I posted to flickr.com
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Saturday 28th August 2010
Another weekend and another trip to the theatre. This week is a little different to last week's Prisoner of Second Avenue, this week it's Sister Act.
The intention was meant to be going to see Sister Act to see Whoopi Goldberg as the Mother Superior, however she had to cancel, which was all very sad, but it was still a very good show. Still think they should have had "Follow Him" in it though.
August 29 2010, 11:29am | Comments »
I posted to flickr.com
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August 24 2010, 5:10am | Comments »
I posted to loveneverdiesphantom.co.uk
Sierra Boggess sang Love Never Dies for the massed musical theatre fans at West End Live last weekend, another wonderful performance by Sierra, and great publicity for the show. Here’s a crowd video of the song courtesy of theatre breaks youTube
After Sierra, Ramin and one of the Gustav’s came on and sang a duet but I’ll leave that for another post. Just look at the appreciative comments left about Sierra again:
rayna181
Beautiful. I swear i never get tired of? her gorgeous voice!!
ChristineMeram
i love this? song sooo much! breathtaking!
Masq92
cant wait till this comes? to new york
PrettyEowyn
Sierra dazzling, as ever. It is so sweet? and delicate! ^^
dookydocs
seen love never dies twice , Sierra got standing ovations on both? occasions. truly stunning
zacmari12
amazing! ?
theAmandaBean
She looks? and sounds like an angel!
Ozcellenc2
OH WOW!!!! She becomes better and better and better.?
June 21 2010, 9:27am | Comments »
I posted to wizardofozlondon.co.uk
http://wizardofozlondon.co.uk/172/wizard-of-oz-sequel-surrender-dorothy/
Drew Barrymore is set to direct the film “Surrender Dorothy,” which will be a “loose sequel” to the classic 1939 movie musical “The Wizard of Oz”.
Drew Barrymore
Barrymore has been developing the project for years, and at one point appeared set to play Dorothy’s great-great-granddaughter, who learns to use the ruby slippers’ power when the Wicked Witch unexpectedly returns to take over Oz and the earth. It’s unclear if Barrymore will still take the role or just direct. Now “Surrender Dorothy” is just one out of five “Oz” films that have been reported as being in development recently, following the big box-office success of Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland.” Possible films include “Oz the Great and Powerful,” a Disney project that would show how the Wizard came to Oz. There may also be a film version of “Wicked”, the musical prequel to the story, which has been fabulously successful on Broadway and in the London West End.
June 15 2010, 3:09am | Comments »
I posted to wizardofozlondon.co.uk
http://wizardofozlondon.co.uk/127/sierra-boggess-from-love-never-dies/
Sierra Boggess From Love Never Dies spent some time with the Dorothys last week giving advice and answering questions, specifically related to maintaining the stamina needed to fulfil the requirements of performing up to 8 times a week on the West End stage in London. She explained that the winning Dorothy who gets to perform in The Wizard Of Oz can expect not just a wonderful job but also a complete lifestyle as a leading lady. Sierra was impressed that the amount of working being put in by all at the Dorothy house was already a good preparation for the real thing. On Sunday night’s Over The Rainbow, Sierra Boggess performed the title song from the new Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, Love Never Dies
Sierra Boggess
May 18 2010, 2:18am | Comments »
I posted to loveneverdiesphantom.co.uk
http://www.loveneverdiesphantom.co.uk/love-never-dies/sierra-boggess-love-never-dies
Sierra Boggess sang Love Never Dies on BBC1’s Over the Rainbow show last night
The show is a casting competition for another Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, The Wizard of Oz which opens in London in April 2011 with a Leading Lady – the part of Dorothy, chosen by the public. Sierra Boggess helped out with the final four contestants during the week giving them advice on singing, stamina, and the West End Leading Lady lifestyle which the lucky winner might expect.
