Our love and admiration for Drew Sarich reignited, we hereby share a few of our favouritest songs which sadly we are unable to sing along to. We do try though, be warned.
A few little reasons to be bilingual.....
NO IDEA WHAT'S GOING ON.... DO WE CARE? (That'll be a no then...)
WE'RE GUESSING THE BOOK IS IMPORTANT TO THE PLOT.....
ANGUISH WITH SUBTITLES... (known forever to us as "The German Song")
DRACULA - HA - HA.....
AW.(We really wish we had seen this....)
We don`t speak German.
But we do speak Drew, and would listen to him sing the phone book. Backwards.
However, for all lovers of the English language.....(we know we have posted a couple of these before, but we are in a Drew kind of place at the moment. We make no apologies. It will pass. Eventually.)
OUT THERE
WITH KERMIT. HUH?
...or maybe not. We have it bad. Officially.
Saturday, 30 April 2011
Friday, 29 April 2011
Jersey Heads.
What? Jersey Boys
Where? Prince Edward Theatre, London
When? Wednesday 20th April 2011.
Well, well, well. We have just read back our New Year post on our planned show viewings for 2011, and you know what? We ain't doing too bad for 2 skint fairies! So far, we have seen: Love Never Dies, (no surprise there...), The Lion King, Chess, Jersey Boys and continental Drew. We are all booked up for Sweeney Todd in September, and Much Ado in May and cant't friggin' wait. An evening with Josh Groban awaits us in October. If that were't enough, we also went to 2 unplanned award shows. Yay!
So, not too shabby. Admittedly, we do search high and low for our tickets (All credit to Tamsin here - she is Queen of bargain hunting and research - Karina), wee bargain hunters that we are, and if we will insist on theatre visits to the continent which involve planes, hotels and spending money, we must economise in other ways. We therefore firmly blame Drew Sarich (sigh) for the fact that we were forced to endure the restricted view £20 front row seats for our inaugural visit to Jersey Boys. (Last mention of the Sarich-God in this post, honest. Well, maybe.) Big girls really do cry...
So. Jersey Boys.
We had heard tell of the legendary JB front row, and if we are completely honest, it put us off. Images of ladies of a certain age clutching JB carrier bags and singing along to 60s hits intimidated us slightly, as did the strange woman who tried to befriend us in the scariest way possible at last years West End Live, whilst simultaneously dancing enthusiastically to the boys in the sparkly suits. The nice woman in the box office was concerned we may not know these seats were restricted view.... but we assured her we had gone for them deliberately on economic grounds. There's a recession on you know.
Her concern was justified. The seats are RIDICULOUS. Good for leg room though. We fairies are different heights ranging from 5'2 to 5'8 but found the view (or lack of) equally hilarious. There is nowt quite like looking up the nostrils of a West End leading man to set us off. Rest assured, we were well behaved........we always are.
We have experienced too many of the horrors to be found here
http://www.whatsonstage.com/board/index.php?/topic/22065-bad-behaviour-at-a-show/ to be otherwise.
But it took monumental willpower. Such is the giggle potential of watching a show where for at least 70% of it you can see either:
a) Nothing or
b) 4 jiggling hairdos.
For the other 30% , and at the other extreme we were sharing the spotlight with the performers. Sadly this was probably the closest either of us will get to the West End Stage, so we should have made the most of it, but we found ourselves sinking further down in our seats instead of embracing our close ups.
A missed opportunity? Possibly.
The hits came thick and fast. 'Sherry', Big Girls Don't Cry', 'Walk Like a Man' (we luuuurve the little dance moves and head wiggles to this one!), 'December 1963', 'Beggin''...the temptation WAS there to sing along...! BUT. This musical is surprisingly wordy. Some would say verbose. So much dialogue! And, in our humble fairy opinion, to the detriment of the songs. We wanted to hear good, lengthy songs, not constant chopping and changing. Not helped, granted, by the fact that we had to fill in the blanks and sometimes the context of the songs/dialogue was lost on us because we COULDN'T SEE THE BLOODY STAGE. And then, frequently, when we did get a glimpse of the action, it was of an actors back. They spent a lot of time with their backs to the audience...! Grumble over.
The cast. All four leads did well, Jon Boydon was particularly good as he played the role of Tommy DeVito as an arrogrant, slightly unlikable sod, but who still kind of had the best interests of the group at heart...or did he...? Ryan Molloy does the required high singing well. Eugene McCoy was lovely, as was Matthew Wycliffe. Our favourite was Wayne Smith (Bob Crewe), whom we know as Baby Pharoah who was marvellously camp. And has a great nose. In all honesty, it's difficult to really comment in more detail on the cast because they sounded good (and looked good when we did see them and weren't blinded by spotlights) but we were concentrating so hard on not getting permanent nerve damage in our necks we don't think we experienced the show at it's best. It was enjoyable though.
We would have joined in the standing ovation had it not meant our faces being directly opposite (and about 5" away) from the four leading mens groins. We're not prudes but it didn't feel appropriate. We figured we might try to see the show again but further, much further back. And maybe then we can write a proper review without having to mention counting nostril hairs or singing wigs.
