Showing posts with label ballet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ballet. Show all posts
Thursday, 15 May 2014
Ballet Reviews: Highland Fling
I went into this one knowing very little about it. I'm not sure I liked the story. It's about a young Glaswegian man who becomes obsessed with a fairy he saw while on pills. In the end his obsession kills him. Having said that, it was very interesting and very cleverly done. I've never seen ballet mixed with gritty that way before. The dancing was really clever too. Somehow the dancers managed to use ballet to convey drunken stumbling out of bars and crap dancing. And it really worked. There was also tartan absolutely everywhere. Not sure I really liked that either. We get that it's Scotland, there's no need to ram it down our throats. Still, a really interesting and clever show.
Sunday, 10 March 2013
Shows
Time to review some of the shows I've been to lately. First up, The Phantom of the Opera. I saw the touring production at Edinburgh Playhouse. Despite knowing the music inside out and having seen the film version many times I'd never seen it on stage before, and I have to say it was utterly brilliant. The music is, of course, wonderful, and the story is so strange and powerful. I was very impressed with all the casts' performances too. I wasn't too sure about Christine's voice to start with, but as the show progressed she really grew on me. The sets and lighting were also fantastic. Some of the effects they acheived were just spectacular. The chandelier was covered in dust sheets during the first scene, but then for the next the dust sheets were suddenly sucked into the chandelier, quick as quick! During the boat scene the stage was flooded with so much dry ice that you couldn't see the stage at all. You could rally believe there was water there! And the set was huge and multi-storied and could be spun round and had disappearing steps for the actors to walk down. It was all so impressive. So lavish! I got so sucked in! I hadn't enjoyed a show that much for a very long time. Just wonderful.
Next, that old Christmas favorite, The Nutcracker. I saw the Scottish Ballet's production of it at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre. It was gorgeous, but not what I was expecting. Other productions I have seen fairly light on story content, and just had lots of dancing, but this one incorporated lots of elements from the original Hoffmann story, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. It was very interesting, though I suspect many people who didn't know the original story were left rather confused as to what was going on. The dancing was great and choreography was fresh and beautiful, with some unusual touches, for exampe the Arabian dance was performed almost entirely on the shoulders of other dancers. There was also some very good use of masks, to emphasise the point of the transformations between dolls and real people, and the putting on and removing of masks was so slick that you couldn't see the changes at all until they'd happened. Amazing! The music from The Nutcracker remains to this day some of my favorite pieces of classical music. I always leave humming all the tunes.
And finally, Cats. Yes, another Andrew Lloyd Webber. Cats has always been a firm favorite with me. It's such an unusual and beautiful show. I saw the touring show at the Playhouse, and really enjoyed it. Having seen it in London, I have to say the West End production was better. This show had a noticeably smaller cast, and the audience was further away from the action. It was still awesome though! the singing, sets and costumes were stunning, as usual, though I did think a couple of the characters weren't as good dancers as they should have been. Skimbleshanks, for example, just couldn't jump as high as the Skimbleshanks I saw on the West End. Mistoffolees was brilliant though! The orchestra were also hidden! The orchestra pit had been taken over by set, and I still have no idea where they actually were! Though this show may not have been the best production I've ever seen, it was still excellent and I went home and immediately watched the whole thing through on my computer and listened to the songs many times over the next few days.
Next, that old Christmas favorite, The Nutcracker. I saw the Scottish Ballet's production of it at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre. It was gorgeous, but not what I was expecting. Other productions I have seen fairly light on story content, and just had lots of dancing, but this one incorporated lots of elements from the original Hoffmann story, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. It was very interesting, though I suspect many people who didn't know the original story were left rather confused as to what was going on. The dancing was great and choreography was fresh and beautiful, with some unusual touches, for exampe the Arabian dance was performed almost entirely on the shoulders of other dancers. There was also some very good use of masks, to emphasise the point of the transformations between dolls and real people, and the putting on and removing of masks was so slick that you couldn't see the changes at all until they'd happened. Amazing! The music from The Nutcracker remains to this day some of my favorite pieces of classical music. I always leave humming all the tunes.
And finally, Cats. Yes, another Andrew Lloyd Webber. Cats has always been a firm favorite with me. It's such an unusual and beautiful show. I saw the touring show at the Playhouse, and really enjoyed it. Having seen it in London, I have to say the West End production was better. This show had a noticeably smaller cast, and the audience was further away from the action. It was still awesome though! the singing, sets and costumes were stunning, as usual, though I did think a couple of the characters weren't as good dancers as they should have been. Skimbleshanks, for example, just couldn't jump as high as the Skimbleshanks I saw on the West End. Mistoffolees was brilliant though! The orchestra were also hidden! The orchestra pit had been taken over by set, and I still have no idea where they actually were! Though this show may not have been the best production I've ever seen, it was still excellent and I went home and immediately watched the whole thing through on my computer and listened to the songs many times over the next few days.
Friday, 23 March 2012
Shows!
Rather than do seperate entries for each show i've been to recently I thought I'd just combine them into one big glorious review post! The three shows I've seen over the last couple of weeks are HMS Pinafore, put on by the Edinburgh University Savoy Opera Group, the Beauty and the Beast ballet, by Northern Ballet, and Spamalot.
HMS Pinafore I found thoroughly enjoyable! It's a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. Having seen quite a few EUSOG performances over the past few years I have to say it compares favourably. All the cast did a great job, sets, costumes and choreography were simple but effective, and the space onstage was used very well. The orchestra had a couple of tiny slip ups towards the beginning, but these were barely noticeable. The show was typical Gibert and Sullivan, full of colourful characters, incredibly catchy songs, with a suitably ridiculous twist at the end. The script did lack some of the farcicality I have come to expect from a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, but I suspect this is due to it being one of their earlier shows and they had not yet fully found their style which we know and love. All in all, though, a very enjoyable show! Good work!
