Pringles tube inventor buried in...Pringles tube!

Thank Gog (yes, Gog) we chose Jodie as "our" Nancy yesterday. I loved Jessie's voice, but she was still too awkward when moving around and her facial expression(s) looked very wax doll-like. I am sure we will see her somewhere else very soon, though, and with some training she'll be a star, but for now (and since the beginning of the auditions, to be honest), Jodie is Nancy.

Labels: Lloyd-Webber, musicals, theatre, time wasting, TV

Kevin Spacey is not fond of the Beeb at the moment. He thinks their reality shows where people vote for the next West End star are basically just drawn-out ad campaigns. Personally, I believe it has helped the West End enormously. For once, there are lots of British visitors to the musicals, not just foreigners. And we all know that musicals are the links between theatregoer rookies and dramatic theatre. Once they're hooked on a musical, they want to come back to see more, and eventually even the "fringe" theatres will benefit from this.

Kevin Spacey can just put his name on anything showing at "his" theatre (the Old Vic) and masses of people will pay through their noses for a seat there. His name is enough to sell out a complete run months in advance! But other productions can't just do that, and would need to be recognised in other ways. Having a reality show like this works, as it draws attention to the world of theatre as a whole. And so far the contestants have been judged by people who actually know what they're doing (and who have had a stake in the production as well--this is the first of the televised auditions where Lord Lloyd-Webber isn't actually producing the show.)

Let it be said that I like Kevin Spacey, though, I just disagree with him on this matter. But what do I know.

Labels: Lloyd-Webber, musicals, theatre, TV

Post no. 700!!!

I must admit I had forgotten all about my annual Favourite Things of the Year That Went thing until this morning, so here it is, after just mentioning that, reading through a few of my old posts, I actually remarked upon my planned move to England 15 months before it happened (see post of 15 Feb 2004), but of course no one noticed, haha!

I am also going through a short-lived Greg Proops phase. I know it's short-lived so I am not going to give him his own label (unless "The Proopster" could possibly be a label...hmm...). Anyway, to the list!

This year's list's categories are blatantly ripped off from all the three lists before it, and rightly so! Some may have been added, some may have been lost in the post (I am using Royal Mail, after all).

My Top Favourites of 2007

Coolest Villain of the year
Ralph Fiennes for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (see also the list from 2005)

Best Steve Carell Film of the year
Evan Almighty, and that wasn't very good, even.

Best Hank Azaria Film of the year
Run, Fat Boy, Run

Indie Album of the year
The Go! Team: Proof of Youth

Musical Album of the year
Original Soundtrack: Hairspray

Most Surprisingly Good Album of the year
Melanie C: This Time

Album of the year
Erasure: Light at the End of the World

Funniest New Series
The Armstrong & Miller Show, BBC (UK)

Strangest Series Cancellation of the year
The Class, Warner Bros. (US)

Most Disappointing Comedy Series of the year
The Omid Djalili Show, BBC (UK)

Favourite Comedy Series Characters of the year
The WWII RAF pilots from The Armstrong & Miller Show, BBC (UK)

Favourite Comedy Series Sketch of the year
See above.

Best End to a Series
The Vicar of Dibley, BBC (UK)

Most Anticipated Film of the year
Pirates of the Caribbean: At the World's End

British Film of the year
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Most Anticipated Game of the year
Crysis

Most Disappointing Game of the year
Assassin's Creed

Most Surprisingly Good Game of the year
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords

Best PC Game of the year
Two Worlds

Best Console Game of the year
Final Fantasy XII (PS2)

Best Handheld Game of the year
Final Fantasy IV (GBA) (I only have my trusty PDA and GBA, ok?)

Best Game of the year
Two Worlds

Best World Premiere of the year
The stage version of Breaking the Waves, Oslo Nye Teater (Centraltheatret)

Best Stage Revival of the year
Arsenic and Old Lace, Oslo Nye Teater (Hovedscenen)

Best Norwegian Stage Production of the year
Fiddler on the Roof, Oslo Nye Teater (Hovedscenen)

Best Play or Musical of the year
La cage aux folles, Menier Chocolate Factory (surprised?)

