Long Live Music

I've always forgotten to write this post, shame on me :-)

The Musicals in London goes on!

This time I went to London with my good friends Alessia, Tommaso and Barbara, just for 3 days (two nights). We left on November 30th very early in the morning from the Florence airport, and got to London at about 10 o'clock; so we had the time to get to the hostel (yes, in order to save money for the musicals we chose the youth hostel :-)

Since we arrived from the airport to Victoria station, we could soon see the Wicked wonderful theatre


The musical tour started in the afternoon with our beloved Mamma Mia! Although we were in the very last rows we had a nice visual, and the show is always funny, even from there :-) The evening... Avenue Q! We had quite cheap tickets for the second row! That was the second time I saw Avenue Q, but for my friends it was the first time... we laughed, laughed, laughed til we cried! This show is sooooo funny :-D


Back to the hostel room... well... not so comfortable, but we were tired anyway


The second day! For the matinee we chose the classical Phantom of the Opera! No way I could get tired of that :-) And for the evening, the grand finale. I had seen this musical on August, and I really couldn't wait to see that again: Wicked! The seat was not bad (surely better than my previous time), and the house was full! Unfortunately, Kerry Ellis (Elphaba) was probably having some problems with her voice, but she was wonderful anyway, although she did not sing at her best; Dianne Pilkington (Glinda) was very good and funny as usual. A great show! One of the best currently!


Another night at the hostel, and then on Sunday back to the airport and back to Italy.


Another magical musical tour: 4 musicals in 2 days :-)

hope to get there back soon.

Tommy, thanks for the photos :-)

Hi there! The musical tour is over, and I'm already missing it :-)

Here are the photos of the theaters of the musical I saw (in chronological order). Unfortunately, I can't find the one of Mamma Mia!


What fabulous days! Hope to get back there soon :-)

Here's the report of yesterday (14th August); my musical tour finished yesterday, since today I'm going back home.

For yesterday matinée I went at the opening of the box office of the Phantom of the Opera, to see if I could find a day ticket or any discount. Unfortunately, there was no day ticket, but they had a good price for the stalls: 30 pounds instead of 55, in row K! Since I had seen the phantom before (that was my 5th time) but never in a really good seat, I had no hesitation, and went for that ticket :-)

Ah! The phantom! it's always an emotion to see this show, and I guess I'll never get tired of that, never! Since the seat was really good, I could enjoy every minute of it. The phantom is now played by Earl Carpenter, who was great, with a very powerful voice! As for Christine, there are two alternates in this production; at this performance there was Robyn North. She's very young, but yet really good! Probably, she's not the best Christine I've ever seen, but she was very moving in singing and acting, trying to interpret the song, instead of just thinking about a perfect execution. Since this was not a recording, but a live show, I think this was for the best. Indeed, I noticed, that every one tried to think more about the interpretation, and that made the show very good.

Wendy Ferguson was playing as Carlotta, and she was very funny. Probably she missed some notes and went slightly out of tune in those high parts (the finale of Prima Donna), but she was great in the show. Also Raoul, Michael Xavier, was good, and he had a very powerful voice too. So, it was a very nice experience to enjoy the phantom once again :-)

By the way, after the show I went to the Stage Door, and got the autographs of Earl, Robyn, Michael and of Lindsey Wise (Meg) :-)

Basically, I had seen all the musicals I wanted to see, so for the evening I could pick up one of any choice. I was tempted to see The Little Shop of Horrors, but I had seen it in Italy (in Italian) and wanted to try something different.

I heard many good things about Wicked, so I though I'd give it a try. Since I had been at the box office of the phantom for the opening (10 am) when I arrived at the Wicked's theater, there already was a small queue, and could find any day tickets. Actually there were few seats (this musical seems to be a success), and only found a 15 pound seat, very far, but with a nice view of the stage.

Well, Wicked is basically an alternative version of The Wizard of Oz and it is based on the novel "Wicked" (1995) by Gregory Maguire. It is The Wizard of Oz, but viewed by the wicked witch of the west (who, as you'll see, probably was not so wicked) and it tells the story of her "career" as a which.

