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Opera & classical

Review Welsh National Opera, Orchestra, St David’s Hall by James Ellis 

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out of 5 stars (4 / 5)

 The sight of the WNO Orchestra is rare since we mostly see them in the pit of the Wales Millennium Centre. Chances to see them full throttle at St David’s Hall are always a pleasure and under the brilliant baton of music director Tomáš Hanus, this concert given the fitting moniker of ‘Czech Mates’.

Half of the programme for this concert would be smattering chunks from operas, yet a deeper divine into he orchestras repertoire were present. The Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes by Britten was done with subtlety and fury. It only makes you crave a full performance of Britten’s masterwork, not seen with WNO for what must be decades. There shimmering allure of the North Sea, church goers and the battering of a rampant storm all feature here, filled with nuance. 

Dvořák and his Biblical Songs followed, with a pleasing turn from Jana Kurucová, a Slovakian mezzo who brought the spirit of the composer into the space. There was a hushed feeling to these setting of a selection of Psalms, ‘Thou art my hiding place’ and a setting of ‘The Lord is my shepherd’ as examples. Though I wasn’t as taken with them as I expected, I found Jana to be a rich singer who added a fine feature to this concert.

Wagner would arrive after the interval, the Prelude & Liebestod from his epic opera Tristan und Isolde. The seething erotic tension in both extracts (the start and end of an opera a good four hours in length) burst out, the orchestra poised in space in spacing and phrasing. They excel at Wagner, Wales having an extensive history with the highly problematic composer. The famous, reedy Tristan chord heard once again as it all wraps up, begins ‘modern music’ in many ways, yet brings us back to start of the prelude. Clever, as ever.

Janáček is proudly put on by Tomos every opportunity he can get, his native composer always offering wacky and inspired musical offerings that are usually a highlight on the opera stage and concert hall. His Sinfonietta, opens and closes with the soaring addition of a mass of additional  brass, leading on to eccentric string writing, a declaration to the folk music of his land and a catchy rambunctious nature hard to ignore. Tomos seems to float when with Janáček and we in Cardiff always welcome its magic.

Theatre

Review Female Gothic, Dyad Productions, Chapter Arts Centre by James Ellis

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out of 5 stars (3 / 5)

It’s been a mere seven weeks since Dyad Productions has graced Chapter once again. This time it’s for the spooky season, when the clocks go back and a general eeriness lingers in the air. We’ve been truly lost in our screens this Halloween seasons, Dahmer on Netflix’s has both horrified and caused outrage in equal measure. The smash hit, UK made puppet show Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared finally saw it’s Channel 4 premier, disgusting and brilliant for it six episode run. Though Female Gothic tries to go back to the horror of the old school, the OG if you will.

It’s easy to look back at the Victorians as another world, yet their perspective on death still has a clutch on society today. People such as Ask A Mortician on YouTube have tried to look at the Victorian way of handling death and funerals, with a new approach to the deceased. Many of these macabre stories prove their fear of dying and also what lies beyond. Dyad have evoked three similar stories, one that would not feel out of place in The Tales of the Unexpected. They mostly involve the regret of a past love through grief, the quest for knowledge and its downfall alongside the worry of maternal death. All of this is in the Gothic vein so its ghosts, an exotic potion from the south seas and a dark spirit that wouldn’t sound out of place in a manga.

Rebecca Vaughn holds us in the space in what was a rather chilly depth for the evening. Her entire costume is expectedly black and imposing, yet beautiful. Her diction is something I’ve been taken with after hearing her in A Room of One’s Own, the candlelit and soft lamp hue of the theatre had a evocative vibe, perfect for the context. I craved a bit more sound work and music in particular passages of this trio of stories, though the silence was highly effective in other moments. Dyad has proven the legitimacy of intimate theatre shows, with an ever increasing list of one woman pieces, made marvellous thanks to the ardour of Vaughn.

Female Gothic continues on tour, along with Christmas Gothic. Dyad Productions will present a new version of A Christmas Carol next winter.

Musical

Review: Theatre Diner Café, London 23.10.22 by Patrick Downes

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The idea behind this brand-new diner in the middle of London’s Theatreland has its origins in the heart of New York’s theatreland. Based on Ellen’s Stardust Diner, theatre goers can now be fed and entertained just a stone’s throw from the beating heart of the West End.

