(Apologies for the lack of pictures, I haven't been able to make any scans from the actual programme yet ...)
I finally got to see Phantom of the Opera in London in June this year, and that was truly a fantastic experience! I have seen it twice before, in Stockholm in 1994, and I was very impressed then – and of course I’ve seen the movie a number of times … but there’s something special about seeing it in London!
We got really great seats, in the third row, and that makes a lot of difference! You come so close to the stage, and you can actually see the actors’ facial expressions, which gives the show even more life! I love the fact that the show is so interactive, what you first think of is the chandelier of course, but there are other things as well – and that becomes even clearer when you’re so close to the stage! Annika had a bit of bad luck, she wanted to see Gareth Snook as Monsieur André, but he was replaced by understudy Craig Nicholls. On the other hand, we did get to see Simon Bailey (who we had seen as Enjolras in Les Misérables in 2006) as Raoul, and that was some consolation to Annika! :)
The show was really fantastic, and I have to say that I enjoyed all the major actors’ performances! That’s not so common, and I truly enjoyed it! I enjoyed both Craig Nicholls as André and Barry James as Firmin (Barry James has also played Monsieur Thénardier in Les Misérables), they did a good job and added some much needed comedy to the show.
Simon Bailey did Raoul, and I have to say he did a marvelous job of it!! I enjoyed him as Enjolras three years ago, but I have to say I liked him even more as Raoul, I felt that was a part that suited him even better!
Christine was also played by an actress we saw in Les Misérables in 2006, namely Gina Beck (who played Cosette). I wasn’t that impressed with her in Les Miz, but I always have a hard time with the character of Cosette, so I’m never sure if it’s the character or the actress I’m not so happy with. Well, seeing Gina Beck in Phantom helped with realizing it’s the character in Les Miz I have difficulties with, because she was absolutely outstanding as Christine in Phantom!! I doubt whether anyone could have done it better, I was very very impressed with her. On a few occasion I found her voice to be a little too sharp, but on the whole, she was fantastic – and she and Simon Bailey played really well together!
The Phantom was played by Ramin Karimloo, a true celebrity in the musical world, but someone I had never seen before. He was supposed to play Anatolj in the Chess concert I saw in Oslo in 2006, but was replaced by David Shannon. I really enjoyed his performance, though at some points I found him a bit uneven. That meant that some parts of his performance were really great and others didn’t feel quite so good. On the whole though, a very good Phantom!
I’m very happy to have seen Phantom of the Opera in London – I liked it a lot when I saw the Stockholm production and it is a fantastic musical. And that makes it very special to have seen it in West End, and with such a talented cast!! However, I think I might be growing up a little, as I don’t think I’d pay that much money to see it again! There’s one thing with Les Misérables, that is a musical I can never ever see enough of, it has got something very, very special, but at least it seems I might be able to move on from other musicals now! :)
Showing posts with label reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reviews. Show all posts
Thursday, 13 August 2009
I Have Found My Jean Valjean!
(Apologies for the lack of pictures, I haven't been able to make any scans from the actual programme yet ...)
Les Misérables - June 27, 2009
We went to see Les Misérables on June 27, and to be honest I was a bit nervous, because I entered Queens Theatre with a terrible migraine and nausea! However, after hearing the wonderful intro, I was completely into the musical, and even though the migraine was worse after the show, at least it didn’t bother me during the show – and that’s the main thing!
I have to say this was one of the best – perhaps THE best – Les Misérables show I have ever seen!!! First and foremost, I have finally found my Jean Valjean!!! Ever since I got into Les Miz some ten years ago I have tried finding a really great Valjean, but never succeeded. I have seen a few perform live and I have a number of recordings (quite a few actually!!), but no one has caught my eye completely – except David Shannon!! At first I hardly dared to believe it, and toward the end I was at the edge of my seat, wondering if he’d last the distance or if he’d make some unforgivable mistake toward the end. And he didn’t!! According to me, he was perfect in every respect! He handled all the songs in a wonderful way, he didn’t go over-the-top, which I find difficult to handle, and he just WAS Jean Valjean!! I really, really, really, really want to see him to the part again!!
Javert was played by Earl Carpenter, Annika had seen him last year and was quite impressed, so I was very curious! And I have to say I have mixed feelings for him, similar to the way I felt for Hans Peter Jansens in 2006. Carpenter was good most of the time, but sometimes I felt he was a little too soft. To me, Javert is almost ruthless and keeps standing strong, even when he decides to take his own life, and at times Carpenter felt a bit meek. But his voice was really pleasant and overall, he did a good job!
Rebecca Seale, who played Fantine, was also rather uneven. She portrayed the frail, careful Fantine in a very good way, and “Fantine’s Death” was wonderful and very emotional – but the more forward and driven Fantine didn’t quite work out.
The Thénardiers was funny as usual, and I was pleasantly surprised to see Martin Ball as Monsieur Thénardier, because they had apparently found a guy that wasn’t only extremely funny, but was also a terrific actor and singer! I think he was fairly new (if memory serves, he started out at the cast change earlier in June), and he messed up the lyrics in “Master of the House” a little … Like last time, it felt like “The Wedding” was funnier than “Master of the House”, and in my head, I can’t help feeling it should be the other way around!
The kids did a great job, I’m always sooo impressed at these very young girls and boys handling the stage in such a fantastic way! Young Cosette was beautiful and did a very good “Castle on a Cloud”, but you could tell she was quite new, she was a little stiff and probably rather nervous. Gavroche, played by George Sargeant, was really good – it’s not an easy part, but he could really pull it off. Apart from a few minor mistakes, he truly embodied Gavroche!
Cosette was played by Katie Hall, who I’m sure is very talented! I really liked her voice, but unfortunately I’m having great difficulties in figuring out the character, I have never ever understood Cosette, and that does affect my general opinion as well.
David Thaxton played Enjolras – he was Bamatabois in 2006 (and totally creepy!!) as well as understudy for Enjolras, and I think he was a fairly good Enjolras! He’s not the best I’ve seen but I don’t have anything against him. On the positive side, he really had the voice potential that Enjolras demands. I have seen actors in the part who are out voiced by the powerful music, but David Thaxton had a very very powerful and forceful voice which was great! Unfortunately he didn’t quite have the charisma that I feel Enjolras has to have – in order to get the other students to follow him, he needs something special, and I didn’t feel like Thaxton had that!
Grantaire was played by Jeff Nicholson (who also did the part in 2006), and I really like him. I have had difficulties in grasping that part as well before, but Jeff Nicholson really gives the character life!
Nancy Sullivan played Eponine, and it was a change to see a blond Eponine! She was however, amazing and one of the stars of the show! She did such an amazing job of the character that I can’t help but commenting on one thing. She did use very proper English, and considering the dialect of the Thénardiers and her character as a street kid, I would have liked her to go a little bit more cockney … the contrast ended up feeling a little bit strange. But overall, she was fantastic!!
I have to say it was a really nice audience, I think there were lots of people who hadn’t seen the show before and that was really cool! Lots of laughs and also some shouts at times! :) I also have to mention a funny thing during the curtain call – Earl Carpenter must have had his own little “fan club” of friends there, for when he entered the stage, there were some booing from mid-stalls!! It was apparently in good spirit, and it was quite funny to see the expression on Carpenter’s face!!
Despite feeling pretty terrible, I really enjoyed the show, and I think what I’m mostly carrying with me from it is the fact that I Have Found My Jean Valjean!
Les Misérables - June 27, 2009
We went to see Les Misérables on June 27, and to be honest I was a bit nervous, because I entered Queens Theatre with a terrible migraine and nausea! However, after hearing the wonderful intro, I was completely into the musical, and even though the migraine was worse after the show, at least it didn’t bother me during the show – and that’s the main thing!
I have to say this was one of the best – perhaps THE best – Les Misérables show I have ever seen!!! First and foremost, I have finally found my Jean Valjean!!! Ever since I got into Les Miz some ten years ago I have tried finding a really great Valjean, but never succeeded. I have seen a few perform live and I have a number of recordings (quite a few actually!!), but no one has caught my eye completely – except David Shannon!! At first I hardly dared to believe it, and toward the end I was at the edge of my seat, wondering if he’d last the distance or if he’d make some unforgivable mistake toward the end. And he didn’t!! According to me, he was perfect in every respect! He handled all the songs in a wonderful way, he didn’t go over-the-top, which I find difficult to handle, and he just WAS Jean Valjean!! I really, really, really, really want to see him to the part again!!
Javert was played by Earl Carpenter, Annika had seen him last year and was quite impressed, so I was very curious! And I have to say I have mixed feelings for him, similar to the way I felt for Hans Peter Jansens in 2006. Carpenter was good most of the time, but sometimes I felt he was a little too soft. To me, Javert is almost ruthless and keeps standing strong, even when he decides to take his own life, and at times Carpenter felt a bit meek. But his voice was really pleasant and overall, he did a good job!
Rebecca Seale, who played Fantine, was also rather uneven. She portrayed the frail, careful Fantine in a very good way, and “Fantine’s Death” was wonderful and very emotional – but the more forward and driven Fantine didn’t quite work out.
The Thénardiers was funny as usual, and I was pleasantly surprised to see Martin Ball as Monsieur Thénardier, because they had apparently found a guy that wasn’t only extremely funny, but was also a terrific actor and singer! I think he was fairly new (if memory serves, he started out at the cast change earlier in June), and he messed up the lyrics in “Master of the House” a little … Like last time, it felt like “The Wedding” was funnier than “Master of the House”, and in my head, I can’t help feeling it should be the other way around!
The kids did a great job, I’m always sooo impressed at these very young girls and boys handling the stage in such a fantastic way! Young Cosette was beautiful and did a very good “Castle on a Cloud”, but you could tell she was quite new, she was a little stiff and probably rather nervous. Gavroche, played by George Sargeant, was really good – it’s not an easy part, but he could really pull it off. Apart from a few minor mistakes, he truly embodied Gavroche!
Cosette was played by Katie Hall, who I’m sure is very talented! I really liked her voice, but unfortunately I’m having great difficulties in figuring out the character, I have never ever understood Cosette, and that does affect my general opinion as well.
David Thaxton played Enjolras – he was Bamatabois in 2006 (and totally creepy!!) as well as understudy for Enjolras, and I think he was a fairly good Enjolras! He’s not the best I’ve seen but I don’t have anything against him. On the positive side, he really had the voice potential that Enjolras demands. I have seen actors in the part who are out voiced by the powerful music, but David Thaxton had a very very powerful and forceful voice which was great! Unfortunately he didn’t quite have the charisma that I feel Enjolras has to have – in order to get the other students to follow him, he needs something special, and I didn’t feel like Thaxton had that!
Grantaire was played by Jeff Nicholson (who also did the part in 2006), and I really like him. I have had difficulties in grasping that part as well before, but Jeff Nicholson really gives the character life!
Nancy Sullivan played Eponine, and it was a change to see a blond Eponine! She was however, amazing and one of the stars of the show! She did such an amazing job of the character that I can’t help but commenting on one thing. She did use very proper English, and considering the dialect of the Thénardiers and her character as a street kid, I would have liked her to go a little bit more cockney … the contrast ended up feeling a little bit strange. But overall, she was fantastic!!
I have to say it was a really nice audience, I think there were lots of people who hadn’t seen the show before and that was really cool! Lots of laughs and also some shouts at times! :) I also have to mention a funny thing during the curtain call – Earl Carpenter must have had his own little “fan club” of friends there, for when he entered the stage, there were some booing from mid-stalls!! It was apparently in good spirit, and it was quite funny to see the expression on Carpenter’s face!!
Despite feeling pretty terrible, I really enjoyed the show, and I think what I’m mostly carrying with me from it is the fact that I Have Found My Jean Valjean!
Wednesday, 12 August 2009
LONDON June 2009
First of all - an apology for the lack of pictures ... I'm trying to organize a double set of digital photos on my computer (from me and my Dad's family) going back to Christmas 2004, so I'm in a picture-mess at the moment ... I will make a London Pictures entry as well someday when I've sorted this out! :)
For now, you'll have to enjoy the written entry about mine and Annikas London trip! :)
London 26-29 June 2009
I finally managed to get back to London again, after three years – again with Annika as a travel partner! I really wish I could have made this entry when I had just gotten back, as all the memories are fresh, but since I’ve been out of internet all summer … Anyway, I’m keeping a regular diary, so hopefully I’ll be able to give a pretty detailed travel description anyway!
June 26 – Friday
I was meeting Annika at Gothenburg City Airport at 8.30 a.m. and had a pretty intense morning before I got on the road. Lots of little things didn’t work out quite as planned, but eventually they sorted themselves out, and we met without major hitches. To avoid lots of extra costs, we had decided to share one bag that we checked in, so we had to do a little reorganizing at the Airport Carpark! Again to reduce costs we had decided on “online check in”, and neither one of us had no idea how that worked, but we managed to solve it without any problems! (Though it took the City Airport check in as well as the Stanstead Airport check in for me to “get it”, but I think I’ve figured out the benefits of it now! Better late than never?!)
