Loserville Musical

Back in 2012, I became obsessed with the musical Loserville. I mean, the musical is co written by one of my favourite band members, James Bourne and it is jam packed full of songs from his band, Son Of Dork. Top that off with the fact that the play starred Chris Hardman (Lil Chris) who I’m pretty sure everyone loved when he released his ridiculously catching song, Checkin’ It Out. Let’s face it, I was always going to love this musical. A few months later however the show shut and it hasn’t been on a West End stage since.

Flash forward six years and Loserville came back to the Garrick Theatre on London’s West End last weekend with most of the original cast for a one night only special event. Very sadly the show was brought back in memory of Lil Chris who unfortunately suffered with severe depressing which ultimately led to him committing suicide a few years ago. Loserville was the perfect was to remember him and also to raise money for Maytree, a charity focussing on trying to help people with suicidal thoughts. Loserville was also raising money for the Youth Music Theatre UK, a company encouraging young people into performing arts.

Honestly the evening was just wonderful. I had a drinks reception with some of the members of the cast and people involved in the show and the sheer enthusiasm of every single person in that room was off the chart. You could literally feel the real buzz in the room. Everyone was so excited that Loserville was back and that really was projected onto the stage later in the evening.

The show was advertised as a concert and it really was. The audience were encouraged to sing along and we were even invited to get our phones out and light up the theatre with the torches on them at one point in the show. However, it wasn’t just a case of the cast singing the songs. It was every single line of the original West End show that was performed and it worked just as wonderfully on stage as the original show did. You could just see on stage how much every single person on that stage was absolutely loving this song being back even if due to the sad circumstances of it being performed once more.

Its sad that the show was only for one night but Loserville is such a fantastic show and it truly would be a real shame for it not to be revived for a longer period of time in the future.  

Important Links –

Maytree - http://www.maytree.org.uk/

Youth Music Theatre - http://www.youthmusictheatreuk.org/

Obviously, the show was brought back to raise money for both Maytree and Youth Music Theatre UK. If you want to donate all you have to do is text – YMTR33 and £1 £2 £5 or £10 to 70070 

Loserville - Montgomery Theatre Sheffield

Loserville is the first musical that made it to the West End stage that was written by James Bourne and Elliot Davis. As you know by this blog I'm a huge fan of James Bourne and as I was at university in London at the time Loserville was in the West End I saw the show on a number of occasions and loved every performance I saw. Well now I'm back home I couldn't resist going when I saw Loserville was coming to the Montgomery Theatre in Sheffield! 

Loserville revolves around Michael Dork. He's is the ultimate computer geek whose determined to change the world by inventing emails. As expected he is bullied at school but is determined to keep trying to success with help from his friends Lucas, Frances and Marvin and of course potential love interest Holly. It's a typical geek/popular crowd story line but add in music from Son Of Dork's Welcome To Loserville album, talented actors and you've got yourself one hell of a musical!

This particular performance was put on by Splinters Theatre Group, a young persons musical company for those aged between 14-30. What a talented bunch of performers, they could easily match those who I saw playing the characters in the West End. Richard Granger playing Michael Dork was phenomenal. He had captured the awkwardness of the character perfectly and was a great lead. Lucy Keeton who plays love interest Holly was also extremely good. Her vocals throughout were fantastic and unbelievably I discovered she is only 17! Certainly a name to watch in the future. I also particularly enjoyed Matthew Bevan's performance of Lucas and Joseph Oliver Walker's as Eddie. It's worth mentioning however, that every single performer on that stage was enthusiastic and energetic. I know I'll certainly be checking out future Splinters theatre shows.  

Sadly today was the last day in which Loserville is showing in Sheffield but I was given a flyer for Rock Of Ages on the way out of the theatre, if you'd like to catch this talented group of actors in action in the future!

What I Go To School For - Musical

I love the band Busted and I think band member James Bourne, has a ridiculous amount of talent. So when I heard that James Bourne (and Elliot Davis) had written a musical about Busted, I instantly knew that I had to go despite it being in Brighton, many miles away from my home in Yorkshire! I have seen (and thoroughly enjoyed) the two other musicals the pair have written together, Loserville and Out There so I knew that the Busted musical was likely to be very good.

