(no subject)
Back just in time to watch the Eurovision voting... oops? (not that I did, we watched Ian Hislop's programme on the office of Poet Laureate.
Had a very lovely day all told, got rained on slightly during Frontline but it's early season at the Globe so that's hardly surprising and it was only a little shower.
I say this again by the way GO AND SEE THE FRONTLINE AT THE GLOBE *stops shouting* It was, if anything, better on a second viewing and it's got a bit tighter and they've changed odd things (and a few cast members) and I still LOVE it.
If I had any criticisms... I think I preferred the woman playing Donna(? I keep forgetting that character’s name but the blonde female lead) last year but this one was very good too.
Otherwise I really couldn't complain. I deliberately stood on the other side of the stage to where I stood last year and so picked up more of some conversations I hadn't heard last time (and of course therefore missed some I heard last year). I really could watch it over and over again and never get bored.
The dancing and singing were fantastic and the acting is high class all round and it really gave me a lump in my throat at the end.
Went to Talking Theatre afterwards and they had the actors playing Seamus and Benny and also Che Walker (the writer).
There was a lot of talk about the kiss between Seamus ad Benny (well almost kiss) and the reactions it provokes. As someone pointed out it crosses nearly every taboo you can think of being a gay couple, a couple with a large age gap AND a mixed race couple. To be honest where I was standing I only got the same ahhh reaction that happened at each couple-y moment but apparently so far this year they've had EWWWWWWW reactions (especially from school groups).
There was some talk about rehearsals again and how difficult a play it is to learn because of the overlapping dialogue (and because some of the cues changed from last year and, for that matter, Seamus was played by the same actor but Benny had changed) and how to keep focus on each other and not lose track of where they were. Plus a bit of chat about the dances (at which point the guy playing Benny pointed out as he'd been in the Lion King this was all rather easy for him and with the musical theatre mention I suddenly realised why I recognised him- he'd been Gary Coleman in Avenue Q!)
Che Walker talked about his inspiration coming directly from standing outside Camden station one night, and about how some of the characters were recycled from older unsuccessful plays. He's very passionate when he talks about young people and groups like the Ethiopian and Somali gangs in the play and about drugs and all of it really. He's worked with young offenders which I didn’t know and explains a lot.
I bought a copy of the text this time and Che signed it for me which was rather fabulous :D
He also mentioned he's turning one of his old plays into a musical for the Young Vic that's on during June, Been So Long and one of the actresses from Frontline who had a fabulous voice is in it too... so there's another ticket I need to buy *coughs*
And speaking of the Young Vic this evening I went to see Pictures at an Exhibtion which was a co production of the Young Vic and Sadlers Wells. Mostly I went for Ed Hogg <3 but also because I really like Mussorgsky and especially Pictures at an Exhibition.
It was... well it was strange I have to admit but the dancing was fantastic and Ed was mesmerising and I'm glad I went.
Moments from death, Mussorgsky's life flashes before his eyes. Vivid memories of his past and his closest relationships return in powerful fragments.
That's the summary which probably gives you a bit of an idea of the feel of the piece with words like "fragments" and "vivid" being key. Each of the "pictures" was turned into a piece of Mussorgsky's life and some of them were very surreal and strange. Lots of slightly odd childhood fears and about sexual desire, and the need for love and touch (the last of which it had in common with Frontline)
The dancing really was incredible. Everything from ballet to Russian Cossack style dances to an odd trance music kind of thing and the central troupe were wonderful and the few who were clearly actors first fitted in very well.
(mostly by that last bit I mean Ed, he's an actor not a dancer I know but he was remarkably graceful and had he not been next to bunch of incredible dancers I doubt you'd have noticed the difference. I still maintain he's a brilliant actor and he has this quality that draws me in and makes me believe whether he's being a man abandoned by his friends or a little boy abandoned by his mother or anything in between)
I do really want to go and read/learn about Mussorgsky now.