We were really early, as we had been unsure of the check in, so we had quite a long wait at the airport, even though our flight was on time. I know there are lots of security checks now, which I think is really good, but I was still surprised at the tiny little City Airport (they have like 4 check in desks and 3 gates!), we had to show our boarding card five times (!) and there was even a passport check – they usually only check your passport on arrival!
We got good seats on the plane, despite barding rather late, and the flight was pretty eventless. We did buy Stanstead Express tickets, but I’m beginning to think I should look at other ways of getting those … They started selling them really late, and they wanted payment in Euros!! Since neither Sweden nor England uses Euros, you’re hardly likely to be carrying any with you, and the steward selling the tickets had no clue as to the exchange rate! For my next London trip, I’ll definitely check out other options! It’s one thing if they are a lot cheaper on board the plane, but somehow I doubt that! I think it’s possible to purchase the tickets online, I’m guessing that’s the best solution!
Before long we hS through Stanstead Airport and boarded the Stanstead Express – me with my usual after-flight-headache, but still really really excited about being in England once again! Upon arriving promptly at Liverpool Street Station, we bought Bus Passes and had lunch at McDonald’s before finding a bus.
This is probably going to sound silly, but I just love that first bus ride from Liverpool Street. I know I’m a slave under habit and keep doing the same things over and over – but if I’m happy with it, what’s the harm? It’s bus 23 to somewhere around Piccadilly Circus or Regent Street (or Oxford Street), where there’s a bus change to get to Bayswater. And that first bus ride, it’s just fantastic! You know you have the entire trip ahead of you, all the possibilities in the world, and you get a good tour of London as well. I have completely fallen in love with London, and it’s great to see all the familiar sites again – first the financial district, where the streets are crowded and the bus stops every 100 meters or so. Then the Royal Courts of Justice, a really impressive set of buildings! You pass through Aldwych before arriving at Trafalgar Square and Nelson’s Column. After that you reach Piccadilly Circus with the famous Eros statue and then turn up on to the fascinating Regent Street! We got off at Regent Street and waited for bus 94 to get to Bayswater Road. I had a fairly good idea on where our hotel was, even though we had apparently ended up in an area between Bayswater and Paddington, that none of our maps really covered!
At this point of our trip, the “Bus Problem” started. I know that public transport in London is huge and not 100% reliable, but during this trip, it was almost ridiculous!
Anyway, we waited for bus 94, and waited, and waited … and waited! We saw a few 94s in the opposite direction, but not a single one appeared at our Bus Stop. I knew that buses 15 and 23 went near Paddington, and our hotel was actually between Bayswater and Paddington, but I have always managed to get lost around Paddington – I get really confused there – so I was reluctant to take any of those buses! However, when we had waited probably about 40 minutes or so, enough was enough!! We had a musical planned that evening and we simply had to get to our hotel! We jumped on a bus 23 with me feeling quite nervous. I wasn’t even sure where we should get off, but figured it would be okay if we got off at Paddington station. As soon as we had decided on that, the bus announced that it was going on diversion due to some construction work! Thanks a lot!! Don’t ask me how, but we did manage to get off at the “right” bus stop (even though we didn’t know that at the time) and then started the uncertain walk to our hotel! Even though it did take a while to reach the hotel, in retrospect, we actually didn’t get lost! *yay us!* We didn’t take the very best way, but it wasn’t a long detour either …
We had a twin room booked at Paddington Court Rooms, but had been instructed to check in at the sister hotel across the street, Paddington Court Hotel and Suites, as our hotel did not have a reception disk. The check in presented no problems, but we did end up getting a room at the Hotel & Suites instead of Rooms … I didn’t protest, as the bill was the same, but we did end up getting a double room instead of a twin. I guess that’s not the end of the world, though I guess if we’d thought about it straight away, we could have complained and probably gotten another room!
The hotel was the nicest one I’ve lived in during my four trips to London, without a doubt! The room was small, but I know what you have to pay to get large rooms in London, and I really don’t think it’s worth it! It was really nice and fresh and clean, and the bathroom was fantastic!! That is … it was fantastic once we figured out how to turn the lights on in there! *lol* It was really a simple construction, and quite smart, though it wasn’t easy to figure out – Annika actually had to call reception since we didn’t get it. Just as you entered the room, there was a box on the wall, and when you stuck your key card in the box, the lights to the bathroom turned on!! Really smart – no risk leaving the bathroom lights on when you leave the room – but not easy to figure out on your own! :)
Time flew by really quickly, and we really only had time to unpack and catch our breath, before it was time to get ready for “Phantom of the Opera” at Her Majesty’s Theatre! I wanted to go down to Bayswater Road and take the 94 bus, because I figured that would be much quicker than a walk to Paddington Station, especially since those buses where on diversion and I was really unsure of where the bus stops were. Annika however was really unsure and argued that if the 94 buses didn’t arrive once we’d gotten down to Bayswater Road it might just jeopardize ‘Phantom’. I figured it wasn’t worth the risk, so we walked to Paddington and found a bus without any problems. We walked from Piccadilly Circues and stopped for a sandwich on the way to Her Majesty’s Theatre!
We got fantastic seats on the third row of Stalls (Row D), and it was just amazing to see Phantom in London!!! (for further details, see separate entry on Phantom of the Opera!)
After the show we did some shopping for breakfast the next day, before catching a bus from Piccadilly. Things went smoothly until we got to Marble Arch, where the whole traffic came to a complete stop! It was impossible to see what was going on, but we were standing there for quite a while. I’m the kind of person, who really wants to know what’s happening, but it was completely dark outside and the traffic was at a standstill so you couldn’t see anything. Yet another “Bus Problem” … After a long wait, the bus had to take some kind of detour – as I said, it was practically impossible to see anything, but I think we went down to Hyde Park Corner and turned around there … but I’m not sure! Eventually we ended up back on Edgeware Road and from there things went okay!
We were both really tired, and practically collapsed when we got to the hotel – it had certainly been an intense first day!
June 27 – Saturday
I didn’t sleep well at all the first night, I have to admit that I’m not used to – or that great at – sharing a double bed for a start. I also woke up several times with a headache, which was quite annoying. When I woke up “for real” the headache had developed into a true migraine – at the worst possible moment of course! I felt really dreadful, and not at all ready to face an intense Day 2 in London, and I also felt guilty toward Annika, I didn’t want to ruin anything for her. When she woke up, it turned out she had a migraine too and was feeling quite sick! I guess I didn’t have to feel guilty but it still felt pretty rotten that both of us were so out-of-it when we were in LONDON! I usually have a very hard time trying to get rid of my migraines, but at this point I felt I had no choice, I simply had to do anything and everything in my power to get back on track as quickly as possible! I managed to get up and take a shower. After that I drank all the coffee we had in the room and a number of my own headache pills (I don’t think I should get into exactly how many …). The headache wasn’t all gone, but at least I felt good enough to be able to deal with the day – but unfortunately Annika didn’t! She managed to get back to sleep for a while, and could get up after that – and I ran downstairs and got her a coke, which I think helped a little.
We were both able to leave the hotel at about 11, and while I know we were really really sick, I can’t help but feel it was a waste of London hours! I know there wasn’t anything we could do, but I still can’t shake that feeling … I love London oh-so-much, and I want to be able to make the most of every single hour I’m there!
We went straight to Queens Theatre and got our Les Misérables tickets for the matinee show, and then we headed down toward Trafalgar Square. We had bought some “food” (or whatever we figured we could eat, I had a sandwich and Annika who’d been sick earlier had some crackers, and popcorn … the popcorn weren’t that great though …), so we had some kind of lunch next to Lord Nelson!
After that we took a walk along Whitehall down to Parliament Square! I know I’m just repeating myself, but I really love the atmosphere and the feel of London, especially around these parts. It was however, quite hot, and my migraine was quickly coming back! We did some photographing around Parliament Square, but there lots of people and none of us were 100%, so we never went over to St. Margaret’s Church and Westminster Abbey, though I really wish I had had the energy to do so. We realized we had to take a bus back, due to the heat, and I also really felt I needed something to drink or my migraine would spin completely out of control. We walked to the nearest bus stop and waited. And waited. And waited. Again with the “Bus Problem” … It turned out the police had closed the entire street, all the way up to Trafalgar Square, for a demonstration from Sri Lanka!! At this point, I felt I was really close to fainting, and I honestly didn’t know what to do! Luckily I had found a bench so I could sit down, but all I could do was look at my own feet, as soon as I moved my head I saw black spots in front of my eyes! Not funny!! I really can’t say how long we had to wait, to me it felt like we sat there for hours, but of course I know we didn’t! I guess it wasn’t more than maybe half an hour, even though I felt we’d never get on a bus!
Since the buses were so late, we had to stand up, and that was also a trying experience, as I had struggled against fainting just sitting down! Eventually we did get to Regent Street and rushed into a McDonald’s, and I got a life-saving large Coke! Unfortunately when we were in line, some young kids came in and one little brat decided to throw his opened juice bottle toward the line – meaning both me and Annika got quite wet from orange juice!
Anyway, due to all of this we were almost running late for Les Misérables so we hurried up to Queens while I tried to drink my Coke.
And what can I say!?! Well, one thing is for sure – I’m soooo happy that we had Les Miz planned for this day, because I was feeling really rotten before it started and had it been any other musical, I think it would have been completely ruined for me. As it were, I didn’t have to pay that much attention to the plot or the characters or the songs, as I know it all by heart, and instead concentrate on the bits that really interest me. That also meant I could relax a little bit during the parts I’m not so into, so it was really lucky we decided on Les Miz that day! (for a detailed review on the show, see separate entry!)
I did however, feel completely out-of-it after the show, and we took a bus straight back to the hotel! My migraine had come back and I’m pretty sure I had a fever when we were on the bus. When we got to Paddington it started raining, and by the time we’d gotten off, it was almost a hail storm!!! The temperature dropped radically, and we rushed into the nearest store – we had to do some shopping anyway. We got in there completely soaked, and the store had full air conditioning! I don’t know if I’ve ever been so cold in my entire life, I ended up standing in a corner of the store just shaking! After a while the rain eased off a bit and we managed to get to our hotel, even though we were totally soaked once we got there. We had thought about taking a rest at the hotel for a while, and then head out to Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, but I was really ill when we got back and jumped into bed straight away! Again feeling kind of guilty toward Annika, but I was really out-of-it and I feel asleep already at 9-9.30, I just couldn’t help myself!
June 28 – Sunday
I didn’t sleep very well the night to Sunday either, but at about 4 a.m. we opened the window and that really helped. I guess the ventilation in the room wasn’t good at all (practically nonexistent) and we didn’t want the air condition to run during the night – and I’m guessing that’s what caused both our migraines and headaches … I did wake up with a headache anyway but at least I felt better than the day before – though Annika didn’t feel great.
We left the hotel at about 10, and took a bus to The Tower. We got seats on the top floor so we ended up taking quite a few pictures during the bus ride. I guess you always wish for even better photos, a better camera and a better objective, but I still like my series of pictures from that bus ride! I had been to The Tower once before, but I enjoy it a lot and didn’t mind going back at all – and Annika hadn’t been there before. Though it’s rather pricy (even though I got a Student ticket which was cheaper), it’s very much worth it. Since it was Sunday we weren’t exactly alone there (!), and I think I would have liked it even more had there not been quite so many people there. I really wanted to take one of the guided Yeoman tours, but there were so many people, I don’t think we would have heard anything even if we had decided to take a tour. But I really wish I would have studied a bit more first, I have a strong feeling you’d get so much more out of the visit if you knew more of England’s history!! We walked around for a while and when we took a break outside the White Tower, we ended up in the middle of a … live theatre-thingy … It seemed really cool, a couple of actors gathered several groups of visitors, and acted out sort of a play! We weren’t involved, but one group gathered just where we were sitting, around an actor portraying the Archbishop of Canterbury! He was really great, and it sounded so much fun – I wish we could have taken an active part. Annika had unfortunately some problems with her foot, and since the exercise did seem to involve lots of walking and running around, we decided to take it easy and walk around in our own pace instead.
Naturally we went in to see the Crown Jewels, and even though there are a lot of video displays and not that much time with the actual Crown Jewels, it’s quite an experience to have actually seen them!