Would Have Most Wanted to See
Evita just once more

Most Anticipated Book of the year/decade/century
J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Most Annoying Yet Strangely Catchy Song of the year
Timbaland: Apologize

Worst Idea of the year
My trying to get a job in sales

Best Moment of the year
29 November, when I first saw my two favourites suddenly combined: La cage aux folles and Philip Quast

Labels: anders hatlo, comedy, dennis storhøi, erasure, evita, film, gaming, geoffrey rush, greg proops, lists, Lloyd-Webber, musicals, Norway, personal, philip quast, ralph fiennes, theatre, TV, work

No, not the couple who allegedly lived 2000 years ago. I am of course talking about Lee Mead and Connie Fisher, respectively, winners of the 2006/2007 "casting shows" for the new productions by Lord Lloyd-Webber on the BBC. Tonight saw them meeting up again and it is quite apparent that we, as the (very actively, at times) voting public, chose the right people for the parts in question. No slips-up from either of the two, and I'm sure the time they've been on stage this past year has helped. I'm proud, for no reason at all.

Well, it's Christmas Eve and I am stuck here listening to my favourite songs. I was only going to fill an hour before some wretched programme at nine, but I have a feeling the way I keep adding songs to the playlist I'll be sitting here for the next three hours or so.

At least the weather is much better than yesterday. I woke up to fog as thick as pea soup and a flatmate who was running around like a headless chicken because she was going to fly home for Christmas. As the day panned out, after giving up on the National Express and instead sharing a cab with four Polish people, she ended up on the plane almost on schedule. Lots of others weren't as lucky. (And that prompted me to add "I Should be So Lucky" to my playlist - gotta love those antipodeans! - which again reminds me I am currently looking for the complete collection of Stingers (just sharing here, nothing to get hung up on - ooh, must add "Hung Up" by Madonna))

Today, after having done the last bits of my Christmas grocery shopping and phoned my grandma and parents (Dad is suffering from the chatting bug, I believe...but then again we hardly ever speak on the phone because it's usually Mum who phones me on my days off), I got stuck with three films in succession. Damn BBC1. So I watched the last 3/4 of Santa Clause, then Ella Enchanted (which was much better than I had dreaded), followed by Lemony Snicket's blah-blah-blah. Then it was time for supper and the aforementioned When Joseph Met Maria. Now you know what I've been up to today.

Oh yes, and I filled a huge bowl with sweets. I think I shall have to put it away, because where it is now (in the middle of the coffee table) it is making me slightly queasy.

By the way; mixing red food colouring with marzipan makes your hands look like you have just killed someone. (Let's just say that's why I postponed my marzipan adventure until AFTER Saturday's show and this morning's shopping.) Don't say I didn't warn you.

Labels: Christmas, film, Lloyd-Webber, music, musicals, personal, TV

...Lord Lloyd-Webber had better be looking for a Jesus next, to make the family complete. Anyway, Lee Meade snagged the top spot, not at all surprising, as we picked him out in the first programme, just like we did with Connie Fisher last year. Does education have anything to do with it? Not sure. Anyway, rather well-deserved, but I cannot be bothered to go see the musical when it opens in about six weeks' time, I think.

Yesterday began with watching The Butterfly Effect whose director's cut was quite different from the theatrical version. I then followed up with all four films of the Harry Potter franchise, and when the fourth film ended I went online to find out I have to wait another month until the fifth film is released, and promptly fished its book out of my bookshelf instead. By the way? I would definitely recommend reading the books over watching the films. They have cut too much out of the films and J.K. Rowling's writing is absolutely brilliant.

Back to listening to Aussie radio.

Labels: film, literature, Lloyd-Webber, musicals, TV

Hi, it's me. Bet you missed me.

Evita has ended. I went to the last performance and it was all very tearful and sad and happy at the same time, because the very long curtain call and standing ovation seemed to be slightly more than most of the cast had anticipated. We finally managed to lure them back onto stage, ruining their whole "one curtain call only" rule, although it did take us a few minutes. And when they went back off the stage, they sauntered out, taking in the sight of a packed Adelphi giving them a well-deserved standing ovation.

