Theatre Review: Mamma Mia.

 No-one can say no to a feel good musical, especially one with famous songs and dances. So as an early Mother's Day present, last night, I took my mum to see the one and only Mamma Mia! The Empire Theatre was absolutely packed and was pretty much sold out for Mamma Mia's last night in Liverpool.

Written by British playwright, Catherine Johnson, Mamma Mia is a fantastic musical based on the songs from the iconic band ABBA composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. The title of musical is obviously taken from the group's huge hit Mamma Mia back in 1975 and the two former band members, Ulvaeus and Andersson, were actually involved in the beginning developments of the show.

The musical is full of ABBA's most famous songs such as Dancing Queen, The Winner Takes It All, Take A Chance On Me as well as many more. Although there were two or three songs I didn't know, I didn't realise how many songs I knew and how easily I could sing along. It's such a fantastic show and it had us all up dancing, clapping and cheering at the very end.

The storyline is a little laughable and there are few cheesy scenes but you can just forget about these so very easily. The comedy in the musical easily makes up for all the cheesiness especially from the hilarious Sue Devaney (Rosie) and Shobna Gulati (Tanya) who played Donna's (Sara Poyzer) best friends. They both belted out Dancing Queen perfectly and did well in their own solos of Does Your Mother Know where Gulati tries to play it cool with her toyboy and Take A Chance On Me where Devaney hysterically threw herself on Bill (played the towering Michael Beckley).

    Sara Poyzer who plays mum Donna was fantastic in her performance and really blew me away in her emotional The Winner Takes It All. Her chemistry with Sam (her real life husband Richard Standing) was fantastic and really made you believe that it's all real. The cast that surround the main characters did amazingly well in the huge ensemble numbers and got the whole audience clapping to pretty much every song.

It was such a good present to give to my mum and she loved every moment of it as did I. You can't go wrong with a bit of theatre!

Photo source.

Have you seen this? What did you think of it?
Thankyou for reading.
Laura.

Theatre Review: The Full Monty.

 

No one can say no to seeing a group of men strip on a Monday night which is what I did last night at the Empire Theatre. This play was so much fun to watch and really hilariously entertaining.

A bit of background first though.  Written by Simon Beaufoy (from his original screenplay for the 1997 film version), The Full Monty is a comedy play telling the story of six unemployed men from Sheffield, England who come together to perform a male striptease act for one night only in the hopes of earning enough money to get the main character Gaz to be able to see his son as well getting somewhere in life. The film version of The Full Monty was hugely popular earning over £160 million in global box office receipts, making it the highest grossing film in the UK at the time. Not only that it was nominated for a fair few Academy Awards and Bafta Awards.

I enjoyed this play so much and not just for the obvious reasons! After being a cinematic hit 17 years ago, The Full Monty is still a major hit even with a few tweaks in the script from Simon Beaufoy so the play could fit to the stage. This isn't a musical, mind you, no this is just a simple talked out play with a string of songs to accompany the scenes. You Can Leave Your Hat On by Tom Jones was, let's just say, a very memorable song that fitted well with the final scene!

The first 45 minutes did drag a little bit and was saturated with exposition, building the foundation of the actual story. But this isn't actually too bad as it allows you to explore each character and find out what their background story is. The characters were Gaz (Gary Lucy, he was looking fine might I add!), Dave (Martin Miller), Lomper (Bobby Schofield), Gerald (Andrew Dunn), Horse (Louis Emerick) and Guy (Rupert Hill). They all played their parts pretty well from the hilarious first-dance-rehearsal-scenes right down to the sorrow of each individual as they struggle with unemployment and their own self-worth.

The only problem was that the sound wasn't very good at times as for some reason the production is relying on various stage microphones positioned in random places rather than the actors wearing head microphones. Due to this, you couldn't always hear what people were saying and the microphones picked up the odd clanking sound and scuffle of shoes rather than voices which was exasperating and off-putting.

However the play didn't fail to deliver their message of pure heart and hope. But in the end there was no need for dialogue as the famous finale made the whole room explode in cheers, clapping and singing as the men stripped right down to glorious, red thongs before then ripping those off too!

Absolutely fantastic for their first night, just a slight shame about the sound every now and then but it's so worth a watch. Go and see it!

Thankyou for reading.

Laura.

Theatre Review: West Side Story.

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So I went to see West Side Story in the Empire Theatre on its first opening night on Tuesday and it was pretty good I have to say, I just have a few criticisms.. some that can be brushed off easily perhaps but overall it was a very good play.

If you don't know about West Side Story, it is essentially about a modern day Romeo & Juliet back in the 1950s. We see Puerto Rican immigrants (The Sharks) facing a daily bombardment of racist abuse from everyone, including authorities such as the police while American/Polish Jets defend their 'territory' from them. Written by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, the story rings true as you watch it because let's face it, nothing seems to have changed in the past 60 years as immigrant issues are still relevant and gang warfare seems to still be prominent in Liverpool, Birmingham and many other places. The rivalry seems similar to that of the Shakespearean play Romeo & Juliet as the division is split between the Montagues and the Capulets. And like Romeo & Juliet, in West Side Story Romeo is Tony (played by Dominic Hodson), a Jet, who helplessly falls in love with Latina Maria (played by Katie Hall), a Shark at a dance. Tragedy is inevitable as the two can't help falling in love despite the forbidden line between them.

