Amsterdam Pride…

Fabulous day at Amsterdam Pride. Colourful, bright, and full of excitement. We meet loads of people; chatting, laughing, & making mischief. 

Making memories. ❤️

Sister Act! The Musical @ Eventim Apollo…

Last night Stuart and I went to see all-singing, all-dancing glitzfest Sister Act! The Musical  at the Eventim Apollo in London’s glitzy Hammersmith. 

Starring Beverley Knight, Jennifer Saunders, and Lesley Joseph the show is a minor reworking (and great improvement) of the same show we saw at the London Palladium a few years back. 

Based on the smash-hit 1992 Whoopi Goldberg movie, Sister Act features a brand new score by eight time Oscar winner Alan Menken whose credits include Little Shop of Horrors, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid and my favourite The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

It’s a fun show. Silly, but fun. The songs are good - but perhaps not as memorable as some of Menken’s other shows.  

Knight was a power house with the lungs, the acting chops and the comedic timing to hold the show together.  Saunders was good of course but maybe not a natural singer. Joseph was as funny as we might hope - rapping and singing her heart out. 

Worth a trip to Hammersmith for sure. 

The Doll's House, Part 2 @ Donmar Warehouse "There is not much set, precious little plot; just four characters and a lot of conversation. Very Ibsen"

Last Friday night Stuart and I went to see The Doll's House, Part 2 at the Donmar Warehouse in London's glitzy West End.

 

Nora left Ibsen’s A Doll’s House at the end by the door.  And this is how she returns many years later now. She is after a divorce. But her family want some answers first.

 

Noma Dumezweni is a compelling lead in Lucas Hnath’s sequel, which is well drawn but a little too constrained.  There is not much set, precious little plot; just four characters and a lot of conversation.

 

That is to say, very Ibsen.

 

Wrong...

 People who are wrong are just as sure you are wrong as you are sure they are wrong.

The only difference is, they're wrong. 

ABBA Voyage #ABBA #ABBAVoyage "…familiar ABBA tunes were given a glorious make-over, extended, reworked, and (dare I say it) improved. I hope they all see the light of day as a 'live' ABBA Voyage album" Review ->

***SPOILERS (Obviously)***

 

Last night Tim, Andy, Jim, Darren, Stuart, and I went to see ABBA Voyage in London's glitzy Pudding Lane.

 

Starring the four members of ABBA reimagined and de-aged as near-perfect virtual avatars - both Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson looked spot on, Anni-Frid Lyngstad almost there, but Agnetha Fältskog was fairly deep into the 'uncanny valley' - we got to witness a high-octane show of fabulous hit after fabulous hit.

 

The ABBAtars were great, the staging also great, the lighting dazzling, but the sound, boy the sound, was superb. Being a purpose built venue, the designers had complete control over the acoustics. And they did a brilliant job.

 

The vocal performances were based I believe on many original recordings from the ABBA Wembley gig I saw in 1979, augmented with a live band and singers. Little Boots was waving and smiling from behind her keyboards.

 

Yes, the show certainly packed a punch musically.  Many familiar ABBA tunes were given a glorious make-over, extended, reworked, and (dare I say it) improved.  I hope they all see the light of day as a 'live' ABBA Voyage album.

 

The place housed 3,000 people and was a sell-out - 1,350 standing / dancing and 1,650 seated.  Hard to say who had the better view - but if you're short, go for the seats.  Nothing worse than having a tall person blocking your view.

 

My favourite bit:  Mamma Mia (great video show)

Another favourite bit: The disco trio back-to-back of Lay All Your Love on Me, Summer Night City, and Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)

 

 

ABBA Voyage setlist (90 mins, no interval)

 

Skallgång (Benny Andersson cover)

The Visitors

Hole in Your Soul [appearance of band]

SOS

Knowing Me, Knowing You [mainly video screens]

Chiquitita

Fernando

Mamma Mia [video screens]

Does Your Mother Know [gender swapped and sung mainly by the band]

Eagle [to a cartoon]

Lay All Your Love on Me

Summer Night City

Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)

Voulez-Vous [to the 2nd part of the cartoon]

When All Is Said and Done

Don't Shut Me Down

I Still Have Faith in You

Waterloo

Thank You for the Music

Dancing Queen [video clips]

The Winner Takes It All

 

Much Ado About Nothing @ Lyttelton Review ->

Last Thursday night Stuart and I went to see Shakespeare’s much-loved comedy of new beginnings, Much Ado About Nothing at the Lyttelton theatre on London’s glitzy South Bank.

 

Starring Katherine Parkinson (yes, her off of Home, I'm Darling and The IT Crowd) and John Heffernan (yes, him off of Dracula and She Stoops to Conquer) this version was light, fluffy, full of song and dance and set in the 1930s Italian Riviera.

 

Legendary family-run Hotel Messina has always been visited by artists, celebrities and royalty. When the current owner’s daughter falls for a dashing young soldier, the hallways are ringing with the sound of wedding bells. However, not all the guests are in the mood for love, and a string of deceptions soon surround not only the young couple, but also the steadfastly single Beatrice and Benedick.