May 17 2010, 6:18am | Comments »
I posted to wizardofozlondon.co.uk
http://wizardofozlondon.co.uk/113/four-superstars-one-dorothy/
Four Dorothy contenders remain for just a few hours more, and then they will be reduced to three. All four girls who remain in the competition have star quality in many ways, each different, but only three can go through to the Over The Rainbow final next week with a chance to star in The Wizard of Oz in London’s West End starting in April 2011. Danielle Hope Danielle’s Performance on Saturday
Steph Fearon Steph’s performance of Rule The World
Sophie Evans Sophie’s Performance of Reflection
Lauren Samuels Lauren’s performance of Heaven.
Dorothy Duets Ins the first duet duel of the night, Sophie and Steph sang I’m Gonna Was That Man Right Out of My Hair, and then Lauren and Danielle performed a duet version of Popular from the hit Oz musical, Wicked.
May 16 2010, 5:45am | Comments »
I posted to wizardofozlondon.co.uk
http://wizardofozlondon.co.uk/23/the-wizard-of-oz-has-been-done-before/
I thought it would be interesting to go back over something Andrew Lloyd Webber said about The Wizard of Oz and Over The Rainbow way back during one of the early audition sessions, in fact in Scotland. Andrew Lloyd Webber talked about Over The Rainbow and the Wizard Of Oz production as one of his most ambitious projects yet but said he wanted to steer clear of the classic 1939 movie. He said: This is the most difficult show I’ve had to cast. Joseph, Oliver and Maria all came from established theatre productions which are huge hits. The Wizard Of Oz has been done before, but it’s never worked properly because they’ve tried to recreate the movie too closely. I’m essentially writing a whole new musical with some of the greatest songs ever written and composing completely new music for it. There’s at least half a dozen new songs. So that’s a tantalising insight into what the forthcoming London production at The Palladium promisies. A new musical with half a dozen new songs, a fantastic Dorothy (no matter who wins) all based on but not recreating the original American story.
May 14 2010, 4:05pm | Comments »
I posted to wizardofozlondon.co.uk
http://wizardofozlondon.co.uk/101/jessica-robinson-not-dorothy/
Oh noes! Not Jessica??! Jessica Robinson became the surprise second victim of the double knock out weekend yesterday on Over The Rainbow simply because the public voted her into the bottom two alongside of Danielle, who ought really to be the outright favourite to win. Given that dreadful choice, it was probably no choice at all that Danielle had to be saved but it still doesn’t seem right that Jessica should be out of the competition at this stage. When asked why she thought she had managed to avoid the bottom two so far, Jess put it down to her amazing fan base, but I’m afraid they let her down, just the once. Ah well, what else happened…? The mashup was a medley of songs, two from Fiddler on the roof and some pop songs.
Who catches your eye for most of the time when watching the group performances? If They Could See Me Now Tamsin Outhwaite returned to Over The Rainbow, this time to perform herself and show the girls exactly how it’s done.
Tamsin Outhwaite performs “If They Could See Me Now” from current West End smash hit musical Sweet Charity The Sing Off Danielle and Jessica were given an Andrew Lloyd Webber composition for the inevitable sing off, Take That Look Off Your Face from “Tell Me On A Sunday”
Goodbye Jessica Jessica seemed to be genuinely grateful for having the good fortune to last through the show as long as she had done, and I’m sure leaves us with the confidence that she has a bright career in musical theatre ahead of her, (if not in Wizard Of Oz) as she sings Somewhere over The Rainbow and heads for flying moon.
