REVIEW: American Idiot, Wales Millennium Centre

Having been a long time fan of Green Day, I was really looking forward to the stage version of American Idiot. The original album was written as a rock opera, so it was quite easy for me to put my own minds eye interpretation on it. The stage realisation was much better than even I could have imagined and my high expectations were more than exceeded in this frenetic show.

The story follows the journey of Johnny / Jesus of Suburbia and two of his friends from the small town to the big city with all the trials that life throws at them. The spellbinding cast features Alex Nee as Johnny, Thomas Hettrick as Tunny and Casey O’Farrell as Will, the latter two delivering awesome harmonies when they sing together. Alyssa DiPalma, Jenna Rubaii, and Kennedy Caughell all deliver powerful performances as the boys respective love interests. Finally a mention for Trent Saunders as St. Jimmy who completely grabbed my attention every time he was on stage.

The creative team has excelled in this production with a multifunctional stage that includes a piece of scaffolding that works as a backdrop but also transforms into a bus for the song "Holiday". The AV and Lighting team played an integral part of setting the atmosphere with the lights and helping to tell the story with over 30 onstage TV screens.

DISCLAIMER: While I am not paid for the review I do get the product/tickets for free

REVIEW: Sweeney Todd, Dolman Theatre

On this week at the Dolman Theatre is The New Venture Players presentation of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. The Tony and Olivier Award Winning Musical recounts the story of Benjamin Barker, a convict who returns to London from Botany Bay to exact his revenge on his enemies who stole his wife and daughter and had him transported for crimes he didn't commit. With the help of Mrs.Lovett and stationed above her Pie Shop, the pair hatch a plan to help Todd reach his goal.

Joe Tulloch gives a convincing portrayal of the demon barber himself while Rebecca Evans adds extra menace as his accomplice Mrs Lovett. Michael Lowe makes a return to the Dolman Theatre after a year with the Welsh National Youth Opera to play Judge Turpin and James Price plays Tobias Ragg.

The set itself perfectly captures the moody eerie atmosphere of 19th Century London and makes a perfect backdrop to this musical presentation.

The first evening of this production was well attended so if you missed Sweeney Todd when it graced the West End earlier this year, be sure to catch this production.

DISCLAIMER: While I am not paid for the review I do get the product/tickets for free

Awesome night with Cerys Matthews and Ballet Cymru

Tonight Seren and I have seen one of the best ballet's ever. I'm not a huge fan of ballet. I really struggle with classical music so most ballet's I won't sit through. When I heard about a ballet set to music by Cerys Matthews I thought this might be good. From the Ballet Cymru website I learned that they like to present ballet in an unpretentious and original way so decided to give this a go.

Good has ended up being an understatement. The dancing was amazing from the opening piece "Cold Running" where the ballet was set to a rhythmn rather than music.  Cerys Matthews took to the stage to a huge ovation so you knew the audience was there more for her and her music rather than the dancing.

As soon as she got on stage Cerys was chatting and really friendly even though she had some technical issues to sort out.  From the opening song you know this as going to be an amazing evening.  Seren and I loved the fact that she was singing Welsh and the dancing added an extra factor to make the song complete. The evening ended up being a history lesson as well as a performance as Cerys was so knowledgeable about the history of the music she was playing.

My favourite songs were Migldi Magldi and At Lan y Mor but my favorite ballets were to Myfanwy and the Daisuke Miura solo (sorry can't remember the name of the song). One of the best features of the evening was every time Cerys sang she faced the ballet to make sure the attention was on the dancers not her. They added so much to every song.

The performance ended with Calon Lan, one of the most well known welsh hymns. Cerys sang it brilliantly but I was really disappointed with the audience net singing along with the chorus. That would have made a hairs on the back of my neck stand on end and been an absolutely awesome finale.  My one complaint from the evening is that is was much too short.

Thank you to Cerys Matthews, Ballet Cymru and The Riverfront for an awesome night.  You catch the show later in the year in Caernaforn, Cardiff and London.

DISCLAIMER: While I am not paid for the review I do get the product/tickets for free

My cover page and September 1

It's September, which means it's Learn Something New Every Day time.  I'm running over a week behind already! but I am determined to catch up this week and post more of my pages.  Today I'm going to show you the cover page and Septermber 1 and you can see Sept 2 and 3 here.

Learn Something New Every Day

I'm attempting to do Learn Something New Everyday again this year and I've decided to do 3 ATC sized cards a day to tell the story.

Here are Sept 2nd:


and Sept 3rd:


All I need to do is put the numbers on and they are completed.

Are you doing LSNED or another class at the moment?  Let me know in the comments and I'll come and look at your pages.