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So I got a new phone on Saturday and my only request was that it took decent photos at concerts; tonight I got to try it out and let me say the guy at Carphone Warehouse did good!! (Huawei P20)

I adore James Bay as it is due to his raw talent and enthusiasm on stage, he loves every moment of the performance and that joy is reflected in the audience.

I love that I can now look back on the evening and not have blurry, light dominated pictures with a blurry silhouette stood somewhere within the image! One of the reasons I stopped taking pictures at gigs is because I’d spend more time trying to focus my camera than I did watching the performance. It’s fair to say that this did not happen here, I lifted my phone out my pocket roughly 3 times and put it away not long after, allowing me to become a hot blubbering mess - then again that’s not a great sight either 😂

I applaud you little Huawei 👏

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Just You Wait!

West End Live has announced its dates, and it’s one to be saved in the world of theatre!

For anyone unaware of what West End Live is, Westminster City Council and Society of London, Supported by The Mayor of London come together to put on a two-day event in Trafalgar Square; within the square there are stalls relating to theatre and London. Last year there was TKTS (a brilliant place to get on the day tickets, based in Leicester square), there was also Oxford Street (advertising shops along the street, and doing glitter), Madam Tussauds (wax work exhibition), various food and charities and Disney (showcasing the shows’ costumes).

Disney’s Aladdin Costumes - Genie, Princess Jasmin and Aladdin's Prince Ali.

Olivier Awards - I got to hold an Olivier Award!

P.S I was a bit overwhelmed, so not really sure what that pose is...

Cookie Monster & Elmo 

Rocket Raccoon & Baby Groot

The main attraction obviously is the performance of all major shows in London, and West End stars over the two days! This years line up of shows has just been announced and I have to say myself it looks like a cracker, not that last year was any less impressive.

Below is the list of shows performing, the stars and theatre schools are yet to be announced! To keep up to date follow @WestEndLive on Instagram & Twitter...

To give you idea of what to expect below are a few of the moments I captured last year!

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Cake of my favourite costume from Phantom!

Red Death cake, from the West End bake-off

https://instagram.com/p/BjCuFLFDbub/

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Phantom of the Opera (replica) + elephants

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A Job Interview Is Not A Test Of Your Knowledge But Your Ability To Use It At The Right Time

Part of the assessed work for my course is a Media Interview on one the four areas of the licensing act; Prevention of Public Nuisance, Public Safety, Prevention of Crime & Disorder and Protection of Children from Harm each section is linked to a specific scenario regarding an event. For each event we are the organiser/promoter who is being interviewed to explain the outcome or cause of each scenario.

An element of the this was learning how to approach an interview and media training, one way we were introduced to the methods of a media interview was through an online guide which broke down an interview answer and the process.

Research

For each scenario I tried to link the scenario to a relevant case study which has taken place during the entertainment industry. To enhance the research, we did we were given two of the four questions we were to be asked during the interview.

Prevention of Public Nuisance

The scenario for Prevention of Public Nuisance made me think of when Justin Bieber came on stage two hours late in 2013. I researched whether the people who attended were able to get a refund and what the venue’s way of resolving the issue was, i.e. contacting London Transport to delay the last tube and hiring a boat to transport fans going alternative routes, tweeted alerting fans of delay.

When researching this I was surprised to find out that audience members are unable to receive a refund if the artist arrives late or performs at alternative time than advertised as the artist has fulfilled part of the agreement of turning up.

Public Safety

I couldn’t think of a current case study that I could link to this scenario, so to research the health and safety in relation to a food festival I looked at one of the biggest current festivals standards and systems.

http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/information/traders/

On the Glastonbury website they clearly state what documentation they require from each trader before they are guaranteed a position on the site. Once producing this documentation, they will have a pitch at the festival, however when on site the festival follows a RAG System which is explained above; I like the idea of this system as it means the festival are constantly checking on their traders, assuring customers that the organisers are aware of what each traders’ standards are.

