Showing posts sorted by date for query ballet. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query ballet. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Wednesday 20 June 2018
Matthew Bourne's Cinderella (UK Tour), New Victoria Theatre | Review
Matthew Bourne's Cinderella (UK Tour)
New Victoria Theatre
Reviewed on Tuesday 19th June 2018 by Olivia Mitchell
★★★★
Making a return to the stage after debuting 20 years ago, Matthew Bourne's Cinderella is a departure from the traditional setting we know and instead takes place in 1940's London against the backdrop of war, air raid sirens and the blitz. Sergei Prokofiev wrote the hauntingly desperate score during the Second World War so it's seems only fitting to set the ballet then.
Act One begins with the dancers appearing in grey, depressing London before transitioning to Cinderella's blacked out house. This initial darkness shows the desperation and loneliness that our lead character feels from the onset. In the house we are introduced to a number of creepy, bizarre characters who become more and more excited as they receive their invites to the ball.
Ashley Shaw's Cinderella is surprisingly comical and and exciting to watch. Her duet a dressmaking dummy was a personal stand out moment and highlighted Shaw's versatility as a dancer and an actress. As her romantic lead, Andrew Monaghan is tormented but powerful throughout. The two are wonderful together and create moments of theatrical brilliance.
The traditional 'Fairy-Godmother role is subverted in this production to be an Angel played by a man, Liam Mower. Mower does an outstanding job is his sharp white suit, of guiding Cinderella whilst also appearing to be an all seeing protector of London who at one point rushes off to seemingly intercept a bomb!
Lez Brotherston's set is a love letter to Wartime London. It is intricate but simplistic and highlights iconic London scenes such as Embankment and the Underground with flawless grace. The use of film and the train station are especially reminiscent of Brief Encounter and allow us to be transported to a painfully magical time. The Café de Paris is particularly moving as it becomes a smashed shell of war torn London.
This is a show with a modern twist that is full of enough heart and magic to make you want to watch it over and over. There is extravagance and simplicity in equal measure and this is a truly unmissable fairytale.
Matthew Bourne's Cinderella runs at the New Victoria Theatre until June 23rd
photo credit: Johan Persson
Thursday 12 April 2018
In Conversation With... Rachel Lumberg | The Band | Interview
Rachel Lumberg is an award winning actress who has been in a whole host of shows from The Full Monty to Romeo and Juliet. She's currently starring as Rachel in the UK tour of The Band. She sat down with me to discuss everything about the show! It's a fairly long but super interesting interview so grab a cuppa and settle down...
Have you always wanted to be a performer? Did you have any random childhood ambitions?
I did have random dreams- I wanted to be a nurse! You know so many of us had those dress up nurses outfits when we were little.
I also went into fashion at school when we took our options but it just didn't appeal to me. I'd always loved drama but didn't really know what area to be involved in. So I started the fashion course and it wasn't really working for me so I went to our head of year and said I'd like to do drama, and she let me change. So ever since then ( I would've been 14) I've been doing this.
It was actually the film-maker, John Hughes -who made the likes of Pretty in Pink and The Breakfast Club- who I was a huge fan of growing up- who got me very interested in film. Then when I changed to the drama option at school and we started going to the theatre a lot I discovered that this is my love.
Could you explain a little about The Band and how your character Rachel fits into it?
Rachel is the driving force in bringing the girls back together again. She is the protagonist of the story really. She opens the show with a memory.. She begins by telling the audience how she grew up with a boy band and then ‘Boom’ we’re immediately transported back to my bedroom, my younger self (played utterly superbly by Faye Christall) and the incredible tunes of a certain boy band of 1993. It’s a double denim feast for your eyes!!
You then meet all of Rachel’s friends. Each as loyal to each other and to the band as the next one.. They get to see the boys ‘live in concert’ and then on the way home from the gig, tradgedy strikes which changes the girls’ lives dramatically.
Fast forward 25yrs and here we see Rachel again pretty much living the life she dreamt off... or is she? She hasn’t seen her school friends for over 25yrs.. yet she enters and wins a competition to go and see the boys live again on their reunion tour.. is this the time to maybe have a reunion of her own?? Well-you’ll have to come and see the show to find that out..
