Tuesday 31 December 2019

My 2019 Awards - Part Two: Theatre & Film

Musicals:
5) 'Waitress' – Adelphi Theatre, London
4) 'Mary Poppins' – Prince Edward Theatre, London
3) 'The Man of La Mancha' – London Colliseum
2) 'Club Tropicana – The Musical' – Wimbledon Theatre
1) 'The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole' - Ambassadors Theatre, London


(Honourable Mention: 'Fame – The Musical' - Wimbledon Theatre; Dishonourable Mention: 'Hair' – Wimbledon Theatre)



Comedy:
4) 'Jasper Carrott & Alistair McGowan' - Phoenix Concert Hall, Fairfield Halls, Croydon
3) 'Frisky & Mannish: Pop Lab' – Myers Studio, Epsom
2) 'Flo & Joan' – Time and Leisure Studio Theatre, Wimbledon
1) 'Milton Jones' – The Station, Stoneleigh




Classic Comedy Recreations:
4) 'Goodbye: The (After)Life of Cook & Moore' – Dingwalls, Camden
3) 'Christmas With Steptoe & Son' – Museum of Comedy, London
2) 'Benidorm: LIVE' - Wimbledon Theatre
1) 'Hancock's Half Hour' – Epsom Playhouse



Magic:
5) 'Pete Firman & The Amazing TBC' – Pleasance Theatre, Islington
4) 'Pete Firman: Marvels' – Time and Leisure Studio Theatre, Wimbledon
3) 'Ehrlich Brothers' – Wembley Arena
2) 'David Blaine: Real or Magic' – Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith
1) 'The Illusionists' – Shaftesbury Theatre, London



(Honourable Mention: 'Tom Brace: Brace of Spades' – Pleasance Theatre)



Plays:

10) 'The Falcon's Malteser' – The Vaults, Waterloo
  9) 'The Price' – Wyndhams Theatre
  8) 'A Christmas Carol' – The Old Vic
  7) 'Groan Ups' -Vaudeville Theatre, London
  6) 'The Firm' – Hampstead Theatre
  5) 'Present Laughter' – The Old Vic
  4) 'Dark Sublime' – Trafalgar Studios
  3) 'Dracula: One Bloody Fang After Another' – Museum of Comedy, London
  2) 'The Man in the White Suit' – Wyndhams Theatre
  1) 'Harry Potter & The Cursed Child – Parts 1 & 2' – Palace Theatre, London


(Honourable Mentions: 'A Slight Ache/The Dumb Waiter' – Harold Pinter Theatre & 'The House on Cold Hill' – Richmond Theatre; Dishonourable Mention: 'Art' – Richmond Theatre)




Pantomimes:

4) 'Cinderella' - Wimbledon Theatre
3) 'Snow White' – London Palladium
2) 'Cinderella' - Phoenix Concert Hall, Fairfield Halls, Croydon
1) 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears' – London Palladium




Films:

10) 'Captain Marvel'
  9) 'Yesterday'
  8) 'Judy'
  7) 'Blinded by the Light'
  6) 'Spider-Man: Far From Home'
  5) 'Toy Story 4'
  4) 'Shazam !'
  3) 'Knives Out'
  2) 'Avengers: Endgame'
  1) 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker'


(Honourable Mentions: 'Pokemon: Detective Pikachu' and 'The Kid Who Would Be King'; Dishonourable Mentions: 'Ad Astra' and 'X-Men: Dark Phoenix')

PANTOMIME REVIEW: ‘Cinderella’ – New Wimbledon Theatre (30/12/2019)


I've been going to see the Wimbledon Theatre panto since 1981 without missing a single year. So was this year's a classic year ? Unfortunately not. Despite the best efforts of comedy magician, Pete Firman (returning from his successful appearance in the previous year's 'Aladdin' with Paul Merton), it all fell a little flat. One of the four stars, Pussycat Doll Melody Thornton, did not appear at the performance I attended, with the part of Cinderella being taken by her understudy, Stephanie Elstob (who probably gave a more 'musical theatre' performance than Melody probably would have)   [I assume that Ms. Thornton was ill, but given her egotistical write-up in the programme (seemingly justifying her refusal to be part of the reunited Dolls), she may have considered that it was all beneath her].

