Another review of Wicked

Being a big fan of The Wizard Of Oz, right from when I was a small child, I must admit I was hesitant to see Wicked at first. I thought it was just copying Frank Baum and would ruin the tale of Oz, but one song quickly changed my mind: Defying Gravity. I heard this song early last year, and fell in love with the lyrics, the music, everything. From then on, I was eager to see the highly rated musical.
I went along in January this year, maybe still with a tiny bit of hesitance in the back of my mind, but any doubt was soon blown from my mind. Right from the opening song, ‘No One Mourns The Wicked’, the whole audience was completely captivated by the colourful outfits, brilliant dancing and amazing vocals.
Rachel Tucker as Elphaba was unbelievable, hitting the big notes with ease and putting on a truly inspiring performance. Glinda, played by Louise Dearman, was fantastic, her annoyingly girly voice perfect for the part. Mark Evans was extremely good in his part as Fiyero, being brilliantly funny with the comical lines and singing the songs fantastically. The whole cast were brilliant, putting so much energy and enthusiasm into the performance, as if it was the first time they had ever done it.
The venue; the Apollo Victoria was magnificent, and you know that you are in for something special the minute you step through the doors. First of all, the foyer is packed with stalls selling Oz T-Shirts and other colourful merchandise. There are also Elphaba necklaces, delicate little witch hats hanging from chains, and many other wonderfully interesting items. Secondly, is the atmosphere. The energy and the buzz you can feel emanating from the people around you is amazing, and will have you jumping up and down with excitement in no time. And thirdly, everything is green. Well, not everything is actually green, but the many green lights bathe the whole room in a magical green light. The place is incredible.
When you finally get into the theatre itself, it’s no less interesting. Above the stage is a huge dragon head with wings proceeding after it, staring right at you as you take your seat. Below this, on the screen concealing the stage, is perhaps the most interesting thing of all: A map of Oz. The audience are drawn to it, exploring the wonderful world, and laughing at some of the odd places. It certainly makes you feel more involved in the story; it makes it all seem so real. And, after watching the two and half hour production, you’ll wish it was.

A Music Review: My Chemical Romance

On February the 12th  this year, My Chemical Romance made their second appearance in London as the fabulous Killjoys, and what a fabulous night it was. Just lining up outside Wembley arena , waiting to go in, you could feel the excitement in the crowd; all the fans with their killjoy masks and colourful costumes, and some remaining loyal to The Black Parade theme, with the military style jackets. It really was a fantastic sight.

On first entering the arena, the stands are packed with killjoy merchandise : tops displaying the spider logo, patterned bandanas, hoodies featuring each character’s logo and even exterminate posters with their faces on them. There are queues for popcorn, candyfloss and even alcohol, as My Chemical Romance fans range from the age of about 14 up until middle aged people.

As everyone settles in the main arena , the sense of excitement is definitely what you would expect from fans of a band who have been away for four years before the release of Dangers Days, and also a band who really do save lives. There’s also something else... A sense of belonging. Everybody is friendly; everyone’s there for the same purpose, so you already have a mutual interest, and most, if not all, the people there are in roughly the same boat. They don’t fit in with the supposed ‘normal’ people; the cool kids. And that’s what My Chemical Romance are about. They say that it’s okay to be different and you could really feel the warmth and relaxation in there, knowing no one there would judge you, because they know what it’s like to be judged themselves.

The warm-up acts, Lost Alone and The Blackout, come on to a large applause – finally putting an end to the Mexican wave that had been circling the arena for so long that everyone resented it starting - but the seated crowd do not rise from the comfort of their seats until the main acts enter the stage. The screaming is deafening and the pure excitement makes your heart want to burst. Then, there they come, marching onto the stage behind a curtain, to the voice-over that kick-starts the album, and the leading song, Na Na Na. The whole crowd shouts along to the words, and when the curtain drops to reveal the four Killjoys, the whole crowd erupts into screams - and tears for some - practically blowing the roof off of the place.

The band dive straight into their set, finally having a break after four or five fantastic songs. The sound quality is amazing, the songs, although adapted and altered slightly as is always the case when performing live, are lively and animated. Gerard marches around the stage in his naturally charismatic way, Frank is jumping up and down, Ray is head banging with that amazing afro of his and even Mikey is more lively than usual, having gained a lot more confidence on the stage. Their ability to perform the songs and entertain the crowd certainly has not  changed, with Gerard running around, jumping all over the place, lying on the stage and even rolling around, still maintaining perfect vocals.

Frank, Ray and Mikey’s fingers move with incredible speed and grace across the fret boards of their guitars, making even the most complicated of songs look easy and effortless. Their guest drummer is also doing a great job, especially considering that songs such as Sing and Vampires Will Never Hurt You rely a lot on drum patterns.

