MADTrust events and lots of new writing!

It’s the last week of the Summer Holidays and all I can say is…thank Christ for that! It has been a nightmare trying to find the time to fit in all my writing work; my days are filled with mummy duties and with no school in the morning, her early nights have not been so early.  Add to that my weekend bar shifts and I’ve had to attempt to do everything in the time slot of five free(ish) evenings a week. Hardly ideal. Still, I can see that light at the end of the tunnel now and as from next week, ‘mummy head’ will be firmly locked away in the storage cupboard during the day and ‘writers head’ will have free reign once again. It is rather pleased about this…

Aside from swings at the park, board games and colouring fun, I’ve also managed to make room for a few theatre-related endeavours – both business and pleasure. The past few weeks have been dedicated to new writing mainly, with the SimGProductions ‘Summer With…’ cabaret season at the Battersea Barge and covering recording sessions of the My Land’s Shore demo as well as Joe Sterling’s album.

I spent last Tuesday at the Auburn Jam recording studio in Raynes Park with Joe Sterling. His debut album features a number of songs from the concept musical ‘Roundabout’ he wrote with Bob Gould, who was also with us in the studio, and from what I heard, the plan to workshop it next year is a worthwhile one. There is a varied range of sounds mixed in there and all of them good. They had Jack Shalloo, Jonathan Eio, Ross Hunter and Rosa O’Reilly come in to record that day, with Christopher Orton and Rhiannon Porter having laid down their vocals the previous day; more sessions are planned for September with a host of names, including Craig Mather and Jonathan Williams. Curly-haired Joe shows promise as a songwriter and I have happily added him to the list of new writers that I think are the future of musical theatre, joining other such talented folk as Tim Prottey-Jones, Chris Passey, Dougal Irvine and Steven Luke Walker. There are many more of course, but taking into mind my enthusiasm for new writers, you’d spend the next ten minutes reading off all their names.

The week before Joe’s session, I was in a different studio for a different recording: My Land’s Shore. It was only recently that my attention was drawn to this Welsh musical but, since having looked into the history that its story is based on and listened to some of the score, I’ve found myself rather excited about this one. I’ve made no secret of the fact that the growing fascination with film-adapted musicals and the seemingly endless jukebox shows is not something I believe to be good for the West End. They have their place, but have begun to dominate Theatreland, at the expense of original and fresh new work and it is in danger of turning into a bland and mundane place, where stunt casting runs wild and every show is something you already know! A big, new melodramatic production is needed to breathe some life and creativity back into the theatre scene and lead the cause for the different and unknown – I really think My Land’s Shore could do that. The tale of Dic Penderyn grabbed me instantly and the score is just stunning, simply stunning. Chris Orton and Bob Gould have been working on the show for years and believe it is ready to be seen; I’d have to agree. When the demo recording is released, I sincerely hope you all get yourselves a copy – I want everyone to love it as much as I already do and I know that with one listen, they will. The people they have singing on this recording are superb; people like Jonathan Williams, Rhiannon Porter, Gareth Richards, Kelly-Anne Gower and Mark Evans, not forgetting the ensemble who took part that day. I felt truly privileged to be there in that room with the people and the music… I can’t get any more behind My Land’s Shore than I already am! I can say with 100% certainty that it will find its way to a West End stage and is going to completely transform the theatre scene. It is powerful and epic and…beautiful.

An interview with Joe Sterling will soon be up on The Public Reviews website, as will the article on My Land’s Shore which includes an interview with Chris Orton, Bob Gould and Jonathan Williams, so look out for them!