Where? Prince Edward Theatre, London
When? Wednesday 20th April 2011.
Well, well, well. We have just read back our New Year post on our planned show viewings for 2011, and you know what? We ain't doing too bad for 2 skint fairies! So far, we have seen: Love Never Dies, (no surprise there...), The Lion King, Chess, Jersey Boys and continental Drew. We are all booked up for Sweeney Todd in September, and Much Ado in May and cant't friggin' wait. An evening with Josh Groban awaits us in October. If that were't enough, we also went to 2 unplanned award shows. Yay!
So, not too shabby. Admittedly, we do search high and low for our tickets (All credit to Tamsin here - she is Queen of bargain hunting and research - Karina), wee bargain hunters that we are, and if we will insist on theatre visits to the continent which involve planes, hotels and spending money, we must economise in other ways. We therefore firmly blame Drew Sarich (sigh) for the fact that we were forced to endure the restricted view £20 front row seats for our inaugural visit to Jersey Boys. (Last mention of the Sarich-God in this post, honest. Well, maybe.) Big girls really do cry...
So. Jersey Boys.
We had heard tell of the legendary JB front row, and if we are completely honest, it put us off. Images of ladies of a certain age clutching JB carrier bags and singing along to 60s hits intimidated us slightly, as did the strange woman who tried to befriend us in the scariest way possible at last years West End Live, whilst simultaneously dancing enthusiastically to the boys in the sparkly suits. The nice woman in the box office was concerned we may not know these seats were restricted view.... but we assured her we had gone for them deliberately on economic grounds. There's a recession on you know.
Her concern was justified. The seats are RIDICULOUS. Good for leg room though. We fairies are different heights ranging from 5'2 to 5'8 but found the view (or lack of) equally hilarious. There is nowt quite like looking up the nostrils of a West End leading man to set us off. Rest assured, we were well behaved........we always are.
We have experienced too many of the horrors to be found here
http://www.whatsonstage.com/board/index.php?/topic/22065-bad-behaviour-at-a-show/ to be otherwise.
But it took monumental willpower. Such is the giggle potential of watching a show where for at least 70% of it you can see either:
a) Nothing or
b) 4 jiggling hairdos.
For the other 30% , and at the other extreme we were sharing the spotlight with the performers. Sadly this was probably the closest either of us will get to the West End Stage, so we should have made the most of it, but we found ourselves sinking further down in our seats instead of embracing our close ups.
A missed opportunity? Possibly.
The hits came thick and fast. 'Sherry', Big Girls Don't Cry', 'Walk Like a Man' (we luuuurve the little dance moves and head wiggles to this one!), 'December 1963', 'Beggin''...the temptation WAS there to sing along...! BUT. This musical is surprisingly wordy. Some would say verbose. So much dialogue! And, in our humble fairy opinion, to the detriment of the songs. We wanted to hear good, lengthy songs, not constant chopping and changing. Not helped, granted, by the fact that we had to fill in the blanks and sometimes the context of the songs/dialogue was lost on us because we COULDN'T SEE THE BLOODY STAGE. And then, frequently, when we did get a glimpse of the action, it was of an actors back. They spent a lot of time with their backs to the audience...! Grumble over.
The cast. All four leads did well, Jon Boydon was particularly good as he played the role of Tommy DeVito as an arrogrant, slightly unlikable sod, but who still kind of had the best interests of the group at heart...or did he...? Ryan Molloy does the required high singing well. Eugene McCoy was lovely, as was Matthew Wycliffe. Our favourite was Wayne Smith (Bob Crewe), whom we know as Baby Pharoah who was marvellously camp. And has a great nose. In all honesty, it's difficult to really comment in more detail on the cast because they sounded good (and looked good when we did see them and weren't blinded by spotlights) but we were concentrating so hard on not getting permanent nerve damage in our necks we don't think we experienced the show at it's best. It was enjoyable though.
We would have joined in the standing ovation had it not meant our faces being directly opposite (and about 5" away) from the four leading mens groins. We're not prudes but it didn't feel appropriate. We figured we might try to see the show again but further, much further back. And maybe then we can write a proper review without having to mention counting nostril hairs or singing wigs.
Jesus Christ Superstar - Vienna (Ronacher) style
What: Jesus Christ Superstar
When: 21st and 23rd April 2011
Where: Ronacher Theatre, Vienna
WARNING (two posts, two warnings...we're doing well...): Readers prone to allergic rashes from overt gushing may need to stop reading now (or go take an antihistamine in preparation)
We finally made it.
We got to Vienna.
And lost our hearts to Drew Sarich all over again.
It isn't often us fairies are rendered speechless and incapable of simple everyday tasks such as thinking, blinking and breathing, but that's exactly what happened to us on Austrian soil. We wouldn't have had it any other way though. Drew Sarich was, if even humanly possible, better than we had ever heard him before. But more about that heart breaker in a moment - we need to start from the beginning...