The story is very nice and also the show was brilliant! In particular, the two main singers Kerry Ellis (Elphaba) and Dianne Pilkington (Glinda) were absolutely wonderful! I suggest to see this musical. I bought the book to be sure I got the plot right ;-)

By the way, the witch of the west has green skin, and she goes to Emerald, a green city and there was a lot of green in the show... well, green is my favorite color, so I might be biased? ;-)

Well, this musical tour is over :-)

Yesterday (Monday 13 - on Sunday there's only The Lion King and I had already seen it... and didn't like it that much) there was no matinée and I decided to go for The Sound of Music which I had never seen (of course I saw the movie many times and love it).

Once again, I was lucky enough to find a day ticket: 20 pounds for the first row (they consider first row as a restricted view, but it's a wonderful sit! And you can also see a little of bit of the orchestra which is nice in my opinion).

At this performance, the role of Maria was played by the alternate Maria, Aoife Mulholland. She was very very good at singing and acting! The role of Captain Georg von Trapp was played by Christopher Dickens and he was good too!

Probably, the most impressive performer was Margaret Preece, playing Mother Abbess (i.e., the one singing the wonderful "Climb every mountain"). There's no doubt about it, also considering she's been playing the role of Carlotta in The Phantom! By the way, by looking at her biography, you also find out that she's the one singing the parts of Carlotta in the Phantom movie (Minnie Diver does not sing those parts).

The show was really great and I enjoyed every minute of it! Many compliments to the whole cast!

At the end of the show I went to the Stage Door, and managed to get the sign of Sophie Bould playing the role Liesl (very bright in her performance, and so cute and wonderfully kind after the show at signing! - by the way, she also played the role of Maria sometimes) and also the one of Christopher. Unfortunately Aoife wasn't coming out and I didn't want to be too late.

Here's the report for yesterday (11 August).


By the way, without knowing it in advance, I happened to attend the 500th performance of Avenue Q :-)

OK, so here's the report about the second day (10th August, which, by the way, was also my honomastic)!

For the matinée I tried to go to the theater of Grease. I had seen this musical in Italy and I enjoyed it, so I thought I could see it in West End :-) I was actually quite skeptical about seeing it in the West End, since I happened to read on a magazine here in London, that critics about it were not quite good, although the audience loved it. However, I found a day ticket, 20 pounds, first row (yeah, really first row).

Well, the audience was right: it was a really, really, funny show! The cast was absolutely brilliant! Everyone! They were good at singing, at dancing, and most of all, at acting! And this makes Grease a really enjoyable show that I suggest to everyone that also likes to have fun and laugh at musicals :-)

For the evening, I decided to see one of my favorites: Mamma Mia! this was the third time I was seeing this musical.

This is one of those funny musicals, where you really laugh a lot (well, probably if you're mother tongue, you'll probably laugh more than me, since I miss some jokes: you know, when the audience suddenly laughs and you don't know why :-)

Abba songs are carefully and ingeniously embedded in a funny comedy!

Well, I must admit that the cast was not so brilliant in singing... but they really compensated that with their acting: they were perfect for this comedy! Every moment, every expression was meant to make you laugh. I had a very good place (sort of day ticket) about 10th row, perfectly central, so I could see every single blinking eyes, and every single minimal face expression of the cast. So, this was definitely my best Mamma Mia performance.

Mamma mia is a must see, in my humble opinion! I might be biased, though: I love Abba music :-)

So, this musical day was indeed a funny musical day!

I made it! I made it again! I'm back in London to see musicals, similarly as I did in 2002 :-)

I arrived yesterday (9th August) in the morning, so I had the chance to enjoy 2 musicals already!

The first one was the matinée of Mary Poppins the musical. This musical features the original songs plus some new written songs (just for the musical I guess). The original songs are lovely, while the new songs... well... they look like they're there only to fill some gaps... probably I'm saying this only because I heard them once.

However, the cast was great and also the choreography was brilliant; there were also lots of special effects (Mary actually "flights" with her umbrella also over the audience and Bert walks upside down on the stage).

I cannot say it's the best musical I've ever seen (and don't know whether I'd like to see it again), but I surely enjoyed it, and I feel like suggesting it.

