Happy New Year!! Remember, to read a review of a certain show in full,
click the pink. And, without any further ago, let's get stuck in!
***
Performance of the Year Award: Just like
last year, I was going to split this into 2 categories, Male
and Female, for each one has a few "nominees" to it.
For the men, it started off with Haydn May's dynamic titular character in the UK tour of
Billy Elliot, followed by Charlie Stemp's
Olivier-nominated performance as the adorkable Kipps in the West End revival of
Half A Sixpence. Then in the Summer/start of Autumn, we had Trevor Dion-Nicholas and his non-stop energy as the Genie in
Aladdin, and then Cameron Blakely as the hilarious Gomez Addams in
The Addams Family Musical's UK Tour, closely followed by Jonathon Carlton in Manchester Hope Mill Theatre's production of
Pippin.
For the women, we have the ever-reliable Sheridan Smith reprising her
Olivier-nominated role as Fanny Brice in the tour of
Funny Girl (and I'm sure any other year, if it weren't for what I am about to say in a moment, she would have won this!). In addition, we have 2 more well-seasoned performers (you could say) in Ria Jones for her deluded Norma Desmond in
Sunset Boulevard and Janie Dee for her cynical Phyllis in
Follies (which I saw through NT Live); and we also have an up-and-coming mention for Bronte Barbe, for her performance as Carole King in
Beautiful: The Carole King Musial.
Like I said, I
was going to split this up, and I certainly have enough outstanding performances to do that. But when I really thought about it, I simply could not do that. And that is because of one lady. One 6-time-Tony-winning LEGEND -
AUDRA MCDONALD and her performance as Billie Holliday, in
Lady Day At Emerson's Bar & Grill, making her West End debut no less. I am giving another link to it
here, so there's no excuse not to check it out! All I will say is that my heart is trying to escape again just thinking about it; oh and that the 2018 Olivier nominations will be
very interesting indeed.
Almost-but-not-quite Award: I was going to go with this year's tour of
Spamalot, (I didn't finish/post up the review as it was an insanely busy month).
I saw the show back in 2015, and that was a much more enjoyable experience. It certainly was funny, but the look of it felt a bit clumsy. It just didn't punch the second time as it did the first - though not long afterwards, I found a winner. And though
Elf: The Musical also came incredibly close (imagine a boiled sprout smothered in too much cheese for your Christmas dinner, and you get Elf), it is the UK tour of
Crazy For You what takes this spot for me (while it was playing at Manchester's Opera House). This is because despite the classic music, its non-existent plot almost gave me nothing to write about. Predictable from start to finish, even Tom Chambers and Charlotte Wakefield trying their best don't stop me from saying it's best to give this one a miss.
Leaky Eyes Award: Hmmm, how to do this one when I haven't seen many tear-jerkers this year - and I don't cry easily. It's not like last year.... Though there were a couple that came close, notably
Billy Elliot and
Lady Day. The
closest I think however was
RENT, playing Liverpool's Empire theatre as part of its 20th Anniversary Tour. Dark and gritty, and rather different than the Concert Tour I saw a few years ago, it really was as realistic a depiction of Jonathan Larson's world as you could get.
Rubbish-Audience Award: This is a new award this year (and hopefully only for this year), as I want to talk about
Grease. I saw this at the Manchester Palace, and it was quite possibly the worst audience I have witnessed. I very briefly mentioned it during my write-up of it, but you name it, it happened: phones glaring, rustles of sweet wrappers, people constantly getting up and down in the middle of the aisle. And most annoying of all, singing along. Now this may seem a strange one, as many shows (jukebox musicals especially) encourage you to - but hear me out here. The show itself is not the time, as the actors on stage are trying to tell the story right, in this case, of the ultimate good-girl/bad-boy-relationship; well, shouldn't we let them do that first? When it's all over, they often give you a chance to sing along, dance in the ailes etc etc. This is really a problem during the solos such as
Sandy and
Hopelessly Devoted To You, as I honestly couldn't hear the relevant performer during these songs, as they were drowned out by the people around me. It quickly came the case of
"I came here to hear them, not you lot!"
Laughed-till-I-was-sore Award: This, I think is hard one to call, and while rounding up the possible nominees, it seems that out of the ones coming to mind, it has been a good category for the Plays (which is good, as I haven't really mentioned them yet). Firstly, we started in the Spring, we had the UK tour of Jessica Swale's
Nell Gwynn. Next, for a bit of Shakespeare, we have The Royal Exchange's Production of
Twelfth Night. Then, Mischief Theatre went on tour this year with their smash-hit
The Play That Goes Wrong, which up North, played at Salford's Lowry (their other ventures,
Peter Pan Goes Wrong (which I COMPLTELY FORGOT to write about, soz guys) and
A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong were also shown on the Beeb earlier this year). Finally, we have
The Wipers Times, written by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman about a group of WW1 soldiers who form a satirical newspaper. To give one musical mention, I have to give a quick nod to Miranda Hart's performance as the drunken Miss Hannigan in
Annie.
