The Wizard of Oz – Palace Theatre, Manchester

  You know the story.  And you know the main songs – Over The Rainbow, Follow The Yellow Brick Road, We’re Off To See The Wizard – although there are a few new-ish ones added in by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.   The actual plot sticks pretty closely to the book and the 1939 film, and all the characters are played superbly.  It’s particularly nice to see Jason Manford as the Cowardly Lion, as he’s only in the Manchester shows 🙂 .

However, a lot of special effects have been added in – mostly cinematographic stuff.   The Yellow Brick Road now has roadworks signs, which made me laugh, and the Emerald City (New York) has coffee shops called Ozbucks.   Also, there are a few new jokes thrown in.  When you think about, the Tin Man asking complete strangers to oil him is a bit … er, odd!   And the Lion proclaims loudly that he is a Friend of Dorothy.

It’s a very entertaining night out, and, even on a Thursday, it was a sell out.  Highly recommended!

 

The 1980s Supermarket – Channel 5

  I’d completely forgotten about Harvest Crunch bars!   I used to have one every day.  The idea was that I wouldn’t be fat because I was eating healthy “crunch” bars instead of chocolate biscuits … er, but it didn’t work.   And those ’80s food and drink adverts!   The annoying cartoon girl singing “I want a Trio and I want one now”.  And “Um Bongo, Um Bongo, they drink it in the Congo”, which would cause the woke brigade to have apoplexy if it were made now.

It’s funny how things change.   As the programme pointed out, before the ’80s, buying ready made food was something that only better-off people could afford to do.   Now, it’s gone the other way, and there’s quite a bit of snobbery about buying convenience foods – which I do all the time, because I am a useless cook and I haven’t got the time to cook things from scratch anyway.   I don’t buy supermarket sandwiches, though.  The cost of supermarket sandwiches for a week, never mind a year, versus making your own, is seriously horrendous.

It’s very weird when programmes about the ’80s appear on TV, as if “my” decade were some sort of historical period.  Which obviously it isn’t.   But it was a fun bit of nostalgia!

Pretty Woman – Palace Theatre, Manchester

OK, not bad.  I have to admit that, with Bryan Adams writing the music, I was expecting the songs to be better.  It’s a shame that some of the original songs weren’t used, because It Must Have Been Love, Wild Women Do and King of Wishful Thinking were all classics, whereas the songs in this … well, they weren’t exactly Summer of ’69 or Heaven.  But it’s entertaining enough.  And it sticks pretty closely to the story of the film … which I’ve got on DVD somewhere, although I’ve seen it umpteen times already.   “Big mistake” is one of my favourite lines from films.   It might only be two words, but they’re two very good words 🙂 .

The one bit which was obviously changed was the scene in which Edward’s friend hits Vivian.  In the musical, she knocks him to the ground.   Sign of the times?   There’s been quite a big of whingeing about how the plot hasn’t been “updated”.   Can we get over this “updating” thing, please?   I mean, what else would the whingers like to update?  Les Miserables?  The Sound of Music?   Oh, hang on, we actually know the answer to this.  It’s My Fair Lady, because the Leeds Playhouse is now warning theatregoers that they might find the “classism” traumatic.   FFS.  Give us a break!    But, OK, I do get that a man hitting a woman on stage might have been a bit much.

Speaking of Bryan Adams, why on earth has he decided to do “forest concerts” rather than arena concerts this year?!   One of them’s at Delamere Forest, and I did think about it for quite a while … but regretfully had to conclude that I was way too old and way too fat for “the ideal concert experience taking place in beautiful natural woodland arenas”.   Bryan, love, you are not 21 any more, and neither are we.   And neither’s Pretty Woman.  We were told that it was “the ’80s”, but the film was actually released in the summer of 1990 … that glorious summer of Wimbledon and Italia ’90.   How was that 34 years ago?   Well, it was.  So this is a bit of a nostalgia fest.   And there’s comedy, and there’s romance, and there’s music.   The songs are a bit of a let down, but it’s still worth seeing.  Give it a go.

I Should Be So Lucky – Manchester Opera House

The plot of this new musical is beyond stupid, OK.  And some of it feels more like a pantomime than a musical: I’d be interested to know if the local jokes are going to be adapted for each area it plays in.  But it’s brilliant entertainment!   Back in the late ’80s – and my music collection has never got out of the late ’80s – the “in crowd” type kids used to sneer at anyone who liked Stock Aitken Waterman songs.  Well, we’re getting the last laugh now, because those songs are still going strong!   Everyone was up and dancing to Never Gonna Give You Up at the end, but some of the less obvious songs got people going as well – You Spin Me Round for one, and Toy Boy for another.   Oh, and Kylie Minogue kept appearing in a magic mirror.  I knew she appeared as a hologram, but I’d assumed it’d just be briefly.  But no, she was there over and over again, encouraging the heroine Ella to be “strong and fabulous” … which was the nearest to a plot that the show had.

