But is it Staged?

I put off watching this odd series on BBC One starring Michael Sheen and David Tennant. Or is it David Tennant and Michael Sheen? Hehe. I had not noticed their chemistry in the two episodes of Good Omens I started watching. I had lots of friends recommend Good Omens but the humour just didn’t strike a chord with me. However, after watching Staged I’m really willing to give it another go.

Michael and David just have a wonderful friendship. The first series sees the two of them trying to rehearse for a play during the uncertainty of the first lockdown in 2020. I wasn’t ready to watch it back then. I was too devastated from the cancellation of a play I was about to perform in at the time. I had just had my costume picked out by the wardrobe mistresses, I finally had all my lines down and it was a small part but the cast were a delightful group of mature women whom I had grown really fond of. I was in awe of these wonderful human beings who had been in theatre for almost 50 years or so. Just before we were cancelled they had prepared a gift for the director showing old photos of all their performances. It was beautiful. We were only amateurs but theatre creates this sense of belonging, respect and love like no other between people.

So at the time, I wasn’t in the mood to watch two professional actors whine about their play over what looked like a zoom session. It was a bit too real, I was doing that with my own friends. I didn’t need the telly, my source of pure escapism to be mirroring my own life in quite such a realistic way. Months later, we’ve adjusted and watched almost everything else on Netflix and all. I’d heard about the second season of Staged starting and friends were raving about it again.

We had a bit of time to spare before going to bed one evening and my husband and I switched it on. It’s only 15 minutes long and we thought, why not? Well. It was just really funny. The pair bickered back and forth and complained endlessly about their respective situations. Both with their wives and children and unable to perform professionally. Sometimes the pace was quick and witty and sometimes it was long and drawn out, reflecting our own situation. Lockdown sometimes seems endless, especially right now. Those hours spent looking out the window, observing the quietness of the world outside whilst dealing with the chaos of family life inside. It’s utterly devastating some days.

Yet these two individuals make the time to try and work towards their project but also occasionally asking each other very poignant questions, personal ones and sometimes just very silly ones. They argue, they shout, they laugh and sometimes, it looks like they will almost cry. It becomes a symbiotic relationship. They soon begin to look forward to seeing each other. And in the end it becomes the bromance that reminds you that as people, we need each other and friendship and love are what makes us so human. Despite the circumstances their connection is unbreakable. And their descent into madness is just funny and relatable.

The second series follows the pair talking about the first series as though it had all been, well, staged! I love it! This sort of meta play within a play concept was wonderful. Not to mention all the cameos! My favourites have to be Judy Dench and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. The first series had been a success. The teleplay of them rehearsing for a play via video conferencing becomes a series sold to the Americans for a version of their own. We’ve seen this all happen before, but behind the scenes they give away what might be a few industry secrets. And the wives of these two actors are an utter delight! I find myself wanting to know everything about Georgia Tennant now.

What I love is how actors, professional or amateur like myself are all the same. Bruised egos, lost opportunities, bitterness between rivals- it’s all there. At the end of both series I am reminded why I love the theatre just so much. For me though, it’s not my livelihood but a hobby on the side of my day job. For these professionals, during lockdown to be stuck in situations beyond their control, that even money can’t resolve, well, it’s pretty devastating.

In the early days of lockdown my heart broke with the idea that it could be years before we could perform again. And I also fretted that television and film would suffer so much we would have very little content. Yes that’s happened, but Staged somehow gives a little light at the end of the tunnel. They succeeded despite all obstacles to create a work of art that reminds us exactly whats important right now – human connections.

It didn’t take long to finish watching the series but it left me wanting more. We’ve put Good Omens back on our watch list. We’ve also been enjoying as a family, watching the entire Marvel Universe films, and now we look forward to watching the new Disney series, Wandavision. We watched Wonder Woman 1984 last night. I desperately wanted to enjoy but it was one of the most ridiculous fantastical movies I’ve seen in a long time. I just don’t think it was for audiences like us, mature and less wide eyed and innocent? Perhaps for young girls. The 8 year old fan inside me loved it though. Just for the simple love of a character who defined female strength and integrity. Meh, you can’t take the fangirl out of this critic entirely!

