I found out earlier today that Matilda is on her way to London in the Autumn. Up until now, Stratford-upon Avon has been her home, but that's about to change. The big move has been decided.
Matilda is of course the character from the Roald Dahl book of the same name, which was made into a really good and quirky movie by Danny DeVito, about the exceptional girl with the awful parents and even worse school headmistress. So like Charlie before her, Matilda gets the musical treatment, only this time for the stage, and maybe a little less psychedelic as well.
The RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company) have created the musical so no surprise that they tried it out in Stratford, home of the bard himself. The bards of this show are Dennis Kelly, with music and lyrics by comedian Tim Minchin. After receiving rave reviews - The Guardian gave it four stars - an open-ended West End run was announced yesterday evening. No cast, venue or recording have been given yet, so it's a 'watch this space' moment. From the sneak peaks and previews, it does look like a good one.
So, if you are planning your own London adventure in the Autumn, this might well be one to watch.
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away... 1984!
Original album cover
Madonna was a new artist; Ghostbusters was battling Gremlins at the box office, and I was in school, watching Top of the Pops and listening to Now That's What I Call Music compilations when they were still in single digits! In the middle of all that two songs hit the charts: One Night in Bangkok and I Know Him So Well. The thing was, these songs came from a musical called, oddly, Chess. But they were great. Then one night on TV along came Tim Rice talking about it. Chess was everywhere.
A while later - a good while later - I was browsing the shops and I saw the Chess album in the store. That iconic logo of the Chess board popped out again. I thought about it for a little bit before deciding to give it a go. By the end of the first full listen I was a fan. Then it dawned on me: the album combined two things I love - stories and music. If musicals were like this, then I was in.
25th Anniversary Concert
I was playing the tapes to death, when it was announced that Chess would be on in The Point Depot (now the O2). Naturally I went, and watching the show I was a bit disappointed at the changes made. Over the years it seemed, despite a great album and a West End run, no two productions appeared to be the same. On Broadway it was even worse. Let's face it, I've spent more time on Broadway than Chess The Musical did (mainly because it was a terrible mess, except for the addition of Someone Else's Story). Twenty Five years on it seems to be getting the credit it deserves. Recently, I went to the cinema to see the 25th anniversary concert in the Albert Hall, so maybe this is now the show's time.
And, where, I hear you ask, did all these Chess ramblings come from? Well, Saturday, we trekked into the Grand Canal Theatre, Dublin to see Chess. Firstly, the leads were amazing, West End and Broadway standard. They could sing and act fantastically and worth the admission price alone. The company played the instruments, which meant the choreography was not as great as it could have been, but then how much can you do lugging a cello around the stage with you? There were no huge sets of hotel rooms, just simple boxes and seats, making us focus on the characters. Some things worked and some didn't. But when it did work, it was goosebumps all over. Endgame was amazing, as was Anthem and Pity the Child. Some scenes were messy, all the 'rolling in hay' idea during You and I was distracting. Some costumes, one person with me commented, were a bit 'YMCAish', while others were excellent. While the quality of set, lights and costumes were great, all of this was surpassed by the score and the group of singers who could hit notes and hold them for an awesome length of time. It was well worth the couple of hours spent watching this production. A major flaw for me was leaving out the song Merano.
Chess for me is one of the great musical theatre scores, as you can now tell, and even more than that, it brought me into the world of musicals. Check it out.
Spring is finally with us. The weather is getting warmer, days are getting longer, summer is around the corner, gardens are popping up with new life and BBQs are getting dusted down. Broadway is no exception. There is a crop of new shows in town, and just in case anyone is wondering what they are here is a quick round up.
The writing team behind Hairspray are back with Catch Me If You Can - another show based on a movie; Frank Wildhorn returns with a new take on the Alice story in Wonderland; and Alan Menken's Sister Act which premiered in London (and the touring show will land in the Grand Canal Theatre in Dublin over christmas this year!). Harry Potter aka Daniel Radcliffe makes his musical debut in How to Succeed... and Tony Award winner Sutton Foster (Shrek) is back with Anything Goes.
In previews at the moment, and some opening officially in March, others in April, are: Catch Me If You Can Wonderland How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying The Book of Mormon Priscilla Queen of the Desert Anything goes Sister Act Baby It's You
Spiderman is still previewing, although this will close for a few weeks as they rennovate the show. It's slated to open in June, but I'm not holding my breath, anything is possible at this stage.
