Theatre Trip: Sister Act

 SISTER ACT

New Victoria Theatre - Woking

Date: 24 February 2023 (Friday), 7:30pm

Seats: Upper Circle H,  15-16

(Seen with Jess!)

Notes: We were off to a new theatre today! We have never been to Woking before, let alone for a show. Used to going to Wimbledon for touring shows, this one seemed to be only at Woking before the end of the tour so off we headed! Jess joined me for this one - leaving work as soon as it was over to drive the 2ish hours around the M25. Such dedication to shows! She arrived at my place around half 5 and we chatted for a bit before leaving and driving to Woking to arrive there at half 6. It turns out the theatre is in a whole shopping centre, but at that time on a Friday the only thing in the centre open was the cinema, the theatre and the McDonalds. So burgers it is!

I was very familiar with the original cast recording for this show but actually they seemed to have changed the plot a little, and the music quite a bit. One of the songs has the same melody but totally different words! I started getting a bit worried about some of my favourite songs being missing but they were still there intact. The plot of this show is the same as the film, I think? It's been a long time since I saw it if I'm honest.

The show as a whole was really fun! It was definitely a Friday night vibe and a Friday night crowd, everyone was really into it. Unfortunately there was one cast member that I didn't like. It was a real shame that it was Sandra Marvin, who was playing the lead role of Deloris. She wasn't out of tune or anything, but she just took too much liberty with the songs and notes which I found frustrating. It happened too much and too often for my liking but the rest of the crowd didn't seem to mind.

It was a shame because there were so many other performances I loved. Lesley Joseph played Mother Superior (I have seen her in Young Frankenstein previously and thought she was fabulous, and Sister Mary Robert - who sings my favourite song, 'The Life I Never Led' - had previously played Tracey Turnblad in Hairspray and absolutely killed this role! A few of the other nuns also were great; Sister Mary Lazarus (Anne Smith) and Sister Mary Patrick (Catherine Millsom) killed their smaller parts.

Honestly the real standouts in this show were the boys! They were all great, but the standouts were the trio of boy backups. They were hilarious and so in sync with the cheesiest dance moves which only made them even funnier! But Eddie Souther though. Clive Rowe is a bit of a British theatre legend, although after googling him I realised I've only ever seen him in a single episode of Doctor Who (and he doesn't sing in that). But he was so good in this! His vocals blew me away and his dance moves were great too. My favourite moment by far was during his big number he was revealed through a velcro quick change that he had a disco suit on under his police uniform... Except he also had another police uniform on under that and there was another velcro quick change which took us both completely by surprise! What a great twist.

Well, I would definitely head out to Woking again. It's definitely not London or Wimbledon, but it's only a half hour drive from home! Totally worth it.

Theatre Trip: Moulin Rouge!

MOULIN ROUGE

Picadilly Theatre

Date: 24 January 2023 (Tuesday), 7:30pm

Seats: Stalls M,  12-13

(Seen with Richard!)

Notes: This ticket was also part of my Christmas/birthday goodness. I have wanted to see this show since it opened last year. I love the film and it is absolutely iconic! However, it also happens to be one of the hottest tickets in town and therefore on a weekend costs around £150 for a decent seat, so we hadn’t had a real reason to spend that much yet (even our tickets to Hamilton weren’t that expensive - they were only £100 which feels cheap in comparison) until we decided to do this festive season. We also picked a Tuesday night because the same seats that were around £150 were now £85 just by virtue of it being midweek. Normally I wouldn’t go to a show mid week now that we live in Epsom, but just this once it can’t hurt that much (and it didn’t!) and it was worth every. Single. Second!

I have to say, I much preferred this to the film, probably partly due to the live nature of it. It had a similar vibe to the opening sequence - opulent, decadent and a little overwhelming, but in a good way. When you enter the theatre, they've redone it with deep red velvet on the walls, and there are ensemble members walking around on stage. You have the windmill up on the left and the elephant on the right (I think they were in the boxes?) which were very cool and the large fluorescent 'Moulin Rouge' sign which moved up and down (starting down on arrival and moving when needed). It all felt very real and very fancy.

As well as the staging, I adored the costumes. So many corsets! So little other clothing! It was very showgirl chic, so corsets and tights and not much else. The leads costumes were great too - very similar to the film to match the aesthetic. Satine's outfits were gorgeous - I wish I looked half as good as her!

Of course the plot is the same as the film. They did move around a couple of the songs and give some to other characters but this didn't change the story line. They updated the music by adding more songs into each medley with updated references and they also changed a few songs (they lost 'One Day I'll Fly Away', replacing it with Katy Perry's song Firework - totally worked!) I really liked the updated songs and the pace of the references! They gave a more modern feel to the show which worked to refresh it for all of us who know the plot already.

