Oh how a talent show can change your life….and indirectly promote a musical.
I thought maybe it was time to jump in on the Susan Boyle frenzy, and highlight an interesting trend that may have been sparked by this latest flurry of pop culture.
Susan Boyle sings "I Dreamed a Dream"
I was perusing the most popular shows according to sales on Discount Theatre in the last month, and my mouth fell open when I saw the numbers for Les Miserables. This 24 year old musical is nearing the top of our list for ticket sales.
And after puzzling for a bit over this discovery, my mind then turned to Susan Boyle’s performance on Britain’s Got Talent. Boyle sang “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Mis, and managed to shock everyone with a rather moving rendition, contrasting the image of a frumpy middle aged woman. In an age of social networking and You Tube, it didn’t take long for her performance to become a worldwide phenomenon and make Boyle a highly sought after talk show guest.
Don’t get me wrong; Les Mis is a brilliant musical, one of my favourites and a must see for anyone who likes musical theatre. It takes the rather violent backdrop of the French Revolution, and blows the roof off of the Queen’s Theatre with beautiful and emotional songs, which results in one of the most breathtaking stage epics. If you see it, you will buy the soundtrack immediately. It has always been a strong presence in the world of musicals, quietly and diligently standing its ground in an age of pithy and hyped new offerings.
But for it to fend off almost every other heavily promoted show that has come on to the scene in the last couple of months? It can only be a testament to the longevity and quality of the show, and in my humble opinion, maybe a little incidental push from a woman who decided to sing “I Dreamed a Dream” on Britain’s Got Talent.
Les Miserables offers great discounts, with top price tickets reduced to £39.50 for weekday performances. Book your Les Miserables tickets at the Queen’s Theatre here.
Drop everything you are doing because Discount Theatre has announced a Spring Sale!
With tickets available from just £12.50, there are loads of discounted shows that will ensure everyone can bag a bargain for a trip to the West End.
There’s no booking fee on some premium shows, such as 80’s dancefest, Dirty Dancing, and the fantastically cool (and very green) Wicked.
It’s the last chance to see Avenue Q and Zorro, before they disappear off into the sunset…both finish this month, so don’t delay!
Warning: This post is not for people who enjoy boredom.
There are shows in the west end right now that can actually help you live longer, healthier and happier lives. Here’s how…
*I’m about to get a little spiritual on your ass, but stick with me because there’s a valuable theatre fable in here somewhere!*
This week (apart from theatre excursions) I have mostly been listening to the Tony Robbins audio tapes, and for the uninitiated Robbins is one of those really obnoxious American motivators who teaches how to live your life, and love your God to the max!
So whilst pounding packed streets back to my Earls Court homestead (dodging tramps and happy shoppers) I’ve been filling my ears with success techniques form the American maverick who always finishes his broadcasts with the sickly sweet catchphrase LIVE WITH PASSION.
Is This A Big Bunch Of Bull? (You Deicide)
Lesson #1
The first lesson I learned from Tony was the Law of Attraction which suggests:
“Whatever you think about consistently will show up in your life as if by magic.”
This worked for me right-out-the-box because all day long I was thinking about cooking Sirloin Steak in foaming butter / Olive Oil, and when I got home I was Magically carrying a Waitrose bag full of all the ingredients to make Sirloin Steak in foaming butter / Olive Oil, plus the *bonus* side dish of sautéed potatoes with spring onion. I literally manifested it right out of thin air and all it took was money and effort.
== >> Interesting fact: Sirloin Steak is called Sirloin steak because Henry VIII gave it a Knighthood. He thought it was scrummy too…
Lesson #2
The next thing was a concept for planning important projects called “OPA” which stands for Outcome>Purpose>Action. (It’s crucial to do it in that order.)
Here’s my OPA plan for this post; the idea is to exaggerate a little which helps with enthusiasm, passion and mental juice.
OUTCOME: Inspire the Oliver Awards ‘People’ to create a new category called “The Theatre Blogging Lifetime Achievement Award” in my honour.
PURPOSE: Because want to enrich the humanity with timely theatre titbits.
ACTION: Type like buggery for two hours, drink Starbucks, then come back and edit the shambles of words I’ve created into something that sounds kind of theatre related.
Lesson #3
The third and most theatre relevant concept in this magical three part symphony is that:
Laughter can be a REAL cure for many of Man’s problems.
.
To illustrate his point Mr Robbins tells the story of a young woman who is diagnosed with a terrible disease, and instead of going through the long-winded traditional medical treatments buys the entire box set of Sex and the City DVDs. Can you guess what happened?
CURED!
After hearing this unbelievable FACT I noticed a little cough had taken root in my throat and decided to run a test. My medicine would not be Tixylix but an absolute Only Fools and Horses FEST in a darkened room…
20 hours later my little cough HAD GONE…only to be replaced by a pulsing migraine and mild vitamin E deficiency. SO IT WORKED!