Cast albums for some of these shows will follow soon after. A few of the show websites have song samples: I listened to four from Catch Me if You Can and Live In Living Color is still bobbing round my head as is Worst Day Of My Life from Wonderland. These two sound pretty good, and two to watch. If anyone has seen these shows already, let me know what you think of them.
I'm reading Blink! by Malcolm Gladwell at the moment, and I guess it was a blink moment for me over the weekend. I came across a new album on iTunes called Our First Mistake. I listened to a couple of track samples, as you do, and instantly the voice from deep inside said 'buy it' over and over again. As has been the case before - maybe a few words on that another time, but it falls into the 'liking new things' category - I went with it. The truth is, what I heard excited me. Can I tell you why? No, only that for me it was simply great, entertaining, heartfelt songs. At the start of the day I didn't know who Kerrigan and Lowdermilk were, now, I can't get enough of them. The difference a day makes.
Our First Mistake is really a selection of songs from the musicals of Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk ranging from 2003 to the present day, rather than a full musical. The songs as individuals are fab, and the album is a good one to chill out to. After listening to it, and hearing songs from their website, I feel they are definitely a pair to keep an eye on, and you should check them out as soon as you can. I will be keeping my eye open and on twitter to see what they are up to next.
Speaking of what's up next for them, in August this year, their musical The Unauthorised Biography of Samantha Brown (book and lyrics by Kerrigan, Music by Lowdermilk)will be produced at Goodspeed Musicals, who produce revivals and nurture new musicals and talent in an effort to promote musical theatre. JRB's 13 was staged here before Broadway. A couple of songs from this show are featured on the new CD - Say the Word and Runaway With Me, a couple of others can be heard on the website.
There is a quality to the work, and while not having seen or heard a full musical from this duo, from what I have heard today, I know I will go when I get the chance.
Well, St Patrick's Day came and went without the snow that the Irish weather forecasting postman predicted (yes you did read that right). It didn't even rain. Instead many people from all over the world, watched the 'parade pass them by' - bad joke, I know - while I took it easy, eating, reading (Ross O'Carroll Kelly) and went off to see a show in the evening - it is me!
I convinced three others to come with me to see Whiskey in the Jar. Going in I met some people I hadn't seen for a while, which is the norm at these things, mainly because Ireland has a vibrant musical theatre community, which is terrific. After a bit of banter, it was time to take our seats, and let the show of betrayal and love begin.
The staging was minimal, which was just right, leaving us to focus on the cast, who were all excellent and sang extremely well, no exceptions. Song wise, the stand out moments for me came from each act: from act one, Business Will Be Good, a wonderful cheeky song that sparkled, and act two, Every Day a Deal, which is a great song and the best in the show in my opinion. Overall, the music is very good and hits the mark well many times.
The downside, and yes, there always is with something new (just take a look at Spiderman), I felt that it took a while for the story to get going. Act two was better as things stepped up a pace at times, with some excellent scenes and songs. I left feeling there was more to the characters than we saw during the show. I think there is something about this story, a core to it, that is worth exploring, and I hope Dave and Brain keep working on it, developing it more. The costumes were simple but very effective, while the band, and MD, were great.I must mention that the audience seemed to really enjoy the evening, which is the point of it after all. Anyway, the best thing is go along and take a look (there is one last performance at time of writing, on Sat 19th), support them, see what you think, be ready to enjoy some really good songs (I want the downloads of the two already mentioned) and see if you agree with me or not. Let me know what you think!
Incidentally, Brian Gallagher, who wrote the book and lyrics, has a new novel coming out in September, Taking Sides. Dave O'Connor also wrote the musical Hard Times, based on the Dickens novel.
Sometimes, I surprise myself. Really! Why? Because something, I don't know what, seems to draw me to new shows, no matter where they are. This new show I came across is not happening around the corner (as with the Whiskey in the Jar musical, which I will be seeing on Paddy's day), it's not in the West End, which might have involved a well known no frills airline if it was, and it's not even a quick junket across the atlantic to the great white way. No, this one is on the other side of the world. This one is in Australia.
Dr Zhivago - A New Musical, based on the novel by Boris Pasternok, opened in Sydney, and, we are told, is Broadway bound. I guess this makes it one hell of an out of town try out. The show, with music by Lucy Simon (The Secret Garden), lyrics by Michael Korie and Amy Powers, and a book by Michael Weller, started life in the Page to Stage program at La Jolla Playhouse, California, in 2005, directed then, and now, by Des McAnuff (Tommy, Jersey Boys). This is a big production, sporting a full Australian company, with Anthony Warlow, who I first heard on the Jekyll and Hyde The Complete Recording, is playing Zhivago. Lara is played by Lucy Maunder. The two songs I have heard are big, melodic, and have a familiar feel to them. Not only will Dr Zhivago run in Sydney, where it is getting fab reviews, but will move to Melbourne and Brisbane as well.