As Fairy Godmother, Lesley Garrett made a lot of opera puns and shook the rafters with her operatic take on ' The Impossible Dream', but also seemed to struggle with the script (popping up in the Ball scene to remind Cinders of the midnight curfew that she had failed to mention in Act One). As the evil Stepmother, Samantha Womack seemed to be on autopilot, desperate to get to the end, and not really evil, save in the invitation-ripping scene. I also got fed up with her constant flapping of her paso-doble style skirt. She also took a lot of the focus away from the Sisters, Verruca and Hernia (Leon Craig & Bobby Delaney), and as in the Croydon production I would have preferred a Baron Hardup. Prince Charming (Edward Chitticks) was very good, but kept having his limelight stolen by his camp Dandini (Will Jennings).

Pete Firman was excellent throughout, particularly when doing his magic and in the song-sheet. However, a sentimental duet with a teddy bear left me cold. There was also the lack of a full-cast song such as 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' or 'If I Was Not Upon The Stage'. I did enjoy their version of 'the Bush of Truth' though, and the cleverly rewritten versions of 'Achy Breaky Heart', 'The Shape of You' and 'I Will Survive'.




I know I went to see this late in the run, but I expected more: ***


Monday 30 December 2019

My 2019 Awards - Part One: Sherlock Holmes

SH Theatrical Productions

8) 'The Trial of Sherlock Holmes' – Milestone Centre, Reading
7) 'A Scandal in Bohemia!' - Camden People's Theatre
6) 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' – Drayton Arms Theatre
5) 'Life After Sherlock' – Electric Theatre, Guildford
4) 'A Double Helping of Sherlock' – Trinity Church Theatre, Portsmouth
3) 'Strictly Sherlock' – Tea House Theatre, Vauxhall
2) 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' – Abney Park Cemetery, Stoke Newington
1) 'Sherlock Holmes and the Vampyres of London' – Coulsdon Community Centre


(Honourable Mention: 'Ian McKellen on Stage' – Harold Pinter Theatre, London  [No 'Mr. Holmes' anecdotes]; Dishonourable Mention: 'Alan Barnes: The Sherlock Holmes Suite' – The Other Palace, London [proving I'm not a Jazz fan])



SH Celebrities Met

5) Vinette Robinson (Sgt. Sally Donovan in 'Sherlock')
4) Eddie Marson (Lestrade in 'Sherlock Holmes' & 'Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows')
3) Larry Albert (American actor who has played Dr. Watson in over 200 radio plays)
2) Jay Simpson (Wiggins in 'The Baker Street Boys')
1) Sophie Ward (Elizabeth in 'Young Sherlock Holmes')



(Honourable Mention: Roy Hudd [Holmes in 'The Newly Discovered Casebook of SH'])



Sherlockian Sojourns








'Elementary' Episodes    [the Final Series]

5) 'The Price of Admission'  (7.3)
4) 'Miss Understood'   (7.8)
3) ' The Further Adventures  (7.1)
2) 'Reichenbach Fails'  (7.12)
1) 'The Last Bow' (7.13)


Thursday 19 December 2019

PANTOMIME REVIEW: ‘Goldilocks & The Three Bears’ – London Palladium (18/12/2019)


The gang’s all here again – Julian Clary, Paul Zerdin, Gary Wilmot and Nigel Havers – for a take on a panto story I’ve only ever seen once before, at Wimbledon Theatre in 1991. Joining them for the ride this time were Paul O’Grady (who also appeared in the first new Palladium panto in 2016), ‘cheery Northerner One-Show presenter’ (Julian’s description) Matt Baker, ‘Benidorm’ star Janine Duvitski, and West End stars Sophie Isaacs and Lauren Stroud.

Reviews that I had caught prior to going highlighted the production, set in a circus, as being more of a variety show than a panto, and to some extent I agree with this, with the script by director Michael Harrison and QDOS panto writer extraordinaire Alan McHugh, being very limited and just filling gaps between material created by the individual acts. As well as the stars there were three speciality acts – The Skating Medinis (a roller-skating duo), Peter Pavlov and the Globe of Speed (four motorcyclists all riding around a metal globe at the same time) and magician Phil Hitchcock (restyled ‘The Great Mysterioso’). The first two were very impressive, but each appeared once and for less than ten minutes. I must admit being underwhelmed by Phil Hitchcock who I had not previously heard of, and whose claims in the programme to be bringing something special proved to be unfounded, as he simply went through a couple of ‘classics of magic’, including a dove act that was more 1919 than 2019, and drew attention away from Sophie’s big song.

As ever the star was Julian Clary, whose role as ‘Ringmaster’ meant that his double-entendres almost wrote themselves, and allowed for ever more impressive costumes. He also had a Musical Theatre star (in the form of Sophie) to mock, alongside his usual mockery of poor Nigel Havers. Paul O’Grady was playing the villain of the piece, Baron Von Savage (a German cousin of Lily), the owner of the rival circus, the Circus of Nightmares. A highlight was the scene in Act 2 where he and Julian seemed to be attempting to see who could get away with being the most filthy.

