If someone believes in you
I will start by saying that I have loved theatre as a medium for a long while and even took an a-level study in the subject. It was with a heavy heart that a little over a year ago I found out that the Chester theatre would be shutting down. The last thing we went to see before it closed its doors was the one man Star Wars show.
So imagine my surprise when I found out that another company had taken over and was now running shows. Some poking around later and Choccoweeble am I were booked to see 'This Is My Musical III' and 'The Goon Show'.
The tickets arrived, the seats were held and with some excitement and trepidation we headed off to see a show that claimed to allow you to "Experience songs from Glee, Sister Act, Legally Blonde, Jersey Boys, 9 to 5, Shrek, Altar Boyz, Billy Elliot, Mary Poppins, Lion King, Next to Normal, Love Never Dies and many more"
On arriving to the theatre and doing the obligatory loo trips and standing around we were ushered not to the seats we had expected but down into a basement theatre that reminds me of the converted church that houses D.A.D.S*. Apparently I overheard as I was passing the ticket lady this was because the big stage had been completely gutted and there was nothing left in the room at all. There was no real stage with just a flat floor with tiered seating beyond. In fact the stairs from which we descended made up part of the scenery that would be used in the performance to come.
An alarm clock on a black box centered in a clear stage greeted us as we took out seats and fifteen minutes later the sounds of beepers and buzzers led us into the introductory performance of 9 to 5. The cast were enthusiastic from the start and performed dance numbers to the songs that would be the pride of any stage production. There were nine women, four men and two children who all seemed in great voice.
Not having had any pennies to buy myself a program I was occasionally at a loss to identify certain songs. This led to politely checking with my neighbour** on occasion to give me hints. This taught me only that there are a lot more musicals out there than I know about. There was not a number that I did not enjoy however and quite a few that I hope I remember the name or lyrics of so I can look them up again.
Now before the whole thing started I'd jokingly said that as long as the Glee song wasn't 'Don't stop believing' we would all be fine. After a hasty second read through of the listings there was only one Glee song and yes you guessed it; 'Don't stop believing'. Ok, yes, I can see that when picking a Glee song that is really the obvious choice but really I wanted something else, I'm beginning to tire of Journey now. Anyway they were all in jeans with red tops in perfect homage to the tv version even sporting a fellow whose curly floppy hair made him very Jessie like to me.*** I will say this they did very, very well being let down only occasionally by the position of their mikes which was allowing the backing track to slightly overpower some of their voices.
Notable favourites from the show were a song from Shrek that Fiona sings, Tyler the Latte Boy and its sequel Tyler's Response****, an emotional song from Next To Normal, things from Legally Blonde and oh definitely the Alter Boys song. I have never giggled so much from the lyrics of a song and the performance for a long while. A volunteered***** audience participation girl was dragged up to be serenaded and her embarrassment played up the lyrics to great effect.
Definitely more than worth the ticket price of £10. Also through I am supposed to now be focusing on preparing for Odyssey as we're off to site tomorrow; inside there is a little giggly musical lover bouncing up and down and shouting 'Again! Again!'. Roll on the Goon show next week.
*Dolgellau Amateur Dramatics Society of which my darling father is a member
**Well looking from the corner of my eye instead of leaning which I consider rather polite
***Yes I know that he wasn't in that song in the show
****The first not technically from a musical but sung by a musical star. The second an Anon response both performed to great comic effect
*****By her friends who had to give her a bit of courage
So imagine my surprise when I found out that another company had taken over and was now running shows. Some poking around later and Choccoweeble am I were booked to see 'This Is My Musical III' and 'The Goon Show'.
The tickets arrived, the seats were held and with some excitement and trepidation we headed off to see a show that claimed to allow you to "Experience songs from Glee, Sister Act, Legally Blonde, Jersey Boys, 9 to 5, Shrek, Altar Boyz, Billy Elliot, Mary Poppins, Lion King, Next to Normal, Love Never Dies and many more"
On arriving to the theatre and doing the obligatory loo trips and standing around we were ushered not to the seats we had expected but down into a basement theatre that reminds me of the converted church that houses D.A.D.S*. Apparently I overheard as I was passing the ticket lady this was because the big stage had been completely gutted and there was nothing left in the room at all. There was no real stage with just a flat floor with tiered seating beyond. In fact the stairs from which we descended made up part of the scenery that would be used in the performance to come.
An alarm clock on a black box centered in a clear stage greeted us as we took out seats and fifteen minutes later the sounds of beepers and buzzers led us into the introductory performance of 9 to 5. The cast were enthusiastic from the start and performed dance numbers to the songs that would be the pride of any stage production. There were nine women, four men and two children who all seemed in great voice.
Not having had any pennies to buy myself a program I was occasionally at a loss to identify certain songs. This led to politely checking with my neighbour** on occasion to give me hints. This taught me only that there are a lot more musicals out there than I know about. There was not a number that I did not enjoy however and quite a few that I hope I remember the name or lyrics of so I can look them up again.
Now before the whole thing started I'd jokingly said that as long as the Glee song wasn't 'Don't stop believing' we would all be fine. After a hasty second read through of the listings there was only one Glee song and yes you guessed it; 'Don't stop believing'. Ok, yes, I can see that when picking a Glee song that is really the obvious choice but really I wanted something else, I'm beginning to tire of Journey now. Anyway they were all in jeans with red tops in perfect homage to the tv version even sporting a fellow whose curly floppy hair made him very Jessie like to me.*** I will say this they did very, very well being let down only occasionally by the position of their mikes which was allowing the backing track to slightly overpower some of their voices.
Notable favourites from the show were a song from Shrek that Fiona sings, Tyler the Latte Boy and its sequel Tyler's Response****, an emotional song from Next To Normal, things from Legally Blonde and oh definitely the Alter Boys song. I have never giggled so much from the lyrics of a song and the performance for a long while. A volunteered***** audience participation girl was dragged up to be serenaded and her embarrassment played up the lyrics to great effect.
Definitely more than worth the ticket price of £10. Also through I am supposed to now be focusing on preparing for Odyssey as we're off to site tomorrow; inside there is a little giggly musical lover bouncing up and down and shouting 'Again! Again!'. Roll on the Goon show next week.
*Dolgellau Amateur Dramatics Society of which my darling father is a member
**Well looking from the corner of my eye instead of leaning which I consider rather polite
***Yes I know that he wasn't in that song in the show
****The first not technically from a musical but sung by a musical star. The second an Anon response both performed to great comic effect
*****By her friends who had to give her a bit of courage