All work and no play makes Julie a dull girl though. To remedy this, I went along to the three cabarets that made up the SimG Productions ‘Summer With…’ season, which kicked off with Annalene Beechey and Rebecca Locke. Beautiful, talented, funny and they brought baked goods and MD Peter White…what more could you ask for in a cabaret? The following ‘Composers’ cabaret also over very well; an evening with the future of musical theatre – Laurence Mark Wythe, Grant Olding, Dougal Irvine and Tim Sutton, with guests Samantha Barks, George Ure, Stephen Ashfield and Annalene Beechey. The amount of people who showed up for them (sold-out Barge) only shows the level of support they, and new writing in general, have out there. It was all nicely rounded up last night by Jack Shalloo who, as well as performing songs from his ‘London Soul’ album, brought along some friends with him; The Lovable Rogues, Natalie Green and Gina Beck and MD Spesh Maloney. Fun, laughter and good times by all.

A SimG cabaret is always a guaranteed good night out but most importantly, it gives a platform for new writers and performers. The support of SimG Director Simon Greiff is an asset to new work and he did a wonderful job with these summer cabarets. The next cabaret event will be 18^th December; I’d strongly suggest you keep the date free for it.

It really has been a strong few weeks for new writing and it’s only going to continue. Album releases are popping up all over the place, with the two closest being those from Tim Prottey-Jones and Chris Passey. I recommend you get yourselves down to Dress Circle for their album signings, Tim in October and Chris the following month. Not only are they rather talented in the composing department, they’re also rather fun and lovely folk – see for yourselves at Dress Circle (you can also read my interview with Chris Passey on The Public Reviews site. A TPJ one will be following it)!

It hasn’t been all about the new writing lately though. Sunday 21^st August was also the day of the MADTrust Garden Party. We had cabaret entertainment from the superb Gay Soper and also from Will Barratt, accompanied by Nadim Naaman and Kate Batter, all of which did a fine job of entertaining the guests. The cast of War Horse also staged a poolside performance, and none of them fell in, which was good!

The food was amazing and the raffle and auction raised a fantastic amount for the Trust – our auctioneer Christopher Biggins was just grand at getting the guests to empty their wallets in our name… Plenty of fun was had in the pool, even more so as the cocktails kept on flowing, thanks to Freedom Bar, Soho. It was a pleasure to be there and it was great to see everyone having such a good time. Nobody does a better job of making fundraising fun than MADTrust. Of course, our next event is this coming weekend with West End Bares: Clothing Optional; perhaps the most fun fundraiser of them all! ‘Hot guys and gals taking their clothes off’ - does it need more of a selling-point than that? Add to that, our hosts Gok Wan and Sheridan Smith, as well as Ramin Karimloo performing and it promises to be one of the best ‘Bares’ of all. There are very limited tickets available now, so if you want to come along then move quickly. At last check, there were still a few VIP tickets available which grant you access to the after-party; well worth getting your hands on one! I shall be working both shows that day (behind the scenes of course) so I hope to see a few of you there. It will be a sizzling hot night!

There’s a lot of exciting things coming up the following weeks and months and I shall of course endeavour to keep you all up to date here. Among other things, I’m working on a really fun feature right now and also have an upcoming interview with everyone’s favourite French policeman… wink wink.

Thanks to all who have been reading my blog – I do hope you find it interesting! I always enjoy writing it… J

Remember…create, love, inspire!

Miss Julie

Week in Review - Les Mis vs Phantom!

With Les Miserables celebrating its 25^th anniversary last year and The Phantom of the Opera celebrating the same this year, these two shows are undoubtedly the powerhouses of the West End. The ‘mum and dad of musical theatre’ (I’ll leave you to decide which is which!) are leading the way, after all; there’s a reason they have been around for a quarter of a century with no sign of their popularity waning…

So it was a good week for me as I had a little taste of both!

This past Tuesday, I finally got myself along to the Queens theatre to see the now not-so-new cast of Les Miserables. En-route however, we heard that Alfie Boe would be off that night due to illness. It’s become somewhat of a running joke that every time I go to the theatre with The Mother, the lead isn’t on; it happened the same way the first time we went along to Love Never Dies as well.

