Category Archives: Theatre

Norfolk – singing, dancing and all that jazz

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Some of our very good friends told us about a very famous show, which is held at the Thursford Collection museum in Norfolk. We had never heard of it, and neither had they until a friend of theirs told them about it. Now this is odd because as soon as the tickets are on sale, they are sold out within days!

The show we went to see was the Thursford Christmas Spectacular. Imagine, if you are old enough, Sunday Night at the Palladium. A real mix of singing, dancing, some magic tricks, reading and the like. The Thursford Museum is more famous for its collection of steam engines, some of which are still there for viewing. These aren’t just the 50 ton tractors, they also have carousels and organs. These really are fascinating examples of engineering from yesteryear. The show itself was also fascinating. It lasts for around 3 hours, with a 25 min interval. The singers/dancers do different routines, varying from carols, to hymns, jazz and can-can!!!

It’s quite amazing that the crew do 2 of these shows a day! The shows start on 6th November and run up to 23rd December, with two shows per day at 2pm and 7pm. They must sleep well at night! It’s hard to describe exactly what the show is like, as it is so diverse. One minute you may see some nuns singing a song from “The Sound of Music”, the next you’ll see dancing penguins, then can-can dancers, jazz singers, ragtime music – a little bit of everything. It is VERY slick – considering the amount of material and costume changes, choreography etc.

If you’ve never been, and you like an evening of song and dance, then you really must try to see this. The average age of the audience is about 125 years old, but don’t let that put you off!!!!!!!!

If you do decide to go, then I would thoroughly recommend the Woodfarm house B&B. It’s a bit off the beaten track, and thankfully the weather was good when we visited. I reckon it would look even more idyllic in Summer. We stayed in the Loft Suite which was great. It had its own sitting room area, 2 bedrooms, bathroom etc – it took the whole of the roof area up so lots of space. The staff are all very friendly, the place is very clean and comfy. Peter the host is a perfect gentleman, and you may even see Rockefeller the cat!

“Swan Lake”

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My first visit to the Royal Albert Hall, and my first ballet – 2 first’s in one night is always good :)

I’ve seen the RAH from the outside a couple of times, and was also very impressed with the interior. Thankfully we had stall seats (4 rows from the stage area) and didn’t have to hike up some pretty steep ones in the cheaper areas.

The only knowledge I have of Swan Lake is knowing some of the score, and also the part in Billy Elliot – so I would say fairly minimal. From the start I was hooked though. The music was clear and filled the hall. When the dancers came on my eyes were everywhere.

This production was different to a “normal” production on a rectangular stage, this allowed for a lot more dancers and a much larger area to work with. The ballerina’s looked beautiful, some were scarily thin (as in you could see every bone in them!) but I guess you don’t want a chubby if you have to lift them!

This production also had 2 parts where they used the dry ice machines to create a “lake” by filling the whole stage area (a fairly huge area) and it looked FANTASTIC when the dancers came out onto it, a dreamy sequence (and I was thinking there would have been some great photo oppurtunities too).

I enjoyed the whole show and I think I will definitely go and see others now. If you’ve never been then I would say give it a go – and this version I think is a good one to see first.

La Cage aux Folles

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As part of my “40th Birthday” celebrations, we went to see “La Cage Aux Folles” at the Playhouse Theatre, London.

After watching the film countless times we were looking forward to seeing the stage show. I must admit to being a bit ignorant here, as I didn’t realise the Hollywood film was based on the musical, which was based on a film! Jerry Herman saw the original French film, then decided he had to write a musical version, which was then re-done Hollywood style. I also didn’t realise that “I am what I am” was from the this musical, and penned by Jerry Herman – I must read more!

The West-end production was fantastic. Denis Lawson played the part of  “Georges” (who was the Robin Williams character) and Douglas Hodge was “Albin”. I think their performances were on par, if not better, than the film version. “Les Cagelles” were the dancers and they were supple!! Leg kicks, splits – everything!

The actual theatre was “small” compared to others we have been to, but that was in no means detrimental to the performance. In fact, the leg room in the dress circle was more than places we had been to previously. Also, this was the first theatre I had been to where they had seating at the very edge of the stage, basically cafe style with a table, so you could be right in the action.

The songs were brilliant and some very touching; the dancing was amazing and the show ended with a standing ovation (the first time I have seen/been involved with one)  – a great end to a great performance and weekend :)