So, by now, I am assuming that you have seen the pilot for the new NBC Drama, SMASH!
(if you have not, you simply must! It’s currently being splashed all over the Internet by NBC).
Having watched the pilot, can I just say that I was suitably impressed, and the many many months that I have been looking forward to this were all well worth it – simply, this smashed it for me!
Unfortunately, I can already see all the comparisons with GLEE, which I wouldn’t mind so much, were they not what people are going to say that they are!
The thing that I like best about SMASH is that it actually has its roots in musical theatre, and not, as is the case with GLEE, where they’ve just bought in some Broadway talent – SMASH actually has a decent creative team behind it, many with a musical theatre background, and the cast are, technically, more accomplished than the season regulars in GLEE. In addition to this, you cannot mention SMASH without rejoicing at the talents of Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, whose scoring is, as ever, sublime! There are original songs in SMASH from the outset, and, I would argue that these are actually stronger than the covers (Let Me Be Your Star deserves an award imo!).
Unlike GLEE, which rams a song down your throat every 6 minutes or so, over a tenacious story arc, SMASH is able to tailor the songs to the content in a far superior way owing to the talents of Shaiman and Wittman, and so the whole show just feels a lot more organic, and flows better. Vocally, the voices match the songs a lot better, and there is a distinctly more mature sound to the show. Scripting is also far superior, and plot holes are not as obvious. They’re originally going in for 15 episodes, rather than GLEE’s 22-or-so, and I think that this will help keep the pace up on the story more.
Anjelica Houston is a huge draw, for me, absolutely love her, and I do hope she gets a musical number, or similar, as the show progresses!
It is reported that the pilot cost a staggering $7.5m – and it is very very clear from all the promo that is being done across the World, that NBC are determined to make this show a success, which is great to see.
From the original concept, I note that the plan was to do a new show each season, and for the actual musical at the end of the show to go onto a Broadway stage. This excites me no bounds, and, if this still occurs, then it would be an amazing way to get new, fresh, content onto the Broadway stage! Original musicals, exactly what we need more of – especially if Shaiman and Wittman are involved.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not hating on GLEE, I was watching it well before anyone else in the UK had probably even heard of it, and I still love it, when it’s on form, but I do think that there are a lot of broad differences between the two, which will sadly be overlooked or mistakenly dismissed by the majority. Whilst SMASH is absolutely my current/new favourite thing on TV – I’m on the fence about whether or not SMASH will breakthrough and recoup all the money being plowed into it. Whilst it’s already had rave reviews from the pilot, I can see a shelf-life already, which concerns me a little, thus I am very interested in this new season, new show concept very much. I can already also see the haters and the GLEE maniacs who will try to kill this, ultimately more sophisticated, show off. SMASH is by the Company, for the proper musical fans, and I am not too sure if musical fans alone will be enough for a show – GLEE successfully also taps into the influential and lucrative teen market and subtly introduces them to the concept of musicals, and show tunes, whereas SMASH assumes that the interest is already there. Whilst this is great for me, it’s not going to be great for people who don’t live and breathe musical theatre already.
SMASH is WELL WORTH a look in, and if you’re reading this blog, or following me on Twitter, then I can confidently say that SMASH is going to ring all of your bells and toot your whistle!
For those who have seen the pilot, I’d be very interested to know your thoughts
SO looking forward to this – due to start airing in either January / February 2012 in the US, and on Sky Atlantic for those of us in the UK in April 2012.
Billed as ‘Glee for adults’, and based on an idea by Steven Speilberg (as early back as 2009) and with music by the two writers of Hairspray The Musical (the 2002 Broadway stage show / reinvention) – this brand new drama is set as a ‘behind the scenes’ of a Broadway theatre/show, and, frankly, looks absolutely freaking AMAZEBALLS!