Of course, the rumblings of discourse could be heard as soon as we got to the theatre. I enjoy Boe’s voice, but having already seen his performance in the Les Mis 25^th concert and heard him sing Bring Him Home a dozen-odd times since then, I confess to not being overly disappointed at his absence – although I’m sure he would have been wonderful. Having heard many positive things about the alternate JVJ, Jonathan Williams, I was actually rather pleased to have the chance to see him for myself.

Many of you will recall the furore of a few months back, concerning the letters sent into the stage by theatre-goers who were unhappy at ‘settling’ for an understudy/alternate instead of the lead they were expecting. If you were one of those who complained, then I would suggest you take a little trip down to the Queens theatre one Monday night to see Williams’ performance; perfect example to dispel such nonsensical thinking!

Sat in the second row of the stalls, I had an up-close and personal experience of Williams’ Valjean and he quite simply blew me away. Williams possesses a powerfully emotive voice and makes for a very strong Valjean, perfectly capturing his growth from convict to man of redemption. His Bring Him Home was just outstanding… Within moments of him appearing on the stage, the inevitable comparisons to Boe were forgotten by the audience as Williams swept them up in the character and the story and if the volume and length of the standing ovation he received at the end is anything to go by, not one person in that theatre went home harbouring the intention to write off to The Stage…

This is a personal theatre blog, not a review site, so I’m not inclined to do a full blow-by-blow stripping down of the production and cast. It made a nice change to just go along and watch purely for my own enjoyment. It says something about the quality of the show and its cast actually, that I didn’t feel the usual itch to have a pen and pad in my hands. I will say though, that this is a very strong cast full of ridiculously talented people! Caroline Sheen, Lisa Anne Wood, Liam Tamne, Alexia Khadime and, of course, Matt Lucas are all brilliant additions to this iconic show and I was particularly impressed by Craig Mathers; especially with this being his first job out of MTA. I’m sure he has big things ahead of him.

For me though, the other person who stole the show along with Jonathan Williams was the ever-charismatic Hadley Fraser. He brings a menacing intensity to the character of Javert, to the point where The Mother whispered how he seemed ‘almost evil’. Fraser is a truly committed actor and absolutely commands the stage; he has perfectly tapped into the conflict that rages within Javert, between his unflinching conviction in the power of the law and his encounters with Jean Valjean. Of course, he also has an outstanding voice to back it all up - those who may only know him from his Sheytoons gigs with Ramin Karimloo will be taken aback by it. His rendition of Stars was one of the best I’ve ever heard, just stunning. Fraser has been somewhat of an underrated talent in the past, and I for one hope that now people will start to realise just how good he really is.

Don’t overlook the supporting cast either! There are some names in there that really stood out for me and I can guarantee that you’ll be seeing some of them in leading roles one day very soon…

It’s a sign of a good musical that as soon as it’s over, you want to see it again! Les Miserables is of course, a big melodramatic production – which I just love. You don’t make it 25 years without having something very special and Les Mis certainly does, but with a cast as strong as this, it just got that little bit extra special…

Two days later, it was all about The Phantom of the Opera however. No, not the production (although I am long overdue for a visit to Her Majesty’s), but A COMPLICATED LOVE: The West End Cast of The Phantom of the Opera in Cabaret. If you follow me on Twitter (@MissJulie25) then you can’t have failed to miss my endless promo tweets for this over the last month or so. The cast of Phantom came together in their 25^th year to help out the MADTrust charity, now in their 21^st year! All profits from the night went to the MADTrust Hardship Fund, helping those within the entertainment industry who are suffering from a long-term illness. If you were there, then you’ll already know just what a fantastic night it was.

