#2019MakeItGood

[asdamagicbiscuits]

Theatre Highlights 2018

My Top 10 Theatre Highlights and Moments of 2018 (in no particular order other than roughly chronological. I combined things together to make it easier to read and talk about without doubling back on myself). Let's go!

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child 

My first London theatre trip of the year saw me and my very good friend Hannah make our first visit to see Cursed Child. After a year and a half of trying to get tickets we finally won the Friday Forty and had PHENOMENAL seats - we couldn’t have asked for more with front row stalls, just off centre. It meant that I could see every detail of everyone's performances and the slightest of reactions which I may have missed sitting elsewhere. The show blew my tiny mind. I turned to Hannah in the interval of part one and said that this was going to be the best thing I saw this year and as the year draws to a close I can safely say past me was VERY much correct!! The things they achieve on stage are outstanding and just goes to show anything is possible with theatre, including magic!

In my six visits to see the show I’ve seen some of the brilliant covers in both the second and third year companies including Gideon Turner - First Cover Harry Potter Year Two, Tom Peters - First Cover Harry Potter Year Three, James McGregor - First Cover Bane Year Two and Three, April Hughes - First Cover Delphi (I have SO MUCH I want to say about April’s performance but #KeepTheSecrets and all that but everyone needs to see this girl as Delphi!) Ed White, Tom Mackey and Martin Johnson were the covers I had on in the principal company playing Draco Malfoy, Albus Potter and Amos Diggory/Dumbledore respectively on my first visit to the show and I was genuinely blown away by their performances. I have to talk about Ed and Tom’s performances as they were incredible and stole the show for me.  Firstly, Ed as Draco. Now like many other fans I grew up reading the books and watching the films and everyone was very much I love Draco, he’s great. He’s such a layered character. Now I didn’t get why everyone was so obsessed with him, like what am I not seeing? Then I saw Ed as Draco and was like Oh. Okay, NOW I get it. Ed brought such a warmth and a heart to the character I hadn’t actually noticed before and completely changed my opinion on how I view Draco. The bit which got me was whenever Draco was talking about Astoria and especially the scene in the ministry with Scorpius. It was beautifully acted and a stunning performance. It was a similar thing with Tom as Albus, going in to watch the play I had an idea of what Albus’ character would be like having read the script before hand, yet watching the story unfold Tom played it completely different to how I pictured it in my head. I laughed, I cried and I just wanted to give Albus a hug at the end of it. Those two really stick in my mind when I think back to my first visit and even a year later I’m still talking about it. 

Lastly, as I’m aware this is only the first section and it’s already massively long, I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again, shout out to all the Swings, especially on this show as they are all phenomenal and all the tracks are so intricate and they play multiple characters in a single ensemble track, it must be so challenging on cut shows making sure it all gets covered. Loving ya work Swing Team!

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is running at the Palace Theatre so make sure to grab your tickets!!

Miss Saigon UK Tour 

I was so thrilled to get to see this wonderful show again on tour three times after having seen it in London. It was just as moving and powerful as it was in London and hats off to everyone involved with getting the show on the road. You’ve done a grand job. It was lovely to see Zoë Doano on stage again, she delivered such a beautiful performance as Ellen and stole the show with Maybe. The whole company were exceptional, Sooha Kim as Kim and Ashley Gilmour as Chris were such a fabulous pairing. Last Night Of The World was so gorgeous and my favourite song in the show. Barnaby Hughes and Vinny Coyle were standouts in the ensemble and it was fabulous to see James McKeon at the helm conducting, doing a marvellous job. Love your work James!

Titanic UK Tour 

Now for those long standing readers of this yearly blog post, some might remember back in summer 2016 I saw Titanic at the Charing Cross Theatre and just fell in love. 

Well fast forward to 2018 where I got to see this fabulous show again three times on tour. It was just as moving, emotional and breath taking as I remembered. The first time I saw the tour was in Southampton I was physically shaking before the show had even started because I love it so much. It’s safe to say I was a pure wreck during that show. I had cried three times by the end of the first song and by the end of the show I’d cried so much there was no moisture in my eyes whatsoever. It was so great to see so many returning performers who I’d seen in the show in London. Dudley and Judith are sublime as the Strausses and of course it was so brilliant to see the heart and scene stealer that is Victoria Serra, who I have to say was born to sing Yeston’s music. Such a gorgeous vocal and performance. Ladies Maid will always be my favourite song in the show and Victoria leads it beautifully. I have a lot of love for that girl. 

I have to mention Kieran Brown, who was wonderful as Murdock, and Chris McGuigan, a sublime Jim Farrell, who were standouts each time I saw the show. 

There are pieces of theatre which just move you so much and deserves to be seen by everyone. Titanic is just this.

Madagascar The Musical UK Tour 

I went to this see this with my friend, Sejuti, and we went to go see Shane McDaid in the show. We were probably also the only people there without kids but we LOVED IT!!! Such a fun show, great music and the penguins were hilarious. My favourite bit was when they were in the antarctic! Excellent comic timing. I’m far from the target audience for this show but I’d recommend it in a heartbeat. Great for adults and kids alike and I’m definitely going to be seeing it again when it comes closer to me. 

Madagascar the Musical is on tour during 2019, check their website for tour dates. 

Shitfaced Shakespeare 

It’s not a secret how much I blooming love this company. As always it’s top notch Shakespeare, hilarious antics and you are guaranteed to have the best hour of your life when you go and see any production they do. This year they had Merchant of Venice, Romeo and Juliet in London and Hamlet on the Fringes so got introduced to two new (well new to me) Shakespeare plays. Ophelia becoming Queen and turning Arass’ were a thing which happened in that time right? 

Got some great compère and drunk combos and two shows I had been waiting to see for over a year so I was happy!!

