(no subject)
I was going to continue my theatre reviews in the same way I have been- the longest ago and the most recent in one post- but then I realised if I don't write about HMS Pinafore soon I will have had all three viewings without writing anything down so... well yes. Here goes.
HMS Pinafore @ Union Theatre #1
I don't really know HMS Pinafore all that well and I was a little thrown from my usual adoration of everything Sasha Regan does re: Gilbert & Sullivan and all-male casts by the fact that this was an entirely new cast but I needn't have worried at all because they were all fabulous.
The minimal set and costumes worked really well with a slight caveat that the framing device here- sort of a prisoner of war camp? something vaguely mid 20th century anyway- didn't work as well as the Iolanthe framing device partly because it was less clear and partly because they undercut the ending by starting to remove costumes.
But really that's quibbling because yet again Sasha worked marvels with two bunkbeds, some boxes, lifejackets turned into various pieces of ladies' costumes and stiff shirt collars turned into bows for their hair.
And the singing and dancing were as good as they always are. There were a lot of non-English speakers in the audience (judging by pre-show conversation) and I'm not sure they knew what to expect generally but the first entrance of the sisters and cousins and aunts provoked both hilarity and spontaneous applause because there are some AMAZING voices in this cast. Benjamin Wong was my stand out from the general mass of the girls though all the leads sang beautifully too.
Benjamin Vivian-Jones as the Captain was all stuffed up with pride but I believed he loved his daughter- incidentally Bex Roberts as Josephine looked alarmingly like Ed Bernstone who played Patience in their last G&S outing and had exactly the same mannerisms which threw me rather!
Ciaran O’Driscoll as Buttercup was sweet but absolutely hilarious in "Things are seldom what they seem" (he and Ben made a wonderful double act!) and the weird thing about the all-male and all (more or less) the same age cast was that it wasn't nearly as weird as it is in the actual musical when you realise she's in love with a man who she nursed as a baby... it's still a bit weird though!
Sir Joseph Porter was played by David McKechnie and was brilliantly sure of himself and ridiculous- "Never mind the why and wherefore" with him and the Captain and Josephine involved some brilliant physical comedy and also got firmly stuck in my head. Watching him surrounded by the sisters and cousins and aunts was wonderful, especially Richard Russell Edward’s Hebe and how beastly he was to her <3
In some ways I was probably most impressed by Lee Van Geleen as Dick Deadeye though as it was his debut and he had a wonderfully strong voice but then so did Tom Senior as our hero Ralph Rackstraw.
(in fact the other weakness, I'm sad to say, was that Josephine & Ralph's duets didn't quite work because Tom's voice was so much stronger than Bex's)
Generally though I had a wonderful time and thoroughly enjoyed it. Which was good considering I had already booked to see it twice more.
Viewing one was with my parents (and, incidentally, Dad helpfully picked seats directly behind Shaun McCourt who played the Chancellor in Iolanthe *points at icon* and who's partner is playing the Captain... so that was weird.
Viewing two was with seiyaharris and katie__pillar and klo_the_hobbit and involved a spectacularly fast meal at Byrons first.
Viewing three is going to be with my friend N who has never been to the Union Theatre before and is very excited <3
HMS Pinafore @ Union Theatre #2
So what was different on a second viewing? Bex Roberts was considerably better and his voice was a lot stronger, in fact he rather blew me away on one or two of Josephine's top notes which was wonderful to hear ♥
And I had more time to watch the other sailors and ladies and there are so many lovely details with letters and photographs- Chloe & Katie had a soldier come and lean against their legs during one number which was quite fun (from the perspective of the person not being leaned on :-P). Oh and I spent more time watching the interplay between various sailors and the ladies which was nice because there were a lot of lovely little flirtatious moments that pleased me immensely.
I also paid more attention to some of Lizzy Gee's choreography including the rather brilliant Chariots of Fire take off <333 and a lot of the "actions" during Sir Joseph's song “When I Was a Lad”.
