Abba-dabba-doo

We've not been to the Concert Hall in a while, but for a treat, I booked a couple of tickets to see the opening night of Mamma Mia, which is showing for the next couple of weeks.

It was of course a full house, to see what is now one of the worlds best loved musicals. The storyline is quite a simple one, a twenty year old girl who lives on a Greek island with her mother is about to get married. But one problem, she doesn't know who her dad is. There are three possible contenders, who have all been former lovers of her mum. So she invites them all to her wedding, in the hope that she can find out which man is her real father. This story is weaved around a number of Abba's most famous songs, culminating in of course the title track; Mamma Mia.

The stage setting was simple, but very effective. It was of course very colourful. Like you were watching it live in Technicolor. I could feel that the audience were dying to get up and dance and sing along to the tunes, just like they did a few weeks ago, when we went to see the Abba tribute band at Mansfield. But the audience were very well behaved, and just clapped along to some of the more lively Ulvaeus and Andersson tunes. I have always been an Abba fan, so knew a lot of the lyrics, which I quietly sang to Gail at opportune moments.

I thought there was something missing though. I couldn't really work out what it was, until Gail said that she really enjoyed it, but would have liked to have been closer to the stage. Then it clicked. it was a lack of connection with the artists. Being so far away, I couldn't really make out the actors' faces. The sound level was great, the singing and dancing top notch. I just couldn't see the cast moving their mouths at all. Nobody's fault of course, except mine maybe, being shortsighted. Perhaps I need to take a pair of binoculars next time.

The Wedding Singer

It's sometimes funny how things can happen when you have no idea that they are going to take place.

Take today for example. I had no idea that we would be going to the Playhouse in the evening, due to something that I read on a friends' Facebook page.

Someone he knows had put this message on asking if anyone could visit the theatre and do a review of the musical that he was involved in. As I have done small reviews of shows, restaurants and events before, I contacted Darren and so Gail and I found ourselves sitting in the Playhouse and watching some great performances in action, even though they were all amateurs. First year students actually at Trent University.

The musical version of The Wedding Singer is based on the 1998 film of the same name. It's the usual story of boy meets girl, they both fancy each other, but are both too shy to declare their love for each other. Of course it all ends happily, just as the audience left the theatre.

Criminal Activity

Another trip to the theatre tonight. This time to the Playhouse and to see a production called "Charles Peace, His Amazing Life", which was the story of an infamous Victorian burglar and murderer, who lived in Nottingham for a time; bizarrely enough very close to old the county gaol, which is now the Galleries of Justice.

Talking of which, they presently have a small exhibition about Peace, and a model of the set design for the actual play, which you can see above. Neat isn't it, and the real one looks quite close in concept.

So on to the play itself, and it was actually very good. Former Blue Peter presenter Peter Duncan (1980-84) played Charlie with some aplomb and Norman (we the management) Pace played the showman and narrator, as the action moved from Peace's hometown of Sheffield, to Nottingham, then to London and finally to jail where he meets his maker courtesy of the hangman's noose.

There was plenty of action and interesting set pieces.  There was also a clever use of video projections; especially that of a moving train. Giles Croft has done a great directing job in keeping the story flowing, and without any dull bits, that you sometimes get in plays.

It's a world premiere too from local writer Michael Eaton. Who has done a nice job of piecing together the life of this criminal, who by all accounts was quite a ladies man, despite having a face that would curdle milk.

Charlie Peace is running to the end of next week, and is worth seeing for a number of reasons, and not just to see Peter Duncan do something else besides making things with sticky backed plastic and a loo roll.

J.C

I had a little bit of luck yesterday evening, in that I managed to obtain two free tickets to see Jesus Christ Superstar at Nottingham's Arena, through an email that I had received.

We hadn't been to the theatre in a while, so it was great to have something to look forward to.

I met Gail in town, and after we had had something to eat, we headed down towards the Arena. I had been a bit earlier and picked up the tickets, as the box office was only open until 6pm.

As you can imagine it was a sell out, although besides the giveaway, a couple of these deal sites had been offering tickets at half price, so I wonder out of the hundreds that were there, how many of them had actually paid full price.

We settled into our seats and had a look at the stage. It was different in that it was just stairs, with platforms each side for the musicians. There was also a big screen at the back which showed the JCS logo, of a multicoloured star, which if I remember right, was on the original album that Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber made in the early 1970s.