For the evening... I special musical, one of my favorites... Les Miserables! This is always a fantastic show! Absolutely! That was my third time but it's always magic! Moreover, this time, there was something I really had to see, John Owen-Jones performing Jean Valjean (the main character). John played the Phantom for 4 years in the West End (I saw him in that musical too), and he's really great. He did not disappoint me in Les Miserables, his voice is really great. I must admit, though, that I was a little bit disappointed about his acting... that was not really good, but after all he was great. I'd have some critics also about some other performers: Hans Peter Janssens as Javert and Edward Baruwa as Enjolras... I think they didn't really fit their role (especially Edward: his voice was not really perfect for the role). But this is just to find something wrong in this fabulous show ;-)

Well, stay tuned for some more news ;-)

At the moment, I found a 20£ ticket for Grease, this afternoon. Now I'm trying to find a good one for Mamma Mia for tonight!

If you've never seen this musical, you've missed a lot! It's one of the most spectacular, let alone funniest, musical I've ever seen. It is a rock musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. It has a spectacular choreography, since it is performed entirely on roller skates!

The music is spectacular too, don't get me wrong (I might be biased since I adore Andrew Lloyd Webber's musicals :-) but what really strikes you is seeing those singers/dancers/acrobats on the skates. Indeed, the characters of the musical interpret trains!

This is the plot of the musical (borrowed from wikipedia page):

In a child’s dream, a racing tournament takes place on a model railway, with engines from all over the world competing. Representing the USA is Greaseball, an arrogant diesel locomotive who bears a strong resemblance to Elvis Presley, whose girlfriend is Dinah the dining car. He is accompanied by the Greaseball Gang, also diesel locomotives. In the yards lives Rusty, a steam engine who dreams of winning the race but who is seen as slow and old-fashioned by everyone else. He is in love with Pearl the observation car, but when he asks her out she turns him down. A late entry to the race is Electra, a state-of-the-art electric locomotive who bears some resemblance to David Bowie, with the Components, his own personal freight cars. He convinces Pearl to race with him. Poppa, an old steam engine and past racing champion, serves as Rusty's mentor. To bolster his confidence, he tells him the legend of the Starlight Express, a midnight train who helps engines in distress.


In 1992 the plot was slightly changed, some characters were removed (e.g., Belle the sleeping car and BC), some songs were removed (e.g., "Only him") and others added (e.g., one of my favorite, "Next time you fall in love", which, like many of Webber's songs, immediately hits you, in spite of its simplicity)


I happened to see this musical, almost by chance, in 2000, at the Apollo theatre, near Victoria station, in London (when I was working in Cambridge). I knew basically nothing about it, and never heard any of its song. After the first song ("Rolling stock") I was already hit by the show and started to adore it and enjoy every minute of it. At the end of the show, I loved it!


The show closed the year after (if I remember well) and started a UK tour, which is still on. Keep in mind that the stage in the theater was built especially for this show. Well, this is quite typical of London show (e.g., Cats) but in this case the stage spreads through the audience with many tracks throughout the theater that are by the trains... ehm... the actors when they perform the races (at high speed actually).


Then, in 2005, I went to Edinburgh for a conference... when I landed there, at the airport I happened to see a brochure saying the Starlight Express was touring there in those days! You can't imagine my surprise and happiness! Of course, I went to see the show (twice :-)


The tour version of the show is a little bit different, starting from the stage that could not be the same of the original one: you should change the theater almost completely. Thus, there were not tracks and the races were not actually performed live: they were shown on big screens in 3d (you get the special 3d glasses at the theater). The plot was changed too, and basically it was more similar to the original plot than to the 1992 plot. However, the cast was reduced, and some characters were missing (in particular, Belle, some national trains and some gangs characters). Some songs were changed too ("Lotta locomotion" was completely changed, in worse way, in my opinion) and "Next time you fall in love" was removed :-(

However, I enjoyed the show anyway, since it was still spectacular, and it was emotional to see one of my favorite musicals ever!

