Saturday 8th April 2017, day 6 of my visits to the magnificent Millenium Centre in Cardiff Bay, for my last two performances of Rent, before it moves on to another town on its anniversary tour. A cast change for today’s performances has Christina Modestou playing the role of Maureen in both shows. Having seen both Lucie and Christina in this role, I have to say just how exceptional they both are, a real treat to watch either.

As this is my last blog on Rent this week, I want to sum up all I’ve seen over the past 8 shows. If this had run for a week longer I think I would have booked another week off to watch the other shows as well. The cast have been absolutely magnificent all week, with every member giving their all, with tremendous singing from every single cast member, on every performance. 

The onstage band have also been amazing, bringing the sound of Rent to life, giving it extra meaning to the live performances. I haven’t mentioned the set and lighting that much over the last week, with mostly fixed stairs and corridors, only one area moves to create the presence of another room in the disused building that Rent is centred around. A really straightforward set that sums up life in the poor parts of  New York. The lighting works well, creating areas to focus on, when there is so much stuff going on around the rest of the stage. The whole thing combines brilliantly to make this the spectacle it is, a beautifully made piece of magical musical theatre.

Of course none of this would have been possible without the talents of its creator Jonathan Larson. (sadly, Jonathan died on the night of the dress rehearsal,of an aortic aneurysm, aged 36, never getting to realise just what a brilliant piece of musical theatre this show has become). Jonathan worked on Rent for seven years before this even got to be seen. What a show this has turned out to be, with so many different themes, wonderfully written songs and an energy from the cast who make it come to life. The genius of the show, for me, is its mix of musical themes, from rock to sweet sensitive music. One example of this would have to be mixing the raw, raucous sound of La vie Boheme with a beautiful ballad that is ‘I should tell you’, then finishing off the act with more from La vie Boheme, but yet it works treat, making you want even more from act two. That’s the beauty of the writing that makes this so good.

There are a few of the songs which are quite weird, and take a while to get used to, until you see it live on stage. When it finally makes sense and becomes a vital part of the whole plot. This is again due to the thought of the creator, who took a chance and made it pay off, without ever realising just how influential this musical has become.

Even though I have seen it loads, mostly from the front of the upper circle, I’ve decided to upgrade to the stalls. What a difference, to see the emotion from the cast, so close up, it makes you realise just what it must mean to them, to be involved with such a fabulous show, I know I got so much more emotional myself just by moving seat positions. Watching the emotion on the face of Philippa Stefani (Mimi) at the closing scenes made me cry even more. I hadn’t noticed this at the start of the run, but I’m glad I’ve changed seats to really experience this show a little better.

I have to say when I first bought the CD I didn’t really like it, but I persevered, buying the live stage production on Broadway on DVD, and then being blown away by just how amazing it actually was. I am so glad I have had the opportunity to watch this live, and in my favourite theatre of all, here in Cardiff Bay.

I’m so going to miss this show when it leaves Cardiff. I just hope that I don’t have to wait another 4 years to see it again. It would be nice to have exactly the same cast again, as they have all been phenomenal throughout, giving amazing performances at every show, (as I’ve been saying all week). Wow had loads of tears for final show, so moving, so emotional, so going to be missed.

Today is Friday 7th April 2017, and once more I’m back at the Millenium Centre in Cardiff Bay for another performance of Rent. A breathtaking, simply brilliant musical, that I can’t stop watching.  My last blog got to the end of act one. Today I will concentrate on the songs of act two.

As the second act begins, all the cast descend on stage for a superb version of another fabulous song from the show ‘Seasons of Love’, beautiful harmonies ring out before three great solo sections take over. Christina Modestou starts us off, Kevin Yates then takes over before Jenny O’Leary completes this wonderful song. I have to say these three have such amazing voices, with great appreciation from an adoring audience. Probably one of the loudest applause you will hear for any part of the show, and so well deserved. As the applause dies we move onto the first scene, as the gang try to get back into the padlocked building, with ‘Happy new year’, a quirky up beat song that gets all the main cast involved, with a few interesting costumes to go with it. 

