It has been a long time since saw the original movie or even read the original Dickens’ tale but I did not expect Oliver! The Musical to be as dark or as adult as what I saw tonight. There were some extremely mature themes in tonight’s performance which makes me question how any parent could possibly think of bringing their child to see it. There were quite a few sex jokes and don’t get me started on the violence or at least suggested spousal violence.

Speaking of bringing children who are too young to the olitre there was a family of four in front of us including one particularly chatty girl who spoke through the WHOLE musical and her parents did nothing at all to try and keep her quiet. In addition the family were constantly rustling food wrappers and just being generally disruptive. This proved nearly too much for the people next to us and the people next to them as halfway through the first act a fight nearly broke out. Needless to say the people sitting next to the family left to sit somewhere else after the intermission. It didn’t shame the noisy family though because they carried on being disruptive.

The darkness was unanticipated especially after an entertaining upbeat opening number by the kids in the orphanage. The kids were pretty amazing with their timing – how they kept that and their spots in the energetic frantic chaotic piece is a total mystery – but somehow they did!

Critics have been nearly unanimous in their praise for the production but I found myself not liking it at all and I can’t quite work out why. Other than a more than justified dislike of the Bill Sykes character there wasn’t anything I could point to which has caused me to feel dissatisfied. The set was great, most of the cast were pretty good especially the little boy who played the Artful Dodger (great comic timing and much better in his role than Oliver) and, last but not least, the little puppy dog! He/she was just gorgeous! I think it could have been all the depressing and dark themes – it just didn’t sit well with me. James liked it though!

As part of the Get Into London Theatre promotion they were running a free (shortened) version of what is normally a paying walking tour through the theatre district of the West End. Led by a Blue Badge guide (theatre expert Diane Burstein) I was expecting something pretty good and although I knew that we weren’t going to be backstage anywhere I still thought we’d at least hear some juicy gossip.

The walk, in all honesty, wasn’t the most thrilling of walks however we did hear some history of some pretty important monuments, such as the Charlie Chaplin statue, and theatres, such as the Coliseum and Theatre Royal Drury Lane, where I’m going to see Oliver! in a few days time.

At least the day was a lovely day for a stroll.

I’m sure that all the information we heard today is available somewhere but hearing it in person makes it so much more compelling. Actually the most interesting part of the walk was watching the sign-interpreter do his magic for the deaf people on our tour. He was amazing!

Who knew that the Four Seasons, or Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, were responsible for so many hits! To be fair the Four Seasons were one of the most successful rock ‘n roll groups from the 1960s so I shouldn’t really have been surprised to hear all their hits in tonight’s musical. It is, however, no surprise to me that this musical, or the Broadway version from which it sprung at least, has been the recipient of numerous awards because it is a pretty awesome show (though it wasn’t always perfect.)

Starting with the pretty awesome: let’s face it one of the major pluses to doing a musical based on a musical group is going to be the song list. Hits such as Sherry, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Walk Like a Man, My Eyes Adored You and Oh What a Night were just a few of the hits that are in the production and every single one of them was a blockbuster.

The cast were stellar in their delivery of all the musical numbers and not one person in the crowd could stay still when they really hit their stride. The core cast was very strong vocally, with great moderation on volume, and clearly the four male leads had great stamina and great chemistry. They were pretty fine actors as well with the characterisations just as I’d imagine them to be. They were also well supported by the minor cast – which was surprisingly small with a number of them taking on multiple roles – and a darn good orchestra.

The staging was fantastic and took great advantage of the available technology (including large LCD screens and use of Andy Warhol type comics.) The production was slick with quick set and scene changes.

And now to the less awesome. The story-line, especially in the first half, seemed to drag quite a bit. It was a bit ho-hum so thankfully the musical pieces came in to save the day and bring it to life. It was kind of like the writers thought – here are all the songs we want to perform so now we need to write in a filler around them to bring them together.

Other than that, Jersey Boys was definitely a great show to see, and is a fab night out. I know Rehana agrees!

Off to buy the soundtrack!

