(no subject)
One of these years I might manage to do some of my year-in-review type posts at the end of the old year rather than a week or so into the new one and in the hopes I at least only make that a couple of DAYS into the new year I thought I'd at least wrap up the last few bits in preparation so firstly my final theatre review of the year!
Cats @ London Palladium
We used to have a tape with Cats on when I was a child and so although I never saw it on stage it was absolutely one of the key soundtracks to all my childhood holidays and the moment the lights went down and the overture started I had this HUGE wash of nostalgia and then Mum lent over and said "proper overture" and I knew I was in for a good evening ♥
There were a whole bunch of swings & understudies on when we went so I'm not going to use names too much because beyond Nicole and the ever fabulous Zizi Strallen I'm not 100% certain who we had for a bunch of the roles.
Nicole Scherzinger is obviously the "name" and she does a very good job with Grizabella. I mean she's WAY too young but she gives off the perfect do-not-touch signals in the first half and then of course when she opens up and sings Memory properly she has an amazingly strong voice so it really worked.
But it's the rest that I loved ♥ starting with the Gumbie Cat and the mouse masks and bug masks and continuing through the way that every single member of th cast moves like a cat at every moment so you're never thrown out. OH and I absolutely adored the way the narrator cat (sorry, I've never known names!) and Rum Tum Tugger kept facing off absolutely in the way that two tom cats will.
(the rap for Rum Tum Tugger works really well too and despite my best efforts I found I couldn't quite dislike it *g*)
Mungo Jerry & Rumpleteaser were wonderfully athletic as they through each other across the stage and had SO much fun with it. The white cat (Victoria? is that right?) was also absolutely beautiful every time she took centre stage. Oh and Bustopher Jones was perfectly spherical and Gus the theatre cat was shaky and wonderful (and I was always, ALWAYS, scared of the bit of Firefrorefiddle, the Fiend of the Fell they do in the middle of his song which thankfully I've grown out of but the Siamese cats were wonderfully portrayed.
What else? OH Macavity was best in his absence I feel but then that's sort of the point, the fear his absence brings *g* and Mr Mistoffeles was great fun in all his sparkles OH and Skimbleshanks ♥ oh I've always loved the Railway Cat and he was wonderfully prissy and seeing it on stage was everything I hoped.
So yes, I very VERY much enjoyed Cats *sighs happily*
And here's the books I've read in December (I mean I know there are a few hours left but I'm planning on watching TV not reading :-P)
I've read quite a lot this month it seems between the shorter things, the Christmas specials and then a week of feeling under the weather (understatement).
Lumberjanes #8- Grace Ellis, Noelle Stevenson & Brooke Allen FRIENDSHIP TO THE MAX *g* also a little kiss, Ripley giving everyone kittens (because what else would you do with all that power) and (please note) Jen totally saving the day! If this was the opening arc I can't wait to see what they do next!
Broken Homes- Ben Aaronovitch Well that was quite a twist! I mean looking back I guess you can see how the things the Faceless Man & team don't know are the things Peter discovers on his own BUT STILL. I'm super sad Sky came and left so quickly, I was pretty convinced she was a spirit of the tower itself for a while and she seemed fun. The Spring Court was brilliant though and I'm still fascinated by the way the world is unfolding and we're getting hints and teasers of what's happened to the magic and to Nightingale and what is going on in other countries. Looking forward to book 5!
Such Darling Dodos- Angus Wilson I bought this book entirely based on the title- it's a series of short stories set in post-war (WW2) Britain which look at the changing social world and decaying gentility as set against the new intelligentsia. Some of the stories are funny, a lot are sad or at least melancholy and one or two wouldn't be out of place in a book of horror stories (Mummy to the Rescue in particular completely threw me at the end, it's very good but horribleThe Ocean at the End of the Lane- Neil Gaiman I don't know why it's taken me so long to read this but once I started it was very quick. He's so good at writing about the things that scare children, which are of course also the things that scare adults but we like to pretend they don't. The thing that was Ursula Monkton was terrifying precisely because adults really do have that power over children and whilst she was a Monster with a capital M (or rather a flea) as adults we know all too well that grown ups sometimes are that cruel without being supernatural. I liked the Hempstocks too and I was interested to be reminded that they show up in other books. I hope we see them again!
