Anthems: The Concert

Kerry Ellis and Brian May's (as they have equal billing) tour Anthems:The Concert kicked off last night at the Royal Albert Hall, with extra support from Adam Pascal, string quartet Escala, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the West End Chorus. It was awesome.

Brian May explained at the very beginning the evening was about the combination of rock music and theatre, developing from Hair to Spring Awakening. The first half was primarily performed by the West End Chorus (whose soloists in 'The Show Must Go On' and the Hair meadly were wonderful, but unfortunately unnamed) and Adam Pascal. Pascal really, really surprised me; of course, he did songs from Rent-hearing 'One Song Glory' live is really wonderful. However, the two songs that really stood out for me were 'Flying Home' from Songs for a New World and 'You'll Never Walk Alone'-which was honestly stunning. Escala were very talented, but seemed a little out of place; although I guess as a electric string quartet they embodied classical music/rock crossover.

The second half brought with it Kerry Ellis, and was pretty much the Anthems album on stage. It began with 'Dangerland', a song that sounds massive on the CD (if that's possible) and was even more incredible on stage. Other stand-outs were 'You Have to Be There', a song from the musical Kristina, 'Somebody to Love', 'No-One But You' and 'I Love it When You Call', featuring the lead singer of The Feeling and writer of the song, Dan Gillesepe. Brian May's rendition of 'Love of My Life' was also pretty amazing; in my opinion he could have done with singing more in the concert, as opposed to just playing gratuitous guitar riffs (just my opinion, but I personally feel a few songs could have been left without the extra guitar). Of course, 'Defying Gravity' and 'Anthem' bought the house down.

Kerry Ellis does seem to have a pretty flawless voice; you tend to expect a little leeway for error when you see performers live; but Ellis just sounds perfect. She's a very natural performer with a pretty enormous range, and hopefully performing alongside Brian May will enable her to reach people that would not necessarily see musicals like Les Miserables or Wicked, although she did of course originate a role in We Will Rock You. As I said, May's voice is still pretty solid and his guitar playing got massive applause (I'll admit that I got increasingly nonplussed; he's a guitarist...playing electric guitar is what he does), so he still seems to have the Queen-effect.

Give or take a few negatives (again the sound was off at the very beginning with the Chorus, and some of the audience around me could have done with learning some manners) Anthems: The Concert was a really good night out. It really showed off some powerhouse voices and hopefully will go on to have success across the country.

Into the Woods (Digital Theatre Film)

Narrator-Eddie Manning
The Baker-Mark Hadfield
The Baker's Wife-Jenna Russell
The Witch-Hannah Waddingham
Cinderella-Helen Dallimore
Jack-Ben Stott
Little Red Riding Hood-Beverly Rudd
Cinderella's Prince/The Wolf-Michael Xavier
Rapunzel's Prince-Simon Thomas
Rapunzel-Alice Fearn
Steward-Mark Goldthorp
Cinderella's Stepmother-Gaye Brown
Florinda-Amy Ellen Richardson
Lucinda-Amy Griffiths
Jack's Mother-Marilyn Cutts
Grandmother-Valda Aviks
Mysterious Man-Billy Boyle
Ensemble-Marc Antolin, Sophie Caton, Joshua Swinney & Gemma Wardle

Into the Woods is a Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine created show, which was debuted in 1987, and this production was presented last year at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre as one of the numerous productions celebrating his 80th Birthday.

The show is in two halves (obviously), with Act One following a more traditional story of Cinderella, Jack (of the Beanstalk), Little Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel, all tied together by the Baker and his Wife's journey to hunt down items to make a potion in order to gain a child. Act Two, on the other hand, is what happens after 'Ever After'. A clue? It's not good. I love, love the show. The score is one of my favourite Sondheim scores, featuring songs like 'Agony' (which is hilarious), 'Your Fault/Last Midnight', 'No One is Alone' and 'Children Will Listen'. Plus, it's book is wonderful, being both funny and darkly twisting fairy tales.