May 10 2010, 1:27am | Comments »
I posted to wizardofozlondon.co.uk
http://wizardofozlondon.co.uk/83/jenny-leaves-dorothy/
Jenny Douglas Is Not Dorothy
Jenny Douglas from Scotland was the first casualty of the weekend’s double eviction special of Over The Rainbow. Jenny showed increased competence in her singing but failed the test of working with Toto the dog! Understandably perhaps, For Andrew Lloyd Webber, that was enough to rule out Jenny from being in The Wizard of OZ when it opens in London’s West End in March 2011. Over The Rainbow started this week with a group rendition of the powerful musical theatre song “Defying Gravity” from Wicked. Normally a big solo number, it was slightly odd to hear this a little under performed by the six Dorothys but then it hadn’t really been explained that this was Musical Theatre week. So firstly, Danielle sang “On My Own” from the musical, Les Miserables impeccably as always. Then it was the turn of Jenny with her version of Send In The Clowns from the musical, A Little Night Music. By the way, has anybody else noticed that the musical phrase for Send in The Clowns is just like Love Never Dies? Jenny received a mixed response from the judges. Jessica this week took on the Mary Poppins classic, Supercalifragilistic or rather in full, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, as song which potentially leaves little for an individualist performer to build on but to my surprise, Jessica managed to to turn it into an entertaining music hall number. Who’d have thought it. Jessica deserves a place in the semi finals. Lauren performed Being Alive from the Sondheim musical, “Company” and once again I felt, justfied staying in the show right up to the line. Steph was given the well known song “Somewhere” from the musical West Side Story and rose to the occasion yet again by showing just how far she has improved in confidence with her new found variation in singing styles. Sophie has managed to evade the sing offs recently, and once again she avoided the bottom two with a splendidly up tempo version of “I Enjoy Being A Girl” from Flower Drum Song by Rodgers and Hammerstein, a less well known musical based on the 1957 novel of the same name by Chinese American author C. Y. Lee. In the end, Jenny found herself in the bottom two alongside Lauren Samuels. I don’t know what Lauren was doing there, but it’s a public vote so anything can happen. They had to sing a duet rendition of Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’, a song which I have never cared for, but whichthey managed to turn almost into a musical theatre piece. Andrew Lloyd Webber then wasted no time in saving Lauren, citing Jenny’s failure to control Toto as the reason why she would have been too much of a risk on the Wizard Of Oz Stage. Five Remaining Dorothy Contenders So the five girls remaining are Lauren Samuels, Jessica Robinson, Danielle Hope, Sophie Evans and Steph Fearon, with one more due to be eliminated on Sunday’s show and then it’s semi-final next weekend. Saturday Night’s double eviction part one show ended with the five doing a Wizard Of Oz medley starting with Follow The Yellow Brick Road and including Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead, The Merry Old Land of Oz and If I Only Had A Brain.
May 9 2010, 8:25am | Comments »
I posted to wizardofozlondon.co.uk
http://wizardofozlondon.co.uk/79/dorothys-at-sweet-charity/
The six remaining Dorothys attended the West End opening night of Sweet Charity at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. Tamsin Outhwaite, the brilliant star of this fantastic musical was already know to the Dorothys having been an expert guest in one of the earlier episodes of Over The Rainbow. Andrew Lloyd Webber had made a point of celebrating Tamsin Outhwaite’s performance in Sweet Charity having seen it at The Menier Chocolate Factory, where this production originates and I must say, he is not wrong. This is a truly well put together show, with a big band, great atmosphere and clever choreography. Also present on the red carpet were Sheridan Smith from Legally Blonde, Joanna Page and also Heidi Range, Amy Nuttall, Amanda Lamb and Holly Willoughby. Sweet Charity director Matthew White gave the benefit of his advice and encouragement to Dorothys during the interval, so I don’t know if we will see some brief footage from this visit during the summary of the Dorothys’ week in this weekends Over The Rainbow.
