Hairspray and the Secret Garden!

Hiyaa! Just realised I didn't review Hairspray! Don't really remember much now except it was incredibly funny and worth watching. The story is a little different from the film version but it goes along the same lines and I actually like the stage version better because it's a bit more realistic! Brian Conley and Les Dennis were really funny during their song together and had the whole audience laughing.



The Secret Garden was on at the Birmingham Rep (which is an amazing theatre, unfortunatly it's closing for two years). All the cast had amazing voices but some of the actors playing the children were not child like at all. The story does not really lend itself to musical theatre, at most points it seemed like they thought 'we haven't had a song for a while, lets put one in now', 'The Cabbage Song' being one of these moments. However I don't think you could fail with a story such as this one and the staging was very clever. It may sound like this is a good show for young children but there were lots of kids getting restless during some of the songs and quieter moments.

The 39 Steps

I went to see The 39 Steps on 27th October at the Criterion Theatre. First of all, I just want to say how nice the theatre is! It's quite small so our seats in the front row of the circle were quite close to the stage and we had a really good view. There was lots of room and the seats were more comfy than usual theatre seats (they did make farting noises everytime you moved though, which caused a lot of giggles between me and my mum!) The 39 Steps was awesome! It was so funny I don't think I stopped laughing all the way through and the actors were all really talented! It's kind of a spy story with hundreds of characters played by only 4 people, but I won't tell you anymore because everytime I try to explain it I make it sound rubbish (which it's not!) It's a very basic set, infact it's just black walls with a few props thrown in every now and then but it really works! I especially liked where they used ladders as the bridge for example.

I got to see Dianne Pilkington at the stage door and she was so lovely and signed my programme! It was also great to meet some of the girls from Dianne's forum who were at the stage door too! It was such a fantastic evening! So yeah, go see it because it's great!!!! xx

p.s. Just thought i'd mention that my sister went to see Oliver! the night I went to see The 39 Steps and she really enjoyed it and hasn't stopped talking about it. She also said Kerry Ellis was a fantastic Nancy (which made my day!)

Upcoming Shows :)

I feel like i'm neglecting you but I haven't been to see any shows in ages so I haven't had anything to write about! Just thought i'd tell you about the shows i've got tickets for :) Tomorrow i'm going to see a concert at Warwick Arts Centre which i'm not really looking forward too but then..... i'm FINALLY going to see The 39 Steps at The Criterion Theatre! It's a play performed by 4 actors (including DIANNE PILKINGTON!!!!) and i'll hopefully get to meet some of my fellow Team Pilkington members :D On 5th November i'm going to see Hairspray tour at The Birmingham Hippodrome (we've had the tickets for like a year XD) and the other day I booked tickets for The Secret Garden at the Birmingham Rep. We also booked to see the We Will Rock You tour again because my dad loved it so much last time, although it's in about a years time! So yeah, thats all :) Bye xx

Update :)

Okay so I thought I would just tell you very quickly about my work experience at the Warwick Arts Centre on 30th May :)
It was pretty much the same as last time with a few new people. Quite a few of the choir had got there early so when I arrived a lot of them were there. When the other people arrived I had to show them where to go and when it was time to reherse me and another girl had to get the people on stage in order ready to start. During the performance I was spotting from the audience. If someone in the choir was ill during the show they had to sit down to let me know. Then I had to stand up so that the people backstage could see me and then one of them would come and get the person. Luckily no-one was ill so I didn't have to stand up and look like a right idiot! After the show I helped put everything away and make sure nothing was left there by the choir. The man who is in charge of the backstage crew gave me a HMV voucher too which was really nice since I was supposed to be volunteering! And he said I can help out with the Christmas show again!
Okay I know I said this would be quick but I just have one more thing to say...
I'm also going to be working backstage at the Bedworth Civic Hall on the 17th-19th June on The Wizard of Oz!!! I'm so excited since it's one of my favourite films ever (because I love Wicked whcih is based on it)!!
Okay that really is all now! See ya!

Britains Got Bhangra

I went to see Britains Got Bhangra on 29th May at the Warwick Arts Centre in Coventry. The show opened with a bhangra version of 'twinkle twinkle little star' which I will admit did make me giggle a bit! But then came the dancers who were absolutely amazing! I think there were about 11 people in the cast and they all obiously worked very hard because the show was incredibly energetic! The costumes were beautiful too! The scenery was interesting because every now and then you would see a dark figure walking across the roof of the shops (which were part of the set) to change one of the shop signs! Also, you could see hands quite often pulling down bits of fabric from the stage into the wings but maybe I only noticed these things because I want to work bacstage so I kind of concentrate on everything technical that happens??? Overall the show was fantastic despite not knowing what the actors were saying half the time!

Backstage

Who knew it would be so hard to get work experience backstage?! I've been asking around for almost 6 months now and I've only had 1 days experience. However I will be working with the same people this Sunday so thats two days. I'm never going to get into drama school!

Les Miserables UK Tour

On Wednesday 7th April I went to see the UK tour of Les Mis at the Birmingham Hippodrome. I was so excited because I had grown up with the music but had never seen the show before. I was not disappointed! Jean-Valjean played by John Owen-James was absolutly amazing and I loved his 'Bring Him Home'. Another person who stood out was Rosalind James who played Eponine who just seemed perfect for the role. The only person who wasn't brilliant was Madelena Alberto as Fantine because her voice didn't sound very strong but hey she's better than me XD I loved it so much even at the interval I said I wanted to see it again! My favourite part was when they were in the sewers where the backdrop kept changing to show them walking from different angles. It's a bit hard to explain but basically it was like a screen so there were moving imges on it! Thats all for now!