It has been a while since I attended a real proper theatre event, so on Tuesday I saw the famous Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre. The story is well known – a masked man inspires a young opera singer while at the same time haunting the Opera Theatre they perform at, giving her an opportunity for fame and glory. The songs are just as well known, with the most popular probably being The Music of the Night.

The settings for this performance were fantastic, with the stage transformed numerous times into completely different locations, and the transitions between them very fluid. A chandelier is even drawn up into the stage, to later scare everyone as it hurtles towards the audience before veering into the stage. My most favourite transition was probably when the stage turned into a river, and candle-like lights floated up through the stage floor, before changing the scene into the dungeon lair of the Phantom.

I could not find fault with the actors, singers or dancers and each played their part extremely well with the exception of perhaps two of the opera singers who tended to overpower many others when singing in a group. It’s a great show that I found actually slightly creepy in its own gothic and mysterious manner, and one that I can recommend anyone else to see.

TheKua.com Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Last night, Kath and I watched Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap” play at St Martin’s Theatre. London has been showing this play since 1952 and it is the longest running one out of all west end plays.

The story is a combination of elements to form a typical Agatha Christie murder mystery – a guest lodge isolated from the rest of society by deep snow drifts, filled with guests, most anticipated and another who turned up out of the blue. There is a murderer on the loose and a policeman shows up predicting the murder of two more people, both linked somehow to the person who was murdered the previous day. A character finds the phone line cut and tension builds as the play slowly unveils a common thread linking several of them together in these suspicious circumstances. As per predictions, another of the characters finds one of the members of the household murdered and further hostilities ensue, as each member’s potential for being the murderer is uncovered.

The play introduced each character marvellously and you get a strong idea of the nature of each character very early on. The entire cast performed brilliantly in each of their roles, with perhaps the only misgiving being the stronger English accent coming from the man that was supposed to be Italian. I could not guess the ending of this play, and in true murder mystery fashion, can also not give it away. The Mousetrap is a legend on London’s west end and despite being the butt of many jokes and comics is definitely worth watching when you get a chance.

The Kua.com Rating: 9 out of 10

Last night I went to see the Blue Man Group (BMG) at the New London Theatre. I find it very difficult to describe the show the BMG puts on other than very original. The show, best categorised as performance art more than theatre, is composed of a series of skits and musical performances that are richly visual involving various types of mime, percussion and illusion. At the centre of each of the skits are three men covered in blue-coloured masks. Their generally expressionless faces would easily be recognised by most people since they fetured in a number of Intel ads several years ago.

Throughout the show I was either laughing or just simply stunned by the visual richness each skit contained. The show is not cheap at £40 but is something that no one else is capable of executing as well as them.

TheKua Rating: 9 out of 10.

On Wednesday my sister and I went to view probably the longest running (20 years!) musicals at West End, Les Miserables. We had fantastic centre tickets four rows from the front, giving us a perfectly clear view of the stage.

The theatre that hosts Les Miserables, The Queen’s Theatre, is aptly named because it is stunningly majestic. The two levels of circle seats as well as the stall seats are filled with chairs slightly offset from each other, giving people a better chance of viewing when they are unfortunately sitting behind tall people. I can say that the seats were extremely comfortable, though apparently not wide enough for some (the couple next to me seemed to overflow into my personal space, leaving me leaning to one side for most of the night). The intricately detailed ceiling is lit with a strange circular light, something that you really need to be there in person to fully appreciate.

I had no idea what the story behind Les Miserables was about, but in short, it too was amazing. I can see the many reasons why it has been such a long running musical and won numerous awards. Between the story, cast, costumes, stage, lighting and orchestra, there was no one thing that I could really find much fault in. I think the stage transitions were probably the most impressive and powerful parts of this musical, with heavy use of the circular revolving floor allowing them to fade scenes in and out. One moment the audience is placed just outside some gates in one scene, and then suddenly, the audience is placed behind them, looking out. The sets that accompanied all the stage transitions were also just as stunning, really taking you to all the different places they depicted including a courtroom, a bar, the city at nighttime, the sewers, and a garden just to name a few. The cast were also just as impressive and obviously well rehearsed in all parts, and included a very professional young girl and boy playing children who would be no more than eight years old.

Les Miserables is one musical that may not suit all audiences as its story can be quite depressing, but I think people should still go to see it, at least just to appreciate how well a theatre production can be presented.

The Kua Rating: 9 out of 10