Going to the theatre

[Frances]

Jagoff Rita Wilson has been added to Larry David's Fish in the Dark cast.
http://fishinthedark.com/?gclid=Cj0KEQiAzb-kBRDe49qh9s75m-wBEiQATOxgwWXLBS3dv8rmF4k3q0328_gOyVxMXvfcpLdtuCe2tHUaAush8P8HAQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WyhuV3MkRE

Nobody wants to see her in anything, ever.
Ugh.

Was totally checking tixs and now I don't know. Bummer.

[Julieexeter]

Travelling up to London to my daughter's tonight. Tomorrow we are going to see the matinee of Potted Sherlock (similar genre to The 39 Steps at the Criterion and Reduced Shakespeare Company), and in the evening Neville's Island. Saturday evening we are going to the lovely Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at The Globe to see The Knight of the Burning Pestle which I saw with my son in March. It was so funny and I am looking forward to seeing it again. Then on Sunday afternoon we are going to the Menier Chocolate Factory, another lovely little theatre but much older than the S W Playhouse, to see Catherine Tate in Assassins. I am seriously considering getting a ticket for Eric & Little Ern on Saturday afternoon; I saw this last year and really enjoyed it. Living so far from London I like to get in as many shows as possible when I am up there. There are so many really good ones to chose from.

[Heather]

Sex and The Three Day Week.
Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool
Saturday 20th December 2014, 2pm

Britain, 1974. A time of strikes and blackouts. Sex and The Three Day Week, written by Liverpudlian writer Stephen Sharkey, is a comedy based on L'Hotel Du Libre Echange by Georges Feydeau. This is something new to me as I have never even heard of it before in my life.

Philip and Angela have lived next door to Catherine and Robert for 15 years and in that time they have all become best of friends. Angela thinks Philip is 'past it' in the bedroom department however Philip is quite keen on Catherine. They (Philip and Catherine) check into the Paradise Hotel, a seedy hotel in town, for one night of passion not knowing that Robert is staying at the same hotel doing a ghost hunting investigation. To top it all up Philip and Angela's French maid Fanny is also staying there with her lover Ben (who is a relative of Robert and Catherine's) and a dotty old lady they also know, Mrs Mayhew, and her pet snake and mynah bird, Tom (voice by the one and only Ken Dodd).

Needless to say a lot of Shenanigans go on and the main action appears to be in the corridor. Obviously Philip and Catherine meet the other characters or narrowly manage to avoid meeting them and the hotel owner fakes a blackout which causes even more chaos and Robert to think that the hotel really is haunted when Tom starts calling for his mother, Mrs Mayhew as he is scared. Then the police raid the place and Catherine and Philip are arrested and pretend to be the other one's wife or husband which again causes a lot of chaos at home later.

It was OK but not as funny as I'd hoped. The Liverpool Echo summed it up in one sentence 'Fawlty Towers meets Noises Off' but sadly I did not find it as funny as either and neither did they it would seem

Runs until the Saturday 10th January 2015.

[Heather]

Top shows of 2014 (in no particular order):

Twelfth Night, (New) Everyman Theatre, Liverpool.
Hope Place, (New) Everyman Theatre, Liverpool.
Betty Blue Eyes, Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Savoy Theatre, London.
Noises Off, Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.
Juno and The Paycock, Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Only 6 on the list. This years selection of shows was not as good as last years and I didn't see as much. Next years selection is much better already as I have 11 shows already booked locally between now and July and probably more will be added.

This year the New Everyman Theatre opened on the site of the old one, the latter which, was an icon in the city of Liverpool and throughout the world. Some of the top actors in the country started there, Julie Walters, Matthew Kelly, Bernard Hill, Bill Nighy, Barbara Dickson and the late Pete Postlethwaite to name a few. I went on a tour of the new one in April and it has a lot to offer for actors, playwrights, theatre goers and the younger generation. I really look forward to every visit, even if I'm just going there for lunch in the Bistro or pavement Cafe that they have on site. The future of theatre is definitely bright in Liverpool.

[Heather]

Canoeing for Beginners.
Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.
Saturday 31st January 2015, 2pm.

In the last two weeks, the Royal Court, Liverpool has started the 2nd phase of their refurbishment, their doing the outside of the building, the entrances, entrance halls, hallways and box office this time. It's been three years since the auditorium refurbishment was completed and it's taken them that long to raise enough funds to do the next phase but, at last it is started. With this in mind, I was a little worried about access today having seen the scaffolding outside the three main entrances during the past few weeks but I need not have worried. The stalls and circle entrances were clear today although the balcony was shut off.

Canoeing for Beginners is one of the Royal Court, Liverpool's usual local comedies. About a bloke called Frank (John McArdle) who is fed up with being in debt. He decides to take Canoeing lessons and fakes his own death from Crosby Marina just outside of Liverpool. His wife Beryl (Pauline Fleming) fraudulently makes a claim and plans a new life abroad with the money once it is through. Their grown up children, Carol (Angela Sims), who runs a beauty salon and Keith (Michael Ledwich) are unaware and think that their father has drowned. Frank and Beryl plan to tell them once they have the claim money through and they have settled into their new life, but things do not go according to plan.

