Theatre Trip: Legally Blonde

LEGALLY BLONDE

New Wimbledon Theatre
Date: 21st June (Thursday), 7:30pm
Seats: Upper Circle A 4-5

(With Jess!)

Understudies: Rebecca Stenhouse (Elle Woods), Alexandra Wright (Margot)

This week sees Legally Blonde in the New Wimbledon Theatre, and with Richard away in Iceland on a solo hiking trip, it's perfect timing for a girls night out! Jess and I met in Wimbledon after work, and pretty much headed straight to dinner (best burgers at Five Guys). Jess even stayed the night after the show, which was really cool. Haven't had a girls only sleepover in ages!

I have seen Legally Blonde before, just never live. There was an MTV broadcast of the original production which I've watched multiple times, but this show is definitely worth seeing live instead.

They had updated many of the references and lyrics to be not only more relevant, but less American. They also changed almost an entire song (Ireland), to be funnier given the relationship between England and Ireland. All the changes really worked and I found them great.

We had a few understudies for this show. Lucie Jones has been cast as Elle Woods (she represented Britain last year in Eurovision), but she was out. Instead, Rebecca Stenhouse played Elle Woods, and then Alexandra Wright played Margot, one of the main sorority sisters.

In terms of casting, some were really great. I think my favourites were Paulette (Rita Simons), along with Kyle the UPS guy. Paulette's voice was husky and rough, and so vibrant, she was absolutely show-stopping in her solo numbers. I was disappointed in Professor Callahan (Bill Ward) - I think he was the token 'famous' person in the cast, but he barely sang at all and didn't have the right 'sinister' vibe for my taste. Sad, because his song "Blood in the Water" is a great song. I also enjoyed the girl who played Enid (Nancy Hill), she was really fun to watch on stage. The guy who played Emmett (David Barrett) wasn't quite what I had hoped for in terms of looks, but he was great vocally.

Elle Woods (Rebecca Stenhouse, the understudy) was absolutely brilliant! She got every laugh line, sang beautifully and blasted the roof off when she needed to. A brilliant substitution for the part!

There was even a megamix on the end of the show, with most major number redone on stage, and they were so great. We got a lot of eye contact from Emmett because we were in the front row of the upper circle, and we were the only ones standing through the megamix. In fact, we danced and clapped our way through it, having a great old time!

West End Live 2018: Day One

Hi all (well, probably just my family)! This blog has changed it's name, and that's because we've moved! We no longer live in Lambeth, but moved to Wimbledon. We now have a much bigger 2 bedroom flat, with space for my sewing room, a bike storage room, a beautiful kitchen, and soon to be a kitten!!!

Today was my favourite free event in London - West End Live. Almost all the theatre shows on the West End put on shows for free on a massive stage in Trafalgar Square. It's madly popular and I've now been 3 times - 2008, 2017 and 2018!

We got in later than we intended (I went with my friends Jess and Michelle!), and actually missed the first show, which was Everybody's Talking About Jamie, but we didn't mind missing that one. We got to a decent spot in time for the second show. All in all, we stayed until about 2:30, and saw Aladdin, Motown the Musical, Wicked, Kinky Boots, Matilda, Bat Out of Hell, Phantom, Les Mis, Tina, Strictly Ballroom, Dreamgirls, Chicago, Mamma Mia, Little Shop of Horrors and Thriller Live.

I think my favourites were either shows I love, or shows I really want to see but haven't yet: Wicked and Matilda in particular for the former, and Strictly Ballroom, Chicago and Little Shop for the latter. I guess I now have my plans for the summer to line up and get cheap seats!!! The new Elphaba (Alice Fearn - it's changed since I saw it last) was absolutely brilliant, I adore Matilda. Strictly Ballroom I think I need to see because it's so Australian and their accents definitely were, but not in a good way. Chicago I've loved for years and it's never been on in a place where I live, and Little Shop I don't know much about, but it's on at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre which is supposed to be a really cool and innovative venue. Oh, the plans!

It was such an exciting atmosphere - for ones with pop songs like Mamma Mia there's a bit of singing along and lots of dancing! There were some annoying tall people, but I guess they can't help that.

I'm headed back tomorrow, to catch Matilda (again) and Heathers which I'm really excited for... Carrie Hope Fletcher is in it!

Theatre Trip: Chess

CHESS

Coliseum Theatre
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!

Theatre Trip: Young Frankenstein

YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN

Garrick Theatre
Date: 25th April (Wednesday), 7:30pm
Seats: Stalls AA8-9

(With Richard!)

