Ordinary Days

Ordinary Days is a musical following the ordinary lives of four ordinary people living in New York, but ordinary is one thing this show is not. It follows the lives of couple Claire (Julie Atherton) and Jason (Daniel Boys) as they experience the joys and stresses of moving in together, and the seperate lives of Deb (Alexia Khadime) and Warren (Lee William-Davis) who form a friendship after Deb looses her graduate thesis notes and Warren returns them to her. Although completely unaware of each other, the two stories, written brilliantly by Adam Gwon, fit together and interact perfectly in a true to life way with the characters passing through one another's lives just like that stranger that you pass on the street every day. In fact it is in the truth of this piece that it's beauty lies. Each of these characters are somebody that you know or that you can see yourself in, experiencing events and emotions that everyone can relate to. I could certainly see different aspects of myself in each of the them, from Claire's hording instinct to Jason's 'seize the day' attitude and Warren's slightly rose tinted outlook, but it was Deb that I related to most closely. As she described how she carries with her everywhere a book containing her hand written graduate thesis, I was very aware that my own hand written masters dissertation notes were, as they usually are, sitting at my feet in a Spongebob notepad in my handbag! Couple this with over ambitious designs for the future and a general desire to always want to be somewhere else doing something else and who does that remind you of?

Of course, no matter how good the writing, a character is only believable if it is played in a believable way, and this cast were faultless. First to enter the stage was Lee William-Davis and from the moment he appeared I took to his portrayal of Warren. I'd not seen Lee in anything before but he's certainly one to watch out for in the future. He and Alexia Khadime bounced off each other brilliantly, with Alexia delivering much of the comedy of the piece with exceptional timing. Daniel Boys and Julie Atherton took the audience on a rollercoaster ride of emotion, through laughter and tears, as they gave the audience an insight into the strains of Claire and Jason's relationship without you ever taking the side of one character or the other. Both of them had me close to tears at different times, firstly Daniel Boys at the end of 'Hundred-Story City' and then Julie Atherton's deeply emotion filled rendition of 'I'll Be Here'. 

The whole show is sung and ran for around 80 minutes with no interval. I think this was the right way to go as an interval would have broken the flow of the piece. Telling a story entirely in song runs the danger of the songs working within the piece but not standing up out of context. While I was watching the show I was so engrossed in the story that these songs as a collective were telling that I didn't really expect to come out of the theatre with several of the tunes going round in my head...but they were and have been ever since! Ordinary Days has a wonderful catchy score and has left me very much wanting to buy the soundtrack.

I was lucky enough to catch Ordinary Days twice during it's recent run in Studio 2 of Trafalgar Studios (once on Friday 25th February then again for the last night of the run on Saturday 5th March). I love Studio 2 as a venue and this show worked brilliantly there. The intimacy of the tiny auditorium meant that the audience were really drawn into the story and felt like a part of it. There were a couple of instance when Alexia Khadime was looking me straight in the eye and talking directly to me! I had my concerns before I saw the show having heard that there would be a three piece band on the already small performance area with the actors but the staging was designed so that everything fitted neatly and effortlessly together within the available space. I was however a little surprised and disappointed that on both of my visits the auditorium was uncomfortably hot, and I really felt for the actors having to perform in those conditions. I saw Wolfboy in Studio 2 last summer when it was 30 degrees outside and it was cool in there then so I'm not really sure what the reason for the sauna conditions was this time. I was also surprised to find that on my second visit there were no longer programmes available and apparently this had been the case for a few days. This may not sound very long but with only a four week run it becomes quite a significant length of time and doesn't really reflect very well on the venue if they cannot provide people with programmes.

Ordinary Days is a beautiful and emotional piece of musical theatre that I would happily go and see again and again. I sincerely hope that we see another production of it very soon.

10 - Daniel Boys' Cabaret

Throughout his run in the musical Ordinary Days at Studio 2 of Trafalgar Studios, Daniel Boys has been performing cabarets after the Friday night shows at this wonderfully intimate venue. So on Friday 25th February I went along to see both the musical (which I'll dedicate another blog post to) and the cabaret.

I was lucky enough to see Daniel's 'So Close' cabaret three times last year. This showcased songs from his debut album of the same name along with a few other live favourites. I thoroughly enjoyed this cabaret every time I saw it. Although some people may think seeing the same set three times may be a little boring, Daniel's natural demeanor on stage coupled with the wide variety of venues, guest stars and accompaniment set ups (from a full band to just the incredibly talented Douglas Whyte on piano) made every show a new and unique experience. So I was rather sad to hear Daniel saying at the Leicester Square Theatre back in November that the 'So Close' cabarets were coming to an end that night, and I was one very happy bunny when it was announced that he'd be doing a brand new cabaret, '10'.

It's nearly ten years now since Daniel graduated from the Guildford School of Acting and '10' looks back over his subsequent highly successful professional career. Comprised of familiar songs from his album and the 'So Close' cabarets (after all these have been a big part of his life over the last two years) and pieces from the varying musicals and concerts he has performed in, this new show gives a wonderful insight and very personal perspective on Daniel's working life. The performance is dotted with anecdotes relating to each song and his explainations as to why each one holds special meaning for him.

Daniel's vocals, as always, were on top form and I thoroughly enjoyed the performances of songs that I hadn't heard from him before but I still think my favourite of the night was one I've heard him sing several times. His rendition of Run Away With Me is nothing short of mesmerising...and that is exactly what he did to me! He had me so caught up in the story and the emotion and the moment that when he came to the end of the song I didn't start applauding straight away, I was still there in that moment! Truly captivating.

Such an intimate look at someone's life is best suited to an intimate venue so Studio 2 was exactly the right place for this cabaret. Having just Daniel and Douglas on stage in a venue with only three rows of seats was absolutely perfect and coupled with Daniel being rather hyped up having just performed Ordinary Days made for some rather fun banter between the two of them and the audience. Daniel even pulled two of my friends out in front of everyone to show off their home made fan t-shirts (and rightly so because they were fabulous t-shirts!).

Daniel will be performing just one more of these cabarets before Ordinary Days closes and appearing as his guests will be Helena Blackman and Lee Mead. This promises to be an amazing night so if you get chance to go on Friday 4th March make sure you take it. '10' is not to be missed so book your tickets here:
http://www.ambassadortickets.com/2394/677/London/Trafalgar-Studios/Daniel-Boys-In-Concert-Tickets

Dinnerladies: Second Helpings

I saw Dinnerladies: Second Helpings on 1st March and reviewed it for The Public Reviews. Find out what I thought here:

http://thepublicreviews.blogspot.com/2011/03/dinnerladies-second-helpings-new.html