The next scene moves a few months ahead, and another brilliant song takes shape, with Maureen and Joanne singing ‘Take me or leave me’, yet one more favourite to add to the collection, and sung wonderfully by both girls. As I’ve seen Lucie and Christina play Maureen along with Shanay and Jenny as Joanne, I have to say all four of them are just superb, and add so much to the flow of the song. After another short blast of ‘Seasons of love’, we have another beautiful song ‘Without You’ sung by Mimi (Philippa Stefani) and Roger (Ross Hunter), although during this song Angel is dying and as the scene moves on we see him comforted by Tom and the others, making this an extremely sad moment in the show, a few tears have started to flow during this scene.

As Angel lay dying the next scene ‘Contact’ goes really weird, with all the cast involved, this has to be seen as it’s a bit difficult to describe, but leads onto Angel’s death. After a short few words from Angel friends we move onto the reprise of ‘I’ll cover you’. Sung by Tom and the cast. This is when we discover the true brilliance of the voice of Ryan O’Gorman. With really beautiful harmonies surrounding the whole song, Ryan really belts out the main lyrics, and what a voice he has, it actually brings a tear to your eyes, just listening to his tremendous tones, as the song plays out.

The show moves onto ‘Halloween’, after Angel’ s funeral, Mark (Billy Callum) sings about what lead to this moment in time. Before changing yet again to another great song, ‘Goodbye Love’, where the friends argue in song, a well written and incredible piece of musical theatre, which puts the whole show into perspective. Also some fabulous voices from the cast, who never disappoint, no matter what is sung. 

As the show enters its final scenes, Mark and Roger duet to yet another magnificent song ‘What you own’, a really upbeat song to change the pace again. The finale changes again  after a fun section as Mark tries to show his work before the power goes. Tom enters and sings a honorarium to Angel (Santa Fe reprise), then Maureen enters with a dying Mimi before Roger sings his song to her ‘Your Eyes’ again a beautiful song, that also brings tears to my eyes.  As Mimi wakes the show comes to a close with the whole cast singing ‘No day but Today’, a magical ending to a magical show.

A word on tonight’s show, brilliant, yet again, the cast have been amazing all week, and still continue to shine every show.

Today Thursday 6th April 2017 and another day at the Millenium Centre in Cardiff Bay, for two more performances of Rent. I honestly cannot wait to watch this again, as soon as I get home after each show, I’m almost getting ready to come back down, although a little sleep in between helps a bit.

So yesterday I began talking about the songs I love in the show. I ended at ‘Another day’ a duet between Roger and Mimi. Carrying on from that moment, the show moves on to a really beautiful piece called ‘Will I’. One of my favourite songs of all, as the cast sing individually, the harmonies blend together to provide two minutes worth of vocal perfection, which tear at the heartstrings and leave you sitting in awe at the beauty of this incredible song.

Moving on to another excellent song in ‘Santa Fe’ sung by Angel (Layton Williams) and Tom (Ryan O ‘Gorman) and a little bit of harmonising from Mark (Billy Cullen). Ryan has such an incredible voice, and together with Layton form such a great pairing. The following song is even better as Angel and Tom carry on the performance with ‘I’ll cover you’, another one of my favourite songs in this superb musical. Brilliantly sung by both of them.

After Joanne does a singing phone call to Maureen and work, we move onto a street market and ‘Christmas bells’, another great number with most of the cast, especially Tom and Angel, who have a few solo pieces among the ensemble’s voices, before we get to meet Maureen and her protest song ‘Over the moon’. I have to admit I never liked this song, until I saw it live for the first time, then it totally blew me away. Lucie Jones and Christina Modestou have been absolutely superb, how could I have ever doubted just how good this is, again it has to be the ‘live’ performance which changes everything.

