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.