Our first view of Vienna was in the glorious sunshine, and for the entire time we were there we didn't have a cloudy day. Vienna is gorgeous; beautiful, relaxed, stylish and sophisticated, and we managed to immerse ourselves in the cafe culture in TF style. We shopped, we drank, we ate ice cream, schnitzel, sausages and strudel. We tried to speak German, but gave up swiftly after one too many episodes of continually mixing up our please and thank yous like complete eejits. Still, we managed to get around and found the Ronacher Theatre with relative ease - we like to be prepared. Imagine, Tamsin doing her usual over-optimistic journey scheduling and us missing THE MAIN EVENT. Shudder. Especially after the stress of obtaining the karten (German for tickets dontcha know) through an Austrian website with the aid of Google translate. That was an adventure in itself. However, once bought, the karten arrived within 3 days (Delfont Mackintosh take note, you with your last minute posting...).
We won`t bang on about the trip, nothing worse than hearing about other peoples holidays, yawnsville. Suffice to say we had an amazing time and would gladly live in Vienna any day. But, we WILL dissect the show. Jesus Christ Superstar, in Vienna, with the one and only. Drew. Phew.
Well, where to begin? It was evidently a sellout, with standing tickets also available, and both nights we went, it was packed. The Austrians sure do love their MT - and incumbent show "Tanz der Vampire" had been packed up to make way for a simple set.
Stunning in its simplicity. It was staged as a concert rather than a musical, so a platform of scaffolding at the back of the stage and a large cross which divided the stage (and acted as a walkway) was the central focal point. No gimmicks, no big budget effects, no expensive costumes. Just simple, effective lighting which left the actors, the talented-to-extreme cast, to showcase their amazing talent. Gushy? Us? Oh yes. And this is just the beginning...
Drew Sarich...
OK. We know we love Drew. By now, anyone reading our musings knows we love Drew. Drew Sarich is unbeatable in every way. We adore the man.
Read on.
We have seen him in Les Mis several times, went to an acoustic gig he did whilst here in London, and since he disappeared back to Europe we have scoured YouTube for snippets. Though never intentionally unkind, we might have been a little teensy bit critical of some of his recent choices in terms of musicals and roles. But in our defence we love him and know just how good and amazing he is...and want to see more of him in roles that do his amazing talent justice. Gethsemane has been studied by us in minute detail in the past. Yet nothing, NOTHING, prepared us for his performance as Jesus. If we are completely honest, we were rather leaning towards him playing Judas - he seemed to get the best songs after all. And there is no doubt that he gives great Judas. The evidence is out there.
Evidence M'Lud. Hot Judas. Watch & learn, Judas pretenders.
However - now we have seen him play the main man....... words fail us. We swear that we possibly stopped breathing. For about 1 and a half hours, no interval. Gethsemane was, quite simply, the most amazing thing either of us have ever witnessed on stage. STAGGERING. Needless to say, vocally perfect - properly rock tenor too, no messing. Drew doesn't have to reach for notes; he hits them all perfectly - the high ones and low ones - with such precision it is almost unbelievable. There were screams. Anguish. Pain. Doubt. Anger. Sadness. Soulfulness. Beauty. It made us cry. And judging by the stream of mascara stained faces we saw when the lights were back up, we weren't the only ones. A well deserved and lengthy standing ovation, and he simply stood on stage, in character - still and unmoving, and waited to continue. A true professional. There is a bootleg out in the ether from Thursday night, but the sound doesn't do him justice so we won't link it For now, we must satisfy ourselves with our oft watched version from 3 years ago.
Sheer brilliance..........
Vocally great, emotive. Shame about the Valjean hair and beard, but we can see the beauty underneath....apologies LND haters. This version is great - not as great as the one we saw, but pretty astounding nonetheless..... but if you like that, imagine THAT VOCAL..... (are you imagining???) OK, now we are pretty sure Drew Sarich has a picture growing old in his attic....because that video was 2008, and in 2011 he looks like THIS.
And yes, that is eyeliner, so you can imagine the carnage in Fairyworld. And we are not ashamed.
But it wasn't just Gethsemane..... the Temple, the Last Supper, Poor Jerusalem. The Crucifixion OH THE CRUCIFIXION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Burning crosses on stage and shivers from us.
Having seen cameras all round the theatre on Saturday night, we live in hope of a DVD.
Because we need that performance captured so we can die happy.
Our only regret is that we genuinely think he may have spoiled us forever as far as JCS is concerned. No one else will do after this - any other version of JCS will pale in comparison. We have seen some wonderful performances in our theatre lives. Michael Ball in Hairspray. David Thaxton in Les Mis. Lea Salonga. John Owen Jones. Ramin Karimloo. Steve Balsamo. Nick Jonas (kidding).
Drew beats them all for us. He is RIDICULOUSLY TALENTED. For us he is the best. There is no other MT performer like him. Oh we know we sound like bad mad theatre groupies of the worst kind, but unless you see him and hear him for yourself you cannot possibly comprehend what you're missing out on. As if the talent wasn't enough, he comes in packaging that a red blooded fairy could have dreamed up...only he's real (see pictorial evidence above...). Believe it or not, even pictures don't do the man justice - he is that good looking. And charismatic. And so. Astonishingly. Handsome. But even with all the rest it's the talent that singles him out as bloody as near to perfection as a man can be.
