A big giant tent, or two (one for the bar), sits in Kensington Gardens this summer to host a new stage production of Peter Pan. I’ve never really thought about why there’s a bronze Peter Pan statue in Hyde Park. Apparently it was gifted to the park by J.M. Barrie who wrote Peter Pan, inspired by his relationship with a family that began in Kensington Gardens. And now the circle is complete with the production of Peter Pan.

First the positive points. The theatre itself is cool, very cool. The stage is in the round so the audience sit pretty much all the away around it like a traditional circus. However, also wrapping around the upper half of the tent is a 360 degree screen on to which is projected the relevant background scene whether it’s the sky as the kids and Peter fly off to Neverland over London (truly spectacular), or the water as they sink to the depths of the ocean or the greenery of the jungle in Neverland. With the circus-theme to the tent there is also lots of acrobatics as the cast bounce up and around the tent.

My favourite cast member? The puppet dude especially his crocodile (remember the one with the clock as its heart and who eats Captain Hook’s arm) and the dog. Hilarious.

The negatives. Unfortunately, overall Peter Pan the play was a bit disappointing. I felt like it was filled with amateurish, obnoxious acting characters none of whom I felt any sympathy for. Maybe the only character I could feel any sympathy for was Captain Hook – and he’s supposed to be the bad guy. The opening scene, where Peter Pan is supposed to inspire the kids to fly with him to Neverland, was just a yawn-fest. After that at least it
became a bit more animated with the screen, changes of scenery and more flowing characters and, of course, the crocodile.

In addition to truly unlikable characters the story line felt quite bleak and nearly black. I’ve not read the original story by J.M. Barrie but if this production was a direct interpretation then it’s definitely not a story for kids. I found it a little hard to follow and felt it bordered on some very adult topics. The worst character was Tinkerbell who was a real b!tch I’m sorry to say, and Wendy and Peter weren’t exactly lovable either. In fact it was the relationship between Wendy and Peter which bordered on uncomfortable and weird. Then there was Tiger Lily – what the heck was up with that sexy dance she did for Peter – even Peter Pan looked perplexed!

For all the technology put into the tent it was surprising that the sound got lost a lot up in the tent ceiling so we didn’t always hear everything. It also didn’t help that there was a festival/concert going on nearby.

Did I hate it? No – that seems a bit extreme but I’m not really sure I could say that I particularly liked it either. Still, if you can find discount tickets, the theatre itself and the 360 degree screen is pretty cool.

I’m not sure how Pauline convinced me to go come to see Here Come The Boys but I’m not too sad about it. Yes it was all entirely Pauline’s idea. 🙂

The website says of Here Come The Boys that it “artistically encapsulates a wide range of sensuous and visually stimulating performances that offer the perfect blend of live music, hot dance moves and muscle! All choreographed by Cris Judd (choreographer to Jennifer Lopez, lead dancer for Michael Jackson during his History Tour).” Its basically like the Chippendales (some of the crew, actually 75% of the crew, were originally from the Chippendales) but under a new name.

Hmmm …

We walked into the Watford Colosseum and were confronted with this:

We almost walked straight back out because we were worried that we were the only people there. In honesty, there were a couple of times on the way to the Colosseum that we nearly turned around from sheer embarrassment of coming to a “review.”

We decided to give it a chance, we’d paid for our tickets already after all, and walked in to the bar/café and thankfully we found that’s where everyone was waiting. When I say everyone I mean the women. Okay there were a few men in attendance but they were all clearly of a certain persuasion or had been dragged along by their girlfriend. It wasn’t a particularly young or classy crowd either though everyone was nevertheless in attendance for a good time.

Pauline and I met this girl who was at the show on her own. Before we said anything she started talking to us claiming to be dating one of the guys on stage and though she was a perfectly nice girl she didn’t really seem to even look at her guy or he her so we were a bit suspicious. Still, it was rather entertaining to hear her try to convince us she knew the guys.

The format of the show was basically a bunch of guys dancing or moving (some of the guys were fit but were clearly not dancers) to dance hits. Now and then Nikk Mager, known first for being a reject on X-Factor, would come out and belt out a few tracks. He was actually quite a good performer but he never got down to more than having his shirt open. For ease of reference Pauline started to nickname the guys including one of my favourites Keanu (he really looked like Keanu Reeves), old guy, bad dancer, big old guy, watford boy (one of the lads had apparently grown up in Watford), … I have to admit that some of the guys were pretty hot. Pretty d@mn hot. 🙂 though there was definitely a large variety to cater for all tastes. Interestingly, however, all but one of the guys were dark-haired and even the one guy who wasn’t was probably naturally a brunette as he had peroxided blonde hair (he had to have been the hottest.)

Unfortunately we could take no photos or videos throughout the performance but you can get an idea of what we saw on stage here and also from my photos from the end of the show (at the end you can go up and pose with the guys and they’ll give you a Polaroid for a fiver!)