I actually cannot wait and have played both the trailer, and the song clip, ‘Let Me Be Your Star’, to death!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIkWL3SX25Q
Oh, and did I mention that the legendary Anjelica Houston is in this show? (also, as is Debra Messing – best known as ‘Grace’ from ‘Will and Grace’, along with Jack Davenport – seen in many things, including Flash Forward, The Boat That Rocked and Pirates of the Caribbean). It goes without saying that the stars of the show will undoubtedly be Broadway stalwarts Katharine McPhee and Megan Hilty, and here’s hoping they become household names across the globe, as happened with fellow Broadway leading lady, Lea Michelle when she got involved with Glee!
This show is absolutely made for me, and I am so excited for it! We totally need a UK version…!
I am just back from an absolutely DEVINE evening at the Wyndham’s Theatre, London – currently playing host to “Driving Miss Daisy“, and starring James Earl Jones, Vanessa Redgrave and Boyd Gaines.
At tonight’s performance, Vanessa Redgrave was, unfortunately, indisposed. This appeared to cause quite a commotion at the box office with people hastily queuing up to change over their tickets etc, which I thought was a little sad to see. The matinée performance today was also cancelled, presumably to give her understudy, Jenny Lee, chance to dress rehearse the role!
Whilst there are going to be hundreds of reviews out there that go on about how great James and Vanessa are, I very much like that this review is completely different, and deals with the ‘what if’ scenario – as with such high-profile casting, people are often very hesitant, as proven by tonight’s box office returns queue, to give understudies a try – which, more often than not, is a terrible mistake!
Tonight, Jenny Lee was absolutely FANTASTIC! I genuinely cannot fault her performance one bit. It was absolutely on the money, totally charming and I absolutely ADORED her character!
James Earl Jones puts in a mesmerising turn as chauffeur ‘Hoke’ and it’s impossible not to fall just a little bit in love with him! (incidentally, his understudy is West End legend, Ray Shell – again, please please do not overlook the production if he happens to be on instead!).
Usually, I don’t tend to care much for the ‘third’ character in any play/show – and nearly every play/show has one, but Boyd Gaines does a fantastic turn as Miss Daisy’s son, Boolie – and major kudos to him for holding his own and shining through, despite being up against some pretty hefty lead casting!
The set was simple, and elegant, I very much liked the use of lighting in this production, and, although I have seen other people say otherwise, I did not think that the story lost pace or momentum at all!
The only thing that I perhaps would have liked more of, was for the play to grab me a bit more at the end. Without ruining the story, I was rather warm and fuzzy at the end, and had the story pushed just that little bit further, maybe two or three months into the future, then I would have thought it stunning. Alas, you can only work with the source material that you’re given, so I definitely don’t begrudge this production this!
One thing that I cannot stress enough is how significant a production this is. This is a BROADWAY production taking up roots in the West End – this very rarely happens! Not just is it a Broadway production, but it’s an amazingly successful production that more than caught the eye of the Tony Awards panel. That, in itself, justifies the price tag on this in my opinion, let alone the all-star casting!
Speaking of the all-star casting, I was AMAZED at how many scalpers there were at stage door right at the end of the production simply trying to get autographs to sell online, and pushing in front of those of us with programmes. Pretty rubbish for those of us who have actually been to see the show and who genuinely want to congratulate and chat to the actors we’ve just spent time with! Grr! Unfortunately, in the end, nobody did any autographs tonight, but conversely it was quite pleasing to hear all those fools moaning about how they’d ‘wasted their time’. Pah!!
Driving Miss Daisy proved to be a thoroughly enjoying 90 minutes, and one thing that I will say, 90 minutes of hearing James Earl Jones’ World famous voice (I love him especially for Mufasa in Lion King!) echoing around the Wyndham’s theatre absolutely started Driving Mister Gari crazy!! I loved it!
Driving Miss Daisy is currently playing at the Wyndham’s Theatre, London for a very limited run (it must end in December) – and is 90 minutes in duration, with no interval.
My trip tonight came about thanks to the lovely people at Superbreak – they book for an array of london hotels (and also do theatre breaks); if you’re going to be travelling into London to see this show, I genuinely do recommend giving them a look over!
