The East Hall- the main stage at my old school and topic of several previous ramblings.

This is a shot of the final performance straight after the Finale’ the house lights have just been switched on. A pyro confetti device had just been set off at the very end, hence the smoke. The hall now has a lighting box at the back, an unexpected innovation. I was pleased to see some moving lights on the front bar and whatever was in the alcoves either side was capable of changing colour. This was a major improvement on my time when it held a Focus Lantern, a glorified tin box with a 1000 Watt lamp inside and a 6″ plano-convex lens on the front.

The hall was closed off during the afternoon as they were setting up for the evening show, however I stepped through the backstage pass door just to soak in the memories. There is now fixed masking in the form of side flats and a timber cyclorama but all of the original drape borders, legs and fixings have been stripped out.

Pirates of the Carribean is a signature Disney ride at four of the five Disney theme parks, California, Florida, Tokyo and Paris. (There is talk of building one at Hong Kong as well). It is essentially a boat based ride through diorama, populated by animatronic pirates. It is a rather long ride (10 minutes in Paris) with a couple of water splashes along the way.

The shortest one is at the Magic Kingdom in Florida, although we spent much more time in there than we intended in 2004…

The heavens had opened in Florida, so we dived into the nearest attraction, the Pirates Ride. All was well until the final scene, when the boat stopped moving. There were announcements to “remain seated, as the ride will resume momentarily”. Meanwhile, the music played and the adjacent pirates went through their repertoire of corny phrases. The next thing that happened was the working lights came on and shortly afterwards, the music stopped. Strangely, though, the pirates were still moving and every now and again they spoke a line or two. Then someone came onto the public announcement system advising us that the ride was broken down and that we would be rescued. We could see lots of activity on the dock ahead tantalisingly out of view.

After what seemed like an age (probably about ten minutes) someone turned up and advised us that help was on its way. It would take a bit longer though, because there were thirty or so boats around the ride, not all of which were easy to get at. (Including us!) Eventually, a couple of others turned up with a wooden plank complete with handrail, forming a bridge across from the sides to the boat.

We were carefully helped off, then led through the backstage bits. Even though we had been sat in that boat for half an hour, the sneak peek behind the scenes made up for it. We were taken behind a few scenes and through a large workshop, exiting the show building near some of the parade floats and making our way up through a gateway. Here a cast member was handing out our compensation chits, the chance to “jump the line” on an attraction of our choice.

“No strings attached!”

The title refers to the Box Office practice of selling theatre seats in such a way that a low audience tunout doesn’t look quite like the trainwreck it is, definitely  half full rather than half empty.

Last night, the Bradford Alhambra rooked rather empty, even though it was fairly well dressed. I’d estimate it was only a third full and the staff had reacted accordingly, selling the programmes and souvenirs from the sweetie counter. It was surprising that it wasn’t very full, as the show was Our House, the Madness Musical. The show ran in the West End for only ten months, despite winning 2003 Best Musical award.

How do you make a Musical based on random songs of a Band? Well, think of Mamma Mia!, We will rock you, Never forget…

I’ve seen the DVD of the 2003 stage show and this revival is roughly the same show, with some changes of staging to suit a national tour. THe set consists of lots of doors set into brick wall legs and the back wall along with a fair number of movable door frames of various types. The cast is highly energetic and there are a number of very lively big dance numbers.

There are two “names” in the cast. The Dad of the main character (Joe Casey) was played by Steve Brookstein who won the original UK talent show X Factor series in 2004. I didn’t actually recognise him at first as the stubble had gone and he wasn’t singing in the style of his chart successes. The Mum was played by Gwyneth Strong, well known as Cassandra Trotter from Only Fools and Horses. I recognised her but Karen noticed that she didn’t actually do any singing.

The star of the show, however, was the car used for the song driving in my car. It wasn’t Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (indeed it was an old banger) but it rode on roads, tunnels, up in the clouds and even on a roller-coaster!

The plot line relies on parallel threads in the form of a moral maze and some very rapid quick changes of costume for key actors, particularly Joe Casey. Here the doors came in handy, for many of them were reversible with white (for the good Joe) and black (for the bad Joe). Sometimes good and bad scenes took place simultaneously, with a ringer playing the other Joe. The plot isn’t contrived quite as much as Mamma Mia! was to fit the songs, with the noble exception of Night Boat to Cairo that opens the second half. (We knew they were going to play that as the Musical Director wore a Fez as the lights went down). How do you fit in a subterranean Phantom of the Opera style scene with a gondola tillered by a wierd Egyptian? Go to see the show, it is obvious with hindsight!

Had the house been full and buzzing, I would have expected some dancing in the aisles, indeed I’ve done it (and blogged about it) with Karen and David at the City Varieties but it was a bit too restrained to do that.

I can recall a similar contrast more than a decade or so ago, BD (Before David). On a Saturday evening, we went to see Godspell, reworked for the 90s. It was a shadow of the original 70s version and the people stayed away in their droves. I actually wept a tear that such a super show could get reworked with Kylie-esque new arrangements and be so dire. (The slow songs were excellent but the fast ones way too electronic). Then, two nights later, we went to see Return to the Forbidden Planet on a Monday night. The theatre was heaving and they rocked.

Godspell is being revived on Broadway so might shine again. It hasn’t really gone away in all this time. Return to the forbidden planet is timeless, being a sci-fi rock & roll version of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. How could you improve on that?

There is an infomercial about the new Our House but I can’t embed it here. Instead, take a look at it over at Steve’s place, or a wonky one at the show website (click on Video).

At last wek’s school show, the first half closed with a performance of M’s Pop Muzik starring science teacher Dan Heaney and dancers from year 11. It was a deliberately camp performance, opening with a phone conversation discussing not being able to go out that evening due to having been waxed…

When we asked what David liked best about the show, he said it was this song which was catchy, but rather weird.

Here is the original, from 1979…

I’ve been a bit snowed under the last couple of days, with a big project at work, Morley Community Radio broadcasting this weekend and a big family wedding up in Cleveland today. I have a handful of half written blog posts in my head but they are struggling to get out.

Instead, this song popped into my head today whilst on the road. It is from Chris Rea’s cracking 1979 Deltics album which has happy memories for me as he played support for Lindisfarne that year (or more likely the year before, Christmas 1978).

Chris Rea is from the well known (to Geordies) Rea’s Cafe family and during his set on the last night, Lindisfarne borrowed the City Hall ice cream trays with “Santini’s” on the front and came on stage dressed in Usherette outfits.

This is a song about looking for love and what better topic for the day I get a new Brother in law.