Why do all my nights out happen in the last week of the month?

I'm cruising along quite happily, bang up straight on everything and then, wham! Piles of paperwork and ironing to sort through today!

That's because I finally saw Les Miserables on Monday - which I've wanted to see since I first heard Susan Boyle sing I Dreamed A Dream on Britain's Got Talent (I wonder how many other viewers were inspired to check it out?) I did see the Through The Barricade show in a local theatre a little while after, but Cameron Mackintosh's production at The Queens Theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue took my breath away. Jean Valjean and Javert were incredible, whilst Lucie Jones (remember her from X-Factor?) and Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers acquitted themselves very well. It's so moving and powerful and while you may think the subject matter a little depressing, the comic relief in the shape of the Innkeepers is brilliant - honestly, the wife could easily be Kathy Burke in character as Waynetta Slob, she was hysterical. GO SEE IT!

Not just nights out either, on Tuesday morning I was attending the How To Do Your Self Assessment On-Line course (I never said it was all exciting stuff) before enjoying a very nice Nibble.101 at a local Chinese buffet - and collaring the teenager to take me there and back (which obviously cost me petrol. But it was nice to have some Tia Maria, I've missed it so ...)

The MumUltrapreneur radio show I was interviewed for was aired on Thursday afternoon and then it was onto the girls-night-in-although-we're-actually-out fun night of the Mums in Biz meeting in the evening. A couple of exciting opportunities arose there, which I'll be exploring further!

Finally, last night was the preview of an exhibition in our local art gallery - local artists creating pictures of each other, which took so many forms it was completely inspiring! Plasticine, film, paint, spam ... yes, spam!

I feel like I'm beginning to catch up - two blogs down, website and one blog to go!

Beyond the Barricade: A Musical Feast

Led by singer/comedian (really - great jokes!) David Fawcett - think celebrity lovechild of Ray Winstone and Alfie Boe - this tour de force of music transferred from the West End to our provincial theatres shouldn’t be missed. Beyond The Barricade currently comprises David, Beccci Morrell, Katie Leeming and Andy Reiss - and is in it’s tenth anniversary year with no sign of stopping. We’re treated to songs from major musicals - Miss Saigon, Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Blood Brothers, Chess, The Lion King and more, plus one from new musical Jekyll and Hyde called This is the Moment, which was fab, but is only being performed in Malta!!! (For now!)

I went for the cheap seats, figuring they’d be at the back - it’s not a big theatre - but they were at the front, right next to the speakers! *EEK* Am completely deaf now. No, I jest - it was actually ok, being much more with the melody and voices than it would be, say, for AC/DC! Although they did perform Bohemian Rhapsody, which was awesome (considering I‘m not a Queen fan!) I was the only one who started bobbing though … but there was no stopping the clapping and tapping for the Supercalifragilistic/Chitty Chitty Bang Bang medley, I don’t think there was a still foot in the house!

Having heard just the snippet of I Dreamed a Dream on Britain’s Got Talent, I was thrilled to hear it all the way through. Many friends have told me, if there’s one musical I should see, it’s Les Miserables, and following this performance and other songs from the show, I now understand why: Emotional and powerful and as soon as I get the chance, I’m going. In the meantime though, if, like me, it’s a major military operation for you to arrange a trip Up West - check out your local theatre, you never know what gems you’ll find.

Crash Bang Wallop!

Sunday afternoon found me in the local theatre again - I’m offered discounts now, as a loyal supporter - this time to hear the City of London Sinfonia introduced by Brian Blessed and Presenter/Composer James Redwood. Conducted by Stuart Stratford, they formed an engaging threesome. I might want to re-phrase. They and the orchestra sparked off each other and the audience for a hugely enjoyable hour.

It’s the first time I’ve attended a live concert like this - watching the YMOTY and The Proms in the Park doesn’t do the scale of an orchestra justice; you really do have to be there. Sumptuous was the word that came to mind. Rich and deep - it washed over you and saturated every pore, seeping into your soul. I think I’m hooked on classics (just a little nod back to the eighties again there, for all you oldies!). There’s a fine line I think, between classical and jazz - watching YMOTY last year showed me that.

Brian narrated the whys and hows of each group in the orchestra - strings, wind, brass and percussion with all of them playing their own variation of Benjamin Britten’s The Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra followed by Three Places In New England (2nd Movement - Putnam’s Camp) and Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copeland (wasn’t he in The Police?) In between, we were invited to join in From Darkest Night, James’ own composition and yippee, we were in Brian’s team! Oh, come on - who’s going to be loudest? So there I am, tone deaf, singing along, backed by a full orchestra - how many of you can say that, eh? Just pity the people sat next to me, because James insisted that it didn’t matter how or what we sang just as long as we were loud: Blame him.

