Having been to the launch of Get Into London Theatre (which again is a whole other blog), I thought I'd check out what deals they had to offer. If you haven't already come across it, Get Into London Theatre is a scheme that promises "big shows at small prices" to encourage people to, quite literally, Get Into London Theatre - it does what it says on the tin! They are offering some fantastic deals but it was the £25 tickets to An Ideal Husband (full price over £50) at the Vaudeville Theatre that really caught my eye. So on January 12th off I toddled to the matinee performance.
I'm rather partial to a bit of Oscar Wilde although I don't pretend to be particularly clued up on his work, and this is a play I didn't know a huge amount about before I entered the theatre. It has all the complicated plot twists that you would expect from Wilde, along with the clever speaches and sharp humour. What I like most about his plays are the observations of people and society that are as true now as when they were written, and An Ideal Husband is a brilliant example of this.
The whole cast were superb and played their roles to perfection, with Alexander Hanson and Rachael Stirling as the leads and Samantha Bond as the villain of the piece. Worthy of a special mention was Elliot Cowan as Viscount Goring. His comedy timing was excellent and, as the plot became more and more complicated around him, with the tiniest of looks and facial expressions he had the whole audience laughing. His performance was complemented beautifully by Max Digby, who played his servant. Although he didn't have a huge amount to say, his entrances and exits were timed wonderfully for comedic effect.
Sadly, there were quite a few empty seats in the stalls where I was sat, which is a shame as such a fine production deserves to be playing to packed houses. I certainly wouldn't have been able to afford the full price of the seat I was in and I can't help but think that if the prices were a little lower, even if only for the matinee, then some of those empty seats would be filled. That said, this production is well worth the money so if you'd like to see it you'll find more information here:
http://www.vaudeville-theatre.co.uk/current-show.htm
And if you'd like to take advantage of one of Get Into London Theatre's offers then you only have until February 18th so check out their website now:
http://www.getintolondontheatre.co.uk/
Thursday 27 January 2011
Wednesday 19 January 2011
Australian Classic Rock Show
I saw a tweet from St David's Hall, Cardiff that was along the lines of 'retweet to be in with a chance of winning tickets.' Without paying much attention I hit retweet. I mean, who says no to the possibilty of free theatre tickets, whatever the show is?! I promptly forgot all about this competition until I got the message saying I'd won! What had I won? What was the Australian Classic Rock Show? I had no idea but on Friday 14th January I went along anyway. Like I said, who says no to free theatre tickets?!
Firstly, I had no idea what to expect from the venue. I hadn't been to St David's Hall since I was little so, although I remember seeing the Pink Windmill Show, I surprisingly don't really remember studying my surroundings. This time however, I was impressed. Comfortable auditorium with plenty of leg room and friendly, proactive staff. Having been an usher myself, it's always nice to see a front of house team that really ensure people can find their seats and are on the ball when it comes to people taking photographs, using mobile phones, etc.
As I walked into the auditorium, I knew I was in for a good night. There on the stage in front of me was a huge array of instruments, amps and speakers. Being a great believer in keeping music live I was in my element. I counted 11 guitars and basses on stage before the show started and even more appeared during the course of the performance.
The show itself is pretty much what it says on the tin. 10 singers and musicians perform to a phenomenally high standard tracks from classic rock albums of the 70s and 80s. Each one being introduced by a wonderful animation of a tie-dye t-shirt wearing, joint smoking, Jack Daniels guzzling kangaroo going through his vinyl collection. Being a presentation of album tracks, they weren't necessarily songs that I knew (I'm sure I was in the minority there) but when you've got music from the likes of Pink Floyd, Dire Straits and The Eagles being played by top quality musicians, who cares if you know every word or not?! Of course there were some highly enjoyable main stream classics in there too; Stairway to Heaven, Another Brick in the Wall and Hotel California to name but a few.