The plot?  Bride Ella was jilted at the altar by groom Nathan, but decided to go on their honeymoon to a luxury resort in Turkey (this calling it “Turkiye” thing isn’t really happening, is it?), accompanied by her mum, grandma, sister and two friends.   An old school bully then turned up, pretending to be married to a conman who then went off with the sister, whilst the entertainments manager chased after Ella, one of the friends went off with the masseur, the mum felt neglected by the dad until he turned up too, and then the groom and the best man turned up, the best man went off with the other friend, and it turned out that the whole jilting was due to a misunderstanding involving the grandma and the groom’s grandad, and Ella and Nathan got back together.   And the resort manager suggested that all the couples could get married/renew their vows there.  Which they did.  And hooray for the fact that not just slender Ella but also her two plump friends all bagged the men of the dreams.

Everyone follow that?   I did say that it was beyond stupid.   But I really did enjoy it.   If you’re of the Stock Aitken Waterman generation, or even if you’re not, you’ll have a great time and you’ll leave with a smile on your face.

 

Hamilton – Palace Theatre, Manchester

  I wasn’t sure that I was going to enjoy this, because I’m not a great fan of rap/hip-hop, and I’m not a great fan of the Federalists either.  But it was brilliant.  It genuinely does live up to the hype.  I don’t think any of the songs from it are going to become an intrinsic part of popular culture in the way that songs from, say, The Sound of Music have done, but it was excellent.  I’ve got to take issue with it on a few historical matters :-), but they’re matters of opinion more than issues of accuracy.

My main issue with it was the portrayal of George III … but it was the way he seems to have been seen by the American revolutionaries.  Thanks to Laura Ingalls Wilder, my very young self was entirely convinced that all Americans knew the Declaration of Independence off by heart, and that it was read out at all Fourth of July parties!   I’ve never been in America on the Fourth of July, OK.  It clashes with Wimbledon!   I therefore assumed that it was very short, and consisted entirely of idealistic stuff about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  I got quite a shock when I found out that it was actually rather long, and consisted largely of a series of vituperative complaints directed straight at poor George III, who seems to have been regarded as a tyrannical despot.  I’m totally with all the “no taxation without representation” stuff, don’t get me wrong.  I mean, in 1776, Manchester didn’t have any MPs either, and we were a major British city, not a colony.  The whole system was ridiculous.   But I don’t understand how the signatories, intelligent, educated men, didn’t seem to get that the monarch really didn’t have much power by then.  Poor old Farmer George was very definitely not a despot.

I do actually own a copy of the Declaration of Independence.  It’s in a booklet along with a copy of the Constitution and a copy of the Gettysburg Address.  I even went to the National Archives in Washington to see their original version of it.  And I got very excited when I went to Liberty Hall in Philadelphia.  I just don’t get this idea of George III as a despot.

Thomas Jefferson didn’t come off too well in this either, but I’m not sure whether that was because it was meant to be from Alexander Hamilton’s viewpoint or whether it was some sort of anti-Southern thing.   Quite possibly an anti-Southern thing, because Adams and Madison didn’t come off too well either.  We didn’t hear much about Jefferson’s personal life, but, when he got back from France, he said something about giving his luggage to “Sally” … but, unless you knew the story of Sally Hemings, you wouldn’t have got that.   Aaron Burr, who’s largely known as the man who killed Alexander Hamilton, was presented as someone with no political convictions, but some sympathy was shown towards him at the end.  Benjamin Franklin didn’t feature, which was a bit odd.  Ask someone to name one of the Founding Fathers other than Washington or Jefferson, and I’d think most people would say Franklin.

George Washington was portrayed favourably, but you’d expect that.  John Laurens also featured, but there was no real hint of the idea some historians have that there was a romantic relationship between him and Hamilton.   However, a lot was said about how close Hamilton was to his sister-in-law Angelica.   Eliza Schuyler Hamilton had some lovely songs (it wasn’t all hip-hop/rap!), and, at the end, it pointed out that she lived for many years after her husband’s death – she lived to be 97 – and worked very hard both to help orphans in New York City and to promote her husband’s legacy.  Oh, and there was a brief reference to Betsy Ross’s flag.  I know that most historians dismiss the Betsy Ross story, but it’s a nice story!

As for Hamilton himself, way too much was made of his being an “immigrant” – was that the lyricists trying to make some sort of political statement, or some sort of American Dream thing? – and the “son of a whore”.  His mother was married to someone other than his father, but he wasn’t a whore.  And Hamilton was born in the British West Indies, the son of a British father and a half-British mother, and moved to British New York whilst young.  If you want to make an issue about “immigrants”, then Charles Lee, Washington’s rather useless second-in-command, lived in Cheshire for most of his life!  And the show made out that Hamilton’s political career was ruined by his admission that he’d had an affair with Maria Reynolds and then been blackmailed by her husband.   That’s an exaggeration.

