The night before flying to Berlin, we saw a show up at Kings Cross called The Electric Hotel. It was… strange. At the very least, it was unlike any show that I’ve seen in the past. Here’s how the show’s website summarises it:

Electric Hotel is a uniquely designed outdoor spectacle, a fly-by-night hotel brought vividly to life through dance and sound blah blah blah.

(Note: The blah blah part wasn’t actually on their website, but that’s about when the description lost my interest.)

Basically, we all sat down in an open air theatre, and when the show started at 9:45 PM (which is effectively when dusk is these days), everyone popped on a pair of wireless headphones. Some fairly chilled house music kicked things off, then one by one, the blinds of the hotel all rolled up, revealing a glass-fronted building with actors playing out a different storyline in every room.

As it turns out, it was actually only one storyline, and we were watching it over different time periods, all at once. Or at least, that’s what I think was happening. The actors were kind-of on repeat, and the story seemed to play out about four times, changing slightly on each run through. Even though there was something going on in almost every room, we could only hear the sound from one room at a time through our headphones, and on each run through, the rooms that we could hear were different, so we were always hearing a different piece of the puzzle.

There was barely any dialogue though; instead, the music which started the show off played throughout, driving the show forward. This meant we had to do our best to work out what was going on based on what we could see and the movement of the actors between the rooms, all cued by whichever room’s sound we were hearing.

It was a cool concept, it was well implemented, but I walked away feeling very confused by it all. I wish we’d have had a narrative to explain the storyline a bit before seeing it, but even then I don’t think I would have fully understood what was happening. Still, it was a fun experience, and the hotel looked fantastic in the light of dusk, against the backdrop of Kings Cross.

During my lovely break from employment, I’ve been trying to tick off a few items from our “things to do in London” list. When Mom and Dad were here back on 2007, Mom sneakily added “See Les Misérables” to the list when I wasn’t looking. It was only after buying the tickets that I actually reflected on what I had just done and thought, “wait a minute… that’s not my handwriting!”

Too late! We had booked two tickets for the matinée performance yesterday, and upon realising there was no real way to change my fate, Kristy suggested that I may enjoy the show a bit more if read over the plot beforehand. Boy am I glad I did! It also helped that Kristy told me that “Jean Valjean”‘s name is not at all pronounced as it is spelt – i.e. “GEE-n val-GEE-n” – but more like “JON val-JON”. I could have been mighty confused!

Anyway, it turned out to be much less painful than I had thought it would be. I’d even go so far as to say that I quite liked it! Well, at least I did at the start – they lost me a bit with the whole part about the French Revolution. Until then, the story had felt really personal – like you could actually relate to the characters – where-as the whole “rallying the troops” thing just didn’t do it for me.

I certainly don’t think I’m a convert into the world of musicals now, but I did enjoy this one a lot more than any other that I’ve seen (save perhaps for The Lion King). Prior to this, I think I’ve mostly only seen musical comedies, and I really don’t like them. A drama on the other hand I can totally get into – I like the way that the songs tell you a story, rather than just being a collection of lame jokes set to a zany soundtrack. And credit where credit’s due – some of those actors have amazing voices, and fantastic tonal range – I can definitely respect that!

So what would the gerrod.com rating be? I’d probably give it a 7.5/10 – nothing I’d rush to see again, but I think I can understand why Mom insisted we go in the first place.

One of Kristy’s birthday presents this year was two tickets to see The Mousetrap – the longest running show in the world, having shown more than 23,000 performances over 57 years!

Unfortunately for Kristy, she didn’t know that she was going until about an hour before, which really limited her choice of people to take along. But, I was quite sporting and upbeat about the whole thing, figuring if a show has been going for 57 years, it has to be good…

And good it was! In fact, I’d go so far as to say that it’s the first play that I’ve seen which I thoroughly enjoyed! It’s basically a murder mystery, limited to a cast of about 7 people, so its very easy to follow. I even picked who the murderer was, well before they revealed themselves to everyone!

We had absolute prime seating, right in the centre of the first row of the dress circle. Unfortunately though, as with all old, unrenovated theatres, the seats are so small and close together, that I was very uncomfortable for the whole show. My knees were jammed up against the balcony in front of me! Ah, well… such is the curse of being tall.

Still, it hardly detracted from what was otherwise a fantastic night out. Highly recommended! gerrod.com rating: 8/10.

One question that I never would have expected someone to ask me is, “Do you want to come and see a dance interpretation of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest?”. Even less would I have ever expected to answer “Yes”! And yet, when Ariella asked that exact question to Kristy and I, we both said “Yes”!

Now, to be fair, I was given a bit of extra information; that the dance was mainly street style hip-hop, which I must admit I quite enjoy watching, since it looks just so darned impressive. If there’s one thing I could be instantly good at with absolutely zero training, it would be street style hip-hop. I’m not sure why; I’m sure I’d make barely any money out of it, but all the people that were in the show were just so buff!