Tim Firth has written a beautiful story of friendship and the love and influences that come with that..add to that the stunning music of Take That and how could you not want to come and see it?
What attracted you to show? Other than your name, are you and Rachel alike in any way?
I've known Tim [Firth] for a very long time, almost 10 years, as well as David [Pugh] and Dafydd [Rogers], this is my second show with all of them and they're absolutely wonderful.
Rachel and I are alike. Our producers David and Dafydd always said that she's called Rachel for a reason which is incredibly flattering. Rachel has comedy and is very caring and fiercely loyal. Simple things, the love of her family and friends and their happiness are of utmost importance to her.. so there are definitely similarities between her and myself.
More so I think with lovely Faye [Christall] who plays 16 year old me; it's weird seeing someone play you! We spent a lot of time together watching each other and watching out for the little habits we all have to make sure it seems truthful that we're the same person.
My mum came to see the show on press night and she said "that is her, that's Rachel at that age"... It's quite frightening! So I think both Faye and I are quite similar to each other and to Rachel.
The show focusses on how music influences our lives. Which musicians have inspired you?
I'm a bit of an all-rounder really. I'm one of those people that if I like a song, I like it! I was a fan of Take That, I wasn't necessarily hardened but I was a fan of them. I'm a big fan of Duran Duran, and Spandau Ballet- they were more my era 'cause I'm a little bit older than Rachel.
My huge influence growing up was more 60s because of my mum and dad. It was the likes of Gerry and the Pacemakers, Fats Domino all of that kind of music that my parents had on in the background.
On my wall were actors mainly, not musicians. There was James Dean, of course; it was mainly theatre and film actors that influenced my teenage years. Then when I got older, and absolutely when Take That reformed, I really, really enjoyed their music and I went to see them before I was ever involved in this!
Besides yourself, which actor in the production is going to blow people away?
You know I think most people that come, leave thinking "I was not expecting that" so it's the show that blows people away. A lot of people of course, are expecting the story of Take That but it isn't that, and that is absolutely not what they wanted. This show is a thank you to their fans for 25 years of loyalty. They were trying to find a way to do that, they always wanted Tim [Firth] to do it and they managed to.
The boys are phenomenal. There's always been the "oh they got them off a telly show", but they absolutely blow you away. The young girls are phenomenal, the older women, you know, everybody stands out in this.
What have people been saying as they leave the theatre?
What we've found is: "wow","wasn't expecting that", "you've relived my youth for me", "I've laughed, I've cried, I've danced, I've clapped", "I want to see it again". I've never really been in a show where we've had people see it more than once. We've got people on their 14th and 15th time, it's incredible how they come back.
As an actor you play to your crowd but it's also important that the audience listen and I've found that they really listen with this show. You can absolutely hear the listening. Some theatres are a little bit rowdier than others, especially on a Friday and Saturday but it's one of those shows that people are coming out of and booking more tickets straight away. So that's a huge compliment to us.
Also, the majority of the audience are in their forties because they grew up with Take That but they're bringing their children and their partners and their mums and dads so it's lovely. The other day there was a lady in the grand circle in her seventies who came out of her seat and she had her arms in the air like everybody else and that's exactly what it's about! Older women have also contacted us to say that we're telling their story, we didn't expect that and the contact we've had from them has been incredible and very heartwarming.
I would love to watch our show (with me in) to see and realise truly the effect it has.
If you had a magic wand, which show would you do next?
It would be one that I've already done and left actually, one of Tim's other shows and hopefully timing will let me do it again and that's This Is My Family. I do still have many roles i’d love to play that remain un-ticked on my bucket list. Some I am now too old to play and therefore will have to remain on the list, and some I’m (surprisingly) still too young to play.. so I live in hope!!
My casting bracket and skill set allows for character roles and I adore these. Complex characters that come with comedy and pathos that an audience member can relate wholeheartedly to... more characters similar to Rachel in The Band, I suppose. But above all, I just want to continue to work at the what I simply adore doing, and that is being out there, on stage, for you guys, 8 shows a week, for as long as I can and as long as audiences want to see me... I truly love my job!