The Busted musical aptly named What I Go To School For after the bands debut single tells the story of Busted. Flashback over 10 years ago and Busted were the biggest band in the UK at the time, they had number one singles, platinum albums, sell out tours and a very loyal fanbase but as everyone knows the band didn't quite work out as expected. The story weaves in around many of the bands biggest hits such as Crashed The Wedding, Year 3000 and Thunderbirds. A couple of new songs composed for the musical are also thrown in for good measure but don't feel an inch out of place next to the well known tracks. 

What I Go To School For was being performed by the Youth Music Theatre group meaning that every single member of the cast were between the ages of 11-21 and unbelievably it was the first youth theatre performance that I've ever seen. Wow, is all I can say about it! The talent in the entire cast was unreal. I can honestly see most, if not all, of this cast making successful West End careers for themselves in the future, they were every inch professional and the talent on the Brighton stage was incredible. The stage changes were utterly smooth and it was all extremely professional. The entire cast had the audience eating out of their hands with the catchy dance numbers, funny moments in the script (my personal favourite being a scene involving Benedict Cumberbatch) and all course thanks to the well known sing along songs. 

I feel like it's also worth mentioning how perfectly cast the 3 main actors playing the Busted band members were. I've seen Busted perform many times and all three actors (Joesph Riley - James, Zac Robinson - Matt, Roman Lewis - Charlie) had got the performance style of their respective characters completely spot on. They all just seemed to perfectly fit the roles and it is truly astounding that they'll all under 21 and playing lead characters so incredibly. 

I have seen supposedly tear jerking musicals before but I have never broke down in tears as much as I did during What I Go To School For. The scenes which showed the breakdown of Busted, literally tore me apart in the middle of the theatre. The acting from the 3 actors playing James, Matt and Charlie was superb. The emotion portrayed in there voices whilst singing songs such as Meet You There, Everything I Knew and Over Now was better than most West End performers that I've seen.

Sadly, last night I attended the last performance of the What I Go To School For musical at Brighton's Theatre Royal but if the show gets announced for a UK tour or West End transfer then I cannot urge you to go see the show enough. Busted's songs weaved in perfectly with the story and the show story was absolutely enjoyable. I related to so much of the show as I was that fan that is in the musical who made banners and homemade shirts but I attended with someone who didn't care for Busted at all and they still walked out of the theatre raving about how good the show was. A fantastic show for the whole family!

School Of Rock Musical

Unless you live under a rock you'll be well aware of Andrew Lloyd Webber with his most notable work being Phantom Of The Opera which is one of the West End and Broadway's longest running musicals. His new venture, School Of Rock debuted on New York's Broadway last December with an anticipated West End debut early 2017.

This is a big statement but School Of Rock is one of my favourite films of all time. I think everyone must love this film, Jack Black is brilliant in the film. I wasn't too sure how it would come across on stage but all I've listened to since I've seen the show almost a week ago now, is the soundtrack and I went to see it twice on consecutive nights so it is safe to say the musical was extremely good. 

Andrew Lloyd Webber has done it again with the music, bringing unbelievably catchy songs to the show which work so perfectly with the well known story. It's been a couple of days now since I saw School of Rock and I've literally only listened to the same three songs on repeat from the show that I just can't get out of my head.

If you haven't seen the School Of Rock film therefore are unfamiliar with the story it is about wannabe rockstar Dewey Finn. He loves music and is convinced he's going to make it big one day, that is until he gets kicked out of his band. His roommate, Ned (and his roommates girlfriend) are constantly asking him for the money for the rent so when he answers the phone one day and it's a call asking if Ned can start teaching at Horace Green school immediately, Dewey steals Ned's identity and starts teaching. Dewey soon discovers his class of kids are incredible musicians which sparks off his rock band enthusiasm once more.

In my opinion, Alex Brightman is by far the stand out performer of the School Of Rock Musical. The energy he brings to the role of Dewey is like nothing I've ever seen in a musical before. He certainly pulls off the role extremely well, perhaps even better than Jack Black himself does in the film!Interestingly I found that Brightman brought a different element to the film character which in my opinion worked extremely well in the stage version. I'm very much hoping that Brightman comes to the UK with the show, when it transfers over next year, as I honestly cannot think of anyone else who would do half as much justice to the role.

I'm a huge fan of Sierra Boggess who plays Rosalie Mullins in the show, which is the nearest character School Of Rock has to a female lead. The character is very different to anything I have seen Boggess do before which just goes to show what an incredible actress she is. 