When we decided we’d seen enough of The Tower we took a bus back, but again with the “Bus Problem”. We were on a regular bus, and just behind us was a Routemaster heading for Trafalgar Square. For some reason we stopped in the middle of an intersection, and all of a sudden, the co-driver from the Routemaster came running up to our bus driver, who put the bus in reverse … I didn’t get it at all, but it took quite a while before we got started again, and the bus was completely crowded! When we reached Trafalgar Square, the bus went on some really insane diversion! Instead of heading for Piccadilly Circus and on to Regent Street and Oxford Circus, the bus went straight up to Tottenham Court Road and from there to Oxford Circus. When we got off, we had lunch at McDonald’s before going to Hamley’s! That is such an amazing store, and I could easily spend half a day there! I found some cute rabbits for my sisters, that didn’t cost a fortune (!) so I bought them before we took a bus up to Oxford Street (I guess we could have walked, but there was rain coming and we were really tired).
We went into the Disney Store – but didn’t buy anything – and to HMV … and that was bloody dangerous!! At first I didn’t find anything that I REALLY wanted, and I felt quite pleased with that, since my economy isn’t that great at the moment! Then all of a sudden, I kept tripping over sooo much stuff I wanted!! They had the soundtrack to practically all the James Bond films – even the really early ones – 2 for £5!! I also found a lovely box with 6 old musical movies, for £15 that I really wanted! And when we reached the DVD section I nearly fainted! I found the first two seasons of The Flying Doctors and the first 64 episodes of Prisoner: Cell Block H!!!!! *GASP* I knew Prisoner had been released on DVD but it’s still cool to actually see it in a store, and I had no idea they’d released The Flying Doctors!!! It was impossible to not buy anything, but I practically endured torture when trying to decide on WHAT to buy! :) I ended up buying the second season of The Flying Doctors, and the Prisoner Box with episodes 33-64 … even though it ended up being quite expensive! *feeling happy and guilty at the same time* We also bought a few souvenirs and presents, and I actually got a really nice compliment from the guy at the till … he thought I came from England or America, and when I told him I was from Sweden, he complimented me on my English! :)
We were pretty tired at this point, having been on our feet constantly since 10 in the morning, so we went back to the hotel and relaxed for a while. After a few hours we took a walk to Queensway, but we wanted to spend some time in Hyde Park as well, and time was getting on, so we went there pretty quickly – but it was still getting darker by the minute! I wrote a few postcards on a bench, when suddenly a police car pulled up and told us the park was closing and that we had to make our way out. It felt sad we didn’t get to see more of the park, but I guess you can’t have everything, right?
June 29 – Monday
We slept with the window open all night, and that did make a difference, I woke up at about 7 a.m. and felt better than ever!! A bit ironic since it was our last day! The plane left at about 2.30, and since it’s a long ride to Stanstead and we were a bit unsure of the check in procedure, we had decided not to plan anything else, but instead be able to take it easy all the way to the airport.
We checked out at about 9, and there were no problems there, and took a bus to Liverpool Street. It was nice not having to change buses, since we had our bags with us this time. We were lucky at Liverpool Street, as there was a train leaving for Stanstead about 10 minutes after we got there! The train trip was okay and when we got to the airport, we had lunch at Burger King. Annika was kind and bought me lunch, as we had decided I would drive her home, when we got to Gothenburg. We ate in peace, and when we were done, we went over to the Ryanair check in desks. Again not so easy to figure out how it worked with online check in, but after a while we had it figured out and there were no problems with checking in the bag. Next stop was the security check, and that worked pretty smoothly too, though I was quite surprised. On earlier trips I have had a certain handbag with me, and all the time it has been pulled aside in the security check! Last time, in 2006, I had another bag, and that went through without problems! This time I had the “suspicious” bag, but I had it packed in a larger backpack … and it went through! Very weird!
We did some shopping at WH Smith and then had to wait a while for our gate to be announced – but once that happened things moved along quickly, and we were only about 10 minutes late!
The flight went well, and it was lovely coming into Gothenburg where we saw the entire Swedish West Coast with the sun about to set out to sea – very beautiful!!
Going through City Airport went quickly and there were no problems in collecting the car, so before long we were on our way to Annika’s hometown! I dropped her off before heading up to the summerhouse, where Zorro was very happy to see me!!
Before this London trip I was very nervous about how I would cope! I hadn’t been in London in three years, and even though I generally feel a lot better now, I still felt uncertain! And I’m thrilled to announce that I did cope better than I could have dreamed of!! Despite being ill and coping with those sorts of problems, I think I handled the trip in a really good way … and now I’m very much hoping to be able to go by myself there fairly soon! Money is definitely a problem that I’m not sure how to solve, but I really really want to take a trip to London on my own – to once and for all prove to myself that I really can cope!! I did go to London alone in 2004, when I had been there both with my Mum and Dad (on separate occasions of course!), but I didn’t handle that trip very well at all – so I would like to go now and really prove to myself that I can do it!! *fingers crossed*
For now, you'll have to enjoy the written entry about mine and Annikas London trip! :)
London 26-29 June 2009
I finally managed to get back to London again, after three years – again with Annika as a travel partner! I really wish I could have made this entry when I had just gotten back, as all the memories are fresh, but since I’ve been out of internet all summer … Anyway, I’m keeping a regular diary, so hopefully I’ll be able to give a pretty detailed travel description anyway!
June 26 – Friday
I was meeting Annika at Gothenburg City Airport at 8.30 a.m. and had a pretty intense morning before I got on the road. Lots of little things didn’t work out quite as planned, but eventually they sorted themselves out, and we met without major hitches. To avoid lots of extra costs, we had decided to share one bag that we checked in, so we had to do a little reorganizing at the Airport Carpark! Again to reduce costs we had decided on “online check in”, and neither one of us had no idea how that worked, but we managed to solve it without any problems! (Though it took the City Airport check in as well as the Stanstead Airport check in for me to “get it”, but I think I’ve figured out the benefits of it now! Better late than never?!)
We were really early, as we had been unsure of the check in, so we had quite a long wait at the airport, even though our flight was on time. I know there are lots of security checks now, which I think is really good, but I was still surprised at the tiny little City Airport (they have like 4 check in desks and 3 gates!), we had to show our boarding card five times (!) and there was even a passport check – they usually only check your passport on arrival!
We got good seats on the plane, despite barding rather late, and the flight was pretty eventless. We did buy Stanstead Express tickets, but I’m beginning to think I should look at other ways of getting those … They started selling them really late, and they wanted payment in Euros!! Since neither Sweden nor England uses Euros, you’re hardly likely to be carrying any with you, and the steward selling the tickets had no clue as to the exchange rate! For my next London trip, I’ll definitely check out other options! It’s one thing if they are a lot cheaper on board the plane, but somehow I doubt that! I think it’s possible to purchase the tickets online, I’m guessing that’s the best solution!
Before long we hS through Stanstead Airport and boarded the Stanstead Express – me with my usual after-flight-headache, but still really really excited about being in England once again! Upon arriving promptly at Liverpool Street Station, we bought Bus Passes and had lunch at McDonald’s before finding a bus.
This is probably going to sound silly, but I just love that first bus ride from Liverpool Street. I know I’m a slave under habit and keep doing the same things over and over – but if I’m happy with it, what’s the harm? It’s bus 23 to somewhere around Piccadilly Circus or Regent Street (or Oxford Street), where there’s a bus change to get to Bayswater. And that first bus ride, it’s just fantastic! You know you have the entire trip ahead of you, all the possibilities in the world, and you get a good tour of London as well. I have completely fallen in love with London, and it’s great to see all the familiar sites again – first the financial district, where the streets are crowded and the bus stops every 100 meters or so. Then the Royal Courts of Justice, a really impressive set of buildings! You pass through Aldwych before arriving at Trafalgar Square and Nelson’s Column. After that you reach Piccadilly Circus with the famous Eros statue and then turn up on to the fascinating Regent Street! We got off at Regent Street and waited for bus 94 to get to Bayswater Road. I had a fairly good idea on where our hotel was, even though we had apparently ended up in an area between Bayswater and Paddington, that none of our maps really covered!
At this point of our trip, the “Bus Problem” started. I know that public transport in London is huge and not 100% reliable, but during this trip, it was almost ridiculous!
Anyway, we waited for bus 94, and waited, and waited … and waited! We saw a few 94s in the opposite direction, but not a single one appeared at our Bus Stop. I knew that buses 15 and 23 went near Paddington, and our hotel was actually between Bayswater and Paddington, but I have always managed to get lost around Paddington – I get really confused there – so I was reluctant to take any of those buses! However, when we had waited probably about 40 minutes or so, enough was enough!! We had a musical planned that evening and we simply had to get to our hotel! We jumped on a bus 23 with me feeling quite nervous. I wasn’t even sure where we should get off, but figured it would be okay if we got off at Paddington station. As soon as we had decided on that, the bus announced that it was going on diversion due to some construction work! Thanks a lot!! Don’t ask me how, but we did manage to get off at the “right” bus stop (even though we didn’t know that at the time) and then started the uncertain walk to our hotel! Even though it did take a while to reach the hotel, in retrospect, we actually didn’t get lost! *yay us!* We didn’t take the very best way, but it wasn’t a long detour either …
We had a twin room booked at Paddington Court Rooms, but had been instructed to check in at the sister hotel across the street, Paddington Court Hotel and Suites, as our hotel did not have a reception disk. The check in presented no problems, but we did end up getting a room at the Hotel & Suites instead of Rooms … I didn’t protest, as the bill was the same, but we did end up getting a double room instead of a twin. I guess that’s not the end of the world, though I guess if we’d thought about it straight away, we could have complained and probably gotten another room!
The hotel was the nicest one I’ve lived in during my four trips to London, without a doubt! The room was small, but I know what you have to pay to get large rooms in London, and I really don’t think it’s worth it! It was really nice and fresh and clean, and the bathroom was fantastic!! That is … it was fantastic once we figured out how to turn the lights on in there! *lol* It was really a simple construction, and quite smart, though it wasn’t easy to figure out – Annika actually had to call reception since we didn’t get it. Just as you entered the room, there was a box on the wall, and when you stuck your key card in the box, the lights to the bathroom turned on!! Really smart – no risk leaving the bathroom lights on when you leave the room – but not easy to figure out on your own! :)
Time flew by really quickly, and we really only had time to unpack and catch our breath, before it was time to get ready for “Phantom of the Opera” at Her Majesty’s Theatre! I wanted to go down to Bayswater Road and take the 94 bus, because I figured that would be much quicker than a walk to Paddington Station, especially since those buses where on diversion and I was really unsure of where the bus stops were. Annika however was really unsure and argued that if the 94 buses didn’t arrive once we’d gotten down to Bayswater Road it might just jeopardize ‘Phantom’. I figured it wasn’t worth the risk, so we walked to Paddington and found a bus without any problems. We walked from Piccadilly Circues and stopped for a sandwich on the way to Her Majesty’s Theatre!
We got fantastic seats on the third row of Stalls (Row D), and it was just amazing to see Phantom in London!!! (for further details, see separate entry on Phantom of the Opera!)
After the show we did some shopping for breakfast the next day, before catching a bus from Piccadilly. Things went smoothly until we got to Marble Arch, where the whole traffic came to a complete stop! It was impossible to see what was going on, but we were standing there for quite a while. I’m the kind of person, who really wants to know what’s happening, but it was completely dark outside and the traffic was at a standstill so you couldn’t see anything. Yet another “Bus Problem” … After a long wait, the bus had to take some kind of detour – as I said, it was practically impossible to see anything, but I think we went down to Hyde Park Corner and turned around there … but I’m not sure! Eventually we ended up back on Edgeware Road and from there things went okay!
We were both really tired, and practically collapsed when we got to the hotel – it had certainly been an intense first day!
June 27 – Saturday
I didn’t sleep well at all the first night, I have to admit that I’m not used to – or that great at – sharing a double bed for a start. I also woke up several times with a headache, which was quite annoying. When I woke up “for real” the headache had developed into a true migraine – at the worst possible moment of course! I felt really dreadful, and not at all ready to face an intense Day 2 in London, and I also felt guilty toward Annika, I didn’t want to ruin anything for her. When she woke up, it turned out she had a migraine too and was feeling quite sick! I guess I didn’t have to feel guilty but it still felt pretty rotten that both of us were so out-of-it when we were in LONDON! I usually have a very hard time trying to get rid of my migraines, but at this point I felt I had no choice, I simply had to do anything and everything in my power to get back on track as quickly as possible! I managed to get up and take a shower. After that I drank all the coffee we had in the room and a number of my own headache pills (I don’t think I should get into exactly how many …). The headache wasn’t all gone, but at least I felt good enough to be able to deal with the day – but unfortunately Annika didn’t! She managed to get back to sleep for a while, and could get up after that – and I ran downstairs and got her a coke, which I think helped a little.
We were both able to leave the hotel at about 11, and while I know we were really really sick, I can’t help but feel it was a waste of London hours! I know there wasn’t anything we could do, but I still can’t shake that feeling … I love London oh-so-much, and I want to be able to make the most of every single hour I’m there!
