Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Fancy Chance. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Fancy Chance. Sort by date Show all posts
Thursday 19 May 2016
The Raunch, Spiegeltent | Review
The Raunch is a show starring the Most Wanted of the international cabaret and circus scene and featuring a toe tapping, disco-hoedown soundtrack.
Tuesday 5 December 2017
La Soiree, Aldwych Theatre | Review
La Soiree
Aldwych Theatre
Reviewed on Monday 4th December 2017 by Olivia Mitchell
★★★
La Soiree is an Australian-born variety show which premiered in London in 2010. Evolved from La Clique which debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2004, it features a whole roster of artists and acrobatics and definitely makes for an entertaining night.
Whilst it is entertaining, I must say this I don't feel that The Aldwych is the perfect venue to showcase it. Being too close to the front or too far back means you miss a lot of the action. I also feel that the large space of the Aldwych makes the show feel commercialised and takes away the intimate feel which is so special in variety performances; the way the round has been created also prohibits the freedom for some acts. Although the theatre is large, the way the stage has been designed means the acts have very little space in which to showcase themselves.
However, the show itself has some spectacular moments and is full of energy. Personal favourite moments included LJ Marles's aerial performance to 'Dirty Diana', Mallakhamb India's exhilarating act in which they spring up a pole with extreme ease and agility and Amy G's hilarious flamenco scene in which an audience member, Willy, was hilarious placed in the action. Her quick wit brought on side-splitting laughter!
Although I enjoyed most of the acts, I felt the pacing was a little funny and some things fell as little flat. The Daredevil Chicken act for example, was a complete 180 on what had come before and was not to my taste. Whilst throwing pieces of banana from one mouth to another is very impressive when I can't even catch one piece of popcorn, macerated food being spat into one another's mouths is not for me. Of course this is done to get a reaction but didn't feel to me like it fit with the rest of the show.
Overall however, I did enjoy the show. It's genuinely funny and extremely impressive. From Fancy Chance swirling from the ceiling by her hair to Leon and Klodi's emotive dance, there's definitely something everyone will enjoy and it's the perfect show to have a little tipple at in the build up to Christmas!
For tickets and information about the show, visit https://www.londonboxoffice.co.uk
photo credit: Brinkhoff Mogenburg
Tuesday 11 June 2019
Vicki Manser on Bringing Herstory to Life in Six the Musical | Interview
Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss' musical Six is taking the West End, and the world by storm. Telling the stories of the six wives of Henry VIII through the form of an epic, high energy, hugely entertaining pop concert, it is a hit with fans of all ages. This is in part due to the fantastic writing but also thanks to the sublime cast who bring the queens to life every night.
Vicki Manser joined the show in January as an amazing alternate who gets a chance to don the crown of each queen and strut her stuff at the Arts Theatre. Vicki told us about the show, who she'd like to play her in her own pop concert musical and what she'd say to Henry VIII if she got the chance...
Can you describe the show in Six words?
Seventy-Five minutes of pure genius!
You recently finished starring in Bat Out of Hell which is a rock musical, how does that compare vocally to performing in a pop musical?
In terms of vocal technique Rock and Pop sit quite closely together and share a lot of the same placements so in some ways very similar actually! But I definitely get to use more speech quality and character driven singing in Six for example in Boleyn’s song and Cleves’ song and I just love that the whole show is a gig/concert type vibe. I get to pretend to be a pop star for an hour and 15 minutes and that is SO FUN! Your vocals are also much more exposed in Six with there only being Six of you onstage as opposed to 20 plus so there is no where to hide…. Not that I tried to in Bat… I couldn’t even if I wanted to with that pink mullet haha!
If you could go back to Henry VIII’s time which queens life would you like to live?
NONE OF THEM!!!! Haha! As much as I love learning about the Tudor history and telling the Queens stories; I don’t fancy having to live any of their lives! But I guess if I absolutely HAD to, then being given your own palace in Richmond wouldn’t be too shabby. So Cleves it is!
Which wife do you think had the worse life?
Well, none of them had it fantastic, but Howard has gotta be up there with the worst. Her story of abuse started so young before Henry was even on the scene! She had to be married to him when she was just 16 and he was 49 and THEN she was beheaded…. I know, I know!
If you could say anything to Henry VIII what would you say?
‘Off with his head!’ HA PAYBACK!… no, I'm kidding… two wrongs don’t make a right guys…!
If your life was going to be made into a pop musical, who would you want to play you?
I think my little sister, Kimberley Manser, is the perfect candidate for this! She knows me inside out and backwards so would play me and all my quirks down to a T! She's great at impressions and she always answers my phone to my boyfriend and he thinks it's me EVERY time! She’s also the most SENSATIONAL pop singer (not even being biased lol) so she’d make me sound really good!
You’re Artistic Director of Sharpe Academy, tell us a bit about that
I am indeed!!! So Sharpe Academy is a Musical Theatre school that's been running all across North West London for 11 years and this year we are opening a brand new college offering a 3 year Diploma in Professional Musical Theatre which I am so excited for! I trained with Sharpe before my professional training and then went on to be their company choreographer and now I'm Artistic Director for the college! I have always loved choreographing and teaching and I can't wait to share my knowledge with aspiring performers and help them to reach their goals! So if you have finished your GCSE's OR A levels and are looking for a vocational course and professional training to get you industry ready, come and check us out!