My only very small complaint about the evening was, although I loved the show and loved the venue, I'm not convinced they went together. I felt like I should have been stood at the front of the stage with a bottle of beer in my hand, not sat in a theatre seat. That said, it was a very enjoyable evening and I am so glad I won the tickets because I certainly wouldn't have gone otherwise and I would have missed out on an amazing night.
You can find out more about the Australian Classic Rock show here: http://www.theclassicrockshow.com/ and what's on at St David's Hall here: http://www.stdavidshallcardiff.co.uk/
Firstly, I had no idea what to expect from the venue. I hadn't been to St David's Hall since I was little so, although I remember seeing the Pink Windmill Show, I surprisingly don't really remember studying my surroundings. This time however, I was impressed. Comfortable auditorium with plenty of leg room and friendly, proactive staff. Having been an usher myself, it's always nice to see a front of house team that really ensure people can find their seats and are on the ball when it comes to people taking photographs, using mobile phones, etc.
As I walked into the auditorium, I knew I was in for a good night. There on the stage in front of me was a huge array of instruments, amps and speakers. Being a great believer in keeping music live I was in my element. I counted 11 guitars and basses on stage before the show started and even more appeared during the course of the performance.
The show itself is pretty much what it says on the tin. 10 singers and musicians perform to a phenomenally high standard tracks from classic rock albums of the 70s and 80s. Each one being introduced by a wonderful animation of a tie-dye t-shirt wearing, joint smoking, Jack Daniels guzzling kangaroo going through his vinyl collection. Being a presentation of album tracks, they weren't necessarily songs that I knew (I'm sure I was in the minority there) but when you've got music from the likes of Pink Floyd, Dire Straits and The Eagles being played by top quality musicians, who cares if you know every word or not?! Of course there were some highly enjoyable main stream classics in there too; Stairway to Heaven, Another Brick in the Wall and Hotel California to name but a few.
My only very small complaint about the evening was, although I loved the show and loved the venue, I'm not convinced they went together. I felt like I should have been stood at the front of the stage with a bottle of beer in my hand, not sat in a theatre seat. That said, it was a very enjoyable evening and I am so glad I won the tickets because I certainly wouldn't have gone otherwise and I would have missed out on an amazing night.
You can find out more about the Australian Classic Rock show here: http://www.theclassicrockshow.com/ and what's on at St David's Hall here: http://www.stdavidshallcardiff.co.uk/
Tuesday 18 January 2011
Showstopper! The Improvised Musical part 1
Welcome to my new blog. For those of you who followed my old one, I'm afraid you will find no potatoes here (sorry!). What you will find are reviews and ramblings on all my theatrical adventures, which are many and varied. It may only be January 18th but I've been to 6 shows/concerts in 2011 already, which I hope to catch up with blogging about over the next few days...or at least before my next trip!!
I want to kick off with my most recent adventure - the recording of two episodes of 'Showstopper! The Improvised Musical' for Radio 4 in the BBC Radio Theatre, Broadcasting House. I apply for free tickets for TV and radio shows all the time, with very little success, so imagine my surprise when I received tickets for three different recording dates of Showstopper. Unfortunately, I couldn't go on the first date I received tickets for (it was the same date as I won tickets to the Australian Classic Rock Show but that's a whole other blog) but on Sunday 16th January I hopped on the coach to London with absolutely no idea what to expect. I'd applied for the tickets on the basis that 'improvised,' 'musical' and 'free' sounded like a combination this onion would enjoy, and I wasn't wrong.
Showstopper is Who's Line is it Anyway? meets musical theatre in a fantastically funny combination. Each episode is half an hour long and creates a brand new improvised musical. The 'writer' asks for suggestions from the audience for a theme and location to set the scene and it is then up to the five actors, supported by two musicians and two backing singers, to improvise the story and songs. The writer has a bell that he can use to pause the action at any time for the audience to make further suggestions, throw his own spanners in the workers, re-cap on the plot for the audience when it's all gone a bit crazy, or just to ask what a 'minty' is!!!!