Apologies for the capitals and the mega gush, but it was the kind of performance that made us want to scream at Lloyd Webber to get his Lordly ass on a plane and come see him. We want everyone to see him, so you see - we are not selfish, keeping this little Austria based St Louis born treat all to ourselves. The man is world class. You know what? Even if you don`t think you like him... if you get the chance, if he ever comes to a town near you, see him.
Once in your life. That is all. Do yourself a favour. Make a point of seeing him. He should be on every persons list of people to see before they die. We can now die happy women...only we'd like to see him a fair few more times before we die. Like, once or twice a week minimum. Live. A fairy can dream...
The Best of the Rest
OK, Drew aside. The cast of this concert were pretty impressive and introduced us to quite a few names we will be looking out for in the future. Vienna - or the Ronacher - seems to attract charismatic and incredibly talented people like a magnet and this cast was a perfect representation of talent at its best. It almost felt as if we stayed in the Ronacher long enough, maybe some of their skill and magic would rub off on us. Remains to be seen, we guess...our bosses haven't noticed anything different about us as yet (other than a deep yearning to be back in Vienna NOW) but give it time...
Mischa Mang
Judas as part AC/DC, part Jack Black. Karina admits to having a little crush on this big bear of a man with a smile that would melt icebergs. Although not in brilliant voice the first time we heard him, on the second visit he was amazing. He has a rock voice which compliments Drew's brilliantly and made us sit up and listen, and wonder what else he is capable of. Yes, we'd like to see more of Mischa. As if his talent wasn't enough, after the show we were having a post-show post-mortem over a bevvie in a bar near the theatre and spotted Mischa posing for the camera of two ladies with a gorgeous smile and a pleasant word for them. What a lovely, lovely man.
Rob Fowler
Renamed 'Drew Junior' by us (although not necessarily younger than Drew, we're not pedantic) for one reason. This man has a jaw dropping voice. Very Drewesque, and distinctive. Amazing stage presence as well - your eye is automatically drawn to him (unless Drew is on stage, naturally...). He has a similar range and way of hitting the top notes without straining, which is a joy to behold. And he's a bit pretty too. We like him. Alot. Did a good Simon/Annas.
Alexander Di Capri
Another discovery, this man. As well as having a remarkable voice, his interpretation of Pilate was spot on. Going from a little bit bored and exasperated right through to increasingly frustrated and desperate with the King of the Jew's refusal to defend himself, we lived those emotions with him. Very moving. Great nose too.
Caroline Vasicek
Sang a gorgeous Mary Magdalene. She has a pure, clear but soft voice. And something else she has in common with the rest of the cast was that her acting isn't compromised in favour of the singing. Both aspects were so strong, adding to the whole interpretation and making every single scene count. Well known fact that us fairies struggle with female voices - with Caroline we had absolutely no problem.
For pics from the performance itself at the Ronacher, here's the link to the official photographers website. Very much worth a gander...Click here
A special mention should go not just to the rest of the cast that we haven't mentioned - they were all magnificent - but also to the Viennese audience. Standing ovations at the end of the performance which lasted for 6 curtain calls (and would have gone on longer, had the cast not decided enough was enough...). The audience was respectful, appreciative, polite and so incredibly well behaved. There was no interval - this was 1.5 hours of non-stop music, yet there was no moving around in seats, no wandering off to the loos, no eating and rustling sweetie wrappers, no whispering, no mobile phones, no rubbish left in the aisles and even entering and leaving the theatre was done in an orderly, polite, unrushed fashion. Oh how we love Vienna. And Austria.
And there you have it, in a nut shell. One of our favourite musicals, in our new favourite town, with our all time favourite MT performer. We went for two years without hearing Drew live and have sworn it won't be another two before we see him again. No amount of words can fully convey our utter love and admiration for this man. Take our word for it. Just see him. And fall in love with him. He is so worth it. End of gush.
When: 21st and 23rd April 2011
Where: Ronacher Theatre, Vienna
WARNING (two posts, two warnings...we're doing well...): Readers prone to allergic rashes from overt gushing may need to stop reading now (or go take an antihistamine in preparation)
We finally made it.
We got to Vienna.
And lost our hearts to Drew Sarich all over again.
It isn't often us fairies are rendered speechless and incapable of simple everyday tasks such as thinking, blinking and breathing, but that's exactly what happened to us on Austrian soil. We wouldn't have had it any other way though. Drew Sarich was, if even humanly possible, better than we had ever heard him before. But more about that heart breaker in a moment - we need to start from the beginning...
Our first view of Vienna was in the glorious sunshine, and for the entire time we were there we didn't have a cloudy day. Vienna is gorgeous; beautiful, relaxed, stylish and sophisticated, and we managed to immerse ourselves in the cafe culture in TF style. We shopped, we drank, we ate ice cream, schnitzel, sausages and strudel. We tried to speak German, but gave up swiftly after one too many episodes of continually mixing up our please and thank yous like complete eejits. Still, we managed to get around and found the Ronacher Theatre with relative ease - we like to be prepared. Imagine, Tamsin doing her usual over-optimistic journey scheduling and us missing THE MAIN EVENT. Shudder. Especially after the stress of obtaining the karten (German for tickets dontcha know) through an Austrian website with the aid of Google translate. That was an adventure in itself. However, once bought, the karten arrived within 3 days (Delfont Mackintosh take note, you with your last minute posting...).