I’ve finally had chance to sit down and catch up on Sunday night’s Tony Awards ceremony – which was, as usual, fantastic!! (and SO much better than the pretty shambolic Oliviers broadcast that we had to endure over here this year). Whoopi Goldberg’s outfit was absolutely amazeballs, and I always take up and love ANY chance to see the gorgeous Neil Patrick Harris hehe!
For those interested, here are all of the performances from the night – it was great to see some new productions, some very familiar sets and faces, and for us in the UK to get a sneak preview of some of the shows and plays that I believe are in talks to facilitate their coming to the West End in the coming year or so
(this is pretty awesome!!! heh)
- I totally just fell in love all over again with Martha Walsh – she looks FABULOUS!
Huge fan of musical theatre and also of flash-mobs, but it’s very unusual to see an audience actually flash-mob the people who are actually on stage performing heh!!!
Absolutely marvellous!
Fellow West Enders, shall we target a West End musical ourselves?? hehe!!!
On February 3rd, 2011, Swiss watchmaker Audemars Piguet invited over 1,100 under-served kids from public schools and AIDS service organizations across New York City to the Tony Award-winning “Memphis the Musical.” The kids surprised the cast by joining them in the show’s finale, “Steal Your Rock-n-Roll,” singing along and performing the choreography from their seats. This delightful event was made possible by Audemars Piguet, The Tony Awards, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, and Inspire Change at Memphis.
Enron was a West End show that I’d been very much looking forward to, especially given all of the hype surrounding it. However having just seen the show this evening, I can only say how down-right disappointed that I was with it.
Working in accountancy (and so affected by this story every day) and with a huge passion for theatre, this should have been right up my street, however I found the production to be lacklustre, incoherent and rather confused. There were random bits of dance, a soundtrack that was blaring out too loudly one minute and then clumsily turned down the next and only the occasional crass joke thrown in which only raised a smattering of chuckles from the House. Painful would be a good word to describe my experience.
In terms of the characters, I didn’t particularly feel any kind of pathos towards the fate of any of them (for better or worse) and the delayed applause at the end of both acts was excruciating as people tried to work out whether it was time to applaud or not.
I should point out that many people in the West End have loved this production – to the point where it has even won awards and been hailed as being critically marvellous. That said the Broadway version of the show closed after just 15 performances. At first I thought it was just the American’s being prudish (after all, would we like them to create Northern Rock, The Musical?!) however, having now seen the production here in London, I am not at all surprised that it simply just didn’t cut it on Broadway.
My partner Greg on the other hand found it really enjoyable and informative. By his own admission, he’s not normally a Finance-y type, but this play managed to engage his interest and explain the basics of the scandal and ‘special purpose entities’ to him, and so he seems to have come away from Enron with a differing view than I have.
If I were to be blunt, I simply can not fathom what this show has that would make people choose to go see this over something/everything else in the West End given the huge array of glitz and drama that we currently have on offer - I didn’t see the attraction, and perhaps that is why this has failed to impress me.
Only one main regret this evening – when the cast had exited the stage and the audience finished clapping, and suddenly went unexpectedly silent, I very audibly said “well, what a load of absolute twaddle” – LOL. I could have died of embarrassment!
I would love to be able to offer some constructive criticism on what I’d like to see changed, however for me there was just so much that I disliked that I’m now struggling to see past the full picture.
Definitely not a show for me, but do search around for more reviews of the production, as my dislike of it seems to be part of a very minority opinion here in the West End!
Enron is currently playing at the Noel Coward Theatre, St Martin’s Lane until Saturday 14th August 2010. For more information and for tickets, please click here.
Be warned dear reader, and be prepared to stand back, for I have just got back from watching the press night for the latest musical to throw open its doors in the West End, and all I have to say is WOW! WOW! WOW!
