V & A theatre and performance gallery

I was talking to some people on Facebook recently who wanted to know about the theatre exhibition at the V & A Museum. I went in late August so it was relatively fresh in my mind still and I offered some comments on it. It got me thinking that it is quite relevant to this blog so I thought I'd do a quick post about what it is.

I know there is a new exhibition now to celebrate the Olivier awards so this will have lots more things in it to do with theatre. However, it isn't permanent so I imagine they will change it back to being more like the one I saw and am writing about today when it finishes. I would love to go to the new one but I don't think I'll make it. If anyone does go let me know what it's like!  Here's the link to to the new one, so get there if you can!  https://shop.vam.ac.uk/whatson/index/view/id/1045/event/Curtain-Up--Celebrating-40-Years-of-Theatre-in-London-and-New-York/dt/2016-02-09/eType/1/free/1

The one I am talking about now though is their regular theatre and performance collection which is a long term gallery. Here's the link to the theatre and performance section on their website, it has some interesting information on it and some links to archives if you are doing research on anything. http://www.vam.ac.uk/page/t/theatre-and-performance/

The gallery was really good, I didn't really know what to expect as I didn't know anyone who had been before. I only accidentally came across it when I was on their website looking what was there, to see if it was worth my Mum and me visiting it whilst my sister and Dad went to the Science Museum across the road that I wasn't bothered about seeing. I'm glad I found it as I enjoyed it and so did my Mum. To be honest, even if your family and/or friends are not big theatre lovers I think that they would probably still enjoy it as there is so much stuff there and it covers a wide range of things. There are lots of unusual items as well which I don't think you could find anywhere else so that keeps people's interests up.

Here's a list of some of my favourite items:

• Fred and Ginger's outfits
• Lion King costumes
• War Horse puppet
• Recreation of Kylie's dressing room (this was my Mum's favorite as she loves Kylie and had only been to see her for the 1st time in April last year)
• Laurence Olivier's Oedipus costume
• Adam Ant's Price Charming outfit
• Original flying harness from Peter Pan (my favorite childhood story and film!)

As you can see there is a wide range of things, so probably something for all of the family to enjoy! It does take quite a long time to get around, it doesn't look that big even you walk in, but if you want to take in everything and look carefully at things as well as get good photos and read all of the information, you do need over an hour really. The V & A itself is huge and we only really had time to see that gallery and one of the main big galleries (I can't remember which one but it has lots of columns and gates in it as well as a religious items section and you can look down on it from the second floor) which was incredible to see, especially how big some of the items are, it left me wondering how they transported things! 

I would thoroughly recommend a visit, especially as theatre fans, as some of the items are really special to see. The only thing I didn't really like was some of the panto costumes as they are a bit creepy looking, try and spot the evil looking chicken photobombing one of my nice photos below! 

Here's some shots from one of the big main galleries, I don't think they really show the size  and scale of some of the items though. My Mum is in most of the photos I took in this room so I won't put them up as she doesn't want me to, but the other people in the photos do sort of show the size of them well I guess. I don't know the names of these items but when I get home I'll see if I can find them in the mini guide/map they gave us, I just know it was in the gallery as soon as you come in through the door facing the main road, not the one opposite the Science Museum. 

Here are the photos from the Theatre and Performance Gallery, look out for the evil chicken!

(Sorry if some are blurry the camera was messing about a bit and wasn't working great with the glass the items were behind). 

Kylie's dressing room

Mick Jagger's outfit

Adam Ant's Price Charming outfit

Jimmy Page's outfit

George Formby's Ukulele Banjo

Elton John's outfit

Fred and Ginger's outfits

Lion King

Lion King

Maggie Smith's The Importance of Being Earnest costume

War Horse's Joey and puppeteer costumes

Original Peter Pan flying harness. I'm a bit of a Peter Pan nerd so that's why this one was included on here!

Laurence Oliver's costume- personally I think they need to move this to the front a bit as it is one of the most famous items! 

Grease Live!