Some of the secondary characters I really really liked. The Argentinean (Elio Lo Tauro) I thought was just mostly funny, until we got to Bad Romance and he really let loose - wow that guy can growl! So cool. I also liked the guy playing Toulouse-Lautrec. His Nature Boy was really sweet and despite not looking at all like John Leguizamo I thought he brought his own to the role really well. The Duke was also awesome (Ben Richards) - he was exactly the right mix of creepy and attractive and tread that line really well. Fabulous acting!

We had one understudy in the show - for Harold Zidler (Craig Ryder). He was so full of energy! I adored him and he seemed so at home on that stage playing that role you'd think he was born to it. Cheeky and a bit sexy and vocally great too.

But the two leads. Melissa James played Satine and she was something else. Tall, leggy, and incredible dancer - I couldn't take my eyes off her when she danced (all the sparkles certainly helped!) Her voice was gorgeous and she really took on the role seriously, her consumption slowly taking over was really well acted to be dramatic but not too much so. She was really great.

But the highlight for me which made me go now rather than later. I always wanted to see this show but when they cast Jamie Muscato (who had previously WOWed us in Heathers multiple times) as Christian I couldn't get there fast enough! And he absolutely slayed me. And the role. Vocal perfection. Saving the growl for the most dramatic number (Roxanne). He was absolute perfection and anyone who even slightly likes him needs to get themselves into that theatre IMMEADIATELY.

We realised during interval that there are seats right at the front. Looking it up later, they are called 'Can Can Seats', and they look amazing. The stage comes out in a T shape and there are seats in front of the T as well as behind the bit that sticks out. When we return to this show (which we inevitably will, as it will run for ages I'm sure!), I would LOVE to sit there and get up close with all the action. For a first viewing our seats were perfect for getting the whole picture but I love me a close up shot! Next time...

Theatre Trip: Wicked (#14)

WICKED

Apollo Victoria Theatre

Date: 21 January 2023 (Saturday), 7:30pm

Seats: Stalls B 25-26

(Seen with Richard!)

Notes: I had been muttering about seeing a show around my birthday - either Wicked or &Juliet, thinking I’d be doing Rush tickets and being perfectly happy with that. And then on my birthday morning, when opening my birthday card, inside was a piece of paper and a note. Richard had gotten us seats to Wicked on the second row in the stalls and a reservation for a Japanese BBQ restaurant! I’m so spoiled.

So on Saturday we popped into the city early for a bit of a wander before our dinner. Dinner was really great (one of those Japanese places where you order everything raw and cook it ourself on the grill), and we made it over to the theatre in plenty of time. We both thought that the cast change had just happened, but actually it doesn’t happen for a few more months so I was pleased to see no understudies and the full current cast.

Of course I know the plot and songs in Wicked super well, so I’m there for the nostalgia and to see the cast! We only had one substitution, which wasn’t listed in the theatre anywhere that I could see but I saw on the West End Understudies twitter page. Rhidian Marc played three roles in one show! He was the Witch’s Father in the beginning, then he was Doctor Dillamond (he’s the first cover for that role), then he was the Wonderful Wizard as well! He is the second cover for that part. I’ve never seen anything like it! He was also an amazing Wizard, with a lovely tone of voice and I thought he balanced the silliness of the Wizard quite well with the serious parts of his roles.

My favourite performers of the night were the three main ladies. Carina Gillespie as Nessarose was really powerful and I thought her acting was really good as well. Her learning to walk was really good and believable which I think could be hard, and while Nessa is only a small part it is mighty. If I was in Wicked I’d love to play her.

Helen Woolf was a beautiful G(a)linda! Her tone was clear as a bell and her top notes really rang true. There was no sliding which others have done in the past, intentional or otherwise. Just bang, top note! Perfection. She and Elphaba clearly know each other well and are friends in real life. Speaking of, I was totally chuffed to be able to watch Lucie Jones as Elphaba! I’ve seen her in several things before, notably Waitress and she is amazing. Beautiful tone and she did a couple of awesome riffs which had me in chills. She did look like she may be pregnant but vocally she blew me away. I’m so glad that I got to see her in this role!

I will need to go and see it again after the cast change - after this it will be the first time ever that all three leads will be played by black performers, and more people that I know and like or haven’t had a chance to see yet! But that will be for the second half of the year.

The Grand Bro Trip (Orlando, Florida) - Day 15

This summer holidays, my Bro and I went on the trip of a lifetime! 2 weeks of amazing times on the Grand Bro Trip in Orlando, Florida.

Day 15, 9/8 (Sunday)

The Final Day!