Team Human- Justine Larbalestier & Sarah Rees Brennan Sarah signed this for me when I went to get Donna's book signed when she wasin hospital (it was awkward- I said something about having a number of friends in common and she got this slightly unnerved look in her eyes like I was maybe a crazy person but then she actually did remember my name, or pretended she did who knows!) I don't know that I'd ever have picked it up otherwise but as vampire books go it's pretty good! I like the world building and the place zombies have in it and I did like the improtance of friendship in it.
Hunting the Fairies- Compton Mackenzie This was another book purchased mostly for the title *g* It's actually one of the Highland Series aka the Monarch of the Glen books but it's not like you really need to read them in order. This one is about an American lady & her daughter coming to stay with Kilwhillie at to hunt for fairies and it's gloriously silly and was the perfect read for a couple of long-ish train journeys.
A Child's Christmas in Wales I'd never read this, I#d heard bits of it of course but when I admitted to Mum that I'd never read the whole thing she dug her copy out and I can see why people love it. I guess if I'd read it when younger it might well have become one of my Christmas musts.
Masha- Mara Kay This is the lates Margin Notes book and it's set in a Russian boarding school in 1815 and it's fascinating because it's not really a period of history I know about. I'm not sure the characters are drawn quite so well as some better known school stories but they're still very appealing and I love Masha's reactions to things like the first time she sees a Christmas tree. I did feel a little like the ending came out of nowhere but it did make me go away and look up the history of some of the real people in the books (the Grand Duchess Charlotte particularly)
Lumberjanes #9- Shannon Waters, Noelle Stevenson, Faith Erin Hicks I loved the ghost stories, they were all absolutely as you'd expect each character to tell and the illustration styles matched beautfiully too. A fun edition in between main plotlines <3
Champion of the Chalet School- Adrianne Fitzpatrick Not the most EBDish of the fill-ins but fun all the same. I liked Betsy Lucy & her gang though I'd have quite liked to SEE more of Peggy being an amazing Head Girl rather than being told she's been quietly doing all sorts of awesome things in the background!
Lanterns Across the Snow- Susan Hill This is one I read every Christmas.
A Dark and Distant Shore- Reay Tannahill I wasn't feeling well and needed something mindless, or at least where I didn't have to pay attention to the plot. It's a strange and brooding book but despite everything Vilia does and her obsession I still love her. It's a very silly book in many ways but I love the grand sweeping history and it was just what I needed.
Ms. Marvel Vol. 1: No Normal- G Willow Wilson, Jake Wyatt & Adrian Alphona ♥ The first Christmas present I read! I've heard so much about this Ms Marvel I was pretty certain I'd love it but there was still plenty I didn't know. I love the struggles Kamala goes through working out who she is and and who she wants to be and I love that her friends (and family mostly) are right there to support her too <3
The Power of Darkness: Tales of Terror- Edith Nesbit I started reading this in case I needed an antidote to Christmas *g* it's a complete mix of horror stories from ones which have happy endings and explanations to truly creepy stories with no explanations and in between lots of accounts of horrifying deaths. I don't buy the line given in the introduction that these stories show how much Nesbit was struggling with her unconventional home life, they just read as well written horror stories to me with no particular angst attached!
Cats @ London Palladium
We used to have a tape with Cats on when I was a child and so although I never saw it on stage it was absolutely one of the key soundtracks to all my childhood holidays and the moment the lights went down and the overture started I had this HUGE wash of nostalgia and then Mum lent over and said "proper overture" and I knew I was in for a good evening ♥
There were a whole bunch of swings & understudies on when we went so I'm not going to use names too much because beyond Nicole and the ever fabulous Zizi Strallen I'm not 100% certain who we had for a bunch of the roles.
