Last night was my last chance to see Pacey! … um … I mean Joshua Jackson (Dawson’s Creek and Might Ducks) in this two-man play about life in the theatre. Also starring was Patrick Stewart (Star Trek and X-Men The Movie). Jackson plays John, the young buck whose star is rising and Stewart plays Robert, a veteran of the theatre who acts as his mentor of sorts. The relationship between the two starts off amiably but we soon see the disintegration of it as Robert’s self-imposed insecurities raise their ugly heads upon John’s increasing stature in the theatre. There is an under current of homoerotic subtext that runs throughout the play balancing Robert’s genuine affection for John with his jealousies of John’s successes.

Overall the play was funny and charming, Both Stewart and Jackson deliver impressive performances though at times I felt that Jackson, the straight man (no pun intended) in the duo, was limited by his dialogue (lots of “Yes'”, “Aaahs” and “Mmms”.) Still, I got my fill of Jackson (he sure stripped down to his underwear enough times!) and I’m glad to have caught the show on its last day.

This off-Broadway musical debuted in New York in about 1996 so when I was looking for something a little different in the West End offerings this musical proved to be just the ticket. Playing at cosy Jermyn Street Comedy Theatre for March only , tonight Elvira and I, and maybe 60 others (including the media) settled in for a very entertaining, very smart show about dating, marriage and divorce/widowhood.

There are only four cast members (and the “orchestra” consisted of one man on his electric keyboard/synthesizer) so with limited costume changes it was initially a little confusing to follow the story line as such. Once you realise in fact the musical is a series of songs and sketches (with a multitude of different characters) rather than one set developing storyline you are soon able to follow the growth of the romantic relationship from beginning to end.

The humour probably comes most from recognizing your own life reflected in their skits. Overall, it was a good evening of light entertainment.

After a last minute decision to get tickets to this play – I somehow ended up with tickets at nearly 40% off. Sitting dead centre (with a direct eye-line with Kim Cattrall) and only five rows from the front the tickets were an absolute bargain.

Cattrall is Claire Harrison, an intelligent woman and sculptor by trade, who, after a serious road accident, finds herself bound to her hospital bed as a quadriplegic. This enforced confinement soon proves too much for her and what follows in the play is her attempt to escape the hospital’s clutches in order that she can take control of her life (even though it will necessarily mean the end of it.) The play attempts to answer the question of whether an incurable quadriplegic has a right to end their life by refusing the medical care needed to keep them alive. Arguments for and against are trumped out and even include references to both Christopher Reeve and Stephen Hawking.

Claire’s situation couldn’t be any more different from that of Samantha’s, Cattrall’s better known alter ego from Sex and the City. Yet Cattrall is able to infuse the sexiness of Samantha into Claire, and all while bound to the bed for the entire play. Not an easy feat. Her wit and spirit had the crowd at once laughing and crying and, although the American accent of hers did grate at times, overall her performance was superb.

Whilst Cattrall is no doubt the star of the show, Alexander Siddig, as the compassionate junior doctor, and Jotham Annan, a hospital orderly, were well-acted and charming characters.

And Now For Something Completely Different … Most people have heard of Monty Python – that group of mostly British actors who in the early 1970s (1969-1974 to be precise) created the radical Monty Python’s Flying Circus – a series of ground-breaking comedic sketches that brought to the small screen unconventional treatment of issues that were considered explosive at the time. Well, tonight I saw it on stage … and in French.

When Nate suggested attending the show I was skeptical that I could enjoy it. Yes I’d heard of Monty Python but I wasn’t familiar enough with their work to be comfortable seeing their sketches in French. Luckily there were surtitles. At any rate it was obvious who the French were in the crowd as they were the ones who were laughing a split-second before the rest of us caught up via the surtitling. [Interestingly our French friend Helene thought it was quite appropriate for the performance to be in French as the skits were quite reflective of the French humour and attitude to life.]

I could see why this show was such a success at the Edingburgh Festival 2003 and for the following 2 years in Paris. Though the surtitling limited any improvisation the performance was nevertheless highly energetic and charming. Hey – and the surtitling did save one skit where one of the actors forgot his line – he was standing in only a g-string and suspenders in a close embrace with a fellow male cast member also similarly attired so who could blame him!

Skits performed during the night included: Non-Illegal Robbery, Llamas, A Man with a Tape Recorder Up His Nose, A Man with a Tape Recorder Up His Brother’s Nose, Children’s stories, Argument Clinic, Self-Defence against Fresh Fruit, The Lumberjack Song, and many more. One of the funnier skits was the “Is there … ” segment with tonight’s segment being “Is there Life After Death” and it involved an interview and three empty chairs. I guess you had to be there. Oh and there was the skit with the guy who couldn’t pronounce his “C’s”. I’m not sure how this one translated in French but it was very funny trying to keep up with the surtitling on this one.

Overall it was a very fun and entertaining night even though it was hard work switching attention between the surtitles and the stage. Thank goodness for speed reading.

I didn’t know much about this play except that it had gotten fairly decent reviews, that it was Holly Hunter’s West End debut and that I was able to get seats that were normally £40 for £15. Fair enough.