I had been looking forward to seeing this production for nearly a year now, from when it was first announced, though had been avidly following the production from the 2008 Public Theatre performances in Central Park, New York. Needless to say, tonight’s show was everything that I’d impossibly built up and hoped for, and yet somehow, so so much more!
It should probably come as no surprise that this musical has become one of the fastest ever musical shows to recoup its initial investment, and of course it very deservedly won the 2009 Tony for Best Musical Revival.
There is just so much that I want to talk about in regards to this production that I am at a loss for where to start!
How about we go with the staging itself, and say that this is truly unique and remarkable…! In HAIR there simply is NO fourth wall – the actors frequently and directly acknowledge and converse with the audience sitting there, this, of course, is when they’re not climbing over seats, touching the public’s hair and interacting with everyone!
If you want an idea of what I mean, then the Tony Awards performance from 2009 is exactly what you get at the Gielgud!
The whole theatre becomes a hippy playground – simply put, no matter where you’re sat, you’re fodder for the cast to come and play with you. It’s really ‘revolutionary’ the way that they have staged this I think, and the accessibility of the actors off the stage really helps convey a sense of honesty (which is intentional); and with the audience being able to trust and empathise with the characters on such a personable level (as you have touched them and spoken to them). Of course, given the themes explored on stage, I don’t think that the production would work half as well if there had been a fourth wall barrier between the viewing audience and the uninhibited hippies on stage – jumbling everyone all up was definitely a great move, and one that the entire audience seemed to take to very quickly (bar a few overly snooty critics sat near to us).
My new pal Tim (theatreJunki) and I were sat in Stalls Row D, seats 19 and 20 and both thought that these were splendid seats – we found ourselves right in the thick of all the action!
(I may have been slightly chuft to bits when the gorgeous Gavin Creel – who plays Claude – climbed through the stalls, gyrated and thrusted over the hair of a lady in front of me, and then grabbed my hand for a considerable amount of time…. but I am admitting to nothing! )
Perhaps more subtle (ha, yeah right!) was my love for Hud (Darius Nichols) – sexy sexy sexy!!! He definitely knows how to turn on the charm heh.
I’d like to flit out of my review for just a second to remark upon just how unique and arguably ‘revolutionary’ that I think this production actually is; in part due to the following:
The fact that this is the New Broadway Cast (i.e. the original revival cast) here in the West End – this is huge and has never happened on anything like this scale before!
The absence of the fourth wall and abundance of audience interaction
Nudity on stage in a popular /large musical
You are invited up on the stage at the end of the performance to sing and dance with the cast /fellow audience members!
The cast therefore have a lot to live up to, and by goodness, do they ever!
One imagines that the cast must be even more hyperactive than I am (a feat in itself!) and they are clearly such a closely bonded, intimate and seemingly tight-knit group, that the production benefits from this immensely – they really do feel like extended family! I will be interested to see what happens when the Broadway lot go back home, and a British cast, who have not had years to bond, try to accomplish this.
The Broadway cast are committed to play at the Gielgud until 2nd October 2010, after which time it is likely that a British cast will be installed, as Sir Cameron has previously hinted at.
As much as I love the West End, I have to say that I am so glad that this opening was with the Broadway cast - simple logic would reckon that there are millions more people in America than in the UK and so I bet competition for these roles would have been immense and clearly the cream of the cream has risen to the top – I could not fault one casting choice – it was absolutely perfect, and I was blown away several times by their performances/vocals.
By having the cast members in the audience as well, it makes it a really nice experience to be able to hear and pick out individual characters from the ensemble singing nearby too, as well as the main group itself.
As I say, the cast is SO accessible, I touched several of them, and many of them spoke to us as we were leaving the stage – it was great to be able to thank them directly for all their efforts.
The musical score for HAIR is, as always, fantastic and the live band really do get into the music that they are playing – their love of the score is evident if you watch them whilst they’re performing (and kudos to them for having a banjo in their musical arsenal – I’ve not seen that before!!).