I have tried to find a CD, but have to make do with the two free songs downloaded from the site after I signed up. If anyone has seen the show, maybe you could let me know what it was like. I read one review that gave it 4 stars (click here for review), and if you have any news on a CD, please let me know. Until next time!
All the nail chewing is over, large sighs of relief are exhaled and the speeches are finished. That can mean one thing: an awards night. This time round it was the Olivier's at Drury Lane, London. I managed to catch some of the BBC Radio 2 Broadcast on the net and it was great to hear it in realtime. I thought a quick 'Who Got What...' in terms of the musical theatre spots might be in order.
I guess you could say it all went pink as Legally Blonde picked up three awards: Best New Musical, Best Actress, and Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical (which has made the other half's day). In the Beeb Radio 2 audience award the public voted for the Queen based musical We Will Rock You, beating Billy Elliot, Jersey Boys and Les Miz. While original Les Miz Javert, Roger Allam, also picked up an award as best actor for Henry IV Parts one and two.
Stephen Sondheim was granted the Olivier Special Award given for outstanding contribution to musical theatre, which was well deserved if you ask me, and as if to highlight this, two of his shows were nominated in the best musical revival category - Passion and Into The Woods - while best new play went to Clybourne Park.
Best New Musical
Legally Blonde - The Musical
Best Musical Revival
Into The Woods
Best Actress In a Musical
Sheridan Smith (Legally Blonde)
Best Actor In a Musical
David Thaxton (Passion)
Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical
Jill Halfpenny (Legally Blonde)
Best Theatre Choreography
Leon Baugh (Sucker Punch)
BBC Radio 2 Olivier Audience Award
We Will Rock You
For a full list of noms and winners click here. The next big award session is in NYC with the Tony's. I will keep you posted on that one.
My first Paddy's day card arrived this morning (probably my only one, I'm not inundated with them) from, who else, but a cousin in America. And yes, it is nearly that time of the year when it seems all the world wants to be green, so while this piece was to be about Irish musicals, and there have been a few like The Pirate Queen, Michael Collins or The Ha'penny Bridge (to name some), it's become more about the start of something new and Irish. And this Paddy's week, there will be a world premiere of a new Irish musical based on a song made famous by the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy (Colm Wilkinson has a version of the song on his latest album, odd or what). Being me, I love checking out new musicals, so as soon as I heard about it I decided to gatecrash one of their rehearsals.
Rian with 'Capt Farrell'
Whiskey in the Jar: A Celtic Rock Musical, while inspired by the song, weaves a tale of 'love, humour, betrayal and rock 'n' roll' around the characters of The Highwayman, Mollie and Captain Farrell, written by Dave 'Doc' O'Connor and Brian Gallagher. It was a rainy, windy evening when I nipped in to see one of their rehearsals. The thing is, I hadn't been in a rehearsal room for a few years, and being in one for the first time - yes, that word again - brought it all back: the energy, the excitement, the costumes, the music, the fun and the simply wanting to get on with it. Well, that energy was there in spades as I sat quietly at the back, aware that the cast, with enough to think about, might be actually wondering who the hell I was, and what I was doing there. Hearing some of the score being belted out by fab singers with only the piano to keep them going is always a wonderful thing. And of course, I was hearing this music for the first time (as there are samples of only act one on the show's website). When I arrived some costumes were being tried on, so I pulled out my camera and took a few pics.
Carl and Dave 'Doc'
On my way home, as I wondered how best to start this piece, while the song I heard, with full chorus at the end of it, was running through my head, stepping out of the car into the wind, it came to me, as all best ideas do, from out of the blue: I am starting 'something new' with this blog, and the cast, creative, stage manager, director, and all involved in Whiskey in the Jar were also starting something new.
Whiskey in the Jar world premiere runs from 14th - 19th March 2011 at RED COW Moran Hotel, Dublin, Ireland. Booking (and further info): 01-4593650 or check the website.
Brian keeping his eyes on the script during rehearsals
Something strange happened to me today. I found myself humming the opening song from Legally Blonde. Why, I wondered? Is it because of what I found out yesterday? I have only seen it once, and that was reluctantly.