Beauty and the Beast was a new ballet and I think it was a little unusual, but it was unusual done right! The dancing was very modern in lot of respects, but not modern in a naff way where the dancers just look like they're having a spazz attack on stage! It was thoroughly beautiful, and drove the story forward at a pretty quick pace for ballet! The costumes and sets were very creative and very pleasing to the eye and were used very well, and there were some genuinely funny moments! The main issue I had with it was there were a couple of places towards the beginning where the stage hands had to nip behind bits of set and fiddle about and nip off again. Pretty unprofessional if you ask me! They could have found a different solution to that! Even having a member of the cast duck behind for a couple of seconds would have looked better! And the beast did slightly look as though he was wearing bondage gear... Something that surprised me was that it did not have its own new music. It used various pieces of French classical music. That's not usual is it? I've certainly never seen that before! But despite a few little niggles I had, it was a brilliant evening! Highly recommended!
Spamalot is the Monty Python musical, based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It was what you might expect, ie. very silly! It was interesting for someone like me who knows Holy Grail inside out and back to front to see how they had adapted it for stage. Most of the main elements from Holy Grail's plot were kept (it had a plot??), though I was slightly disappointed about the lack of Castle Anthrax! But other old friends like the Black Knight, Dennis and Tim all had their bit to do. They also added in a female character by giving the Lady of the Lake an actual part in the show rather than a passing reference. They obviously used the songs from Holy Grail and added in a few new ones, along with a rather predictable appearence of a sing-along Always Look on the Bright Side of Life. Musically my favourite part was The Song That Goes Like This, the Lady of the Lake and Sir Galahad's lovesong. Or rather song about lovesongs! It has a lovely tune and the lyrics are hilarious! I was impressed with the cast both vocally and acting wise, despite a little corpsing during the Knights Who Say Ni! scene. But who could blame them. Costumes were great, and so were the sets, which looked distinctly Terry Gilliamesque, although there was not a lot of scene changing. The stage did look a bit cramped though. They were only using a small part of it and could have done with giving themselves some more room, in my opinion. For me the funniest aspect of the show was that they subtly brought in a lot of jokes from Monty Python's Flying Circus that only real afficionados would spot. The topical jokes were quite funny as well. All in all, a very funny and silly night out, and I'm glad I went to see it, but quite honestly, I don't think I would go and see it again.
HMS Pinafore I found thoroughly enjoyable! It's a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. Having seen quite a few EUSOG performances over the past few years I have to say it compares favourably. All the cast did a great job, sets, costumes and choreography were simple but effective, and the space onstage was used very well. The orchestra had a couple of tiny slip ups towards the beginning, but these were barely noticeable. The show was typical Gibert and Sullivan, full of colourful characters, incredibly catchy songs, with a suitably ridiculous twist at the end. The script did lack some of the farcicality I have come to expect from a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, but I suspect this is due to it being one of their earlier shows and they had not yet fully found their style which we know and love. All in all, though, a very enjoyable show! Good work!
Beauty and the Beast was a new ballet and I think it was a little unusual, but it was unusual done right! The dancing was very modern in lot of respects, but not modern in a naff way where the dancers just look like they're having a spazz attack on stage! It was thoroughly beautiful, and drove the story forward at a pretty quick pace for ballet! The costumes and sets were very creative and very pleasing to the eye and were used very well, and there were some genuinely funny moments! The main issue I had with it was there were a couple of places towards the beginning where the stage hands had to nip behind bits of set and fiddle about and nip off again. Pretty unprofessional if you ask me! They could have found a different solution to that! Even having a member of the cast duck behind for a couple of seconds would have looked better! And the beast did slightly look as though he was wearing bondage gear... Something that surprised me was that it did not have its own new music. It used various pieces of French classical music. That's not usual is it? I've certainly never seen that before! But despite a few little niggles I had, it was a brilliant evening! Highly recommended!
Spamalot is the Monty Python musical, based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It was what you might expect, ie. very silly! It was interesting for someone like me who knows Holy Grail inside out and back to front to see how they had adapted it for stage. Most of the main elements from Holy Grail's plot were kept (it had a plot??), though I was slightly disappointed about the lack of Castle Anthrax! But other old friends like the Black Knight, Dennis and Tim all had their bit to do. They also added in a female character by giving the Lady of the Lake an actual part in the show rather than a passing reference. They obviously used the songs from Holy Grail and added in a few new ones, along with a rather predictable appearence of a sing-along Always Look on the Bright Side of Life. Musically my favourite part was The Song That Goes Like This, the Lady of the Lake and Sir Galahad's lovesong. Or rather song about lovesongs! It has a lovely tune and the lyrics are hilarious! I was impressed with the cast both vocally and acting wise, despite a little corpsing during the Knights Who Say Ni! scene. But who could blame them. Costumes were great, and so were the sets, which looked distinctly Terry Gilliamesque, although there was not a lot of scene changing. The stage did look a bit cramped though. They were only using a small part of it and could have done with giving themselves some more room, in my opinion. For me the funniest aspect of the show was that they subtly brought in a lot of jokes from Monty Python's Flying Circus that only real afficionados would spot. The topical jokes were quite funny as well. All in all, a very funny and silly night out, and I'm glad I went to see it, but quite honestly, I don't think I would go and see it again.
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