 

The play was good, the production quite good, but as with many of Shakespeare's other comedies, just dragged on a bit too long. Three hours of mistaken identity and faux jeopardy did begin to wear somewhat.  The staging was great though and Parkinson and Heffernan were both in good form.

 

Maffa's 50th...

Last Saturday night Stuart and I had a fabulous time at Maffa's 50th birthday party down in glitzy Fareham.  All the crew where there.

 

Tonight we are going to see ABBA Voyage. But in 1979 I was lucky enough to see ABBA perform live. #AbbaVoyage #Abba

It was in early November at Wembley Arena. I went with my best mate from school Graham Piper who was even more of an ABBA nut than I was. 

 

We had written to Wembley Arena some time earlier applying for our two tickets; enclosing a postal order and a stamped self-address envelope. All very old school. 

 

If I remember correctly it was a dark Saturday night as we travelled up to London all by ourselves. There was a buzz in the air as we walked from the tube station. Lots of ABBA T-shirts. Some had obviously been to one (or more) of the shows earlier in the week. 

 

Just at the entrance we headed to one of the over-stuffed many merchandise stands. There I bought an ABBA scarf (bit flimsy), an ABBA soap on a rope (in a black picture box), and a second copy of ABBA: The Album (for some reason as I already had it). I clutched my ABBA booty to my chest as we moved to take our seats. 

 

 

Sitting near the front of the stalls in an aisle seat, row E, at 18 years old we were perhaps older than most.  There were mainly kids and their parents around us.  But we didn’t care.  We were here to see the best band in the world!

 

We loved the show. Although the sound wasn’t quite what we had heard on the records. Good though. 

 

ABBA were obviously enjoying themselves immensely too and the show was very slick. 

 

We heard all the hits, some of the new album tracks (they were promoting the disco tinged Voulez-Vous album), and a song we’d never heard before I’m Still Alive. 

 

Naturally a bunch of local school kids traipsed out on stage for I Have A Dream. Pah!

 

Sadly we weren’t allowed to stand/dance or take photos but the images of that night be be forever burned in my mind. 

 

The previous summer in 1978 while in Paris I had bought various ABBA singles that were only released in France (I think) not UK. They had picture covers. Eagle was my favourite. I actually bought two copies of it - one for playing and one for 'best’. I ended giving that second copy to Graham for his birthday the week after the Wembley gig as a thank you. He was overjoyed. Great memories. 

 

 

ABBA Set-list

 

Voulez-Vous

If It Wasn't for the Nights

As Good as New

Knowing Me, Knowing You

Rock Me

Not Bad at All (Tomas Ledin cover)

Chiquitita

Money, Money, Money

I Have a Dream

Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)

SOS

Fernando

The Name of the Game

Eagle

Thank You for the Music

Why Did It Have to Be Me?

Intermezzo No. 1

I'm Still Alive

Summer Night City

Take a Chance on Me

Does Your Mother Know

Hole in Your Soul

 

Encore:

The Way Old Friends Do

Dancing Queen

A Royal Day Out @ Buckingham Palace... Review ->

Yesterday Stuart and I went on a glitzy Royal Day Out snooping around glitzy Buckingham Palace in London's glitzy West End.

 

In our ongoing task of 'being a tourist in your own town' we knew we were going to eventually have to take the regal plunge.

 

The Summer Opening of Buckingham Palace is an annual event that normally attracts swarms of tourists - mainly foreigners, but lots of Brits too - to the Queen's big house.

 

And you know what? It was OK. A bit pricey. A bit of a bun fight. We were herded like sheep. But it was fun.

 

First up was The Queen's Gallery. The current exhibition is Japan: Courts and Culture, featuring some of the most significant examples of Japanese art and design from the Royal Collection. There were some nice pieces for sure.  Especially the armoury.

 

Then we visited The Royal Mews, which is probably one of the finest working stables in existence and responsible for all road travel arrangements for The Queen and members of the Royal Family. We saw some historic coaches and carriages, some cars, the new and very glitzy Diamond Jubilee State Coach, and of course the big old glitzy Gold State Coach.

 

Finally, we visited the magnificently glitzy State Rooms in Buckingham Palace itself. Used by The Queen for ceremonial occasions and official entertaining, each room is furnished with many of the treasures from the Royal Collection, including paintings by Rembrandt and Rubens; sculpture by Canova; and some of the finest English and French furniture in the world. 

 

The special display was the Platinum Jubilee: The Queen's Accession featuring the first official portraits of the young Queen and items of personal jewellery. Glitzy. Very glitzy.

 

Our day ended with a walk through the famous Buckingham Palace Garden, with splendid views of the Palace and the famous lake.

 

We were a bit glitzed out by the end.

Opening Ceremony of the London Olympics 2012…

10 years ago yesterday Stuart and I were lucky enough to go to the Opening Ceremony of the London Olympics 2012.  It was utterly amazing. Probably the most exciting thing we had ever seen. Like Playschool on acid.