The lights dimmed and suddenly the screen came alive with fake TV news reports of war, demonstrations and the like. So I thought, this is going to be a modern retelling, rather than in the style of the 1973 film and the TV series which starred Robert Powell. Then a load of dancers came on dressed like demonstrators and some riot police.  The police left and the demonstrators all had these pop up tents and then Jesus came on as a sort of charismatic pop idol, rather than the son of God.

Former Spice Girl Melanie C plays Mary, and doesn't do a bad version of "I Don't Know How to Love Him'. Possibly in a slightly harsher tone than say someone like Sarah Brightman would do.

There was a bit of strange casting in radio DJ Chris Moyles as Herod, who did it as a sort of game show host, complete with flapper girls. There were some other odd touches such as sexy angels. If I didn't know better, I might have thought it had been created and directed by Ken Russell.

On the whole it was an enjoyable night, and certainly well staged and chorographed. I guess the problem I had was that I was expecting to see more well known West End singers in the main leads.

A Song, Some Rain And The Beatles

Gail and I have had quite a hectic Saturday afternoon. Firstly we went to see a production of Stephen Sondheim's musical Sweeney Todd at the Lakeside Arts Centre, as I was fortunate enough to win two tickets through a competition on Twitter.

It was very good, and the quality of the singing was excellent, even though I don't believe any of the cast were professionals, as there was an open audition advertised on Facebook some months ago, that anyone could go to. A shame that I can't sing, otherwise I might have been tempted to have a go.

I think that everyone knows the story about the barber who kills some of his customers, and their bodies end up in the meat pies that his girlfriend sells. I'm not sure if the musical version is as well known as say Cats, or Blood Brothers, even though it was created in 1979. Maybe because there aren't any famous songs in it, like 'Memories' or Don't Cry For Me Argentina.

After that, we went up to the Arboretum, to catch the tail end of the Gay Pride festival.  It had been going on all day, so we had missed the march, music and attractions. But we thought it would still be going, and people would still be enjoying themselves.

We hadn't been there long before it started to rain. As it was taking place in a park, there were plenty of trees about, so everyone scuttled for cover. This young lady fortunately had an umbrella with her, so she was still able to continue with her phone call.

Whilst we were undercover, we started chatting to some others, and of course we just had to take some photos of them. There were still plenty of people walking after the rain had stopped, so we continued looking for things and people to take.

This special bunting caught my eye, and yes I agree that there shouldn't be any discrimination when people are in love and want to get married, and I think the law is beginning to catch up with the 21st century.

This painting on the back of an ice cream van amused me. Obviously a spoof of the Beatles' Abbey Road album cover. I'm not sure whether the artist has chosen the right characters for the musicians though. I can't see John as Winnie the Pooh. He's definitely Donald Duck. Archaic and rebellious. George would have been better as the teddy bear. Quiet and philosophical.  and I think Ringo would be more suitable as Pluto, as he likes messing around. And so that leaves Paul as Mickey, which ties in with him being the most popular Beatle, just as Mickey is the most favoured Disney character.

Where There's A Will

They say that life is a cabaret old chum, and it certainly was at the Theatre Royal tonight, when we went to see the musical of the same name. It starred singer Will Young, actress Michelle Ryan and legendary actress Sian Phillips. It is on a short tour of the country, before transferring to the West End of London.


I've only seen the film version which starred Liza Minnelli a couple of times, so I had a rough idea of the plot. The action is set in Berlin in 1931 and revolves around night club singer and dancer Sally Bowles, her friends, lovers and the rise of the Nazi party.

The ending was very dark, shocking and done in complete silence. As a Nazi pushes over the giant letters that spelt KABAERT over, you see the dancers from the club all lined up and naked, with their backs to the audience. You then see sprinkles of light pouring from the ceiling and you slowly realise that they are in a gas chamber and about to die as part of the 'Final Solution'.

It was an excellent production and well staged. I was even impressed with Will Young's singing and dancing abilities; considering that he only came from the Pop Idol TV series a few years ago, rather than the usual route of progressing through theatre or drama school.


We decided to wait backstage and see if we could say hello to the stars. We met Michelle Ryan, and she signed our programme, before driving off in her red Mini. Will was a bit more challenging. He actually managed to leave the theatre without anyone noticing, as he left through another door and into his black Mercedes. There was quite a crowd waiting for him too, so it was somewhat disappointing that he decided to play the drama queen and ignore everyone.