As the end of act one approaches there are two more amazing songs to go. ‘La vie Boheme’ and in the middle a really beautiful piece sung by Roger (Ross Hunter) and Mimi (Philippa Stefani) called ‘I should tell you’. la vie Boheme is one of the iconic songs, where all the cast are at a cafe to celebrate Maureen’s concert. A really wild song, full of great voices and loads of musical innuendo to really ramp up the party. Before slowing down midway for I should tell you, a love song between Roger and Mimi, who again, have amazing voices. The act ends as we go back to the party for one last burst of La vie Boheme. What an ending to the first act, which has been superb, with so many wonderful voices on show throughout, I can’t stop mentioning the voices, just because they are mindblowing brilliant.

I think I will leave this blog at the end of act one, and continue with songs from act two on my next visit. One last word on today’s performances, brilliant (both shows).

Wednesday 5th April 2017, and another day back in Cardiff Bay, at the Millenium Centre for my 3rd performance of the brilliant musical  ‘Rent’. The last few blogs I’ve talked mainly about the cast, revealing just how brilliant they all are, in making this show the spectacle it is. Tonight’s show has Shanay Holmes as Joanne, so far I’ve heard Jenny in the role, who has been amazing. Although I must say Shanay was incredible too. Every person can play multiple parts and never let anyone down. Also Lucie Jones was back as Maureen, with both her and Christina Amazingly fabulous in the role.

Today I thought I’d move on to the songs I love in this show. There is so much good music to talk about I’ll probably need a few blogs to complete this particular mission, so here goes.

At the start we meet Mark and Roger who lead us into the first song, which just happens to be called ‘Rent’, an in your face tune that gets all the cast involved and starts the fun off at a frenetic pace. Then onto a shorter piece as we meet Tom and Angel for ‘You ok honey’.  The scene moves back to Roger with a really fantastic piece of music in ‘One song glory’ which is sung brilliantly by Ross Hunter. As he finishes we move nicely into another superb song, meeting Mimi at the same time. The amazing music carries on with ‘Light my Candle’ a duet with Mimi and Roger, again sung to perfection by Philippa Stefani and Ross Hunter. Only four songs in and its already off the scale as far as the music goes.

As Tom Collins meets up with his mates Mark and Roger, a magical scene ensues as Angel ( the brilliant Layton Williams) enters in drag for an unforgettable song and dance routine ‘Today 4 U’. Enter Benny (Javar LaTrail Parker) to the fray as the group move onto ‘You’ll See’.  The show moves very swiftly on to another fabulous scene with Joanne, (Shanay Holmes) and Mark (Billy Cullum) with ‘Tango Maureen’. Yet another brilliant performance, with some amazing vocal talent on show.

We next meet a few of the ensemble as Mark, Angel and Tom head towards a ‘Life Support’ meeting, where we hear a snippet of ‘ No day but today’. The music changes to become heavier with Mimi (Philippa Stefani) singing ‘Out Tonight’, to Roger, another fabulous song. As that ends Roger then continues in the same scene with ‘Another Day’, a duet with Mimi. Would you believe it yet another fantastic song, brilliantly sung, as has been the case  so far on every song I’ve heard.

The singing has once again been absolutely amazing, and listening to it live on stage has been so much better than a CD or DVD. I think I will leave it there for today, I will continue with the rest of act one on my next visit, as there is still loads to talk about, before we even get to the interval.

Tuesday 4th April 2017, back at the Millenium Centre for my second performance of the fantastic musical that is ‘Rent’, and after last nights show, I really cannot wait go get back into that wonderful auditorium, for a second helping.

Carrying on from last nights blog I want to add just how brilliant the whole cast were, (I think I may have mentioned that yesterday). For me Lucie Jones was superb as Maureen, (I never really liked ‘Over the Moon, but seeing it live was just brilliant), with equal billing to Layton Williams as Angel, an amazing performance from both. Although, thinking on those lines, the quality of singing from all the other leads were also phenomenal. Billy (Mark), Ross (Roger), Ryan (Tom), Javar (Benny), Philippa (Mimi) and Jenny (Joanne) really stood up to the mark with such effortless ease, and stating the case for this brilliant musical. 

Another aspect of the music in the show is the wonderful solo voices for the start of act 2 and, of course the beautiful ‘Seasons of Love’, just listening to that song is amazing, but to watch the cast perform it live on stage is even better.

