(no subject)
I'm sort of struggling with this week because I was tired last week and then there was the Easter weekend full of ALL THE THINGS and now we're back into termtime and more ALL THE THINGS and I feel like I haven't stopped in weeks. And I can't look a my diary for the next couple of weeks (months) because it will make me cry. I mean it's mostly wonderful stuff but apparently sleep IS necessary (who knew!)
But enough whining because most of the stuff I'm doing IS awesome (this afternoon I'm off to Cambridge for work & then seeing my sister & a friend knowing I haven't had to pay for the petrol \o/) and I'd only be bored otherwise.
(lies, I'd be caught up on TV and YouTube and tumblr and fic and and and)
I need to stop saying LIES to myself all the time but it's all Gavin Creel's fault *nods*
Singular Sensations: Gavin Creel @ Charing Cross Theatre
seiyaharris and I have been convinced for years that nobody coudl be quite as adorably ramble'y and off point as Daniel Boys gets when he'schatting to the audience during his concerts but it turns out we were wrong. OH SO VERY WRONG. Because Gavin Creel? Cannot stick to a point to save his life and just starts talking and then tells half a story, gets confused, says LIES in a very self-accusatory way starts again and then realises he can't remember what the question is in the first place and it ought to be annoying but it really really wasn't.
The Singular Sensations series is Ed Seckerson interviewing a musical theatre person and somethings they perform. Gavin mostly did chatting and they played recordings of some of his songs from previous shows AND he sang some of his own music.
In many ways watching him react to old recordings of his voice was probably better than hearing him sing the songs now because he talked about when recordings were made and you could SEE him smile or wince at various moments and he talked really interestingly about the way his voice and his confidence have changed.
He also told us that he'd nearly actually BECOME a Mormon- like one meeting away from being baptised nearly- before his Dad wrote him a letter suggesting he slowed down and thought about it a bit more. (Of course what this means is that Gavin's really positive about the LDS church and has LDS friends and the whole "Book of Mormon is awful and insulting" thing is just stupid because he wouldn't be in it).
A lot of the Book of Mormon cast were there to support him- as was Anthony Drewe- but mostly I say this because I'm not sure Gavin got through more than 15 minutes at a time before having to appeal to Jared to confirm something or remind him of something and then when he was telling a BoM story he literally had Jared feeding him his lines because he couldn't remember them... I mean he's only done 500 or so shows IDK why he'd be expected to remember this stuff.
He's a proper performer too, any particularly dramatic moment in a story he leapt to his feet and had to act it out (including Patti LuPone singing Being Alive).
And then we had some of the songs he's written himself some sung by him and some by his back up- Stephen Ashfield & Mark Anderson ♥
He talked a lot about how he'd had his heartbroken and how that informed these songs, even the first one which was actually written when his best friend got married and which Gavin sang (& played piano) with Mark on backup vocals. It's called You and that one you can find online I think.
Then he got Mark back out to sing a song called Pretending Love which he said was about the angry stage of being heartbroken and apparently he and Mark had bonded over heartbreak. Now I have quite a lot of feelings about Mark Anderson because he was in Once Upon a Mattress at the Union Theatre and I was afraid we'd never see him again but he's in BoM and he was right there singing with Gavin Creel and when he sang this song... well he made Gavin cry and he was playing the piano! I was saying to Becca that I both desperately want a recording of him singing the song but also never want to hear it again because it looked horribly as if he was feeling it. It's a great song though so I hope Gavin does put it on an album.
Stephen Ashfield did the next song and came out, sat down and suddenly produced his Olivier Award from his backpocket which made Gavin bring his out and sit them next to each other because they're RIDICULOUS and lovely. And I've completely forgotten the song he sang though I remember enjoying it HELPFUL SARAH. Wait. Unspoken Heart! That was what it was called and a quick Google suggests there maybe versions of Gavin singing it online.
The final song he sang was about friendship and how his friends had pulled him out of his worst depression and again I am completely blanking on the title which is weird because it was firmly stuck in my head after I heard it and because I LOVED it an very much want to own it and listen to it a lot.