We won`t bang on about the trip, nothing worse than hearing about other peoples holidays, yawnsville. Suffice to say we had an amazing time and would gladly live in Vienna any day. But, we WILL dissect the show. Jesus Christ Superstar, in Vienna, with the one and only. Drew. Phew.
Well, where to begin? It was evidently a sellout, with standing tickets also available, and both nights we went, it was packed. The Austrians sure do love their MT - and incumbent show "Tanz der Vampire" had been packed up to make way for a simple set.
Stunning in its simplicity. It was staged as a concert rather than a musical, so a platform of scaffolding at the back of the stage and a large cross which divided the stage (and acted as a walkway) was the central focal point. No gimmicks, no big budget effects, no expensive costumes. Just simple, effective lighting which left the actors, the talented-to-extreme cast, to showcase their amazing talent. Gushy? Us? Oh yes. And this is just the beginning...
Drew Sarich...
OK. We know we love Drew. By now, anyone reading our musings knows we love Drew. Drew Sarich is unbeatable in every way. We adore the man.
Read on.
We have seen him in Les Mis several times, went to an acoustic gig he did whilst here in London, and since he disappeared back to Europe we have scoured YouTube for snippets. Though never intentionally unkind, we might have been a little teensy bit critical of some of his recent choices in terms of musicals and roles. But in our defence we love him and know just how good and amazing he is...and want to see more of him in roles that do his amazing talent justice. Gethsemane has been studied by us in minute detail in the past. Yet nothing, NOTHING, prepared us for his performance as Jesus. If we are completely honest, we were rather leaning towards him playing Judas - he seemed to get the best songs after all. And there is no doubt that he gives great Judas. The evidence is out there.
Evidence M'Lud. Hot Judas. Watch & learn, Judas pretenders.
However - now we have seen him play the main man....... words fail us. We swear that we possibly stopped breathing. For about 1 and a half hours, no interval. Gethsemane was, quite simply, the most amazing thing either of us have ever witnessed on stage. STAGGERING. Needless to say, vocally perfect - properly rock tenor too, no messing. Drew doesn't have to reach for notes; he hits them all perfectly - the high ones and low ones - with such precision it is almost unbelievable. There were screams. Anguish. Pain. Doubt. Anger. Sadness. Soulfulness. Beauty. It made us cry. And judging by the stream of mascara stained faces we saw when the lights were back up, we weren't the only ones. A well deserved and lengthy standing ovation, and he simply stood on stage, in character - still and unmoving, and waited to continue. A true professional. There is a bootleg out in the ether from Thursday night, but the sound doesn't do him justice so we won't link it For now, we must satisfy ourselves with our oft watched version from 3 years ago.
Sheer brilliance..........
Vocally great, emotive. Shame about the Valjean hair and beard, but we can see the beauty underneath....apologies LND haters. This version is great - not as great as the one we saw, but pretty astounding nonetheless..... but if you like that, imagine THAT VOCAL..... (are you imagining???) OK, now we are pretty sure Drew Sarich has a picture growing old in his attic....because that video was 2008, and in 2011 he looks like THIS.
And yes, that is eyeliner, so you can imagine the carnage in Fairyworld. And we are not ashamed.
But it wasn't just Gethsemane..... the Temple, the Last Supper, Poor Jerusalem. The Crucifixion OH THE CRUCIFIXION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Burning crosses on stage and shivers from us.
Having seen cameras all round the theatre on Saturday night, we live in hope of a DVD.
Because we need that performance captured so we can die happy.
Our only regret is that we genuinely think he may have spoiled us forever as far as JCS is concerned. No one else will do after this - any other version of JCS will pale in comparison. We have seen some wonderful performances in our theatre lives. Michael Ball in Hairspray. David Thaxton in Les Mis. Lea Salonga. John Owen Jones. Ramin Karimloo. Steve Balsamo. Nick Jonas (kidding).
Drew beats them all for us. He is RIDICULOUSLY TALENTED. For us he is the best. There is no other MT performer like him. Oh we know we sound like bad mad theatre groupies of the worst kind, but unless you see him and hear him for yourself you cannot possibly comprehend what you're missing out on. As if the talent wasn't enough, he comes in packaging that a red blooded fairy could have dreamed up...only he's real (see pictorial evidence above...). Believe it or not, even pictures don't do the man justice - he is that good looking. And charismatic. And so. Astonishingly. Handsome. But even with all the rest it's the talent that singles him out as bloody as near to perfection as a man can be.
Apologies for the capitals and the mega gush, but it was the kind of performance that made us want to scream at Lloyd Webber to get his Lordly ass on a plane and come see him. We want everyone to see him, so you see - we are not selfish, keeping this little Austria based St Louis born treat all to ourselves. The man is world class. You know what? Even if you don`t think you like him... if you get the chance, if he ever comes to a town near you, see him.
Once in your life. That is all. Do yourself a favour. Make a point of seeing him. He should be on every persons list of people to see before they die. We can now die happy women...only we'd like to see him a fair few more times before we die. Like, once or twice a week minimum. Live. A fairy can dream...