For those who may fear the idea of being serenaded, I can dispel that fear straight away. You can be involved or want your own space as much as you’d like. Either way, you’ll feel comfortable here.

Food is standard American diner fayre, burgers, hot dogs, potato skins, onion rings – all with a musical theatre named slant (Show me the meaning of being loaded my personal favourite – potato skins with cheese and chive and bacon bits). Honestly didn’t think the food would be that great – quite surprised – full of flavour and cooked well. Okay, so you weren’t expecting a full dining review here I know, but what makes this diner special and worth the price you pay for food, is the entertainment.

Like Ellen’s Stardust Diner in NY, your server’s will at some point pick up the microphone and start belting out a West End anthem. Whilst we were there, we had two numbers from Six, Les Mis and You’ll be back from Hamilton.

This is where this diner becomes something special. Yes, you can have food at any of the other establishments along Shaftesbury Avenue, but I’m hazarding a guess the staff there aren’t as fun – or friendly, or talented too!

It’s possible on a sitting eating a Aaron Bur-ger, you could be witnessing some nugget of West End talent before their big break happens. This is one of the reason this diner exists. Not everyone can be working in musical theatre, and who knows that one lucky break could be a portion of fries away.

We do have footage of our time in the Diner with some of the talented people we witnessed, and I’m sure we’ll share this eventually. But for now, you’re only chance is if you book a table (walk ins not guaranteed), and as the song from Hamiliton goes, you’ll be Back!

Review: @ImPatrickDownes

Musical

Review: Back To The Future The Musical, London, 23.10.22 by Patrick Downes

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This was a musical we’d planned to see earlier this year, but the weather won and trains, buses and all manner of transport down the M4 stopped, so we waited, and on a bright Autumn day in London, we finally came to see the brilliance that is Back To The Future The Musical (herein known as BTTFM).

Prior to it’s West End debut, BTTFM was workshopped in Manchester and had a very short run before the world locked down and the pandemic closed theatres all around the UK and beyond. I’d heard about it then and wasn’t 100% on whether a musical on a film such as this would work. I’ve previously seen Titanic the musical, as well as Sister Act and Ghost, so know there’s two side to every film/musical cross over.

I don’t feel I need to explain the plot, but I’ll give it a go;

When Marty McFly finds himself transported back to 1955 in a time machine built by the eccentric scientist Doc Brown, he accidentally changes the course of history. Now he’s in a race against time to fix the present, escape the past and send himself… back to the future.

Add into the mix an incredible 80’s soundtrack and you have a musical, that when it hits 88, you’ll see some serious sh…. You know what.

New songs written by Glenn Ballard based on the script by Bob Gale and Robert Zemekis, this could feel like it’s trying too hard to be BTTF – but it doesn’t and I think that in itself is down to the cast of Ben Joyce (Marty Mcfly) and Roger Bart (Doc Brown), Oliver Nicholas (George Mcfly), Amber Davies (Lorraine Baines), Jordan Benjamin (Goldie Wilson / Marvin Berry), Sophie Naglik (Jennifer Parker) and Harry Jobson (Biff Tannen).

Roger Bart is musical theatre royalty, and in this performance you can see why. The ensemble pieces are amazing, as are the solos – although the songs aren’t quite as memorable as I’d like – I know as soon as I start listening to the cast recording in the car, it’ll all come flooding back to me.

I loved it, can’t say I didn’t, even contemplated doing a rush ticket for the next day’s performance. My only issue with BTTFM is that it relies too much on a that 80’s nostalgia. You find yourself completely immersed in something so familiar that it feels right. Maybe that’s just something I felt, and you won’t feel the same way, needless to say there is a moment when I felt myself get a bit emosh – not saying where, needless to say, Alan Silvestri’s composition is as part of the 80s as anything you’ll hear from John Williams.

The only thing that sets this production apart from anything else in the West End, is that Delorean!

What a machine! In terms of being in the moment, it’s up there with Elphaba’s Defying Gravity moment, Mary Poppins flying, and Cinderella’s rotating auditorium (what, do we not talk about Cinderella now?). It’s an incredible prop – and I realise calling it a prop does it a huge disservice, as it’s so much more than that! The car is literally the star!