WHAT on Earth has all this got to do with Theatre?
Well as if by the magic of perfect comedy timing, no sooner has this new Laughter Cure discovery come to public attention, than the West End seems to be overrun by some of TV’s best loved comedy heroes! Breaking down invisible theatre barriers and pitching up in some of London’s most cherished venues, these comedy Fat Cats are leaving a trail of broken sales records in their wake.
YES comedians have truly invaded the West End like some medieval Roman Garrisons building the straightest roads to hilarity that the world has ever seen. Accompanied on their flights of fantastic fancy by a loyal army of fans and a ‘Grizzly Death-Move’ which involves taking an innocent member of the audience and literally splitting their sides open with well observed humor.
So without further ado here are the Holy Trinity of Funsters who are set to hold the capital under hilarious siege in coming months.
French and Saunders - Still Alive
.
The “Final Tour” as Britain’s most popular duo call time or their 30 year partnership with this lap of honour. You can expect to witness some of their most famous and memorable sketches in this wet-your-knickers show at the Theatre Royal!
French Says: Dawn French was the first person every to say “Blowjob” on national television, so happily they will always have their little place in the annals of history…
Venue: Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Booking From: Wednesday, 15 October 2008
Booking Until: Saturday, 08 November 2008
Billy Bailey - Tinselworm
Apparently Bill Bailey has perfect pitch which means if you go up to him and say “Hey Bill sing me and E” he will go “EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE” and that will be exactly the same as a perfect E on the Piano. Isn’t that wild!
Bill Says: Terrible lyrics from The Killers “I’ve got soul/but I’m not a soldier”, you might as well say “I’ve got ham/but I’m not a hamster.”
My girlfriend saw old Bill and his little son on the train the other day and wants me to urge you to book tickets because he seemed like a really loving father, patiently answering zillions of questions with a mild mannered benevolence.
But I know that YOU don’t care about all that mushy stuff and just want the HARD FACTS:
So I absolutely guarantee that this show will make you cry TEARS OF JOY :====
Venue: Gielgud Theatre
Booking From: Monday, 10 November 2008
Booking Until: Saturday, 20 December 2008
Eddie Izzard - Stripped
The Python influenced comedian who describes himself as a “male lesbian” is back doing what he does best after the small matter of conquering American TV and film.
Eddie Says: “So… I’ve decided there’s no God.”
My earliest recolection of Eddie Izzard is that his gigs would often come on just after Eurotrash. His crossdressing comedy missiles were always the perfect pudding after a heavy session of Eurotrash watching.
Venue: *Coming Soon*
Booking From: *Coming Soon*
Booking Until: *Coming Soon*
Laughter is no JOKE, depressing entertainment BE GONE!
I’ve decided that I’m no longer going to watch any of the following TV shows as they are ruining my juice and passion for life:
- Girl With 8 Legs
- The Man Who Ate His Lover
- Half-Ton Man
- She Stole My Fetus
- Update: I’m Glad I Ate My Legs
- The Boy Who Gave Birth To His Twin
- The Man Who Slept for 19 Years
- The 80-year-old Children
- The Two-Headed Baby!!!
No instead I’m going to spend every waking minute either attending fun-filled family theatre or watching classic comedy episodes from TV past, present and future.
You plonkers…
We all know what happens to the winners of such find-the-next-West-End-star reality television programmes as Any Dream Will Do, How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? and I’d Do Anything… they grace the stage with the sweet-sounding singing and delightful dancing for months and months and months… Lee ‘Joseph’ Mead is still getting knickers of amazing colours (and sizes) thrown at him at the Adelphi Theatre, Connie ‘Maria’ Fisher enjoyed a year and a half at the London Palladium before moving on to other projects, and the nation is holding its breath for Jodie ‘Nancy’ Prenger to take us back to Dickensian London in OLIVER!.
But what happens to the losers? Oooh, no, that sounds too harsh – let’s call ‘em ‘close runners-up’. Where are they now? Well, I’m happy to say a lot of them are doing very well (he says smoothly, as if he has Sex and the City-style cocktail nights with them all on a regular basis)…
Rachel Tucker
Who narrowly missed being cast as Nancy, has just landed herself her first West End leading lady role. The Belfast-born brunette bombshell (not easy to say after a few SATC-style cocktails) takes over the part of the sassy rebel ‘Meat’ in Queen and Ben Elton’s hit musical WE WILL ROCK YOU from Monday 22nd September. She told me (okay, so she told everyone else, too): “It is a dream part. WE WILL ROCK YOU is one of my favourite shows. I first saw it when I was a student at the Royal Academy [name-dropper], and loved it. I am beside myself with excitement. I just can’t believe it.” Well, believe it, baby, ‘cos I’m gonna be there on the front row with a pair of highly aerodynamic Y-fronts at the ready… As the great Freddie Mercury once sung: “I am a sex machine ready to reload, like an atom bomb, about to oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, explode.” Read more