The children performers of the show definitely need a mention too. Having looked at the playbill many of the young members of the cast are making their Broadway debuts in this role and every single one of them plays an incredible part. The fact that many of them are playing instruments live on stage too just goes to show how talented they all are. Not one of the kids on that stage is ever stood around doing nothing, they're all constantly doing something and contributing to the show. I'm certain the Broadway stars of the future are currently staring in School Of Rock.

The sets effortlessly flowed from one scene to another. At one moment you're in Dewey's bedroom then the next you're at Horace Green school or even in the middle of a rock concert! The costumes are so well done too, in particular the outfits for the battle of the bands. 

If you happen to be in New York City in the near future you must make time to go and see School Of Rock. If you love the film, I think you will love the musical even more. It's funny, full of catchy songs and just an all round great musical which family members of all ages will really enjoy.

On a side note, I went to the stage door after show, a first for me on Broadway as I really wanted to meet one of my favourite performers Sierra Boggess. If you see the show and want to get your playbill signed the cast here were wonderful. Huge credit to every member of the cast for taking the time to meet everyone who was waiting at stage door, in particular Alex Brightman who stayed until long after the safety barriers were put away just to make sure everyone got a few seconds with him. Getting my playbill signed was just the icing on the cake to an incredible evening at School Of Rock.  

McQueen The Play

McQueen The Play tells the story of the famous fashion designer Alexander McQueen, who is referred to by his first name Lee for the majority of the play. Despite it being five years since McQueens death, interest in him has never been higher with an exhibition at V & A museum currently open as well as the play. 

Truthfully, I knew very little about McQueen himself. I think however knowing the bare minimum is enough and even if you're not his biggest fan before you go into the play it will not spoil your enjoyment at all. The play is wrote by James Phillips and it is predominately quite a serious play although it does offer some more lighthearted dialogue which had the entire audience chuckling. 

Walking into the theatre McQueen (played by Stephen Wight) is already on stage clearly having an internal battle with his mind. It took a few moments to notice that he was fiddling with a belt, the item of clothing famous known for assisting his suicide leading me to believe the play may in fact begin with his death. Thankfully this isn't the case! When the play begins Lee is soon introduced to Dahlia (played by Dianna Agron) who breaks into his house to steal one of his dresses. Lee ends up befriending her and the pair spend a whirlwind night together in London. Dahlia ends up being so much more than just a burglar after taking a pretty dress to wear. Acting from both Wight and Agron is superb. The pair work well together on stage and really bring to life their characters, it is worth seeing McQueen for their acting alone.

St James Theatre was the perfect venue for McQueen. It's small, intimate setting where every seat felt like being front row provided the audience with the opportunity to get really into the play. I know that I felt like that I was physically living through the night with Lee and Dahlia. The scenes were wonderfully portrayed throughout. My favourite being the opening scene where is was impossible to tell which of the mannequins were fake and which were real people. I also enjoyed how scenes changed, my favourite being when Lee and Dahlia took an underground trip. 

I went into the St James Theatre expecting the unknown. I didn't know what to expect or if I'd even enjoy McQueen at all. However, McQueen is an intense, intimate and enjoyable performance. Unfortunately the plays last show is 27th June so if you want to see the play you must hurry and get tickets.

The Phantom Of The Opera - London

The Phantom Of The Opera tells the story of Christine Daae, who is a talented singer performing at the Paris Opera House. She manages to capture the attention of the Phantom who lives underneath the opera house and causes unexplained havoc around the theatre. With the Phantom’s help she manages to become the shows star performer. However as much as Christine is drawn to the Phantom little does she know he grows to love her which causes problems when Christine herself falls in love with childhood friend, Raoul. The musical really is a love story but believe me it’s so much better than I can describe the tale.   