I’m baaaaaaaaaaaaack!: Fleabag and Feminism

It’s time for me to bite the bullet and come back. I finished my Masters Degree two months ago now and since then I’ve been watching a lot of television. However, since writing my dissertation I’ve had a totally different perspective, that of a “Guilty Feminist”. If you haven’t heard of Deborah Frances-White and her podcast, “The Guilty Feminist” then you are missing something that’s about to become a global phenomenon. DFW’s modern take on feminism has changed the way I think about the world, about patriarchy and misogyny.

 

The media and television have a huge influence over our lives and we just don’t think about it as much. Take for instance how we perceive women on screen: in a piece written by men, women are often framed beautifully, but there is a peeping tom quality when we see a woman naked on screen, or in any sort of vulnerable position. She is there for the “visual pleasure” (see Laura Mulvey’s work on that topic!) of a predominantly male audience.

However, times are changing. Writers like Phoebe Waller-Bridge want to show you what women are really like from their perspective. The only way you’ll get a true insight or perspective of a woman is from a writer who actually identifies as a modern woman with insecurities and opinions that female audiences can identify with.

Fleabag changes the camera’s relationship with women to one that’s consensual. This was the premise of my dissertation: the character of Fleabag played by Waller-Bridge herself breaks the fourth wall to invite an audience to see her side of the story, to watch her enjoying (or not enjoying) sex, to watch her break down and expose her human nature. However, everything you see is on her terms! It is consensual, she knows you’re watching and she’s OK with it. She is not a pleasant character, she’s not that likeable, she can be a shitty character, but her admitting her awfulness is endearing. What woman do you know is perfect? It’s the patriarchy that dictates that women should be some sort of mysterious, ethereal vision of perfection. I know plenty of men AND women who cannot bear to see the realness of women on television and that’s simply the influence of patriarchy over what we enjoy watching. Feminism is supposed to make you feel uncomfortable because it’s about changing the way you think.

We need more television like this, one that reveals the darker, more human nature of women. Representation is key. Women are always trying to live up to some ridiculous notion of what the media tells us to do. Men don’t go around trying to be perfect, a lot of them have heroes in the form of violent rebels like Pacino, De Niro and James Dean to look up to. Why can’t a women aspire to be like Fleabag: she says what she thinks, she does what she likes, she ultimately feels terribly guilty about it but that’s ok, we’re just like her in many ways.

If this sounds interesting to you, then do watch Fleabag, the entire series is available on BBC iPlayer and Amazon Prime. And if you can get to the cinema to watch an Encore of her National Theatre Live performance, go do it, it’s incredible!

Anyway, I’d love to write more on this but I’m going to try and write more posts about the television I’m currently watching. Follow me on twitter or Facebook for some more of my ramblings about what I’m watching. I may start a new instagram account just for TV, but I’m not sure yet, let me know your thoughts!

 

Knights Of The Rose – A Soft Rock Jukebox Musical? Um… ok.

I wasn’t planning on seeing this show but a friend Whatsapp’d me to say let’s go because the tickets were only £15. Another friend said… hmmm, don’t know… the reviews are terrible. I didn’t read them, I just thought, oh ok, why not, I love going in to London for a show and I could see my friends and hang out with them for a bit!

 Music from Bon Jovi is what appealed to my little group the most. We loved all that soft rock in the 90s. They start off with these knights on stage in glittery ‘armour’ singing Blaze of Glory. It’s a bit like the War of The Roses. The knights have returned home from war after five years. The dialogue is sparse at first in between song after song some almost shoehorned in and don’t actually make add to the plot.

The songs are great, well sung, but they are deeply romantic and passionate songs and without building up the story line, it just makes no sense!

The dialogue is a weird mashup of Shakespeare and Chaucer with references included. This got me thinking, this is just like a show I did recently in my own amdram theatre, Return To The Forbidden Planet. The show is a rehashing of The Tempest with dialogue taken from all across Shakespeare’s work, in a sort of Star Trek style space ship and with rock-n-roll music from the 60s. But that show worked because it’s meant to be a comedy.