The show was snappy, the dancing was sharp and perfectly choreographed and the ensemble numbers had you singing and toe-tapping along. Although I did find some people lacked in their singing as some notes were not always on point but I suppose this could be put down to nerves as it was their first night performing in Liverpool. Dominic Hodson who played Tony was very confident in his role both physically and vocally but I felt he was often overpowered by Katie Hall's (Maria) stunning voice.

Here's my first criticsm:

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After being accustomed to seeing the film version of West Side Story, I expected Tony and Maria to be a lot darker than they were. Here you can clearly see from the picture above, Tony is pretty much a dirty-blonde haired man which surprised us all and Maria is a mousey haired girl when her Latina elements in the film portray her to be very dark haired and more robust. However, if you ignore these stark differences, they both play their characters very well. I certainly believed in their love and passion and I was touched by the emotion that poured out of Maria when her lover was sadly murdered which most definitely left the whole room teary-eyed.

I also felt that the music from the incredible orchestra at the beginning was very low, perhaps forcing the audience to listen attentively to Tony's earlier solos like Something's Coming and Maria. Even The Jets' opening number seemed rather restrained and passive. However the levels of the sound seemed to rise and grow stronger as the play went on, bringing strength to the reprise of Tonight in the closing minutes of the first half and bringing fantastic comic timing from the men in Gee Officer Krupke. Probably one of my favourites was the swishing of the sequinned skirts in the brilliant song America led by the feisty Anita. Katie Hall definitely shined in the song I Feel Pretty and her moments with Tony in their passionate scenes.

I have to criticise a specific scene heavily though that came in the second half where, for those who are familiar with West Side Story, Anita goes to the Jets' territory to deliver a message to Tony from Maria. She is prevented by Tony's friends and in the film all they do is tease and push her around. True to the film, they did push her about and call her names but.. they then did an actual 3 second rape scene. Now I do not know why the hell they put this unnecessary moment in the play and it was hard to see what was going on as all the lads crowded around Anita's body and the boy who was doing the evil deed but you could see enough to tell what was going on! I am a little disgusted actually they added this scene in when there was no need for it as this was never in the film version of West Side Story. I know children don't often go to the theatre but I did see a fair few young faces in the audience and I just found it very shocking and very uncalled for. I heard a few subdued gasps and mutters around me so I know I'm not the only one who was stunned and questioning why they did this.

But all in all, it was great to see West Side Story on the stage at last and it does leave you finger snapping and dancing out of the theatre. I didn't realise how much I actually wanted to see it outside of the film and on a stage until I saw it. You should definitely go and see it. It's not the show stopping play of the summer but it's definitely worth seeing.

Thankyou for reading.
Laura.

Theatre Review: The Lion King!

So I saw The Lion King musical last night and it was literally everything I could've ever wished for. The original film has always been my favourite of all time and it has been one of my dreams to see it in the theatre. 

Produced by Disney Theatrical, it is based on the 1994 Disney animated film of the same name with music by Elton John and lyrics provided by Tim Rice alongside the incredible, dramatic soundtrack created by Hans Zimmer with choral arrangements by Lebo M. Directed by Julie Taymor, the musical has the actors suited up in various animal costumes in conjunction with giant, hollow puppets which were absolutely astounding to see. It is Broadway's fourth longest-running show in history (still running after more than 6,700 shows!) and the highest growing Broadway production of all time, having gross more than $1 billion.

If you don't know already, it is about a young, cocky cub called Simba who is desperate to be like his father, Mufasa, the king. However, Mufasa's brother and Simba's uncle Scar is jealous and resentful of his brother being the king.. and in time, succeeds in murdering Mufasa. Having failed to kill Simba too, he fools the young lion into believing that he is responsible for his father's demise thus making him flee into exile in despair and misery. In his isolation, two friendly characters called Timon (a meerkat) and Pumbaa (a warthog) befriend him and help him learn and grow in his new world. When he becomes a majestic, mature lion his childhood friend Nala finds him and gives him some valuable perspective that makes him rethink about returning to Pride Rock. With a push from his shaman Rafiki, a spiritual baboon, he returns to Pride Rock to challenge Scar and end his tyranny.

The film is full of vibrant, brilliant songs such as; Hakuna Matata, Circle of Life, Can You Feel The Love Tonight? Throughout the years they have won and been nominated for many awards. Elton John's Can You Feel The Love Tonight? won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe while Circle of Life and Hakuna Matata were nominated for both. Hans Zimmer's impressive score earned him an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA nomination.

The musical was absolutely fantastic. They followed the entire script from the film completely with a few changes and a few new songs introduced. The music really uplifted you and really brought home the emotion for certain poignant scenes. Some even brought a tear to my eye just because of how fantastic it was. The actors who played Scar, Timon and Pumbaa scarily sounded exactly like the characters from the film! It all flowed perfectly and you found yourself singing, clapping and tapping along. 

I would not advise you to miss this for anything. Even if you have never seen the film, this is definitely a musical you should put on your to-do list! One of my dreams came true as I have always wanted to see it live on a stage and I go to do so in the prestigious Empire Theatre in Liverpool. It is a night I will always remember. I hope you liked my review and please leave a comment on what you thought of the musical or what you thought of my review.

Thankyou for reading.
Laura.