Truthfully, I’m not a fan of Andrew Lloyd Webber and his other musicals that I’ve seen I’ve not been overly fond of, so I’ve never been in a rush to go and see The Phantom Of The Opera. What a mistake that was! If you’ve ever wondered how The Phantom Of The Opera is one of London’s longest running shows on the West End you must get down to Her Majesty’s Theatre and see the show. Every set and every costume has such great attention of detail. The way they present the Paris Opera Houses productions are so cleverly done, in particular when Christine is bowing to the audience. Without revealing too much for those who want to go and watch the show, the chandelier above the crowd provides real breathtaking moments. However, the musicals most popular song which I’m sure everyone will have heard before, The Phantom Of The Opera, is the real showstopper. The stage transforms before your eyes into a lake with the Phantom navigating a boat with Christine on. Then when you get to the Phantom’s lair, candles just raise up from beneath the stage, it is such a beautiful scene to watch. I also really liked the fact that every part of the stage was used with the Phantom running across the very top of the theatre during one point of the show. 

Scott Davies who was on as the Phantom in the place of Geronimo Rauch, gave one of the best performances I have ever seen in a musical. I have never seen such emotion given in a performance before. The anger felt when during the iconic scene with the chandelier was felt all around the theatre and when he was sat watching Christine and Raoul I felt the Phantom’s heart breaking. That scene in particular made me sob more than any other musical I’ve ever seen. I believed every sentence of Davies performance, he was such a superb performer.   

For someone who wasn’t expecting much from The Phantom Of The Opera I can honestly say it is a truly breathtaking and wonderful production. I’ve been to see quite a number of West End shows and really The Phantom Of The Opera is most certainly one of the best. The intimacy of the theatre only adds in making show so much better. Even in my seat up in the upper circle I could see the actors emotions on their faces and the incredible detailing of the Phantom's make up. I could not recommend people to go and see The Phantom Of The Opera anymore, it really is fantastic.


Click here to go to the official Phantom Of The London website for more information

Cats The Musical

Cats The Musical is something that reminds me of visiting London as a very young child. To this day I can still remember seeing the Cats signs outside a London theatre and wanting to go despite not knowing a thing about the musical. Despite the shows hit song, Memory, being one of my favourite songs from a musical I had still never seen the show up until last weekend where I attended one of the evening performances of Cats at London’s Palladium. 

Although my seat was up in the upper circle the first thing that you notice is the spectacular stage. I’ve seen many a West End musical production but the Cats stage is wonderful. The junk yard set spills out all around the stage and interestingly has 24 different exit and entrance points. Once the show starts it is clear that the lines between audience and performers is blurred with Cats appearing from all around the audience and with attendees of the production being invited on stage during the interval to meet one of the Cat’s, Old Deuteronomy. What I particularly liked is that once the show restarted after the interval, Cats started crawling back onto the stage before the house lights had even gone down.

The musical itself I found to be somewhat a disappointment. Although I didn’t have a clue what to expect from Cats, I had such high expectations and unfortunately it just didn’t reach them. The story revolves around the Jellicle cats who meet once a year at the Jellicle Ball. It is here that their leader, Old Deuteronomy chooses one cat to go up to the Heaviside Layer and begin a new Jellicle life. Unfortunately, I didn’t catch what a Jellicle cat was when it was it was explained at the beginning of the musical and although I got the grasp of what was going on I didn’t fully understand which ultimately I feel made me not get maximum enjoyment from the show. Although the musical wasn’t what I expected and I didn’t follow so much I can fully appreciate the dancing in the show. I’ve never really seen a show which focuses so much on the dancing element but Cats was high on its game with dancing. The entire cast are fantastic and at some points in the show they are extremely realistic to a cat. At this point I have to mention the superb designs of the Cats costumes, the level of detailing was incredible and truly helped you to believe you were watching real cats and not actors playing cats especially as every cat had its own unique colouring and markings.

Kerry Ellis, who is more known for her performance as Elphaba in Wicked, plays a fantastic performance as Grizabella the glamour cat. Who although isn’t on stage so much is ultimately one of the main characters. She provides a stunning performance of Memory arguably even matching Elaine Paige’s version. Her performance is one of those which make your hairs stand on end as it is so powerful and wonderful. It was everything I could’ve wished to hear for my first listen of Memory live in a theatre.

Although Cats wasn’t really my favourite musical at the end of the day it is a popular long running West End show and provides all the good elements of one. Considering my seat cost me only £20 and I still had a fantastic view I can’t complain one bit. If you’re looking to see a West End show that isn’t going to break the bank, go see Cats. However, my advice would be to perhaps do some background reading so you know more of the story. If you do chose to go and see the musical before it leaves London on April 25^th go check out the Jellicle Ballroom in the Palladium which is open 2 hours before a performance. It is full of costumes from the show, art designs and free face painting. 