Knights Of The Rose doesn’t really feel like a comedy but I found myself laughing out loud inappropriately, MANY TIMES. It was just ridiculous, hammy, and two love triangles as basis of the plot was just unoriginal. I don’t know what was worse, the dancing knights in armour, or the weird horse puppets. The costumes were crap, the shoes were awful, though I did actually like some of the choreography. Lots of snapping!

What was brilliant was I listened to Bon Jovi songs while I drove home and I forgot how much I love their music. I was transported back to my teen years and I enjoyed that more than anything else that evening! Oh the Dim Sum in Plum Valley in Chinatown is ace, and really quick for a pre-theatre meal!

If you fancy cheap tickets, get yourself the TopTix app and go see it, but it’s not gonna win any awards. I feel bad for the cast, they’re all so talented, but you know, show biz is hard! At least they’re working!

Fun Home at The Young Vic

I really wanted to love this show. I had heard about it from a musical theatre nerd who showed me videos of the show from its Broadway run and it looked nostalgic and interesting. I really didn’t know too much about it but a couple of the songs sounded nice in the video.

 

When my TodayTix app sent me an email to say the tickets would be £25 I snapped them up and took my little MT nerd along with me. The Young Vic is a gorgeous theatre, very modern and contemporary. I was hungry before the show and we stopped in their restaurant called, The Cut, and I had Before the show started, some ushers took us through the maze around the theatre to take us to our seats in the gods. Not too bad really as it’s not a huge theatre. It was a little tight and they weren’t the most comfortable seats but when you go for bargain prices, you get the bargain seats.

The set was deceptively simple. The show, adapted from a graphic novel by Alison Bechdel, is autobiographical and depicts her coming out story as well as her relationship with her father. Alison, her two brothers and mother all live under the shadow of her father, who not only teaches English at the local high school, he also restores old homes and runs a funeral home – henceforth shortened to ‘Fun Home’.

The relationship with her father is admirable and painful and tragic. The story is told in three stages, her childhood at home, her adolescence and coming out at college, and her adulthood as narrator which closes the show with her confrontation with her father about her sexuality.

The three stages are portrayed by different actors and the set is reflected with a sense of nostalgia in her youth in Pennsylvania starting in the 1980s. I thought I would connect with the nostalgia being the same age as the protagonist and I did to some extent but her family dynamics were very different.

I want to say I really enjoyed the songs, but I hate to say it, I can’t remember a single one nor was I struck by them. The story itself is obviously deeply emotional and may resonate with those who have had to come out to their families. However, the sadness and tragic twist in this story was heavy and the show had no real resolution. It’s not an uplifting story at all. I would say its worthy of its commendations, Tony awards and other high brow mentions, but this isn’t a memorable show for me.

I very much enjoyed visiting the Young Vic but unfortunately this wasn’t a story I could connect with. It’s not for everyone. But that’s ok, it’s an important story to be told, especially one that says, perhaps your life isn’t that bad, it could be worse!

Everybody SHOULD BE talking about Jamie!

A television documentary inspires a musical for stage and is shown at the cinema live simultaneously around the world! I mean I had to see it and blog about it, of course! I’d heard little bits about the show earlier in the year and I wish I had gone when the ticket prices were relatively low. Then it picked up and it was a little hard to get tickets and I got busy and just didn’t have a chance to go.

When my local cinema announced they would be airing it live direct from the theatre I was dubious, why go to the cinema when it was only 45 minutes away from my home to see the show live? I’m fortunate to live so close to London and I can sometimes get last minute tickets, particularly from the Today Tix app which I adore! But I thought it would be interesting to watch a live feed from the theatre in the cinema. I’d never experienced it before and tickets were relatively cheaper. At £20 for full price and £15 concession it was a lot cheaper than in house tickets and the added price of the journey to London. PLUS, the views were right up close from cameras carefully placed around the stage and theatre. While I don’t think productions for the stage are meant to be seen so close, it does make the view more intimate for the viewer in the cinema and hell, you get to see a great show from the comfort of your home town and not all of us live so close to cities with big shows playing. What a fab way to get the theatre out to the masses, especially a show that is currently on stage and new!

Now the show itself was gloriously upbeat. The songs are modern and fresh with a range of tempos and references to Beyonce, Madonna and some great ballads that you can only get away with in musical theatre. The show is modern and fresh and diverse and the script is sharp and witty and funny and touching.