Musicals are about escapism, fun, and feeling good, and BTTFM does this in bucketloads.

Your review is whatever you make it. So, make it a good one!

88 mph / 100

Review: @ImPatrickDownes

Musical

Review: & Juliet, London, 24.10.22 by Patrick Downes

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Having seen this earlier this year and not reviewing it, I thought it time I gave my reviewing fingers a go.

If you didn’t know;

& Juliet is the 2019 coming-of-age stage musical featuring the music of Swedish pop songwriter Max Martin, with a book by David West Read (Schitt’s Creek).

This is where I don’t want to say any further about the plot, as you may think you know, but trust me you don’t.

Max Martin’s songs are neatly interwoven into this tale of a “what if” scenario, where Juliet does not die at the end of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

You’ll be watching, listening, and thinking “who sung this originally”. Just me? Okay, just me.

The script by David West Reid is perfectly pitched and interweaves the songs quite nicely. The pace feels familiar (as does the music), and you won’t feel the songs are shoehorned into the story as can sometimes happen with other jukebox musicals. Okay, this isn’t Mamma Mia, but it feels fresh and fun and is the perfect accompaniment to a good night out – do try and not sing along though as that can be a bit annoying!

As I’ve said I’ve seen this earlier this year with Keala Settle as Angelique (just amazing), and I think apart from a few other cast changes on the evening, the cast was the same.

Miriam-Teak Lee as Juliet is amazing, as is Cassidy Janson as Anne Hathaway – her version of Celine Dion’s “That’s the way it is”, is probably up there as my favourite Celine cover! There was a little bit of Fenella Fielding in her portrayal of Will Shakespeare’s wife – together with Karen Walker from Will & Grace! Just loved it. Oliver Tompsett as William Shakespeare is sublime and fun to watch in his other guises. You maybe getting the idea I liked this production, if you haven’t so far, we can’t really be friends, because I loved it!

My only concern is the shelf life of the music. Some of the songs are over 20 years old, and as anyone in radio knows, some songs burn out with being overplayed. & Juliet is finishing in the West End in March 2023, so that’s a good time to be able to rest it in it’s current guise (specially since the Shaftesbury Theatre will be undergoing a transformation), but I’m also guessing a UK tour will be on the cards. The Broadway version started on October 28th 2022, and I’m sure it’ll do amazingly across the pond, and in the UK a tour will bring new life (and fans) into this little piece of musical history.

Before I end, one thing of note – the story maybe called & Juliet, but like another musical named after a historical person (rhymes with Samilton), maybe this story too isn’t actually about the one female protagonist?

Rating, Two be, or not two be….? No – 9 / 10

Review: @ImPatrickDownes

Opera & classical

Review Agata & Wojciech Szymczewski, RWCMD by James Ellis

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out of 5 stars (4 / 5)

In an afternoon of light delights the sibling brilliance of Agata & Wojciech Szymczewski delighted the audience at the Royal Welsh. This was very much the definition of the ‘Polish miniature’, fairly light music though not without the weight of it’s country’s history and culture.

The Legend and Kujawiak of Wieniawski is pretty famous, certainly the most familiar music on the programme. I still remain unsure about the true value of Chopin (this will land me in trouble), though hearing his Mazurka in A minor remained a pleasure. To see this brother and sister play feels like an honour, Agata on violin remains such a force the instrument seems to capture to her every whim. It is as if she was born to play the violin and every second with her proves her gusto and passion for her nation’s music. On piano, Wojciech also offers some fabulous insights, his accompaniment never wains in his intimacy with his sister. Though these pieces are very much chances to show off the violin proper, Wojciech makes a perfect companion for the journey.

New discoveries in the Polish repertoire would see work by Bacewicz and Adam Wroński, which delighted in openness and charming nature of the writing. The air is very Polish, some whispers of the country’s great folk music culture passed through. The essence of the fiddle lived in this brief concert. The Cradle Song of Szymanowski proved a much more ‘modern’ affair, the traditions still invited and present, though the drabness of it’s features might turn some off. Still, it had a beauty of its own, distilled and abstract, a piece that’s demands some effort and attention.

