Post by RockAus on Jan 12, 2005 17:10:42 GMT 11
Okay you guys... here are the shows I saw on West End in April 2004. If you want to know anything else about them... or the people in them (if they were Australian, I chatted with them!!!), either ask on here or email me! 
OLEANNA - Starring Julia Stiles and Richard Eckhart[/u]
Okay so it's not a musical, but it deserved a mention... what a fabulous play! It's in three acts... the first act shows a student (Julia Stiles) in a private tutorial with her lecturer (Richard Eckhart) in which she gets most upset about her grade and the lecturer comforts her. In the second act, the student has made a formal complaint about the lecturers behaviour claiming that he sexually assaulted her when he put his arms around her to comfort her, he gets quite frustrated with her at this point and becomes verbally abusive. In the third act, the student has complained about the constant abuse from the lecturer and he ends up physically hurting her. The play is rather wordy. and more about the actors 'form' than about what is actually going on. It's also quite thought provoking, in that you wonder whether the lecturer becomes a product of the students complaints or whether her complaints were legitimate. Ultimately the play was wonderful for the most part due to the brilliant acting rather than for its writing, it would fail badly if it had bad actors in it. The set was very simple, yet on a slight slant, which was odd to watch. All in all I give it 4*'s... for the performers, 3*'s for the writing and 3* for the set design!
We Will Rock You - starring Australia's own MiG Ayesa![/u]
WOW WOW WOW! What a cast! What a show! I NEVER thought I'd say this, but I actually enjoyed the show more than the Australian production!!! MiG Ayesa is BRILLIANT as Galileo, he's the best I've seen so far! He delivers his lines both naturally and comically at the same time. Their Scaramouche, Hannah Fox, is beyond words, she is a fabulous singer and actor, and had me in STITCHES she was so funny. Their Meat (our Oz) had a brilliant voice, but she did the character in a scottish accent which just didn't work for me, I struggled to understand her. Their Kashoggi wasn't nearly as good as Ross, but he was still okay. Brit was brilliant. Their Killer Queen --- WOW! I love Annie Crummer, but this woman was definately as good as her!!! SHE WAS FABULOUS!!! I'd love to see her and Annie do a duet, because it would GO OFF! The rest of their cast is also very very good, they have taken the Australian Choreography and they’re a little unsure of it, but aside from that, the ensemble is AMAZING also! J All in all, a Fabulous show. I give it 5* for the performers, 4*’s for the writing and 5* for set and costume design… oh also as a little side note, I got to meet Ben Elton after the show one night in a bar…he LOVES the Aussie cast and thinks that they’re absolutely awesome…however he also says that Mig is the best Galileo he’s ever seen and it’s a shame his homeland doesn’t see him in the role!!!
Tonight’s The Night- starring Tim Howar[/u]
Okay so the thought of a musical with all Rod Stewart songs had me a bit dubious from the start, and I wish that I could say that I was blown away by the show, but I just can’t unfortunately! The cast is generally very good… I was lucky enough to see Thern Reynolds (Chicago, RENT, 42nd St, Grease, Boy From Oz…. You name it he’s done it back home!) as Rocky… and let me tell you that he and Tim Howar were the only people that held this show together. The other singers whilst very strong, weren’t anything really to write home about… It’s a very ‘sexy’ show, as you would expect any show about Rod Stewart to be, however the story is actually quite weak… it is basically the story of a young shy ‘nothing’ wanting to be as sexy as ‘Rod Stewart’ in order to win the love of a girl, and so he sells his soul to Satan for Rod Stewart’s soul… ya get the drift on why this just doesn’t work? Having said that there are some very funny lines which you would expect from a Ben Elton show, but it shows that he took 3 years to write We Will Rock You and only about 3 months to write this one… I don’t know if that timeline is correct, but that’s what one of the We Will Rock You guys told me when I said I’d seen Tonight’s the Night. Overall, I’m glad I saw the show, because Thern and Tim were BRILLIANT but I wouldn’t see it again, unless Thern perhaps gets the lead role when they bring it to Australia, and then I’ll be there with bells on! J Okay so I give Thern and Tim 5*’s, the rest of the cast 3*’s , the story 2*’s and the set and costume design 3*’s.
FAME the musical[/u]
Oh Dear… this show was HIDEOUS! Okay, so the story in Australia was bad, even with the Australian rewrite, but the brilliant cast, set, choreography and costumes made up for it! West End production has none of this…not even the rewrite! IT WAS HIDEOUS! I would have walked out and demanded my money back if it hadn’t only been 9 pounds to see the show! Really seriously bad! Firstly, they have no separation from the acting, music and dance students…all the students are in every class, which is ridiculous… aside from Miss Sherman, the rest of the cast were more than average singers and actors…and their Joe Vegas was AWFUL! He looked about 40 years old and he didn’t have a funny bone in his body! I can’t believe just how bad this production was…it was like watching an amateur performance! I’ll give the cast 2*’s, the story 1* and the set and costume design (which were both extremely dull) 1* also… all in all… DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY SEEING THIS ONE!!!