May 6 2010, 8:43am | Comments »
I posted to usefulwiki.com
http://usefulwiki.com/londontheatre/hair-theatre-breaks.html
Hair Theatre Breaks – time travel to a land that never was….. Hair is back in the West End and we can travel back in time for a theatre break to that heady, hairy place that was the Summer of Love. We’ve all heard the cliche that if you remember the 60s you weren’t there, well, the new production of the 60s hit musical Hair takes us back to one version of that time of flower power, beads and illicit substances. Hair theatre breaks Last Tuesday night we had the chance to see the lively new Broadway production of Hair. I was really looking forward to the show as it’s been on my wish list ever since I heard it was coming (More about Hair). Of course, this cast of bright energetic young Americans weren’t even born when Hair arrived in London for the first time. (I worry that just possibly neither were some of their parents – moving swiftly on!) For them Hair is a period piece from a time as exotic and unfamiliar as the 1920s. I’m old enough to remember the 60s, or to be more precise, I was trying to re-create them for most of the early 70s. At first tiny details that weren’t ‘quite’ right jarred slightly. A few minutes in though I suddenly realised that being ‘right’ really didn’t matter. I was watching a wonderful, energetic interpretation of a kind of fairy tale. We weren’t in the 60s at all. We were in Neverland with a group of Lost Boys, Peter Pan (Burger) and the rest of the cast. So I stopped worrying about historical accuracy and relaxed into a most enjoyable evening of music, dance and humour.
The music of the show is wonderful, from the iconic start of The Age of Aquarius via Good Morning Starshine to the final auditorium wide singing of Let the Sun Shine in we are swept along by a succession of huge hits and tiny masterpieces like Frank Mills. If you can’t get to London to see the show buy the album on Amazon – you won’t regret it!
Who Will Enjoy Hair? Looking round the audience, and we got a better look at them than you usually do as a huge number of people made it onstage for the final song, Hair seems to appeal to all ages. There were a few aging ex-hippies (you know who you are!) but just about every age from 14 or so up was represented. Hair does of course famously have full frontal (actually rather tasteful and touching) nudity, references to drug use and quite explicit (and not at all tasteful, but fun!) sexual references. You might think twice about taking your younger children or your aging aunt. On second thoughts aging aunts are an unpredictable bunch and can have quite interesting pasts! Hair theatre breaks Book Hair Theatre Breaks
a
April 24 2010, 10:44am | Comments »
I posted to usefulwiki.com
http://usefulwiki.com/londontheatre/sweet-charity.html
If They Could See Me Now - Charity (Tamzin Outhwaite) Sweet Charity will start previews at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket on April 23rd after a sell out run at the Mernier Chocolate Factory. At the moment the show is booking through to January 2011. The show has been a big hit with audiences and critics alike. Tamzin Outhwaite’s outstanding performance in the title role has even been remarked on by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Sweet Charity will make a brilliant treat for theatre breaks fans. We follow Charity Hope Valentine as she travels a bumpy path in pursuit of love. Charity is a paradox, a scheming innocent, a dreamer who always gives her heart and her trust to the wrong man. She still travels hopefully and despite all her misadventures, or perhaps because of them, she still captures the audience’s heart along the way. Sweet Charity has some favourite show stopping musical numbers that you will know the words to including If They Could See Me Now, (Hey) Big Spender! and The Rhythm of Life and some less familiar numbers that deserve to be better known. The jazz dance style of the show is classic Fosse with those now familiar elements of bowler hatted dancers with lots of shoulder rolls, knees, elbows, and wrists bent at unlikely angles. Expect syncopated rhythms, lots of toe tapping, finger clicking and pelvic thrusts. This is the original that shows like Chicago built their dance style on. And this production really does it justice! Click here to view the embedded video. History of the Show Sweet Charity is based on Federico Fellini’s screenplay for Nights of Cabiria. The show was choreographed and conceived by Bob Fosse, with music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields, and book by Neil Simon. The original production directed by Fosse opened on January 29, 1966 on Broadway at the Palace Theatre, and ran for 608 performances. Nominated for 12 Tony Awards the show only won for Fosse’s choreography. The 1969 film version of Sweet Charity (which I love!) was also directed and choreographed by Fosse. It starred Shirley MacLaine as Charity Hope Valentine and until recently I thought hers was the definitive Charity. Tamzin Outhwaite does a brilliant job of making the part and especially If They Could See Me Now her own. Sweet Charity Theatre Breaks As yet (April 15th) Show and Stay do not seem to have theatre breaks to Sweet Charity available on the site. They do suggest that breaks will soon be available with prices starting from £113 per person. TheatreBreaks.com also have the show on their site but are not showing any performances as available Superbreaks does have availability and prices start from £109 per person. You could also try a build your own theatre break. UKTickets have tickets from £31 per person during previews rising to £42 in May.
a
April 15 2010, 9:03am | Comments »
I posted to loveneverdiesphantom.co.uk
http://www.loveneverdiesphantom.co.uk/love-never-dies/interval-comment-at-love-never-dies
I have a feeling it’s going to fashionable to knock the new musical “Love Never Dies” from certain quarters. Paul in London made an audioboo from the Adelphi Theatre during the interval at Love Never Dies.