So now that that adventure has ended, I am officially taking a break from spending all my time and money on theatre. I have been very good and not fallen into the Sweeney Todd trap. Too expensive for my budget.

Besides, I have spent my money on upgrading my home entertainment options. A new 32" LCD/TV, a Playstation 3 and a new mp3/video player for those long trips to and fro work. No, I did not win the lottery, only shuffled a few things around on my budget...and obtained a loan. Oops.

Let me just say...Playstation 3 on a normal CRT screen and a LCD/TV via the HDMI cable...two completely different versions of the same console. Wow.

Also, something very strange happened the other day (apart from the fact that they finally kicked Ben off of Any Dream Will Do?)--I've had this silly teenage crush on a particular actor for about a month now, one of those that'll probably go away after a while, but I have been very obsessed for a while. Last week I was going to town but had forgotten my Oyster card and had to go back home to get it. Back on the tube luck would have it that this certain actor was sitting opposite me for about 15 minutes. It's a small world.

Off to buy burgers. There's a programme about Sami people later on, followed by a documentary about the Shetland Islands. And thanks for bringing back The Friday Night Project.

Labels: gaming, jodhi may, Lloyd-Webber, musicals, philip quast, technology, theatre, TV

OK, so to be honest, I actually have another three days off after today, but that means three quarters of my holiday have already gone.

However, I have been doing many things lately.

First of all, I did survive the Eurovision, not too shell-shocked, either. I just have to comment upon something. Let's not be sore losers, people! We (as in "the Western European countries") have dominated the competition for almost fifty years. Now that the up-and-coming Eastern European countries take a hold, stop talking about "political voting". The reason for neighbouring countries voting for each other is more likely because we tend to have the same tastes in music. And the UK, of all countries, should not even mention political voting. The only reason they didn't end up in last place, was that Malta gave them their 12 points...and that was apparently a deliberate protest against "political voting". Some changes should be put in place, though, now that we have doubled the number of countries in such a short time. For instance, even though this will unfortunately leave Norway as the country with the most "nil points" forever, we should give points to every country. This will probably give a more nuanced picture. We should also have the EBU physically control every aspect of the phone vote. Thirdly, we could bring back professional juries. Do what they do in a lot of talent shows these days; 50% of each country's vote comes from phone voting, the rest from a jury.

Just my opinion, of course, which no one usually listens to.

What else have I been doing with my time lately? Well, we did celebrate Norway's constitutional day on the 17th of May. I took the whole day (week) off to celebrate this year. I really, really wanted to go to the Steven Pimlott celebration at the National, but made sure that would not be an option on the day by making plans with friends all day. So we went to Southwark Park, where we were quite surprised by the large number of people having turned up.
There were speeches, food (why they hadn't taken into account the sheer need for lomper I will never know, but they were completely sold out before we got there, which meant I couldn't care less about the hot dogs), music (Sondre Lerche was there, in extremely good spirits), "walking corpses" (or "a marching band" as the more linguistically aligned among us would say), lots of children and lots of flags. And then we took part in the (almost compulsory) parade. Which was kind of fun.

When we had stayed for about two hours and they announced the games for the children, we decided it was high time for us to get something to eat. Well, leave the park, at least. So we did just that, and went to a pub a colleague of mine had suggested because of their nice garden and beer.
So we got a small sheep. I bet the beer was nice, only I don't like beer, so I didn't drink more than about one fifth of it. The food was good, though, and not too expensive.

Then we went back to the neighbourhood of the park, to the Norwegian church there, in order to take part in the rest of the celebration there...which started with us throwing ourselves at the local (week-old) Norwegian newspapers they had there and buying their shop. Well, almost. I bought four chocolates and the others just about the same. The point was that these were Norwegian chocolates and food which you can't get anywhere else.

The entertainment for the evening was much better than last year's; varied and quite impressive, some of it. Unfortunately, we were sitting next to The Parents From Hell(TM), whose kids were running all over the place and causing a lot of noise. When people asked very politely, after about 90 minutes of this, if they would be so kind as to try to keep the noise down, they were ignored completely. These people even turned out to be members of the congregation! So much for your Christian goodwill and compassion.