We have a FANTASTIC team of people with tonnes of experience to offer in dance, singing, acting and acrobatics and are very fortunate to have our INCREDIBLE patrons supporting us; Carrie Hope Fletcher, Matt Lucas and Giovanni Spanó. We also hold a Guinness World Record for the fastest theatrical production so that's pretty cool! Come join the Fam!
What’s your top piece of advice for aspiring performers?
The industry is HARD... there is no point in sugar coating it ... but if you're determined, you work hard, believe in yourself and NEVER give up .. then one day you will get there ... no matter how long it takes!
Six is currently running at the Arts Theatre and will be embarking on a UK Tour from October 2019
Interview by Olivia Mitchell
photo credit: Danny Kaan
Sunday 26 August 2018
Flashdance, Grand Opera House, Belfast (UK Tour) | Review
Flashdance (UK Tour)
Grand Opera House, Belfast
Reviewed on Wednesday 22nd August 2018 by Damien Murray
★★★★
Book-ended by its ever popular signature song, this was a fantastic feel-good show for people who remember the popular film with its memorable big hit songs or for those who just want an entertaining night of light-hearted escapism (which, judging by public reaction, was 99% of the audience).
Although there were some dramatic moments, this rather shallow and cliché-ridden story was never going to be a platform for displaying acting skills but simply a dance-based showcase for fancy footwork and ridiculously high-energy routines that made me exhausted just watching them.
When you know not to have high dramatic expectations, then you will not be disappointed, but you will be guaranteed to be blown away by this show’s series of storming dance routines for, as a dance-based piece, it proved to be every bit as energetic as one would have expected.
Going back in time to the era of baggy blue jeans, shell suits, work-out outfits, neon leg-warmers and equally bright head-bands, it all began with the mundane and relatively colourless world of welders contrasting in so many ways with the, sometimes sleazy, but always dazzling one of the dancers with Matt Cole’s spectacular and varied routines being so well realised by the extremely fit cast and even including choreographed cyclists at one point.
For those who don’t know the story, it is basically about a tom-boyish welder, Alex (Joanne Clifton), with dreams of training to be a professional dancer at an elite dance academy and her relationship with her well-meaning and influential boyfriend, Nick (Ben Adams), who is also her boss.
The sub-plot centres on another relationship – that of her down-on-her-luck dancing friend, Gloria (Hollie-Ann Lowe) and her wannabe, but unsuccessful, comedian boyfriend, Jimmy (Colin Kiyani).
Surrounded by the symbolic brick and metal stage frame, the dual level set may have looked cumbersome at times, but it was very cleverly designed to be both mobile, functional and versatile, using its many steps, projection screens and positioning points to become everything from a ballet studio to a run-down bar and from a work canteen to a nightclub.
I particularly liked the unusual angular performance space that it created at times and the performance space height variations that it allowed and, common to a lot of shows nowadays, I thought the use of the cast moving the props and set worked well for slick and distraction-free scene changes.
Andrew Ellis’ lighting plot was varied (often pulsating to the music) but was also subtle during the more dramatic scenes and very effective at key moments, while the blue and red neon lighting helped to establish the era of the piece.
With such a poor script, director, Hannah Chissick, must have had a difficult job inspiring her cast in the non-dancing parts of the show, but she did capture the frustrating reality of the audition process.
Strictly Come Dancing champion, Joanne Clifton, was a natural on stage as she took the demanding challenges of the dance routines in her stride; totally nailing the films two iconic moments (the chair-drenching Act 1 finale and the Academy audition routine), and, surprisingly for some, coping well with her acting and singing roles.
In many ways, this piece gave former A1 star, Ben Adams, very little to do, as – not being involved in the dance scenes - he had to rely on a few acting moments to show his skills.
I felt he was very much under-used, but, thankfully, as a more romantic character, he did get to use his impressive vocals to good effect, especially in his duets with Clifton.
Both Hollie-Ann Lowe and Colin Kiyani impressed here as the less successful couple, with Lowe capturing her character’s frustration about her general bad luck and life with her failed comedian boyfriend; a role that Kiyani made his own as he realised their relationship was more important than his dreamed about comic career.
Also worthy of mention were Demmileigh Foster as dancer, Tess, who was excellent throughout with great stage presence and top dancing skills, and Carol Ball’s Hannah; a Grand Dame of dance who lives in the past reminiscing about the successes of her glory days with unrealistic hopes for more.
Musical Director, George Carter’s 5-piece band offered solid backing throughout with musical highlights including: the song of dreams and hopes, It’s All In Reach; the female ensemble showing the first signs of what was to come in terms of manic movement during Maniac; the comic routine, Put It Down; the male choral work of Justice; the energetic and almost acrobatic version of I Love Rock And Roll; the duets, Here And Now and Hang On; the Act 1 finale reprise of Maniac; and Where We Belong, which sounded like it was written and performed by Dean Friedman .
Some additional songs for the stage version worked better than others, but it was always going to be difficult to match the quality of the show’s big well-known hit songs.
Finally, What A Feeling at the end of the show was well worth the long wait to see the iconic audition piece recreated, before a long curtain call and an all-dancing finale which gave everyone a chance to throw some serious moves centre stage (even Ben Adams).
It must be said that these dancers worked harder in the finale than most performers do in an entire show … never mind What A Feeling … What A Dance Show … you would be a Maniac to miss it!
Flashdance runs at the Grand Opera House, Belfast until 25th August
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