Hi everyone, it's Grease Live time!

I wrote a lot of this whilst watching it (in the many ad breaks!) and then I edited it and added to it today when I had a chance to think back about it and re-watch some of the songs on YouTube as well as reading some other people's thoughts. Annoyingly the Fox YouTube account has now blocked the videos of the songs from views in the UK (I'm assuming it's the same for everyone outside America) but thankfully some other people have uploaded some copies of them, obviously not as good quality, but at least we can watch them in the UK.  Sorry it's like a week late but better late than never!

I did enjoy it overall as I think it was quite a unique experience and something different. I didn't watch The Sound of Music live properly when it was on over Christmas here in the UK as I was quite busy and it isn't one of my favourite musicals so I lost interest. Therefore, Grease Live was the first one of these kind of things I had properly watch so it was a new experience for me. I've heard they are doing Hairspray so that is something to look forward to.

I'll start with the cast as always. but I'll tie this in with the song performances this time. I did like most of the cast, there were a few odd decisions such as Boys II Men instead of one Teen Angel which was a real shame but I'll come back to this in a bit. Danny was played by Aaron Tveit who I knew from Les Mis and I think he did a good job of it. He didn't come across as annoying as some people playing Danny do and he performed all of the key songs well. I liked his version of 'Sandy' and you could tell he was having a great time in 'Greased Lightinin'' which was fun to watch. He led the T-birds well and always remained the dominant character in the group which is what Danny has to do. Julianne Hough played Sandy and again, she did a good job I think. She was your stereotypical Sandy, staying the non-dominant and innocent member of the group at the beginning and getting stronger towards the end. I enjoyed her version of 'Hopelessly devoted to you' and I think she performed well in all of the other songs.

Vanessa Hudgens must get credit for her performance as Rizzo hours after her father passed away. Her version of 'Worse things I could do' I felt was spot on. It is my favourite song in the show so I did have high expectations. I don't think that she was the best Rizzo I have seen as she didn't come across as powerful or as dominant as Riz is supposed to be. She didn't seen to be as mean as she has appeared in other versions I have seen and she is supposed to be the strongest female character and I felt she was out performed by other cast members a couple of times. I think it was hard for me to see her in this role as I grew up with her playing Gabriella who is the Sandy character in High School Musical so it was hard at first to see her as anything but the innocent character role. After a while I did get used to it and by the end, especially after her song, I did properly see her as Rizzo and a stronger female character. Carlos PenaVega as Kenickie was fine as well, at least he got to sing part of 'Greased Lightnin'' which he performed really well!

I knew that Carly Rae Jepsen was in it, but it took me ages to realise who she was playing! In the end it was Frenchy and I think that she was an excellent choice. She performed well in all of her songs, including the new one 'All I need is an Angel' which gave Frenchy her own song to sing which I think was a nice addition. She had a few dodging acting moments in 'Beauty School Drop Out', but she did play the nice Pink Lady well. Jan and the rest of the T birds were cast well as well, no real stand out performances for me, it was a shame they missed out 'Mooning' as that denied them a song, but overall they performed in the supporting roles well. My favourite performance of the night was from Keke Palmer as Marty, her version of 'Freddy My Love' was fantastic! I loved her voice and style and I liked the way they did it, starting in the bedroom and then onto the stage and back again. Here's the version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZH6WWlDmd0
I thought it was clever casting and something I had never seen done before, well done Keke!

I hated 'Beauty School Drop Out', it is probably my second favourite song live and those guys (Boyz II Men) ruined it. To begin with it was weird as it was more than one guy and they kept doing that annoying Christian Aguilera thing with their voices, taking the melody too far away from the original version, which was really annoying. As others have noticed they also did not perform the comical elements of the song at all! I have seen Jason Capewell as the Teen Angel so many times now and he is the perfect person for the role, an excellent singer and perfect comic timing. Boys II Men did not do this song any justice and overall their singing as just really off key. Some have suggested that Darren Criss should have played the role as he performed the song in Glee so well, and I think that possibly this could have been the perfect casting choice and they messed up a bit on this one.