I actually headed to the Delfont Rooms in the afternoon for the dress rehearsal – which is to say, I sat eating M&Ms with fellow MADTrusters, Christian and Jane, as a makeshift audience while the Phantom cast did all the work! We did do some actual work back in the MADtrust office afterwards though. J

The whole team for the night arrived back at the Delfont Rooms during the second act of Mamma Mia to set everything up for cabaret. We had a branding board, a table chock-full of MADTrust flyers, pins and programmes (and a donation bucket of course) and a whole book of raffle tickets to sell, which I and my friend Anna mercilessly proceeded to do. Perhaps it was my impressive selling technique that persuaded people to dip into their pockets, but more likely it was the chance to win themselves either two tickets to West End Bares (3^rd), two tickets to the Garden Party (2^nd) or a framed Phantom poster, signed by the whole cast (1^st). I did enjoy being the ‘promo-girl’ during the draw though, smiling winsomely and gesturing towards the prizes displayed in my hands… everyone’s done that at some point right?

On a serious note, it was wonderful to see so many people turning up to support the cast and the charity, including the soon-to-be alternate Phantom, Simon Shorten and a couple of Les Misers (Matt Lucas, Scott Garnham, Carl Mullaney, Craig Mathers) – although I’m sure they were just there to check out the cabaret competition, right guys?

Having already had my sneak peek at the dress rehearsal, I already knew that this was going to be a brilliant night for all involved. There was a great mix of material in there, from hilarious ‘character’ songs to beautiful ballads, all taken from an array of musicals. It was nice to see they weren’t all the usual obvious choices too. Us MADTrusters were laughing our heads off at We’re Just Friends (I Love You Because), What Am I Doing (Closer Than Ever) and Runaround Sue, but the funniest one of the night had to be Wendy Ferguson with To Keep My Love Alive (A Connecticut Yankee). Just brilliant… The heart-rending duet Touch My Soul (Bare) was another highlight of the night, as was the HOT El Tango De Roxanne (Moulin Rouge), which of course included some very steamy moves from some of the ballet chorus of Phantom. The all-female first half closer, You’re My World/All I See Is You and the all-male second half opener, And So It Goes were simply sumptuous;  truly music to the ears.  We also had an original number, written by two of the Phantom cast, Will Barratt and Nadim Naaman: Complicated Love, featuring all the cast members was wonderfully written; both beautiful and wittily amusing. A fabulous effort.

The whole night was a huge success. Everyone there went home with a smile on their faces, including us MADTrusters. The MADTrust cause is a deeply important and meaningful one, but when we can raise much-needed funds for our cause in such a fun and enjoyable manner, it’s a great thing. And really, it’s just what The Make A Difference Trust is all about. Some give to charity because they feel obliged, some do it out of guilt (of course, some do it because they genuinely want to help, I’m not altogether cynical!) – how nice it is to give to a charity, knowing that not only are you supporting them, but getting a great day/night in return for it… J

So a huge thank you to all of the cast members of The Phantom of the Opera who gave so much of their time to us and did such a phantastic job with it. I genuinely love being a part of MADTrust and I feel so lucky to be able to involve myself in nights such as these. A lot goes on behind the scenes with every MADTrust event, and it’s always lovely to see the fruits of your labour pay off so abundantly.  

With Les Miserables and the Phantom cabaret, it really has been a pretty good week for me; for both those reasons and more. In August, there’s only more good things ahead too! There is of course, the MADTrust Garden Party on the 21^st and who could forget the SimG Productions SUMMER WITH…. cabaret season? Kicking off with Annalene Beechey and Rebecca Lock on the 14^th, it moves onto ‘The Composers’ night, with Dougal Irvine, Lawrence Mark Wythe, Tim Sutton and Grant Olding and featuring guests Samantha Barks, George Ure and Stephen Ashfield on the 21^st and wrapping up with Jack Shalloo and Friends, of whom he has gathered Beth Morrissey, Jonathan Eio, Spesh Maloney and Gina Beck on the 28^th.

I will be at all of these and I sincerely hope some of you will be too! So get your tickets and join me for a wonderful Summer of Fun!

Remember…create, love, inspire!