The setting is rural Ireland’s Bog of Cats. Hunter is Hester Swane, a woman whose lover of fourteen years, and father of her child, abandons her to marry a younger woman. The story is told from dusk til dawn and slowly Hester’s uneasy and complicated past is revealed as she seeks to win her lover back or at the very least keep her daughter out of his hands.

The play started of very slowly. Or perhaps it started slowly for me because I was still trying to adjust to the Irish accent and in doing so missed the detail in the dialogue. For whatever reason I found myself drifting for the first 10-15 minutes, and apparently fascinated by Hunter’s neck. No it is not some strange fetish. I just found it unusual how her neck seemed many years older than her otherwise youthful appearance. Once I got into the swing of the accent the story suddenly became much more intriguing and I was soon drawn into the plight of Hester.

The play was at all times moving and whilst the overall tone was one of bleakness and inevitable tragedy, this was broken up nicely by moments of levity. For someone with a frame as small as Hunter’s she had an amazing presence on stage. Perhaps it was because she had an absolute lack of inhibition that she was able to produce a performance so powerful and enthralling (despite some slip-ups in the accent department). Definitely something to be seen.

The title of this musical says it all. At first I was a bit worried when I rang up yesterday for tonight’s show and was offered front row seats. I wasn’t keen to be sweated on so we went for the seats four rows back. These turned out to be excellent seats as we were very close to the action without being too close. As it was the audience was small enough at Trafalgar studios that even those with tickets further back were brought up to row K at the very least.

Having said that the small audience was no indication of how good a musical this was. The story is set in the Afro American community of Harlem in the 1950’s. Whilst the main story revolves around Jesse Semple and his lady troubles there are a number of smaller supporting stories to be told as well. The plot isn’t thrilling or challenging but the music and singing more than make up for it. The musical is absolutely charming and heart-warming and mid-way through the first song I had a sudden urge to pick up my saxophone again and belt out some blues.

Simply Heavenly is definitely a dynamite of a show just waiting to break out.

Finally I had someone who was willing to go see this musical with me. Lana managed to score a group of us some cheap tickets to see this musical. You won’t find any Queen in my collection of music but I’ve heard their music so often that I almost feel like a fan of theirs. Almost. The musical tells of a time in the future where musical instruments are banned and all music is generated by the Globalsoft Corporation, hits are programmed in advance and dance moves are strictly imposed. There is no rock n roll. “Is this the real life? Is it just fantasy?”. Of course, as in any good story, there are rebels, in the form of the Bohemians, who are looking for a hero to lead them back into the Golden Age of music. But lets not focus on the story too much – this is the kind of show that you go to for the music. Clearly demonstrated by the 30-40+ year old women behind us who were stomping their feet (and kicking the back of our chairs), clapping their hands and whooping it up like crazy. Talk about atmosphere.

The singing, the dancing, the staging, the lighting, the technology!, the costumes – it was all fantastic. Leads were good, however the guy who played Galileo – our hero – was rather annoying as an actor. I think he should stick to singing and dancing. Favourite character was Galileo’s (eventual) punk girlfriend Scaramouche. It probably helped that she had the best (and least corny) lines to work with. Her delivery was superb.

As an aside the musical has obviously been adapted to the local environment with references to the Underground and Wembley Stadium. With this musical playing in many other cities, including Melbourne, it would be interesting to compare all the local references.

Overall the performance was very entertaining (and loud!). The audience were clearly enthralled as represented by the number of encores which, incidentally, ensured that we were humming Queen songs long into the night.

This was a show that promised so much yet delivered so little. The concept of mixing a circus type style (via the trapeze acrobatics) and Romeo and Juliet sounded intriguing enough. Yet the very thing that would have made the show interesting was also the very thing that made understanding each performer that much more difficult. Ever twist and turn was sure to lose you a few words here and there. Comprehension was also not aided by the outbreaks of what I can only presume to be Icelandic, or perhaps Italian, now and again. There were some things that were enjoyable � er � Romeo was rather hot, the narrator was entertaining and the comedy, when it was on, was hilarious. Oh – and there was some crowd interaction including an opportunity to blow bubbles like you were a child again. Props for being something a little out of the box – otherwise I could easily give it a miss.

Next to The Lion King, The Producers has to be the biggest production I have seen in London to date. Elvira managed to somehow get us some relatively cheap tickets to this mostly sold out event. Yes we were so high up in the nose bleed section that Elvira�s fear of heights came in to play � but hey, seats are seats. And a star sighting at last � Nigella Lawson in a long white coat.

The Producers brings the story of Max Bialystock (played by a brilliant Nathan Lane), struggling producer, and Leo Bloom (played by an equally brilliant Lee Evans), nervous accountant, to the stage. In a money-making scheme the two aim to produce the worst musical ever to be shown on Broadway by trying to find a place that is guaranteed to offend just about everyone. They think they find it in an ex-nazi�s story about Hitler�s rise.

Sure there is profanity, vulgarity, gay gags, Nazi jokes and other offensive humour however it is delivered in such a way that you can�t help but laugh and join in on the fun. Jerry Springer � The Opera it is definitely not.