For tonight’s performance we have Christina Modestou playing the role of Maureen. Who also last night sang the solo role in ‘Seasons of Love’ and was brilliant. Tonight, I have to say she was amazing. With her and Lucie you have two fantastic Maureen’s. both of them work so well with Jenny (Joanne) who in herself is also brilliant. Such a fabulous evening’s entertainment, again I cannot wait until my next visit to see this superb show. 

Monday 3rd April 2017, a week off work to concentrate on the theatre and a few trips to the Millenium Centre, here in Cardiff Bay, for some performances of the iconic musical ‘Rent’. I have wanted to watch this show live for ages, ever since I watched a recording of the Broadway show on DVD a few years ago, so this week I finally get the opportunity To do just that.

The cast for the show consists of Billy Callum (Mark), Ross Hunter (Roger), Ryan O’Gorman (Tom), Jamar La’trail Parker (Benny), Layton Williams (Angel), Philippa Stefani (Mimi), Lucie Jones (Maureen) and Shanay Holmes (Joanne).  For tonight’s show Jenny   O’Leary played Joanne. They cover the main players, as I’m here a few times this week, I can mention the other members of the cast in a later blog, plenty of time to talk about everyone. 

Rent has some truly magnificent songs littered throughout the performance, and having played the cd a million times over, it’s just fabulous to listen and watch these guys perform. I must say it was well worth the wait, this was excellent, has to be one of the best shows I have ever seen, and for me that’s saying an awful lot, I’m really glad I booked a lot more shows for this week. 

With so much going on, the magnificence of the cast just shines through the whole performance, it went so quick, mainly because it was so good, with fabulous singing from all the cast. Really can’t wait to see it again. Hopefully i will have a lot more to talk about on my next visit to watch this wonderful show.

Saturday 1st April 2017, and so onto my second show of the day, and I’m back at the Millenium Centre in Cardiff Bay for a performance of Cirque Berserk, a circus show made for the theatre, as promised in the programme.

The first act was very impressive, With Tumblers, a trio of Bolas dancers from Argentina. Mid air acrobats. An amazing group from Cuba using springboards and somersaults and bikers in the globe of death, along with a clown for filling in with some comic cuts. 

The second act also had loads of action to spare. The acts repeated themselves, but each got harder with loads of fire brought in to make the effect better. We had the added bonus of a knife thrower and a male high wire act to add to the proceedings. The finale was sensational, with the globe of death and 4 bikers circling at the same time, fabulous to watch. And so impressive.

This show offers something different to the usual activities seen on this stage, and it is nice to watch these from time to time. I must admit to having an amazing day today, with so much going on and two great shows to add to my growing list. 

Saturday 1st April 2017, today is going to be a brilliant day for me, with two different shows. Also it’s a glorious day, the sun is shining, and for the first time in ages I can feel the sun’s heat filtering through the whispy clouds. So first of all I’m at the New Theatre in Cardiff for the matinee performance of Dirty Dancing, an iconic musical, with classic songs littered throughout the show. The film was never really in my watch list, but the stage production, I saw a few years ago, greatly impressed me, so I need to see it again, on its return to Cardiff.  

The cast for this matinee has Katie Hartland as Frances ‘Baby’ Houseman with Carl James Wilson as Johnny Castle and Carlie Milner as Penny Johnson also the great voice of Trevor Michael Georges as Tito Suarez. The singing and dancing throughout this show are just superb, with special cameo performances from two fabulous singers in Michael Kent (Billy Kistecki) and Daniela Pobega (Elizabeth). Carlie and Carl are absolutely amazing as dance partners, with great help from the rest of the cast. Katie is perfect for the role of Baby, with great comic exchanges as she learns the dance in the first act. Really impressed with the whole performance. With a special mention to the onstage band,  who were so good, adding a great link between the taped and live music.