When I heard that Pamela Anderson was going to start in the panto Aladdin this Christmas season I simply HAD to book tickets to go check the panto out. I love panto season in London and I haven’t gone to nearly enough during my stay here! Anyway, as Lana and Mike were in town I thought it was a great time to drag them along and expose them to something which is pretty quintessentially English.

Unusually for a panto one of the lead roles was actually rotated over the season of the panto with Ruby Wax, then Pamela, then Paul O’Grady and finally Anita Dobson taking on the role of genie of the lamp. If I could have spared the money and the time I would have liked to have seen all four versions for the no doubt customised jokes and bantering.

Before I get on to assessing what we thought of Pammie I wanted to make a comment about the panto itself. I absolutely loved it. There was a fantastic set, there was great audience involvement (which is what you expect of a panto) including dragging three kids up to the stage to perform!, there was a lot of witty one-liners (kudos to updates by the brilliant writers), and the musical score was pretty fine.

The cast were excellent. In particularly Brian Blessed as the evil Abanazar was truly the ultimate villain complete with evil laugh and sinister mocking and the dame Widow Twakney played by Jonathan D Elli and was hilariously and suitably a big large drama queen. Aladdin’s brother Wishee Washee as played by Paul Thornley played a pretty good comic foil too. I’ve got plenty of time also for Djalenga Scott who was extremely sexy as the Slave of the Ring.

As with most pantos Aladdin had a lot of pop culture references including even a skit targeting Jedward and I’m pretty sure I spotted Harry Potter somewhere on the stage at one point too! Can’t get more pop culturish than that.

But the true reason that Wimbledon Theatre was full tonight was clearly the debut of Pammie on the panto stage. Bless. The poor lady has never been involved in a panto before and I’m not sure she really has much stage experience. THAT red bathing suit made an appearance and the twins were out in full glory. Of course the writers also had to include scene of her “running provocatively towards you” and plenty of references to her not that successful romantic history.

Pammie didn’t appear until nearly the end of the first act but her arrival was worth the wait, most especially for the crowd reaction to her appearance in THAT bathing suit. Pammie, though she spoke very quickly at times and seemed to rush her lines, did an admirable job with her character. She played up to our expectations to the hilt and I thought added a bit of punch to the show. She’ll never win any Tony’s for the performance but I felt she was very charming and a great sport. The crowd loved her too.

A very enjoyable panto.

Sometimes movie transfers to the stage just don’t exactly gel and I must admit wondering exactly how Legally Blonde would come across. Pauline had seen it on Broadway before it shut down and she absolutely loved it, but then again she was a huge Legally Blonde fan. I’ve seen the first movie and remembered liking it but didn’t exactly rate myself as a diehard fan. I don’t think I’ve even seen the second movie!

Turns out Pauline was right about the musical – it was excellent!

Sandra says that she thought it was a mixture of the first and second movies – I will have to take her word for it since she has the DVDs and has seen it more recently than I. To be honest this has been one of the better musicals I’ve seen – you needn’t have seen the movies to understand what was going on and the story was well told throughout.

The musical was funny, witty, smart, great engagement with the audience and, to my absolute pleasure, included live animals in particular the English Bulldog who belonged to the character played by Jill Halfpenny. So cute!

Oh, a quick summary for those unfamiliar with the movie. Elle is a spoilt blonde whose entire world revolves around her boyfriend. When said boyfriend dumps her and heads off to Harvard. Determined to win him back she follows him only to find that he’s moved on to someone more serious and career-driven. In the end she finds confidence in herself, works out she’s too good for him and ends up with an unexpected love.

Sheridan Smith, who I know best for playing Smithy’s sister Rudi in Gavin & Stacey though I’m sure her CV is a bit more wide-ranging than that, was absolutely stunning as Elle. She couldn’t have been more different from Rudi that’s for sure! The character with her so chirpy, ditzy, so pink ways could have been grating and annoying but she wasn’t and I think that’s due to Sheridan Smith’s sense of comic timing and delivery. Sheridan was supported by Duncan James, of former boy band Blue, who was oh so sexy (so very sexy!) as Elle’s smug boyfriend and Jill Halfpenny, remember the one who owns the adorable bulldog! who plays a hairdresser that Elle befriends.