We went straight to Queens Theatre and got our Les Misérables tickets for the matinee show, and then we headed down toward Trafalgar Square. We had bought some “food” (or whatever we figured we could eat, I had a sandwich and Annika who’d been sick earlier had some crackers, and popcorn … the popcorn weren’t that great though …), so we had some kind of lunch next to Lord Nelson!
After that we took a walk along Whitehall down to Parliament Square! I know I’m just repeating myself, but I really love the atmosphere and the feel of London, especially around these parts. It was however, quite hot, and my migraine was quickly coming back! We did some photographing around Parliament Square, but there lots of people and none of us were 100%, so we never went over to St. Margaret’s Church and Westminster Abbey, though I really wish I had had the energy to do so. We realized we had to take a bus back, due to the heat, and I also really felt I needed something to drink or my migraine would spin completely out of control. We walked to the nearest bus stop and waited. And waited. And waited. Again with the “Bus Problem” … It turned out the police had closed the entire street, all the way up to Trafalgar Square, for a demonstration from Sri Lanka!! At this point, I felt I was really close to fainting, and I honestly didn’t know what to do! Luckily I had found a bench so I could sit down, but all I could do was look at my own feet, as soon as I moved my head I saw black spots in front of my eyes! Not funny!! I really can’t say how long we had to wait, to me it felt like we sat there for hours, but of course I know we didn’t! I guess it wasn’t more than maybe half an hour, even though I felt we’d never get on a bus!
Since the buses were so late, we had to stand up, and that was also a trying experience, as I had struggled against fainting just sitting down! Eventually we did get to Regent Street and rushed into a McDonald’s, and I got a life-saving large Coke! Unfortunately when we were in line, some young kids came in and one little brat decided to throw his opened juice bottle toward the line – meaning both me and Annika got quite wet from orange juice!
Anyway, due to all of this we were almost running late for Les Misérables so we hurried up to Queens while I tried to drink my Coke.
And what can I say!?! Well, one thing is for sure – I’m soooo happy that we had Les Miz planned for this day, because I was feeling really rotten before it started and had it been any other musical, I think it would have been completely ruined for me. As it were, I didn’t have to pay that much attention to the plot or the characters or the songs, as I know it all by heart, and instead concentrate on the bits that really interest me. That also meant I could relax a little bit during the parts I’m not so into, so it was really lucky we decided on Les Miz that day! (for a detailed review on the show, see separate entry!)
I did however, feel completely out-of-it after the show, and we took a bus straight back to the hotel! My migraine had come back and I’m pretty sure I had a fever when we were on the bus. When we got to Paddington it started raining, and by the time we’d gotten off, it was almost a hail storm!!! The temperature dropped radically, and we rushed into the nearest store – we had to do some shopping anyway. We got in there completely soaked, and the store had full air conditioning! I don’t know if I’ve ever been so cold in my entire life, I ended up standing in a corner of the store just shaking! After a while the rain eased off a bit and we managed to get to our hotel, even though we were totally soaked once we got there. We had thought about taking a rest at the hotel for a while, and then head out to Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, but I was really ill when we got back and jumped into bed straight away! Again feeling kind of guilty toward Annika, but I was really out-of-it and I feel asleep already at 9-9.30, I just couldn’t help myself!
June 28 – Sunday
I didn’t sleep very well the night to Sunday either, but at about 4 a.m. we opened the window and that really helped. I guess the ventilation in the room wasn’t good at all (practically nonexistent) and we didn’t want the air condition to run during the night – and I’m guessing that’s what caused both our migraines and headaches … I did wake up with a headache anyway but at least I felt better than the day before – though Annika didn’t feel great.
We left the hotel at about 10, and took a bus to The Tower. We got seats on the top floor so we ended up taking quite a few pictures during the bus ride. I guess you always wish for even better photos, a better camera and a better objective, but I still like my series of pictures from that bus ride! I had been to The Tower once before, but I enjoy it a lot and didn’t mind going back at all – and Annika hadn’t been there before. Though it’s rather pricy (even though I got a Student ticket which was cheaper), it’s very much worth it. Since it was Sunday we weren’t exactly alone there (!), and I think I would have liked it even more had there not been quite so many people there. I really wanted to take one of the guided Yeoman tours, but there were so many people, I don’t think we would have heard anything even if we had decided to take a tour. But I really wish I would have studied a bit more first, I have a strong feeling you’d get so much more out of the visit if you knew more of England’s history!! We walked around for a while and when we took a break outside the White Tower, we ended up in the middle of a … live theatre-thingy … It seemed really cool, a couple of actors gathered several groups of visitors, and acted out sort of a play! We weren’t involved, but one group gathered just where we were sitting, around an actor portraying the Archbishop of Canterbury! He was really great, and it sounded so much fun – I wish we could have taken an active part. Annika had unfortunately some problems with her foot, and since the exercise did seem to involve lots of walking and running around, we decided to take it easy and walk around in our own pace instead.
Naturally we went in to see the Crown Jewels, and even though there are a lot of video displays and not that much time with the actual Crown Jewels, it’s quite an experience to have actually seen them!
When we decided we’d seen enough of The Tower we took a bus back, but again with the “Bus Problem”. We were on a regular bus, and just behind us was a Routemaster heading for Trafalgar Square. For some reason we stopped in the middle of an intersection, and all of a sudden, the co-driver from the Routemaster came running up to our bus driver, who put the bus in reverse … I didn’t get it at all, but it took quite a while before we got started again, and the bus was completely crowded! When we reached Trafalgar Square, the bus went on some really insane diversion! Instead of heading for Piccadilly Circus and on to Regent Street and Oxford Circus, the bus went straight up to Tottenham Court Road and from there to Oxford Circus. When we got off, we had lunch at McDonald’s before going to Hamley’s! That is such an amazing store, and I could easily spend half a day there! I found some cute rabbits for my sisters, that didn’t cost a fortune (!) so I bought them before we took a bus up to Oxford Street (I guess we could have walked, but there was rain coming and we were really tired).
We went into the Disney Store – but didn’t buy anything – and to HMV … and that was bloody dangerous!! At first I didn’t find anything that I REALLY wanted, and I felt quite pleased with that, since my economy isn’t that great at the moment! Then all of a sudden, I kept tripping over sooo much stuff I wanted!! They had the soundtrack to practically all the James Bond films – even the really early ones – 2 for £5!! I also found a lovely box with 6 old musical movies, for £15 that I really wanted! And when we reached the DVD section I nearly fainted! I found the first two seasons of The Flying Doctors and the first 64 episodes of Prisoner: Cell Block H!!!!! *GASP* I knew Prisoner had been released on DVD but it’s still cool to actually see it in a store, and I had no idea they’d released The Flying Doctors!!! It was impossible to not buy anything, but I practically endured torture when trying to decide on WHAT to buy! :) I ended up buying the second season of The Flying Doctors, and the Prisoner Box with episodes 33-64 … even though it ended up being quite expensive! *feeling happy and guilty at the same time* We also bought a few souvenirs and presents, and I actually got a really nice compliment from the guy at the till … he thought I came from England or America, and when I told him I was from Sweden, he complimented me on my English! :)
We were pretty tired at this point, having been on our feet constantly since 10 in the morning, so we went back to the hotel and relaxed for a while. After a few hours we took a walk to Queensway, but we wanted to spend some time in Hyde Park as well, and time was getting on, so we went there pretty quickly – but it was still getting darker by the minute! I wrote a few postcards on a bench, when suddenly a police car pulled up and told us the park was closing and that we had to make our way out. It felt sad we didn’t get to see more of the park, but I guess you can’t have everything, right?
June 29 – Monday
We slept with the window open all night, and that did make a difference, I woke up at about 7 a.m. and felt better than ever!! A bit ironic since it was our last day! The plane left at about 2.30, and since it’s a long ride to Stanstead and we were a bit unsure of the check in procedure, we had decided not to plan anything else, but instead be able to take it easy all the way to the airport.
We checked out at about 9, and there were no problems there, and took a bus to Liverpool Street. It was nice not having to change buses, since we had our bags with us this time. We were lucky at Liverpool Street, as there was a train leaving for Stanstead about 10 minutes after we got there! The train trip was okay and when we got to the airport, we had lunch at Burger King. Annika was kind and bought me lunch, as we had decided I would drive her home, when we got to Gothenburg. We ate in peace, and when we were done, we went over to the Ryanair check in desks. Again not so easy to figure out how it worked with online check in, but after a while we had it figured out and there were no problems with checking in the bag. Next stop was the security check, and that worked pretty smoothly too, though I was quite surprised. On earlier trips I have had a certain handbag with me, and all the time it has been pulled aside in the security check! Last time, in 2006, I had another bag, and that went through without problems! This time I had the “suspicious” bag, but I had it packed in a larger backpack … and it went through! Very weird!
We did some shopping at WH Smith and then had to wait a while for our gate to be announced – but once that happened things moved along quickly, and we were only about 10 minutes late!
The flight went well, and it was lovely coming into Gothenburg where we saw the entire Swedish West Coast with the sun about to set out to sea – very beautiful!!
Going through City Airport went quickly and there were no problems in collecting the car, so before long we were on our way to Annika’s hometown! I dropped her off before heading up to the summerhouse, where Zorro was very happy to see me!!
Before this London trip I was very nervous about how I would cope! I hadn’t been in London in three years, and even though I generally feel a lot better now, I still felt uncertain! And I’m thrilled to announce that I did cope better than I could have dreamed of!! Despite being ill and coping with those sorts of problems, I think I handled the trip in a really good way … and now I’m very much hoping to be able to go by myself there fairly soon! Money is definitely a problem that I’m not sure how to solve, but I really really want to take a trip to London on my own – to once and for all prove to myself that I really can cope!! I did go to London alone in 2004, when I had been there both with my Mum and Dad (on separate occasions of course!), but I didn’t handle that trip very well at all – so I would like to go now and really prove to myself that I can do it!! *fingers crossed*
Sunday, 9 August 2009
Long Overdue: My Fair Lady!
My Fair Lady – April 16, 2009
I know this entry is way way overdue, and I apologize for that. But better late than never, right? :) In April of this year, me and my Mum went to Stockholm to see My Fair Lady, and as always when it comes to musicals, it was a wonderful experience!
We had been lucky enough to get a really great hotel, very small rooms, but it was situated right next to Oscars (where My Fair Lady was playing) and it was quite cheap!
Both me and my Mum were quite excited to see this musical, I had never seen it before, even though I had some idea of the plot and songs, and it was very special to my Mum, who had seen it when she was young, in Stockholm, with Jarl Kulle!
When we entered the theatre, we instantly found a note saying that Henry Higgins and Freddy were played by their understudies!! That made me quite sad actually, as I had really been looking forward to seeing Tommy Körberg (Higgins) and Helen Sjöholm (Eliza) together. They are outstanding together, with a very special energy between them, and it felt quite disappointing not being able to see them this time!
However, it was fantastic to see the musical, as I had never seen it before, I haven’t even seen the film version of it! I did know some of it of course, but it’s never quite the same to see the entire play live!
Instead of Tommy Körberg, Christopher Wollter was playing Higgins (he usually played Freddie), I had never seen him before and I was really impressed! He had a very nice voice, and was quite a good actor, but to me, he was too young to play Higgins. I can’t help but feel there should be a noticeable age difference between Higgins and Eliza - he’s the elderly professor and she’s the young girl off the street – now you got the feeling they were basically the same age. As I said, I really liked Christopher Wollter, and I’d love to see him in something else – Marius or Enjolras in Les Misérables, Chris in Miss Saigon etc. – but he didn’t quite fit in as Henry Higgins.
I also found it difficult to adjust to the new Freddie … I’m sure Christopher Wollter normally made fantastic Freddie, but the understudy Fredrik Lexfors was not quite so good, I’m sorry to say. I’m sure with a bit more training and experience, he’ll be able to pull off the part, but when we saw him, he didn’t make a great impression.
It was absolutely fantastic to see Jan Malmsjö live, I have only seen him on TV before, so I feel really lucky he was on when we were there! He was very very good, despite his age, and quite the comedian, which I hadn’t expected!! I haven’t seen him do any comedy before, and it was nice to see he could do that as well! Also, and inside joke for all my Swedish readers: Before singing “Get me to the church on time”, Jan Malmsjö ran on stage and dramatically exclaimed: “Ring klocka, ring!” *lol*
As usual Helen Sjöholm was FANTASTIC! I don’t think she’s done a bad performance in her life, she’s really amazing!! She’s a really tiny person, and every time I see her, I’m amazed at her capacity! She as well got to do a fair bit of comedy, I hadn’t seen that before, but she was very good at it!!
Pickering, played by Michael Segerström was also quite good. I hadn’t heard of him before, but he brought a lot of comedy to the show.