Hiding in the house, Frank has to make himself scarce every time a family member arrives at the house and also when the local police inspector Sargent Watts (Stephen Fletcher) turns up to return the canoe to the family. Unknown to them Watts is doing a little bit of an investigation into the case on the side too. He befriends Keith, who is going through a rough patch in his marriage and they go out on a lads night out coming back absolutely steaming drunk. Keith sees the apparition of his father (or so he thinks) and hears him talking to him in a dream that night. Also during that night Frank makes his way to the airport bound for sunnier climbs to be followed a short time later by Beryl and then things get a little more awkward when Carol and Keith turn up too. To top all this up there is a nosy hotel security inspector called Mendoza (Harry Katsari) who ends up in the mix to for good measure. His character can only be described as a mixture of Freddie Mercury, Borat and The Scousers from Harry Enfield's television show.

On a side note I have to add here Stephen Fletcher did very well. This was the second preview of the show and he was a last minute replacement for the actor who was originally meant to play Sargent Watts (not sure who that was) and an announcement was made from the stage before the show started that he would be reading his part from the script. But nobody minded really, Stephen is in a lot of shows in Liverpool and is a very well respected actor here. Even though he was reading his lines from the script, he did very well and this did not spoil my enjoyment of the play.

I thought the play was funny but a little predictable. I'm not too sure how it ended but it was one of those disappointing endings where you end up thinking 'why did it end like that?' Anyway still enjoyed it mostly.

Runs until the 28th February 2015 at the Royal Court, Liverpool.

[Heather]

Educating Rita by Willy Russell.
Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool,
Saturday 14th February 2015, 2pm.

I have said before on this thread that I am a huge fan of Willy Russell so when I found out Educating Rita was coming back to Liverpool to celebrate it's 35th anniversary I was made up.

Unlike the film version which starred Michael Caine, Julie Walters and a host of other actors (because let's face it in films you can do that), the stage version of Educating Rita has only two actors, Con O'Neill plays Frank and is no stranger to Russell's work as he played the rock star in the film Dancin' Thru The Dark, the film version of one of Russell's other plays Stags and Hens. Rita is played by Leanne Best who trained locally at Paul McCartney's theatre school LIPA and has a string of theatre, television and film credits to her name.

As to be expected with a writer of Russell's calibre, Liverpool Playhouse was a full house today and I had the pleasure of sitting next to a very fussy posh lady who reminded me of Hyacinth Bucket ('It's Bouquet') from Keeping up Appearances who complained about everything, she hated the set, the music in the auditorium before the show was too loud etc etc. Needless to say once the show started the Tesco's plastic bag came out with the goodies in and the rustling started. The play was interrupted 50 minutes in due to a medical emergency backstage, we had to wait 25 minutes for it to restart. During that time Mrs Bucket in her wisdom pointed at the ceiling and said to her husband 'Wonder what would happen if that came down'.

The slight interruption to the show didn't actually deter from my enjoyment of it. Today there was no other place I wanted to be than in Rita and Frank's world. O'Neill and Best portrayed their character's excellently, far better than Mr Caine and Ms Walters in the film version. This show, like the Canoeing for Beginners that I saw at the Royal Court Liverpool the other week was only on it's 2nd preview.

In case you're unfamiliar with the plot, Rita, a working class housewife, wants to better herself. She joins the Open University and gets tutored by Frank, an alcoholic University Lecturer. The play focuses on Rita's unhappiness in her own life and her relationship with her husband, who wants to have a family as well as Rita's struggles to fit into an educated middle class world as she grows as a person.

Directed by Twitter friend Gemma Bodinetz, Educating Rita runs at the Liverpool Playhouse until Saturday 7th March 2015. I recommend that if you are visiting Liverpool and you get a chance go and see it This show has definitely made it into my top ten for the year even though I've only seen 2 shows (out of 11 booked) so far.

[Heather]

Macbeth,
Everyman Theatre, Liverpool.
Saturday 21st February 2015, 2pm.

A Filter Theatre and Tobacco Factory Theatres production.

I don't know where to start with this one. Basically it was one of those 'alternative' productions of Macbeth and I knew that when I entered the auditorium today. I know this play in it's entirety is over two and a half hours long but in the version I saw today it was crammed into one act of an hour and twenty minutes complete with music here and there. I found the whole thing very confusing and I could not keep up with where we were and I wasn't the only one, the couple sat next to me felt the same way. Bits of script appeared to be missed out and various scenes including Duncan's murder scene came round much more quickly than it should. I felt sorry for the family in the circle who had brought their kids with them because if I found it confusing (and I know Macbeth) I can't imagine what they were thinking. And what the hell were they doing getting the script out a quarter of the way in and reading bits out of it?

There is a review on the Everymanplayhouse which states (and I quote) For Newcomers to Shakespeare, I can't think of a better introduction. I tend to disagree. If anyone from the Everymanplayhouse reads this review I do apologise but I didn't get it. It wasn't for me. Sorry.