If you could travel back to any era, when would you go to and why?
ohhhhh interesting! I would go back... to the 40s and 50s. Mainly for the beautiful costumes! And the incredible music! There's a tv series called A Place to Call Home that's set in the 50s, it's so beautifully designed and the costumes and cars are so fabulous. I'm just like "yes please, I would like that!"
Finally, what’s your best piece of advice for aspiring performers?
Always put money away for tax! Always take a percentage of your salary each week and put it into an account you can't touch and then you won't be hit with anything you're not prepared for!
I wholly believe that if your heart says you want to do it then do it. It's not an easy career, I mean, for me to be in this envious position of having a role written with me in mind to play it, has taken 28 years, so I can only say to anyone: stick at it and always follow your dreams. If you don’t follow them, someone else will!!
Keep at it, you'll get there; there might be different routes you have to take but don't ever take it personally. When you get a no, just move on, it's rarely personal. It's very rarely to do with your own skill and talent, it's just that you're not right.
But if you have a dream, follow it, do your best and put money aside for tax!
A massive thank you to Rachel for taking the time to do this interview. The Band is country touring round the country, tour dates and ticket information can be found here.
Interview by Editor, Olivia Mitchell
photo credit: Matt Crockett
Wednesday 22 November 2017
The Little Mermaid (UK Tour), New Victoria Theatre | Review
The Little Mermaid
New Victoria Theatre
Reviewed on Tuesday 21st November 2017 by Melanie Mitchell
★★★★★
Being a ballet novice, having only seen 2 before, I was a little unsure what to expect from
this production. I have to say, that in my humble opinion, The Little Mermaid is a masterful
adaptation, especially as the idea to create a completely new ballet was only borne in
September 2016. David Nixon and his team have produced a stunning piece of work in only
13 months.
Most of us know the story of The Little Mermaid from the now famous Disney film and show,
however those of us, perhaps a bit older will remember the much darker and sinister tale by
Hans Christian Anderson. This is the tale on which the production is based.
After seeing the picture of a handsome young prince in a locket, Marilla a young mermaid
falls in love. On rescuing the prince from a shipwreck she longs to be with him and sacrifices
her beautiful voice in exchange for human life. Although she is able to walk, every step
causes her unimaginable pain, yet she is unable to cry. The principle dancer made this
feeling so palpable with her agonised movement and silent screams.
Disorientated the prince awakens and mistakes a passing girl for the owner of the beautiful
voice he had previously heard, the mermaid is now unable to tell him that it was her, shattering her dreams and aspirations. This production doesn’t have the happy ever after of
the Disney story and is true to the Hans Christian Anderson original with its moral core.
The staging and costumes are stunning, with the colours and fabrics perfectly reflecting the
magical dwellers of the sea and the hard solid land. Absolutely transporting the audience to
the ethereal reflective underwater world.
The dancers especially the principles and soloists are magnificent, moving with absolute
grace and ease. The strength of the male dancers is incredible with the females looking
absolutely weightless as if under the waves at times. I wondered how it would be possible to
give the impression of the graceful movements of the mermaids. This has certainly been
achieved and it is truly mesmerising.
The music, an original score composed by Sally Beamish is hauntingly beautiful throughout,
perfectly suiting and setting the tone and mood to every scene. It is played wonderfully by
the Northern Ballet Sinfonia, with John Pryce-Jones as its musical director.
This World Premiere production makes for a truly magical evening at the theatre. If you are
already a lover of the ballet, a newcomer as I am, or have never seen one, then I urge you to
see it if you can and be immersed into the mystical, magical underwater world.
Thursday 5 October 2017
The Addams Family (UK Tour), Grand Opera House | Review
The Addams Family (UK Tour)
The Grand Opera House, Belfast
Reviewed on Tuesday October 3rd by Damien Murray
★★★★
This Irish and UK premiere tour production of the musical comedy, The Addams Family was an entertaining and fast-paced production of Andrew Lippa’s funny musical about a less than conventional family and its ancestors.