Prevention of Crime & Disorder

This scenario is one of the most common for nightclub in the sense that most people expect it from a venue even if it isn’t happening.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/476514/Section_53A-C_Licensing_Act_2003_Summary_Review_Guidance.pdf

For this I investigated the Licensing Act 2003 for sections which maybe violated regarding drug use at a venue. From this I found that the main area of concern for a venue owner is by violating Section 53a (association with serious crime and disorder) the local authorities will revoke the venue’s license. Whilst looking into this I also found an organisation which advises venues on issues regarding drug use within venues. This organisation was called Safe Nightlife, they installed drug amnesty boxes into venues who reach out to them for help and advise them on which direction to go to reduce the crime.

http://newip.safernightlife.org/pdfs/digital_library/uk_safer_nightlife_guideline.pdf

Prevention of Children from Harm 

This scenario reminded me a lot of Adele at the Brits in 2012, due to this I decided to investigate the outcome and the consequences in which it held.

From this research I found out that the may concern by the media is what caused Adele’s outbreak and whether she was going to apologise; which in this case is personally your choice.

I also decided to investigate specific areas of legislation which is linked to swearing where minors are present, from this I discovered Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986, explained above.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1986/64/section/5

Interview 

For the interview I was presented with Drug Dealing at a Venue (Prevention of Crime & Disorder), one which I was hoping to get, overall, I didn’t mind either of the four-push comes to shove, I was however relieved I didn’t get Protection of Children from Harm.

During the interview I manage to mention the highlight Section 53a of the Licensing Act 2003 and managed to explain what Safe Nightlife do to help venues struggling from issues regarding crime. I feel like I approached the interview with confidence and managed to follow the media technique of building a bridge to the answer which you want the public to hear, I feel that doing drama the majority of my life has helped to enhance my skill of covering up nerves vocally and physically, and the practise of improv helped me in regards to building the bridge within the answer. I managed to mention all the points in which I had researched and apologise to the locals who had to witness the drug use which although many may not have included I wished to reiterate the point to show a sign of sincerity in what I was saying.

If I was to the interview the interview again I feel as if I spoke a little too quick when answering the questions as I was trying to get in all my points, and my answers started to be a little less in depth towards the end as I had used best of my research towards the start. I also feel as if I said ‘like’ little too much as I was trying to process the answer which I was giving, which to me also makes me feel very unprofessional, and is a great bug bare to me when I hear myself say it. It is something I need to work on, and one way to this maybe to practise interviews aloud with someone who highlights when I say it. As I have not seen the footage I’m not sure if I did or not fidget, for example twiddle my fingers or look off into the distance, but if so once again I feel an aloud rehearsal would resolve this.

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Things Theatre Fans Say #145

Me telling a friend about a show: And if you can't go see it, I can perform the entire thing by myself

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Things Theatre Fans Say #156

Me: *alone literally anywhere*

Me: TIME TO BLAST MUSICALS!

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“Wait… I think, my dear, we have a guest….”

(Ivan Ozhogin, Elena Bahtiyarova and Evgeny Zaycev, POTO Moscow)

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Jesus Christ Superstar📿 School of Rock🎸 Cats🐱 The Phantom of The Opera👻 Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat🌈

The appearance on Saturday Night Takeaway was in celebration of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 70th birthday. I love the fact they got Phillip Schofield in to reprise his Joseph 26 years after his West End Debut. James Cordon is also in this, and if you’ve never heard him sing you should check out the Into The Woods sound track, or just a video of him singing properly, as witnessed in a few of his Carpool Karaoke’s he’ll surprise you!

Side Note: how much would it change the musical if the Phantom walked around stage like that? Hilarious!

The slot on the show though humorous and nostalgic was also to promote the upcoming event at Royal Chelsea Hospital, London featuring performances from Ben Forster (Jesus, The Phantom), Tyrone Huntley (Judas), Joe McElderry (Joseph) and West End Cast Members accompanied by The Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, the show again is to celebrate the composer’s 70th birthday.