So, the show itself is wonderful, and this production for the most part is great as well. Timothy Sheader's direction keeps the show moving along nicely and Liam Steel's movement choreography is brilliant, the whole cast at times moving as one. The set design was great as well, totally making use of the fact that the theatre is actually in the woods, and the Giant and Wolf in the bed scenes even got applause from audience. The costume design was fine for the most part-I particularly loved the costumes of the princes and The Witch had an amazing Act One costume. However, there were aspects of the production I didn't quite get. For instance, Cinderella with headphones, dreadlocks and nose ring and also having a child narrator which worked sometimes, but did get in the way a bit of the action and proved a little distracting in the final scene (although Eddie Manning was pretty sweet).

In addition, the cast was a pretty solid ensemble. Hannah Waddingham was wonderful as The Witch, and Mark Hadfield and Jenna Russell were great as the central couple; Russell really bringing out the humour of the piece and Hadfield ultimately being very moving. Michael Xavier pretty much stole the show as both The Wolf and a very camp Cinderella's Prince. I think the only vaguely disappointing performance was Helen Dallimore as Cinderella, from whom I expected a little more (she was the original Glinda in London), and who only got good at around 'No One is Alone' point, close to the end of Act Two. However, she did have a wonderful voice-as did the rest of the cast.

Into the Woods is a wonderful production and I'm thrilled that the wonderful Digital Theatre, whose entire catalogue I would happily buy, have worked to preserve it.

Les Miserables-25th Anniversary Concert (DVD)

I saw the Claude-Michel Schonberg/Alain Boubil/Herbert Kretzmer musical at the beginning of its 25th anniversary year. In addition to a new international tour starring John Owen-Jones and Earl Carpenter, Cameron Mackintosh put together a huge cast at the 02 Arena in October to perform a concert version of the show, akin to that which was put together starring Colm Wilkinson and Philip Quast at the Royal Albert Hall.

Centering around the life of Jean Valjean (Alfie Boe), a one-time chain gang member who breaks his parole to change his life-and who is being pursued relentlessly by the unmovable Javert (Norm Lewis). In his life, he comes across the factory-worker Fantine (Lea Salonga), who turns to prostitution after being sacked by Valjean's foreman, and who Valjean promises on her deathbed that he will take care of her distant daughter. This takes him to the home of the Thenardiers (Matt Lucas & Jenny Galloway), pub landlords turned crooks, who are probably the real bad guys in this story. Here he takes Cosette (Mia Jenkins)away from being treated appalling, whilst the Thenardiers dote on their daughter Eponine. Years later, in Paris, the students-led by Enjolras, are preparing to lead a revolution against the oppressing regime in France. Here, we see the Thenardiers as mere pickpocketers, and their daughter Eponine (Samantha Barks) being hopelessly in love with Marius (Nick Jonas), a student. He, in turn, meets Cosette (Katie Hall) and they fall in love instantly. The revoluton begins, infiltrated by Javert, who is discovered by the street-urchin Gavroche (Robert Madge). Javert and Valjean meet again, but Valjean releases him, refusing to kill him. The revolution destroys all the revolutionaires-including Eponine, who dies in her beloved Marius' arms-with the exception of Marius, who Valjean carries to safety through the sewers. Javert desperatly tries to stop Valjean, but eventually caves, and decides he cannot keep living forever in the 'debt of a thief', and throws himself into the River Seine. Marius and Cosette are reunited and are married. Valjean reveals his true identity to Cosette as he dies, guided to heaven by Fantine, Eponine and the souls of those who died on the barricades.