[Julieexeter]

I went to see The Railway Children yesterday with my daughter and son-in-law. Mick doesn't often come on our visits to a theatre but, being a train driver, the lure of a play performed on disused platforms at Kings Cross and a real steam train was enough for him to join us. The seating is on both platforms with the action in the middle, either on the edge of the platforms or on little 'stages' (I am sure they have technical names but please excuse my ignorance ) pushed along on the rails. The production itself is very well staged; the story is told by the children looking back at the events when they were younger rather than having child actors playing the parts all the way through. The use of a real train brought back childhood memories for me of standing on a bridge waving to train drivers and getting covered in smoke. Some of the reviews I had seen were not altogether kind but I thought the cast were very good, it kept my attention and I enjoyed it. I guess it is the sort of play that brings out the child in many of us.

[Julieexeter]

On Saturday at last I am going to see The Woman In Black. It is one of the 'on forever' plays which I have long wanted to see but have put off in favour of productions with shorter runs. A new theatre for me too, The Fortune which is opposite The Theatre Royal Drury Lane.

[Low D]

I'm at the "Great Wolf Lodge" on the Grand Mound Indian Reservation. "Thunder from Down Under" is playing at the casino next door. We're not going.

[Heather]

Anything Goes,
Empire Theatre, Liverpool.
Saturday 21st March 2015, 2.30pm

When I was picking the shows I wanted to see this season I spotted this Cole Porter musical and decided to go and see it mainly because he wrote Miss Otis Regrets which as you all know was covered by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl. However, Miss Otis Regrets is not a song that is in this musical but it was played in a little bar scene that took place while the audience were taking their seats by two members of the orchestra, a trumpet player and a pianist and, guess who was singing along to it in her head?

When Billy Crocker discovers that the women he is madly in love with, Hope Harcourt, is aboard a ship called SS American, he decides to stow away. With the help of a fake passport that has been given to him by a gangster called Moonface on board with his fiance Bonnie he does just that. The passport was supposed to be for America's number 1 gangster Snake Eyes Johnson but he didn't turn up. Also on board the ship is Billy's boss Elisha J Whitney so he has to be careful that he isn't seen by him and Reno Sweeney an old friend of his and a cabaret singer. Hope is engaged to her fiance Lord Evelyn Oakleigh and says she isn't interested in Billy at first but later on admits that she is. A plot is hatched between Moonface and Reno to try and make Oakleigh look like he is having an affair with Reno which does not quite go according to plan however Oakleigh does fall in love with her. Billy who has disguised himself as a sailor eventually gets discovered and is accused of being Snake Eyes but instead of locking him up he is treated like a celebrity until his real identity is discovered and he is locked away anyway as is Moonface who tries to cheer him up as he has discovered that Hope and Oakleigh are due to be married the next morning. They manage to escape when two Chinese missionaries are thrown in for an hour. They challenge them to a game of strip poker and steal their clothes. Billy and Moonface, helped by Reno turn up at the wedding, Billy and Moonface tell the guests that they are the parents of a Chinese girl that Oakleigh met and had an affair with when he was in China and demand that he has to marry her. Reno is posing as the Chinese girl. Eventually their true identities are discovered and there is a happy ending (as there always is in musicals) when Billy marries Hope and Reno marries Oakleigh.

I did enjoy this one particularly the music. Anything Goes only had a 1 week run at the Liverpool Empire and finishes tonight.

[Frances]

David Bowie off-Broadway in Lazarus. OMFG.

[Heather]

David Bowie off-Broadway in Lazarus. OMFG.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I read that he was only writing some of the music and they didn't think he would be one of the cast.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment ... ef=Default

[Frances]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I read that he was only writing some of the music and they didn't think he would be one of the cast.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment ... ef=Default

Shit. I'm distracted in Vegas and missed the details.

But I love The Man Who Fell to Earth so much...

It's still a big fucking deal. OMG.

As God is my witness if creepy ass Bradley Cooper has anything to do with this play I will lose my f-ing mind.

[Heather]

A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Everyman Theatre, Liverpool,
Saturday 4th April 2015, 2pm.

This was another modernised version of a Shakespeare classic. Despite the usual rave reviews that the Everyman seems to get for every show, I was not confident on entry into the theatre today that I would like it, and with the memories of Macbeth at the same theatre still fresh in my mind from a couple of weeks ago I was hoping that this would not be another play which would have poor old Shaky spinning in his grave.

Actually, it was not that awful. In fact it was really good, and really funny in patches. Despite the modern dress, the actors still managed to give A Midsummer Night's Dream an oldie worldy feel. If you closed your eyes you wouldn't have known the actors we're wearing 21st Century clothes you would think that you were back watching the show at around the time when it was written.

A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool runs until the 18th April 2015 and stars among others, Liverpudlian actors, Andrew Schofield most famous for his role as Scully in the TV series of the same name and Ossie Yue who also has a string of TV shows and movies to his name, he once played a Chinese man in an episode of Father Ted.

I would say it was definitely a nice surprise to see a modern version of A Midsummer Night's Dream that actually worked. Go and see it if you can.