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“When The Wind Blows Some Buildings May Fall...”

“The Licensing Act 2003 is an Act to make provision about the regulation of the sale and supply of alcohol, the provision of entertainment and the provision of late night refreshment, about offences relating to alcohol and for connected purposes.” (The Licensing Act, 2003, p.10) Local authorities establish a licensing policy which shows how they make decisions based on applicants and individual decisions around licencing, this policy must be reviewed every five years. Within the Licencing Act there are 4 key objectives which have to be present within local policies, these are Prevention of Crime and Disorder, Prevention of Public Nuisance, Public Safety and Prevention of Children from Harm. (The Licensing Act, 2003, p.12) You must apply for license if you have a venue or event which includes activities such as; the sale by retail of alcohol, the supply of alcohol by or on behalf of a member of a club, the provision of late-night refreshment, the provision of regulated entertainment. However, in 2009 the 2003 Act was amended “to ensure that a sexual entertainment venue license is required or held…as such entertainment is expressly excluded from the definition of regulated entertainment found in the 2003 Act” (Home Office, 2010, p.10) nevertheless if the premises carry's out other licensable activities, as above, they will require a premises licence, club licence or temporary event notice. Put into practice, this means the majority of lap dancing venues and similar clubs will require both a Sexual Entertainment Licence and a Premises Licence. (ibid.)

The Windmill strip club in Soho, London faces closure after staging striptease shows since 1932 (86 years) (BBC News, 2018). The club is famous for not shutting its doors during the Blitz, and beginning the careers of stars such as Bruce Fosyth and Peter Sellers (Sheppard and Prynn, 2018), in 2005 Mrs Henderson Presents starring Judi Dench was released which is inspired by the story of The Windmill and where it began. (ibid.)

“The Nazi’s couldn’t close it…now the feminists have.” (Spillet, 2018).  A women’s right group had reason to believe that The Windmill were breaching conditions placed within it’s license about performer/customer interaction, and felt the management were prostituting the dancers; the group hired former police officers as an inside eye to the establishment. (BBC News, 2018) After agreeing the former officer described his experience within the club, which showed strong links between the women’s rights groups declaration. (ibid.)  

The investigators report states: “'I was approached by a dark-haired female who was wearing a see-through dressing gown and red bra, suspender belt, and knickers and high heeled shoes. She told me her name was Summer. I bought her a white wine and a Malibu and coke… she began her dance during which she removed all of her clothing until she was fully naked, as she performed she rubbed herself up and down my groin area.”

He continues: “I was approached by a tall Asian female…she was dressed in a black bra, knickers, stockings and a see-through short dressing gown, she asked for a glass of champagne which I bought her, we then had a conversation where she offered me a VIP dance for £160 where I could touch her. I agreed and we went back to the VIP lounge.” (Spillet, 2018)

The investigator also claims that out of the £160 the dancer paid the security guard £10 to ‘look the other way’. (BBC News, 2018)

Section 2.5.40 of Nudity, Striptease and Sex Related Entertainment under Conditions states: If nudity or partial nudity forms part of the entertainment (e.g. striptease, pole or lap dancing), or is part of the operation of the premises (e.g. topless or fetish bars and clubs), the Licensing Authority will attach conditions to any such premises licence it may grant to promote the licensing objectives. These will include conditions relating to the exclusion of persons under 18 at all times from premises where these activities take place; the prevention of views into the premises; prohibiting exterior advertising of the sex related entertainment at the premises; and the leafleting or touting for business. Conditions will be imposed requiring that all service is to seated customers; prohibiting the participation of customers in performances and on maintaining a minimum distance of one metre between performers and customers and between performers during performance. This is to ensure that it can be easily observed that no touching or other acts that would constitute disorder take place. There will also be conditions on the installation and operation of CCTV and retaining recordings of performances and on the employment of supervisors. The Licensing Authority may attach other conditions as appropriate. (City of Westminster, 2005, p.52)

