All posts by Sarah Debnam

Theatre

Review George’s Marvellous Medicine, The New Theatre, Cardiff by Sarah Debnam

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out of 5 stars (4 / 5)

This year marks the 100th Birthday of the literary legend Roald Dahl but I’m sure you knew that already? If you live anywhere near Cardiff you would have seen the spectacular celebrations across the City Centre from National Theatre Wales and if not there would have been something nearby to mark the event no doubt. And since we are huge Roald Dahl fans in our house it was nice to get the chance to see George’s Marvellous Medicine in the New Theatre in Cardiff recently.

We arrived just in time to find our seat in the packed out theatre and settled into the seats. The music started and we were introduced to George’s family, as anyone who has read the book will know, it is a lively and interesting family, and George of course is the main character played by Ed Thorpe.

I quickly realised how much fun this show was going to be, and the audience were happily cheering along and getting involved from the beginning. Even the adults were laughing at the jokes, and the Mother-In-Law quips.

Preparations for George’s Grandma’s arrival began and the whole stage came to life, this was something I noticed throughout the whole show, when anything was happening the whole scene lit up, or the focus was brought firmly to one area, this really helped the smaller audience members concentrate on what was going on, as we know their attention span is naturally short, so the Birmingham Stage Company really did cater for this in my opinion.

So of course we meet George’s pretty awful Grandma, and she is as miserable as described in the original story, she is rude, bad tempered and demanding, and we instantly disliked her, as intended, well played Deborah Vale. Poor George has a miserable time of it when he is responsible for the care of his Gran, and he starts making up stories in his mind, except for this is the theatre and the scene comes comes to life with him.

The story continues and George comes up with his wonderful idea to make a new medicine for his Grandmother to make her nice…

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I really appreciated the fact they used actual creams and other special ingredients rather than just pretending and I think it added something special for the children watching. I can only imagine the clean up operation after each show though. Of course this only made things more real when the inevitable happens and Grandma drinks her medicine and BOOM! She grows and grows….. I know my girls were mesmerised by the incredible growing Grandma and even I was sat wondering how they managed it.

I don’t think there was anything I could fault from this production, the acting was spot on, the scenery and props were amazing and the music and lighting cleverly used. Even the special Pigs and Chickens that were used in the story were impressive. Many things could have been missed or ignored but weren’t and the attention to detail was brilliant. As everything Roald Dahl seems to be, brilliant!

I would certainly watch another show from the Birmingham Stage Company, and can only applaud everyone involved in George’s Marvellous Medicine.

Music, Theatre

Review ‘Mamma Mia The Musical’ Wales Millennium Centre by Sarah Debnam

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Mamma Mia the musical opened at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff this week and the buzz and excitement surrounding it meant that expectations were high.

Let’s start by saying the show began as expected, with Sophie posting the invites for her wedding to her three potential fathers, showing determination and emotion as she did so, a perfect opening scene and introduction to one of the main characters. We were also introduced to Lucy May Barker’s singing voice and what a voice! Brilliant!

We then meet Sophie’s friends, Donna and her friends and the other main characters, including Sophie’s Fathers. All of whom I think we’re perfectly fitting for their roles. Especially Donna. Sara Poyzer that plays Donna, had a hint of Meryl Streep in her energy, however a phenomenal voice to carry those fantastic ABBA songs to every corner of the room, and have every person there enthralled.

As the story moves on we were treated to classics such as ‘Money, Money, Money’, ‘Lay All Your Love On Me’, ‘Our Last Summer’ and of course the entertaining ‘Does your Mother Know?’ Which happens to be one of my favourite parts in the film, and Emma Clifford that plays Tanya did it justice. Also the men showing off their dancing skills and choreography was outstanding, especially Louis Stoical who plays Pepper with his jumps, energy and humour!

It’s worth noting the simple but very effective scenery and spectacular costume designs, as well as the incredible orchestra really bring the whole thing together.

Of course the show had to find its ending sadly and even though it’s hard to compare the stage show with the film, the wedding preparation and wedding certainly lived up to expectations, ‘Slipping Through my Fingers’ no doubt caused a few teary eyes and certainly felt like a special moment.