We’d welcome back these siblings anytime to Cardiff.

Theatre

REVIEW The Lavender Hill Mob, New Theatre by Barbara Hughes-Moore

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There’s nothing quite like that Ealing feeling: the slew of indubitably British comedies that raised the spirits of postwar Blighty. There’s misbehaviour, yes – Kind Hearts and Coronets, for one, has more deaths than an episode of Game of Thrones – but it’s all done in a rather genial fashion. In Ealing comedies, hoodlums don spiffy suits and jaunty bowler hats, and stop to wish you a good day after they’ve mugged you. This is the spirit which infuses the new touring production of The Lavender Hill Mob, widely considered one of the finest British films of all time, which performs at the New Theatre in Cardiff this week.

Directed by Jeremy Sams and adapted from T.E.B. Clarke’s 1951 screenplay by Phil Porter, The Lavender Hill Mob follows Henry Holland (Miles Jupp), an unassuming bank clerk now living like a king in Rio. His unlikely rise has inspired a film director (Guy Burgess) to put Holland’s story in the movies – leading Holland and his entourage to re-enact the tale with much theatrical aplomb. It’s as funny as you might expect from a show which is led by two proud alumni of The Thick of It, with Jupp channelling Alec Guinness’ breezy RP charm and Justin Edwards doing an uncanny evocation of the great Stanley Holloway as the befuddled Pendlebury.

Holland’s friends are played by Tessa Churchard, John Dougall, Victoria Blunt, Aamira Challenger and Tim Sutton, with much of the laugh out loud moments coming from their playing of multiple of roles, each one more chaotic than the last. There’s a car chase in Calais, a mad dash through London, and the iconic scene on the Eiffel Tower (on whose novelty souvenirs the plot hinges).

While the heist never quite reaches the comic heights of its original, it’s a consistently amusing and well-played caper, with all the charm of its classic counterpart. For fans of modern comedies like The Play that Goes Wrong, it’s a night of fun and frolics – with The Lavender Hill Mob, you’ll be in criminally good company.

The Lavender Hill Mob is playing at the New Theatre Cardiff until Saturday 5 November. For more information and to book tickets, click here.

Music

Review The Death Songbook, Llais Festival, Wales Millennium Centre by Tracey Robinson

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Death Songbook – Brett Anderson

The Festival of Voice/Gwyl y Llais was established in 2016 it’s Cardiff’s annual festival and is held at the magnificent Wales Millenium Centre, Butetown.

This year The Festival of Voice has been rebranded as Llais, meaning ‘voice’ (the English name of the festival has been dropped). The 5-day festival is like no other, it offers a real mix of events, free and ticketed, immersive art, and a celebration of internationally acclaimed artists through a range of live, exciting, diverse music.

I arrived at the Donald Gordon Stage just as the combined choir of Cwmdare Voices and Pelenna Valley Male Voice started their performance of classics, if you’ve never seen a Welsh Male Voice Choir perform live, then sort yourself out and go see one! Oh my days, your soul will be filled with pleasure and forever thankful it had the experience. Not wanting to sound biased
but nobody does it better than the Welsh – fact!

I was beyond thrilled to be seeing Brett Anderson (need I say, Suede frontman) perform something new after what seemed like forever. He was joined on stage by Charles Hazelwood
and the Paraorchestra, for the first live performance of Death Songbook, reimagined and repumped cover versions of songs that I’ve grown up listening to, with a special guest
performance by Mercury Prize nominee, Gwenno.

https://youtu.be/uYcFU-Qg2fo

Nothing had prepared me for the beauty of the performance, to say it was magical would be an understatement, my heart and head were filled with musical joy, melancholy, and nostalgia.
Kicking off the performance with Killing Moon really set the tone, I was captivated and overjoyed, right through to the last note of ‘Wonderful Life’.

I was completely amazed and overwhelmed with emotion listening to the first-ever performance of Brutal Lover, a truly beautiful song. Gwenno’s unique voice on ‘End of the World’ ‘Holes’ and ‘Enjoy the Silence’ combined with Brett Andersons’ vocals was a smooth union of sound.