Nicole Scherzinger is obviously the "name" and she does a very good job with Grizabella. I mean she's WAY too young but she gives off the perfect do-not-touch signals in the first half and then of course when she opens up and sings Memory properly she has an amazingly strong voice so it really worked.
But it's the rest that I loved ♥ starting with the Gumbie Cat and the mouse masks and bug masks and continuing through the way that every single member of th cast moves like a cat at every moment so you're never thrown out. OH and I absolutely adored the way the narrator cat (sorry, I've never known names!) and Rum Tum Tugger kept facing off absolutely in the way that two tom cats will.
(the rap for Rum Tum Tugger works really well too and despite my best efforts I found I couldn't quite dislike it *g*)
Mungo Jerry & Rumpleteaser were wonderfully athletic as they through each other across the stage and had SO much fun with it. The white cat (Victoria? is that right?) was also absolutely beautiful every time she took centre stage. Oh and Bustopher Jones was perfectly spherical and Gus the theatre cat was shaky and wonderful (and I was always, ALWAYS, scared of the bit of Firefrorefiddle, the Fiend of the Fell they do in the middle of his song which thankfully I've grown out of but the Siamese cats were wonderfully portrayed.
What else? OH Macavity was best in his absence I feel but then that's sort of the point, the fear his absence brings *g* and Mr Mistoffeles was great fun in all his sparkles OH and Skimbleshanks ♥ oh I've always loved the Railway Cat and he was wonderfully prissy and seeing it on stage was everything I hoped.
So yes, I very VERY much enjoyed Cats *sighs happily*
And here's the books I've read in December (I mean I know there are a few hours left but I'm planning on watching TV not reading :-P)
I've read quite a lot this month it seems between the shorter things, the Christmas specials and then a week of feeling under the weather (understatement).
- Lumberjanes #8- Grace Ellis, Noelle Stevenson & Brooke Allen
- Broken Homes- Ben Aaronovitch
- Such Darling Dodos- Angus Wilson
- The Ocean at the End of the Lane- Neil Gaiman
- Team Human- Justine Larbalestier & Sarah Rees Brennan
- Hunting the Fairies- Compton Mackenzie
- A Child's Christmas in Wales
- Masha- Mara Kay
- Lumberjanes #9- Shannon Waters, Noelle Stevenson, Faith Erin Hicks
- Champion of the Chalet School- Adrianne Fitzpatrick
- Lanterns Across the Snow- Susan Hill
- A Dark and DistantShore- Reay Tannahill
- Ms. Marvel Vol. 1: No Normal- G Willow Wilson, Jake Wyatt & Adrian Alphona ♥
- The Power of Darkness: Tales of Terror- Edith Nesbit
Lumberjanes #8- Grace Ellis, Noelle Stevenson & Brooke Allen FRIENDSHIP TO THE MAX *g* also a little kiss, Ripley giving everyone kittens (because what else would you do with all that power) and (please note) Jen totally saving the day! If this was the opening arc I can't wait to see what they do next!
Broken Homes- Ben Aaronovitch Well that was quite a twist! I mean looking back I guess you can see how the things the Faceless Man & team don't know are the things Peter discovers on his own BUT STILL. I'm super sad Sky came and left so quickly, I was pretty convinced she was a spirit of the tower itself for a while and she seemed fun. The Spring Court was brilliant though and I'm still fascinated by the way the world is unfolding and we're getting hints and teasers of what's happened to the magic and to Nightingale and what is going on in other countries. Looking forward to book 5!