I persuaded Richard to download the TodayTix app recently, as we were talking about going to see Chess (rush tickets), except that yesterday when Richard went to buy the tickets, he accidentally entered the lottery for Young Frankenstein instead! And even though it took me months to win (and even then only got the second chance draw), he won on his first entry!

We had the understudy for the Monster (I didn't catch his name, as I didn't buy a program for my second viewing), who was not as impressive physically but much better in facial expressions and better in singing than Nic Greenshields, who was playing it last time. Also, Ross Noble is no longer playing the role of Igor - which is a real shame. He was incredible last time, and while Cory English was funny, he wasn't that star factor. I did almost feel like he was better suited to being a part of a show though.

The show itself was just as funny as I remembered it! Some of the jokes were updated, but even the second time around they were just as funny. Some highlights were the gag when Igor was getting keys, then dropped them on the floor (not sure if that was an accident or not) and had to look for them again! Hadley Fraser was in such hysterics, he needed a moment to recover and lost it on stage. He also lost it when Igor did 'walk this way' - it was so ridiculous that I though he was just going to refuse to copy it, but he rose to the challenge.

The performances were brilliant. Dianne Pilkington and Lesley Joseph are fabulous actresses, but I do feel a little like they are better suited to bit parts these days. Hadley Fraser I love, he's so captivating to watch. He had a great moment when the back of the board didn't come down, but luckily it doesn't make much difference to the musical number. 

And Summer Strallen - she's the best. Funny, a great singer, and an amazing dancer. Also, potentially the best goof I've seen in ages - during the final number of Act One (Transylvania Mania), while dancing she did the biggest high kick I've ever seen, and she flinched. I could have sworn she kicked herself in the head. And funnily enough, in the next line, as the chorus were singing and she was dancing right on the front of the stage, she said out loud, "Haha, I just kicked myself in the head!" I love that about front row seats, you get the best moments that way.

We also loved one of the swings - found her so captivating to watch and followed her through almost every scene. She was fabulous, Bethan Downing. It was her West End debut so we should keep an eye out for her.

Maybe next time we'll get tickets for the show we actually intend...

Easter Break: Spain Day 8

This morning, the rest of my family got picked up at 7am for their airport transfer. We got up to say goodbye, because after their next stops (Greece and Rome) they're headed home to Australia. Then, we went back to bed for a sneaky nap!

We got up and packed up the apartment, left our bags in a locker downstairs, ten headed out on our adventure for the day! First stop, up the green line (L3) to Park Guell.

The park was a little disappointing. Several of the buildings were at least partially closed, so we didn't go in any of them. That just left wandering around the park itself, which was nice but not terribly inspiring. The architecture was definitely Gaudi but because it wasn't as decorated in the way the other houses were. That made it less cool. So we wandered for an hour and a half or so before heading back into the gothic quarter to find some lunch!

As we emerged from the metro, it started raining!!! And it rains like Sydney, big drops not drizzle like London. So we ducked into the nearest bakery for lunch there - ham roll! Luckily the rain didn't last more than a few minutes, so we stayed dry and safe.

(Basilica kitty! We made friends)

We spent the afternoon wandering or at through the Gothic quarter, visiting Basilica de Santa Maria del Pi, an important Basilica which has been there since the 14th century and features rose window from the same period.

We also visited the Catedral de Barcelona, which was beautiful. You could even go up on the roof to see the top of the buildings in the gothic quarter! It was very nice. The rest of the time we just wandered, exploring the little streets and shops.

Eventually we reached the beach again, but when we went for a snack at our favorite tapas bar, their kitchen was closed! Weird, seeing as their kitchen seemed to close at a different time every day we visited. But we went for a walk on the beach, with no shoes on!

Instead of beach snacks, we went back to the empanada place we'd been to a few nights ago for a snack. It was still super delicious. Then, back to the apartment to get our bags, then to the airport!

We were going to get a bus as that seemed quicker, however the bus driver informed us (after walking 10 minutes to the stop and waiting 10 minutes for the bus!) that our ticket only works on the red buses, and this was a yellow bus! So we walked to the metro and took that instead. Probably should have done that in the first place. Our flight leaves at 8:30, and we'll be landed back in London before 10pm local time. Looking forward to having washed clothes, my own bed, and all our creature comforts back.

Easter Break: Spain Day 7

Spain Day 7

This morning we let ourselves sleep in, and boy was it nice! Am looking forward to our bed back in London though, I have to admit... So we headed out a little after 10am, stopping briefly at a bakery on the way, and heading to Playa de Espanya. From there you can see all the way up the Avinguda de la Reina Maria Cristina to the Museum.