The cast are mostly wonderful. Alfie Boe, a man known most for being an opera singer, is a stunning Valjean; he sings the role with ease and his rendition of 'Bring Him Home' physically stopped the show and gained him a standing ovation. Norm Lewis, known primarily for his Broadway work but currently starring in the West End production, delivers a wonderful 'Stars' and is the perfect stiff-upper lip foil to Boe's Valjean. Matt Lucas and Jenny Galloway (who also played the role in the 10th anniversary concert) are fine as the comedy villains of the piece, with a roaring 'Master of the House'. Lea Salonga, who played Eponine in the 10th anniversary concert & who originated the role of Kim in Miss Saigon, is stunning as Fantine, her 'I Dreamed A Dream' almost had me in tears. Samantha Barks, a finalist on the BBC's I'd Do Anything, is an equally good Eponine and Katie Hall makes for a feisty and wonderfully sung Cosette.

The only flaw in the casting was that of Nick Jonas as Marius. He is easily outsung by pretty much everyone else on stage, and does very little in the way of acting. His casting is strange to me, it is obviously an attempt to draw in other audiences, but the average Jonas Brother fan would have been outpriced by the ticket prices to see the show live. However, the DVD features an annoucement that the feature film version of Les Mis is in the works, so it could be that he's been emarked for the film.

Other mentions should go to the stunning Ramin Karimloo's (currently playing the Phantom in Love Never Dies) performance as Enjolras, the student rebel leader, whose voice and charisma makes him an able leader. He is ably supported by Hadley Fraser as Grantaire, whose voice is equally amazing.

The concert is very well done. Conducted by David Charles Abell (who directed the 10th anniversary concert), the massive orchestra gives a truly symphonic sound to a score that I personally believe is one of the best. A use of screens sets the time and a use of video fills in scenes that couldn't be done of the 02 stage and lighting is used to represent the famous barricades.

As part of the extended curtain call, the current West End company, the international tour company and the original 1985 company all joined together on stage. Colm Wilkinson, Simon Bowman, John Owen-Jones and Alfie Boe all joined together to sing a beautiful version of 'Bring Him Home', the original cast (with the help of Ramin Karimloo) joined together to lead the company in 'One Day More' and the Epilogue was reprised with casts of various student productions of Les Mis.

All in all, the 02 concert is brilliantly recorded on DVD, and one dud performance doesn't get in the way of the stunning music and wonderful other performances.

Chess (UK Tour)

Florence Vassy-Shona White
Anatoly Sergievsky-Daniel Koek
Freddie Trumper-James Fox
Alexander Molokov-Steve Varnom
Walter deCourcey-James Graeme
Svetlana Sergievsky-Poppy Tierney
The Arbiter-David Erik

I've written about my love for the Tim Rice/Bjorn Ulvaeus/Benny Andersson piece Chess before. It's had a troubled history, and following the Royal Albert Hall concert in 2008 starring Idina Menzel, Josh Groban and Adam Pascal, Craig Revel-Horwood has taken on the piece on a UK tour.

Chess is the story of a chess match played between a Russian and an American during the Cold War. The political unease between the two countries is exacerbated when a love triangle springs up when Florence Vassy, the English but Hungarian born second of the American Freddie Trumper, falls for the married Russian Anatoly Sergievsky. Politics and love entwin as the piece continues.

The most obvious difference between this production and any others is the fact that this is an actor-musician piece, with almost all the cast playing an instrument in addition to acting. The entire ensemble were wonderfully talented; dancing, singing and playing instruments amazingly well, in intricate costumes designed by Christopher Woods.

As for the principal cast, Shona White has a wonderful voice, singing big numbers like 'Nobody's Side' with ease. Some of her actions did verge into being slightly over-the-top; there were a lot of hand gestures and her despair at the end of the piece did seem a bit forced. Daniel Koek faced a similar problem; fine singing, with a lovely 'Anthem' at the end of Act One, but a little too much arm-waving and running around-especially in 'Where I Want to Be'-although this could be direction as opposed to his choice. However, I think that Revel-Horwood's interpretation made Florence and Anatoly's relationship difficult to sell. With the ending removing the key plot twist and having Anatoly seemingly return to his wife pretty easily, and with Florence and Freddie's relationship played up during 'The Deal' and 'Endgame', the importance of this central relationship seemed wholly diminished, and it made it seem as though Anatoly was acting on instruction, and Florence in order to just annoy Freddie.