Such Darling Dodos- Angus Wilson I bought this book entirely based on the title- it's a series of short stories set in post-war (WW2) Britain which look at the changing social world and decaying gentility as set against the new intelligentsia. Some of the stories are funny, a lot are sad or at least melancholy and one or two wouldn't be out of place in a book of horror stories (Mummy to the Rescue in particular completely threw me at the end, it's very good but horribleThe Ocean at the End of the Lane- Neil Gaiman I don't know why it's taken me so long to read this but once I started it was very quick. He's so good at writing about the things that scare children, which are of course also the things that scare adults but we like to pretend they don't. The thing that was Ursula Monkton was terrifying precisely because adults really do have that power over children and whilst she was a Monster with a capital M (or rather a flea) as adults we know all too well that grown ups sometimes are that cruel without being supernatural. I liked the Hempstocks too and I was interested to be reminded that they show up in other books. I hope we see them again!
Team Human- Justine Larbalestier & Sarah Rees Brennan Sarah signed this for me when I went to get Donna's book signed when she wasin hospital (it was awkward- I said something about having a number of friends in common and she got this slightly unnerved look in her eyes like I was maybe a crazy person but then she actually did remember my name, or pretended she did who knows!) I don't know that I'd ever have picked it up otherwise but as vampire books go it's pretty good! I like the world building and the place zombies have in it and I did like the improtance of friendship in it.
Hunting the Fairies- Compton Mackenzie This was another book purchased mostly for the title *g* It's actually one of the Highland Series aka the Monarch of the Glen books but it's not like you really need to read them in order. This one is about an American lady & her daughter coming to stay with Kilwhillie at to hunt for fairies and it's gloriously silly and was the perfect read for a couple of long-ish train journeys.
A Child's Christmas in Wales I'd never read this, I#d heard bits of it of course but when I admitted to Mum that I'd never read the whole thing she dug her copy out and I can see why people love it. I guess if I'd read it when younger it might well have become one of my Christmas musts.
Masha- Mara Kay This is the lates Margin Notes book and it's set in a Russian boarding school in 1815 and it's fascinating because it's not really a period of history I know about. I'm not sure the characters are drawn quite so well as some better known school stories but they're still very appealing and I love Masha's reactions to things like the first time she sees a Christmas tree. I did feel a little like the ending came out of nowhere but it did make me go away and look up the history of some of the real people in the books (the Grand Duchess Charlotte particularly)
Lumberjanes #9- Shannon Waters, Noelle Stevenson, Faith Erin Hicks I loved the ghost stories, they were all absolutely as you'd expect each character to tell and the illustration styles matched beautfiully too. A fun edition in between main plotlines <3
Champion of the Chalet School- Adrianne Fitzpatrick Not the most EBDish of the fill-ins but fun all the same. I liked Betsy Lucy & her gang though I'd have quite liked to SEE more of Peggy being an amazing Head Girl rather than being told she's been quietly doing all sorts of awesome things in the background!
Lanterns Across the Snow- Susan Hill This is one I read every Christmas.
A Dark and Distant Shore- Reay Tannahill I wasn't feeling well and needed something mindless, or at least where I didn't have to pay attention to the plot. It's a strange and brooding book but despite everything Vilia does and her obsession I still love her. It's a very silly book in many ways but I love the grand sweeping history and it was just what I needed.
Ms. Marvel Vol. 1: No Normal- G Willow Wilson, Jake Wyatt & Adrian Alphona ♥ The first Christmas present I read! I've heard so much about this Ms Marvel I was pretty certain I'd love it but there was still plenty I didn't know. I love the struggles Kamala goes through working out who she is and and who she wants to be and I love that her friends (and family mostly) are right there to support her too <3
The Power of Darkness: Tales of Terror- Edith Nesbit I started reading this in case I needed an antidote to Christmas *g* it's a complete mix of horror stories from ones which have happy endings and explanations to truly creepy stories with no explanations and in between lots of accounts of horrifying deaths. I don't buy the line given in the introduction that these stories show how much Nesbit was struggling with her unconventional home life, they just read as well written horror stories to me with no particular angst attached!