Scissor Sisters - Magic Hour

Since I'm not going to see anything for a while I thought I'd do this.

In an ideal, yet impossible world, a new album by your favorite band would be exactly the same and freshly different at the same time. It's probably fair to say that the Scissor Sisters are my favorite band so their new album, from a personal view, is the most eagerly anticipated release of 2012. A new album from them is preceded with a sense of excitement tinged with a little bit of dread; it's going to be too much of a departure or maybe too samey, that kind of thing. Coming only two years after their last album, which by contrast followed a four year gap, the worry is that it was too rushed. The input from Calvin Harris also brings worries of 'stunt collaborations'. The album opens with Baby Come Home, the second single, which is clearly the most recognisably Scissor Sisters' song. If there's anything wrong with this album it's that there is no clear musical style running through it. There's the pseudo rap of 'Shady Love', Ibiza anthem-like 'Only the Horses', calypso-styled 'San Louis Obispo' and the sort-of Will Powers-like, Ana Matronic-led bizarre brilliance of 'Let's Have a Kiki'. I think 'Year of Living Dangerously' is the song that most recalls their first album, in particular 'Laura' and Return to Oz' (which I love). I n short there were some tracks, on first listen, that I didn't give much thought about but I'm sure on my second or third listen to the album I'll love it all; after all, I loved their 2nd album which was critically their weakest.

Who's Afraid of Rachel Roberts?

Torch Theatre Company's production of Who's Afraid of Rachel Roberts at Cardiff's Sherman Theatre.

All I really knew about the actress Rachel Roberts was that she was Welsh and she committed suicide in a terrible way. I knew she had acted in 60s 'kitchen sink' dramas but was unaware she was Oscar nominated for This Sporting Life and I didn't even know she was married to Rex Harrison. The only film I'd seen her in was Murder on the Orient Express, where she played a Teutonic, Countess's maid (where she reminds me of my GCSE Art teacher, but that's another story), a character part near the end of her career... and life.

Roberts was born in 1927; the daughter of a Welsh minister, who she adored, and a mother who rejected her at birth. She studied at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, became a BAFTA winner and an Oscar nominee but she more-or-less gave up acting to become a wife to Harrison, who called her Academy Award nominated part “a grubby role in a squalid film.” She failed to revive her stalled career in the 1970s, mainly acting in supporting roles, although the decade provided her with critical success, as the authoritarian head teacher of a Victorian girls' school in Picnic at Hanging Rock, and her third British Academy Film Award. In 1980, after discovering Rex Harrison had remarried, Roberts attempted suicide, for the fourth time, by swallowing barbiturates, and in a final act of tragedy she drank a caustic substance which propelled her through a decorative glass partition.

The play doesn't dwell on this although it is clear that it takes place on the day of her death, she kept her diary right up until the day she died; and she refers to her BAFTAs as awards for her suicide attempt.For the most part the play balances along the line between funny and tragic with Roberts relating high points of her life and marriage and changing to depression at the flick of a switch, traveling through comedic points to vulgarity back to comedy of her 'hellraising' ways; a particular example of this involving a dog at a Hollywood party (I shall say no more). Richards Burton and Harris are remembered as legends for their hellraising activities at the glitzy parties but maybe the same isn't thought of female hellraisers, maybe because, dare I say it, it just isn't ladylike? I suppose these days Roberts would be diagnosed as being bipolar.

Actress and co-writer Helen Griffin. Photo © http://www.torchtheatre.co.uk

Helen Griffin, another BAFTA winning Welsh actress plays Rachel Roberts and co-wrote this one woman play. She doesn't really look that much like her subject and as there is not much archive footage of Roberts on chat shows; the tapes of an infamous appearance on The Russel Harty show were destroyed; there is not that much footage of the real woman to compare her too, but that doesn't really matter. It is clear why Griffin won her BAFTA, and she portrays not only the dark side of Roberts but the fact that she really was actually a good actress. It takes a good actress to in turn portray another good actress, it also takes an excellent actress to switch back and forth between comedy and tragedy like she did for the majority of the performance. For a life so troubled this one-woman-play turned out to be (perhaps somewhat unexpectedly) entertaining, not at least due to the exceptional performance of Griffin!

(Lack of) Theatre etiquette!

 The theatre would be a wonderful place if it wasn't for the rest of the audience!

I remember when these were only 20p, between then and now they went up to 50p and their current price - one pound?! 27 isn't old but plenty of things annoy me these days... God help me when I am a grumpy old man!
I'm not even sure that anyone uses the binoculars anymore. That being said, I still wouldn't like to see them disappear; that one of the negatives about the WMC, they don't have them but they could really do with them, if sitting in the Upper Circle your so high up the actors might as well be ants!
Phones going off; people talking; eating, with the constant rustle of packets. When I went to see Emmylou Harris the man sitting next to me just ate a bag of crisps through the whole thing! Drinking, cans mainly, I don't mind people drinking from bottles (e.g. water) as you can't really make much noise that way, a can is really quite loud, but there was someone with a can of Fosters when I went to see Murder on The Nile - just because you're sitting in the upper circle doesn't mean you can act like it's a pub! Also, when someone gets slapped in a play don't loudly go "Oooohhhh!", unless you're watching a panto, in that case you can make all the noise you want because I wont be in the audience! I would of thought you're not allowed to take stuff like that in the auditorium with you. But I suppose what mainly annoys me is people coughing, why do the always seem to wait until the quietest moments; a dramatic scene ends, dramatic pause - and then someone coughs and then it seems to begin a spate of coughs, like a cacophony of bronchial dominoes! Slightly less annoying, and a more pointless annoyance, is people dressing like tramps, I was once incredulous when seated behind a man in a football shirt! I'm not saying dress up, but have some sort of sartorial self respect.