Gary Wilmot’s Dame is rare in pantoland in that given that Julian deals with the innuendo and outrageous costumes, she is a nurturing mother figure rather than the usual grotesque. At this point, I must applaud Gary’s latest patter-song, written by himself, and featuring snatches of songs from almost every musical ever written, all perfectly running into each other through shared words. (In the two previous years he gave us ‘Names of All London Underground Stations’ to the tune of 'The CanCan' and ‘Stars of the Palladium, to the tune of ‘The Major-General's Song’ from ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ by Gilbert and Sullivan, a la Tom Lehrer’s ‘The Elements’). Paul Zerdin was also very good as Silly Billy, even if a lot of the material was familiar from the three previous Palladium pantos, but it was good to see his other puppet, Baby, also getting an airing, alongside Sam.

Janine Duvitski made the most of the underwritten role of Mummy Bear, which was basically Jacqueline from ‘Benidorm’ in a bear costume, with Nigel Havers’ Daddy Bear getting much of the adulation, particularly when he made a Prince Andrew joke about how much he was sweating in the costume. The trio was rounded off by Lauren Stroud (‘Strictly Ballroom – The Musical’) playing Baby Bear, who still managed to tap dance in her bear suit. Sophie Isaacs (‘Heathers – The Musical’ & ‘Cruel Intentions – The Musical’) was also excellent, but despite being the title character had surprisingly little to do.

I have left Matt Baker to last as he was the revelation for me, displaying multiple circus skills as Joey the Clown, unicycling, juggling, pratfalling, and at the end of Act One tightrope walking. He also had a reasonable singing voice, making him a shoo-in if any producer is planning a tour of ‘Barnum’ (a song from which, along with some from ‘The Greatest Showman’, also featured, with slightly tweaked lyrics). There was also an excellent ‘If I were not upon the stage….’ In which Matt again impressed (whilst dressed in a mankini !).

So, all in all, another excellent Palladium panto. The only issue being ‘Is this family friendly entertainment ?’ Yes, most of Julian’s jokes went over the children’s heads, but this left the children in the row behind me confused why all the adults were laughing, leading to some very awkward discussions in the interval.



Another triumph ! **** for adults *** for children


PANTOMIME REVIEW: ‘Cinderella’ – Phoenix Concert Hall, Fairfield Halls, Croydon (13/12/2019)


The newly re-opened Fairfield Halls offered ‘Cinderella’ in its Concert Hall rather than the usual Ashcroft Theatre. This meant that as there was no curtain, all the scenery was back-projected, something that worked very well.

The main draw for me in relation to this production was Tim Vine as Buttons, and his punning style suited the part perfectly. He also drew attention to the fact that he was quite a bit older than the Cinderella that he was in love with, and the ever-present staircase even in scenes in the forest. The other two main stars were Strictly winner, Ore Oduba, and CBeebies star, Cat Sandion. At the performance I saw, Ore did not get off to a good start having lost his ear-mic backstage, and so much of his early dialogue with the Prince (Croydon local, James Bisp) was inaudible. It was not until halfway through their musical number that a member of the ensemble dashed on with a hand-held microphone (to a huge cheer from the auditorium). Having found his ear-mic for his next entrance, he seemed to settle down, even if his part was mainly limited to showing off his dancing skills. Cat was underused, coming on for a prologue, and then having to wait until almost the end of Act 1 to meet Cinderella in the forest, and then a short time later, magic up the coach and dress. However, she did appear once more at the denouement to help free Cinders from the cellar.

Playing Cinderella, Grace Chapman, gave us an excellent Principal Girl, but with less relying on others to ‘fight her battles’ in this post ‘#MeToo’ age. Her singing voice, mainly in duets with the Prince, was also excellent. In this production, she had three villains to contend with - as well as her Ugly Step-Sisters, Tess (Jason Marc-Williams) and Claudia (Alistair Barron), she also had to deal with the brains of the outfit, her wicked American Step-Mother, the Baroness (Katie Cameron).

The script by Will Brenton was excellent, including some jokes that I had never heard before. Several old favourites were present and correct – the ghost bench routine, ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ (which had a witty alternative to the ‘bra made to hold three’, and in which whilst everyone else ran about madly, Tim Vine managed to stand absolutely still), and the Song-Sheet featuring Tim Vine’s ‘Deep’ song.



Highly recommended. ****