Miss Julie

Take a look at the MADTrust website for details of the Garden Party and our other events coming up this year.

To book tickets for one or all of the SimG Production’s SUMMER WITH… cabarets, click HERE – you can book all three for £30, saving yourself £7.50 (which you could put towards a ticket for a MADTrust event?) J

The Ups and Downs of Theatre-Life

Editor John Roberts started The Public Reviews in 2006: the theatre review site ‘for you, by you’.  Using a team of dedicated volunteer reviewers, John has built the site into a trusted and significant player in the reviewing-game - the growth of TPR in just four years is an admirable feat; one which has been achieved through hard-work, unwavering commitment and a love of theatre.

The site receives nearly half a million hits per month and is regularly invited to review all manners of theatre, both on and off-West End, with many of our reviews having been quoted on show posters and websites. We’ve also run interviews with a number of big-name actors/actresses, such as Rebecca Caine, and are always being contacted by theatre companies/individuals who contact our site looking for promotional interviews or articles. The name of The Public Reviews is a well-known one now and is gaining more and more recognition every day – so the news last week that TPR has not been given Press accreditation for this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival is astounding!

John Roberts wrote a blog post detailing his disappointment at the decision of the Ed Fringe Media Accreditation Team (MAT). I highly recommend you take a look at it - HERE – and if you wanted to leave a message of support for TPR, we would very much appreciate it. Theatre companies whom we have reviewed/interviewed have shown their support, as have a great number of TPR’s followers too.

Personally, I feel it is extremely short-sighted of MAT to not offer TPR accreditation. We were also denied it in 2010 and to this day, have still not received a clear answer as to just why that is. Taking into account everything I have mentioned already about TPR, what is it that makes it so ‘inappropriate’ to offer us accreditation?

For those who are not aware, I have been writing for The Public Reviews for six months now as one of the Features Writers, covering articles, reviews and interviews – so I know first-hand just how well thought-of the site is. John regularly forwards me e-mails he has received, asking for an interview, a feature article or a review of their show and, I personally, am constantly inundated with similar requests. People come to us because they accept and welcome us as a valued theatre site, which is why it saddens me that the MAT still does not: after all, isn’t Ed Fringe all about being accepting and welcoming? ‘Open to everyone’! Well, clearly, not everyone it seems…

I would urge you to read some of the messages of supports we have received on John’s blog, it is overwhelming how much positive feedback TPR has received regarding this issue. From people whose first stop for reviews is our site, to theatre companies who find our reviews so important to their work, everyone has echoed the incredulity at our situation and is behind us all the way, for which I would like to take the opportunity to now thank each and every one of them. It’s truly heart-warming to see and just reaffirms our determination to go to Ed Fringe, accreditation or not.

There was one comment there however I’d like to address here:

“I’m not saying the contribution of TPR isn’t valuable. Just that it seems inconsistent for a site – the very premise of which is the participation of amateur reviewers and “the public” – to get upset because it is being denied VIP treatment.”

First off – we are hardly asking for VIP treatment. A review site which is regularly invited to review all the major West End shows – as well as hundreds of Fringe theatre productions – alongside the other accredited critics should surely be extended the same courtesy, wouldn’t you agree? Why are we being singled out here – that is our issue…

It seems ‘Sans Taste’ believes it is our amateur reviewers which may be the reason. As part of the TPR writing team, it does rile me when our efforts are looked upon in a negative and dismissive manner and to be honest, I find it insulting. Every person who writes for TPR has had to submit examples of work (to a high enough standard) to be accepted. We all share a love of theatre; we know theatre and how to write about it and just because we are giving our time voluntarily, it doesn’t mean we are incapable of critical reviewing that stands up there with that of The Guardian, The Independent, The Stage and so forth.

