Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
April 22, 2008
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Venue: Sunderland Empire
Date Reviewed: 21st April, 2008
Let me first declare that this is the fifth time I have seen this musical with four different actors playing Caractacus Potts. First it was Michael Ball in the original London Palladium cast, then Jason Donovan and Tim Flavin heading the first touring company, here at Sunderland in 2005. Now we have TV presenter Matt Baker (Blue Peter and Crufts) heading the cast, as the show makes it final appearance in England.
Baker makes a very credible Potts, having a very good singing voice and interacts with the children extremely well. A couple of back flips during the dance routines reminded us he used to be British gymnastics and sports acrobatics champion and is quite believable as the father of Jeremy and Jemima
The story remains very familiar to the audience and from the first view bars of the overture everyone is clapping along to the music. The stage version is as faithful to the film as it can be, with Potts buying the former racing car, which is now a rusted wreck, at the insistence of his children and returning it to its former glory. The only problem is the Vulgarians believe the car has special powers and want to steal it. Read more
Pub Quiz extra show added
April 20, 2008
From New Writing North, the organisation that originally commissioned and developed Fiona Evans’ sell out hit Scarborough, comes another new play by an emerging talent from the north east; Carina Rodney.
Pub Quiz is set over one evening in a north-east pub, where there is more than just the rollover jackpot at stake for the locals. The play explores the deep seated insecurities of the regulars that populate The Magpie pub, and how quickly those insecurities rise to the surface upon the arrival of an eastern European stranger. Asram acts as a catalyst to
expose the locals’ thwarted ambitions, petty jealousies and latent prejudices.
This is the playwright’s first professionally produced, full length play for the theatre, following success with critically acclaimed plays on Radio 4 and some work for television. Pub Quiz will be directed by Psyche Stott recipient of the Channel 4 Directors Bursary and who we first met when she was Director in Residence at Northern Stage as part of this scheme.
Due to run from April 23rd to 26th at Northern Stage Newcastle an extra matinee has been added on the 26th due to demand!
Beauty and the Beast on Ice
April 15, 2008
Venue: Theatre Royal, Newcastle
Date Reviewed: 15th April 2008
Last years touring production of Peter Pan on Ice by the Russian Ice Stars was amazing and I eagerly looked forward to this tour of Beauty and the Beast.
Unfortunately while the skating is still of a very high standard and it is incredible how fast the skaters can travel on such a small stage, the production itself lacks warmth.
The story of Beauty and the Beast is well known and the young girls dressed in the Belle costumes must have been disappointed to find the story was very different to the one used by Disney in their stage, screen and ice shows.
In this Vee Deplidge presentation Beauty has two sisters and a brother and their father loses all his money before he ends up lost in the forest and encounters the Beast.
There is no doubting Andrey Chuvilyev is an ideal Beast, as his stature is almost seven feet, but he is badly let down by a costume that neither makes him look like a beast or is frightening in anyway.
A voice-over before each scene tells us what is happening, from the initial scenes with an old woman coming to the palace and placing a curse over the Prince. The curse means the Prince will turn in to a Beast until he finds true love. At the back of the stage there is a large book of Beauty and the Beast and the pages turn to form the background for all the scenes.
How the ice is made?
April 13, 2008
Whatsonstage North East wanted to know how an ice show works when it’s touring the country theatre to theatre, so after a little investigation we found out.
This is what happens in preparation for Beauty and the Beast on Ice that opens on Tuesday at the Theatre Royal in Newcastle…
A strict timetable needs to be followed in order that the ice rink is ready in time for rehearsal skating at 16:30hrs on an opening night. The work starts the previous day at 09:00hrs, when technicians arrive at the venue with two 45ft trucks.
Eight venue technicians unload the set and costume truck, known as the dry truck, and start rigging lights, set and flying equipment. At 14:00, the wet truck containing the floor system and surround is unloaded and the task of building the ice rink begins.
Two 15m X 15m industrial pool liners are laid on the stage and wooden side supports are built to create a large but shallow swimming pool. Inside the pool, 15km of a special flexible rubber pipe is laid and connected to a heater system which is connected to two chiller units on the back of the wet truck. Two chiller units are used so that in the unlikely event of a total break down of one unit, the second will maintain the rink and prevent flooding of the stage and the potential loss of a performance. Read more
Dancing on Ice
April 12, 2008
Dancing on Ice
Venue: Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle
Date Reviewed: 11th April, 2008
Dancing on Ice has been transformed from the hit ITV show to a National Arena tour for the second year running and works so well it looks as if it was meant to play these venues all along.
We have the same familiar set up as the TV show with a row five judges; from the TV we have Karen Barber, Robin Cousins, Nicky Slater, Jason Gardener. The fifth judge is billed as a mystery guest and on this occasion we had Steve Coleman from the local Magic FM radio station. At times Steve seemed to want to beat Jason to the title Mr Nasty, especially when he gave Chris Fountain the only low mark that stopped him getting a run of perfect sixes. He also showed that he was not familiar with the show by declaring he was not aware Zaraah was a stand-in skater on the last series (as everyone else in the arena seemed to know she took over from the injured Michael Underwood).
The host for the evening was Andi Peters, himself a past contestant, who did at one point believe he was in Nottingham and not Newcastle, the reaction from the audience soon made him realise he had said something wrong. But with over fifty shows on the tour, who can blame him for not being sure where he was.
Camera situated around the arena broadcast the skating on three very large screens so no one misses anything and the production values are so high the scoring appears just as it does on the TV version.
To start the show, after the audience had been warmed up in true TV style, we had the voice of Shirley Bassey booming out “Lets Get The Party Started” and though the dry ice emerged the professional skaters, joined by the one and only Jane Torvill and Christopher Dean. These world class skaters, who are at the heart of the TV show, have the audience eating out of their hand from the word go. Their skill is unquestionable and they are the perfect professional couple, they make every move appear effortless and eloquent. Read more
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