We were flying home today. We had prepacked most of our things before bed last night so we were able to stay in bed as late as possible before taking our luggage downstairs and checking out of the hotel. We left the bags there and headed over to Disney Springs. We just wanted to have one last Disney experience before we had to go home...

We started off at the same place we did last time - Earl of Sandwich. This time I knew better and only ate had my sandwich so it was not so crazy filling. Still delicious though! We went back through all the shops again (well, all the Disney ones anyway and a bunch of others) for a last browse. We realised that we had not bought any 50th anniversary merch, so I picked up a pin and a teeshirt and Bro also picked up a pin. Bro also picked up some cute ear for his travel agent as a thank you for her helping organise and book all his flights. Apparently once she received them she pit them straight up on display!

We toyed with the idea of buying more Gideon's cookies to take on the plane with us, however decided against it as the line was quite long. I did pick up another menu though so that I would have it for a souvenir.

We also headed over to the part that we hadn't explored yet, over near the Cirque du Soleil theatre. There was a Star Wars store and a Marvel one, where I finally succumbed to a mystery set of pins and actually managed to get the one I wanted! Very pleased about that. By this point it was raining quite a lot and didn't seem like stopping so we headed via yet another Uber to the hotel.

We checked the weight of our luggage and mine was just under, thank goodness. While I had that third bag, it seemed that I wouldn't need to use it - although my big suitcase was terribly heavy in the end! Then we headed off to the airport. We were very early but passed the time with one last browse in the Disney and Universal shops, one last meal together, and we even had time to share our favourite podcast before we had to say goodbye. We were headed off from opposite ends of the airport so we had one last hug before going through our opposite security checks and off to the gate.

My flight left at 8.40pm and I was lucky enough to not have anyone next to me for the flight home. I put some stuff on my chair, spread myself out and slept pretty much all the way! Then my lovely husband was kind enough to pick me up from the airport as it is a much faster drive than it is by train now that we are in Epsom (I flew in to Gatwick).

Home, and a bit sad about it.I now wear my merch as often as I can, use my Loungefly bags every day (my mickey ears one is my everyday handbag and my HP one my fancy bag!) and even had my favourite of the photos we took on the trip printed! Stickers to go on my work diary and fanfiction notebook, and actual photos for a frame I want to get for my sewing room wall. I even moved my furniture to make a space for it! Just need to put it up. 

What an amazing trip - we'll both remember it forever,

The Grand Bro Trip (Orlando, Florida) - Day 14

This summer holidays, my Bro and I went on the trip of a lifetime! 2 weeks of amazing times on the Grand Bro Trip in Orlando, Florida.

Day 14, 8/8 (Sunday)

Day 3 of Universal!

For our final day in Universal we had no express passes and no particular plans. We wanted to make sure that we had done all the things, so we started with a wander through the rest of the parks. We hadn't really done much with them as we were really only interested in the Harry Potter sections. We didn't do any other rides but enjoyed the vibes of the other lands and made sure we checked in every shop that we passed!

We also made sure on this day that we had things for the family - something for Mum, Dad, Grandad, the Husband, Bro's friends, mine... Either we got things at Universal or we made a list of what to get at Disney!

We did get back over to Diagon Alley to see the Tale of the Three Brothers show which was really awesome. They used puppets and told the story in a super imaginative way and the puppets were amazing! We also wanted to catch the Frog Choir but it rained in the afternoon so we didn't get to go and see it, sadly.

We had one final night left in the Aventura hotel which we whiled away after dinner packing and making sure everything would fit. I flew in premium economy which meant I could have 2 checked bags and had only used 1 on the way over, but I had packed an extra bag in my suitcase. However, I just managed to squeeze everything in, and we had plans to check our luggage weight the next morning before we head to the airport. Good thinking, for sure!

The Grand Bro Trip (Orlando, Florida) - Day 13

This summer holidays, my Bro and I went on the trip of a lifetime! 2 weeks of amazing times on the Grand Bro Trip in Orlando, Florida.

Day 13, 7/8 (Sunday)

Day 2 of Universal!

We had express passes again today but we accidentally hit snooze and slept in. We were feeling super worn out by this part of the trip - if I did it again, I'd like to have more park days, but with some breaks in between! In the end we got into the parks around 1pm ready for some rides. We headed straight to Diagon Alley and the Escape from Gringotts ride.

Bro had said that I could hack the Gringotts ride, so on I went. He is such a tolerant bro, reminding me that I can do it and I was so glad that I did. It was super! It was such a great mix of ride, which was almost too fast, then it would stop and there would be a screen section. I did take the 3D glasses off because that was a little much, but I really enjoyed the other aspects of the ride. Just enough adrenaline in the end!