OLEANNA - Starring Julia Stiles and Richard Eckhart[/u]
Okay so it's not a musical, but it deserved a mention... what a fabulous play! It's in three acts... the first act shows a student (Julia Stiles) in a private tutorial with her lecturer (Richard Eckhart) in which she gets most upset about her grade and the lecturer comforts her. In the second act, the student has made a formal complaint about the lecturers behaviour claiming that he sexually assaulted her when he put his arms around her to comfort her, he gets quite frustrated with her at this point and becomes verbally abusive. In the third act, the student has complained about the constant abuse from the lecturer and he ends up physically hurting her. The play is rather wordy. and more about the actors 'form' than about what is actually going on. It's also quite thought provoking, in that you wonder whether the lecturer becomes a product of the students complaints or whether her complaints were legitimate. Ultimately the play was wonderful for the most part due to the brilliant acting rather than for its writing, it would fail badly if it had bad actors in it. The set was very simple, yet on a slight slant, which was odd to watch. All in all I give it 4*'s... for the performers, 3*'s for the writing and 3* for the set design!
We Will Rock You - starring Australia's own MiG Ayesa![/u]
WOW WOW WOW! What a cast! What a show! I NEVER thought I'd say this, but I actually enjoyed the show more than the Australian production!!! MiG Ayesa is BRILLIANT as Galileo, he's the best I've seen so far! He delivers his lines both naturally and comically at the same time. Their Scaramouche, Hannah Fox, is beyond words, she is a fabulous singer and actor, and had me in STITCHES she was so funny. Their Meat (our Oz) had a brilliant voice, but she did the character in a scottish accent which just didn't work for me, I struggled to understand her. Their Kashoggi wasn't nearly as good as Ross, but he was still okay. Brit was brilliant. Their Killer Queen --- WOW! I love Annie Crummer, but this woman was definately as good as her!!! SHE WAS FABULOUS!!! I'd love to see her and Annie do a duet, because it would GO OFF! The rest of their cast is also very very good, they have taken the Australian Choreography and they’re a little unsure of it, but aside from that, the ensemble is AMAZING also! J All in all, a Fabulous show. I give it 5* for the performers, 4*’s for the writing and 5* for set and costume design… oh also as a little side note, I got to meet Ben Elton after the show one night in a bar…he LOVES the Aussie cast and thinks that they’re absolutely awesome…however he also says that Mig is the best Galileo he’s ever seen and it’s a shame his homeland doesn’t see him in the role!!!
Tonight’s The Night- starring Tim Howar[/u]
Okay so the thought of a musical with all Rod Stewart songs had me a bit dubious from the start, and I wish that I could say that I was blown away by the show, but I just can’t unfortunately! The cast is generally very good… I was lucky enough to see Thern Reynolds (Chicago, RENT, 42nd St, Grease, Boy From Oz…. You name it he’s done it back home!) as Rocky… and let me tell you that he and Tim Howar were the only people that held this show together. The other singers whilst very strong, weren’t anything really to write home about… It’s a very ‘sexy’ show, as you would expect any show about Rod Stewart to be, however the story is actually quite weak… it is basically the story of a young shy ‘nothing’ wanting to be as sexy as ‘Rod Stewart’ in order to win the love of a girl, and so he sells his soul to Satan for Rod Stewart’s soul… ya get the drift on why this just doesn’t work? Having said that there are some very funny lines which you would expect from a Ben Elton show, but it shows that he took 3 years to write We Will Rock You and only about 3 months to write this one… I don’t know if that timeline is correct, but that’s what one of the We Will Rock You guys told me when I said I’d seen Tonight’s the Night. Overall, I’m glad I saw the show, because Thern and Tim were BRILLIANT but I wouldn’t see it again, unless Thern perhaps gets the lead role when they bring it to Australia, and then I’ll be there with bells on! J Okay so I give Thern and Tim 5*’s, the rest of the cast 3*’s , the story 2*’s and the set and costume design 3*’s.
FAME the musical[/u]
Oh Dear… this show was HIDEOUS! Okay, so the story in Australia was bad, even with the Australian rewrite, but the brilliant cast, set, choreography and costumes made up for it! West End production has none of this…not even the rewrite! IT WAS HIDEOUS! I would have walked out and demanded my money back if it hadn’t only been 9 pounds to see the show! Really seriously bad! Firstly, they have no separation from the acting, music and dance students…all the students are in every class, which is ridiculous… aside from Miss Sherman, the rest of the cast were more than average singers and actors…and their Joe Vegas was AWFUL! He looked about 40 years old and he didn’t have a funny bone in his body! I can’t believe just how bad this production was…it was like watching an amateur performance! I’ll give the cast 2*’s, the story 1* and the set and costume design (which were both extremely dull) 1* also… all in all… DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY SEEING THIS ONE!!!