Here are some videos found on YouTube. They're not the most spectacular moments of the show, and it's not like being there, but you might get an idea :-)


"Crazy"


"Whole lotta locomotion"


"I am the starlight" and "Light at the end of the tunnel"


"Next time you fall in love"


"Coda of Freight"

A race and the finale "Light at the end of the tunnel"

If this show ever comes near you, don't miss it! :-)

Back on April 2002 (gosh already 5 years ago!), me and some friends of mine, we decided to do a so called musical tour de force in London, i.e., go to London and see as many musicals as possible. In particular we stayed in London 3 whole days, and some of us managed to attend 5 musicals :-)

Since we had to save money for the musicals we decided to stay at a hostel near the British museum: here's a morning photo of a musical day. Here's a photo of my mates for those wonderful days.


The tour started on thursday with a matinée of Les Miserables! What a musical, what a cast... what everything :-) but this is quite usual of West End musicals: you get astonished by the great shows, the great live performed music, the great voices. But Les Miserables also has a great score so it was a good way of starting our musical journey :-)

Here you can see some shots before and after the show.

The typical safety curtain during the break (with the logo of the show). And the orchestra! Yes, in London all the music is always performed live... In Italy almost never :-(

And also the goodbye of the cast.

The show has been running for 20 years now! No surprise it's still running.

As I said, besides the songs, also the show is astonishing, and everyone that saw that has always told me it's an amazing experience.

Well, yes, the show might be a little bit long, but you'll enjoy every minute!

That very evening, we then went to Mamma Mia! The songs of this show are the most famous ABBA songs. And the story is a kind of funny comedy. Since I love ABBA music, I had no doubt I'd enjoy the music of this musical. But you'll also have a lot of fun and you'll laugh a lot, since the comedy is really funny. Well... actually... we didn't get all the jokes, and it was kind of frustrating not laughing when all the audience was laughing, but it was funny anyway ;-)

Here you can see a shot of the stage with the safety curtain.

The next day, Friday, there were no matinées, so we spent the morning at Camden town (yes we did also some sightseeing in those days)...

But the evening we enjoyed another magical experience... Cats! The show was closing that very may so we were very lucky to see it before it closed (after more than 20 years!). Well, I had already seen that show in London in 2000, but each time it's magic!

The cast and the stage, besides music of course, make Cats one of the best musicals ever, and if you had a chance to see it you'll agree I guess. We had good sits (well, also very expensive sits :-) so we could see every bits of the show.

The cast consists not only of great singers and dancers but also of acrobats (e.g., Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer): seeing them sing while they dance that way is almost unbelievable!

Their make up is perfect (how long will it take to get that make up done?!) and they actually act like real cats...

It's a pity Cats closed in London... I hope it will reopen again :-)

On Saturday, as far as I know, all the West End musicals have a matinée and we decided to go and see the musical Taboo written by Boy George. Another funny show (well, no competition with the classical West End musicals, but still worth it!).

It's an autobiographic musical so there are many sad moments, but you'll also laugh a lot thanks to some characters and to their sketches that also involve the audience... also in this case, to fully enjoy all the jokes you need to be English, so we missed some of them (and luckily we were not involved in any direct jokes :-)

The audience is involved in the show also thanks to the stage and the theater itself... well, actually is not a real theater, as you can see from these photos. Indeed it's quite a small place but this lets you enjoy the show better since most sits were good sits.

You feel like you're part of the show! Another funny thing, that involves you in the show, is also the fact that the bar on the right side of the stage you can see in this last shot is actually part of the show itself, but you can drink there during the break :-)

Summarizing, I can't say it's the best show I've ever seen, but I truly enjoyed it. By the way, the songs of the show are not Culture Club's songs (in spite of a little part of Do you really want to hurt me and the final encore Karma Chameleon): they are brand new songs written for the show.

Alas, that was our last evening in the West End, and we couldn't choose a better final show than The Phantom of the Opera. That was the second time I saw that show in the West End, but, again, I enjoyed it anyway. Actually we did not have very good sits (well, they were quite bad indeed, since we were very far and the left corner of the stage was almost completely hidden to us. But we had a real good time anyway.

For those who, like me, love musicals, I guess there's no place like West End :-)

Of course, to fully enjoy musicals, it's better to be in good company and I cannot but thank my wonderful friends for this!


This last photo was shot by Alessia, who also shared with me the record setting of 5 musicals in 3 days! :-)