After that I decided I wanted to do another ride before eating, so we jumped onto the Hogwarts Express over to Hogsmeade again and gave the Flight of the Hippogriff ride a go. It was the most traditional roller coaster that we rode the entire time we were there, including Disney! It was fast and rather furious, going around and around in a circle and only going for a minute but that was plenty for me!

With those few rides done I felt comfortable eating and was hungry so we headed over to the Three Broomsticks for lunch. I had a fish and chips and a(nother) frozen Butterbeer, and the Bro had the pasties and salad. More very nice pub food!

After that we headed over to the stage to watch the Triwizard Spirit Rally which was very cool. I loved seeing the costumes up close and in movement and the Durmstrang boys were really fun to watch jumping and spinning around. After the show it was time for more wandering and making sure we were buying all the things we really wanted to buy. Had to make sure we saw absolutely everything and we had lists to make sure we didn't miss anything we had to have!

By the time it got to dinner time we had decided that we didn't really want any of the CityWalk options (we found generally that the Universal options were not as good as Disney), and we weren't super hungry after a late lunch. So we actually popped into the cinema on the way back to the bus and picked up a nice big popcorn and some slushies.

We headed back to our room, cosied up in our beds and tried to watch TV. However the channels were quite hard to negotiate, so we ended up watching most of the Spongebob Movie while we ate our popcorn. Only one day left and then a free day before heading home. We were definitely experiencing some fatigue but also already some post-trip sadness. Just a few days left to go!

The Grand Bro Trip (Orlando, Florida) - Day 12

This summer holidays, my Bro and I went on the trip of a lifetime! 2 weeks of amazing times on the Grand Bro Trip in Orlando, Florida.

Day 12, 6/8 (Saturday)

Day 1 of Universal!

We were very excited to start the next (but sadly final) part of our trip - Universal Studios! We had 3 day, 2 park passes and express passes for both weekend days. As we learned at Disney we are not really rollercoaster people and Universal has many more rollercoasters and a lot with motion simulation, which really triggers me, so a lot of coasters were out. Luckily we didn't mind as we were intending on spending almost all our time at Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade.

We got up and ready, both put on our LeakyCon shirts, and headed over to Diagon Alley! We went in there first as we wanted to go on the Gringotts ride. We started with a very thorough inspection of every shop and store. There were so many awesome details in each and every shop, with immaculate theming, especially in one like Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and Eeylops Owl Emporium. The things in the shop were also themed, with treats and tricks at WWW, and magical creatures in the owl emporium. Once we had very thoroughly checked every shop we joined the line for the gringotts ride.

For Escape from Gringotts, you line up through the bank itself, walking through the main hall and looking at vaults until the ride begins. I was really worried about my ability to, well, not be sick on the ride, so Bro and I stood together in the line (so I could have the experience) and then I bailed before he got onto the ride vehicle proper. I went and checked out the gift shop at the end of the ride while I waited for him. When he came out he said that I would have enjoyed it a lot, so I decided to go on it tomorrow. Sadly our express passes only allowed us to skip the line once but we could go again tomorrow! Then we stopped for lunch at the best place to eat in Diagon Alley - The Leaky Cauldron! It was basically a British pub and I got a chicken salad and a Butterbeer. I LOVED the Butterbeer, it was the same as at the studio tour and I had forgotten how delicious it is!

After lunch we wandered through the shops once more and picked up a few bits, then jumped on the Hogwarts Express. The train connects the 2 Universal parks, going from Diagon Alley to Hogsmeade, and is a ride of a sort on it's own. There is a screen behind each window which chronicles the journey up to Scotland and the castle, seeing different familiar sights along the way.

Then you have arrived in Hogsmeade! We headed straight to the Hogwarts castle for the Forbidden Journey ride. This was another which I wanted to go on the line but not the ride. The line takes you through the castle and is an amazing experience in itself, and then again I bailed before Bro boarded the ride vehicle. This time though, he came out saying it was an excellent ride - but that it would probably make me feel sick! So I didn't go on it. After the ride we wandered some more shops (can you tell that we were enjoying the vibe of the place and making sure we saw absolutely everything?!) before heading back on the train (a slightly different ride going in the other direction) and heading back to CityWalk for dinner. We stopped back in at the main shops and I finally picked a Loungefly HP bag - I went with the Hogwarts castle one and it is absolutely gorgeous! I love it so much. I also a pin and a shirt and some other stuff, so had a big bag to carry back later!

We stopped for dinner at a bao place which was really good - I had some shrimp bao and pork bao which were really good. Then we went to the Cold Stone Ice Creamery, which is the same as cold rock back in Australia and got ice creams with mix ins. It was super delicious! Then it was definitely bedtime and so we headed back to bed.