I have to say – and I think my Mum agrees with me – the show had a lot more comedy than I had expected. Even though I’ve never read Pygmalion, or seen the movie, you do get a fair idea of what the musical is about, and I hadn’t pictured it as being very funny. The basic theme wasn’t comedic of course, but a lot of things had a fun twist, and there were lots of laughs from the audience.
It was a really wonderful experience to have seen My Fair Lady, but I can’t help but feel a bit sad about not getting to see Tommy Körberg. I really like his voice a lot, and together with Helen Sjöholm, it gets even better. They are an unstoppable team, and I really really would have liked to see them together! I also think Tommy Körberg would have made an excellent Higgins!
The musical will be running this fall as well, the new premiere will be some time in September … Me and Mum did have an idea of going during the fall, to try to catch Tommy and Helen together, and also be able to see Cats (my Mum has never seen it, which is a true shame, considering how much she loves cats!!), but it doesn’t seem like it will be possible now …
I know this entry is way way overdue, and I apologize for that. But better late than never, right? :) In April of this year, me and my Mum went to Stockholm to see My Fair Lady, and as always when it comes to musicals, it was a wonderful experience!
We had been lucky enough to get a really great hotel, very small rooms, but it was situated right next to Oscars (where My Fair Lady was playing) and it was quite cheap!
Both me and my Mum were quite excited to see this musical, I had never seen it before, even though I had some idea of the plot and songs, and it was very special to my Mum, who had seen it when she was young, in Stockholm, with Jarl Kulle!
When we entered the theatre, we instantly found a note saying that Henry Higgins and Freddy were played by their understudies!! That made me quite sad actually, as I had really been looking forward to seeing Tommy Körberg (Higgins) and Helen Sjöholm (Eliza) together. They are outstanding together, with a very special energy between them, and it felt quite disappointing not being able to see them this time!
However, it was fantastic to see the musical, as I had never seen it before, I haven’t even seen the film version of it! I did know some of it of course, but it’s never quite the same to see the entire play live!
Instead of Tommy Körberg, Christopher Wollter was playing Higgins (he usually played Freddie), I had never seen him before and I was really impressed! He had a very nice voice, and was quite a good actor, but to me, he was too young to play Higgins. I can’t help but feel there should be a noticeable age difference between Higgins and Eliza - he’s the elderly professor and she’s the young girl off the street – now you got the feeling they were basically the same age. As I said, I really liked Christopher Wollter, and I’d love to see him in something else – Marius or Enjolras in Les Misérables, Chris in Miss Saigon etc. – but he didn’t quite fit in as Henry Higgins.
I also found it difficult to adjust to the new Freddie … I’m sure Christopher Wollter normally made fantastic Freddie, but the understudy Fredrik Lexfors was not quite so good, I’m sorry to say. I’m sure with a bit more training and experience, he’ll be able to pull off the part, but when we saw him, he didn’t make a great impression.
It was absolutely fantastic to see Jan Malmsjö live, I have only seen him on TV before, so I feel really lucky he was on when we were there! He was very very good, despite his age, and quite the comedian, which I hadn’t expected!! I haven’t seen him do any comedy before, and it was nice to see he could do that as well! Also, and inside joke for all my Swedish readers: Before singing “Get me to the church on time”, Jan Malmsjö ran on stage and dramatically exclaimed: “Ring klocka, ring!” *lol*
As usual Helen Sjöholm was FANTASTIC! I don’t think she’s done a bad performance in her life, she’s really amazing!! She’s a really tiny person, and every time I see her, I’m amazed at her capacity! She as well got to do a fair bit of comedy, I hadn’t seen that before, but she was very good at it!!
Pickering, played by Michael Segerström was also quite good. I hadn’t heard of him before, but he brought a lot of comedy to the show.
I have to say – and I think my Mum agrees with me – the show had a lot more comedy than I had expected. Even though I’ve never read Pygmalion, or seen the movie, you do get a fair idea of what the musical is about, and I hadn’t pictured it as being very funny. The basic theme wasn’t comedic of course, but a lot of things had a fun twist, and there were lots of laughs from the audience.
It was a really wonderful experience to have seen My Fair Lady, but I can’t help but feel a bit sad about not getting to see Tommy Körberg. I really like his voice a lot, and together with Helen Sjöholm, it gets even better. They are an unstoppable team, and I really really would have liked to see them together! I also think Tommy Körberg would have made an excellent Higgins!
The musical will be running this fall as well, the new premiere will be some time in September … Me and Mum did have an idea of going during the fall, to try to catch Tommy and Helen together, and also be able to see Cats (my Mum has never seen it, which is a true shame, considering how much she loves cats!!), but it doesn’t seem like it will be possible now …
Sunday, 2 November 2008
James Bond: Quantum of Solace!
I went to see the new James Bond movie, Quatum of Solace, last night and here are my initial thoughts on it! And please remember ... my initial thoughts! I tend to need at least three or four viewings of a Bond film before being able to make a proper assessment of it!
!! Spoiler Warning for those of you who haven't seen it !!
As of now, I felt that Quantum of Solace was quite uneven. Some things were really good, while others didn't impress me at all. I appologize if the review seems confused, but that is bascially because my impression of the movie was rather confused.
I really like the fact that it picks up right where Casino Royale left off!! Casino Royale did end with a cliffhanger, and it was great to see that cliffhanger picked properly! I also have to say I like the basic storyline - going after this very powerful organization nobody's heard of and know nothing about takes me back to the early days of SPECTRE ... and that is just to my liking! :) Also, the motive of Bond being almost a rogue agent is appealing! It has been done (or tried?) before, in Licence To Kill, (and to a certain degree in the beginning of Die Another Day) but I have to say this time, it's way better!
I also enjoy the fact that it is a true agent-story - we never loose that perspective which is really good. Since Bond really is on the verge of crossing the line, the questions of what happens when a secret agent goes over to the other side (since it appears that's what Bond has done) is really dealt with here, and dealt with in a very realistic way ... except for maybe one thing: Would the head of MI6 really travel around the world to check up on agents? In this movie we see M on at least two locations, and while I really enjoy Judi Dench's performance, is that really realistic?
Moving on to not-so-greats. My first impressions of the main title and the title song was: Terrible! I'm sorry to say it, but it didn't feel "Bond" at all to me! I wasn't thrilled about the main title in Casino Royale either, but I really like the title song - here, none of them appealed to me.
Also, while I think the action-and-fight sequences are impressive, without a doubt, they are much to long for me! I can't help but get the feeling the movie has come in short, so they have to add as much fighting, car chasing, boat chasing, chasing on foot, as they possible can, just so the movie will be long enough! Like I said, it is impressive, but when it goes on for too long, I just get bored with it ...Daniel Craig does make a nice James Bond, even though I wasn't quite comfortable with him at the start. There has been a trend of making Bond more "human", going back all the way to Timothy Dalton in the late 80's, but I think it's basically Craig that can pull it off ... Pierce Brosnan did a pretty good job of it in Goldeneye, when he ended up fighting his life-long friend Alec Trevelyan, but the opening of Die Another Day - which also was supposed to show Bond's more vulnerable side - didn't sit quite right with me. But Daniel Craig does bring something to the part when it comes the human side of Bond - very impressive!
I am less impressed with the "Bond girls" (yeah, I know it's not politically correct to call them that these days, but it's just old habit ... sorry) - to be frank, I didn't get the sense of their characters at all. Bond's first meeting with Camille (Olga Kurylenko) just felt very confusing, and even though we later on got some insight to her character, she felt rather flat to me. The other lady, Fields (Gemma Arterton), didn't make much of an impression either - although her part was rather small. I did like the way they portrayed her death - nice homage to Goldfinger!!
Dame Judi Dench as M is wonderful as ever! While keeping her in this "new" series does make things confusing, she certainly fits the part and does an amazing job with it! I also enjoyed seeing
Giancarlo Giannini again, once again a nice look-back to Casino Royale.
As of now, I don't want to make some definite statement on the movie, as I have to see it more times before - but like I said in the beginning: It felt quite uneven. Some things really good, some things, not at all so good.
Saturday, 5 January 2008
The Wedding Singer!
At New Year's Eve, I saw The Wedding Singer with my Mum, and it was a great experience on very many levels!!This was originally a movie, as some of you may know, and was later adapted for the stage on Broadway in America. This production by Värmlandsoperan is the first in Europe, so that was very special of course. But the best part was that they hadn't made it "simple" and just translated the american music into Swedish, they had in fact transformed it so that it applied to Sweden! The setting, the characters, the comments, the language, everything was typically Swedish, instead of being some kind of "americanized Swedish", which is quite common these days. The musical has a clear setting in the 1980's, and since I grew up during the 1980s and the 1990s this felt very special to me - and it was made even better by the fact that it didn't mirror the 80's in America, but in fact the 80's here in Sweden!
I was thrilled to once again see Christer Nerfont perform, he is quickly becoming my favourite Swedish musical performer, but I can't help thinking that he doesn't quite get the credit he should, working at Värmlandsoperan! I have nothing against it, and I guess that's what he wants himself, but there are no doubts in my mind that he would be a huge success in the "bigger" Swedish musical productions in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö, and also on the stage in London's West End and on Broadway! His voice is fantastic and his stage prescence outstanding!! I have seen him a few times now - I saw him as Robert in Kristina From Duvemåla, where he impressed me a lot, he did a musical concert with Karlstad University's female choir, "Söt Likör", which was wonderful, I saw him with his wife Cecilie in a Musical Highlights Concert in 2006, and now in The Wedding Singer - and he keeps impressing me!
A shame he usually works in Karlstad, I'd love to see him somewhere a little closer to home! :)Apart from Christer, I was very impressed by Nina Lundseie, who played the femmale lead and did a fantastic job of it!!
The musical was really great, a true romantic comedy and even though I usually don't like them that much, this one was absolutely terrific!! (I think it's the romantic comedy movies I don't like, but give me a live performance on stage, and I fall completely! *lol*)
The usual twists and turns, the usual anxiety when it seems like the beautiful young girl will be stuck with the "bad man", and the usual relief and little tear in the corner of your eye at the end when the hero and princess end up together! *big smile* I enjoyed the music a lot, which was very 80's, and lots of cool references!
A lot of dancing as well, which in my experience isn't that common in musicals these days, so that was great to see - lots of talented dancers on stage at the same time!
New Year's Eve was the last performance, although nothing special happened to "celebrate" (aparently, there had been a real wedding on stage on the premiere - totally cool!!), and I have to say I wish it had played longer, because then I maybe had been able to see it once more!
The next production will be Candide during spring, but I don't know wether I'll be able to see it, it all depends on wether I'll be going to Karlstad, and how much time I get! *fingers crossed*Overall, I strongly recommend The Wedding Singer if it will be put into production on other places, and all I can say to you all (mostly those of you in Sweden) - if you get a chance to see Christer Nerfont, don't miss him! :)
När det är din bröllopsdag
Hör på mej så lovar jag
Min musik slår an en
Ton av kärlek
När det är din bröllopsdag
Lyssna till din hjärtas slag
Sången inom dej
För kärlek är
Ja, kärlek är musik
Hör på mej så lovar jag
Min musik slår an en
Ton av kärlek
När det är din bröllopsdag
Lyssna till din hjärtas slag
Sången inom dej
För kärlek är
Ja, kärlek är musik
Sunday, 2 December 2007
Julkonsert med Johnny Logan! [swedish]
(Sorry you guys who don't read Swedish, but there's no way I'd be able to review this Christmas Concert in English ... so this will be a Swedish blog entry. Hope you understand! Thanks!)
Dags igen för den årliga Julkonserten med Tonica-orkestern, under ledning av Peter Sjunnesson, som i år gästades av Carolina Jönsson, systrarna Jenny och Emma Freij samt ingen mindre än Johnny Logan!!!
Mycket trevligt!
I traditionsenlig anda började konserten med Tomtarnas julparad, till vilken hela orkestern bar tomteluvor! Mycket jul-igt!
Därefter sjöng de tre tjejerna Julen är här, vilket är en av mina personliga favoriter, och sedan avlöste jullåtarna varandra i rasande hastighet. Det blev t ex ett julmedley med Alice Tegnér-sånger, där publiken inbjöds till allsång i Pepparkaksgubbarna, men också lite allvarligare tongågar som First of May och Decembernatt.
Därefter dags för solisten: Johnny Logan!! En helt fantastisk röst, och mycket populär hos publiken - man såg t o m två irländska flaggor i publikhavet!! :) Han började med att sjunga sin hit-låt Hold me now, vilket var helt fantastiskt, och fortsatte med att sjunga två låtar från sin nya skiva, "Irish Connection" som kommer att släppas i Sverige snart!
Efter ytterligare några sånger, bl a en fin nytolkning av Tommy Körbergs Stad i Ljus (Sprid ditt ljus) med de fyra solisterna var det dags för paus.