So that's the Young Vic to tick off my I-Spy Book of London Theatres :D
ps. GO AND SEE THE FRONTLINE
Had a very lovely day all told, got rained on slightly during Frontline but it's early season at the Globe so that's hardly surprising and it was only a little shower.
I say this again by the way GO AND SEE THE FRONTLINE AT THE GLOBE *stops shouting* It was, if anything, better on a second viewing and it's got a bit tighter and they've changed odd things (and a few cast members) and I still LOVE it.
If I had any criticisms... I think I preferred the woman playing Donna(? I keep forgetting that character’s name but the blonde female lead) last year but this one was very good too.
Otherwise I really couldn't complain. I deliberately stood on the other side of the stage to where I stood last year and so picked up more of some conversations I hadn't heard last time (and of course therefore missed some I heard last year). I really could watch it over and over again and never get bored.
The dancing and singing were fantastic and the acting is high class all round and it really gave me a lump in my throat at the end.
Went to Talking Theatre afterwards and they had the actors playing Seamus and Benny and also Che Walker (the writer).
There was a lot of talk about the kiss between Seamus ad Benny (well almost kiss) and the reactions it provokes. As someone pointed out it crosses nearly every taboo you can think of being a gay couple, a couple with a large age gap AND a mixed race couple. To be honest where I was standing I only got the same ahhh reaction that happened at each couple-y moment but apparently so far this year they've had EWWWWWWW reactions (especially from school groups).
There was some talk about rehearsals again and how difficult a play it is to learn because of the overlapping dialogue (and because some of the cues changed from last year and, for that matter, Seamus was played by the same actor but Benny had changed) and how to keep focus on each other and not lose track of where they were. Plus a bit of chat about the dances (at which point the guy playing Benny pointed out as he'd been in the Lion King this was all rather easy for him and with the musical theatre mention I suddenly realised why I recognised him- he'd been Gary Coleman in Avenue Q!)
Che Walker talked about his inspiration coming directly from standing outside Camden station one night, and about how some of the characters were recycled from older unsuccessful plays. He's very passionate when he talks about young people and groups like the Ethiopian and Somali gangs in the play and about drugs and all of it really. He's worked with young offenders which I didn’t know and explains a lot.
I bought a copy of the text this time and Che signed it for me which was rather fabulous :D
He also mentioned he's turning one of his old plays into a musical for the Young Vic that's on during June, Been So Long and one of the actresses from Frontline who had a fabulous voice is in it too... so there's another ticket I need to buy *coughs*
And speaking of the Young Vic this evening I went to see Pictures at an Exhibtion which was a co production of the Young Vic and Sadlers Wells. Mostly I went for Ed Hogg <3 but also because I really like Mussorgsky and especially Pictures at an Exhibition.
It was... well it was strange I have to admit but the dancing was fantastic and Ed was mesmerising and I'm glad I went.
Moments from death, Mussorgsky's life flashes before his eyes. Vivid memories of his past and his closest relationships return in powerful fragments.
That's the summary which probably gives you a bit of an idea of the feel of the piece with words like "fragments" and "vivid" being key. Each of the "pictures" was turned into a piece of Mussorgsky's life and some of them were very surreal and strange. Lots of slightly odd childhood fears and about sexual desire, and the need for love and touch (the last of which it had in common with Frontline)
The dancing really was incredible. Everything from ballet to Russian Cossack style dances to an odd trance music kind of thing and the central troupe were wonderful and the few who were clearly actors first fitted in very well.
(mostly by that last bit I mean Ed, he's an actor not a dancer I know but he was remarkably graceful and had he not been next to bunch of incredible dancers I doubt you'd have noticed the difference. I still maintain he's a brilliant actor and he has this quality that draws me in and makes me believe whether he's being a man abandoned by his friends or a little boy abandoned by his mother or anything in between)
I do really want to go and read/learn about Mussorgsky now.
So that's the Young Vic to tick off my I-Spy Book of London Theatres :D
ps. GO AND SEE THE FRONTLINE