We walked up the avenue, admired the Magic Fountain (although it wasn't being magic yet), and walked up the steps to the Museum. We thought that was a good view, we hadn't seen anything yet! We followed the road around to the botanic gardens, to the Teleferic (cable car) up to Castell Montjuïc.

The ride was beautiful and the views only got better as we got higher, however the castle wasn't all that I'd hoped. It was cheap entry (€5, rather than the €25 we'd paid for Casa Batllo the previous day!) but it was rather small and very windy. Not to mention that we got there at lunch, but the car/cafe marked on the map was under construction and all they had was 5 vending machines! I was a bit grumpy about that.

On our way down we stopped at the halfway point to have a wander through the park, and then caught the cable car back to the bottom of the hill. From there, we got a funincular to the metro station, then headed to the beach! By this point we were ravenous (and it was 5pm), so we headed to the place Richard and I had had tapas a few days ago. We had a couple of jugs of sangria and tapas for our last proper meal in Barcelona, and a lovely one it was too! We were some of their last customers for the day, so they even gave us free shots of Limoncello!

By the time we got back to the apartment, it was 7:30, so we rested a while, then headed back to the Magic Fountain for the magic part. It does a light and sound display a few times a week at 9 and 9:30, and it was pretty spectacular! Lights, music and water all synchronised. Very cool.

We made a quick snack stop (and bathroom break) at a KFC, then headed back into the metro, returning to the Sagrada Familia so Richard could take some nighttime shots. He may have also slightly dropped his camera, but it seems okay. We got back on the metro just before it stopped running at midnight, then headed home for sleep.

Parents and David leave for their next destinations early tomorrow morning - we have one extra day, because we don't fly out until 8:30pm! So one more post before it's back to London...

Easter Break: Spain Day 6

Spain: Day 6

Today we had a most-of-the-day tour booked to take us up to Monserrat. Got up early again (this late night and early morning thing is starting to get to me...), picked up bakery breakfast (different bakery, of course), and walked to the tour office.

On the way on the bus we got some commentary, both teaching us about Monserrat itself and showing us varies other interesting points along the way. It took about an hour, but the last 10k were very windy and very uphill... Not so pleasant.

Once we got there, we were surprised how much there was. Lots of walking, hiking, rock climbing, as well as the monastery, Basilica, museum and an audiovisual installation. We had a little introduction to the place, were given tickets to the audiovisual installation and a liquor tasting, and set free for about 2.5hrs.

The Basilica was closed until 12 for religious services, so we all went for it liquor tasting. We tried 4 - one made with aromatic herbs (as a digestive), a walnut one, a hazelnut one, and a cream one (lemon and cinnamon flavour). Our favourite was the first one, so we ended up buying a bottle on the way back to the bus later on.

Then Richard and I decided we wanted to go on a short hike, so we caught the funincular railway (Sant Joan) up to the top, 970m above sea level. We were planning in a short walk around the top and riding the railway back down, but then we noticed that the walk all the way down would only take about 45 minutes, so we did that instead.

When we got down it was 1pm and our bus was leaving at 1:19 (the tour lady was very precise!), so we popped into the Basilica, which was lovely, bought or alcohol and headed back to the bus. We even had time to get some food! It was a lovely place to visit, although I do wish we'd had more time. A full day would have been better.

We got back to the apartment around 3pm, had a short rest, then Richard and I went to 2 more Gaudi buildings, Casa Butlla, and La Pedrera (Casa Mila).

Casa Butlla was incredible - it's all based on an underwater theme, which is very evident. The walls aren't straight, but curved to feel like sea caves, with sky lights all over the place to let in natural light. It's really beautiful, and decorated in warm wood feels very cosy and home- like. The light well in the centre of the building was really cool too, with tiles getting darker as you got higher up (because there's more natural light higher too), and smaller windows so that the floor gets the same amount of light in. I really loved it.

Afterwards we went down the couple of blocks to La Pedrera (Casa Mila). It's a very impressive building from the outside, but you actually can't look at very much, because it's still mostly privately owned apartments. The roof was cool, but most of the rest was either information about Gaudi we knew from the other places, or not so interesting. Maybe we just hit or Gaudi limit?

After this we headed back to see parents (David having gone out to meet a friend for dinner), and decided that we would like not tapas for a change. We ended up at a yummy Italian place not far from the apartment, and after dinner stopped at a super meerkat (supermercat = supermarket in Catalan) to get some ice-cream! By the time we got back with then, David was back, so we were glad we bought extra. And then bedtime.