Efter pausen körde orkestern igång med Sleigh Ride för att få alla i stämning igen och ganska snart kom Johnny Logan tillbaka med What's Another Year, en annan publikfavorit, utan tvekan! Det bjöds också på ett "American Christmas Medley" med olika amerikanska julsånger, innan det blev dags för ytterligare en allsång, den här gång den traditionella Dagen är kommen.
Konserten avslutades med att dirigent Peter Sjunnesson sjöng O Helga Natt, vilket verkligen är en stämningsful avslutning på en underbar konsert!
Ett extranummer bjöds det också på, förstås, vilket i år blev When You Wish Upon A Star.
En helt fantastiskt julkonsert även i år, som åtminstone har fått en del av julkänslan att infinna sig hos mig (har inte så lätt för att komma i julstämning)!!
Dags igen för den årliga Julkonserten med Tonica-orkestern, under ledning av Peter Sjunnesson, som i år gästades av Carolina Jönsson, systrarna Jenny och Emma Freij samt ingen mindre än Johnny Logan!!!Mycket trevligt!
I traditionsenlig anda började konserten med Tomtarnas julparad, till vilken hela orkestern bar tomteluvor! Mycket jul-igt!
Därefter sjöng de tre tjejerna Julen är här, vilket är en av mina personliga favoriter, och sedan avlöste jullåtarna varandra i rasande hastighet. Det blev t ex ett julmedley med Alice Tegnér-sånger, där publiken inbjöds till allsång i Pepparkaksgubbarna, men också lite allvarligare tongågar som First of May och Decembernatt.
Därefter dags för solisten: Johnny Logan!! En helt fantastisk röst, och mycket populär hos publiken - man såg t o m två irländska flaggor i publikhavet!! :) Han började med att sjunga sin hit-låt Hold me now, vilket var helt fantastiskt, och fortsatte med att sjunga två låtar från sin nya skiva, "Irish Connection" som kommer att släppas i Sverige snart!
Efter ytterligare några sånger, bl a en fin nytolkning av Tommy Körbergs Stad i Ljus (Sprid ditt ljus) med de fyra solisterna var det dags för paus.
Efter pausen körde orkestern igång med Sleigh Ride för att få alla i stämning igen och ganska snart kom Johnny Logan tillbaka med What's Another Year, en annan publikfavorit, utan tvekan! Det bjöds också på ett "American Christmas Medley" med olika amerikanska julsånger, innan det blev dags för ytterligare en allsång, den här gång den traditionella Dagen är kommen.
Konserten avslutades med att dirigent Peter Sjunnesson sjöng O Helga Natt, vilket verkligen är en stämningsful avslutning på en underbar konsert!
Ett extranummer bjöds det också på, förstås, vilket i år blev When You Wish Upon A Star.
En helt fantastiskt julkonsert även i år, som åtminstone har fått en del av julkänslan att infinna sig hos mig (har inte så lätt för att komma i julstämning)!!
Julen är här
Och lyser frid på jorden
Glädjen är stor
I ett barns klara ögon bor den
Julen är här
I våra mörka länder
Kom låt oss ta varandras händer
När julen är här
Och lyser frid på jorden
Glädjen är stor
I ett barns klara ögon bor den
Julen är här
I våra mörka länder
Kom låt oss ta varandras händer
När julen är här
Saturday, 24 March 2007
Musical Show Stoppers - 23 March
Featuring:
Alex Sharpe
Mary Carewe
Peter Corry
Conductor: Gareth Hudson
Yes, yesterday it was time for the Musical Show Stoppers Concert, with these wonderful West End performers!
Unfortunately they didn't even have a programme, only some little leaflet with information on the performers ... so this cannot be a complete review, as I have no way of remembering all the songs they performed. I will however try to say something about the highlights of the show!
This time it was performed with a different orchestra than I'm used to, the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, they were very good indeed, with a lot of instruments I don't even know the name of! :)
The three performers were all absolutely fantastic, they started with some "Musical Show Stoppers" (suitable, huh?) song ... I never really figured out the song nor the musical, but it was a great introduction to the evening!
Peter Corry moved on to singing "Hello Young Lovers" from The King And I, which really was a bit unfortunate for me ... Philip Quast - my number one hero when it comes to musicals :) - sings that song on his album "Live At The Donmar", they had re-arranged it now, modernized it, and it really wasn't near as good as on Philip's album. (I guess you simply can't love everything, right?)
After that, Peter and Alex Sharpe performed "Sun and Moon" from Miss Saigon, which was absolutely wonderful!! They did such an amazing job, and it's fantastic to see real actors, because they actually act out the song! This was really a concert - and the performers had very little space on stage to move around - but they truly did an act!! I think Peter Corry surprised everyone - including Alex :) - when he ended the song by kissing her!
I had even more memories of Philip Quast, when Peter Corry later on sang "Oh What A Circus" from Evita! I really, really wanted to see it again in London ... oh well ...
Mary Carewe did a marvellous job as well, mostly I remember her "As If We Never Say Goodbye" from Sunset Boulevard and also songs like "Somewhere" (West Side Story) and "Broadway Baby".
Peter Corry did a song I had never heard before, called "The Impossible Dream" from The Man From La Mancha, which I really enjoyed ... wonder if that's avaliable on cd somewhere ....
The first half of the show ended with an amazing medley from Anything Goes, with all three performers ... fantastic!
During the second half we saw more amazing work, Alex Sharpe was astonishing in "Whistle Down the Wind" and "Take That Look Off Your Face" (from Tell Me On A Sunday)! Peter Corry performed "If I Can't Love Her" from Beauty And the Beast, the lovely duet "I Know Him So Well" from Chess, fantastic by both Alex Sharpe and Mary Carewe!!
Mary Carewe also sang "Defining Gravity" from Wicked, and it was terrific!! I have heard people saying that's a great song, and I can totally agree now! Makes me want to see Wicked when I'm in London next time too ... don't think it's on my "Musicals-must-see" list ... rather on my "Musicals-want-to-see" list! :)
Peter Corry and Mary Carewe did "All I Ask Of You" from Phantom of the Opera, which was really fantastic ... and in all fairness, Peter Corry ended that song with a kiss as well!
Toward the end of the second half came what I had been waiting for all night: Les Misérables. Mary Carewe did an introduction, saying it was "the most popular musical" (Guess that's true in the U.K. anyway!) and since both Alex Sharpe and Peter Corry had been performing in it, they were doing 'their' songs ....
Alex Sharpe in "On My Own" .... what can I say?!? From now on, she and Sabrina Aloueche are my TOP favoruites!! Alex had impressed me a lot throughout the entire evening, and this just placed her in the "sooo-near-perfect"-category! She was amazing!!!
Moving on to Peter Corry who were doing "Stars" ... and I was nervous!! "Stars" is my song from Les Misérables, I have a pretty strong view of what I like and don't like regarding how it is performed, and it is not pleasing to hear your favourite song performed badly ... I was on the edge of my seat when the orchestra started playing ... and then I nearly fell out of my seat!! He was SOOOOO GREAT!!! I think I pretty much just sat staring in awe .... I have to admit that nobody will ever come close to Philip Quast's Javert to me, and Michael McCarthy certainly isn't far behind, but this guy is definately my number three!! He did such an amazing job with it, and you could really tell he was making an effort! I can't say he completely transformed into Javert, but with regards to this being a concert, without staging or props or costume or makeup, he did a hell of a good job of it!!! I'm SO impressed!
After a great finale the performers were called in for an extra number ... but it was so rehearsed, I think you could really say that was the finale ... "Fame" from the musical with the same name!! It was simply fantastic, the performers gave it their all, and the audience were clapping along like crazy! Me being picky when it comes to things like this, have a bit of a point to make! I really would have loved it if either one of the performers or the conductor (probably the conductor!) would have indicated to the audience to clap during the instrumental parts and the refrain ... and then let the performers be heard properly when they sang individually ... but I guess I am being picky.
I can't help it though, I think that it is important to the people on stage to communicate with the audience in order for it to be as great a show as possible. I actually do have a great example of this from when I saw Guys & Dolls last week! During a solo song by Tommy Körberg, a saxophone player actually came out on stage to do a solo in the middle of the song! It was very effective since you normally don't see the orchestra. When he was done with his solo, Tommy was supposed to finish his song, but before doing that, he communicated with the audience, by looks and body-language, to applaude the saxophone-player in the middle of the song - so that he would be given credit for what he had just done.
I just love that sort of subte communication between on-and off stage! :)
Well, to conclude this "review" (I really wanted a programme in order to write a proper review ...), I have to say it was an amazing evening!! I know I have left out songs, and probably forgotten quite a few as well, but I can't go on writing here forever, now can I?! ;)
All three performers were very impressive, all in their own way actually! Mary Carewe had a very special style to her, and she fitted certain parts and songs amazingly well! Peter Corry had a lovely charisma, and just the fact that he pulled off "Stars" the way he did, gives him top marks in my book! :) Alex Sharpe was probably my favourite, when it comes to her singing and her voice, because you could clearly see a true talent you don't often come across in her!
Hope you enjoyed the review! :)
Jessica's Websites
Monday, 19 March 2007
Guys & Dolls - 17 March 2007
Yes, me and a friend went to see Guys & Dolls in Malmö past Saturday ... what a lovely evening! I don't think there is anything I like better than seeing a live musical! Naturally I have my favourites and all that, but the atmosphere surrounding it, the excitement when you've found your place and are just waiting for all the slow people to get seated so it can start .... fantastic!!
Principal cast:
Sky Masterson - Tommy Körberg
Sarah Brown - Jenny Silver
Nathan Detroit - Claes Malmberg
Miss Adelaide - Sofie Lindberg
The first thing I'd like to say about Guys & Dolls is that it impressed me a lot, even though it wasn't my favourite "kind" of musical, or musical-music ... (yeah, I realize how confusing that was!) Fact is, there are different types of musicals as well, genres within the genre if you like, and I have to admit that Guys & Dolls was not among my very favourites. Despite that I was quite impressed, and it was wonderful to see a really comedic musical! I find that very rare, most musical has a great sense of drama to them, but there were few heavy, dramatic songs (there were one or two, but they almost disappeared in the comedy).
Claes Malmberg is such a natural comedian, he practically only needs to walk on stage and people starts laughing! He was really at his best here (this was the first time I've seen him live, so it was extra special because of that), and I cannot for the life of me figure out how he managed to pull of the monologues he did, it was outstanding!! VERY funny!
Tommy Körberg is a rock, always a solid wonderful performance. This was the third time I saw Tommy live, I have previously seen him in Sound of Music (1996) and Chess (2003). He did a wonderful job with this part, and showed that he as well is quite capable of performing comedy! :)
I have to say I was a little less impressed by the two female leads though. Jenny Silver as Sarah Brown never really delivered the character, I never quite figured out her character and I got the feeling that she was just showing a stereotypical model of a character, not the character itself. But that might just have been me ... :)
Sofie Lindberg was better, I think, both regarding acting and singing. It was a little hard to get a grip on her as well, as her character, Miss Adelaide, was somewhat ridicioulus, and when you see a show for the first time (and I had NO idea what it was about!) it is hard not to judge a performer without taking into account the character.
Overall though, wonderful performances! Stefan Ljungqvist as Big Julie was SO funny!! :)
And, my first really really real blooper! I'm still laughing out loud just thinking about it.
Tommy had a scene with Claes, and he blew a line. No biggie, those things happen. Claes tried to fix it, and I think he could have, but both he and Tommy had such a hard time keeping themselves from laughing ... when all of a sudden a couple of people in the audience really start laughing out loud! And that was it! Both Claes and Tommy started really laughing on stage, they just had to look at eachother to crack up again! They really tried finding their way back to the script, but it was more or less impossible. Finally Tommy had to walk to the other end of the stage to try and calm himself down, leaving Claes all alone in his corner!
They managed to somehow finish the scene - although hardly following the script!! - and get out of there ... but I'm betting it had been 10 or 15 minutes by then and the entire audience kept on laughing!!
Soooooo funny!!!!!!!!!!
To conclude this little review - it was a wonderful show, with solid performances from the cast - but I have to say that Claes Malmberg was outstanding. The way he moved on the stage and the way he delivered his lines - especially those looooong monologues - were absolutely outstanding!
A couple of pictures of the principal cast:
Monday, 5 March 2007
Good News Here And There ...
Actually I'm more or less stairing in awe at my life, which seems to definately take a turn for the better now. I can hardly believe it, after the way things have been over the last month, so I'm almost sitting around waiting for a disaster to occur!
I've had to turn to some 'alternate solutions' where Uni is concerned. I can't say that I'm happy about that, not at all, but I still can't feel bad about it, because the way things were, I think this was my only choice. And after having done that, Uni actually does work out!! I have fallen behind a lot, so I have a great deal to catch up on, but the daily routine of Uni is working now - and nobody is more greatful for that than me!