From the investigators report The Windmill has breached several of the conditions, highlighted above, that have been put into place by the Westminster City Council within the terms of granting the venue a license; the venue was investigated by council officers and on the 4th of January there was a letter stating that there had “been a significant improvement…however, conditions are still being breached.” (Sheppard & Prynn, 2018)

The venue is currently owned by Daniel Owide, who ran it alongside his father who unfortunately died in December 2017. Owide wrote in a letter which apologised for the clubs failing: “I spent a lot of time caring for him and regrettably I acknowledge that I have diverted my attention from running the business during this challenging time. We have dismissed six dancers, suspended 10 dancers and sent dancers home during the night on 10 occasions. Any breach of the ‘no touching rule’ results in immediate dismissal. I am now confident the entire team are committed to ensuring our compliance and we will work tirelessly to ensure no future lapses.” (Sheppard & Prynn, 2018)

Big Country, the firm which runs the venue, applied to renew its licence for striptease, pole-dancing and table dancing from 9am to 5:30am daily except Sunday. On the 11th January the City Council decided that they would not be renewing the venues sexual entertainment license, Council leader Nickie Aiken said: “There is a thin line between seedy and bohemian, what was happening at this club — historic though it may be — crossed that line.” The chairman of the council’s licensing committee Angela Harvey also commented: “"After careful review of the evidence provided for and against the renewal of this sexual entertainment licence, Westminster City Council has decided not to renew this venue's licence. Serious breaches of licence conditions will not be tolerated in Westminster's licensed venues. We expect any business operating under a licence within our city, to do so in a safe and responsible way, ensuring protection of all those who come into contact with this form of entertainment."

The club has declined to comment on the City Council’s decision.

Personally, I feel there is blame on both halves. The above explains why The Windmill is in the wrong breaching elements of the conditions put into place, however I feel the council has some responsibility to do routine checks on establishments, one of the conditions above is ‘There will also be conditions on the installation and operation of CCTV and retaining recordings of performances and on the employment of supervisors.’ from this they are able to create a basic picture of what is happening inside venues. In this case a reflection on the CCTV by a licensing inspector showed that “excess of 50 per cent of the dances would reflect [licensing] breaches or cause for concern” in October alone. By putting into place regular inspections of CCTV or ‘mystery shopper’ like experiences, for example what the women’s right group initiated, gives the council and authorities a true representation of a club. 

Bibliography:

BBC News (2018). Soho's historic Windmill strip club faces closure [Online]. Availble from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-42647774 [Accessed 12 March 2018]

City of Westminster. (2005) CITY OF WESTMINSTER STATEMENT OF LICENSING POLICY [Online] Availible from: file:///C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/Packages/Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe/TempState/Downloads/Licensing_policy_2005.pdf [Accessed 14 March 2018]

Home Office. (2010) Sexual Entertainment Venues Guidance for England and Wales [Online] Availble from: www.licensingresource.co.uk/sites/all/files/sex/sev_guidance.pdf [Accessed 14 March 2018]

Sheppard, O. & Prynn, J. (2018) Historic Soho lap-dancing club The Windmill Theatre faces closure after performers flout 'no touching' rules [Online]. Availble from: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/historic-soho-lapdancing-club-the-windmill-theatre-faces-closure-after-sting-finds-performers-flout-a3736546.html [Accessed 12 March 2018]

Spillet, R. (2018) The famous Windmill Theatre strip club in Soho could lose its licence over claims performers flouted 'no touching' rules [Online]. Available from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5261787/Sohos-Windmill-Theatre-strip-club-loses-licence.html [Acessed 14 March 2018]

The Licensing Act. (2003) 2003 CHAPTER 17 [Online]. Availble from: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/17/pdfs/ukpga_20030017_en.pdf [Accessed 13 March 2018]

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Sometimes You Have To Be A Little Bit Of Naughty...