This is all presented by an incredibly talented group of performers. In each episode appear ten of the following core team: Chris Ash, Ruth Bratt, Julie Clare, Dylan Emery, Pippa Evans, Sean McCann, Adam Meggido, Philip Pellew, Nigel Pilkington, Andrew Pugsley, Oliver Senton, Lucy Trodd, Sarah-Louise Young and Duncan Walsh-Atkins. Not only are they a group of fantastic singers and musicians but their improvisation skills are amazing. In a split second they can describe their deepest feelings using the imagery of jelly, create a 14th centuary national anthem with the performers taking it in turns to sing one word each, or invent a 'minty'!
Having got a taste of a couple of the episodes, I'm sure this is going to be a really funny series and I highly recommend everyone checks it out. The series starts this Wednesday (19th January) on Radio 4 at 6.30pm. I'm not quite sure how far into the series the ones I was at will be broadcast but, without giving too much away, listen out for a murder mystery weekend and the peasants revolt. I'm really looking forward to listening to the whole series now and whether your passion is comedy, musical theatre, or if you just want to know what a 'minty' is then tune in.
The Showstopper team also perform full length improvised musicals and will be at the Ambassadors Theatre throughout February and March, as well as performances in Poole, Selby, Banbury and Brighton. Check out http://www.theambassadorstheatre.co.uk/ and http://www.showstoppermusical.com/ for more info.
I want to kick off with my most recent adventure - the recording of two episodes of 'Showstopper! The Improvised Musical' for Radio 4 in the BBC Radio Theatre, Broadcasting House. I apply for free tickets for TV and radio shows all the time, with very little success, so imagine my surprise when I received tickets for three different recording dates of Showstopper. Unfortunately, I couldn't go on the first date I received tickets for (it was the same date as I won tickets to the Australian Classic Rock Show but that's a whole other blog) but on Sunday 16th January I hopped on the coach to London with absolutely no idea what to expect. I'd applied for the tickets on the basis that 'improvised,' 'musical' and 'free' sounded like a combination this onion would enjoy, and I wasn't wrong.
Showstopper is Who's Line is it Anyway? meets musical theatre in a fantastically funny combination. Each episode is half an hour long and creates a brand new improvised musical. The 'writer' asks for suggestions from the audience for a theme and location to set the scene and it is then up to the five actors, supported by two musicians and two backing singers, to improvise the story and songs. The writer has a bell that he can use to pause the action at any time for the audience to make further suggestions, throw his own spanners in the workers, re-cap on the plot for the audience when it's all gone a bit crazy, or just to ask what a 'minty' is!!!!
This is all presented by an incredibly talented group of performers. In each episode appear ten of the following core team: Chris Ash, Ruth Bratt, Julie Clare, Dylan Emery, Pippa Evans, Sean McCann, Adam Meggido, Philip Pellew, Nigel Pilkington, Andrew Pugsley, Oliver Senton, Lucy Trodd, Sarah-Louise Young and Duncan Walsh-Atkins. Not only are they a group of fantastic singers and musicians but their improvisation skills are amazing. In a split second they can describe their deepest feelings using the imagery of jelly, create a 14th centuary national anthem with the performers taking it in turns to sing one word each, or invent a 'minty'!
Having got a taste of a couple of the episodes, I'm sure this is going to be a really funny series and I highly recommend everyone checks it out. The series starts this Wednesday (19th January) on Radio 4 at 6.30pm. I'm not quite sure how far into the series the ones I was at will be broadcast but, without giving too much away, listen out for a murder mystery weekend and the peasants revolt. I'm really looking forward to listening to the whole series now and whether your passion is comedy, musical theatre, or if you just want to know what a 'minty' is then tune in.
The Showstopper team also perform full length improvised musicals and will be at the Ambassadors Theatre throughout February and March, as well as performances in Poole, Selby, Banbury and Brighton. Check out http://www.theambassadorstheatre.co.uk/ and http://www.showstoppermusical.com/ for more info.
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