I still have issues with the framing device though- it needed to be clearer or got rid off I'm afraid. After all Patience & Pirates stood on their own and Iolanthe is always a very special case *sighs*
It's transferring to the Hackney Empire in February and despite you all ignoring me before I will say this again BOOK TICKETS (also I might be convinced to go again... possibly *g*)
HMS Pinafore @ Union Theatre #1
I don't really know HMS Pinafore all that well and I was a little thrown from my usual adoration of everything Sasha Regan does re: Gilbert & Sullivan and all-male casts by the fact that this was an entirely new cast but I needn't have worried at all because they were all fabulous.
The minimal set and costumes worked really well with a slight caveat that the framing device here- sort of a prisoner of war camp? something vaguely mid 20th century anyway- didn't work as well as the Iolanthe framing device partly because it was less clear and partly because they undercut the ending by starting to remove costumes.
But really that's quibbling because yet again Sasha worked marvels with two bunkbeds, some boxes, lifejackets turned into various pieces of ladies' costumes and stiff shirt collars turned into bows for their hair.
And the singing and dancing were as good as they always are. There were a lot of non-English speakers in the audience (judging by pre-show conversation) and I'm not sure they knew what to expect generally but the first entrance of the sisters and cousins and aunts provoked both hilarity and spontaneous applause because there are some AMAZING voices in this cast. Benjamin Wong was my stand out from the general mass of the girls though all the leads sang beautifully too.
Benjamin Vivian-Jones as the Captain was all stuffed up with pride but I believed he loved his daughter- incidentally Bex Roberts as Josephine looked alarmingly like Ed Bernstone who played Patience in their last G&S outing and had exactly the same mannerisms which threw me rather!
Ciaran O’Driscoll as Buttercup was sweet but absolutely hilarious in "Things are seldom what they seem" (he and Ben made a wonderful double act!) and the weird thing about the all-male and all (more or less) the same age cast was that it wasn't nearly as weird as it is in the actual musical when you realise she's in love with a man who she nursed as a baby... it's still a bit weird though!
Sir Joseph Porter was played by David McKechnie and was brilliantly sure of himself and ridiculous- "Never mind the why and wherefore" with him and the Captain and Josephine involved some brilliant physical comedy and also got firmly stuck in my head. Watching him surrounded by the sisters and cousins and aunts was wonderful, especially Richard Russell Edward’s Hebe and how beastly he was to her <3
In some ways I was probably most impressed by Lee Van Geleen as Dick Deadeye though as it was his debut and he had a wonderfully strong voice but then so did Tom Senior as our hero Ralph Rackstraw.
(in fact the other weakness, I'm sad to say, was that Josephine & Ralph's duets didn't quite work because Tom's voice was so much stronger than Bex's)
Generally though I had a wonderful time and thoroughly enjoyed it. Which was good considering I had already booked to see it twice more.
Viewing one was with my parents (and, incidentally, Dad helpfully picked seats directly behind Shaun McCourt who played the Chancellor in Iolanthe *points at icon* and who's partner is playing the Captain... so that was weird.
Viewing two was with seiyaharris and katie__pillar and klo_the_hobbit and involved a spectacularly fast meal at Byrons first.
Viewing three is going to be with my friend N who has never been to the Union Theatre before and is very excited <3
HMS Pinafore @ Union Theatre #2
So what was different on a second viewing? Bex Roberts was considerably better and his voice was a lot stronger, in fact he rather blew me away on one or two of Josephine's top notes which was wonderful to hear ♥
And I had more time to watch the other sailors and ladies and there are so many lovely details with letters and photographs- Chloe & Katie had a soldier come and lean against their legs during one number which was quite fun (from the perspective of the person not being leaned on :-P). Oh and I spent more time watching the interplay between various sailors and the ladies which was nice because there were a lot of lovely little flirtatious moments that pleased me immensely.
I also paid more attention to some of Lizzy Gee's choreography including the rather brilliant Chariots of Fire take off <333 and a lot of the "actions" during Sir Joseph's song “When I Was a Lad”.
I still have issues with the framing device though- it needed to be clearer or got rid off I'm afraid. After all Patience & Pirates stood on their own and Iolanthe is always a very special case *sighs*
It's transferring to the Hackney Empire in February and despite you all ignoring me before I will say this again BOOK TICKETS (also I might be convinced to go again... possibly *g*)