Right from the off, it was obvious that this was not going to be ‘One Normal Night’, as – during the overture – a finger-clicking hand appeared through the letter box; the hand of an unknown person (in this case, probably a ‘stage hand’!!).
Mainly played out on the superbly old and run-down eerie mansion befitting to such a weird and spooky family, the functional set designs, with moveable staircases and great use of the two side balconies, helped greatly with the good pace of this production.
Despite the family’s appearance, values and lifestyle, this atmospheric piece is not so much scary as it is a funny musical with great one-liners that, thankfully, are never just throw away lines for the experienced cast.
We were then introduced to a mixed bag of weird ancestors who looked almost normal when compared to the central family of the piece.
They made up a well-used ensemble, which, despite its relative lack of numbers, produced some excellent harmonies during choral pieces (e.g. 'One Normal Night' and 'Move Toward The Darkness') and provided solid support throughout in vocals, dance, movement, visuals and as a distraction during scene changes.
While the Act 1 finale, 'Full Disclosure' (Part 2) was a great production number, the orchestra and cast rose to the challenge here with the varied and difficult score, which - apart from the variety of tempo changes from one song to the next - had to cope with a degree of musical fragmentation caused by lots of start/stops throughout many songs and challenging underscoring.
While the great musicality of the tango rhythms made numbers like 'Trapped', 'Secrets' and 'Not Today' stand out here, it was the orchestra’s sheer accuracy of performance and the visual impact of the dancers in the production number, 'Tango De Amour', that combined to make this an irresistible musical highlight.
'Pulled' was another highlight because of Wednesday’s strong vocal performance, while the flamenco flavoured music of 'Let’s Live Before We Die' impressed and 'But Love' provided a little vaudeville-style distraction between scenes.
There were some soft ballads in the varied score, including the gentle, 'The Moon And Me', while 'Move Toward The Darkness' was unusual in that it is rare that a ballad is used as a finale number, but it did allow for some great choral work.It was good to see the reprise of the up-tempo, 'When You’re An Addams', being used to send all home happy after the ballad finale.
Choreography was a strong element in this production and the concepts were well-executed right from the opening production number, 'When You’re An Addams', when we knew that there was going to be no problems with dance, as this song’s varied choreography included lots of arm movements and samples of line dancing, the bunny hop and the twist. The moon ballet was well-staged ('The Moon And Me'), while it was a nice touch to use a ‘young’ Wednesday to highlight the emotions of the song during Happy Sad.
The nightmarish family in this macabre musical was effortlessly brought to life by the talented principals, including Cameron Blakely as the Latino-looking and hen-pecked husband, Gomez, who supplied some touching moments in the song, 'Happy Sad', yet also managed to deliver the song’s humorous lines on cue, while always maintaining the right comic timing to get the laughs when needed.
Samantha Womack as the very much in-charge and matriarchal Morticia was both tall and elegant and looked the part in her long black ankle-length dress and long black hair like Crystal Gale. Boasting dead-pan looks that could kill, this was a very confident performance from a total all-rounder with a great voice and good stage presence who perfectly captured her character’s dry wit. She also proved to be a most impressive dancer, especially in the song and dance number, 'Just Around The Corner', which allowed her to show her macabre emotions of joy.
However, for me, the star of the show was Carrie Hope Fletcher’s manipulative daughter, Wednesday. This amazingly talented girl is a strong performer with a great voice and real stage presence and this was highlighted in her performance throughout, but especially during the ‘coming of age’ song, 'Pulled'.
In the absence of Les Dennis, due to illness, his understudy, Scott Paige, was more than deserving of this role and impressed greatly both in his acting, comic timing and vocal ability, especially as he was acting so much ‘out of age’ in this part. Despite playing the loveably crazy uncle, Fester, he provided lovely vocals during his gentle ballad, 'The Moon And Me' and as the show’s narrator character.
Dickon Gough had a dream role as the ever-growling zombie-like butler, Lurch, and played one of musical theatre’s great non-speaking parts exceptionally well, while Grant McIntyre, as Pugsley, played the younger brother with a grown-up attitude well.