An odd thing I found and didn't think I would be saying, but Blanche I think was the person that made me laugh the most. She stole all the scenes she was in and had great comic timing. Patty always makes me laugh and she didn't fail to do so in this again. It was great to see Didi Conn and Barry Pearl, Frenchy and Doody from the film, in there, and it's a shame none of the others were there, but it was nice to see those two there at least! Jessie J singing the opening was pretty cool as well as it set it up nicely by showing you back stage and she is such an amazing singer anyway!

Overall, most of the cast did a really good job, especially considering the pressure of it being live to so many people. A couple of casting errors but overall, they performed the iconic roles well and as the play went on it was easier to see them as the characters.

I think I have to address the thing that comes up the most, which is the age of the actors. Obviously, in the film they were all way older than high school age and you could tell, especially the guys such as Sonny! In the stage versions they are mostly in the late 20s/early 30s, I've seen a few casts that were mostly in there early 20s and to be honest I do prefer it that way as it makes it more believable and they have the right energy levels and looks to make it more believable. I think that some of them in Grease Live were a little too old, Danny, Kenickie and Sonny stand out but I can see why they chose those people. To be honest, it could have been an opportunity to allow some up and coming young actors and singers to shine which I think could have been a better option. However, I guess they wanted some famous names to guarantee people would watch it so I can see why they went for some of the people that they did.

I have seen people complaining about a few changes they made so here are my thoughts on some of the most common ones I have seen. They got rid of the line all couples must be boy girl and things like that to suit a more modern audience, it didn't really bother me or affect the story so I think they got away with it, they may have done it to some other lines as well but if they did I didn't notice and they obviously didn't affect the story. The bit with Eugene and the car was rather odd I have to admit! Also, they edited some of the lines in 'Greased Lightin'' such to dragon wagon, which some people seem a bit annoyed about because they think it changed the meaning of the song too much. However, some of the cast recordings I have listened to also do so this wasn't new to me. I can understand why they did it as it did air quite early in the US and it was only just after 9 when the song was on in the UK I think. However, I don't think many people would have noticed the original lines, even kids really, I think I was singing the original lyrics when I was like 7/8, my parents probably didn't notice and I had no idea what they meant until I listened to them more closely when I was in my teens! However, I don't think it was a big an issue as people were making it out to be and moaning that they changed the lyrics, it really didn't affect the show.

The set was brilliant and I still have no idea how they worked out how to design it and get people from one place to another so quickly or set new scenes up so well. There were a few sound issues but nothing drastic or as bad as they could have been. Apparently some people spotted that the camera angles we watched in the UK were different to those in the US in 'Born to Hand jive' and this was possibly because they covered up a mistake, but I haven't really analysed this! If anyone has compared the two, let me know! Some people liked how they broke the forth wall at the end and went on the cars to the carnival and others didn't. I personally didn't like it but I can see why they needed to do it and it reminded you of the scale of the event they had just pulled off! Showing some of the backstage bits in between scenes or at ad breaks was a bit annoying and they could have shown all of the footage after, but lots of people enjoyed it as they went along and it wasn't too much of an issue to be fair.

Overall, I did enjoy it and I'm glad I had a night off my uni work to watch it. I couldn't help but sing along and thankfully they didn't ruin it for me. I liked most of the songs, a couple were ruined, but mostly their versions were updated and really fun. I recommend that people give it a go, skip parts if you get bored but stick with it as there are a couple of show stoppers in there. I am looking forward to the next live musical on TV and I think I will be a regular viewer of these now. I'm pretty sure it's still available on the ITV player in the UK and I'm sure you can find it on similar platforms around the world. The soundtrack is now in Spotify and iTunes here in the UK so have a listen to that!

I have no idea which show I will be doing next so I can't tell you what is coming up soon! However, I have done a quick post about the V and A museum so look out for that very soon!

