REVIEW: "Only The Brave"

Tonight, I went to see the closing night of the new musical - "Only The Brave" which had its world premier at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

"Set against the tumultuous backdrop of the Second World War, "ONLY THE BRAVE" is a passionate new musical inspired by the true life stories of men and women who lived, loved, and fought for freedom. A husband and wife separated by war, a soldier and a nurse who find true love on the battlefield, and a band of soldiers who would give up their lives for one another."

As a musical, it's got all the right components. Firstly, an emotive score by Matthew Brind sweeps the audience into this fast paced production. Similarly, the luxury of a full orchestra (rare in a fringe show!) gives it that "epic musical" feeling. With the music comes some fantastic performances - it's not often you have the chance to experience West End Stars including Gerard Bentall (Les Miserables), Cassidy Jenson (Wicked) and Tom Solomon (Phantom of the Opera) in such an intimate environment.

The production is, however, very much in its development stage, even at this World Premier event.

The most notable change is the run-time has been dramatically shortened to around 90 minutes. While this gives us a real taste for what is to come in a full-production, I also feel slightly cheated. It leaves the show feeling rushed, incomplete and more underwhelming than it deserves to be. Even the "World Premier Cast Recording" which is on-sale isn't even a complete recording of the reduced show. Dare I also mention the fact people are paying up to £25.00 a ticket to see what is at-worst a glorified preview.

For me, the only thing I didn't like about the production is the book itself. The setting of the Second World War, while no doubt stirring, feels a bit overdone. Especially when we are presented with a rather one-sided account of the events - it almost feels like propaganda at times.

Despite this, I can see this becoming the next big British musical and a London run must surely be on the cards soon. I look forward to seeing it again in it's completed form.

Have you seen "Only The Brave"? Leave your thoughts in the comments

"Only The Brave" ran between 31st July to 25th August at George Square Theatre, Edinburgh

In Rehearsals

Hey,

Now in week 2 of rehearsals for "Geordie" which will be opening in Aberdeen in a few weeks time before moving onto Inverness.

I will post more details to follow, but thought I should do some form of entry to outline why I've been relatively silent the past few weeks

PREVIEW: Spring Awakening: UK Production

I've noticed that Spring Awakening, a musical based on the 1891 play by Frank Wedekind is opening for a limited run in London early next year.

The musical, like the play, tells the story of a group of friends who are becoming sexually mature in a society which is sexually repressed. I went to see the Tony-award winning production earlier this year in New York. It uses some of the original text of the play, then proceeds to break the forth wall with rock numbers, where the characters expose their feelings and angst directly towards the audience. This juxtaposition is quite interesting to watch, seeing a late nineteenth century school boy pull a handheld mic from the inside of his blazer and start singing takes a while to get used to, but the sheer energy and power of the young cast put across to performances fantastically.

The production is frequently cited as being a 'controversial' production, and while it does deal with themes of rape, molestation, suicide and abortion, it's impact on me as a young person did not shock me as it may have done some traditional "Broadway musical" theatre goers. Some of the heavier topics I feel are done well, such as the questionable rape scene, and some are staged in such a stylistic way (the beating scene) that it moved me more to laughter than any other emotion. It is this stylistic clash which I feel is Spring Awakening's flaw - it switches between a traditional format and stylistic approaches frequently and without warning, confusing the audience as to whether it is artistic or funny.

When I went to see it, over 90% of the audience were certainly under 25, and this is very much a piece of theatre for and by young people, I wonder how the young people of Britain will react to this.

Spring Awakening will play a limited run at London's Lyric Hammersmith between 23rd January - 28th February 2009. I'd consider making the journey again to find out what changes are made to the British production, but it is certainly worth making the effort to see.

If you've seen it, or are looking forward to seeing it, please leave your thoughts in the comments

Swing your razor high Sweeney

Last week I went to see a special preview of "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" which is out in cinemas in the UK today.

Having seen a couple of productions of the stage show (some including my own friends, and another which was the touring version of the West End Production starring Jason Donovan of all people) I was looking forward to it to begin with.

I didn't realise it was an "18" certificate until I went in, I forgot about the amount of gore, blood and generally disgusting things that happen.

Unlike some musical-to-movie adaptations I have seen, I didn't miss any of the songs they had cut for the film version. And they have certainly sliced a few (the most notable being the haunting Ballad of Sweeney Todd which now appears in instrumental only), as well carefully trimming the rest of the libretto.

I'm sure some people in the audience were a bit surprised it was a musical, as certainly the trailers do a great job of disguising that fact. But why should they advertise it as a "musical"? Sweeney stands out as a great story on its own, and the great cast, direction and music now make it one of my favourite films.

West End Hit to play in Glasgow

Well, over the past few years the Glasgow has become a bit of a hot property in the world of musical theatre. I remember hearing it being refered to as "Scotland's Broadway". Over the past 12 months we've seen "Guys & Dolls" which came direct from the West End, and later this year we also have the Take-That musical "Never Forget" prior to its premier, and also "The Producers" musical is here for a few weeks in November.

And now, "Mamma Mia" is coming to the SECC next April (yes, thats right NEXT April). You know...i've never actually seen it. But I suppose i'll have to now. The Evening Times described it as "The Worlds Most Successful Musical".....Can you really give that title to a show which has been running since 99 compared to the 20+ years of Phantom and Les Mis?

Speaking of Phantom...when are they planning to tour again! I went to see the last tour when it went to Edinburgh. Could a Glasgow production of "Phantom of the Opera" be unlikely?

Requiem for Evita

It is my sad duty to inform you that on 26th May 2007 at 10:oopm. Evita, the West-End revival production which opened at the Adelphi theatre last June, will enter immortality.



I went to see this production last August with Ashleigh-Kate. We both enjoyed it, and Elena Roger is fantastic albeit slightly inaudible at times. She also performs one of the most 'interesting' harmonies I have ever heard!

Although, I shouldn't be surprised that it is closing. Even when we went in August, barely two months since it opened - there were plenty of spaces. I suppose when you're competing with the heavyweight imports of "Wicked", "Avenue Q" and "Spamalot" you really have to work to get bums on seats. Apparently, the new production of "Joseph" will open in the theatre in July.

If you get the chance, go to see it before it closes in May. Hopefully, it won't be another 30 years before the next revival of what is a classic, solid piece of musical theatre.

Avenue Q gets Wicked

This is a great little clip for any musical lovers out there. It is from the LuurveFest performance which "Avenue Q" performed on Valentine's Day earlier this year.