The Best of the Rest
OK, Drew aside. The cast of this concert were pretty impressive and introduced us to quite a few names we will be looking out for in the future. Vienna - or the Ronacher - seems to attract charismatic and incredibly talented people like a magnet and this cast was a perfect representation of talent at its best. It almost felt as if we stayed in the Ronacher long enough, maybe some of their skill and magic would rub off on us. Remains to be seen, we guess...our bosses haven't noticed anything different about us as yet (other than a deep yearning to be back in Vienna NOW) but give it time...
Mischa Mang
Judas as part AC/DC, part Jack Black. Karina admits to having a little crush on this big bear of a man with a smile that would melt icebergs. Although not in brilliant voice the first time we heard him, on the second visit he was amazing. He has a rock voice which compliments Drew's brilliantly and made us sit up and listen, and wonder what else he is capable of. Yes, we'd like to see more of Mischa. As if his talent wasn't enough, after the show we were having a post-show post-mortem over a bevvie in a bar near the theatre and spotted Mischa posing for the camera of two ladies with a gorgeous smile and a pleasant word for them. What a lovely, lovely man.
Rob Fowler
Renamed 'Drew Junior' by us (although not necessarily younger than Drew, we're not pedantic) for one reason. This man has a jaw dropping voice. Very Drewesque, and distinctive. Amazing stage presence as well - your eye is automatically drawn to him (unless Drew is on stage, naturally...). He has a similar range and way of hitting the top notes without straining, which is a joy to behold. And he's a bit pretty too. We like him. Alot. Did a good Simon/Annas.
Alexander Di Capri
Another discovery, this man. As well as having a remarkable voice, his interpretation of Pilate was spot on. Going from a little bit bored and exasperated right through to increasingly frustrated and desperate with the King of the Jew's refusal to defend himself, we lived those emotions with him. Very moving. Great nose too.
Caroline Vasicek
Sang a gorgeous Mary Magdalene. She has a pure, clear but soft voice. And something else she has in common with the rest of the cast was that her acting isn't compromised in favour of the singing. Both aspects were so strong, adding to the whole interpretation and making every single scene count. Well known fact that us fairies struggle with female voices - with Caroline we had absolutely no problem.
For pics from the performance itself at the Ronacher, here's the link to the official photographers website. Very much worth a gander...Click here
A special mention should go not just to the rest of the cast that we haven't mentioned - they were all magnificent - but also to the Viennese audience. Standing ovations at the end of the performance which lasted for 6 curtain calls (and would have gone on longer, had the cast not decided enough was enough...). The audience was respectful, appreciative, polite and so incredibly well behaved. There was no interval - this was 1.5 hours of non-stop music, yet there was no moving around in seats, no wandering off to the loos, no eating and rustling sweetie wrappers, no whispering, no mobile phones, no rubbish left in the aisles and even entering and leaving the theatre was done in an orderly, polite, unrushed fashion. Oh how we love Vienna. And Austria.
And there you have it, in a nut shell. One of our favourite musicals, in our new favourite town, with our all time favourite MT performer. We went for two years without hearing Drew live and have sworn it won't be another two before we see him again. No amount of words can fully convey our utter love and admiration for this man. Take our word for it. Just see him. And fall in love with him. He is so worth it. End of gush.
Monday, 18 April 2011
Let's hear it for the boys (or maybe it's just a love for men in make up...?)
(Health Warning: This post has VERY LITTLE TO DO WITH THEATRE.)
We admit it.
We're biased.
Even when it comes to male MT performers, anyone taking a look at any of our posts will notice a clear preference and the same names cropping up again and again. So we've decided the time has come to try and be slightly more objective and less gushy about the boys, even if it is just for the length of this post, and to see if we can isolate some more (possibly non-MT) performers who have managed to impress us purely because of their talent and skill.
We've made our preference for male voices clear. We'd draw the line at male voice choirs but male soloists are a different matter. It's the pitch and the tone; a nice well rounded voice is like having a shot of whisky infront of a log fire on a cold winters day. Or something like that. And as much as we don't like high female vocals, we like a well controlled male falsetto (Drew Sarich, anyone...?) as much as a good baritone. But. No favouritism. Therefore, a selection of guys we think are great (with no mention at all of Drew Sarich, Ramin Karimloo, David Thaxton, Lee Mead, Michael Buble (we soooo heart Mike Bubble!) or Josh Groban. None of our usual suspects. Be gone with you!!). Oh, and we're not limiting this list to MT either. In fact, it barely gets a look in, as you will see. Just good male voices. Or talent. Male talent. Or charisma...You'll see what we mean in a moment...
There is a little something we need to make clear though. See, we both have always found ourselves admiring...men in eyeliner. Men in make up. Maybe it's the whole theatrical element of it but starting from the days Karina was convinced she'd marry Adam Ant (before we started squabbling over Simon Le Bon's hand) to finding ourselves mesmerised by Johnny Depp, especially in his guise as Captain Jack Sparrow...though he does a mean moody musician...
