - plus, we got all of that feeling right up the back of the theatre in the cheap seats.

For me, not a groundbreaking show, unlike Preludes, but a fantastic Friday night out after a long week!