We spent the rest of the evening at our local pub and the next day we sort of relaxed at home before going to a local Indian restaurant. I had what I thought would be a different dish to what I had on my previous visit, but it turned out to be the same "mystery sauce" with just slightly different ingredients. My dessert was an Irish Coffee. Perhaps I'm turning into an alcoholic.

For some very strange reason, I watched the FA Cup Final between Chelsea and Manchester United. It was extremely boring, even though it did become marginally more interesting during the second half, only I think that could have been because I had put a bet on the outcome. I lost, as they just couldn't be arsed to score until way into extra time, at which point we were much more interested in the fire which had started nearby (it was quenched just about the same time the match ended).

Speaking of fires, who's the moron who set the Cutty Sark on fire? Spookily enough, the suggestion of DNA testing all new-borns for illnesses and criminal tendencies suddenly seems very attractive.

Oh, and last Monday we went to see Spider-Man 3 (which was nice) and 28 Weeks Later... (which was nicer and yet darker).

This week sees the end of the wonderful Evita run, which is sad, but also makes my wallet a little happier. And speaking of Lord Lloyd-Webber (indirectly, at least); what happened last Saturday when he let Daniel go instead of Lewis in the Joseph compo? I was sure Daniel would stay until the final, when Lee naturally wins the whole thing. Lee has a very annoying speech impediment, though, which has led me to not voting for him these past few weeks, but last time he was back on my list as he simply is at least one level above everyone else in that competition. Due to his drama education? Quite possibly, just like with Connie Fisher and the Maria bunch last year.

Labels: current affairs, evita, film, Lloyd-Webber, music, musicals, Norway, personal, philip quast, sport, theatre, TV

May I just state my happiness over the fact that Seamus was voted off in last week's Any Dream Will Do? He seemed like an obnoxious git who kept saying he was so much more experienced than the rest...and then sang like crap, even though he was a singing coach! Somehow I think he may not have gained any new students after this.

Rooting for Lee.

Oh, and just 28 hours till the return of Hustle.

Labels: Lloyd-Webber, musicals, theatre, TV

Seriously, people, voting for Ben to stay until next week and then voting OFF Johndeep and Chris B? Are you totally tone-deaf and/or insane???

Parents, stop giving mobiles to your teenaged daughters; they clearly know not what they do.

Labels: Lloyd-Webber, musicals, TV

Thank god anyone can get a gun in America, so that they can start shooting people arbitrarily. At least 30 people killed at Virginia Tech and who knows how many wounded. Who would like to do such a thing?

Today we went to the cinema to see Wild Hogs, which was actually better than expected and quite funny. I laughed out loud many times. Also, no biker movie without Peter Fonda.

Finally got to see the Any Dream Will Do programme from yesterday; much like last year's How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria we are once again slagging off the contestants. We have a couple of favourites so far and a couple we really don't like at all. Next week, however, I will hopefully be able to vote as well. Last Saturday I was busy watching Evita, which, after all, is more important than anything else (except for, perhaps, eating and sleeping).

Labels: current affairs, evita, film, Lloyd-Webber, musicals, theatre, TV

I have a very strange and rather bad feeling about this.

Labels: evita, Lloyd-Webber, musicals, philip quast, theatre

OK, so I won't have to go see The Sound of Music anyway, it seems. Simon Shepherd has pulled out of the show, so I am once again free to go see other shows. Which is good, because the tickets would have cost me a fortune. Apparently, the producers did not think he was a good enough singer.

Right, and as one of his biggest fans, I'm not particularly surprised, I'm afraid.

Labels: Lloyd-Webber, musicals, simon shepherd, theatre

OK, so we have been witnessing Google steadfastily taking over the Internet for a few years now, and so far I have been welcoming them, but I am thinking, with today's major take-over of YouTube that we're sort of having a new Microsoft thing going on. I am not so sure anymore that this is for the best. Or it could just be the social-democratic Scandinavian genes in me rattling a bit.