...as if any proof was needed. Sure, this love for a slightly dishevelled, rocky, arty, tortured soul (with eyeliner!) doesn't encompass why we love certain performers more than others...though we do have a theory that most theatre boys long to be a Rock God in their private lives, maybe to balance out the stigma being in MT can sometimes carry. But we digress. Just keep these points in mind whilst we take you through our latest list of marvellous performers..
Simon Shorten
Seen in Les Mis as 2nd understudy Valjean, Simon properly impressed us - and as Valjean that ain`t easy. We are fussy. We know what we like, and we like what we bloody well know. But Simon was a revelation - a pretty faultless voice, and the acting.....wow. Just wow. He was good. He will forever be known to us as Sunday Valjean. Strange but true.
Jeff Nicholson
Current (and soon to be departing....sob...) understudy Javert. He is about 7 foot tall, and strikes a pose. His voice is faultless, and WHY OH WHY he has not been given the principal role in recent years is a mystery. Especially when up against Nordic Javert. Who was UNINTELLIGABLE. (But cute.) Catch him while ye can people.....
Adam Duritz
A bit of a Tamsin one this. Karina has joined by default through our friendship and has been infected with a liking for this man, but Tamsins adoration for him has been there for more years than she cares to count. Not the most perfect vocal, often erratic performance wise, but in terms of songwriting the man is a God. A poet. A genius. And everytime you see him live it`s a new performance because he freestyles, mixes songs together, and make stuff up from his head. Its amazing. He`s a troubled soul, who is married to his music, and we love him.
' "If it's love" she said, "then were gonna have to think about the consequences"
She can't stop shaking and I can t stop touching her and.....
This time when kindness falls like rain
It washes her away and Anna begins to change her mind
"these seconds when I'm shaking leave me shuddering
for days" she says.
"And I'm not ready for this sort of thing." '
ANNA BEGINS by Counting Crows.
You can`t argue with lyrics like that. And we are not alone in this............
Steven Tyler
If Adam Duritz was a 'Tamsin', this choice is a 'Karina'. The man is skinny, looks like a ferret with a huge big mouth, loves a good scarf and has been around forever. The frontman of Aerosmith knows how to perform and is mesmerising to watch on stage. And to listen to. Talk about having a 'Rock-voice'. And there's something about him that is just...just is. It is with much sadness that Karina admits some of this man's glow has vanished since he sold out by becoming a judge on American idol but what can you do other than Rock On.
Michael Xavier
Michael is still something of an enigma to us. A very pretty enigma. We've heard his name crop up all over the place; first in 'Into the Woods' (which we never got around to seeing, bummer) and then in 'Love Story' (which we missed, double bummer). But we heard him sing both at the WOS awards and the Oliviers. And he looks mighty fine with a bit of eyeliner (please see exhibit A) and the boy can sing. Beautifully. We will make it our mission to see him in whatever he is in next. It's our duty.
Adam Lambert
If ever a man was born to be on stage, Adam is it. Witness please as he wipes the stage floor with actual American Idol winner Kris .....something. There really is no comparison. Freddie lives and breathes.
Tony Vincent
While we are on Freddie, Tamsin was underwhelmed at her inaugural visit to We will Rock You, but overwhelmed by the stage presence and talent (also the eyeliner) of the original Galileo. Tony Vincent was a huge part of the shows success we feel - let`s face it, it wasn`t the script....
Matt Bellamy
Another mysterious choice, this one, but one that is particularly close to Karina's heart. The frontman of Muse just has that 'Je ne sais quoi' (and eyeliner) with the addition of vocals that, at their best, leave you breathless. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Wouldn't quite drink his bathwater, but he is spectacular all the same.
Tom Chaplin
Public schoolboy with the vocal chords of an angel. Seriously. If you have not seen the frontman of Keane live, raising the roof with the sheer belt of his voice, then you should do so before you die. End of. No eyeliner, sadly. He`s just not that rock n roll.... but he can sing. Oh yes.
Kelly Jones
Oh deear lord. Witnessed by Tamsin at the V festival back in the day, this man is sex on legs. Short in stature, big in stage presence, with a voice like he has smoked 60 B & H before he takes to the stage.... one person who defines the rock voice. Better than the grandaddy he models himeself on, Rod Stewart.
Listen & weep.
And there you have it. We didn't manage a post without a gush or two, and we conclude we're no more objective, either.
Do we care?
That would be a no, then...!
We admit it.
We're biased.
Even when it comes to male MT performers, anyone taking a look at any of our posts will notice a clear preference and the same names cropping up again and again. So we've decided the time has come to try and be slightly more objective and less gushy about the boys, even if it is just for the length of this post, and to see if we can isolate some more (possibly non-MT) performers who have managed to impress us purely because of their talent and skill.
We've made our preference for male voices clear. We'd draw the line at male voice choirs but male soloists are a different matter. It's the pitch and the tone; a nice well rounded voice is like having a shot of whisky infront of a log fire on a cold winters day. Or something like that. And as much as we don't like high female vocals, we like a well controlled male falsetto (Drew Sarich, anyone...?) as much as a good baritone. But. No favouritism. Therefore, a selection of guys we think are great (with no mention at all of Drew Sarich, Ramin Karimloo, David Thaxton, Lee Mead, Michael Buble (we soooo heart Mike Bubble!) or Josh Groban. None of our usual suspects. Be gone with you!!). Oh, and we're not limiting this list to MT either. In fact, it barely gets a look in, as you will see. Just good male voices. Or talent. Male talent. Or charisma...You'll see what we mean in a moment...