There was good support from Charlotte Page’s fully-disclosed Alice, Dale Rapley’s typical American parent, Mal, and his college student son, Lucas, played by Oliver Ormson, while Valda Aviks’ eccentric Grandma was good, but I would like to have seen more of her character’s outspoken and irreverent attitude.
Perfectly-timed sound effects and special visual effects like the thunder and lightening, the monster in the box and the use of individual ancestors in the portrait painting all added to the success of this slick production.
Thanks to the brilliant lighting, costumes, props, make-up and hair, this was a visually stunning show from its strong opening to its unusual ballad ending … absolutely ‘finger-clicking good’ throughout!
The Addams Family runs at the Grad Opera House, Belfast until October 7th.
Photo credit: Matt Martin
Friday 24 February 2017
Aida (UK Tour), New Victoria Theatre | Review
New Victoria Theatre
Reviewed: Wednesday 22nd February 2017 by Melanie Mitchell
★★★
Being a relatively inexperienced Opera goer, I wondered how an opera this grand and majestic could be brought to life on the relatively small stage of the New Victoria theatre. My concerns were soon banished. Ellen Kent’s touring production of Aida comes to life with the spectacle, majesty and grandeur the opera was intended for.
The Triumphal March with a cascade of golden confetti and fire is particularly spectacular. One of the main highlights is the appearance of Houdini the Black stallion as the war horse of Radames which was a magical moment to see.
The cast were truly magnificent as was the Orchestra of the National Opera and Ballet Theatre of Moldova, conducted by Vasyl Vasylenko, both playing and singing the extremely difficult score with ease and agility.
All the male performers were strong and powerful, however the Spanish tenor, Giorgi Meladze playing the part of Radames is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful, and powerful tenors I have heard. His voice soared effortlessly and the intense emotion of the piece could be heard in every note.
The female leads both gave accomplished and spirited performances. The mezzo-soprano Zarui Vardanean has a beautiful voice and gave a real air of jealousy and malice to the role of Amneris Princess of Egypt.
French Soprano, Olga Perrier as Aida was absolutely amazing, she captivated the audience from the first note and kept them there. Her haunting performance was for me the highlight of the show, full of emotion, passion and vulnerability.
Aida is touring the UK and Ireland until May 10th 2017.
Review written by Melanie Mitchell
Wednesday 14 December 2016
Snow White, New Victoria Theatre | Review
A real laugh a minute show, with something for everyone
Snow White (Pantomime)
New Victoria Theatre
Reviewed on Tuesday 13th December 2016 by Melanie Mitchell
★★★★★
I have never been a great fan of pantomime’s, I haven’t seen one for years, in fact can’t remember the last time I saw one. So I have to say, this wasn’t my idea of a great night at the theatre: silly jokes, screaming kids and forced audience participation. How wrong could I have been! Snow White is an absolute treat and the most fun I’ve had at the theatre in a long time.
A real laugh a minute show, with something for everyone. The scenery is beautiful as are the spectacular costumes and choreography with one woodland scene, reminiscent of the Beatrix Potter ballet.
Melissa Potts makes a lovely Snow White: sweet and gentle but feisty all the same. Anne Smith as Queen Morgiana is suitably malevolent and evil but funny at the same time. Her accomplices are quite terrifying but the kids loved them! Chris Cox as Muddles really entranced the kids as well as the adults with his slapstick portrayal of the character- he played the part brilliantly. Warwick Davis as Prof is amazing, an accomplished actor and singer with great comedic timing.
Prince Wayne is played by Shaun Dalton. What can I say? Handsome, debonair and charming, he is so perfectly cast he could have been drawn by a Disney animator. He can sing too. Despite there being one dwarf less due to illness. The other six took over his role with such ease you didn’t even notice.
Andy Ford as Herman the Henchman steals the show. He is absolutely hilarious with wonderful jokes for the kids and just the right amount of smutty innuendo for the adults. He makes a great double act with Chris Cox (Muddles). Very silly but they get the comedy completely right for panto.