Can't take my eyes off you- Jersey Boys (sorry for the long wait!)

Sorry for the long wait! Uni life was getting a bit hectic, I had course rep things to be doing, presentations to get ready, essays to write and I was also part of a theatre festival which was fun but very hard work and I was working in a school for a uni placement! Well it's a new term now, things are still a bit mad and will be until April/May now so sorry if I get behind again. (I'm supposed to be writing an essay draft now but taking a break to do this!). However, in April/May I am going to see the touring productions of Hairspray and Chicago, so I'll wait until I've seen them before I review both of them. Grease Live will be next. 

We are looking at shows to see in London in August time, so any recommendations would be good, if anything new is coming out (I've heard Finding Neverland and School of Rock are coming, but I have no idea when) that would be useful. If any interesting plays are lined up (with celebs or without, we would quite like to see Andrew Scott or Bertie Carvel in something!) that would be good as well. My sister will be 14 then so we have to take age limits into consideration sometimes, but she has been fine with other things in the past e.g. we didn't expect that much swearing in Billy Elliot a few years ago! The current favourite in our house to see is The Play that Goes Wrong after seeing it on the Royal Variety and Keep it in the Family. We are going to see The Commitments tour show so it won't be that one in London. 

Anyway onto Jersey Boys, which is my favourite show other than my longstanding favourite of Grease, I have to stay loyal to Grease as it has been my favourite since I was about 7 and it's the first show I can remember seeing, but Jersey Boys is probably my favourite one that I've seen when I've been a bit older. It won a Tony for Best Musical in 2006 and then an Olivier in 2008 for Best New Musical which is thoroughly deserved! 

We went to see it on the 16th October 2009 Prince Edward Theatre. We had the original cast for this performance and no understudies.

This show was my choice alone as it was my 16th birthday present and party in one. My sister was only about 9 so she couldn't go due to the swearing, violence etc. so just be aware of the age restrictions or advice on this one. I took my Mum even though my Dad was supposed to be the one who was coming as he is a fan of the Four Seasons, but my Mum changed her mind at the last minute and didn't want to see Lion King again with my sister, my Dad caved in and gave up his ticket. (I took him to see the film and he saw the tour version in 2014 so we have made up for it, almost.) I'm glad that she came as she really enjoyed it and it was the first time we had been out just by ourselves in a long time! She still says it is one of the best she has seen, only being beaten by Chicago which is her favourite show no matter who is in it or where we see it, and Les Mis with Alfie Boe in it. 

                                         

I will do my thoughts on the main show in London first and then add a few comments about the tour which I went to see in 2014 at the end. This one is slightly different, as to be honest I can't fault this musical, so it is more about my thoughts on things rather than a review this time! As always, any comments are appreciated, if you have a critique I'd love to know and I'll share my thoughts on it!

To get you into the mood, here's the performance by the original west end cast in 2008 (just under a year before I saw it in 2009) at the Royal Variety. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQc1_bRga20

Here's a quick summary of the show. Basically it is a jukebox musical and you are following the rise to success (and ultimate breakup) of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. The main four members (as it changes through time) who you follow are Frankie Valli (lead singer), Bob Gaudio (voice and keys), whose idea the musical was and supervised all of the music, Nick Massi (voice and bass) and Tommy DeVito (voice and guitar). You see things such as how they met, the rehearsal process, their time in jail, money issues, song writing, family issues and their breakup. It finishes with them being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Each member of the band takes a turn in narrating the show, therefore, each of them takes a 'season' (see pictures below). Other 'characters' include the producer Bob Crewe, who is an interesting man and also other popular bands from the time such as The Angels.  