Anyway – the show is called Insane in the Brain, and you’re not allowed to take photos or video, so if you’re really curious, you can click on that link see a slice of it as filmed by the YouTube guys.

It’s hard to say what I thought about it overall. Some of the scenes were amazing, for example the one with four cast members jumping over beds, sequenced to lights flashing on and off (hard to explain). The electro-shock therapy scene was also a particular favourite, as was their choice of music! However, there were some scenes which I found rather ordinary, where the cast seemed to just be dancing for the sake of it. I couldn’t work out how it related to the story at all, and mainly it just felt like filler.

I don’t think I’d go back to see it, but anyone with half an interest in dance would probably get a few kicks out of it. gerrod.com rating: 7/10.

Last year I read in a local ‘time out’ style guide that there was a chocolate factory down the road from my work. Within walking distance. I got very excited. Then I kept reading.

Turns out it was built in 1870 and doesn’t in fact produce chocolate any more. BUT, now there’s a cosy little theatre in its place! So last night Shannon and I visited the Menier Chocolate Factory theatre to see Stephen Sondheim’s musical, A Little Night Music. The theatre is so tiny teeny that when the characters waltzed around the stage during the opening number I had to pull my feet in under my chair.

I saw a Sondheim musical years ago (Into the Woods) and loved it, so happily went to see this one having no idea what it was. Shannon was just as clueless asking me, “is it a play? is it a comedy?” to which I had no satisfactory answers. “I think it’s a musical, and it’s probably funny.” Everyone else in the audience was about 60, probably making Shannon doubt me on that last point.

But it was hilarious and poignant and so captivating that we didn’t realise three hours had passed. Some of the actors were so convincing that we felt like a fly on the wall in their bedroom, watching their lives unfold. It’s a must see play – I think this run has sold out, but I’m told that popular shows from Menier sometimes get upgraded to larger Covent Garden theatres.

g.com rating: 10/10. One of the best productions I’ve ever seen.

God knows how much I hate the theatre, but when Kristy first told me about The Lost and Found Orchestra, I actually didn’t want to hurl! In fact, it actually sounded really not sucky! So I signed up for a ticket.

People that have seen Stomp said that the two shows were fairly similar, and given that they’re created by the same mob, I guess it’s not all that surprising. I lost track of how many people were on the stage at the same time – I stopped counting after about 30, and that didn’t include the choir of 100 or so that came out at the end. Suffice to say, it’s over the top!

The music itself is mesmerizing; it’s impossible to believe how rhythmic people can be using only a few bits of pipe and some balloons. My favourite tunes were the ones which involved as much banging of stuff as possible (i.e. drumming); everyone else in our group preferred the more melodic hits, but I’m used to being the odd man out.

Based on my love of banging noises, I think I’d enjoy Stomp even more than this show; but as an introduction to the concept, this was quite simply, amazing. gerrod.com rating: 9/10.

Last Saturday night I went to Shakespeare’s Globe to see the Merry Wives of Windsor with a merry band of folk, organised by the lovely Shannon.

The Globe is a reconstructed theatre on the Thames bankside near my work. It’s in the style of Shakespeare’s original which was located nearby. The theatre itself is almost worth the cost of admission: it’s constructed in the round, and is open to the elements. There’s standing tickets at the front (just like at a rock concert), and from there you can lean on the stage and turn around to face the action when it moves from the main stage in front of you to the substage behind you. At intermission you can sit on the floor and rest your little legs – It’s a 2-3 hour show so you probably need to.

Those like us with seats have some protection, but the standing patrons were wisely wearing waterproof jackets! They say that the show always goes on there, even if that means that the crowd and the performers get soaked to the bone.

I hadn’t seen the Merry Wives of Windsor before but really enjoyed it. Critics say this comedy doesn’t stack up against Shakespeare’s other work, and may have been written in a rush. For whatever reason it was delightfully easy to follow. Well, apart from one bit when two dudes who were both courting Ann Page appeared on stage at the same time… I’d previously thought it was the same dude in two different outfits, and had one of those comical moments where you look back and forth, pointing and saying: ‘But he’s… no he’s… I thought… ohhhhh’.

There were even some laugh out loud moments, which, let’s face it, you don’t expect from such old material. It was full of word play, and cheeky sexual innuendo, which was helpfully overacted at times to make sure that we got it.

The authenticity of the show was pretty impressive, complete with musicians, dressed in period attire, playing very old school instruments… like the lute! All in all a good night out and a ‘real London experience’ that I’d recommend!

One of the cool things about my company having moved offices is exploring our new ‘home turf’. Despite looking a bit ‘urban’ on the surface, it’s really an artsy neighbourhood with lots of good finds. Exploration has already revealed a few gems, including The Old Vic Theatre, just around the corner. I recently went there to check out Pygmalion. (The rest of this story assumes you’re interested in the play: G, do I get credit for having written an article even if you don’t read all of it?)

