Miss Saigon

So for my 21st birthday, my wonderful Mummy took me to The Ritz for some sophisticated afternoon tea and also to see Miss Saigon which I have to say has topped my ultimate favourite musical: Phantom of the Opera as it was utterly amazing. 

It is held at the Prince Edward theatre in London West End with a whole new cast and an 18 year old who plays the main girl Kim! For just 18 years old and her first ever debut on a west end stage, Eva Nobelzada is phenomenal. 

Having performed many Miss Saigon songs at my University's Musical Theatre Society, I never actually knew what the story was about or listened to all the songs thoroughly, apart from the ones we performed but having watched the show, I must say that all the songs were really well written and sounded so nice. I thought it would be a musical with a lot of dialogue and the occasional song thrown in but it wasn't, in fact the whole show was presented through music and song, which I think a musical should be and works better that way as for me, it makes it more enjoyable!

It's a very touching performance as well as the story line. I did have a few tears in my eyes during some parts of it but I don't usually cry very easily, so this show must be good to bring a tear to my eye.

I really do recommend anyone who likes musicals to go watch this show and to those especially who are not keen on musicals as this will change your mind because it was so so good. It even had a helicopter!

        

Evita the musical

I haven't blogged for quite a while as I have been so busy with shows but after watching Evita for the third time, I can't not share how amazing this musical is. Musicals are part of my life especially being part of the Musical Theatre society at University. I have always loved to sing and perform since I was a little girl and having been brought up with disney how can you not love musicals?! However, what made me really into musicals was when I first watched 'Phantom of the Opera' on TV one night when I was about 13, starring the gorgeous Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum! I highly recommend it! This musical made me fall in love Andrew Lloyd Webber's work and music.

Back to Evita! Another production that contains the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Like most of Webber's musicals, it is mainly singing throughout, containing very few dialogue which I personally love. The way the music flows into one another is extremely clever! As said, this is my third time watching the musical. I first watched it on a high school drama trip when I was in year 10 and I was pretty mesmerised by the music and the acting and ten years later it came back on tour with a new cast and I had to buy tickets to see it.

After watching it again ten years later last year at the Norwich Theatre Royal, I was not disappointed and seeing it come to the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury whilst being at University I was not going to miss it. Starring the amazing Marti Pellow from 'Wet Wet Wet' and the wonderfully talented Madalena Alberto. I can't describe how wonderfully staged this musical was. The whole cast were extremely professional and not only was the acting phenomenal but the singing was unbelievably good. Marti's voice has a very charming tone to it and he hits his long belt notes every time! 

Madalena Alberto is probably one of the main reasons why I had to watch Evita again. She is an extremely lovely woman and for such a small frame she has one of the biggest voices and my goodness is she the best Evita. Her acting is absolutely great and having heard one of her interviews, she never knew about the story of Eva Peron and so she put her own spin on it and plays the character  so so well and makes it so believable. One of the most well known, famous songs from Evita is 'Don't cry for me Argentina' and the control of her voice for this song is indescribable and extremely emotional. One of my personal favourites that she sings is 'I'd be surprisingly good for you', 'Rainbow High' and 'You must love me'. 

If the show is coming anywhere near you-you should definitely go and watch it. I promise it will not disappoint!

Annabel, me and Madalena Alberto