Brian very kindly signed a few autographs outside afterwards - just for one man! Myself and another mum shared knowing smiles and raised eyebrows behind our sunglasses - we must have been waiting ten minutes for this bloke, who kept retrieving more paper from somewhere for Brian to sign! And then, just as he finished, some other bloke tried to push in! Now you know what happens when people try to push in on me! I think I was a bit deaf at that point and my laughing “Bloody cheek!” exclamation, mouthed to Brian’s driver, may have been louder than I thought. He backed off anyway - the pushing in man, not Brian's driver.

Schnitzler’s La Ronde

The second of the aCT now! plays at Chatham’s Central Theatre meant I was out and about enjoying myself twice within the space of two weeks. Shocking isn’t it - and I’ve now been banned for twenty years, much like this play was - because it was too dirty for the sensibilities of the 1900’s. I’ve been banned because They didn’t like having to make their own pancakes. I mean, how tricky is it to shake the bottle and pour a bit into a frying pan?

It’s hard to believe that a play whose sexual encounters consisted of a series of ----------- in the written form could cause such consternation. Back then, the sex scenes on stage were represented by the lowering of the curtain and playing classical music - playing it in a rhythm evocative of sexual intercourse …I can’t believe I’m writing this. Oh, hang on - it’s art, so it’s ok … Back then though, the entire theatre company were arrested on obscenity charges! Seems rather quaint by today’s standards, doesn’t it!

I wasn’t really getting it at first (maybe I should rephrase that?) What I mean is, it struck me like a round robin tournament - five actors playing eleven characters - everyone has a play with everyone, if you get my drift and there was no journey towards a solution. Which, of course, is why it’s called ‘The Round Dance’!

There was a ‘Talkback’ with the cast of theatre company Love&Madness at the end of the play, when they took us through the adaptation process and the whole getting-their-kit-off-in-every-scene made sense. Bringing the play back in these modern anything - goes time, director Neil Sheppeck had to find a way of presenting the sex scenes: Seduced by a tango lesson four years ago, he knew he’d struck gold when a friend suggested he listen to the Gotan Project. The problem was solved - no curtain required, the actors Tango! See, I thought I was going to a dance show; Strictly is ruined for me now.

I’m all for a bargain and The Cherry Orchard and Relatively Speaking (I’m going AWOL on 30th March for that) we covered in our scriptwriting course. Book three of the four aCT now! plays though and you get three for less than the price of two! So my third choice was La Ronde (featuring the Tango) or Oliver Twist (seen that, sung that, done the school play) which the company performed the night before. They rehearsed both plays at the same time, which made me think: What if a couple of the actors forgot where they were during Oliver? Could have added a whole new dimension to Sykes and Fagin’s relationship …

Question of the night to the actors, from TalkBack host, Nick Walker: How easy did you find slipping in and out of all the different characters? Only in Chatham …

Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard - The Musical!

Now I’m pretty sure Chekhov never had Mary Hopkin in mind when he wrote this comic-tragedy/tragic-comedy, but you know, somehow it worked! This was a very different play to the one I expected, courtesy of the wonderfully talented Blackeyed Theatre and adapted by Bart Lee (see link for the tour dates). Chekhov, I thought, would not really be My Thing; much too high-brow. I’ve since changed my mind and will be visiting a library near me soon.

Pleasantly surprised at the pace and ingenuity, this opened my eyes to what could be achieved with just four actors playing over a dozen parts between them. Comedy and music combined for a thoroughly enjoyable evening, with none of the power and emotion of the original play lost - even with lines such as “Do I look fat in this?” which I doubt was in the original! Uttered by Dunyasha, the chambermaid, who, with the other servants are given much greater scope in this production, their new found voices and vaudeville pieces were a delight, particularly the song including “My mother wanted me to marry number six; but he had diseases and a mouldy …” cue uproarious laughter! From me, anyway. Oh, give over - from everyone. We were in Chatham, for goodness sake!

Drawn on many of the issues affecting Chekhov himself, growing up during Russia’s social upheaval, The Cherry Orchard was first performed in 1904. Director Constantin Stanislavski interpreted the play as a drama against Chekhov’s wishes - the writer subtitled his play ‘A Comedy in Four Acts.’ He’d have taken great pleasure from this interpretation.