Half Year Roundup

Wow, it felt like forever that I haven't updated my blog. I guess I got caught up with the exam and everything. Now that everything's done, I'm thinking of finding a topic to write about since I have reviewed all the shows I've seen this year.

Then I realized it's almost June alreay and 2011 is almost half-way already so I feel like it's a good time to look back on my musical experience this half-year so far. Since January 1st, I have watched a total of 12 musical productions (not counting the Cleopatra ballet) in London, Leeds, Manchester, (Old) York and New York. By this time last year, I think I only saw 5 shows so that was a big improvement. :)

Here are the list of the things I saw this half-year:
1st January - The Phantom of the Opera, London
23rd January - Direct from the West End concert, York
5th March - Billy Elliot: The Musical, London
23rd March - Joseph, Leeds
7th April - Catch Me If You Can, New York
8th April - Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark, New York
9th April - Company in Concert, New York
9th April - La Cage aux Folles, New York
10th April - Mary Poppins, New York
10th April - American Idiot, New York
27th April - The Lion King, London
2nd May - Ghost: The Musical, Manchester

New York seemed to be the main contributor of my musical experience this first half-year and I mean this year I've seen a lot of really impressive shows. I could only single out 2 or 3 shows to be on my disappointing list at the end of the year. Last year, there were a huge loads of them. As for favorite production, I'm still having a hard time deciding. I'll wait until the end of the year to make that final decision.

This year I got to visit and revisit some of West End's long-running shows like Phantom, Billy Elliot and Lion King. It was also great to be able to see the original cast of Catch Me If You Can and see the first version of Spider-Man before it closed. But outstanding show for me so far would be American Idiot with its energetic and powerful score and winning the ticket from a lottery wasn't too bad either! Company in Concert was also awesome. It was really good to be part of the sold-out audience and be able to be inside the Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center for once. The world premiere of Ghost: The Musical at Manchester Opera House was also quite a special treat for me and the stage effects and production design were simply superb.

Solidarity from Billy Elliot: The Musical

He Lives in You from The Lion King

Live in Living Color from Catch Me If You Can

Letterbomb by American Idiot's ladies

The full cast of Company in Concert

Caissie Levy and Richard Fleeshman during Here Right Now number
in Ghost: The Musical

Acting-wise, this year I've seen some really good acting and my list of favorite actors are growing really big. It's gonna be hard picking just one favorite. I started the year with John Owen-Jones as the Phantom and the guy never disappoints. Then once I'm on Broadway, I came across some really fine acting from the likes of Christopher Sieber and Harvey Fierstein in La Cage aux Folles, Gavin Lee in Mary Poppins and Van Hughes and Billie Joe Armstong in American Idiot.

My favourite Phantom: John Owen-Jones

Harvey Fierstein & Christopher Sieber in La Cage aux Folles

Gavin Lee in Mary Poppins

Van Hughes in American Idiot

The amazing Billie Joe Armstrong in American Idiot

On the other hand, the list on the girls side this year so far seem a lot shorter than the guys. My notable favorite ones definitely include Sharon D. Clarke in an absolutely fine portrayal of Oda Mae in Ghost, Ashley Brown in Mary Poppins and T.V. Carpio in Spider-Man.

Sharon D. Clarke in Ghost: The Musical

The Practically Perfect Mary Poppins portrayed by Ashley Brown

T.V. Carpio in Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark

Then we have the bad list and for the guys, I've listed quite a few. Oliver Eyre and Waylon Jacobs were understudying the roles of Raoul (in Phantom) and Simba (in The Lion King) and both performance fell a bit short of my expectation. Antony Hansen's performance at Direct from the West End was also a huge let down as well as Wilson Jermaine Heredia take on Jacob in La Cage aux Folles.

Antony Hansen seen here in his Any Dream Will Do days
was one of the guest performer at Direct from the West End

Wilson Jermaine Heredia in La Cage aux Folles

As for the girls, I only have 1 bad name so far and that is Jessie May in Direct from the West End. I hope I could find someone to compete with her in the second half of the year. Don't want her to win too easily.

Jessie May: The only one on my list for most disappointing female performer
for her performance in Direct from the West End

Surprisingly, this year I haven't been seeing too many understudies compared to last year so my favorite understudy list is pretty short. Outstanding mentions include Ben Thompson as Favorite Son in American Idiot and Cheryl Stern as Jacqueline in La Cage aux Folles.

Notable understudy: Ben Thompson as Favorite Son in American Idiot

Another notable understudy is Cheryl Stern (second from left) as Jacqueline in La Cage aux Folles

Then we have those scene-stealers and there were quite a few that I have listed out so far. Wendy Ferguson as Carlotta in Phantom was hilarious while Jeff Nicholson (as himself) in Direct from the West End were pretty funny too.

Wendy Ferguson

Jeff Nicholson

Then, I had my regrets of the year. I've missed Love Story on the West End which was a bummer and since Ghost Stories just announced that it's closing in June, I'll probably be missing that too. Then, there was the Elaine Paige in Concert in Manchester which I've got the ticket but really couldn't make it. Hope the list will stop here for this year..

Looking back to my theatre resolution, I think I'm doing pretty well. The shows I've already had tickets for (most of them thanks to LiveCard 2-for-1 offers) include:

The Sound of Music at the Grand Theatre, Leeds (with Jason Donovan)
Sister Act at the Opera House, Manchester
Legally Blonde at the Opera House, Manchester
and South Pacific at the Palace Theatre, Manchester which boasted a cast with original Broadway cast Paulo Szot and Loretta Ables Sayre with Samantha Womack and Daniel Koek.

Paulo Szot reprising his Tony Award winning role
as Emile de Becque in South Pacific

Also reprising her role as Bloody Mary in the UK Tour of South Pacific
is Loretta Ables Sayre

And there are still loads of new stuff that I want to see in the West End:
The Wizard of Oz, Shrek: The Musical, Lend Me a Tenor, Priscilla and Matilda (I'll definitely try to make it for the first two!)

And I have become interested in seeing some of the plays there too:
the critically acclaimed War Horse, The Railway Children which uses real steamtrain and plays at the Waterloo Station, and The "World's Longest-Running Play" Mousetrap

War Horse

And then there's always something at my home theatre in Leeds:
Footloose, Evita, Blood Brothers, Jekyll & Hyde (I really wanna see these two!) and newly announced Top Hat starring Summer Strallen.



It would be interesting to see Wet Wet Wet's frontman Marti Pellow
in the dual role of Jekyll and Hyde
though the review has been somewhat negative... :(



Tom Chambers and Summer Strallen star in Top Hat

I'm also quite keen on what they are going to do for Phantom of the Opera 25th anniversary concert at the Royal Albert Hall. It would be so cool to be able to be there and especially be inside the Albert Hall! I heard Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Boggess are going to be Phantom and Christine. (I wish it would be John Owen-Jones and Ramin can be Raoul though).

Well, I have 7 more months to go see more musicals (and some non-musicals) before I'm back to Thailand after I graduate in December. I'll make the most out of my time and check out my blog at the end of the year for My Best & Worst 2011!!