Pygmalion is a 1913 play by George Bernard Shaw which Disney hijacked and turned into the musical, My Fair Lady. I don’t think you need spoiler warnings on things that are 85 years old, so here goes…

I haven’t seen My Fair Lady in a very long time, but have a vague memory that it ended on a happy note of romantic possibility between Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins because, hey? that’s what Disney does best. So when this version ended with Eliza saying: I shall not see you again, Professor. Goodbye. and Henry looking like a deluded old fool for expecting her to return (with his shopping no less!) I was jolly confused. I thought it was supposed to end happily? Did Disney get it wrong?

Disney did get it wrong. It seems that the playwright was so annoyed with similar romantic reinterpretations that he added a footnote to all further printings of the play explaining exactly why people should stop messing with his work. He sounds really cranky when he says that people wouldn’t have any trouble imagining how the story truly ends:

if our imaginations were not soenfeebled by their lazy dependence on the ready-makes andreach-me-downs of the ragshop in which Romance keeps its stock of”happy endings” to misfit all stories.

On reflection though, I think it did end happily. The professor won his bet that he could make her pass for a lady. His and Colonel Pickering’s efforts were in fact so successful that they made her think and feel like a lady, and have enough self worth to demand to be treated as such, and not to tolerate Higgins’ condescending treatment.

Eliza’s student diligence won her a new start at life, and a suitor (young Freddy, not old Henry). Eliza gave Higgins (he didn’t earn it) a chance to reexamine his selfish ways, and if he was too pyg-headed to value her as a person (not just as his own clever creation) he was destined to live alone wondering why on earth she left him. For her to stay with him, given his conduct, would amount to spousal abuse not romance anyway.

The end.

When I started working near Victoria station I noticed that Wicked the musical was playing at a theatre just moments away from my building. How convenient! I thought. I must see that! I said. So when my company moved offices and I still hadn’t seen it I hurried onto ticketmaster and got myself a ticket for my very last day of working in the ‘hood. Seemed almost poetic really. The end of a mini-era.

So off I toddled, feeling very excited but also a little apprehensive. You see, I wasn’t prepared. I’d heard it was some kind of prequel to the Wicked of Oz about how the wicked witch of the west came to be so bad and I’d seen the episode of Ugly Betty where she goes to see it on a date. But that was it. For a girl who’s been known to sing every song lyric along with the cast, it seemed I was being kinda crazy and impulsive! (I know, I know, sad that this is my idea of crazy!)

Turns out it’s not an official prequel at all. It’s more of a satiric reinterpretation of the Wizard of Oz, challenging everything you thought you knew. It’s a tale of corruption, propaganda, discrimination and extremism. Disney this is not.

And not knowing what was coming next made it all the more exciting. Instead of singing along I was on the edge of my seat wondering what might happen next, and eager not to miss any of the funny bits. I didn’t even remember the story of the Wizard of Oz well enough to think, ‘they eventually have to resolve things to get us to x point’. So when the lady next to me said, ‘I’m going to feel so sad now when she dies!’, I was a bit distressed!

So here’s what you’re waiting for, the gerrod.com rating… I’d give it 8 out of 10. There aren’t any songs that made a big enough impression to have me singing them on the way home but I recommend any musical lovers go see it. In fact I’m still thinking about the political subtext and wondering how many other children’s stories we just took on face value. I never considered that maybe the wicked witch had a reason to behave that way or maybe the wolf’s government was refusing foreign aid and he hadn’t eaten pork in a really really long time.

Whereby “Big Kev” I mean, Kevin Spacey, and whereby “wears Abercrombie and Fitch” I mean, “was wearing an Abercrombie and Fitch jumper when I met him on Thursday night”. That’s right kids, when I met him.

See, the owner of the company that I work for is a huge (financial) supporter of The Old Vic theatre. As a token of their appreciation, each quarter the theater gives him a bunch of prime seats to go and see whatever play is running. The tickets are then handed out to pretty much any member of staff that wants to go – often two if partners want to come, so that’s exactly what Kristy and I did on Thursday night.

Before the play started, we were treated to a champagne reception with lots of tasty canapes (and lots of champagne). After a bit of mingling, Big Kev entered the fold and gave a little speech, then spent some time warming the crowd – which is when both Kristy and I got to meet him. He seemed like quite a nice guy!

The current play at the theatre is called Speed the Plow – a satirical look at how American movies are produced – and stars Jeff Goldblum alongside Kevin Spacey. In terms of plays, it was at least closer to my taste – short, and comedic, but overall, I’m still not a convert… I’d much rather go and see a movie! (Yes I know, I’m a real “culture vulture”!) gerrod.com rating: 7/10, and only that high because we were treated so nicely!