Happy B to The Phantom of the Opera yesterday - 20 years is not bad! Still one year to go before you've caught up with Cats and Les Mis, though. ;-)

Labels: current affairs, Lloyd-Webber, musicals, technology, theatre

Damn, damn and double damn! This means, as a bona fide Simon Shepherd fan, I need to actually go and see The Sound of Music anyway, and I was hoping not to.

Strange thing is, I was thinking about Simon just yesterday, for no apparent reason, how cool it would be to see him on stage. Yay.

Labels: Lloyd-Webber, musicals, simon shepherd, theatre

...the new Maria: Absolutely brilliant! The best choice won, by far. She was the only one who could sing in key and did so persistently. She is also already a trained musical artist and an all-round likeable person. Well, that is before all this commotion possibly inflates her ego. Here's to Connie!

...the most annoying things on the tube: At first, I thought it must be people who try to squeeze themselves into the carriage before letting people off, but that is just a momentary annoyance, isn't it? (Unless you're a person who broods ill-will for months) However, people who sit down next to you and SMELL, really badly, are the most annoying to me. Because you can bet they are going the exact same route as yourself, so you cannot get rid of them either. How about a wash? How about NOT eating a ton of garlic the night before you go to work? How about brushing you teeth and making sure you eat food you can actually digest properly?

...the new series of Spooks: I am very eagerly awaiting every new episode. I love this show and have been aware of the...uhm...tension between Harry and Ruth since series two, so my romantic self would like to see something happening there. Seems like the writers may finally be caving in to what the actors have been treating us to for a long time.

...online grocery shopping: Fabulous when it actually works! Must post pictures of my first attempt. A little bit afraid when the guy brought four boxes of groceries to my door and all the carrier bags filled our kitchen floor. Oops.

Labels: Lloyd-Webber, musicals, nicola walker, online shopping, peter firth, Spooks, theatre, tube, TV

How brilliant it must be to hear, several times, from the show's producer, that you have to promise him to audition for Evita. Lucky, lucky girl.

Labels: evita, Lloyd-Webber, musicals, theatre, TV

I have these TV programmes I look forward to every week. At the moment one of the most anticipated ones is How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?, the previously mentioned Pop Idol-y show where The Phantom (Lord Lloyd-Webber) and his Minions (Zoë "The Vocal Coach" Whatsherface, David "The Co-Producer" WhatshisfaceitsoundslikeIan and of course John "I still cannot believe he was voted out of Dancing on Ice" Barrowman) (yes, I know, I should know their names, but I'm not too embarrassed to admit I don't) try to find the next West End Diva, AKA who will play Maria in The Sound of Music at least six days a week starting...uhmm...when the rehearsals are finished, I suppose!

The programme is great fun and also shows the bitchiness in the participants (not just Graham Norton) and also in myself. I keep slagging a few of the contestants and come up with rather rude remarks if they're off-key. Let me tell you I played Singstar for hours last weekend and I'm not that good myself.

But then, I never thought I were, and I am definitely not aiming for a career on a West End stage. Not physically, anyway.

Another favourite at the moment is Prison Break. OK, so it's been a favourite pretty much from the start of the first season (at first much thanks to the bloody marvelous Peter Stormare), but I'm very happy it's back. I have also grown quite fond of Eureka, so I expect they will cancel that one soon. They usually do. Take Arrested Development, for instance. Finally some intelligent comedy, so of course they have to cancel it. And the Americans wonder why we think they're so thick.

I'm considering winning some money and go see Evita again. As you can probably see (*points at the list of most played artists in the right-hand menu*) it took me just about two minutes from posting "I cannot listen to Evita anymore, because it makes me sad" until it was once again top of my Zen's playlist.

It sort of annoys me that my Zen only has a 20GB hard drive, as I will now have to delete tracks if I want to add more. For instance, most of my cast recordings are left on my computer, whereas I at one point decided on moving ALL of my several gigs of Erasure and Beatles tracks to the Zen. Hence, no space for three of my favourite musical recordings; The Fix (there's John Barrowman again), Martin Guerre and South Pacific - which I discovered to my horror the other day as I embarked on yet another dreary ride on the tube.