Unsure how they will top this year but undoubtedly it’ll be genius whatever they do! The big thing for me in 2019 though is to see Saul Marron compère more than once per a season. Am I cursed to only see him once a year? 😢 I hope not! Will update you all on if I manage it next year! 

Keep your eyes peeled on what shows they are doing at the Fringes and in London next year, make sure to grab your tickets when they go on sale in 2019, it’s gonna be a corker for sure!! 

Edinburgh Fringe

I don’t know where to start here. I had simply the best time. I slept a lot as I was knackered but I saw some BRILLIANT shows and Edinburgh is such a gorgeous city as well, especially at Fringe where it’s so busy and got a lovely atmosphere about it. (Still gutted I never found where the pretty Edinburgh Gin Bar at Fringe was. I saw some lovely photos on Instagram!) Fringe staples were Shitfaced Shakespeare and Showtime obviously, did you even do Fringe properly if you DIDN’T see one of those shows?! Another show which I loved whilst up there was Voldemort and the Teenage Hogwarts Parody. Saw it twice and oh my word they were all so fantastic and it was hilarious. I also cried when Muffin died. BOTH TIMES. Legit it got to me. The Amazing Bubbleman - mind blowing, Out Of The Blue, Paddington’s First Concert, Gulliver Returns were some of the fantastic shows at Fringe I saw. I also bumped into my old headteacher on the first night I was at Fringe, at Shitfaced Shakespeare, so I ended up going to see the show he had brought up with a few of the A level drama students at my old school. I was really surprised at how well I followed it (we all know how confused I get at plays. It doesn’t always end well) and all of the girls delivered excellent, solid performances. 

I’m already BUZZING to go back to Fringe next year and the magical waffle place of dreams is actual perfection, very much worth a visit!!

Shitfaced Showtime

Again like with their sister show, I have a lotta love for those musical booze loving beans. I was lucky enough to catch this show twice on Fringe and then once in London. It definitely is a theme with me that at Showtime I always see the drunk I see the show I’m at is compère the next time I go and it’s pure coincidence but I love that it’s worked out like that. I was THRILLED to get to see Nick, the Musical Director, as the drunk on the last night of Fringe, genuinely don’t think I’ve ever laughed that hard before ever. It was a show I really wanted to see at some point and shout-out to Jessica and Beth for doing an ace job looking after him. I’ve said this before but I’m gonna say it again, everyone needs to see a Shitfaced Showtime production and every Musical needs to get the Shitfaced treatment as it’s pure brilliance how they put it all together!!

And lastly, someone cast Issy Wroe-Wright as Fantine as the pipes that girl has are out of this world and she’d slay it. #IssyForFantine 

Phantom Cast Change 

Cast Changes don’t get any easier and this year I had to say goodbye to the lovely Leo Miles who was a swing and then moved to ensemble and Second Cover Raoul (he was flawless as Raoul. Definitely one of my all time favourites.) I’d watched Leo in the show from when he joined back in 2013 so to see him leave was sad but I’ve loved watching him on stage those five years and seen his journey. He is one of the loveliest people on the planet and destined for great things and I’m so excited to see him in the Les Mis tour next year! 

Twelfth Night - Young Vic Theatre

Now no theatre highlights of mine would be complete without mentioning Natalie Dew and the show she was in. As I mentioned earlier on that Cursed Child was the best thing I saw this year, it was equalled by Twelfth Night at the Young Vic. I did a review of it which is also on here if you want to check out my full thoughts.

However in brief, it was sheer brilliance. The music was INCREDIBLE and getting to hear Nat sing again was so fantastic (there may have tears) and also getting to see Rupert Young perform live was great. Rupert hands down has one of the best Male voice I’ve ever heard. The tone and quality of it was just gorgeous. I could talk about this show all day, uplifting, delivers such a good message at the end and so good for the soul. 

‪42nd Street‬

‪42nd Street has featured before in my highlights but I want to talk about the brilliant covers I’ve seen in the show this year. Firstly all the principals in both companies are a joy to watch and so fantastic.‬

Hannah Faith-Marram - First Cover Peggy

I only saw Hannah as Peggy once but oh my word she blew my away. Her dancing was beautiful and crisp, lovely vocal and her smile lit up the whole stage. Her interpretation of Peggy was so sweet and everything she did felt so organic. Me and Rebecca, the friend I went with, felt very lucky to get to see Hannah and Philip together as Peggy and Billy. It felt like we were watching a piece of pure magic up there!

Phillip Bertoli - First Cover Billy and Pat

I’ve been very lucky to see Phillip as both of his covers. In year one I saw him twice as Pat and in year two I’ve seen him twice as Billy. He is exceptional in both roles and  also in his ensemble track, he suits the era so well. It’s like someone picked him out of the ‘20s and popped him in present day. Everything about his performance, you can’t help but watch him in the dance numbers. It’s a very classy performance

Ryan Glover - Second Cover Andy/Swing

Want to give a special mention to Ryan as not only was he performing as Andy during one show he also was on in the ensemble during one of the dances as they were on a cut show that performance and I thought he did an outstanding job! 

Finally I just want to say that I’m so gutted this show is closing, the West End won’t be as bright without this wonderfully uplifting show. Thank you to both the original revival company and the second year companies for bringing me such joy over the past nearly two years. You’ve all been magnificent!! Make sure to catch all those hoofers on stage at Theatre Royal Drury Lane before the show closes ‪on January 6th‬ and don’t forget to go see it in the cinema when it’s released!!

Well, that wraps up a very stagey 2018. I’ve got some exciting stuff planned for 2019 so it’s looking to be a good one!! 

Who knows what will make it in next year but I sure know it’s gonna be one fun stagey ride! So make sure you come back next year and find out what my highlights for 2019 are!

Until next time, cheerio!