Back from Hiatus and Olympics Opening Ceremony

And I'm back!

Hello to all my readers out there! I just wanted to say that I am back from my hiatus. I know this blog has gone dark in the past for months on end but this past month and a half has just been a break for a couple of big life moments. LibraryGirl and I got married in the middle of July and just got back from honeymoon which has delayed any posting. So henceforth LibraryGirl will be referred to as MrsHeadTheatre or MrsHT. Apart from my happy nuptials in the past month I got to see 'Sweeney Todd' on the West End stage starring Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton it was...

'What happened then, well thats the play, And he wouldn't want us to give it away. Not Sweeney, Not Sweeney Todd. The Demon Barber of Fleet Street!'

So expect a review to make its appearance on this blog very soon.

Anyone who hasn't been living under a rock for the past year would know that currently London is holding the Olympic Games. Sport is a different type of drama that is for certain but the theatricality of the United Kingdom shone through with the opening ceremony. There were many claims before the production even aired that it had no chance of matching China's efforts back in Beijing mainly based on the fact that most people hated the British involvement in the 2008 Olympics closing ceremony. The general consensus was that the bus which opened to reveal musicians and dancers... etc was eccentric and strange. Well last Friday night we showed that yes the UK is full of eccentric artists who can do wonders with choreography, music and lighting. Danny Boyle's production unfolded like a beautiful dream which all, in this writers opinion, revolved around the central theme of the Shakespearian qoute:

Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises,
Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears; and sometime voices,
That, if I then had waked after long sleep,
Will make me sleep again: and then, in dreaming,
The clouds methought would open, and show riches
Ready to drop upon me; that, when I waked,
I cried to dream again

Of course the fact that it involved Sir Branagh, a personal hero of mine, and contained some of my favourite music tracks kept me pleased. However Boyle showed himself to be a master of imagery when he seared into every viewers memories the sight of 5 interlinking Olympic rings hammered from hot steel. That and the sight of James Bond with HRH Queen Elizabeth the II are probably the two things people will remember from this games opening ceremony but I think a lot should be said for the NHS staff who danced so enthusiastically during their segment and who just gave their all... plus the drummers in the Industrial section who carried on drumming all night it seemed. The technicians on this show proved why the UK still produces the best musicals in the World and has the best film crews. All in all a wonderful production which I hope gets released on bluray so I can have a copy of it.

So I shall be back to provide a review for Sweeney Todd, I'm not sure if it will be a vlog or just a written blog but you can be sure to find it here along with all my theatrical musings in the coming weeks and months as I head for 10,000 page views.

Not Yet Produced: Bill & Ted The Musical

If there is a film series that has been crying out for a musical adaptation it is the Bill & Ted movie franchise. I have loved the series since I was a child, and still think it is Keanu Reeves's finest hour, I love the music and the story is so much fun it could easily be brought to the stage in this era of mega musicals. Of course the problem with converting a film to the stage is getting the rights. This is where Dean Collinson comes into the story.

Dean Collinson is a performer who started his career in the early 1990s by founding a boyband named 'Blue', not to be confused with the late 90s band of the same name, in 1993 at the end of his bands fame the members wrote the song 'Better the Devil you Know' for the popstar Sonia's entry into the Eurovision song contest of that year, it went on to win her second place.

Collinson says in an interview with billandted.org that he was first approached about the musical by his producer who had been in contact with a London musical producer. The London musical producer claimed he had the rights to produce a musical based on the film and commisioned Collinson to write the music. It soon transpired that the rights had not been given and the writers had a musical that they could do nothing with. Collinson says that they decided to take it to the Edinburgh Festival where it played to packed houses every night. The show was also produced in 2000 at the Greenwich Theatre for the 'Musical Futures' scheme. After the success of the Edinburgh festival Collinson says he has had an offer of £4 million pounds of investment in a West End production of the show. This time they went to the original writers who felt that the music should reflect the heavy metal nature of the films, however as Collinson himself says Metal in a musical doesn't really sell. I know 'Rock of Ages' is popular but the majority of the songs in that show are pop rock and not really metal and the same goes for 'We Will Rock You' which really cherry picked Queen's more pop orientated songs.

So Collinson alongside his friend Glenn Carter, yes he of Jesus Christ Superstar and Jersey Boys fame, recorded the music for a soundtrack CD which you can download from the following link... here. I love this soundtrack, it is incredibly 80s which works incredibly well with the storyline and allows nostalgia into this most excellent production. Collinson admits freely that he ripped off different artists to produce sound-a-like songs to give a sense of time, the best one is the homage to Tears for Fears in the Sigmund Freud song 'Relax'. My favourite track is the History Report/Anthem 3 which is just a wonderful finale song before the encore. Its a wonderfully constructed album and one of my favourites to listen to on a rainy day.

Will we ever see it produced? Doubtful is my answer, with a third Bill and Ted film on the way it seems the series will get another shot in the arm leading to BluRay and 3D film releases but I expect the owners of the rights will not budge on the issues that have led this piece of work to be shelved. I tried contacting Dean Collinson to see if he could update any of the information from the billandted.org website but he did not answer me, I understand that he is probably very busy as he is a working actor as well as a composer and I hope that one day he gets his due the respect he deserves because a lot of his work is fantastic. I highly recommend his website and the free mp3s you can get from there of not only his musicals but his pop career, if you like a nice big slice of early 90s pop.

On this date in Theatrical History Ellen Terry had her 'Jubilee' matinee. 1906

On the 12th of June 1906 Ellen Terry celebrated her 50th year on the British Stage with a 'Jubilee' matinee at Drury Lane, London. To celebrate the matinee contained amongst other things a song from the Great Caruso and selected scenes from 'Much Ado about Nothing' which starred Lillie Langtry, Herbert Beerbohm Tree and Ellen Terry herself as well as other famous names of the stage at the time. It raised £6000, today that would be over half a million pounds, for Terry. However the day was tinged with sadness, I qoute from Terry's autobiography 'The Story of My Life'.

'The recognition of my fifty years of stage life by the public and by my profession was quite unexpected. Henry Irving had said to me not long before his death in 1905 that he believed they (the theatrical profession) "intended to celebrate our jubilee". (If he had lived he would have completed his fifty years on the stage in the autumn of 1906.) ... After his death, I thought no more of the matter. Indeed I did not want to think about it, for any recognition of my jubilee which did not include his, seemed to me very unnecessary... I enjoyed all the celebrations... but all the time I knew perfectly well that the great show of honour and "friending" was not for me alone.'

Ellen Terry was an extraordinary woman and I know barely anything about her. I look forward to learning more about this woman and her work in the future. Terry finally retired in 1925 just one year shy of her 70th year on the stage. She passed in 1928 at her home in Smallhythe and is today remembered as the greatest female Victorian actor in the World. 



Sir Elton confirms Animal Farm musical

Yes the Animal Farm musical that has been much mooted was just this past minute been announced by Elton John on the One Show as his next big project. Sir Elton John will be working with his co writer from Billy Elliott.

More details to follow?