During my spontaneous trip to London I bought on the day tickets to the ‘genius’ musical Matilda! Which I have to say lives up to it’s title!

From walking into the auditorium I was taken back by the set, it was made of books and graffiti which ran up into the stalls extending the set! The swings which hung down spelt out Matilda, and was such a creative way of introducing the musical.

As I had not watched the 1996 film I was unaware of the plot and all I knew was that Matilda was an intelligent child, but by knowing nothing I was so intrigued by the storyline. The storyline was heightened by the music and lyrics by Tim Minchin, also a genius and adds numerous highs and lows. My favourite song from them all was ‘When I Grow Up’, the song made me quiet emotional I don’t know whether it was because of the naivety of the song, or the nostalgia of being back in the playground. The props and on stage set was very basic and I loved it, just four swings and the cast; my favourite part of the song was when the older children a.k.a. adults lay on the swings and come into the auditorium. 

Another song which I love is ‘Revolting Children’ purely because of the music, it just has your toe tapping and hands clapping (literally); the choreography for this number resembles a manic classroom but in a very effective way. I also love Bruce Bogtrotter (the boy at the start), the way he resembles a typical pop singer by putting his hand by his ear and being dramatic. It just adds that touch of joy to the musical. Once again I love the fact they use adults to play the 11 year olds, it may seem odd but it just fits perfectly even though they are multi-rolling and they don’ t try to hide the fact your attention isn't drawn to it. I do have great respect for the adult actors though as they are continuously changing roles scene to scene, and the characterisation for each character is completely different!

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So yesterday I had a spontaneous trip into London, I’d not been in a while and needed to get out of the flat. While I was there seeing as I had no plans I decided to visit my favourite theatre and have a little photo shoot; it was a bit gutting walking around the theatre, looking at it in depth and being near the stage door when I wasn’t going to see Phantom. I’d not really been to the theatre since I’d been to see The Phantom of the Opera in July last year, I’ve walked past but not really had chance to observe it, so it was strange seeing all the new promo pictures with Ben Lewis, Jeremy Taylor and Kelly Mathieson in rather than Ben Forster, Nadim Naaman and Celinde Schoenmaker. to London 

Her Majesty’s Theatre is one to admire, it’s not only my favourite theatre because it’s the home of Phantom but because of it’s history and well it’s beauty that can be taken in from the images above.

Since 1705 there have been four theatres on the site of Her Majesty’s. The current building was designed by Charles J. Phillips and erected by the famous Actor-Manager Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree to house his spectacular productions of Shakespeare and literary adaptations and opened in 1897. However, the building has not always been called Her Majesty’s as the name of the theatre changes with the gender of the Monarch, from 1901 – 1952 the building was known as His Majesty’s and became Her Majesty’s when Elizabeth II began her reign.

The theatre hosted the original production of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion and Oscar Asche’s record breaking Chu Chin Chow. During the rest of the Twentieth Century it was home to many successful musicals including Noel Coward’s Bitter Sweet (1929), Brigadoon (1949), Paint Your Wagon (1953), West Side Story (1958), Bye Bye Birdie (1961), Lock Up Your Daughters (1962), Fiddler on The Roof (1967) and of course the current production of  The Phantom Of The Opera which opened in 1986.

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It’s The Story Of Buddy The Elf!

On the 19th December 2017 at The Lowry, Salford I finally got to see a musical I’d been wanting to see since the moment it hit the West End 3 years ago. I just wanted to witness the magic, youth and joy that Elf – The Musical seemed to give the audience and cast, each year the lead cast has stayed roughly the same and the part of Buddy has been played by Ben Forster; each actor always seems to be delighted to be returning, Ben in 2016 even took time out of playing the Phantom of The Opera to become Buddy, and after watching I can see why!