The lighting, colourful and bold, adds to the vibrant, energetic atmosphere of the arena. However, I was extremely thankful for my seated ticket, seeing the amount of people being dragged, many unconscious, from the crowd, although, thankfully, there were guards and stage hands there handing out water. There were also many moshpits breaking out everywhere, ranging from swarming circle-pits to surging walls-of-death.  The place was crazy with hyped up fans, feeding off of the energy from the band, and vice versa.

The whole concert was phenomenal and, although My Chemical Romance’s set was maybe slightly disappointingly short, they played a great range of songs, from their very first album, ‘I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love’,  to their newest, ‘Danger Days: The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys’ and everything in between.

My Chemical Romance traditionally exited to the tune of ‘Helena’, but the crowd were not accepting that as the end. They screamed and chanted until the band returned to play two encores: ‘Cancer’ and the classic ‘Vampires Will Never Hurt You’, a song which separates true fans, who sing along to every word, from the newbie killjoys fans, who look around, not knowing what to make of the screamo-tinted song, which, along with the fact that some of these new fans appear not to even know the song ‘Helena’, I find rather infuriating.

When the band leave the stage for good, the audience reluctantly make their way out of the arena, many with tears in their eyes, still buzzing from the true bliss of the concert: from not just the fans, glad to see the band back in action, but also from the band, happy to be back in the UK, where they have always said they feel most at home. 

A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Pheonix Performing Arts

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, written by William Shakespeare is a play centred around the Magic and Mystery of a Summer’s Night. The play is set simultaneously in the woodland, and in the realm of Fairyland, under the light of the moon. Theseus, the Duke of Athens (Charlie Hawley), is preparing for his marriage to Hippolyta (Shannon Wells). A courtier (Iona Macdonald) seeks the Duke's intervention because his daughter, Hermia (Harriet Dunn), will not agree to his choice of Demetrius (Omar Al Khina) as a husband as she's in love with Lysander (Robert Presly). The Duke tells Hermia to obey her father, or either die or accept a life as a nun in Diana's temple. Lysander and Hermia plan to elope, and they tell Helena (Jane Cottrell), who is in love with Demetrius, but he loves Hermia. The lovers run away from Athens but get lost in the woods. They are followed by Demetrius, and then by Helena, who has told him of their intentions. Oberon (Toby Smith), king of the fairies, who lives in the woods, has quarrelled with his queen, Titania (Emily Heywood), over an Indian boy (Jacob Malone) she refuses to give him. Oberon overhears Helena and Demetrius arguing and sends his mischievous servant, Puck (Annie Risner), to get a flower whose juice has the power to make people fall in love with the first creature they see when the juice is placed on their eyelids while asleep. He instructs Puck to put some drops on Demetrius' eyes. Mistaking the Athenian he seeks, Puck puts the flower juice on the eyes of the sleeping Lysander so that when he is woken by Helena he immediately falls in love with her and rejects Hermia.

Some mechanical from the town are rehearsing a play about the tragic love-story of Pyramus and Thisbe to present to Theseus on his wedding day. Bottom (Nick Beat), the weaver, is to play the lover Pyramus, while Flute (Josh Mears), the bellows-mender, is to play Thisbe. The others play the parts of the Moon and the Wall (Joel Arnold) and the Lion (Jack Bounds) and they are directed by Peter Quince (Joel Taylor). Puck overhears their rehearsals in the wood and he plays a trick on them by giving Bottom an ass's head which frightens the others away. Bottom is lead to the sleeping Titania who Oberon has treated with the flower juice. On waking, she falls in love with Bottom but when Bottom falls asleep beside her, Oberon restores Titania's sight and wakes her. She is appalled at the sight of what she has been in love with and is reunited with Oberon.

Puck removes the ass's head and Bottom returns to Athens and rejoins his friends as they prepare to perform their play. Meanwhile the lovers' arguments tire them out as they chase one another through the woods and when Demetrius rests, Oberon puts magic juice on his eyes so that both he and Lysander pursue Helena until the four lovers fall asleep, exhausted. Puck puts juice on Lysander's eyes before the lovers are woken by Theseus and Hippolyta and their dawn hunting party. Happily reunited to each other, Lysander with Hermia, Demetrius with Helena, they agree to share the Duke's wedding day. The rustics perform the play of Pyramus and Thisbe before the wedding guests. As the three couples retire Puck and the fairies return to bless the palace and its people.

The Promenade nature of the Performance saw the Audience moving around St. Augustine’s Abbey in Canterbury, to the different sets; the Duke’s Palace, the Woods and the Fairy Bower. The Costumes added to the Characters. Several Performances stood out Nick Beat, playing Bottom the Weaver had excellent comic timing and played well with the other actors in interactions. Annie Risner, playing Puck, used tumbling well to illustrate the character‘s mischievous and sometimes Childlike manners.
Overall it was a well directed and Acted Performance which did arguably one of Shakespeare’s best plays justice. 

By Helena