Speaking of Freddie, the show is totally stolen by James Fox. His 'Pity the Child' is jaw-dropping. Generally, I don't emphasise much with this character, but his almost breakdown by the end of the show had me feeling for him far more than for Florence or Anatoly. David Erik as the Arbiter is also very good, his character is a bit weird, but his stage presence was brilliant, as was his ability to do the splits was quite fantastic.

Other fine support is given by Steve Varnom and James Graeme as the KGB/CIA agents. Poppy Tierney as Svetlana has a pretty voice, but is (again) victim to being a little over the top in her acting.

However overall I had a really good night. Hearing my favourite score live was really great, and having the somewhat rare chance of seeing this show in a professional surronding was a chance that I simply could not pass up.

(Chess will next be seen in Norwich, Plymouth and Milton Keynes. More information avaliable here)

The Night of 1000 Voices (Royal Albert Hall, 02/05/2010 8.00pm)

Host-Aled Jones
Featured Performers-Kerry Ellis, Adam Pascal, Philip Quast
Soloists-Ricardo Afonso, Leo Andrew, Teri Bibb, Jessie Buckley, Ceri-Lyn Cissone, Tiffany Graves, Charlotte Harwood, David Michael Johnson, Katie Rowley Jones, Debbie Kurup, Kenneth Nichols, Patrick Smyth & Tabitha Webb
Dancers-Ashley Andrews, Caroline Jones, Matthew Malthouse, Rachel Muldoon, Callum Nicol, Zizi Strallen, Lucie Waugh & Jason Winter
WITH
Robin Cousens, Ainsley Harriott, Gloria Hunniford, the Original Calender Girls, Brian May, Sing Live UK/USA

Oh What A Night! Excited did not even come close to how me and my friend were feeling when we arrived at the Albert Hall, after nearly missing our tea reservation at a hotel in Kensington due to a slow tube ride. We also had no idea what the programme would feature, and felt incredibly young...

The concert is celebrating its 10th birthday, and so many of the songs were featured were popular hits from the years before. These included the Tonight Quintet from West Side Story made bigger with the addition of the huge choir, You'll Never Walk Alone from Carousel performed in spinge-tingling fashion by Kenneth Nichols of Chicago Opera and Superstar from JCS performed by David Michael Johnson and the company, with some crazy choreography.

Acknowleding the fact that Stephen Sondheim also celebrates a pretty big birthday this year, there was also performances of 'The Ballad of Sweeney Todd', and choral versions of 'Being Alive' from Company and 'Sunday' from Sunday in the Park with George. Philip Quast also sang a medley of 'Good Thing Going' and 'Not A Day Goes By' from Merrily We Roll Along. There was also a nod to the birthday of Andrew Lloyd Webber, with an Evita segment, sung and danced by Debbie Kurup ('Bueno Aires'), I'd Do Anything runner-up Jessie Buckley ('You Must Love Me') and Kerry Ellis ('Don't Cry for Me Argentina')

The other stand outs included the Chess segment, having Kerry Ellis, who played Svetlana in the 2008 concert, sing 'Nobody's Side' far better than Idina Menzel, Adam Pascal reprise his performance of 'Pity the Child' and Philip Quast singing 'Anthem'. There was also a Rent tribute, with Pascal singing 'One Song Glory' and being joined by the entire company for 'Will I' and 'Seasons of Love'. Quast's 'Stars', Tiffany Graves' dancing in 'Rhythm of Life', Ricardo Afonso's 'Kiss of the Spiderwoman', Katie Rowley Jones' 'Unusual Way' and Brian May's surpise appearance in the We Will Rock You performance were also pretty amazing.

I'm also pleased to report that I had little problems hearing everything, from the very top of the circle, despite the band occasionally being very loud and perhaps pushing singers a little too far.

I'd be more than happy to return next year.