The musical is an adaptation of the 2003 film ELF staring Will Ferrell, for those who are unaware of the film (which I’m sure is very few). The entertaining tale follows Buddy the Elf on his journey to New York to find his dad after discovering that he’s not an Elf, though growing up in the North Pole; this is due him crawling into Santa’s sack Christmas Eve 30 years ago from the orphanage and the Elf’s decided to raise him. The song in the musical “It’s the Story of Buddy the Elf” sums the plot to both musical and film perfectly.

The show begins in Christmastown, North Pole. This scene was one I was eager to see as I was curious to see how the production/costume team made the actors into elves. The backscreen rises half way through the number and outcome twelve performers on their knees! However, just saying they were on their knees does not do the creativity justice, the costumes enhanced the illusion as the torso was the full body of an elf and then to the knee was legs, which seemed to move perfectly to make it look like the performers were the size of elves. The costumes also being brightly coloured with capes also brought your attention away from the actors being on their knees, the way in which it made them ‘walk’ was humorous which once again took away from the fact they were adult actors.

The whole show for me was such a magical experience and filled me with such Christmas spirit/joy (not that that it’s difficult)! The songs from the play are filled with so much joy, and will have you tapping your foot, even if you are a complete scrooge! Don’t be put off if you don’t like the film, because even though it is based on it, the musical has a completely different feel, and it is not just for kids it’s perfect for the whole family (not to sound cliché).

After the show I managed to meet Ben (again), he is an amazing person to meet he gives you such an insight to the role he’s playing and the demands of each role. Meeting him in December after seeing him in Phantom of the Opera in July I had to ask which role he preferred, to which he answered; “I love playing both roles, however Buddy is so much more demanding! In Phantom I’m on stage give it my all for 10-15mins at a time and then go off and relax, have a drink before I’m back on. With Buddy I’m off stage twice for about 2 minutes throughout the whole thing, it’s exhausting but it’s worth it!” honestly, I was surprised by that, but I can see what he means, and the number of quick changes he has to make in the show his time to have a drink and a breather is very limited. Another thing we mention was that there are a few similarities between the Phantom and Buddy in the sense of the two have had a very isolated lifestyle and been casted as outsiders, they’ve never experience loved, and both are kissed in the show but neither initiate the kiss; the kiss itself is something that confuses the two but at the same time fills them with an emotion neither has felt before.

Unfortunately, in the final week of the show Ben broke his ankle falling off the ladder in SparkleJollyTwinkleJingley, this was one of my favourite numbers in the show, being the 4th song the injury came very early. In the number is Buddy helping the Macy’s employees decorate the store correctly and helping/encouraging them find their Christmas spirit, the number reminds me of myself at Christmas when decorating telling people they aren’t doing it right! Due to the injury the show was cut short, and for the final week Buddy was played by the understudy, Colin Burnicle. Due to the injury Ben was off social media and cancelled several appearances/concerts in January, however he seems to be making his way back into the public eye by making a few appearances in February; fingers crossed the injury hasn’t affected him too dramatically physically or mentally!

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Electricity from Billy Elliot The Musical Live 2014! This is the most well known number from the musical, however there are other dance sequences throughout which show Elliott Hanna’s (Billy Elliot) ability, which I’ll be the first to say is outstanding for a 10 year old and the youngest ever Billy!

For those who don’t know the story of Billy Elliot - Set in a northern town during the miners’ strike of 1984/5, the show follows Billy’s journey from boxing ring to ballet class where he discovers a passion for dance that unites his family, inspires his community and changes his life forever. (billyelliotthemusical.coml). The music for the show was written by Elton John and if you listen some of the lines are take from the 2000s film script, more noticeably in Electricity; Billy in the musical is singing what Billy answers in the film.

At the end of the musical every boy who has played Billy since the musical was first staged in 2005 on the West End performs a number, the lads performance is incredible and not one outshines the other, it is truly mesmerising to watch them all dance as one!

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After watching Phantom in majority of its forms, I thought it was time that I went back to where it all began! I've heard the book gives you a different outlook on the story, so I will fill you in when I finish, and let you know if my view of the story has changed🎭