I'll start with the cast as that is what everyone always asks about first. We were lucky enough to see the original west end cast, which consisted of Ryan Molloy as Frankie, Philip Bulcock as Nick, Stephen Ashfield as Bob (who is currently in the Book of Mormon) and Glenn Carter as Tommy. I was so happy that we got to see the original cast as they were the ones that I had seen online and on the TV and I never usually get to see the original cast of a west end musical as they usually leave before I get to see it! Ryan was brilliant as Frankie, he was pitch perfect throughout and played all of Frankie's different ages really well. He shows his fighting spirit when he was younger, all the way to the hard times he had to face as a father. I was really impressed with his acting, as I think when they cast these types of  musicals they need to focus on the voice, so I was surprised at how good he was. When it gets really sad it was one of the only times I did get caught up in the story of a musical. Glenn was scary as Tommy at times and did show his dominance over the other members of the group. He is good at the comedy and really makes you believe he is making the others uncomfortable at moments. The run up to and the actual moments of his downfall (the scene around the table) were brilliant and really had my hooked, this is such an intense scene and he did an amazing job of leading it. Stephen had a lot of pressure as Bob was/is involved in the running of the show, but as with the others he did a brilliant job. Along with Philip as Nick, these are the two members that you end up liking the most and feel for. Philip was particularly good at the comic moments (the towels moment sticks in my memory, if you've seen it you know what I mean, if you haven't I don't want to ruin it, but it is a particularly funny moment that also makes you feel really sorry for Nick). The best part of the cast is that they show the relationships between the characters really well and show how different they were between them all. Such as the tensions between Frankie and Tommy or the friendship that ends up strained between Nick and Tommy. The guys did a fantastic job and I can't fault them.

The rest of the cast were good as well, I liked Frankie's daughter (I'll check names when I get home) as she showed the strain Frankie's work put on his relationships with his family. The female singers were a welcome addition as I always like to see the women taking centre stage at some point even in this male focused musical and their songs are quite fun ones.

The music is what makes this musical. If you are a fan of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons it is a must see, as is it if you are a fan of music of those eras. However, I didn't know lots of the music, just the really famous ones like Sherry, Oh What a Night etc. but it doesn't matter, the music grabs you immediately. The live band does a fantastic job of recreating the music as well as updating it a bit such as lots is done at a faster tempo, which means it is more upbeat and I guess they get through it faster. To be honest, I now prefer the musical versions due to their faster pace and probably because they are of a better sound recording. My favourite song is I Can't take my Eyes off you due to the build up to the chorus. I played it as a sax solo with a Big Band and loved playing that part. People do sing along (mostly elderly women on the tour who once people turned around and looked at firmly they quietened down a bit) which is a bit annoying so beware of annoying theatre goers, but the music from the stage is usually loud enough that you can effectively ignore them!

The set is not too elaborate which works well and is nice to see sometimes in contrast to something like Wicked or when I went to see Hamlet. It is very dark to reflect some of the locations I guess such as the prison or clubs. It works well and the props always make sure you know where you are, even the lighting such as a cross appears when they are in the Church. I like it when the band appear at points such as on the top balcony in Can't take my Eyes off you, as it reminds you that they are there and are an important part of the show. My favourite part of the set is when you are looking at the stage as though you are behind the band whilst they are on stage and you are getting a view of the audience which is done using a black screen with lights on. It's just nice to imagine what they were going through and the scale of what they were faced with at shows. Another fun point is when they are recording for a TV show and there is a live camera on stage filming them and it appears on the screen on stage, acting as a TV. They then panned to the live theatre audience and you became the studio audience and appeared on the TV which is quite a nice added bonus experience.

The costumes are all periodically accurate as far as I know, I'm not an expert in fashion history so I would have to check that there were no mistakes. They recreate lots of their famous outfits perfectly, obviously the red jackets, which are my favourite. Lots of dark colours are used, which I assume is what they would have been wearing, contrast well with the brighter outfits. The women's costumes obviously stand out the most as they are more colourful and elaborate, the best are probably the singers dresses. The hair is all well done as well and the female's styles really make you feel like you are in the eras. The costumes and hair are quite fun to watch as they show you the change in styles though the eras. The microphones also show this and it does remind you how long the band was working for. As a musician I couldn't help but admire the drum kits and guitars in particular, the change in styles is noticed here as well, but the range of colours and styles they use is nice to see too. I can't remember any technical issues which is always a bonus!