The good thing about spending one and a half hours one way to and from work every day, is that I get to listen to a lot of music. Too bad I cannot read while on a moving train, otherwise I would be able to finally read all those books I have bought over the years and which are now merely collecting dust as I tend to choose "quick fixes" like telly and video games over books.

Unless we're talking Harry Potter. Funny it should grab my attention to such a degree.

It's very sad that I hardly read books anymore. I used to read loads upon loads of them. And an aspiring writer probably should read a lot. There's something called a "vocabulary" which has to be expanded in order to write professionally.

I sometimes wish I was Stephen Fry. But then I remember I'd have to host the BAFTAs, and that would probably not be such a good idea. However, I would be in his shoes, so perhaps I wouldn't mind after all.

Try not to think on an empty stomach. Speaking of which, it's about time I went to the closest corner shop and spent some money on lunch. Then I'll saunter back to the office and try to stay awake until I can finally go home and watch the Maria programme. I hope you are well.

Labels: comedy, evita, gaming, literature, Lloyd-Webber, music, musicals, peter stormare, theatre, TV

Lots to do at work today; brilliant! On my way back, I started thinking about something I've thought a lot about lately - why don't mp3-listening people around me tap the beat to the music they're listening to? Am I being weird? Again?

And I think Lord Lloyd-Webber just flirted with Graham Norton. In his I-work-in-theatre-but-I'm-straight kind of way. Funny to watch. Andrew almost laughed his head off, Graham drily stated that "and people all over the country are spitting out their tea".

At least the possible Marias are getting better.

Labels: comedy, Lloyd-Webber, music, musicals, personal, theatre, TV

Went to the Royal Court Theatre on Saturday to see the National Youth Theatre's rendition of Savages by Christopher Hampton. The whole play, about Cuba, Brazil and aborigines, was very good and I couldn't help but crying at the end. The actors were mainly good, although some of them will need more training. Unfortunately I cannot let you know who appeared, as I was too cheap to buy a programme.

I did, however, buy the souvenir programme for Evita yesterday as I went there for the second time. That particular programme had not yet been made the last time I visited, presumably because it was during the previews. Remember my saying the last time that if the previews were that good, how brilliant would the show turn out? Well, I was right (of course) - the show has only got better and I was thoroughly enjoying myself. I would love to see it yet again. I would recommend seats on the 3rd-5th rows, around number 18-22 for anyone wanting to take a(n expensive) look. This area is just perfect for seeing the whole thing, as I discovered last night.

Unfortunately I was once again part of an embarrassing audience, i.e. one that did not give a standing ovation. I was embarrassed when I saw the actors' reaction to that; they seemed genuinely surprised and disappointed! So I vow to stand up the next time, no matter who else will join me (quite possibly none at all).

I finally had the chance to attend an interview for a National Insurance number this week, and that was an interesting and very boring experience. First of all, the Walthamstow DWP building has seen better days. Obviously way back in the sixties or something. I was going to say some of the employees had seen better days too, but that would be plain rude of me, so I won't. Well, the whole ordeal took about 1 1/2 hours, excluding the actual bus trip (with one change) to and fro the venue. That took another 2 hours, including waiting time. But of course, my local job centre, which is a ten-minute-walk away from my house, would not do. I guess I should be thankful I didn't have to go to what appears to be my tax office...in Sheffield. Or Glasgow. I forget. Perhaps because I have had several since I started working here. What a joke. I am clearly in the middle of the Core of Bureaucracy.

We started watching that How to Solve a Problem Like Maria programme on Saturday, where Lord Lloyd-Webber tries to find Maria for his new Sound of Music production in the West End. I was a bit scared, but at the same time there is so much talent there, so many to choose from, that he will definitely make sure that the final ten or whatever, the ones we as the audience may vote for, are all people he would be confident about letting onto the stage. Otherwise who knows whom we, the public, would choose. Have mercy.

I had an idea for a sub-plot the other day while watching Must Love Dogs (yay, Elizabeth Perkins is always fun), and I think I may be able to weave it into my current, huge project (still only in my mind and on a few pieces of paper spread across my room and several bags). It is, of course, going to be absolutely fab and everyone will love it.