The character of Jamie New is based on the story of 16 year old school boy, Jamie Campbell who decided that he would not only pursue a career in drag performance once he finished school, but that he would debut his drag character at his high school prom back in 2011. Quite a lot of the documentary narrative is adapted into the musical with some key moments and relationships.

The most significant change in the adaptation is the diversity of the people around Jamie. In the documentary, pretty much everyone is white. In the show, the characters are sprinkled with diversity all over the place. It might not have been written in to the script for this character to be Asian but this aired stage version featured the wonderful Shobna Gulati playing Jamie’s mum’s best friend, Ray. Ray is a ray of sunshine throughout the show, dropping sharp one liners all over the place including her angry reaction to Jamie not being allowed to wear a dress for prom by the teachers, “It boils my piss!”. Interestingly, this cracking line is directly taken from the feature documentary but to hear it from an Asian soap actress, Gulati makes it her own in a cheeky and saucy fashion that breaks all the preconceptions about female Asian character stereotypes.

John McCrea is fabulously camp and sharp and witty as Jamie New. He shows great depth and vulnerability as he exposes his inner desires to the kids at school and to his father who shuns him. Jamie’s mother, Margaret, is played by Josie Walker whose voice is utterly heart wrenching during the ballad, “He’s My Boy”. The depth and tone of her voice is incredibly strong and so unique compared to the usual musical theatre sound. I found her performance compelling and sincere with every tear she shed in the close up performance on camera.

What struck a chord with me the most, was the character of Pritti Pasha, played by Lucie Shorthouse. This character who is Jamie’s best friend, also happens to be the class nerd, and wears a hijab. I immediately thought, this character isn’t right, she has a Hindu name! Much to my surprise, the character addresses this during the show, to point out her queerness to Jamie, to show that she is just like him in a way, a Muslim girl with a Hindu name! I LOVED THIS! (I’m a Hindu girl with a made up name.)

More than that, it made question myself, “Am I queer?” I’ve never had a problem with homosexuality or LGBT choices amongst my peers, but I never realised what it was made me identify with these friends until I saw this show. I’m queer, I thought to myself. There are many of us who identify with being queer, with being on the sidelines, with not fitting in the norm. I may be straight, married, a mum with two kids, but I do identify with queerness. The show is a celebration of queer and Jamie’s coming out and the embracing of his queerness by his peers and even himself is a joy to watch. He doesn’t want to be a girl, he just wants to be a boy that dresses up like a girl and feels pretty.

Watching it in the cinema may have not been my first choice but making a show about celebrating queerness more accessible to the masses that live outside the cities which are inhabited by the queer majorities, means that those few who are left on the fringes in their little town in the middle of nowhere, have something to relate to and identify with on screen. Everybody SHOULD BE talking about Jamie!

HAMILTON: An American Musical

People who know me will know that I am obsessed with this musical. There are many reasons why but before I go in to that I want to tell you this: if you are one of these people who insists that they don’t listen to the soundtrack of a show before they see it, this time, you should make an exception!

 

 

I’ll tell you why. This is a hip hop opera… a hip hopera if you must. But if you’re not a fan of hip hop or opera or musical theatre, there are enough different styles of music to suit everyone’s tastes. Of all the 46 songs on the soundtrack there are some influenced by 90’s hip hop, some influenced by Sondheim, and some by Lloyd-Webber.

The creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda is unashamedly influenced by many different styles of music and culture. Miranda is a Puerto Rican/American who grew up in the melting pot that is New York City. Only a few years younger than myself, I share a lot of cultural influences so it explains very much my obsession. I too grew up in NY and I’ve also worked out that I may know someone who actually went to school with him… but you know, it’s a small world.

Miranda is an exceptional lyricist. It’s rare for the writer to sing and perform in his own show but while he was in college, he realised he wasn’t going to star in a lot of musicals unless he wrote them himself. He wrote his first show In The Heights and then eventually Hamilton. The show is unusual because it is entirely cast with a diverse range of ethnicity. Theatre always requires you to suspend your beliefs in some way, so why should the race of the actor have anything to do with the story they tell on stage?