It was a great afternoon generally and he's funny and charming and obviously sings brilliantly and all the money went to West End Serves which is being set up in the UK at the moment to mirror Broadway Serves and I just had a WONDERFUL time <3
Also now I need want to see Book of Mormon again quite badly.
But enough whining because most of the stuff I'm doing IS awesome (this afternoon I'm off to Cambridge for work & then seeing my sister & a friend knowing I haven't had to pay for the petrol \o/) and I'd only be bored otherwise.
(lies, I'd be caught up on TV and YouTube and tumblr and fic and and and)
I need to stop saying LIES to myself all the time but it's all Gavin Creel's fault *nods*
Singular Sensations: Gavin Creel @ Charing Cross Theatre
seiyaharris and I have been convinced for years that nobody coudl be quite as adorably ramble'y and off point as Daniel Boys gets when he'schatting to the audience during his concerts but it turns out we were wrong. OH SO VERY WRONG. Because Gavin Creel? Cannot stick to a point to save his life and just starts talking and then tells half a story, gets confused, says LIES in a very self-accusatory way starts again and then realises he can't remember what the question is in the first place and it ought to be annoying but it really really wasn't.
The Singular Sensations series is Ed Seckerson interviewing a musical theatre person and somethings they perform. Gavin mostly did chatting and they played recordings of some of his songs from previous shows AND he sang some of his own music.
In many ways watching him react to old recordings of his voice was probably better than hearing him sing the songs now because he talked about when recordings were made and you could SEE him smile or wince at various moments and he talked really interestingly about the way his voice and his confidence have changed.
He also told us that he'd nearly actually BECOME a Mormon- like one meeting away from being baptised nearly- before his Dad wrote him a letter suggesting he slowed down and thought about it a bit more. (Of course what this means is that Gavin's really positive about the LDS church and has LDS friends and the whole "Book of Mormon is awful and insulting" thing is just stupid because he wouldn't be in it).
A lot of the Book of Mormon cast were there to support him- as was Anthony Drewe- but mostly I say this because I'm not sure Gavin got through more than 15 minutes at a time before having to appeal to Jared to confirm something or remind him of something and then when he was telling a BoM story he literally had Jared feeding him his lines because he couldn't remember them... I mean he's only done 500 or so shows IDK why he'd be expected to remember this stuff.
He's a proper performer too, any particularly dramatic moment in a story he leapt to his feet and had to act it out (including Patti LuPone singing Being Alive).
And then we had some of the songs he's written himself some sung by him and some by his back up- Stephen Ashfield & Mark Anderson ♥
He talked a lot about how he'd had his heartbroken and how that informed these songs, even the first one which was actually written when his best friend got married and which Gavin sang (& played piano) with Mark on backup vocals. It's called You and that one you can find online I think.
Then he got Mark back out to sing a song called Pretending Love which he said was about the angry stage of being heartbroken and apparently he and Mark had bonded over heartbreak. Now I have quite a lot of feelings about Mark Anderson because he was in Once Upon a Mattress at the Union Theatre and I was afraid we'd never see him again but he's in BoM and he was right there singing with Gavin Creel and when he sang this song... well he made Gavin cry and he was playing the piano! I was saying to Becca that I both desperately want a recording of him singing the song but also never want to hear it again because it looked horribly as if he was feeling it. It's a great song though so I hope Gavin does put it on an album.
Stephen Ashfield did the next song and came out, sat down and suddenly produced his Olivier Award from his backpocket which made Gavin bring his out and sit them next to each other because they're RIDICULOUS and lovely. And I've completely forgotten the song he sang though I remember enjoying it HELPFUL SARAH. Wait. Unspoken Heart! That was what it was called and a quick Google suggests there maybe versions of Gavin singing it online.
The final song he sang was about friendship and how his friends had pulled him out of his worst depression and again I am completely blanking on the title which is weird because it was firmly stuck in my head after I heard it and because I LOVED it an very much want to own it and listen to it a lot.
It was a great afternoon generally and he's funny and charming and obviously sings brilliantly and all the money went to West End Serves which is being set up in the UK at the moment to mirror Broadway Serves and I just had a WONDERFUL time <3
Also now I need want to see Book of Mormon again quite badly.