The whole audience were encouraged to participate all the way through the show which they did completely willingly, me included! There are lots of songs we all know, along with references to the locality which really made the audience members feel involved.
Snow White is a fun filled, festive treat for the whole family. Book now while you still can, it’ll really put you in the Christmas mood.
By the way check out the magic mirror by the grand piano in the bar, I’ll say no more!
Wednesday 23 November 2016
In Conversation With... Sarah Naudi | In The Heights | Interview
Sarah Naudi is currently starring in Lin Manuel Miranda's glorious brainchild In The Heights as the feisty, loved up Vanessa. Her other credits include the short film In The Name of Bjorn and By The Sea in which she acts alongside Angelina Jolie, to name a few.
After a wonderful performance of In The Heights, Emilie and I interviewed the lovely Sarah. We found out about her journey to becoming a performer, her love for Lara Croft, her future aspirations and so much more. So without further ado, here is our interview:
Was being a performer something you always yearned for or did you have a different career path in mind when you were younger?
I always wanted to be a performer. Oh my god, I have to get into my sob story now! Anyway, I was born with a deformity in my foot and it's a disability and they were like “oh she’ll never dance, she’ll never do anything” so my mother was like “oh I’m gonna send her to ballet lessons then”. And I was always the shittest and the worst but I was facially always the happiest and having the most fun so I just carried on dancing for years.
Then when I was 15 I told my parents that I really wanted to go to England cause I had seen The Lion King here and I was like “oh my god in England they do musicals” so that’s kind of why I came here and again, struggled very much in dance and then was dancing amongst these [the cast of In The Heights] amazing people! I’m very lucky and it's just a dream come true really so yeah, to answer your question, this is what I’ve always wanted to do… but I really want to do film! So I think after this, because this is the part I really wanted to play in musical theatre, and I’ve done Carla and Daniela, Nina and Vanessa which is amazing, I really want to act seriously.
What has been the highlight of your career so far?
Probably meeting Angelina Jolie, that was amazing. I don’t know if you’ve seen By The Sea it's her film with Brad Pitt? So basically she filmed it in Malta so I had to do a scene me and her and she's like my idol, I’ve always wanted to be like the next Lara Croft or something so when I met her I was like “this is it” and she’s an amazing, amazing woman. She’s motherly, very nice and was like “thanks for being in my film Sarah” and I was like “thank me?? Thank you!”. It was amazing yeah, definitely a highlight!
With all the success of Hamilton do you feel extra pressure being in one of Lin’s shows?
Well I can’t wait to watch it [Hamilton] here, its going to be honestly amazing, just gonna blow everyones minds! Oh god its gonna be so good!
With the success of course there’s more pressure because its brought more attention to the show because everyone knows who he is now but everyday -no matter what happens backstage or in your own personal life- when you hear the music we just realise how lucky we are.
And Gaby (Gabriela Garcia) and I, these were our dream roles at college. We lived together, went to school together, everything and we just cant believe that it's happened, not just for one of us but for both of us. When we’re on those stairs together at the end we look at each other and we go “wow, how did this happen, we are so lucky”. So everyday listening to Lin’s music its just, yeah! And I can’t wait to watch Moana, it looks amazing and the music sounds incredible!
You’ve been with In The Heights since it was at the Southwark, how has it changed since then?
I feel like at the Southwark we loved the show and not the story yet. So there was a lot of heart for the show and it was a ball of energy and that’s why it was such a success but now I feel the focus is on the story, whereas before it wasn’t because we didn’t have time to invest in it whereas now, most of us know it so well and we’ve been doing it for so long that we’re like “this is why he wrote the song!”
And even getting to meet him and hear him speak, when he said he is Nina and Sam is Usnavi like wow, what a compliment for Sam! That’s what I feel the biggest difference is, now I really understand the story, whereas before I loved the music and how I felt, now I really really love, you know the whole Paciencia y Fe and all of that!
The idea of heritage is prevalent in the show, did you face some of the same struggles as Nina and Usnavi when you moved to the UK from Malta?