If you have a Spotify account and fancy listening to the full New Broadway Cast album, you can do so via this link.
For those people who may have seen the 1979 movie adaptation of HAIR, forget all about it – I had, for years, thought that I really liked it, but having now seen the stage musical in full, I can see just how horrifically that the people behind the film version have butchered the story and songs – giving the whole thing a completely different meaning.
By the end of the production, I was crying my eyes out – I really was. A combination of being so close that I could look into the eyes of the very emotive cast and the beautiful staging of the final number – once the snow began to fall, that was it, I was gone! Not since Spring Awakening over a year ago have I been moved enough to shed a tear or two in a West End theatre.
In the hundreds of times that I have listened to ‘Let The Sun Shine’, never before has it spoken to me and touched me as it did tonight – I really got the meaning of the song and it’s forever changed my view of it.
This musical is still just as relevant today as it was back in the 60s – in effect it seems to have become timeless, which I think is a marvellous thing, hopefully this show can continue to touch and help shape future generations much in the same way as the ground-breaking original productions did.
It is very hard for me to pick ‘highlights’ out of this fantastic production – the whole thing is superb in my opinion, though if you twisted my arm, and if I didn’t go for obvious songs, I would have to say that these included the Act 1 finale, “Where Do I Go” (an amazing vocal from Gavin Creel coupled with a very tastefully done nude scene), the song ‘Air’ (and Kacie Sheik), the Abraham Lincoln hallucination in Act 2 (Saycon Sengbloh is fab!) and any moment where vocal powerhouse Sasha Allan (Dionne) is singing!
My favourite hippy (apart from the gorgeous Hud and Claude, of course ) is Sheila (played wonderfully by Caissie Levy).
As I mentioned earlier, for the curtain call, they invite everyone to come join them on the huge stage for a (newly extended) reprise of ‘Let The Sun Shine’ – if you’re able to get on to the stage, I really really recommend that you do it!
Tim and I jumped at the opportunity and it was amazing to interact with the cast and the other 150 / 200 or so people who were on the stage with us, all singing and dancing together. Even the back-stage crew came out to join in. A rather beautiful moment if I am honest – there was such joy and a sense of unity amongst everyone, it was truly great and something that I’ll never forget!
The below picture was taken by Tim whilst we were on the stage (just before Gavin Creel ran off into the circle and started swinging off the ceiling) – do please visit Tim’s blog to see his great review of this show too!
Image credit : theatreJunki.com
There is SO much more that I could write about this show, but alas I fear that I’d waffle on even more than I have done already heh! If you have any questions, do feel free to ask them – similarly if you’ve been to see it already, do please share your thoughts with the blog Tribe!
Yes, tickets for this show are rather expensive, but they are definitely, definitely worth it, I promise you.
For a high that you will never come down from, HAIR simply has to be the must-see musical for anybody visiting the West End this summer.
With the potential for open air performances in Hyde Park etc (as happened in New York) and UK outdoor festival appearances already confirmed, I really do think this is going to once again be the Summer of Love!
HAIR has been previewing at the Gielgud since 1 April 2010, and has it’s opening night on 13th April. The show features the original revival cast from Broadway and is currently booking until 8th January 2011 . Due to scenes of nudity and general show themes, this show is not recommended for those under 12 years of age.
The show plays for around 2 hours 25 minutes, with a 15 minute interval.
Performances times are Monday to Saturday evenings at 19:30, with matinees on Thursdays and Saturdays at 14:30.
Programmes are a very reasonable £3.50 and if you’re lucky as I was, you’ll get a few souvenirs from the cast in the shape of freshly cut daisies (I love mine!) and a flyer to their (false) love-in. I do love it so when you get to take ‘props’ / mementos home.
One final bit of trivia – I was sat just a few seats away from James Rado this evening – it was he who co-authored this fantastic musical back in 1967! How remarkable!