I'm assuming this is all down to my imagined, romantic nostalgia. I don't remember the days when people used to dress up to go to the theatre, the irony being that if I was born in that era I probably wouldn't be able to go to the theatre as often as I do. I wish people dressed up these days, but it's not as if the majority of audience are dressed like scruffs. I at least I'm keeping my end up, style-wise... I wore a nice jumper anyway(!)

'Smash'! (But is it...?)

The initially camp start (glittery dress, Over the Rainbow) is cut short with one auditionee ushered out and the next one in getting her arse perved at –  the ‘we are not Glee’ message couldn’t have been clearer if it was flashed up onscreen. This is further put across with the introduction of all the grown up characters and their grown up problems, Debrah Messing’s character and her husband are trying to adopt added to her job as the musical's co-writer causes friction in their marriage; an aspiring actress with parent issues; a veteran chorus girl.

I must admit I’m getting a bit bored of Glee, I find myself fast-forwarding through a lot of the singing, and due to the fact half the characters will be leaving soon I might stop watching it. I had high hopes for this, especially because Anjelica Huston is in it (with the same hairstyle as she sported in The Witches) ... and Bernadette Peters! As I thought she would Huston steals the show, simply by walking down a corridor! I wasn’t too excited about Jack Davenport involvement though, I was never a fan of ‘Coupling’ and I’d go as far to say he is the least memorable of ‘This Life’. I just couldn't see it myself "Really, Jack Davenport in a musical drama series playing a sleazy Bob Fosse type? A choreographer!?" He seems to do sleaze well at least... The first dance rehearsal/number took
But it isn't Glee, most of 'musical' scenes in that are played to the other characters, singing cover songs; Smash has original songs and the of the pilot ended with a character walking down a New York street belting out a tune! Well if that's not musical I don't know what is. I read a review that said it's got more in common with Dennis Potter than anything else; as I studied The Singing Detective in Uni I am looking forward to these similarities showing through. . . Maybe I'm too old for Glee now anyway! Besides, Sky Atlantic hasn't disappointed my so far.
. . .

The most surprising thing about this new series is the fact A. A.Gill, writing in The Sunday Times' Culture, seems to actually like it!

Agatha Christie's Murder on the Nile

If you're going to see Murder on the Nile it would be best to have no previous knowledge of the original source whatsoever. Agatha Christie based this play on her novel Death on the Nile, albeit without the inclusion of her most famous creation - Hercule Poirot; the author was apparently tired of the Belgian sleuth. I didn't 'not enjoy' this play but I think I am too familiar with the subject, I love Agatha Christie's Poirot and I had read the book and have seen the film version several times along with the ITV version, so I knew who did it from the very beginning - unfortunately this meant there was no mystery! Also, I think I'm spoilt with these plays, the first 'Agatha Christie Theatre Company' production I saw was Witness for the Prosecution (loved the film, only saw it once) and then Verdict which I was completely unfamiliar with, my unfamiliarity meant I enjoyed them much more. So I spent most of the first half trying to figure out who the characters were in relation to the original novel. Dennis Lill played Cannon Pennefather who was the 'Hercule Poirot' part and the main three characters were changed in name only. As with Elize du Toit in Verdict I unfortunately didn't think much of Susie Amy's acting, luckily for me she was only in a third of the first act... then gets murdered. I think I again was spoilt because the first actress I saw in a Christie play was Honeysuckle Weeks who I've been a fan of ever since BBC1's 'Goggle Eyes'.

It was obviously Kate O'Mara (left) who was going to, and did, steal the show. Her character was a combination of Bette Davis and (Dame) Angela Lansbury's characters (in the 1978 film) and she got to say the funny lines, as funny as anything Maggie Smith gets to say in Downton Abbey - when explained to that her velvet scarf was used in the murder she replies with haughty "how impertinent!". The rest of the cast, as usual with the Agatha Christie Theatre Company, were excellent! The set was also very impressive, with all the ACTC productions I have seen the sets have been suitably evocative.

As this play was just over 2 hours long, and less characters, there was not enough time for the famous Christie elements - the suspect questioning; the general sleuthing, and the finale 'drawing-room exposition' where Poirot would gather together all the suspects and explains in detail who, how, and why! As a fan of all things Agatha Christie I was disappointed with how little I enjoyed this but at the same time, paradoxically, as a lover of all things Agatha Christie I loved it!