A fantastic show and it deserves to stick around for a bit. Boyfriends, husbands and partners be warned though – there is a LOT of pink in this show!

From a traditional play to something a little less traditional but no less entertaining. The Boom Boom Club is a cabaret show that is hosted in The Bath House. Finding the venue was an adventure in itself. Jo, James, Lana, Mikey and I must have circled the streets of Liverpool street a few times before we finally found the entry. We’d missed it because it was this small little almost booth at the top of some stairs that lead to the real thing.

Upon descending the stairs you’re met by a dark, but not dingy, area. The stage is quite small so the venue is very intimate. We started off with some dinner (pizza and a beer) before taking our seats for the show. Though the show is scheduled to start at 9pm its pretty informal and runs to its own schedule. Seating is unreserved and there is space for about 20 or so people to sit so if you want to sit you’re advised to get in and grab a spot. However, the venue is small enough that you could easily stand around to see the show easily. The other patrons of the show seemed happy to stand and watch. In fact, from the comments I could gather from around me, they all seemed to be regular visitors, all seeming to know each other or the acts at least.

As a cabaret you get a mix of all sorts of acts to support the headline burlesque dancing of Miss Vicky Butterfly. The acts change every week so you never know what you can get. Tonight we had the strange gyrations of Agent Lynch (another burlesque dancer), to the comedic sensations of Sarah-Louise Young (after the compere I thought she was the best act of the night), to Tom Baker – both of whose acts totally confounded me. At one stage he donned this alien/sea creature outfit and sung some sort of ditty. It had most of the audience giggling and joining in but I just didn’t get it.

The absolute stand-out of the night however was Dusty Limits. This singer comedian was perfect as the MC for the night – he had perfect timing, great improvisation skills and was just overall entertaining. Loved him and I’d come back just to get more of him! (Not THAT way – I suspect he’s not available for us ladies 😉 )

Don’t you just love wallpaper in the toilets:

It was an interesting show though less “skin” was shown than I was expecting. All pertinent bits and pieces are kept safely under guard though there is a risk of a wardrobe malfunction which nearly happened tonight. heh heh.

We witnessed some theatre magic tonight.

Cat On A Hot Tin Roof is a transfer to the West End from Broadway and after tonight’s performance I could understand why it was a sold-out run. This play by Tennessee Williams is the story of a Southern family delivered with a twist – an all black cast. The play is told over the course of one evening and focuses on the rocky marriage between Brick and Maggie and their interaction with his family. Supposedly the family has gathered to celebrate his Brick’s dad’s birthday however they are hiding a big secret – that he is dying of cancer. In the mean time relatives scramble around trying to ingratiate themselves with Big Daddy.

Five great names: James Earl Jones, Phylicia Rashad, Adrian Lester and Sanaa Lathan play Big Daddy, Big Mama, Brick and Maggie respectively and Debbie Allen, you may recognise her from Fame, directs. What an awesome formula and it produced a great result.

From the outset you are drawn into the drama of Brick, the former college football player now alcoholic, and Maggie, his frustrated and beautiful wife, fighting against the memory of Brick’s dead (male) best friend. Add to this element the rest of the cast, including the age-old father-son conflict, the tension with his own brother and greedy sister-in-law, and the loneliness of his mother it all makes for a rather moody but moving few hours.

Cast-wise though everyone delivered their characters perfectly – I loved James Earl Jones. He was by far and away the star of the show though Sanaa Lathan was not too far behind him. As soon as Jones hit the stage it was like – wow – that’s some stage presence. He hasn’t lost any of his mojo that’s of sure.

Rache and I really had idea what to expect from this show. For a start we didn’t expect that it would be a one-man show. Impressively, however, that didn’t stop Arturo from delivering what was a charming and engaging show because in fact we must have seen easily hundreds of “cast members.” What do I mean by this? Well, a quick-change artist is literally that: an artist who can change his or her clothes (and consequently character) rather … well … quickly. For example, in the space of about ten seconds and with the use of a disc shaped object he was able to create ten different characters. It was amazing and something to be witnessed first-hand.