Gwenno

I had never heard of the Paraorchestra before last night, they sounded phenomenal, they are incredible musicians, and the sound they created suited the songs to perfection. Charlie
Hazelwood described them as a ‘new breed’. This beautiful concert was so well directed and produced by a bodywork of professionals, I felt like I was experiencing something really special, it felt like a new era and gave me feelings of elation, joy, melancholy, and nostalgia.

I’m not a fan of cover versions and on my way to WMC I wondered how some of the songs would sound, particularly as the original artists, David Bowie/Jaques Brel, Japan, Depeche
Mode, Mercury Revs, Echo and the Bunnymen, Skeeter Davis (all pretty big shoes to fill) are icons and all performed their songs as only they can, they’re classics, I really enjoyed listening to them but not in the way that I heard them last night, the new arrangements and performance stirred me up inside and moved me. The songs have now taken on a very different meaning to me like I was listening to them for the first time. The song choices suited Brett’s voice to perfection.

Death Songbook reminds us that through songs about death, the death of love, and the loss of our loved ones, music is our comforter, our greatest friend in dark, bleak times, it soothes,
nourishes, and uplifts us, during our deepest sorrow.

Thank you Brett and everyone involved in the performance and production. I await an official release of this beautiful music, preferably on vinyl!

Dance

Review Contemporary Dance 2.0, The Hofesh Shechter Company ,Battersea Arts Centre,by Tanica Psalmist

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out of 5 stars (4 / 5)

Choreography and Music: Hofesh Shechter
Performed by: Shechter II
Lighting Design: Tom Visser
Original Costume Design: Osnat Kelner

The eight performers performing in Contemporary Dance 2.0 from Hofesh Shechter and his award winning company Shechter II, were; Tristan Carter, Cristel de Frankrijker, Justine Gouache, Zakarius Harry, Alex Haskins, Oscar Jinghu Li, Keanah Faith Simin and Chanel Veyent. They are sensational, adapting perfectly to the Shechter style, which is one minute smooth and sinuous as silk and the next pulsing to a frantic beat of rapid, exhausting movement, as relentless as a heartbeat.

https://youtu.be/s3yEmaZAb-8

Each dance piece gets divided into five sections, which were signed by the dancers holding up rough cardboard. It begins, with my all time favourite ‘Pop’, with Michael Jackson inspiration posing, followed by ballroom, frantic, electric jumps & contemporary dance moments of joining hands and forming multiple, beautiful dance stunts & visual images.

Freedom of expression through sensory movements were expressed by all eight dancers’ synchronised & projecting an aura of internal power through pop dance, feelings of motherhood and pain/relief experienced by our bodies channeling energy in complex journeys. Seductively taking eyes across the audience as their bodies effortlessly & vigorously flop and rise with their fluidity hypnotised, leaving you mesmerised to the depths of how pop culture, embodying Michael Jackson – the King of Pop’s symmetrical famous moves.

The music was upbeat. In beat we witnessed a fusion of dance styles such as krumping, popping, electro funk gliding to the counts within the music flow that went to the rhythm of 1,2,3,4 – however, automatically speeding up to match their heartbeats drumming to the beats 2,4,6,8. This soon boomed to a higher frequency as they began spinning, break out dancing and exploiting various other dance sensations like ballroom & contemporary thanks to the Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter.

Each dancer colourfully dressed visually moved our brains as their facial expressions epically motioned feelings of strain, reactions of excitment & vanity. You could feel the dancers’ hearts race, pumping to the counts of 10, 20, 30, and 40.

A 50 minute non-stop fusion of intensity taken to the stage. Hope was their supply, influence was their leader, precautions were their discipline, and spirit guided was their teacher. Flexible bodies slid springing along the floor; resonating solitary on stage, the lights set the mood remaining predominantly dim lit.

Well incorporated into the dance moves were light bouncing, embracing, smiling, culture, architecture of hearts rejoicing, as their bodies sprung like tigers. Towards the end played ‘The End’ by Frank Sinatra. It became an expression of unity and life between the past and present of home manifested through pop, hip hop & other dancing styles high on energy, moving to a completely different beat working strangely well, appearing extremely beautiful towards the end.