Time warp back to last October in London, the Les Miz 25th Anniversary production at the Barbican. As always, Les Miz was terrific in all aspects. John Owen-Jones was great as Valjean. Being Les Miz there were a lot of hankies used that day. One women behind us was sobbing very loudly at one point. My other half, who was not a fan of the show by any stretch gave a quick appraisal: excellent, but heavy. So, that evening we decided to try a lighter show. Attempt one was innocent in hindsight, optimistically believing tickets for The Lion King might be got at 6pm Sat evening. Although seeing the quaint sandwich board standing outside the BO telling all that there were no seats left was worth the visit. That left us wandering the streets of London, when suddenly an outstretched arm is barricading my way - hers. I followed her gaze across the road and saw it: pink. She grinned. I sighed. They had tickets, she grinned more, I sighed again. After buying merchandise (although to her credit she did resist the toy Chihuahua in a bag), we took our seats, and then a strange thing happened....
I really enjoyed it. The second Act opener with skipping ropes was very impressive. In all it was a good, and funny evening.
Return to last night, browsing the net and coming across the Olivier Nominations for this year, winners to be announced 13th March at Drury lane, and even I was heard exclaiming: Omigod you guys!
You see, not only is Legally Blonde nominated for Best Musical, but also Best Actress in a Musical ( Sheridan Smith), Best Actor in a Musical (Alex Gaumand), Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical (Jill Halfpenny) and Best Choreography (Jerry Mitchell). You know, it might even win, although I think Love Story might pip them at the post. The rest of the competition is:
Best New Musical Fela! Legally Blonde - The Musical Love Never Dies Love Story
For the rest of the nominations check out the webpage.
PS That day at Legally Blonde - The Musical the dangers of low rise jeans came home, as a guy a few rows in front stood up, his jeans stayed down and we got an eye full of leopard print underwear high above the low rise. Priceless!
Some things come at you from out of the blue. Yesterday was one of those days. It went a little like this: I was driving to a food market (that's another story, so ask me later) when a radio piece caught my attention: British Pathe news, the old cinema newsreel company, have uploaded many of the old news reels to their website. Straight away I thought 'how many theatre related news reels are there?' I couldn't get home quick enough.
Once at home, the regular Saturday jobs were looking back at me - ironing to be precise - even if my mind was wandering to newsreels and what they might contain. The radio hosts believed that it was a treasure trove of social and world history. Finally, with all the work done, I could sit down and check it out. It is fascinating. I spent time looking through a number of clips, a large number. Some silent, some with sound. Anyway here are a couple. Enjoy, and who knows, you might even recognise someone from them.
The first one is the R&R - Rathmines and Rathgar Musical Society, Dublin, Ireland - performing The Rose of Persia (by Arthur Sullivan and Basil Hood) as a fundraiser for Cancer Research. The clip is silent, but it shows a society in its early years, that is still producing shows today (this dates from around 1921). The R&R was formed in 1913 and their next show takes place this week at the National Concert Hall, Dublin.
This second clip, with sound, shows the first blocks being placed on the new, world famous Abbey Theatre, Dublin. It has an issue date of Sept 1963.
There are many more on the Pathe website. You could spend hours there, I know because I have.
Well, here we are, our very first blog post!!!! We are officially up and running. What's it all about, I hear you asking (well maybe you and me both)? The answer is simple: This is for fans of theatre (even movies and books), but mainly Musical Theatre.
It doesn't matter if you're into big shows or small shows, comedies or tearjerkers, old shows or brand spanking new ones, amateur or professional, or shows written by the two folks on the street where you live (in fact that's how most shows start out). If you love Rodgers and Hammerstein, Kitt and Yorkey, Lerner and Lowe, Stephen Sondheim or Andrew Lloyd Webber, and the countless others who make musicals happen, then this is the place for you.
But let's make a deal: I'll do my best to let you know about all the bits and pieces I pick up about theatre, if you let us know any bits you find, or what's happening near you.
As this is the Red Curtain Review, where better to start than in the land of Oz with the new song Red Shoes Blues sung by The Wicked Witch of the West (Hannah Waddingham). It's one of the additional songs written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice for the London Palladium production of The Wizard of Oz(click for website) which opened March 1st. The set looks fab and the song has that Tim Rice feel to it. Dorothy is played by the winner of the BBCOver the Rainbow Dorothy search, Danielle Hope, who I thought was terrific all through the TV show. Then there is Michael Crawford playing the old Wiz himself. Anyway, enjoy a great song from what looks like a great production. If anyone's seen it, let us know what you thought of it!!