Moan over!   Whilst obviously they couldn’t fit everything into the show, which was quite long as it was, there was loads of history in there.  And it was all explained!   Well, OK, there were brief references to tea and whisky without spelling out the details of the Boston Tea Party and the Whisky Rebellion, but the main things were explained.  As much as I love Les Miserables, people get confused and think it must be 1789 or 1848 rather than 1830, because it’s not explained properly.  Could we have more musicals with this degree of historical detail in them, please?

And is Hamilton the forgotten founding father?   Well, if he was, he’s not any more, because this musical’s got everyone talking, with its runs on Broadway and the West End.  The Manchester Evening News described it as “the hottest ticket in town”.  And it is.

 

 

Jesus Christ Superstar – Palace Theatre, Manchester

  The music in this is as superb as ever, but I’d forgotten how short the show is, compared to most musicals – only two hours, including the half time break.  Excellent performances from all the main cast members, with Julian Clary as Herod making everyone laugh in amongst the more intense performances from the other characters.

The interpretation of the Bible story looks a bit dated, though.  It’s interesting that both Judas and Pontius Pilate are portrayed sympathetically, but the crowd shouting “Crucify him” over and over again made me cringe – even Oberammergau’s toned that down now.  And, whilst this may be the influence of The Da Vinci Code :-), I kept wanting to yell that Mary Magdalene probably wasn’t a prostitute at all.

Still, it’s an excellent production – now touring around the country until next August.   Go and see it if you get chance!

Greatest Days

  The best thing about this film was that it featured an orange bus.  OK, it was a 1970s orange bus, when it was supposed to be 1993, so someone didn’t do their homework properly; but, nevertheless, it was an orange bus.  I do miss orange buses.  When Andy Burnham said we were getting new buses, people asked if they could be orange; but they’re yellow and black instead.  Oh well.

The orange bus actually appeared twice – once in a scene set in 1993, and once in a scene set in the present day, when everyone was dancing through the streets of Clitheroe.   A lot of the film was set in Clitheroe.  (Although it wasn’t quite clear why the main character had an Irish accent when she seemed to have lived in Clitheroe all her life.)   In the stage version of this, entitled “The Band”, the girls were from Frodsham, which was quite a nice touch because that’s Gary Barlow’s home town, but this showcased Clitheroe quite nicely, and it’s always great to have a film set in any part of the North.

Other than featuring an orange bus, the film wasn’t actually that exciting; but it was all right, and it featured plenty of Take That’s classic songs.   The story is that Rachel, a woman in the present day, wins tickets to a reunion concert by “The Boys” (a band name’s never actually given), and has flashbacks to 1993, when she and her schoolfriends were all obsessed with Take That and went to see them live in Manchester (which was how they came to get on an orange bus.  I’m going on a bit about this orange bus, aren’t I?).   Although they’ve long since lost touch, she decides to invite them to join her for the concert – but one of them’s missing, and we learn about the tragedy which happened all those years ago and has affected Rachel’s life ever since.

It’s not a classic, and TBH I think I preferred the “The Band” stage show, but it’s quite a fun way to spend a couple of hours.  And it features an orange bus.   Have I mentioned that?

The King and I – Palace Theatre, Manchester

This was fabulous fun.  It’s always a bit strange seeing a stage version of a musical which has been made into an iconic film – everyone thinks of Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner as Anna and King Mongkut, but that doesn’t mean that other people can’t also give brilliant performances in the roles, and they did.  Excellent supporting cast too.

Shall We Dance is my favourite part.  I’ve always wanted to wear a dress like the one Anna wears in that scene, but I’d never get into it.  All the songs were well done, though.  And it’s a great story.  All right, we all know that Anna Leonowens embroidered both her own history and the extent of her influence over King Mongkut, and that the subplot involving Tuptim and Lu Tha is probably entirely fictitious, but it was still very brave of Anna and her young son to go to a place with such a different culture, and where they didn’t know anyone, and actually right into the heart of power.

All in all, this was a thoroughly enjoyable evening!

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – Lowry Theatre

This was a real treat, a much-needed pick-me-up in what’s been a pretty rotten week all round.   A lot of emphasis was put on the need to keep strong and hold on to hope, and on Lucy as the bringer of light, and I think that’s something we could all do with at the moment.  Actually, just to be pedantic, I think someone rather needs to brush up their Latin, given that “bringer/bearer of light” would be Lucifer rather than Lucy 🙂 , but it was a nice idea!   Interesting interpretation as well: as I understand it, the name Lucy was chosen purely because it was the name of C S Lewis’s goddaughter, but I do like the idea of connecting the character with the name’s literal meaning of “light” (lux).