Danced-till-they-dropped Award: Just before we get any further, I want to bring up the Dance production I saw this year, which was Matthew Bourne's
The Red Shoes, which was incredibly enjoyable - I didn't review it at the time as I am a bit of a novice when it comes to dance, but I thought it definitely deserved a mention (plus note to self: watch his version of
Cinderella that you recorded). On to theatre-dance, while it was lovely to see Strictly Come Dancing professional Joanne Clifton do her stuff in
Thoroughly Modern Millie, she doesn't get this particular glitter-ball trophy. I am instead going to give this to both the cast of
Half A Sixpence (in particular, Charlie Stemp), and Haydn May as
Billy Elliot (plus Luke Cinque-White as his older-self); all of whom in both parties shimmied their socks off!
On-screen Event of the Year Award: Following its debut last year, there have been some fantastic theatre-related events for the screen, starting off with the biggest movie-musical in years, the OSCAR-winning
La La Land (and on this note, I am dying to see The Greatest Showman, which also has songs by Pasek and Paul). It then was shortly followed by the live-action Disney adaptation of
Beauty and the Beast, along with Daniel Radcliffe and Joshua McGuire muddle through in NT Live's
Rosencrantz & Gildenstern Are Dead; then in the summer, the well-loved John Wilson Orchestra held their semi-staged production of
Oklahoma at the BBC Proms. Near the end of the year, was the National Theatre Live production of
Follies, currently playing at the National Theatre in London, and judging everything up, it is this which gets the top spot. Already one of the mostly anticipated revivals of the year, the announcement of the NT Live broadcast made the many many people who for whatever weren't able to see the show in London (like me) very happy indeed; and it did not disappoint, with incredible central performances from Imelda Staunton, Janie Dee, Philip Quast and Peter Forbes as the two unhappily married couples who's "ghosts" come to the surface during a follies reunion.
Costume of the year: Another new one, this time, one I hope to keep.... This goes to the one where me and my best Emma both said "I WANT THAT" when we saw it - and that goes to Natalie McQueen's Mad Hatter post-Looking-Glass outfit in the UK tour of
Wonderland - even among all the weird and wacky that Wonderland had to offer, from the Caterpillar to the Queen of Hearts. Villains often seem to get the best costumes don't they....
Blew-my-mind Award: I think, at the end of the day, there is only one candidate for this, just for the sheer awesomeness of it! Whether you're young or young-at-heart, Disney's
Aladdin is BOUND to put a smile on your face! Yes, it throws pop culture references left right and centre, but so did the original film! Trevor Dion-Nicholas as the Genie is non-stop, Matthew Croke as Aladdin is utterly GORGEOUS (see the picture to the left!) and there's as much glitter, laughs and, well, MAGIC as you would expect, and more so! There's so much colour in the sets and costumes, the stage quite literally POPS! It's currently playing at the Prince Edward Theatre in London's West End - so get yourself down there!
It seems funny, now I think about it, that we have the Genie's lamp on our Christmas tree XD
***
So, another year gone, and I would obviously love to wish all of you a very Happy New Year; and also to give an idea to what to expect next year! A lot of what is touring is actually a lot of what I have seen before, such as
Wicked,
Mamma Mia,
The Sound of Music and
Legally Blonde (to name a few), but there is one big tour I am hoping to book, and that is for the first UK Tour of
Kinky Boots! In the play department, there are tours of
The Importance of Being Earnest and
Of Mice and Men that I have my eye on! I of course also hope to get down to London when I can, especially over the Summer, when big revivals of
Chess,
The King and I and a gender-bending-Patti-Lu-Pone-starring production of
Company will be playing.
Though, I do actually have some confirmed things: firstly, is
Around The World in 80 Days, which I will be catching in a few days, so keep your eyes out for that. Secondly are two BIG tours:
Miss Saigon (expect in April) and
Matilda (expect in September), which I am obviously very excited about. For Saigon, it is seeing new players tackle Kim, Chris and co. For Matilda it is FINALLY seeing it end of.
And now, ladies and gents, I can FINALLY reveal the BIG one. And that is putting it mildly. In March, I will be heading down to
the greatest city in the world, London, to see the
bastard, son of a whore and a Scotsman... I am really hoping you all got that and are now as excited as I am typing this: I AM SEEING
HAMILTON!!!!!!! To say that I cannot wait to see this masterpiece is the understatement of the century and I am struggling to contain my excitement - as you can see by pulling my best Schuyler Sister pose in front of the Christmas tree...
And now, come on, sing it with me:
ANGELICA!!
ELIZA!!
AND PEGGY!!
Sorry, couldn't resist =P
See you in 2018!! =D
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