Les Miserables (West End)

Cast

Jean Valjean-Simon Bowman

Inspector Javert-Hans-Peter Janssens

Thenardier-Mark Hedges (u/s)

Madame Thenardier-Rachel Bingham (u/s)

Fantine-Rebecca Seale

Eponine-Nancy Sullivan

Marius-Alistair Brammer

Cosette-Emily Bull

Enjolras-Mark Dugdale (u/s)

Les Miserables was one of the first musicals I discovered via iTunes about six years ago, and so I was thrilled to recieve tickets for Christmas.

Currently in its 25th Year, Les Mis still seems to be packing them in (there were about three or four empty seats around in the stalls-not bad considering it's been crazy weather here). It's not hard to see why. Les Mis is an epic show, that contains both extremely moving moments and is balanced out by some humerous moments courtesay of the Thenardiers. It has most recently come to attention thanks to Susan Boyle's rendition of 'I Dreamed a Dream' that has appeared all over the world-and is used on the current advertising (although I think 'Dream the Dream' is a little strange, Les Mis isn't exactly a story you would want to dream).

Centering around the life of Jean Valjean, a one-time chain gang member who breaks his parole to change his life-and who is being pursued relentlessly by the unmovable Javert. In his life, he comes across the factory-worker Fantine, who turns to prostitution after being sacked by Valjean's foreman, and who Valjean promises on her deathbed that he will take care of her distant daughter. This takes him to the home of the Thenardiers, pub landlords turned crooks, who are probably the real bad guys in this story. Here he takes Cosette away from being treated appalling, whilst the Thenardiers dote on their daughter Eponine. Years later, in Paris, the students-led by Enjolras, are preparing to lead a revolution against the oppressing regime in France. Here, we see the Thenardiers as mere pickpocketers, and their daughter Eponine being hopelessly in love with Marius, a student. He, in turn, meets Cosette and they fall in love instantly. The revoluton begins, infiltrated by Javert, who is discovered by the street-urchin Gavroche. Javert and Valjean meet again, but Valjean releases him, refusing to kill him. The revolution destroys all the revolutionaires-including Eponine, who dies in her beloved Marius' arms-with the exception of Marius, who Valjean carries to safety through the sewers. Javert desperatly tries to stop Valjean, but eventually caves, and decides he cannot keep living forever in the 'debt of a thief', and throws himself into the River Seine. Marius and Cosette are reunited and are married. Valjean reveals his true identity to Cosette as he dies, guided to heaven by Fantine, Eponine and the souls of those who died on the barricade.

The whole cast were incredibly talented. Simon Bowman (probably best-known for originated the role of Chris in Miss Saigon) and Hans-Peter Janssens (a Belgian regular to the West End production) were both very well suited to their roles, and both had huge and very powerful voices. Rebecca Seale as Fantine was incredibly moving, and her ability to show Fantine slipping away before the audience's eyes was stunning. Mark Hedges and Rebecca Bingham would be unrecognisble as understudies, had the annoucement not been made, Hedges being a great mix of comical and corrupt. Nancy Sullivan had a huge voice, and her portrayal of Eponine made you wish that Marius was not quite so blind to her. As Marius, Alistair Brammer was able to portray his dilemma of being caught between his love for Cosette and his duty to his friends on the barricade, although his voice was perhaps one of the weaker in the cast. Emily Bull made a very earnest Cosette and Mark Dugdale was, again, a great understudy, looking quite at home commanding a group of revolutionaries.

There were numerous standouts in the ensemble as well-particularly the Sophie Josslyn as the Factory Girl, Antony Hanson as Feuilly and whichever boy played Gavroche (either Jamie Davis, Jonathan Gardner or George Sergeant)

My only irks have nothing to do with the production:

1) Why charge for a souvenir brouchre & a programme which is basically the cast info? I bought the brouchre assuming the cast list would be inside, I was wrong...

2) Surely CamMac can afford to update the website photos etc (the photo accompanying this review I think was last year's cast-but Nancy Sullivan is the Eponine in it)....and perhaps give more ensemble info? Although at least their listed on the Les Mis site, Oliver! has no such luck