Emphasis had also been put on the wartime context of the story.  The same thing was done with both the stage adaptation of Bedknobs and Broomsticks which I saw recently and the CBBC adaptation of Malory Towers, so it does seem to be a trend.  When C S Lewis wrote the book, publishers weren’t keen to have too much reference to the war in children’s books, in case it triggered painful memories, but I think it’s quite positive that that’s changing now – although purists will obviously prefer adaptations to stick as closely as possible to the book.  This was a musical, and we started off with a soldier singing “We’ll Meet Again” as the evacuees boarded their train.  And the good animals in Narnia were very much shown as a wartime resistance movement.  Mrs Beaver even told the Pevensies to listen very carefully because she’d say this only once!

Mr Beaver had been turned into a bit of a whingeing comedy figure who seemed to belong in Dad’s Army rather than ‘Allo ‘Allo, or indeed The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and Reepicheep only featured in passing and wasn’t even named, but you can’t do everything when you’re adapting a complex book for a 2 hour stage show.  They’d really done a very good job of it.  The actor and actress playing Edmund and Lucy were years too old, but I suppose you couldn’t really have little ones playing such big roles twice a day for weeks on end.

And it’d been Celtified.  The professor’s house had been relocated to Aberdeenshire.  I can’t remember the book giving any hints about where it was, but I’ve always assumed that it was somewhere in rural southern England, because kids weren’t usually evacuated too far from home.  Having said which, Mrs Macready does sound like she’s Scottish.  Most of the music sounded very Celtic, and there was a lot of dancing jigs!   We all associate C S Lewis so closely with Oxford that I suppose we tend to forget that he was actually from Belfast, with some Scottish ancestry: I’m not sure if that’s why the composers/choreographers Celtified it, but it worked very well.

I’m making it sound as if it was nothing like the book!   It was – the main elements of the story were all there.  Like a lot of people, I first read the book as a young child, and I’m not sure that you really take it all in at that age: there are some very powerful themes in there, and, of course, there’s been some controversy about them over the years.  But the main themes of sticking by your family and friends, of clinging on to hope, of courage, of fighting for what’s right and of good triumphing over evil are fairly universal in children’s books, and that very much came across in this adaptation.  And sticking together and not losing hope are themes that couldn’t be more relevant at the moment.  Love and best wishes to anyone reading this – stay safe x.

Bedknobs and Broomsticks – Palace Theatre, Manchester

Having seen the iconic 1971 film about a zillion times, not least because it was about the only video that my primary school possessed, I wasn’t sure how this was going to translate to the stage, but it really was very good.  Some new songs had been added in, but I think most people were waiting for the old favourites.   The Portobello Road scene was superb, and giving the MC fish in the Beautiful Briny Ballroom a Blackpool accent really was a very clever touch 🙂 .

They managed very well with the flying bed, but the animals’ football match was missed out, possibly because it would have been too difficult to show on stage.  This wasn’t a megabucks production like The Lion King, and a lot of it was done with puppets and or cast members coming on stage to spin motorbike wheels, hold things up etc – but it did work fine.   Great performances from all the cast, especially the children – they’re big parts for little ones.  Oh, but, before anyone asks, no, they did not include the infamous “What’s that got to do with my knob?” line.  Spoilsports!!

Unlike in the film, they did actually show the bombings, they spelt out the fact that the children’s parents had been killed in the Blitz, and we saw the eldest boy being very reluctant to go back to London.  I thought that that worked very well.  But no-one ever actually referred to the Nazis, just to “the enemy”; there was no mention of the professor joining the Home Guard; and, most bizarrely of all, we were suddenly informed at the end that the entire plot had been a product of the children’s imagination and that they were still waiting for Miss Price to collect them from the local evacuation co-ordinator.  I have no idea what that last bit was in aid of, so I shall just try to forget about it!  Other than that, it was very good.

This was my first visit to the theatre since February 2020.  I did book to go to the pantomime last year, but the Evil Tier restrictions meant that it got cancelled.  We were asked to show Covid passes at the door.  There’s been a lot of muttering about spot checks at football matches but I’ve never been checked yet, and I don’t know anyone who has, but everyone was asked at the theatre.  This is something that’s up to individual theatres.   It was a bit strange, but I was OK with it.  However, I wasn’t very impressed that only one in nine people (and, yes, I was sad enough to count) on the bus into town had a mask on, despite there being clear signs up saying “Please wear a face covering on board”.  Come on, folks, could we Do Our Bit, please?  It’s really not that much of a hassle to wear a mask on a local journey.  \lecture

Great to be back at the theatre, great to be seeing a brand new production, and great to hear some much-loved songs belted out on stage.  All in all, a very good night!