The original music for the show plays a vital role in this production, with songs I love including ‘Yes’, ‘Hungry Eyes’, ‘Overload’, ‘Hey Baby’ and of course ‘I’ve had the time of my life’, with loads of other amazing songs throughout the show, literally making your toes tap to the beat.

This has to be the best version of this musical I’ve seen so far, with a brilliant set and lighting rig, really using the space of the stage to its utmost. The final scene was just perfect, living up to all expectations. A perfect start to an amazing day.

Saturday 25th March 2017 and once again I’m back in Cardiff for my second performance of Evita at the New Theatre. Another glorious day, (wow two in a row, will wonders never cease), so ‘chillin’ in Cardiff Bay before making my way to town for the evening performance. This gives me the chance to take a few photos around the Bay (my other pastime), for a few hours while the sun shines.

After last nights  show, I talked a lot about the brilliant Emma Hatton, so it’s only right today to mention some of the other cast members, and how much I enjoyed their performances. Gian Marco Schiaretti’s portrayal of Che was superb, with quite a wide vocal range to his repertoire, a very impressive narrator, of sorts, with quite a big role to fill. Along with Kevin Stephen-Jones (Peron) and Oscar Balmaseda (Magaldi), the male leads impressed greatly, with commanding vocals, really getting the audience enthralled as the show builds. The female leads, (headed by Emma and Natalie Langston), also impressed (as I mentioned in yesterday’s blog).

The ensemble also have to have a mention, as they always do. These artists are so good at their job, they add that extra sheen to proceedings,  with beautiful harmonies ringing out over the auditorium on many of the fabulous songs in the show.  If you mention the ensemble then the orchestra also needs to be talked about. Again these guys are magnificent, always on time, making it so easy for the actors to know when to start their lines or burst into song.

Having now seen it twice, I’ve realised just how good this musical is. It has great singing with a superb score underpinning the whole performance. A great cast,who work so well together. Moments of sheer magic intertwined with a wonderful storyline, just grips an already enthralled audience. 

Even though I know what’s happening from scene to scene, I still get quite emotional at the right times. This shows me just how powerful live theatre can be, laughing one minute to tugging at your heartstrings the next. Evita has to be in that bracket of just brilliant storytelling, and you would expect nothing else from Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, true masters of amazing British theatre. Totally fabulous every show they are involved with.

One last thing to mention before I sign off for another week, is just how phenomenal Emma and Gian were for the last show in Cardiff, they really did pull out all the stops tonight. It seems that all the cast were just superb to go with it. An absolutely fabulous evenings entertainment. 

Friday 24th March 2017, a day off from work, relaxing in Cardiff Bay, before my venture to the New Theatre to see the stage musical version of Evita. I managed to see the show on its last uk tour,  which moved me so much that I just have to watch it again, (probably be saying the same thing on its next tour).  Finally some decent weather to wander around the Capital, taking in the sights and a bit of shopping on the side, to go with it. Before settling down to an evening of high quality entertainment. 

To tonight’s performance I’m so looking forward to seeing Emma Hatton playing the lead role. I would have loved to have seen her ‘greened up’as Elphaba in wicked (my all time favourite show). Now I have an opportunity to see first hand just what an amazing singer she is. Along with Gian Marco Schiaretti as Che, Kevin Stephen Jones as Peron, Oscar Balmaseda as Magaldi and a special mention to Sarah O’Connor as Peron’s Mistress who has the chance to sing one of the best songs in the whole show, ‘Another suitcase in another hall, this is going to be a fabulous night. 

The singing is fabulous from all, with some really amazing voices echoing through the auditorium. Emma Hatton, what can I say, her portrayal of Eva was superb, with ‘Don’t cry for me Argentina’ a stand out song. Bringing Eva to life with a wonderful voice, as she has, really made my day. Such voice command at the end scenes brought tears to my eyes, so moving and so brilliant, all in one moment. 

A big mention as well to the Children who were part of the ensemble for the show. All members  of the Mark Jermin stage school. 

I’m back for another helping of this amazing production tomorrow, so I will probably mention the rest of the cast and just how good they were, at that time. Don’t want to write loads today and have nothing to talk about tomorrow.