Potted Potter: A parody, condensing all seven Harry Potter books into 70 minutes. Ok, it was good and funny, although a little on the children's entertainment side for me. 6.5/10
Thriller: A concert to celebrate the undisputed King of Pop, Michael Jackson. It was good, not brilliant but definitely enjoyable. There was a little black boy about 3 years old sitting on his dad's knee and absolutely loving it! He was busting out some amazing moves and I found myself watching him as much as the show. 7/10
Much ado about nothing: Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero. I saw this at the Shakespeare Globe with Ally and her mum Carmel. We had done a tour of the Globe and then decided to stay and watch a show that afternoon. It cost us just £5 to be 'standlings' (patrons who stand around the stage. A really good atmosphere, funny, good acting, my first Shakespeare play. Also featured the butler from Fresh Prince of Bel Air. 8/10
Million Dollar Quartet: One night with Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis. Got a free ticket from work and took Ally. Absolutely brilliant! My Dad isn't a huge theatre goer and this was 'the one' for him. Unfortunately the season was over when he was here. The music was fantastic, the actors amazing, a really great story. 9.5/10
Wicked: The untold story of the Witches of Oz. Another freebie from work and this time I took Tracey Mayo. I have seen Wicked before in Sydney and enjoyed it there. I had forgotten a lot of the story so it was almost like watching for the first time again. It was fabulous. Elphaba was phenomenal. I have actually never heard an audience reaction at the end quite like this one, so much so that I nearly cried. 8.5/10
The Nutcracker: A two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. My first ever ballet! It was quite good, the lead ballerina fell smack on her face throughout the performance and did it so gracefully it almost looked intentional. There was one ballerina who was quite out of time. 7.5/10
The Mousetrap: This murder mystery play, written by Agatha Christie is the world's longest running show of any kind. I saw this with Jackie and Jenny. We all really enjoyed it, trying to figure out whodunit. At interval I was clueless. During act two I had theories going mental throughout my brain. My heart was even racing at one point. 8/10
The 39 Steps: Originally a novel, it follows Richard Hannay, an all-action hero with a stiff upper lip and a miraculous knack for getting himself out of sticky situations. I booked this as a last minute thing on a Friday afternoon for that evening as I didn't have any plans. It was a bargain £12.50 and totally worth it. Really funny, great acting, good story. 8/10
Les Miserables: An 1862 French novel by Victor Hugo, following ex-convict Jean Valjean trying to escape his past during the French revolution. Les Mis is without question my favourite musical and was before I saw it this time. I went with Ally & Matt who had not seen it, nor knew anything about it so it was great. As expected, I absolutely loved it. My only complaint was that young Cosette was quite awful. 9.5/10
Cirque du Soleil "Totem": A fascinating journey into the evolution of mankind. I saw this at Royal Albert Hall with Jackie, Jenny, Ally & Matt. It was brilliant & mesmerising. Often thinking "they're surely not going to... wow" My mouth wa's hanging open for a good portion of the show. 9.5/10
One Man two Guvnors: a play by Richard Bean, and is an English adaptation of Servant of Two Masters (Italian: Arlecchino servitore di due padroni). I saw this play with Charlie and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was originally played by James Cordon, however he had taken the show to New York and there was a new lead man. This didn't detract from the play whatsoever. It was laugh out loud funny. 9/10
Jersey Boys: a documentary-style musical, based on one of the most successful 1960s rock 'n roll groups, Frankie Valli and the The Four Seasons. I saw this with Heather & Gary when they were visiting. Lots of familiar songs & fun. 7.5/10
All New People: All New People is a 2011 play by Zach Braff set on Long Beach Island and centres on Charlie, a 35-year-old from Braff's home state of New Jersey. Zach Braff is from the popular American sitcom Scrubs. I think the story was a little weak, the acting standard, and just a bit average all round. 5/10
What the Butler saw: revolves around a Dr. Prentice, a psychiatrist attempting to seduce his attractive prospective secretary, Geraldine Barclay. Absolute bargain for £12! Mum, Dad, Ann and I all loved. It was hilarious, fast-paced & inappropriate. 8.5/10
Complete World of Sports: This play by The Reduced Shakespeare Company's condenses "every" sport into a 90 minute play. To be completely honest, I found this play un-funny, try-hard and plain annoying. The humour is just gags really and just a bit too simple. Sad to say a big West End disappointment. 3/10
*I just remembered something else about the Complete World of Sports play. There was a part in the play where one of the guys collapses. The whole place goes dead silent and enough time passes for everyone to think OMG something's really wrong here. But no, it was actually part of the play. It really freaked me out, didn't fit into the light-hearted comedy element that the play was meant to be so I'm deducting another half mark. Also, I think I also didn't enjoy it because the style of humour was very American ie. gags and one-liners. I personally prefer British humour and found the jokes really predictable and not clever. So I'm deducting another half mark just coz I realised I was too generous. 2/10
Matilda: (March 2013) It's been a while since I saw a show. I've been wanting to see Matilda for AGES as I had heard it was brilliant. At the 2012 Olivier Awards (The UK equivalent of the Tony's in the US, as in the theatre awards) Matilda, a story originally written by Roald Dahl took home seven awards including Best New Musical, Best Actor and Best Actress (or in this case Actresses, as the role of Matilda is shared by four girls). The music and lyrics were written by Tim Minchin which I think given his style, is the perfect marriage of style and talent to the works of Dahl like Johnny Depp is to Tim Burton. The show appeals to all ages and there were lots of younger patrons, who absolutely loved it. Matilda, played by Sophia Kiely on the night was fantastic and I just about cried when she came out to take a bow. 8.5/10
The Book of Mormon: (August 2013) One final visit to the West End before heading back to Australia. Talk about going out with a bang! I went and saw The Book of Mormon. Ended up having to settle for a Wednesday matinee due to it's continued popularity and minimal ticket availability since it opened. However as a lady of leisure (for now), a Wednesday matinee is just a convenient as a Friday night. The Book of Mormon was written by the producers of South Park and their style is evident throughout. So, if you're the kind that finds South Park offensive then I would advise against seeing this show. If not then DEFINITELY GO AND SEE IT! I thought it was absolutely hilarious and have seen nothing else like it in theatre. It follows the story of two young Mormons who go on a conversion mission to a small village in Uganda. It takes the piss right out of the Mormon church and I think the church itself has made the right decision to go with the 'any publicity is good publicity' approach instead of fighting against the huge success the show has seen. For the fourth time over the last two years I am awarding a score of 9.5/10.
So it's a four way tie for 1st place, going to Les Miserables, Million Dollar Quartet, Cirque du Soleil "Totem" and The Book of Mormon.
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