I have decided that I want to start a new series of posts for this blog, entitled Marvelous Musicals – the aim of which will be to make frequent short posts relating to a musical that I like, to provide a bit of a synopsis, recommendation and of course, some musical highlights from the show/score itself.
There are so many musicals out there, that often certain ones get over-looked, so I will try to focus on a few of the lesser known ones in addition to some of the ones that everyone has heard of.
Today, I thought that I would kick off with Taboo (oft referred to as ‘that Boy George musical’).
Synopsis:
The show is based partly on the New Romantic scene of the 1980s. At its core is the life and career of colourful popstar Boy George, who rose to global prominence in the early 1980s with his band Culture Club and his contemporaries, including the performance artist and club promoter Leigh Bowery, the pop singer Marilyn, ‘Blitz’ nightclub host Steve Strange (later of the electro-pop group Visage), and Philip Salon, Punk groupie and Mud Club promoter.
Production Photographs:
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Fab Songs:
Il Adore:
Talk Amongst Yourselves:
Independent Woman:
Safe In The City:
Stranger In This World:
Out Of Fashion:
Touched By The Hand Of Cool:
Gari’s Thoughts:
Despite this show getting an absolute slamming from critics across the pond on Broadway – but yet still got several Tony nominations – (and mixed reviews here on the West End/UK tour), I actually really do love this raw and touching musical – there are just so many good songs in it for a start (which I listen to constantly, even to this day), plus it starred Luke Evans (yum), Lyn Paul, Hannah Jane Fox, John Partridge, Matt Lucas and the amazing Euan Morton (who had a very authentic youthful Boy George look/voice to him!).
I, for one, would really welcome a return of Taboo (albeit to a more suited off-West End venue), though with Boy George’s recent antics, I very much doubt that this would ever come to fruition – alas, I fear that we’ve seen the absolute last of this musical.
For those interested, there is an official DVD of the production, currently available from outlets such as play.com.
I recently stumbled across the soundtrack from the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it musical, “The Boy From Oz“.
I have to admit that I don’t know too much of it, especially as it didn’t really run for all that long and there is seemingly precious little info about it anywhere, so I am trusting the majority of this blog post over to Wikipedia!
Crank the volume up as it’s not a very good version of the track that YouTube have, but the only one online it seems!
Another well known song featured in this musical is ‘Don’t Cry Out Loud’
The Boy From Oz is a jukebox musical based on the life of singer/songwriter Peter Allen and featuring songs written by him. The book is by Martin Sherman with the original book by Nick Enright. The production had its world premiere at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Sydney, Australia, on 5 March 1998 and toured Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, playing to over 1.2 million theatre patrons. It ran for a total 766 performances over two years. The production starred Todd McKenney as Peter Allen.
Plot synopsis
In the 1950s, the young boy Peter Allen started performing and playing the piano. As an adult, Peter is in various early concerts in Australia with his partner. He is introduced to Judy Garland, who hires him for her show. Peter soon becomes romantically involved with Judy’s daughter Liza, and they marry. Peter appears in New York City with the Rockettes. As time progresses Peter develops a relationship with a man and his marriage ends.
Broadway
The Boy From Oz was the first Australian musical to reach Broadway.It started previews at the Imperial Theatre on 16 September 2003, opened on 16 October 2003 and closed on 12 September 2004, at the end of Hugh Jackman’s contract. The show played 32 previews and 365 performances. Directed by Philip William McKinley, with choreography by Joey McKneely, it starred Jackman as Peter Allen, Isabel Keating as Judy Garland, Stephanie J. Block as Liza Minnelli, Beth Fowler as Marion Woolnough, Jarrod Emick as Peter’s AIDS-stricken lover Greg Connell, and John Hill (actor) as Mark Herron (Judy’s Husband). Jackman won the 2004 Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical, and Keating won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical. The show also received nominations for four other Tony Awards, including Best Musical.
Having watched the pilot, can I just say that I was suitably impressed, and the many many months that I have been looking forward to this were all well worth it – simply, this smashed it for me!
