My top 5 musical theatre actresses

If you’d read this blog before, you might have noticed links to another blog – Musical Top Fives – where I intended to write about musical theatre only, in the form of lists of top fives… I’ve decided that there’s just no real point in keeping the 2 things separate any more (which might also mean that more people read them!)… I’m going to start by re-visiting something I wrote a few weeks back – my 5 favourite musical theatre actresses.

There are some hugely talented musical theatre actresses on both sides of the pond. I was trying to decide who my Top 5 are – so here they are… I have only considered people who I have seen live on stage… read on to find out more

1. Lauren Kennedy
2. Idina Menzel
3. Lara Pulver
4. Ruthie Henshall
5. Sally-Ann Triplett

Review: God of Carnage (Gielgud Theatre)

It’s been 2 great Monday nights of theatre for me – last week was Speed-the-Plow at the Old Vic, starring Kevin Spacey and Jeff Goldblum, and last night, it was the turn of Yasmina Reza’s new play, God of Carnage, at the Gielgud Theatre.

I’d Do Anything – week 7 post-mortem

This post is a respnse to the live shows of I’d Do Anything on 26th & 27th April

It’s now Monday morning, and I’ve now watched Sunday night’s results show. I’ve already written a post about Saturday’s live show, with my view on each of the performances, which you can see here. This post is my response to the full weekend, and the result…

I’d Do Anything – Week 7 reaction

And so to week 7 (or week 5 in terms of live shows) on 27th April and we start proceedings with just 8 contestants. The competition is most definitely hotting up, and with this competition still fiercer that in any of the previous 2 series, it’s impossible to know who’s going to end up winning. By this time last year, many people had made up their mind that Lee Mead was the only choice. You’d have trouble saying that this time around.

The Friday musical round-up: 25th April

It’s been a remarkably quiet week in terms of musical theatre news… apart from the opening of Gone with the Wind – The Musical, it’s basically just some gossip and casting announcements
So, here’s a very short round-up of this week’s musical theatre news…

I’d Do Anything – What the bookies say (week 7)

 

 

Last week, the odds weren’t far off – Keisha was favourite to leave, and didn’t, but the 2 girls in the song-off were the next ‘favourites’ to leave the show. So, it seems like betting odds are a more accurate predictor of success than number of friends on facebook (see my previous post if you’re confused!

 

So, let’s take a look at how the odds have changed, and what that might mean for the result…

 

Does success on Facebook predict success on screen in ‘I’d Do Anything’?

I have plenty of opinions about the contestants in ‘I’d Do Anything’, and know who I want to win the show. Given the power of the internet, you’d expect to be able to find information that would tell you who the rest of the voting public is rooting for.

So, I’ve already started looking at betting odds, as you’d expect those to be a decent predictor for how the show pans out (if you’re interested in my writing about betting odds, take a look here). Since I work in media, I seem to spend a disproportionate amount of time talking about social networking. It struck me that it success in building social networks might be an alternative predictor of likely success in the show itself …

Review round-up: What the critics said about ‘Gone with the Wind’

There have been no shortage of articles about Trevor Nunn’s latest project, a new musical adapatation of Gone with the Wind. The signs haven’t been great in recent weeks though, with one preview being cancelled to give more time to rework the show. Cuts have continued to be made over the last week, but the show still clocks in at a weighty 3 hours 40 minutes.

This production has almost certainly required a large budget, so the producers will have been hoping for a positive reaction from the critics. Unfortunately, judging by the reviews in the major newspapers this morning, things haven’t quite gone according to plan.

Review: Speed-the-Plow (Old Vic Theatre)

Despite what you might think if you have read this blog before, I do go to see straight plays as well as musicals. In fact, rather in the manner of London buses, 2 trips are coming along for me in quick succession. Last night was Speed-the-Plow at the Old Vic, and next Monday is God of Carnage at the Gielgud Theatre.

There are some obvious parallels between the 2 productions. Both have big name film actors in the cast – Kevin Spacey and Jeff Goldblum in the former, and Ralph Fiennes in the latter. Both plays are also directed by the same man – Matthew Warchus. Unsurprisingly, I was pretty excited about both trips.

I’d Do Anything – week 6 post-mortem

This post refers to the live shows on Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th April (the 4th live show).
I wrote a post on Sunday with my reaction to Saturday’s live show, with a run-down of each of the performances. Click here to read that post.

It’s now Monday morning, and the dust has settled on this weekend’s shows. Looking back at the 2 programmes, there’s a mix of huge frustration with ALW’s behaviour, coupled with relief about the decision he eventually managed to make.