So that's the west end version, basically perfect in my eyes. If I missed anything or you would like to know more about anything drop me a message on here or Twitter @sophd221b and I'll answer as best as I can. :) 

Glenn Carter as Tommy

Stephen Ashfield as Bobby

Philip Bulcock as Nick

Ryan Molloy as Frankie

Tour version
We went to see it in Manchester as I was back at uni when it came to my local theatre in Stoke. I'm glad we went to see it there as it made it that little bit more special. I think we went in September 2014 (I'll get the date from my sister as soon as possibly as she has her ticket on her bedroom wall still), but I remember it being right by my 21st birthday as we said it was weird as the last time I had seen it was for my 16th birthday, so two of my special birthdays! We had the understudy Frankie, I think this is because we saw the Saturday matinee, but to be honest he was amazing. I think he sounded even more like Frankie than Ryan. I can't remember his name at the moment and I'm writing this from uni so I don't have the programme in front of me but I'll edit this post as soon as I get home and check and add the full cast list as I do like giving performers credit where it is due! I would ask my sister to check but my programmes are all in order and I know she will mess it up. The production was virtually the same, as good as I remember, with brilliant singers and band members. I can remember that the camera didn't show the audience when it panned around, which I assume is due to technical challenges but wasn't a big issue just a shame as it is quite a fun part of the show. All of the set was the same and costumes so it didn't really feel like you were missing out on anything by not seeing it in London, so well done to all involved!

Overall, this show is a must see. It is my favourite one (other than Grease) and I really can't fault it. Listening to the soundtrack always cheers me up and brings back fond memories. I loved seeing the original cast, but to be honest, I think I could see anybody in the roles and it would be hard to ruin it for me (unless the Frankie really couldn't sing then that would probably be a big issue!). I can't wait to see it again and will hopefully be going again in the next few years, especially as I've promised to take my Dad and my sister is now old enough to enjoy it as well and likes the music as well now. I'd love to see it on Broadway as America is their home nation and I would like to see if the production is different, I can only dream and wish for the moment though!

Some extras: original Broadway cast at the 2007 Tony awards: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIJC_DgOGY8

The film version: I would recommend watching it but obviously it has been edited and made more dramatic for film purposes, but the original Broadway Frankie stars as Frankie and he is really good. Ryan sings in Beggin'. I did enjoy the film overall, the story and emotions still get me and I can't help singing along. I particularly liked Tommy as well in the film. Also me and my Dad went to see it on the last day of my first year at uni in York so it is extra special to me. Here's Oh what a night for you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U0awj_zUmU

To book tickets in London, here's the link: http://jerseyboyslondon.com/
UK Tour until March 2016: http://www.jerseyboysuktour.com/tour-dates/tour-tickets/
Broadway: http://www.jerseyboysinfo.com/broadway/

Jersey Boys update and Grease Live!

Hey everyone,

The Jersey Boys review is coming very soon I promise! Sorry for the delay but uni work got a bit mental and Christmas wasn't great personally. The new term is underway and I thought I had better do some work on these blogs now before the next set of assessments comes round. I'm using this blog as a bit of a break to be honest as I am quite stressed and down now but writing about musicals and plays and listening to show themes does cheer me up!

Anyway, I am going to probably watch Grease Live on Wednesday when it airs in the UK, or I'll watch it on the catch-up in the following days. I was going to write my thoughts on it as people at uni are waiting for me to watch it and everyone that knows me knows that it is my favourite musical, so I feel obliged to watch it and give my thoughts. I've heard it has had mixed reviews, otherwise I am trying to avoid reading reviews so that it does not skew my own personal opinion. The only person I'm not too sure about at the moment is Vanessa Hudgens as Rizzo as she sings my favourite song and I'm not sure she suits the character, but we'll see, I've only ever seen her sing in High School Musical!

So see you in a few days (hopefully!) xx