Don't panic, it's not all about me.....need to have a quick chat about some Ghost boat thing.

If you regularly read this drivel you may have noticed that I have a penchant for opera at the cinema. I like seeing opera in this way because the atmosphere in a cinema compared to an opera house is so chilled out and the place is unlikely to sell out so you tend to find yourself having a whole row to yourself and nobody notices if you fall asleep. Always a bonus.

I used to love opera. I still appreciate it but I can't say I love it now. To be fair watching in a cinema is no substitute for seeing the genre live really. The sound in a cinema, no matter how good, can never replicate the power of the voice of an opera singer going at full pelt. There are advantages though. As long as you don't have a chorus who feel it necessary to react to every tiny little thing, being up close, in the middle of the action can be quite exciting. Having said that you are at the mercy of the editor as to what you get to see as they will decide what we as an audience need to see at any particular moment in time but that's just a small quibble.

I am not a fan of Wagner. Last night I saw, in it's entirety, only my second Wagner opera. I saw "Die Walküre" a couple of years back, again at the cinema, and last night I saw the ROH production of "Der fliegende Holländer" with the mighty Bryn Terfel and Adrianne Pieczonka. The singing was stonkingly good, truly fantastic. Bryn was brooding and dark while Pieczonka was hopeful and bright. I have always loved Pieczonka. I think she has the most incredible instrument housed in her body. It is a big voice but because of the shimmer she has at the top you never feel like she is beating you over the head with it the way some dramatic female voices do. She is also a stunningly good actress. It is an overused phrase these days but she really is a true stage animal. 

These two giants of the operatic world were joined by another giant but one who was feeling a little under the weather so an announcement was made at the beginning to ask us to bear with him. They needn't have as far as we in the cinema were concerned, Peter Rose was actually on good form. Totally holding his own as Daland with the other two even if he did resemble a Sontaran from Doctor Who. The chorus, too, were better than I have heard them in a while. The regular chorus were joined by a large number of extra chorus members and I kind of wish I had been in the theatre itself as at one point the stage was filled with men. Don't get the wrong idea, I wish I had been there because the sound must have been enormous.

All in all, I enjoyed it and the two and a bit hours, no interval, flew by. It was a surprise when the end came as it felt there should be another hour to go. This was where I got confused. I wasn't totally up on the story before I went to see it but I knew the legend of the Flying Dutchman and figured that Bryn Terfel's character was probably not going to get the girl, well not in the conventional sense anyway. I am assuming Senta is supposed to be seen doing summat she shouldn't with Erik to make the Dutchman spurn her and set sail alone but in this production she didn't appear to do anything (I might have missed it of course). Then I assumed, after Senta yells after him (The Dutchman that is) that she will remain true to him until death, she would probably kill herself but she just carried her little model boat, she had had since the beginning, to the centre of the stage and cried a bit. A total anticlimax.

That said I had a nice time. Still not convinced by Wagner though. Now, feel free to stop reading here as I am going to write a teeny tiny bit about my cabaret that DID happen on Sunday. So if you are fed up of hearing about it please go about your business and think no more about it.

There was a good turnout, about 44 people turned up (mostly friends or friends of friends, I think there were only 7 people who had no connection to me in attendance) so it was more successful in that respect than I had been expecting. It was only once it was done that I realised what an undertaking it had been. The running times were 45 minutes first half and 40 minutes second half. That is a LONG time to hold your own. I totally understand why people invite "guests" to join them on the stage during these affairs. Takes the pressure off a bit.

Everybody asked afterwards "did you enjoy it?". The honest answer was no, but not in a bad way. I didn't hate it and I want to do it again, and I want to do it again soon, but as a friend said to me, Sunday night was like having your tech rehearsal, dress rehearsal and first night (and last night) all at the same time. This was the first time I had tried out the show. In the future it might be an idea to rent a small hall and invite a few friends to come and see it for free just to give myself the opportunity to try out my material to see what works and what doesn't. To be fair there wasn't much I would change in the material I had but I hope I can deliver it better next time. I forgot a lot and got a bit lost at times, however, I am not terrible at getting myself out of a hole so I don't think I made any of my audience feel uncomfortable when I lost my way.

With hindsight, I am SO proud of myself for getting up and doing it. There is a huge difference between doing a 25 minute set on a bill with 3 other acts and what was, effectively, a one-woman show with 90 minutes of just me (and, of course, the wonderful Simona Budd on the piano). This was an immense achievement and one I need to do again. Who would have thought that 4 years of opera training would have led to this.

If anyone is interested in reading someone else's opinion of Sunday night then follow this link:

How did it come to this? The Pheasantry

Umm where do you think you've been?.....Well, nowhere actually.

I have not gone anywhere, unless you count going to Blackpool for a week, I have just been busy and lazy in equal measure for the past couple of months. I can only apologise to those of you have been waiting patiently for this post and can also only apologise to those of you who hoped there would never be another. In addition I haven't really found anything worth writing about. Today is no exception actually so this will be very short.

I am not the first to address this (although had I posted when I wrote it I would have been the first. Lazy Claire!) but one thing I do want to bring to the attention of you lot is the welcome glut of Sweeney Todd's that have come, and are coming, our way. I, like most of you I am sure, love Sweeney Todd with a passion. Ever since I did it at college back in 1992 I have been obsessed. However I have never been in a production of it since. I have auditioned for many incarnations of it but, sadly, have never been lucky enough to do it again.

So, there are 3 productions coming, one is already here actually. The newly created Twickenham Theatre chose Sweeney as it's very first venture and stars my pal from my Jerry Springer days, David Bedella and, not my pal and not from my Jerry Springer days, Sarah Ingram. By all accounts this is THE show to see at the moment. I have not seen it so this is not a review. This is a piece about marketing. Specifically lazy marketing. NOT by Twickenham I might add. The following is the main photo (taken by Darren Bell) I have seen advertising their show:

Pretty good. I would want to go having seen that. The Twickenham Theatre only have 60 seats to sell (I think) per performance but they have pulled out all the stops and come up with an excellent image with which to sell their show. So, Sweeney 2.

This one is coming very soon to a pie and mash shop in Tooting (Harrington's) starring my pal from my Jerry Springer days Jeremy Secomb as Sweeney. Again this one has not many seats to sell and, to be fair, I have not seen any publicity photos yet so I only mention it because of the intriguing site specific nature of this production. It sounds exciting and innovative. A show not to be missed (although I would buy your tickets sooner rather than later as they only have 35, or thereabouts, tickets available per night). This one will definitely sell out, I have no doubt. So, Sweeney 3.

Oh dear, Sweeney 3. Potentially one of the most exciting Sweeney Todd's ever produced. Bryn Terfel and Emma Thompson at ENO. This is coming to the Coliseum next year and I am so excited. Or I was until I saw their initial publicity photos. Now I realise these are not (hopefully) the actual publicity shots for the show and were obviously cobbled together to let everyone know this was actually happening. However, an institution such as English National Opera should not be "cobbling" together publicity shots. They knew they were going to announce it so surely they could have come up with more than a bloody apron (as in an apron covered in blood, I wasn't swearing) a rolling pin, a razor and some questionable facial expressions to introduce these two, quite frankly, superstars. Have a look, see what I mean:

I know in the grand scheme of things this is one show ENO will not have to "sell" but that does not excuse the laziness of their marketing department. Not only do the two stars deserve better, we, the punters deserve better, Stephen Sondheim deserves better and the piece itself deserves not to look like it is an amateur production coming to a church hall in Croydon. Come on ENO sort it out and give us something to really get excited about.