Or summat.

And last, but not least, a belated greeting goes to Philip Quast who started his fiftieth year on this earth on Sunday. He didn't seem to have aged much when I saw him yesterday, and his voice was still...heavenly...wonderful, so I think we have nothing to fear yet (except for his future refusal of doing anything music-related). And when I say "we" I mean the half-crazy fans of his...no, sorry, I meant the creme de la creme of his admirers, yes, that's it. Ahem.

Labels: elizabeth perkins, evita, film, Lloyd-Webber, musicals, personal, philip quast, theatre, TV, writing

Watched Hey Mr. Producer last night. I've wanted to own this tape for so long and I bought the CD (long live eBay) last year, but only got around to buying the video about a month ago. Didn't watch it till yesterday. So much for being a fan. Ahem. Anyway.

It was of course better than just listening to the CD. Unfortunately they've tried to put so much into the three-hour-long show that a couple of my favourite songs have been cut short - the sacrilege being cutting a whole verse out of Stars AND speeding it up a bit. One of the numbers started out in a way I didn't recognise from the CD, and at this point I had put away the playlist, deciding to be surprised instead. It was Jonathan Pryce walking out on stage, saying something, then when the music started I let out what could only be described as a cross between a primal scream and the infamous sound simply called nngh; I had instantly recognised the intro to The American Dream from Miss Saigon. I've had that song on my mind all day.

I came to think of a couple of things, though. I have recently become very fond of musicals; I blame a friend of mine for putting on Master of the House from Les Misérables as I visited them three summers ago. I borrowed the CD (the 10-year anniversary concert version) and was hooked a few days later. Up till then I'd thought of theatre as boring and musicals as being the silliest thing around since laserdiscs. I mean, there's no resemblance to real life in musicals; who would suddenly break out singing and tap dancing in real life, unless they were mad? But all of a sudden I realised that musicals were brilliant; they mixed two of the things I hold most dearly: Acting and music. What could be better than that? Thus began my slight interest in musical theatre. I've got a lot of catching up to do, though, especially since I'm interested in new musicals as well as the older ones that are so popular with tourists. My favourites are quite a mixed group. There's Les Mis of course, then I also appreciate Martin Guerre (same composers) and I bet I'll love Miss Saigon (yep, same composers) if I ever find a version I can import tax-free. However, I'm very much into The Fix, which believe me I would have kept running longer by buying lots of tickets if I'd been rich back in 1998. I think Avenue Q has a lot of funny songs and the premise is original too. I'm currently listening to The Boy from Oz, which I think has a lot of potential once I get into it (it certainly has a lot of Hugh Jackman in it); Bounce and Zanna, Don't! Once I followed the story of South Pacific I realised it was very sad and I get emotional every time I listen to it, but it's definitely a favourite. Another one of my all-time favourites only recently became a full-blown musical, and that is Paris. It's a kind of a rock musical, very catchy songs and a great cast on the studio recording. Recommended. Considering I like that one, I'm sure I would also appreciate We Will Rock You, Taboo and Our House (I'm a Madness fan, by the way, became one 20 years after they started out in North London. I feel like I've missed a few decades here.)

The Lord Lloyd Webber musicals are always sure winners, and that made me think about what makes a great musical tune. First of all, it has to be catchy. Not necessarily up-tempo, but something that people will recognise instantly, something they will remember when they leave the theatre. There's a connection to Eurosong tunes there. Second, it must convey feelings. You should associate the catchy song with some kind of strong emotion, be it happiness, sadness, despair, melancholy, love, even childhood memories. When it comes to songs featured in musicals, the lyrics come in second place. People from all over the world travel to Broadway or the West End in order to hear their favourite tunes; many of them understand very little English but music is universal (even though there are regional variations, all music comes from the same source.)

I may have to revise my new theory. Until then I would like to be excused, as I simply have to listen to The American Dream again. Good night!

Current track: Jonathan Pryce - The American Dream

Labels: Lloyd-Webber, music, musicals