Musical Reviews (from my trip to Tromso, Norway and London, England in January 2008)

Chicago in Tromso
The band was onstage, as appropriate for Chicago. The trumpet player was bad, but everyone else was pretty good. The conductor also played Reed IV: clarinet, alto, bari, bass clar. The bass player doubled on clarinet/tenor…on Broadway the bass doubled on tuba. I really wonder how the scores are written, because who the heck doubles on bass and any wind instrument???

The show’s strengths were choreography, dancing, and costumes. The singing was decent, but not spectacular. Roxie looked a lot like a blonde Millie after her “makeover,” which I found very amusing. There was this song that I don’t really remember from the Broadway production, which Roxie sings about basically how she loves her baby. The choreography and costuming for this was HILLARIOUS, because they had the four male ensemble members dress in baby costumes, which were AWESOME, and dance around like babies. It was simply well done. The best number, however, was Mr. Celophane; “Mr. Celofon.” I think the song works way better in Norwegian. The vowels just sound much more helpless and boring. Amos was also probably my favorite of the cast. He was just so cute, and perfect for his role!

At first it was cute, when in “Razzle Dazzle” (“Blend og omvend dem”) the ensemble was dressed as clowns, and did circus-y things. However, that song leads into the court scene, and the ensemble remained in those costumes, and acted as the judge, jury, etc. There was also a woman dressed as lady liberty, who sat next to the judge. There were also tons of references to red, white and blue, and there were also three enormous US flags as the backdrop for the courtroom. I know the musical kind of makes fun of the court system, but don’t associate that so strongly with all American courts!

Something I also found amusing, was that guys dropped their pants twice onstage. Once, a clown pretended to be going to the bathroom, and we could see his briefs. The other time, when Roxie is supposed to be having sex with Fred Casely, he dropped his pants, and she dropped her panties. However, Roxie blocked us from seeing anything, and Roxie was wearing a skirt. It was an interesting effect, but to me seems a little risky, but whatever. Nothing inappropriate was shown.

Blood Brothers
The show was good – it was nice to see a professional production of something that was definitely sub-par at Olaf. As the overture began, people continued talking, and the lights were slow to go down, which was disappointing, but the music was impressive. Having the right musicians for the orchestration is a plus. ;) However, I noticed that when the saxist came in for the first two solos, it was late. Maybe they started it with a cresc., or maybe it was differently written, but my personal opinion was that he was just a bit out of it. The orchestra was on a platform above and to the side of the stage, so from the seats, you could only see the director, but they had a good synthesizer, which the 80’s music demands. I wasn’t a huge fan of the casting though. Mr. & Mrs. Lyons were excellent, but I didn’t really like anyone else. I knew from the OLCR that some words were changed in the version we used, because of British vs US English, but there were actually a few major cuts and additions to monologues, going both ways. This show has been running in London for 20 years straight, but it only lasted 2 on Broadway, and didn’t win (at least any major) Tonys. Is it because Brits prefer serious shows more than Americans, or is there more to it than that?
The second act proved to be much better. The main problem seemed to be that fully grown actors couldn’t play kids. With them dressed older, Mickey seriously looked like a young Hugh Grant (think Notting Hill) and, especially in the *sexy* 14-year-old costume, Linda looked like Hugh’s Natalie in Love Actually. There was also an interesting scene that was omitted from our version, where Mrs. Lyons tries to kill Mrs. Johnston. The last scene was extremely powerful. It’s bad enough when you’re under the stage in a college production, but from the audience at a London production – that’s serious stuff!!! They came out for a few bows – the first time they were totally serious, and they gradually smiled more as the came out, ending finally with a casual, happy bow. The bows music was also better put together than ours – they actually played a medly. However, in the finale, the sax line was missing – it was sad.

Lord of The Rings-The Musical
The set was amazing – tree branches entangled the entire theatre. Around 7:15, the hobbits came onstage and tried to “catch fireflies” while walking around the theatre. It was a cute touch.
The show was, in short, awesome. There was lots of folk music used, mostly in hobbit scenes, but not exclusively. I have gotten a much greater appreciation for folk music, especially fiddle music, after this interim. The first sign of not complete happiness was when Gandalf was kidnapped, however an air of happiness, or at least optimism, remained throughout the first act. The show was more towards the genre of the Lion King. It was by no means a “conventional” musical. There were many impressive dances with unconventional vocal lines. Most of it was indeed sung in English, for the understanding of plot, but there were a good number of songs sung in Elvish or other Tolkein languages. The first act ended with the entire theatre being filled with wind and stage smoke, as Gandalf was taken by the dragon. They also blew tons of black confetti, so it really did feel like you were falling through darkness with Gandalf. (I caught two pieces :-p) This is a serious adventure show, so you’ll grab onto your seat, but it is not so dramatic that I would have stayed in my sad mood after Blood Brothers. This musical really picks you up and takes you to Middle Earth!!! The acting is good, but a bit disorienting, because Mary looks like the movie Frodo, and Boromir looks more like the movie Legolas. Pippen though, is absolutely hilarious, because his voice is so high, that it seems like his part is played by a woman. In this version, he is written to be even more stupidly talkative than in the movies. Gandalf also, is much more casual, but seemingly more easily angered than in the movies. I really want to read the books now to see what the original take on all this is!
The Hobbits’ attitude toward nice food, and being care-free about money helped to smoothen out my thoughts about budgeting in London. I’ll try not to spend too much, but I’ll still have all the fun I planned on. I will also use my WF card more, just to make sure I don’t end up over charging my BoA card.