Also, another thing. It might not sound like a big deal to most of you, but considering my problems and the way I have been feeling these past five weeks or so, it is really huge for me. Since I had to cancel on a party I was invited to due to bad train trafic, I decided to invite two girls from Uni to my place just for a light meal and a chat. This is something I really don't do, unless it's people I really know, so this felt like a big step! I really like these girls, and today I found out that both of them are happy to come! :) We're working out the details now, and I'm so beyond happy about this actually happening!! I'm very nervous too, as this kind of socialising is rather new to me, and I really want it to work out - but I really think it will! :)
Music From Vienna
Yesterday I attended a concert, where an orchestra were playing classical Vienna-music, these wonderful waltzes and marches by Strauss and all the other great composers.
Unfortunately I was late coming there, so I never managed to get a programme (stupid me), which is why this entry won't be a detailed review. Also, I don't have a great knowledge of classical music, although I had a wonderful time yesterday!!
Just sitting in the audience and listen to a large orchestra playing live is an amazing experience and I really enjoyed myself. This is the third time I've listened to this particular orchestra, the Tonica Orchestra, and they are very good. Yesterday's solist was Elisabeth Assarsson who was sooo talented. There were a lot of operetta music, and even though I can't list that kind of songs and music among my favourites, I think it was really good yesterday!
I also enjoyed conductor Torsten Östergren, he both conducted and played the violin himself - amazing! He and Elisabeth Assarsson did presentations for all the music they played, which was fantastic for someone like me, who doesn't know too much about this!
Just before the break, there was an announcement that Elisabeth Assarsson had just turned 60 years old, so all the orchestra members as well as the entire audience stood up and sang the Swedish version of 'Happy Birthday' to her! :) I think she was quite surprised by that! :)
Also, in the second half of the concert, during one of Johann Strauss' most famous waltzes, four youngsters, probably in their early teens, appeared and waltzed along the isles back and forth! I just LOVE those little extras that the audience are given!! (it was the same during the Musical Highlights-concert - same orchestra! - when they sang songs from 'Kristina From Duvemåla' and had young children up to do a chorus!)
The audience went pretty crazy at the end - and I like that! :) Lots of aplauding and clapping the entire time, demanding extra numbers! And we got them too ... I think five or six (or even seven!??) extra songs - Amazing! Unfortunately, I had a somewhat unpatient gentleman sitting next to me, he started getting a little grumpy and complained about 'never getting dinner' ... which I felt was rude to the orchestra and the solist ...
The very ending was fantastic, the orchestra giving their all in the Radetzky March, while the audienced clapped along! Wonderful!!
Apologies for this not being a proper review, but you'll have to settle for this!
Needless to say, I had an amazing afternoon!!
Jessica's Websites
I've had to turn to some 'alternate solutions' where Uni is concerned. I can't say that I'm happy about that, not at all, but I still can't feel bad about it, because the way things were, I think this was my only choice. And after having done that, Uni actually does work out!! I have fallen behind a lot, so I have a great deal to catch up on, but the daily routine of Uni is working now - and nobody is more greatful for that than me!
Also, another thing. It might not sound like a big deal to most of you, but considering my problems and the way I have been feeling these past five weeks or so, it is really huge for me. Since I had to cancel on a party I was invited to due to bad train trafic, I decided to invite two girls from Uni to my place just for a light meal and a chat. This is something I really don't do, unless it's people I really know, so this felt like a big step! I really like these girls, and today I found out that both of them are happy to come! :) We're working out the details now, and I'm so beyond happy about this actually happening!! I'm very nervous too, as this kind of socialising is rather new to me, and I really want it to work out - but I really think it will! :)
Music From Vienna
Yesterday I attended a concert, where an orchestra were playing classical Vienna-music, these wonderful waltzes and marches by Strauss and all the other great composers.
Unfortunately I was late coming there, so I never managed to get a programme (stupid me), which is why this entry won't be a detailed review. Also, I don't have a great knowledge of classical music, although I had a wonderful time yesterday!!
Just sitting in the audience and listen to a large orchestra playing live is an amazing experience and I really enjoyed myself. This is the third time I've listened to this particular orchestra, the Tonica Orchestra, and they are very good. Yesterday's solist was Elisabeth Assarsson who was sooo talented. There were a lot of operetta music, and even though I can't list that kind of songs and music among my favourites, I think it was really good yesterday!
I also enjoyed conductor Torsten Östergren, he both conducted and played the violin himself - amazing! He and Elisabeth Assarsson did presentations for all the music they played, which was fantastic for someone like me, who doesn't know too much about this!
Just before the break, there was an announcement that Elisabeth Assarsson had just turned 60 years old, so all the orchestra members as well as the entire audience stood up and sang the Swedish version of 'Happy Birthday' to her! :) I think she was quite surprised by that! :)
Also, in the second half of the concert, during one of Johann Strauss' most famous waltzes, four youngsters, probably in their early teens, appeared and waltzed along the isles back and forth! I just LOVE those little extras that the audience are given!! (it was the same during the Musical Highlights-concert - same orchestra! - when they sang songs from 'Kristina From Duvemåla' and had young children up to do a chorus!)
The audience went pretty crazy at the end - and I like that! :) Lots of aplauding and clapping the entire time, demanding extra numbers! And we got them too ... I think five or six (or even seven!??) extra songs - Amazing! Unfortunately, I had a somewhat unpatient gentleman sitting next to me, he started getting a little grumpy and complained about 'never getting dinner' ... which I felt was rude to the orchestra and the solist ...
The very ending was fantastic, the orchestra giving their all in the Radetzky March, while the audienced clapped along! Wonderful!!
Apologies for this not being a proper review, but you'll have to settle for this!
Needless to say, I had an amazing afternoon!!
Jessica's Websites
Sunday, 3 December 2006
Julkonsert! [Swedish]
I am terribly sorry but I will make this review on the Christmas concert I attended today in Swedish only! The reason is that most of the Christmas songs, the traditions or whatever you want to call them, feel very Swedish ... and to be frank, I don't have the time nor the energy to try to come up with translations of everything - or try to find all the song titles in English if they are avaliable.
I do hope that the readers that don't read Swedish will forgive me for this - should there be a great interest for a review in English as well - please post a comment here or send me an email, and I'll see what I can do!
Okej, det var det. Över till Julkonserten ... som var helt fantastisk!
Tonica-orkestern, som jag bara har hört en gång tidigare (de spelade även på Musical Highlights-konserten) var mycket mycket duktiga!! (Konferenciern nämnde vid något tillfälle att han tyckte det var fantastiskt att en "amatörorkester" - med hans ord! - kunde låta så bra ... jag får ju vara ärlig och säga att jag aldrig hade kunnat benämna den som "amatörorkester", de är helt enorma!! Vid två tillfällen spelade de helt utan dirigent, vilket också imponerade på mig!! Hur kan man samordna en hel orkester så att alla spelar rätt sak vid rätt tillfälle utan att ha en dirigent?!
Under inledningssången - "Tomtarnas vaktparad", helt perfekt! - bar alla i orkestern tomteluva! *ler stort* Mycket "juligt"!
Solister var systrarna Jenny och Emma Freij och Anders Mårtensson och dirigenten hette Peter Sjunnesson. Alla, i vanlig ordning, oerhört duktiga.
Jag var väldigt imponerad utav solisterna, som gjorde en enastående insats och verkligen skapade julkänsla!!
Avslutande "O Helga Natt" var nog den absoluta höjdpunkten tror jag ... enorm insats av alla solister!!
Konserten inkluderade också allsång från publiken! :) :) Vi fick sjunga "Nu tändas tusen juleljus", "Stilla Natt" samt vers fyra och fem av "Dagen är kommen" och jag klämde naturligtvis i för kung och fosterland!
Publiken var mycket bra, det klappades med i inledningssången, och efter "O Helga Natt" då det var dags att avrunda, var publiken helt klart med på noterna och applåderade in solisterna samt dirigenten fyra gånger! Sånt gillar jag! :)
Vi fick också höra ett extranummer, nämligen "Julen är här", och även då var det "tomteluva på" för orkestern! :) En kille hade t o m tomteskägg - very cool!!
Det räckte dock inte med extranummer för denna härliga publik som bara fortsatte att applådera och applådera ... så solisterna och orkestern fick köra "Julen är här" ytterligare en gång - innan vi ansåg oss fyllda av julstämning och kunde gå hem!
Helt klart en underbar eftermiddag!!
Julen är här
Och lyser fred på jorden
Glädjen är stor
I ett barns klara ögon bor den
Julen är här
I våra mörka länder
Kom, låt oss ta varandras händer
När julen är här!
Jessica's Websites
I do hope that the readers that don't read Swedish will forgive me for this - should there be a great interest for a review in English as well - please post a comment here or send me an email, and I'll see what I can do!
Okej, det var det. Över till Julkonserten ... som var helt fantastisk!
Tonica-orkestern, som jag bara har hört en gång tidigare (de spelade även på Musical Highlights-konserten) var mycket mycket duktiga!! (Konferenciern nämnde vid något tillfälle att han tyckte det var fantastiskt att en "amatörorkester" - med hans ord! - kunde låta så bra ... jag får ju vara ärlig och säga att jag aldrig hade kunnat benämna den som "amatörorkester", de är helt enorma!! Vid två tillfällen spelade de helt utan dirigent, vilket också imponerade på mig!! Hur kan man samordna en hel orkester så att alla spelar rätt sak vid rätt tillfälle utan att ha en dirigent?!
Under inledningssången - "Tomtarnas vaktparad", helt perfekt! - bar alla i orkestern tomteluva! *ler stort* Mycket "juligt"!
Solister var systrarna Jenny och Emma Freij och Anders Mårtensson och dirigenten hette Peter Sjunnesson. Alla, i vanlig ordning, oerhört duktiga.
Jag var väldigt imponerad utav solisterna, som gjorde en enastående insats och verkligen skapade julkänsla!!
Avslutande "O Helga Natt" var nog den absoluta höjdpunkten tror jag ... enorm insats av alla solister!!
Konserten inkluderade också allsång från publiken! :) :) Vi fick sjunga "Nu tändas tusen juleljus", "Stilla Natt" samt vers fyra och fem av "Dagen är kommen" och jag klämde naturligtvis i för kung och fosterland!
Publiken var mycket bra, det klappades med i inledningssången, och efter "O Helga Natt" då det var dags att avrunda, var publiken helt klart med på noterna och applåderade in solisterna samt dirigenten fyra gånger! Sånt gillar jag! :)
Vi fick också höra ett extranummer, nämligen "Julen är här", och även då var det "tomteluva på" för orkestern! :) En kille hade t o m tomteskägg - very cool!!
Det räckte dock inte med extranummer för denna härliga publik som bara fortsatte att applådera och applådera ... så solisterna och orkestern fick köra "Julen är här" ytterligare en gång - innan vi ansåg oss fyllda av julstämning och kunde gå hem!
Helt klart en underbar eftermiddag!!
Julen är här
Och lyser fred på jorden
Glädjen är stor
I ett barns klara ögon bor den
Julen är här
I våra mörka länder
Kom, låt oss ta varandras händer
När julen är här!
Jessica's Websites
Cats - 2 december 2006
Yesterday I went to see Cats at the Gothenburg Opera with my friend Annika, and it was really a wonderful production!
I did have kind of a hard time getting used to it being in Swedish, as I know most of it in English, but after a while it felt okay.
I really love Cats because of its marvellous set and fantastic make-up and constumes, and I certainly wasn't disappointed yesterday! Very impressive!
The sets were actually quite amazing, with Mungjerrie and Rumpleteazer tumbling out of a huge tea cup (!), a giant size pot plant crashing down on the stage (!) and perhaps the most impressive: Skimbleshanks' train going around the stage, pulled by the actors! Incredible!!
Niklas Andersson, famous Swedish performer (who has also done a lot of work in London's West End), played Munsktrap, and he did a fantastic job! He looks excellent in cat costume *lol* and his voice is amazing! I'm very glad that I got to see him live (this is actually the second time for me, I was lucky enough to see him as Chris in Miss Saigon - another excellent performance!)!
Grizabella was played by Evelyn Jons and her prime number was without a doubt "Memory" which was very, very moving!
I also quite enjoyed seeing Patrik Magnusson as Rum-Tum-Tugger and Per Myrberg as Gus/Growltiger (I've seen Per Myrberg in Chess in Stockholm (2003) and he always gives a great performance)!
Hans Josefsson played Old Deuteronomy (which unfortunately had been translated to 'Profetikus'), he did a great job - wonderful deep voice! - but I think I would have liked to see a little more and charisma and authority in his performance.