The party like atmosphere at the end had everyone up from their seats dancing and singing along to ‘Dancing Queen’, inhabitations lost and I’m sure everyone left that room feeling great!

The audience were clearly hooked from beginning to end, with oohs and ahhs and plenty of laughter, the cast did an absolutely amazing job of entertaining everyone last night, and even though the film was a hit, this show was funnier, livelier and had more energy. I can understand the buzz surrounding Mamma Mia now, and might even try to catch it again before it leaves Cardiff!

Music

Review The Freddie Mercury Project, Sinfonia Cymru, RWCMD by Sarah & Lucy Debnam

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All photographic credits Sarah Debnam
Dancing-dasies.co.uk

This was very exciting for me!

I thought the show was going to be fun and exciting, I am a massive Freddie Mercury fan.
The place we went to was quite big and it had comfortable seats.
I recognised a few songs- ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ ‘We Are The Champions,’  ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘Who wants to Live Forever.’
I thought they all played great, I enjoyed it a lot!
There was nothing I didn’t like 🙂

Lucy  Debnam aged 8 

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Hillsanddaffodils.co.uk

It has to be said the Freddie Mercury is a true legend, I grew up singing Queen songs rather than nursery rhymes and I know I am not alone, and now, without any real encouragement, my eldest daughter has become a huge fan also. So when we saw the Freddie Mercury Project advertised both of us were really excited to go and see what it was all about.

We were kindly asked to review The Freddie Mercury Project from Sinfonia Cymru (a young, talented and innovative orchestra in Wales) at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and didn’t know what to expect from either the orchestra or the venue, but as soon as the musicians entered the room I realised this was to be something special, and I wasn’t disappointed.

From the very first notes the room filled with atmosphere and emotion, I was instantly impressed by the skill and the attention to detail that the orchestra had, the togetherness and how attentive they all were. There was an element of fun as well and some of the girls were rather enthusiastic on that section of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ that has everyone head banging along, did I mention that Sinfonia Cymru is described as ‘progressive’? I guess they have to be to take on Mr Mercury’s incredible songs, from ‘Bicycle Race,’ including bicycle bells, to ‘Love of my Life’ which gave me chills, down to ‘Who Wants to Live Forever’ which was by far my favourite piece played, there wasn’t a thing that didn’t work in my opinion.

I was a little concerned about the fact that nobody would be singing at this show, it was purely music and I wondered how Freddie Mercury’s showmanship could ever be replicated. Well that was left to Vlad Maistorovici, who as composer, conductor and violin soloist had his work cut out for him, however I think he did an outstanding job, of not only pulling the whole orchestra together, in time, with enthusiasm, but he also played many of the solo parts of the songs that Freddie would have belted out, with his violin alone. I honestly don’t know how else to explain it other than he did it justice and I think Freddie would have been impressed!

This team of musicians also included the very talented pianist Robin Green and Harry Cameron-Penny on the clarinet who was mesmerising to watch, both incredible musicians and both adding something unique to the whole ensemble. The piano sections of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ were spot on and my girl chatted excitedly about this at the end, she couldn’t believe how it sounded exactly as it does on the recordings, he even played the piano in an unusual way at one point. Harry gave an air of confidence that made me feel as though he didn’t have to put any effort into his solo performances, making it comfortable and entertaining to watch, it was almost as if he just made it up as he went and still sounded flawless, a real talent.

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I won’t pretend to know if the notes were all spot on as I am not musical myself, but I do know that as someone who wasn’t sure what to expect from an orchestra playing Freddie Mercury’s songs, I was absolutely blown away by every single part of the show, Vlad was incredible and brought Freddie’s spirit to life momentarily for me, Robin and Harry were a pleasure to watch/listen to, and we enjoyed it so much that I bought tickets for the next night at The Riverfront theatre. This time taking my Dad (who is a big Queen fan) and my youngest daughter, and they both loved the show as well! I think this is a true testament to the Sinfonia Cymru as all ages were clearly entertained.

I think we witnessed something special in the Freddie Mercury Project, and think that the effort and skill poured into this production did not fail to impress. The standing ovation at both shows we went to echoed this as well I think.

Thank you Sinfonia Cymru!