Two of my biggest passions in life are theatre and writing, and being able to combine the two by writing for TPR is something I am very grateful and thankful for. I am not someone who cares to blow my own trumpet and you will never find anyone more critical of my work than me, but you know what; I am good at what I do – if I didn’t believe that then I’d have no business writing in the first place. People approach me to write for them, so I must be doing something right! J The point is; having voluntary reviewers write for TPR does not make it any less entitled to the same treatment other review publications receive.

So, with my self-righteous indignation dissipated, I’ll lay the subject to rest for now by asking once again for any help you can give in supporting The Public Reviews. We are here to stay and are only going to get bigger and better with every coming year, so come along for the journey and help us prove to Ed Fringe MAT that their decision was wrong!

On a happier note, I was at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane this Wednesday for the showcase of a new musical, PLAYBACK. Having already heard the premise and the demo recording, I must admit I was rather keen to take a look and see how it was coming along.

Written by Paul Rayfield, PLAYBACK is a satirical take on the ‘trailer trash’ daytime TV shows (think Jeremy Kyle and you’re on the right track!): a callous, self-obsessed presenter, outlandish paternity claims – with the obligatory lie detector tests – and plenty of behind-the-scenes dramas… Here, the audience of the musical are also the TV audience within the show, encouraged to participate in the action.

Being a showcase, we only get a taste of PLAYBACK -it’s very easy to see just how good it will be when staged as a full-on production however. The dialogue is witty and has a great back-and-forth rhythm between the characters, while the songs are fun, upbeat numbers to get the audience going. Designed to be catchy and memorable, they certainly achieve this (Café Caipirinha – Sarah Lark – Owain Williams).

Simon Greiff of SimG Productions directs (and also produced the recording through SimG Records) while MD AnneMarie Lewis Thomas of the MTA can take credit for the arrangements. A number of her MTA students did an excellent job providing backing vocals and the main cast (Jon-Paul Hevey; Graham Bickley; Anita Louise Combe; Peter Duncan; Sarah Lark and Owain Williams) were simply brilliant.

I thoroughly enjoyed PLAYBACK and am looking forward to seeing how it progresses from here. Being in the developmental stage, there are, of course, elements that still need work, but a showcase isn’t about presenting a complete, polished production: the purpose is to, well…showcase what you do have; offer an early glimpse of the production and give the audience a chance to see the backbone of the model. The PLAYBACK showcase introduced us to the characters, the songs, and the story and provided a clear view of what it’s all about. I can easily picture how it would come across on stage, backed up with the sets and costumes and technical additions…hopefully, something we’ll all be able to see for ourselves soon enough!

The team are working towards staging an Off-West End run of PLAYBACK in 2012 and are currently looking for backers to support them in this aim. After my sneak-peek at the musical, I for one wish them all nothing but good luck in this endeavour and am confident that they can make this happen. It’s a fun, good-feel musical that entertains enormously and I would love for others to experience it.

You can check out the website www.playbackthemusical.com for all PLAYBACK news and hey, if you were a lucky Euromillions winner this week, you could always throw a little in their direction? ;)

I couldn’t end things here without mentioning MADTrust’s presence at London’s Gay Pride on Saturday. Myself, along with Trust Director Steven Inman, my lovely friends Anna and Jo and a few new volunteers, joined in the parade to highlight the charity and its support, as well as raise some awareness for our September event, West End Bares. We handed out almost five thousand flyers that day and all involved had a fabulous time! We laughed, we made some nice new friends and some of us even got hugs (not me though. Sad face)! I can’t stress enough just what a lovely bunch of people the MADTrust team are – I am so proud to be a part of it as, along with the fantastic and inspiring work we do, I have found some life-long friends through it all. I absolutely love being involved with them – the more the better!

It’s been a week of ups and downs in theatre circle, but hard work, a great product – be it a new musical or a website – and a little bit of faith can go a long way: if you have all of these things, you’re bound to get to where you want to be. The bumps in the road just make it all the more worthwhile when you finally get there. J

Remember…create, love inspire!

Miss Julie