There were also four absolutely amazing dancers on stage - I could hardly believe what they were able to do!! Credit to Hanna Linné (Victoria), Timo Lattu (Pouncival), Katja Kortström (Tantomile) and Mattias Andersson (Coricopat)!
I loved the way they did the curtain call, which felt quite original. The orchestra played the Jellicle Cats-song and the variuos groups, pairs or singel cats came on stage and did their own little dance routine, while the audience clapped to the song!! Very nice!!
All in all - a great production and a great Saturday afternoon!!
Jessica's Websites
Friday, 24 November 2006
James Bond: Casino Royale
I've just come back home after seeing the premiere of the new James Bond movie, Casino Royale. I know I promised I'd write a review, but in advance I have to say that it's very hard to after only having seen it once. I will give it a try, but I might change my mind about certain things later on ... :)
I will also try to not give away far to much, but a certain amount of "spoiling" will probably be unavoidable if I shall give a fair review. Therefore, if you don't want to know anything at all about the movie before seeing it yourself - I advice you do not read this review ...
Okay, here we go! :)
Daniel Craig as James Bond ... not perhaps my first choice. He's a very talented actor, and he's got a very intense look, but I have a hard time really accepting him as James Bond. He does grow on you a bit, he felt a lot more believable in the part in the end of the movie than in the beginning - so I might get used to him given time! :)
Unfortunately it's been a long time since I read the book, but I certainly remembered some things, even though a lot has changed too.
One little thing, and this might be considered a spoiler, for those of you who hate those *lol* ... This movie is really a "pre-Bond" movie ... which feels rather strange. It actually takes place before all the other Bond movies, and before you come to terms with that, it tends to be a little confusing!
Some of it is made in a great way though, for instance you find out where Bonds original Aston Martin comes from! *lol* And also where he gets the scar over his eyebrow (which is more evident and important in the books than in the movies, but still ...) - although I think the make-up department was a little less than consistent with this. This little "time-warp" did however create some problems as well, and I know I have a hard time accepting some things. This might change when I get a chance to see the movie a few more times, as it tends to be rather confusing the first time.
Mads Mikelsen as villain Le Chiffre was really good! Very, very impressive, and totally creepy! Wonderful casting indeed!!
Eva Green as Bond-girl Vesper Lynd was also quite good, although she's not one of my favourite Bond women. I remember not feeling to fond of her when I read the book either, so it might the character that I don't really get along with.
Dame Judi Dench did a wonderful job as M again, of course! She's such a talent, and she brings so much to every scene. She really played out this time-thing, she acted with a little less authority around Bond than in previous movies, and you could really understand that she was not so certain of either her own position or of Bond himself!
The storyline in itself was of course not the same as the book, as that never would have worked. Still, I found the storyline quite believable and not bad at all.
However, the "time-thing" was confusing, I can't help that. I don't know if it gets clearer if you see the movie a few more times, but there were things about it that I felt didn't quite add up ... I'll have to get back to you on that when I've seen it a few more times! :)
The ending was quite good! Definately surprising and different, and I always like that!
I won't go into trying to 'grade' the movie, I simply can't do that after only having seen it once. However, I think it works, definately! I think that true hard-core James Bond-fans may have a hard time accepting some of the inconsistancies, but it definately works!!
Hope you enjoyed the review! :)
Jessica's Websites
I will also try to not give away far to much, but a certain amount of "spoiling" will probably be unavoidable if I shall give a fair review. Therefore, if you don't want to know anything at all about the movie before seeing it yourself - I advice you do not read this review ...
Okay, here we go! :)
Daniel Craig as James Bond ... not perhaps my first choice. He's a very talented actor, and he's got a very intense look, but I have a hard time really accepting him as James Bond. He does grow on you a bit, he felt a lot more believable in the part in the end of the movie than in the beginning - so I might get used to him given time! :)Unfortunately it's been a long time since I read the book, but I certainly remembered some things, even though a lot has changed too.
One little thing, and this might be considered a spoiler, for those of you who hate those *lol* ... This movie is really a "pre-Bond" movie ... which feels rather strange. It actually takes place before all the other Bond movies, and before you come to terms with that, it tends to be a little confusing!
Some of it is made in a great way though, for instance you find out where Bonds original Aston Martin comes from! *lol* And also where he gets the scar over his eyebrow (which is more evident and important in the books than in the movies, but still ...) - although I think the make-up department was a little less than consistent with this. This little "time-warp" did however create some problems as well, and I know I have a hard time accepting some things. This might change when I get a chance to see the movie a few more times, as it tends to be rather confusing the first time.
Mads Mikelsen as villain Le Chiffre was really good! Very, very impressive, and totally creepy! Wonderful casting indeed!!
Eva Green as Bond-girl Vesper Lynd was also quite good, although she's not one of my favourite Bond women. I remember not feeling to fond of her when I read the book either, so it might the character that I don't really get along with.
Dame Judi Dench did a wonderful job as M again, of course! She's such a talent, and she brings so much to every scene. She really played out this time-thing, she acted with a little less authority around Bond than in previous movies, and you could really understand that she was not so certain of either her own position or of Bond himself!
The storyline in itself was of course not the same as the book, as that never would have worked. Still, I found the storyline quite believable and not bad at all.
However, the "time-thing" was confusing, I can't help that. I don't know if it gets clearer if you see the movie a few more times, but there were things about it that I felt didn't quite add up ... I'll have to get back to you on that when I've seen it a few more times! :)
The ending was quite good! Definately surprising and different, and I always like that!
I won't go into trying to 'grade' the movie, I simply can't do that after only having seen it once. However, I think it works, definately! I think that true hard-core James Bond-fans may have a hard time accepting some of the inconsistancies, but it definately works!!
Hope you enjoyed the review! :)
Jessica's Websites
Monday, 13 November 2006
Chess - The Musical International Tour
Oslo Spektrum, 12 November 2006
Very nice to see David Shannon, whom I'd heard a lot of great things about! Also great to see Carmen Cusak, who sings on one of my favourite cds at the moment; The London Cast Recording of The Secret Garden. The biggest surprise was to find out that Linzi Hately was playing Florence! She's of course played Eponine in Les Misérables in London, she sings "On My Own" on the Stage by Stage Documentary, and she's also on The Secret Garden cd!
Jessica's Websites
Despite doubts and several problems, I was able to see Chess in Oslo on 12 November!!
It turned into quite a day, actually, as I left my Dad and his family at 8 a.m. on Sunday morning, the bus arrived in Oslo at 11.25. Chess was at 3 p.m. and lasted about 2½ hours ... and my bus home left at 10.45!! My Dad picked me up at 1.45 in the morning!! (Also know that at 8.20, that is about 5½ hours later, I was on the train going back home!!)
I was quite nervous about the entire day, but in retrospect, I can honestly say that it was all worth it!!
The production was absolutely wonderful!!! I have only seen the Swedish production from 2002 before, so there will be some references to that (apologies to those who hasn't seen it!).
This was what felt like a combination of a concert and a stage production. It was done very well, the performers all wore head-mics, including the chorus, which mean they were able to move around the stage moore freely, giving it more of a stage production feeling. However, not many props were used, the stage pretty much stayed the same the entire time ... Anyway, it was a great show!!
I was suprised to find that this production was quite different to the Swedish production! A lot of new songs here - and several songs from the Swedish production that were not included! The songs that actually were the same were did not often appear in the same order or context either ... I felt that it turned the storyline around a bit, nothing really major, but there were differences! (Should there be an interest, and my energy level permitting, I might try to do a more detailed comparison between the two productions). I also felt that the different use of the songs somehow "altered" the characters a bit - I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but I definately reacted to it. For instance, there was this reporter character called Walter de Courcey, who weren't even in the Swedish production at all!
I definately have to get some more Chess recordings, to learn more about this!!
Cast List:
Anatoly Sergievsky - David Shannon
Florence Vassy - Linzi Hately
Freddie Trumper - Sean Kingsley
Alexander Molokov - Michael McCarthy
The Arbiter - Åge Sten Nilsen
Walter de Courcey - James Spilling
Svetlana Sergievsky - Carmen Cusak
Chorus:
John Addison, Michael Broughton, Amanda-Jane Callaghan, Tomos Griffiths, Kristin Hellberg, Melissa Jaques, Daniel Koek, Tim Laurenti, Stephen McCarthy, Rhone McGregor, Yvette Robinson, Jennifer Tierny, Gary Amers, Derek Anderws, Chris Ellis-Stanton, Emily Mascarenhas, Daniella Gibb, C J Johnson, Elia Lo Tauro, Natalie Moore, Brenda-Jane Newhouse, Kelly O'Leary, David Stothard, Jonathan Williams
A truly wonderful cast, with some lovely surprises for me! I knew that Michael McCarthy would play Molokov, he was without a doubt the main reason I went to see it! *lol*
Very nice to see David Shannon, whom I'd heard a lot of great things about! Also great to see Carmen Cusak, who sings on one of my favourite cds at the moment; The London Cast Recording of The Secret Garden. The biggest surprise was to find out that Linzi Hately was playing Florence! She's of course played Eponine in Les Misérables in London, she sings "On My Own" on the Stage by Stage Documentary, and she's also on The Secret Garden cd!
The entire cast was fantastic and they worked very well together!! The Arbiter, played by Norwegian actor Åge Sten Nilsen was of course a big hit with the Oslo audience! :-) But he certainly deserves all the credit he got, he did a great job. I've never really understood that part, and therefore I've never really liked The Arbiter. Mr. Nilsen did a great job, he had a nice, clear voice and I might even start to like the part now! :-)
Svetlana, played by Carmen Cusak, had unfortunately a rather small part (much smaller than in the Swedish production!), but she did a marvellous job! She managed to sing with a Russian accent that sounded completely genuine - most impressive!! The duet "I Know Him So Well" with Linzi Hately was a real highlight!!
I never really figured out the reporter-guy, Walter de Courcey, other than the fact that he was generally annoying ... Maybe that was the point?! *lol* Anyway, James Spilling did a great job, he'd found an amazing American accent! :-)
Sean Kingsley played Freddie Trumper, the American Chess Champion. I learned from the programme that he has played Jean Valjean (Les Misérables) in London, and it's always nice to see "Les Mis People"! *lol* His interpretation of the character Freddie didn't quite agree with my picture of Freddie, but he's a very talented performer! I was most impressed with the way he did "Pity the Child" - sooo much feeling and emotion, he really gave it all and it was fantastic to see!!
Over to David Shannon, who played Anatoly. I learned that's quite experienced in the world of musicals, having performed in Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables, Miss Saigon, Jesus Christ Superstar, Whistle Down the Wind, Grease and many, many more!
I had heard a lot of great things about him, and I can with certainty say that they are all true!! An outstanding performance - he has a great voice which can be both soothing and very powerful. His "Anthem" (Act One Finale) is the best one I've ever heard, without a doubt!! I would love to see him again (actually, that goes for most of the cast!!)!!
Linzi Hately was probably the biggest surprise to me! I had liked her a lot both in the Stage by Stage Les Misérables Documentary and on the Secret Garden cd, but I didn't really feel she was totally outstanding! Until I saw this production!! She was absolutely fantastic, with a rich, full and clear vocie! I have to say she's better than Swedish performer Helen Sjöholm, who is one of my very favourites ... I was most impressed by Linzi Hately's performace, highlights were the previously mentioned "I Know Him So Well" (with Carmen Cusak), "Someone Else's Story" and "Nobody's Side". Amazing!!
Last, but definately not least: Michael McCarthy as Molokov. Ever since I saw Mr. McCarthy as Javert in Les Misérables (London 2004), I've said that he's my second favourite performer after Philip Quast. I don't think I've ever realized just how very true that was until I saw this show!! Along with Philip Quast, Michael McCarthy is by far the most talented performer I have ever come across!
He did a fantastic job as Molokov, his voice is so powerful and majestic and he's got such a stage prescence! He practically owns the stage, he's got so much energy and personality and charisma, and he can really let the audience be a part of that!
This was the first time I'd heard Chess sung in English (and since this production was so different from the Swedish production, it was the first time I'd ever heard some of the songs), and Michael McCarthy is really a master of articulation, his voice is so clear and strong and there's absolutely no difficulty in hearing the lyrics!
For me, personally, the real highlights of the show were Michael McCarthy, Linzi Hately and David Shannon - the entire cast and production were fantastic, but these three really made into something truly special - a great evening indeed!!
I really wish I had had the courage to go to the stage door afterwards, it would have been fantastic to meet this amazingly talented performers ... but I've never done it before, and I was far to shy, scared and nervous ... *kicking myself now*
Anyway, despite travelling and waiting for in total 15 hours 15 minutes (!!) to see this production, it was all worth it in the end!! I know I'll never be able to see this particular production again, but I hope I'll be able to see these amaing performers again ... soon!! :-)
Jessica's Websites
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