You may have already heard of Miranda’s work in the Disney film, Moana. If you haven’t heard The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) singing the wonderfully catchy song, “You’re Welcome” you’re really missing a treat.

The lyrics of this song, and so many of his others are fast paced, rhythmically entrancing, and take a few listens before you really understand every layer of what he’s saying. I have said time and time again to many people, Lin-Manuel Miranda is the Shakespeare of our time!

Take a look at the lyrics from “My Shot” which I feel describes not only Hamilton himself, but displays the literary genius that is Miranda and his eagerness to be heard.

I am not throwing away my shot!
I am not throwing away my shot!
Hey yo, I’m just like my country
I’m young, scrappy and hungry
And I’m not throwing away my shot!
I’mma get a scholarship to King’s College
I prob’ly shouldn’t brag, but dang, I amaze and astonish
The problem is I got a lot of brains but no polish
I gotta holler just to be heard
With every word, I drop knowledge!
I’m a diamond in the rough, a shiny piece of coal
Tryin’ to reach my goal. My power of speech: unimpeachable
Only nineteen but my mind is older
These New York City streets get colder, I shoulder
Ev’ry burden, ev’ry disadvantage
I have learned to manage, I don’t have a gun to brandish
I walk these streets famished
The plan is to fan this spark into a flame

What is truly glorious about the story of Hamilton is that it is set in a time of idealised democracy at the birth of the United States of America. It’s a story of revolution after a time of oppression from the sovereignty of Great Britain. It’s certainly interesting how though this is set during the revolution, the independence from Great Britain, the British  are not offended at all by the portrayal of King George. If anything, Hamilton’s radical socialism is something many people connect with. He’s a man of the people and he never forgets his roots as an immigrant who comes from nothing. He uses his bright mind not to further himself but to free the Americans from the burden of taxes to King George. His passion for the people leads him to choosing to help George Washington, the first president, to form the US State Treasury.

Amongst all the politics and war, he also falls in love, not once, but twice, somewhat. The Schuyler Sisters are force all unto themselves. Eliza, Angelica and Peggy, a trio of Scottish sisters who are born into wealth and status. Angelica spots Hamilton and sees his potential but she chooses to pass on him in search of someone with an equal status and wealth. She introduces Hamilton to her sister, Eliza. What follows is a romance, heartache and passion. When Eliza sings the song “Burn” it is everything! It’s a beautiful song with lyrics that swirl around in your head for hours.

You and your words flooded my senses
Your sentences left me defenseless,
You built me palaces of paragraphs,
You built cathedrals.

The lyrics are wonderful, the ballad is epic, the voices are earnest. The whole album is a treasure. The whole story is told in song and rhyme so if you never even got to see the show, you could still enjoy it so much. The more you listen to it, the more layers you peel away and the more nuances you hear and fall in love with.

So these are my step-by-step tips for enjoying the show if you haven’t seen it yet:

1. Listen to the album. If you are an Amazon Prime member it is included in the available Prime music.
2. Listen to the album again, beginning to end, over and over again. Listen to it while you’re driving, while you’re on the train, while you’re walking, while you’re working out.
3. Watch videos on YouTube of the original cast. In particular look for the video of the cast singing “Yorktown” at the Tony awards in 2016. It’s hard to find a good version but they are there.
4. Watch lots of other videos, you’ll get a good idea of the show over all, and don’t worry, it won’t spoil the whole show for you.
5. Listen to the album again.
6. Get yourself some tickets! If money is no object head over to Ticketmaster and book your tickets!
7. If money is tight, then download the app! Enter the lottery. Enter every day! You can win. I won twice and was lucky enough to see the London cast perform a week after opening the show from third row centre. It was glorious! The second time I won, I had front row seats and my daughter caught a rose petal from Alexander and Elixa’s wedding scene!
8. Listen to the album again and savour every memory of the show.
9. Watch everything Lin-Manuel Miranda has ever done, In The Heights (there are some amdram productions around but I have yet to see it). Watch Moana, listen to all those wonderful songs he wrote.
10. Listen to the Hamilton Mixtape. I think my favourite is “Satisfied” with Sia featuring Miguel and Queen Latifah. I don’t love the whole album but it is worth listening to.
11. Follow Lin-Manuel Miranda on social media. Look out for the monthly #Hamildrop which is always interesting and sometimes there are some fabulous collaborations of artists singing songs from the show.
12. Finally, just listen to the album again. It’s a long album so there is a lot to look at, to consider, to peel away the layers on. It’s truly a work of art.