There is a little something we need to make clear though. See, we both have always found ourselves admiring...men in eyeliner. Men in make up. Maybe it's the whole theatrical element of it but starting from the days Karina was convinced she'd marry Adam Ant (before we started squabbling over Simon Le Bon's hand) to finding ourselves mesmerised by Johnny Depp, especially in his guise as Captain Jack Sparrow...though he does a mean moody musician...
...as if any proof was needed. Sure, this love for a slightly dishevelled, rocky, arty, tortured soul (with eyeliner!) doesn't encompass why we love certain performers more than others...though we do have a theory that most theatre boys long to be a Rock God in their private lives, maybe to balance out the stigma being in MT can sometimes carry. But we digress. Just keep these points in mind whilst we take you through our latest list of marvellous performers..
Simon Shorten
Seen in Les Mis as 2nd understudy Valjean, Simon properly impressed us - and as Valjean that ain`t easy. We are fussy. We know what we like, and we like what we bloody well know. But Simon was a revelation - a pretty faultless voice, and the acting.....wow. Just wow. He was good. He will forever be known to us as Sunday Valjean. Strange but true.
Jeff Nicholson
Current (and soon to be departing....sob...) understudy Javert. He is about 7 foot tall, and strikes a pose. His voice is faultless, and WHY OH WHY he has not been given the principal role in recent years is a mystery. Especially when up against Nordic Javert. Who was UNINTELLIGABLE. (But cute.) Catch him while ye can people.....
Adam Duritz
A bit of a Tamsin one this. Karina has joined by default through our friendship and has been infected with a liking for this man, but Tamsins adoration for him has been there for more years than she cares to count. Not the most perfect vocal, often erratic performance wise, but in terms of songwriting the man is a God. A poet. A genius. And everytime you see him live it`s a new performance because he freestyles, mixes songs together, and make stuff up from his head. Its amazing. He`s a troubled soul, who is married to his music, and we love him.
' "If it's love" she said, "then were gonna have to think about the consequences"
She can't stop shaking and I can t stop touching her and.....
This time when kindness falls like rain
It washes her away and Anna begins to change her mind
"these seconds when I'm shaking leave me shuddering
for days" she says.
"And I'm not ready for this sort of thing." '
ANNA BEGINS by Counting Crows.
You can`t argue with lyrics like that. And we are not alone in this............
Steven Tyler
If Adam Duritz was a 'Tamsin', this choice is a 'Karina'. The man is skinny, looks like a ferret with a huge big mouth, loves a good scarf and has been around forever. The frontman of Aerosmith knows how to perform and is mesmerising to watch on stage. And to listen to. Talk about having a 'Rock-voice'. And there's something about him that is just...just is. It is with much sadness that Karina admits some of this man's glow has vanished since he sold out by becoming a judge on American idol but what can you do other than Rock On.
Michael Xavier
Michael is still something of an enigma to us. A very pretty enigma. We've heard his name crop up all over the place; first in 'Into the Woods' (which we never got around to seeing, bummer) and then in 'Love Story' (which we missed, double bummer). But we heard him sing both at the WOS awards and the Oliviers. And he looks mighty fine with a bit of eyeliner (please see exhibit A) and the boy can sing. Beautifully. We will make it our mission to see him in whatever he is in next. It's our duty.
Adam Lambert
If ever a man was born to be on stage, Adam is it. Witness please as he wipes the stage floor with actual American Idol winner Kris .....something. There really is no comparison. Freddie lives and breathes.
Tony Vincent
While we are on Freddie, Tamsin was underwhelmed at her inaugural visit to We will Rock You, but overwhelmed by the stage presence and talent (also the eyeliner) of the original Galileo. Tony Vincent was a huge part of the shows success we feel - let`s face it, it wasn`t the script....
Matt Bellamy
Another mysterious choice, this one, but one that is particularly close to Karina's heart. The frontman of Muse just has that 'Je ne sais quoi' (and eyeliner) with the addition of vocals that, at their best, leave you breathless. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Wouldn't quite drink his bathwater, but he is spectacular all the same.
Tom Chaplin
Public schoolboy with the vocal chords of an angel. Seriously. If you have not seen the frontman of Keane live, raising the roof with the sheer belt of his voice, then you should do so before you die. End of. No eyeliner, sadly. He`s just not that rock n roll.... but he can sing. Oh yes.
Kelly Jones
Oh deear lord. Witnessed by Tamsin at the V festival back in the day, this man is sex on legs. Short in stature, big in stage presence, with a voice like he has smoked 60 B & H before he takes to the stage.... one person who defines the rock voice. Better than the grandaddy he models himeself on, Rod Stewart.
Listen & weep.
And there you have it. We didn't manage a post without a gush or two, and we conclude we're no more objective, either.
Do we care?
That would be a no, then...!
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