Act 2 opened with Gollum climbing down the tree branches that covered the front of the stage, and then going around and mumbling “My precious…” The second two acts continued like the first, having some “normal” musical songs, such as a love song between Aragorn and Arwen, and a song about the legends that would be told about them, sung by Frodo and Sam. The battle scenes were impressively intricate dances, spurred on, mostly by the tympani. Galadriel kept coming back, far more than in the movie, and I’ll bet more then in the books as well. However, she fulfilled the role of the diva, very similarly to Spamalot. She sang through many of the battle, and other significant scenes, often while on ropes or on the highest platform.

The stage had an intricate set of rotating and rising platforms, which were used extremely well. The rotation enhanced the choreographed fight scenes, and emphasized the significance of the journey.

The end did, however, prove to drag on. The climax, when Gollum falls into the fire of Mordor, was resolved with the return of Gandalf, and the re-uniting of everyone, but they just had to go back to the Shire, and clean it up, dance while they planted fires, and then have a prolonged good-bye when Frodo left again. However, the show got an instant standing ovation, and the show ended with a whirlwind of happy confetti, just like the first act had ended. (I got some of that too, although I had to pick it up on my way out, because the wind wasn’t on, so it didn’t blow all the way back to row N.

Buddy-The Buddy Holly Story
The programs were $12. I didn’t want to drop that much. The ushers wouldn’t let us find our own seats. “G12 – that’s in the middle of the 7th row.” “Yes, I know, Thanks.” He also told me to go in the other door, because then, I woudn’t have to pass as many people. He was wrong. From the door he pointed to, I had to pass the only person sitting in the row. My seat was next to his, and he whistled to the country music playing before the curtain opened. He better not whistle during the show!

I thought I had remembered Buddy Holly as an oldies singer I liked, but I had doubts with the country before the show, and during the first scene. But then, I understood. The show is a story of the life of Buddy Holly, as he emerged from a country singer to a rock star. Good, it was what I remembered – I take-off on Elvis.  The cast was awesome – almost everyone reminded me of someone I know. The country radio host reminded me of Bob Calla, the drummer was a combination between DJ and Jason Teiken, Buddy was a combination between Dan Radcliffe and Dan in Scared Scriptless. There was no pit – everything was played onstage, which was impressive. I was surprised when a sax came onstage. I would have been so much better. Granted, I can’t act, especially not a black singer, but I could have played a way better sax. Also, there were two people who were supposed to be black, but the actors were white. Ugh. It confuses me though – how could his music have sounded black? He sounds so much like Elvis! It’s good, but it’s definitely white stuff. Here’s a question though: Why was I born in 1988? Why not 1950? Be a kid with Elvis, grow up with sock hops, in a time where brass and saxes are mainstream, and then go through hippie music, harder, but still danceable rock, and finally, fun 80’s stuff. Past the 80’s, there really hasn’t been much good music – discos are sex, and concerts are mosh pits. Sure, it can be fun – but like Chicago says, “Got no class.”

The second act was basically just a concert in Iowa. They did a perfect job at imitating Midwesterners. It wasn’t so strong Midwestern, but America nowhere-ville with bad weather. However, they portrayed it perfectly – I completely forgot I was in the UK when they sang the Star Spangled Banner. They did a bad job at it, but that was called for; it was supposed to be sung by the town’s beauty pageant winner, and in small-town Iowa, they aren’t very good. The concert was awesome too. True to the American style…if only you could get 50’s rock today at real good concerts and clubs! The show was simply awesome. They played a couple tunes I didn’t know, but I knew a good handful. My hands surprisingly didn’t get very sore from clapping through the whole time. The woman in front of me though, couldn’t keep the beat at all…I don’t understand how people just clap, but not on beat at all. The guy next to me, pulled out his video camera for certain songs. Do you realize that’s super illegal there?

Cabaret
Like all shows here, the acting was very realistic and personable. In some cases, this is good, but I found it strange that the MC part was not at all overacted. The costuming was insane, but the acting was…normal.

Sally was very good. The accents were, at first though, bad, but then I realized it was almost perfect Berlin accents. Cliff had a perfect American accent too. I don’t think I would place it as Pennsylvania – more OR or San Francisco, but I really think there must be a good amount of American actors in London. The show was MUCH more risqué than our version. Cliff was gay, there were people streaking onstage (I don’t think they were wearing body suits, at least for the most part), and there were massive numbers of fake penises. It would be funny to see the prop & costume rooms. In “Two Ladies” when they said “but nothing beats threes,” they weren’t referring to people, but to breasts. She “had 3”. Since I know the show well, I knew what to expect, but everyone laughed when we saw that such a big deal was being made about a pineapple.

The people behind me were talking about the show during intermission. They found the Nazi song(Tomorrow Belongs to Me) “chilling”, and one of them vaguely remembered the monkey song. I confirmed that she remembered it correctly – that I was in the show a few years ago. She asked if I was in a professional production. I explained how our version was very toned down, because some people were as young as 13.

The second act was serious. The song “Cabaret” was well performed, but still had a huge hint of “something’s wrong”-ness. The MC reminded me of the King of Saiam. I should look up who that actor is and see if he’s ever played that role. In the second act, he had no make-up, and it really reminded me of that.

They sang “money makes the world go ‘round, but not the telephone song. Why was our version different??? The violinist, bari/clarinetist, and a trumpet player were doubles in the orchestra, and actors. The orchestra was onstage, but most of the time, it was hidden by sets.

The play ended, not by a melancholy Nazi march, like our version, but with every one of the Cabaret dancers, including the MC, lining up facing the back of the stage, stripping, and then having rain/gas fall from the celing above them. The bows were happier, but it still left you feeling completely cold. I was shivering all the way back.