For more information on Cats The Musical click here

Wicked The Musical - London

Wicked the musical is based on Gregory Maguires novel and tells the back story of the Wizard of Oz witches. Although as expected, references are made to the film I don't think it is a requirement to have seen it to be able to thoroughly enjoy the show. The story focusses around popular girl, Glinda Upland and outcast Elphaba Thropp who is the governors green daughter. Glinda and Elphaba start the musical hating each other but unexpectedly they end up being friends. The pair meet at Shiz University and before you know it a love triangle has formed with Fiyero (played by Jeremy Taylor) and they even get a trip to visit the Wonderful Wizard of Oz where their fates will be sealed.

London's Elphaba is currently being played by Jennifer DiNoia, who despite making her West End debut has been in six different Wicked companies in four countries so she is very familiar with playing the role of the green witch. Her performance is very impressive and she so effortlessly belts out Elphabas songs including Wicked's most popular song Defying Gravity. Unfortunately her run in the London production is only limited and DiNoia's final performance will take place 31st January.

My personal favourite character in the musical is Glinda the good who is currently being played by Savannah Stevenson. I have been in the audience for multiple performances of Wicked so have experienced many different actresses play Glinda but Stevenson is by far my favourite. From her entrance to the stage by bubble, Stevenson brings so much energy to the performance and has the audience in stitches particularly during the song, Popular. Stevenson managed to play both the funny and seriously aspects of Glinda perfectly. 

DiNoia and Stevenson act together so incredibly, it's hard to believe they've only been working together for just a few weeks. They are an incredible pairing and if you get the opportunity to visit a show in London I can highly recommend Wicked. It's so obvious that both actresses know their characters inside out and exactly how they want them to come across to the watching crowd and I feel that really comes across in the performance.

Wicked has been in London for almost a decade now and even on the Christmas Eve performance that I attended, the theatre was almost full. It's no wonder the musical is still so popular, the story is heartwarming and funny, the set is visually stunning and I can guarantee you will be leaving the theatre singing along to some of the songs biggest hits. You are truly transported through the story thanks to the sets and costumes. The differences between the sets and costumes are phenomenal. I think Wicked is one of the best musicals for the entire family in the West End right now and if you haven't seen it yet you certainly need to plan a journey to the Apollo Victoria to see it. 

Rodger and Hammerstein's Cinderella

On my recent trip to New York City I decided to go and watch Broadway shows. The one I was most eager about seeing was Rodger and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. Cinderella has been remade on countless occasions and I can almost guarantee that you’ll have seen the Rodger and Hammerstein Cinderella before. My personal favourite is the 1997 movie staring Brandy. Cinderella is suitable for all ages, this performance was certainly family friendly but not childish enough to only be appreciated by the younger visitors.

Keke Palmer is currently playing the lead role of Cinderella and is the first African American to play the role. Looking at the Playbill, Palmer has appeared in everything so is well known in America. I however had never heard of her. Despite this, I didn’t go and see it just because of who was playing Cinderella. Personally, I thought she did a great job at playing the lead. Although vocally she may not have been as strong as the likes of original Broadway Cinderella Laura Osnes, I still found her performance enjoyable. I’ve read quite a few negative reviews of her performance but when you take into consideration it is Palmer’s Broadway debut and she is only 21 years of age I think they’re undeserved. Staring alongside Palmer as her stepmother is The View host, Sherri Shepherd and Joe Carroll as Prince Topher. 

The production itself was everything that I had expected Cinderella on stage to be like. Its magical stage effects were just superb at times. For example, one minute Cinderella is in her rag clothes and the next her clothes literally fly off her and she appears in a ball gown. The show was certainly visually fantastic at times! Quite amusingly in this performance Cinderella doesn’t lose her glass slipper but in fact hands it to the Prince, which received roaring laughter from the crowd. The songs are songs that you will have guaranteed to have heard in previous versions of Rodger and Hammerstein’s Cinderella are so wonderful and will be stuck in your head for days. I know I’ve had the soundtrack I bought at the production of repeat since I left the theatre. 

Rodger and Hammerstein’s Cinderella is only going to be showing at the Broadway Theatre in New York City until January 3^rd 2015 so if you want to see the show you’d better grab your ball gown and glass slippers before it’s too late.