100% I mean I’m from a tiny island in the Mediterranean and people haven’t even heard of it and I always had these big dreams, kind of like Vanessa, really just wanting to go and get out and do something and when I came here I found a massive culture shock. I found, at first, my classmates were very cold. It's a colder culture here, it's more polite, whereas in the Mediterranean we’re used to hugs so I used to talk to people on the tube all the time like “oh I really like your nail polish” and they thought I was a psycho because you don’t do that here! So I really had to learn that but I think when the Brits really get to know you as a foreigner they fall in love with you. I have so many close British friends now but I did struggle. All of them making fun of my accent oh god…. they still do it backstage now!
Have there been any challenges playing Vanessa in general or with your transition for Carla to Vanessa?
More nerves. First of all, more pressure because I have been begging to play this part for I don’t know how long so its like "uh oh the producers are looking at me now", so you really have to deliver.
And vocally there's more pressure. As Carla, if I was having a bad singing day I could do okay. And also when I was playing Carla I could hide behind the humour and really get along with the audience whereas with Vanessa, it's really hard to make her likeable because she's always moaning on stage! So I really wanted to make sure that I kind of play her more sweetly and just like she's trying to get out of here but has a good heart, so that was kind of a lot of pressure to try and get that across. And it was difficult doing 'The Club' with a completely different track and all that... yeah just more pressure!
The idea of home is therefore very important, what three things remind you of home?
The smell of the sea reminds me of home. Damian [Buhagiar], his Maltese accent backstage! He speaks to me all the time in Maltese which is really sweet! And probably my family.
Whats your favourite moment in the whole show?
To play, definitely Champagne. In my life and so many of my friends lives theres that moment where you really want to tell someone to stay and I feel like every night I get to do that and tell the person to stay and I know he doesn’t do that, he stays for the great but I can get over that! But yeah, every night I have the opportunity to do it, in life I sometimes don’t do that so I love playing it.
To listen to as a song definitely Benny’s Dispatch. Every night backstage I’m vibing along and also probably in ‘Carnaval’ Sam’s bit where he sings “a corner full of foreigners” and all that section.
If you had a magic wand, which show would you do next?….. although you want to do film!
Lara Croft the Musical?! haha, no I don’t know. I actually have no idea because this was my dream show! I love Spring Awakening, I think I’d be too old for it now but probably Spring Awakening.
Moulin Rouge… that’s what I wanna be in! That’s the one… something gritty!
If you could be any fictional character for a day, who would you be and why?
A superhero definitely! [Lara Croft?] Yeah! I didn’t want to say it again but lets be honest. Yeah I just like the idea of being a really strong woman who can save lives.
What does your perfect Sunday look like?
Ohh definitely involves a party of some sort! I go to these things called Morning Raves. They’re for people who don’t drink or don’t do anything they just love music and you just party from like six in the morning until 10 to start your day and you start your day really fresh and happy. Also seeing friends, Winter Wonderland- going on the the rides, just something adventurous. Once on our day off Courtney (Mae-Briggs) and I went skydiving in Peterborough! We’re just adrenaline junkies! We booked it two days before and it said ‘North London Skydiving’ but Peterborough is not North London, just saying! It took us ages!
Whats your best piece of advice for an aspiring performer?
Whats your best piece of advice for an aspiring performer?
I would say always be prepared because success is when preparation meets the opportunity. So if you’re always ready and the opportunity comes, then boom. If the opportunity comes and you’re not ready then you're not going to get the part or get into the school you know, so always, always, always be prepared. Keep improving yourself. Gaby (Garcia) is a master at that, I mean, she inspires me everyday because she is always learning and always asking us what she can do better. She goes to lessons all the time so just keeping that. No matter how successful you become just keep working at it. Be kind, be really kind to people. People will wanna work with you again. And be on time… don’t be late!
A huge, huge thank you to Sarah for being so lovely, kind and inspirational. A truly talented lady who I hope to see become a movie megastar in the future! Thank you to Emilie for joining me on the interview and as usual thank you to Lin Manuel Miranda for creating the best musical ever!
Interview by Olivia Mitchell, Editor
Interview by Olivia Mitchell, Editor
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Welcome to the BLOG
Into The Spotlight