                                                                         

This was the first time that I sat in the upper circle of Cardiff's New Theatre and possibly the last, although they are refurbishing it and having new seats - the current ones are uncomfortable and if you are below average height (short) and you sit in the front row there's a big brass handrail... right in my eye-line... I am short, I wonder if it's the same for average heighted people?

These are the upper circle seats and although they are not particularly comfortable I really love them. I don't think I'd sit there again, I don't know if it was these or the Arriva trains seats that made my back ache, leaning forward to look over the handrail couldn't have helped though. The New Theatre are selling these seats. I. Would. Love. One!! If I could I would buy one. How cooool to own a piece of the New Theatre and history, someone would've sat in them watching Shirley Bassey... I don't actually know if Shirl ever played there, she probably did... Someone would have sat there watching La Dietrich! Now I know for sure she was there!

http://www.newtheatrecardiff.co.uk/new-seats-scheme/

                                        

p.s.  Please! Readers, feel free to comment. I'm paranoid that nobody actually reads this, just spambots and automatic website robots! (I failed my A Level IT and don't know what they're called!)

The Olivier Awards 2012

It's that time of year again, the Tonys (or The Oscars) of the West End... Tonys named after Antoinette Perry, at least people still know the name Laurence Olivier and who he was, although I'm not really typical of people my age. Anyway, this year was the second time the Olivier Awards have been broadcast and anyone who watched last year's coverage could not disagree that it was a complete disaster - every 5minutes the TV broadcast was interrupted to go to the radio coverage, which meant watching two middle-aged men in a small room talking about the last award given out; two Americans, Paul Gambaccini and some unknown, and as someone said on Twitter no coverage of American awards would have two Unknown British journalists talking about Broadway! Not even the appearance of Angela Lansbury could save it!
So compared to last year this year's coverage, again on the BBC Red Button and Radio 2, presented by Ken Bruce, seemed like a vast improvement! There were some technical difficulties but when the picture failed I turned on the radio and listened to that until the problem was fixed; there were also a few minor sound issues but other than that the coverage was the complete opposite of last year's - uninterrupted! This meant not only did we get to see the presentation of the awards but also the performances from the shows nominated Best Musical Revival and Best New Musical, my favorite of these were Sharon D Clarke performing "I'm Outta Here" from Ghost the Musical (amazing voice, why she's never made an album I don't know!) and Sarah Lancashire performing "Nobody" from Betty Blue Eyes, I'm rather disappointed that didn't have a longer run, I wouldn't have minded seeing that... it had an animatronic pig voiced by Kylie Minogue for God sake!
Living where I do means I don't get to see much of these shows that get the awards, I have been to London to see something every year since 2009 but the awards have only been broadcast twice in their 36 years so I wasn't aware of the winners in previous years. I haven't seen any of this years but to be honest, as i previously said, the only would I did fancy seeing has finished with a rather short run. That being said it was a good chance to see some musical numbers from current shows. I am surprised that the Young Vic's production of Hamlet starring Michael Sheen was up for anything, maybe it's because it wasn't strictly in the 'West End'? I'm pretty sure I'll be seeing one of next year's winning shows though, Sweeney Todd is bound to win something, best actor for Mr Ball or actress for Ms Staunton. Incidentally I am loving the double act of Micheal Ball and Imelda Staunton presenting for the second year in a row, I hope if they continue broadcasting it these two will present a few more! Maybe in a few years it will be off the Red Button and on normal telly.

An Inspector Calls!

Firstly, I didn't do the play at school, I think only the top set English class did it and I was disappointed when I wasn't allowed to go with them when they went to see it, the same thing happened when the drama class went to see The Mousetrap, that was a several years ago now and I'm finally getting to see both this year.

So, I thought Blood Brothers was the most nihilistic evening in the theatre but Stepehen Daldry's production of J.B Priestley's play certainly tops that, imagine if Willie Russell had written Downton Abbey! That was my idea of An Inspector Calls.
It's not exactly a straightforward play and it seems that there are different interpretations of it. It's part drawing-room thriller; Christie-style whodunnit, social morality play and class satire. Similarly the themes can also be down to individual interpretation, guilt, class divide, morality, socialism vs capitalism, even the pliability of youthful politics?; and I was left with questions, that was probably the point, who or what was the Inspector? I noticed the similarity between the name Goole and 'ghoul'.
As for the acting, every actor had the dramatic chops for their parts, but it's Tom Mannion's (familiar from regular TV appearances) Inspector as the lynchpin of the piece. Kelly Hotten and Henry Gilbett as the 'children' of the are the characters who change the most, spoilt and selfish to begin with they end up the characters the audience care about.
The set could be considered to be the other character, a Dali-esque dollhouse of a 'building' on stilts that means, if sitting in the stalls, you have to literally (but not socially) have to look up to the Birlings and they look down (literally and socially) on a cobbled street. The house plays it's part towards the end of the play when the Birlings situation dramatically alters. Although set in 1912 it occupies three time zones: 1945, when it was written (the street set and silent characters' wartime costumes) and the present (the Inspector's final speech to the audience, with the house lights up). With all that's going on socially, politically and economically in real life An Inspector Calls is just as relevant now as it was then (1912) and then (1945)!