Technorati Tags: Adelphi Theatre, Love Never Dies, musical
March 6 2010, 8:02am | Comments »
I posted to loveneverdiesphantom.co.uk
http://www.loveneverdiesphantom.co.uk/love-never-dies/love-never-dies-opens-in-one-week
Love Never Dies the new Phantom musical will open in London on Tuesday 9th March, just one week’s time. So what will the critics and press reviews make of it? Well in many ways, it doesn’t really matter because, having seen one of the early previews and loved it all, especially the score, I’m certain that the great British musical theatre going public is going to really enjoy this musical extravaganza. It’s a modern production that builds on the language of musicals and delights the eye and ear, while twisting the emotions appropriately as the plot unfolds. There were one or two effects that didn’t work quite as well as others, but from all accounts the show had already improved considerably on the first preview, and it’s now a case of tweaking a show that is ready for the world rather than implementing any big last minute redesigns. Maybe if you go and see Love Never Dies in three months time, for a summer theatre break, it will be a more mature production, perhaps with a new final ensemble or something to smooth over any slight disappointments, but the characters are set and most importantly, the music is a final piece that holds together very well. I’ll be throroughly recommending Love Never Dies as a new musical top choice choice for London theatre breaks.
Technorati Tags: extravaganza, london, london theatre, Love Never Dies, March, music, musical, musicals, phantom, score
March 2 2010, 7:38am | Comments »
I posted to loveneverdiesphantom.co.uk
http://www.loveneverdiesphantom.co.uk/ramin-karimloo/ramin-karimloo-cd
Ramin Karimloo, star of The Phantom of the Opera and next year’s world premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom sequel Love Never Dies, along with I’d Do Anything’s Sarah Lark, How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?’s Abi Finley and other musical stars have recorded the September released concept album for BLUEBIRD, a passionate new musical set on the homefront during the Second World War. Normally priced £13.99, the 24-track CD, produced by Escape Records, comes with 12-page souvenir booklet.
Bluebird is a passionate new musical, set during World War Two and charts the story of ordinary people living in extraordinary times. It tells the heartbreaking story of Roberta Jones (Sarah Lark) as she comes to terms with her husband Pete (Stephen Weller) going off to war. Roberta, a nurse, soon meets the charismatic U.S. serviceman Ben (Ramin Karimloo) and a friendship grows, much to the disapproval of best friend, Jane (Abi Finely). Ramin Karimloo remarked: It was great to help out a new and up and coming British composer. (Gareth Peters) He has put his heart and soul into this project. I think he’s done a great job and was honored to be asked to take part in it and also have a song written for me. It was also a lot of fun to go back to singing with a rockier sound.
Technorati Tags: Andrew LLoyd Webber, bluebird, british composer, musical, musical stars, Ramin Karimloo, Roberta Jones, Sarah Lark, souvenir booklet, Stephen Weller
December 22 2009, 10:50am | Comments »
I posted to theatreinlondon.blogspot.com
http://theatreinlondon.blogspot.com/2009/12/billy-elliot-london.html
One show to see in 2010 is going to have to be Billy Elliot LondonI think it's going to be a year when some of these issues about individual aspiration, about community solidarity, the clash of loyalties between ideals and obligations, family and class, wil all be back on the agenda. Besides, Billy Elliot London is a great musical which has stood the test of time already, and even become a big hit over the Atlantic in New York of all places.
December 14 2009, 12:46pm | Comments »
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