That’s not to say it was 80 minutes watching Arturo changing from one costume to another. Spun into the background of this talent is his story which takes us from his current self, to you his younger self, to his older self and all around. For this he takes advantage of a lot of hi-tech stuff – all seemingly contained in this giant box which rotates around on stage and also with the aid of multi-media projects. Its almost indescribable.

Next to his quick changing skills he also demonstrates his hand at being a magician, his puppetry skills, his comedic skills, his story-telling skills and even his skills as a ventriloquist (I suspect it was harder for me to work out the spelling than for Arturo to throw his voice …). Its clear that this is an act that means a lot to him and it showed in every energetic presentation he brought to the stage.

The whole show went so quickly its difficult to remember everything he did. The first thing I recall is that there is a splash zone. So consider yourself warned!

One of the pieces involved his moving through the seasons: autumn, winter, sprint and summer. Another, and favourite of mine, was when he did finger puppetry on to the back wall. Simple but the shapes he formed, like this really cool elephant, were very imaginative. The Hollywood scene where he morphed into one Hollywood legend, such as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, into another, King Kong. Featured also are characters from Star Wars, Jaws, Titanic, Lord of the Rings, E.T, Shrek, Bond movies, Spiderman and Harry Potter even dropped in. The soundtrack was very good in particular for this part of the performance.

All of the whole show revolved around Arturo’s character being nervous about the “final transformation” and as such it was a little self-indulgent. Sadly too such a big deal is made of the “final transformation” that when the time comes for it, and I won’t ruin it too much, I could note nothing too remarkable about it though it was moving and beautiful to see.

It was a truly remarkable show and if there is one thing that really grated on me about the show, and Rache agrees with me, was the fact that we spent the entire show trying to work out how he managed his tricks – and we are still none the wiser. Damn! LOL.

A fabulous and unique show.

Rache has been trying to organise a group outing to Stomp for some months now but something has always gotten in the way like lastminute losing the booking, dates clashing, tickets not being available etc. but finally we made it. Our tickets were in the nosebleed section but we still felt like we were part of the action. In fact any closer and I think I would have come away with a really big headache from the noise.

And Stomp is certainly noisy but in a good way.

Stomp is a dance group whose signature move so to speak is to use the body and objects to create a musical and rhythmic performance. Starting in Brighton nearly 20 years ago Stomp has toured all over the world and spawned numerous productions. I could understand the success having witnessed tonight’s show. It’s the type of performance that can be universally enjoyed. You don’t have to try to understand anything and in fact there is hardly any speaking to even listen to so all you have to do as an audience member is to sit back, relax and enjoy the show.

Stomp is composed of a series of pieces innovatively using all sorts of ordinary items including brooms, buckets, chairs, inner tubes, garbage pails, dust, poles, rubber tubes (not just rhythm but also musical tones), voices and even kitchen sink (or three!) There was also matchboxes, lighters, rubbish, and plastic bags. Somehow it all worked though I don’t know how.

There is high energy throughout with some crowd involvement, humour, and jumping all around the stage. Impressively no one person had a specialty and they all seemed to be able to pick up the rhythm and movement as required (though the really hot black acrobatic guy and the dance leader did have special roles.)

Though Stomp for the most part is an explosion of sound the ability of the cast to modulate the sound levels is pretty remarkable. But it wasn’t just sound – it was a very physical performance with things being slid across the stage, people sliding across the stage, items being thrown from one person to the next. The perfect sense of timing was astonishing to witness.

If there was one negative to Stomp it was that despite the ingenious use of items and the great physical aspect of the pieces each set had a sort of sameness to the performance. Its not that it all looked or sounded the same but there was an almost monotony to the show as we moved from one piece to another. Normally there will be a natural break – in musicals it will be a bit of speaking, in plays a scene change etc.

Overall, it was a thoroughly enjoyable show and great for a night out.