As with any show like this you knew they were going to come into the audience. I was sitting on the edge so I was extremely nervous that I’d be pulled up on stage like three of the poor women were. Happy to have the guys in my lap (heh heh) as part the audience but up on stage? No thanks! Though I have to say the three women delighted in being up there. I would have died!

There was no intentional nudity in the show by the way for those of you reading this and thinking naughty thoughts! They did have two scenes where one boy had the stage to himself and he had his kit off but one scene involved him (bad dancer) writhing around on a bed with bed sheets strategically held in place and another involved watford boy in the shower. Unintentionally he flashed his treasures but it was only because we were kind of off to the side and accidentally caught a glimpse. Lol.

An interesting, and different, nights’ entertainment that’s of sure…

Ironically the show that Rehana and I were seeing tonight was called “Been So Long”. Ironic mainly since its been a while since I’ve seen Rehana.

I love shows at the Young Vic. Yes they tend to be a little less polished than the bigger and main stream than the productions at West End but the intimacy you get at the venue makes up for it. The set was actually quite large though not in the round like the production I last watched at the Young Vic. We arrived at 7.15 and even with the show starting at 7.30 we still got decent seats. I’m sure there’s not a bad seat in the house as the rows go back only about 6 or 7.

Been So Long is the musical version of Che Walker’s poem about love and well, to be frank, s3x. We open to a bar which is soon to be closing and a young man, Gil, rapping about murder ladies’ man Raymond for stealing his girlfriend. Cut to the next scene where Simone and Yvonne are on a girls’ night out when Raymond comes into the bar. Simone is the more quiet and retiring of the two whereas Yvonne is the ballsy one whose loud manner leaves no room for misinterpretation. Though she makes a play for Raymond, he ends up falling for Simone who can’t help herself falling too even if she knows better. Meanwhile in the background tying everyone together is the barman who is madly in love with Simone. Love is never easy.

The production was slow at times but also inspiring at other times. Also, I totally agree with Rehana that some parts were a bit rough and ready but it was difficult to know if it was meant to be that way or not. There are definitely some outrageous moments in the show with plenty of the f-word and other s3x-type words being thrown around. Clearly its meant to grab the audiences attention but, due to how blatantly outrageous some monologues were, were also hilariously funny. Behind the speaking parts we also have the music. The main reason I came to see this production was promise of r&B music. All performers were excellent with a decent soundtrack overall. The individual performers were also supported by a 3-woman “choir” who were pretty good.

Overall I enjoyed myself tonight even if I couldn’t relate so much to the particular aspects of the story-line like the hinted at former abusive relationship that Simone had endured, unlike the woman next to us who could really relate if her constant shouts of “oh yes” were anything to go by. The crowd appreciated the performance as well with quite a long ovation at the end.

I adored Sister Act the movie (though I adored Sister Act 2 more) and as a musical movie I thought it would lend itself very well to a theatre conversion. After tonight’s performance I’m fairly convinced and in fact some parts of the show were even better than seeing it on screen.

For those unfamiliar with the Sister Act story line – Deloris Van Cartier (don’t you love the name) is a wannabe superstar but has to content herself with singing in a small lounge bar. Her boyfriend/agent, unfortunately, is actually a gangster so has bigger concerns than promoting her career. Just when she reaches the breaking point with him in both their personal and professional relationship she witnesses him killing someone. He sees her and sets his goons on him. She realises her life is in danger. She is no cowering mouse though and rather than run she goes to the police to report the murder. The policeman, who turns had a childhood crush on her, arranges her to enter a witness protection program … with cloistered nuns. Of course the inevitable clash between the strictly run nunnery and the vibrant, boozing, smoking, outrageous Deloris happens but along the way both sides learn to depend on each other and in the end cement a bond of friendship. Although of course the music used as a vehicle to tell the story it is mainly featured when Deloris takes the very rubbish nuns of the choir and turns them into a rocking one.

The first third of the musical was a little slow as we watch Deloris sing in the lounge, break up with her boyfriend, witness the murder and enter the nunnery but after that there is no holding back this musical. Admittedly there were quite a few laughs to be had in the first third but its really in the rest of the musical that you really start your toe-tapping and swaying. What follows is a class display of how to really deliver disco-anthems. Patina Miller, who takes on the part of Deloris, had some really big shoes to fill following in the steps of Whoopi Goldberg and though, like the musical, she took a bit of time to get going when she hit it, well, wow – she really hit it. That girl can surely belt out the song and she really brought the performance home. She couldn’t carry any of it off though without a good supporting cast, who were excellent and actually were spot on to the characters from the movie, great band, who were awesome, and set.

The set was pretty awesome actually – with lots of huge constantly moving pieces. In particular the standout act had to be the series of song sung by the nuns in the church. Each song representing another week and a growing congregation, increasing donations and subsequently steady renovation of the church. Not only does the set get fancier and fancier so too do the nuns’ robes.

I didn’t think I wasn’t going to enjoy the show as much as the movie especially having heard that all the songs were newly written for the musical with none carrying over from the film. However, the show is a great and once it hits its stride doesn’t really have a slow moment. Lots of great disco hits and lots of great fun to be had.