I hope you enjoyed my thoughts on Hamilton. The show is incredible but the album is equally amazing. Don’t not listen to it because you haven’t seen it yet. I’ve heard so many people say that and it’s such a shame. There is no reason why you can’t just enjoy the show now. There is only about 15 seconds of the show missing from the album and if you really want me to tell you what it is, just ask, but if you are lucky enough to find out, go see it. The choreography and staging is impeccable. It’s probably one of the most flawless theatre productions I have ever seen.

The London cast are wonderful and if you are lucky enough to meet them at the stage door, make sure you have a pen and program ready as well as your phone! They are so friendly! The Victoria Palace Theatre is also stunning and luxurious, by far the most glamorous theatre in the West End.

My first post: ‘The Good Fight’ and ‘Young Frankenstein’!

Well this is it, my first post! It’s taken me a while to get this blog launched. I’ve been busy finishing my first year of my MA in Global Film and Television as well as producing and performing at my local amateur theatre with The Stevenage Lytton Players. Doing their marketing also keeps me very busy but while I’m in between academic years I’m watching a lot of television and film and making many trips to the theatre. There is so much I’d like to start with but for now I’ll start with some television and theatre!

This morning I watched ‘The Good Fight’ and it was probably one of my favourite episodes so far. The show follows Christine Baranski playing Diane Lockheart, a character originally from ‘The Good Wife’ as she joins an all African American law firm and climbs back after a massive blow to her investments just as she was about to retire.

The title credits show various symbols of the long established American law system being blown up. It’s about antidisestablishmentarianism. It’s about breaking traditions, breaking the system and it’s about justice regardless of precedence and nepotism. Where other television shows set their law firms in an imaginary reality with its own set of politics, this one is bravely set in the current political shambles that is the USA today. Trump is often brought up as the very real antagonist of every member of the law firm.

In yesterday’s episode, ‘Day 485’ (Series 2, Episode 12) shows the team of lawyers, with the magnificent Audra McDonald playing Liz Reddick-Lawrence and Rose Leslie as Maia Rindell, as they try to rescue their company’s private investigator, Jay Dipersia played by Nyamba Nyamba from being deported to Nigeria. Jay is unaware that he was born in Nigeria and his parents had his birth certificate faked to make him out to be the twin brother of his sister born a year later in the US. The Immigration Officers are accused by the team of wasting the people’s tax money on deporting an honest man who has made a significant contribution to the country. In wake of the Windrush scandal in England the episode is so relevant. I love how brave this show is on commenting on Trump’s policies and how it’s affected the country. Everyone should be watching it, right from the first series, and if you haven’t seen ‘The Good Wife’ either, you have really missed out on something special.

In complete contrast, I went to see ‘Young Frankenstein’ last night in the West End. A musical adapted from the film by Mel Brooks, the farcical comedy is pure joy in its combination of cult of B-Movie horror and the glory days of early musical theatre. I can’t even remember if I’ve seen the film but I hear Gene Wilder is inimitable. The actor playing the young Frederick Frankenstein was entertaining but he somewhat lacked the comic lustre Wilder had in his glory days. I believe Frederick was played by someone called Hadley Fraser but I couldn’t tell if it was a swing from the ensemble as all the young white men look the same in the cast photos and the wig and moustache he wore on stage makes him hard to identify. It was undoubtedly Leslie Joseph who made a cracking performance as Frau Blücher. Her solo performance in “He Vas My Boyfriend” was superb, showing off her natural gift in comedy, song and dance. She captivated the audience and as much as the critics will say that it’s not fair when television stars get parts in the West End, Joseph proves that her CV is irrelevant when you consider her performance in this show! Obviously she uses her history in television to connect with her audience, but why shouldn’t she, she’s earned it!

So I hope you enjoyed my first post! I look forward to writing about more about the film, television and theatre I love!