The music consisted of heavy deep drums and heartfelt string instruments. The ambience was uplifting as it radiated emotions of tranquillity, hope, victory and a full tribe of life. Each dancer individually performed a solo as themselves, which conveyed their stamped identity. Towards the end all moves moulded into one! A high off of energy, fire and enjoyment, zero stopping until the stage was cleared making you want to watch forever. Not to be missed!

Contemporary Dance 2.0 will be at Battersea Arts Centre, London, until the 29 October.

 

Theatre

Review My Mix(ed up) Tape, Dirty Protest, Duffy’s Pontypridd by Gemma Treharne-Foose

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out of 5 stars (5 / 5)

I have to say I wasn’t sure what to expect on a rainy Welsh Wednesday in an ex-working men’s club in Maes Y Coed, Pontypridd. It’s not your usual venue for a bit of theatre, but Pontypridd-born Katie Payne (accompanied by live DJ Glade Marie) took the small, buzzy audience on a rollercoaster ride through the memories and present-day happenings of character Phoebe Phillips. I haven’t always connected with plays written about Valleys characters. They can be a little over-done, a pastiche or caricature of a romanticised myth that can be sickeningly saccharine at times. But this evening’s performance exploring what it’s like to be in the orbit of an ADHD mind was quite possibly one of the best and most relatable depictions of Welsh working class Valleys women I have seen on stage. 

“One of the best depictions of Welsh working class Valleys women I have seen on stage…”

Phoebe is uncompromisingly, restlessly real.  Painfully and honestly so. We skip back and forth between memories and songs and scenes from her childhood, thorough messy confrontations, and the myriad of relationships with friends, families and foes. Valleys folk will all recognise the characters who pop up in ‘Duffy’s’ (but really, this was as true for me of Tonyrefail, just up the road). You’ll meet “Bag-face Linda”, the bouncer with the spade arms, “Pick Me” Caroline, sweet/spiteful Alex and Jamie bloody Richards – the lad’s lad you love to hate. There’s a constant drum beat of frenetic energy brewing from the very beginning, building up to a crescendo of chaos that gets better and stronger as the performance reaches the summit. 

As a family currently on the waiting list for an ADHD assessment and with suspected neurodivergent traits of our own, this really did hit home. My teenage daughter said she thought it was written about her. I thought it could have been written about me, too! The play explores the turbulence of having emotions that are always brimming just below the surface and the ensuing fireworks that leave a host of disappointed faces in their wake. Throughout, main character Phoebe navigates the stigma and grief associated with never ever feeling good enough and of living inside your own head constantly. 

ADHD presents differently in girls of course, and while many ADHD girls perhaps won’t be as disruptive, energetic and borderline violent as Phoebe, all will recognise the panic of being exposed and ‘found out’. There’s a gendered level of shame to confronting and owning anger and the end scene where Phoebe lets her guard down with boyfriend Ben was like a punch in the gut. If it’s exhausting to be with me, imagine what it’s like being me, Phoebe says. But the audience instinctively see that there should be no shame in her realness. There is, in fact – power in her drive, her hyper-focus, her silliness (the beautiful scene where she curls her lip and cuts through the conflict with a single facial expression is sheer perfection). 

I asked my daughter how she felt after the show. “I feel seen” she said…

Neurdivergent or not, this is an absolute must-see. Katie Payne is not only a sharp writer and a gifted performer, but she absolutely NAILS the working class experience of growing up in the Valleys. Throughout this show, there are nostalgic references, witty one liners and great little cameo voices from relatives and members of the wedding party who depict the humour, the claustrophobia and often – the sheer absurdity of the Valleys experience. Sometimes, the stifling yet gripping hold ‘home’ can have on you can be discombobulating. As Phoebe did during Caroline’s wedding, you confront your past, your weaknesses and your failures. TH Parry Williams the North-Walian poet described “home” as being like a dragon’s claw gripping your heart and riffed about resenting the folks you try to leave behind. But in true Welsh “Hiraeth” fashion, you may feel an inexplicable sense of disconnect or loss when you move away. For those of us who were lucky enough to grow up in the Valleys, though, My Mix(ed up) Tape makes coming home to Duffy’s feel like a big warm cwtch. You may feel like you’ve been punched in the feels, but my god – you will bloody laugh, mun.