Edward Reid- Born This Way

I'm sure you all remember Edward Reid from last years Britain's got talent. If not you must have been living under a rock.

He's the man who is known for changing the lyrics of well known songs, but theres so much more to him than nursery rhymes. 

His latest gig 'Edward Reid - Born this Way' was a great example of how extremely talented but so very down to earth he really is.  

Throughout the evening Edward performed various songs, from Hairspray to Lady Gaga to more serious ballads like 'stranger in this world' from the musical Taboo and also  regaled the audience with stories of his youth. 

It was really refreshing to see someone with such a positive take on life. He comes from the same town I do, and personally I can't wait to leave it. But he spoke about our town with so much pride that I left feeling very patriotic. 

Edward Reid is a fabulous entertainer and the audience were loving it. For the last couple of songs he even invited everyone down to dance along with him.

I'm pretty sure this will be the first of many gigs so if you're looking for a fun night out I would check for new dates. I happened to bump into him at todays Song And a Sip and he was just as lovely off stage as on. This guy is definitely one to watch and he deserves all the success that is coming his way. 

Olivier Highlights - The Matildas

Ask me if i'm happy... 


The answer is no! After watching the Olivier Awards on Sunday I have been obsessing over Matilda the Musical, and it's killing me not to have a London trip booked to see it. 


Matilda scooped up 7 awards and from what I have seen quite rightly so. The 4 original Matildas - Sophia Kiely, Kerry Ingram, Eleanor Worthington Cox and Cleo Demetrio - Performed the song 'Naughty' and left the audience, and i'm pretty sure the people watching at home, absolutely speechless. 


I have never seen so much talent from girls so young. The minute after their performance I had the album downloaded. And credit to Tim Minchin- it's genius! 

The girls also picked up the award for best actress in a musical. Their thank you speeches were so well put together without sounding rehearsed. I am absolutely astounded by their talent and professionalism and can't wait to catch the show on the West End.

No good deed goes unpunished - Wicked the Musical

As a massive musical theatre fan I love to see a variety of musicals,  but rarely see one over and over again. However I made an exception for wicked, seeing it for the seventh time in February of this year.  As you can imagine I have had to cast up several favours from friends to ensure I wasn’t flying solo to the Apollo Victoria, but not one of them have failed to be blown away by the scale of the production, the emotion of the music and the relatability of the story.

The fist time I saw wicked the role of Elphaba was played by Kerry Ellis. To this day I believe it was her performance and connection with the character which made me return – however I soon realised that no matter who was playing Elphaba the show could hold its own.


What I connect most with in Wicked are the songs. There isn’t one single track which I don’t enjoy. My favourite song from wicked is unsurprisingly defying gravity, this song has become some what iconic and has the complete essence of the show wrapped up in the lyrics.

I think it's safe to say that 7 performances on I am still as green as ever and cannot wait to see it again.

Happy Mothers Day Kaye!

Lochgoilhead...

.... my home from home.

My good friend Lorraine has a house in Lochgoilhead, and my core group of friends try to go at least once a year. We always have the most amazing time and some of my best memories of all of us together are there.

Goofy video of our trip a few years ago:

I Believe

 

I saw the emotional roller coaster that is Ghost the musical for the first time  and I can't believe it's taken me so long. This is the most heart wrenching yet uplifting show I have ever seen.

Ghost tells the story of lovers Molly and Sam. Their world is turned upside down when Sam is murdered and now - stuck between both worlds- he cannot move on until he gets justice for his murder.

The set is very modern compared to any other musical on the west end right now, and the special effects are like nothing I've ever witnessed before. The use of visual trickery even has the audience believing the cast are walking through walls, so much so that I still cannot think of a logical explanation as to how the effects were achieved.

Rebecca Trehearn played Molly and she was amazing!! Her voice was so powerful and she completely owned the stage. Someone on twitter informed me that this was her very first performance as Molly, but you would have had no idea - she nailed it!

Mark Evans was so winning as Sam. I was completely caught up in his performance, he had the perfect balance between anger, frustration and sadness.

Loved loved loved Sharon D Clarke as Oda Mae Brown, she brought the comedy factor and added a dash of colour to the show.

I really liked this musical and if you do go and see it  be sure to take a box of tissues - you're gonna need them 

8 short trips to the Emerald City

I'm sure i'm not alone when I say I have a very unhealthy obsession with the musical wicked. I love everything about it, i'd go as far as to say if the west end were a town I would definitely be living in the land of OZ.

I have seen the show 8 times since my first viewing back in may 2009 and have stayed loyal to my original cast (Kerry Ellis, Dianne Pilkington and Oliver Thompsett) and still to this day think they were my favourites in the roles, however my most recent trip to the AV gave them a run for their money.

I was thoroughly impressed with this new cast. Gina Beck was so winning as G(a)lida, she played the part more over the top than previous actresses, but it worked so well and the audience seemed to be eating it up.

 I got to see Nikki Davis Jones as Elphaba and what a pleasure that was. She is absolutely incredible, one of my favourite Elphies now. Her Defying Gravity was so powerful and left me almost speechless during the interval. She had the right balance of sass and vulnerability that is needed for the role.

On a less positive note, I wasn't wild on Matt Willis as Fiyero. He seems like a really lovely person but I don't think he portrays the character well. I think there are a lot of contributing factors as to why this is, his accent being one. I just didn't find him believable.

If you have seen the new cast let me know what you think. If not who are your all time favourite cast members?