First things first: La cage aux folles (it's in French, hence the lower-case...just work with me here) FINALLY opened the other day, after six weeks of previews, basically. Seems like the reviews are mostly positive. Since I can't be bothered to link to them all and this is my favourite board, I will send you to this thread for reviews, should you want to read any.

Unfortunately I almost forgot all about it on the day, and I see I missed the newspaper reviews entirely just because I was exhausted after work. Three days of chaos at work, not exactly helped by the frustratingly slow system and the fact that I was the only one there from my team. I also missed the reviews due to my refusing to accept copies of free papers around the capital. Darn. Still, it's a principle. Wasting the forests on gossip is just horrendous behaviour and morals.

In my prudish opinion, of course. ;-)

Yet, despite being exhausted after work, I've kept up with my Whose Line watching. It's all very annoying. I got the first US season in the post yesterday and am trying to steer away from the episodes with The Proopster in them. My PVR is 33% full of episodes thanks to both Five US and Dave showing the two versions every single day.

It will pass, it will pass. (Maybe chanting that will help.)

In other news, I was asked if I was "enough old" to buy wine at the local Morrisons today.

I am 29.

I flashed her my Norwegian debit card (which is in no way proof of age over here, but it was all I had) and she probably took a good look at my white hair sprouting all over the place lately and decided she wouldn't be fired if she let me buy a couple of bottles of wine...and some rum and Bailey's. Hmm.

Maybe if I stopped drinking my hair wouldn't turn white so rapidly. Then again, where's the fun in that? Besides, I am turning 30 in a few weeks and need to drown my sorrows, after all. ;-)

There are two things I feel I have to mention:

1. The new expansion pack for The Sims 2 seems pretty cool. Then again, so was the last expansion pack, which I played constantly for 12 hours when I first got it, then put it away for no good reason other than that I had played through all the coolest parts. Electronic Arts certainly know how to make money!

2. I have very, VERY high hopes for Thank God You're Here. I know I've mentioned it not long ago, but I just have to go down that lane again. You're probably thinking "ok, she's definitely gone overboard with this improv kinda thing", but the thing is I've been a fan of improv for more than 15 years. Why on earth do you think I become overly excited about any new comedy starring Anders Hatlo and Johannes Joner? When they (read: usually Anders) forget their lines, the improv is amazing. I remember watching Minus Manus or something equivalent on NRK or...uhmmm...we probably only had NRK of the Norwegian channels back then, coming to think of it.

Not forgetting my first real memory of Tony Slattery and Mike McShane is from them performing in their own improv show in the early nineties. It's kind of embarrassing watching the old episodes of WLIIA now, when Tony seems to think he is supposed to be the star and that the North Americans are merely guest actors there to humour him. Sometimes it's even cringing watching his futile attempts at humour. If I wanted purely lavatorial comedy, I'd watch a couple of hours of the brilliant series Bottom. And I do, from time to time (after all, I'm supposed to be a huge Rik Mayall fan). Still, I have a soft spot for Mr. Slattery. I have an issue with getting rid of my old favourites, and he's among the earliest ones (I have a looong list, believe me! *checking the list* 135 people in total, actually. My, my.)

Well, a few minutes to tonight's "new" episodes of WLIIA, so I'd better post this and get offline. My last post mentioning Greg Proops got me quite a few hits through Google's blog search engine for no particular reason, so I feel I must apologise to the poor sods who visited just to find my ramblings and droolings.

But I won't.

Labels: anders hatlo, comedy, gaming, greg proops, lists, musicals, Norway, personal, philip quast, rik mayall, theatre, TV, work

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

Not sure if this is normal, but for as long as I can remember I've had flashbacks, seemingly totally unrelated to what I am doing or thinking at the time, of events in my life or dreams I have had, years and even decades previously, a bit like electric impulses which lead me to the weirdest situations (suddenly giggling while being crushed on the tube, for instance). Then again, I also experience deja vus on a weekly basis, so clearly my brain isn't functioning normally. Earlier today I had this flashback of a play I saw last year, and suddenly remembered that I'd seen Paul Hilton before seeing him in the quite extraordinary drama series True Dare Kiss. We saw him on stage in On the Third Day.

We went to the theatre last week, our first WOS outing, to see a preview of Glengarry Glen Ross. It was well-acted thanks to a strong cast and director, even though there were some hiccoughs along the way. But hey, that's what previews are for! (Or, in Anders Hatlo's case, that's what most performances are for (and I say that in the most affectionate fashion).) The evening ended with a Q&A with the cast and director, and I was rather giddy because I had completely missed the fact that Paul Freeman, of whom I have been a semi-fan for more than a decade, was going to appear in the play and also took the time to join the Q&A afterwards. In fact, the whole cast but one (Jonathan Pryce, but giving most people the benefit of the doubt (yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking, doesn't sound like I care about other people in my posts), I would guess he would have wanted to join us if he could) took the time to stay behind for about 20 minutes to discuss aspects of the play with us. I absolutely loved the fact that I had apparently backed the right horse all the way, even though I boycott horseracing because of animal cruelty (funny I should work in the betting industry, then, ahem...), because Freeman, who frequently plays the villain, turns out to be a very likeable person and stood out as being very open towards the audience (the only one, apart from the director, actually looking at the audience when answering questions) and also intelligent and with a sense of humour. I knew it!

My next venture into Theatreland will be Hairspray in late November. I am looking forward to that to such a degree that I am almost about to burst, and to top it off I am going to something which will give me even more euphoria the very next day--details to be revealed only AFTER I've been there, as otherwise I will probably jinx it. Grrr.

And more theatre, my flatmate seems to be settling in ok at the new school--she had a lot of things to read last week (which eventually turned out to be not as much as she had first thought, but still...) and lots of new stuff to get used to, so this will keep her (and me as well, to a certain extent) occupied for a long time.

Me? Reading lots of textbooks at the moment. Got a new highlighter today, thanks to the previously mentioned flatmate, and I have started using my PDA again (superb dictionary installed on the memory card) so I am raring to go! Ah, the little pleasures in life.

Labels: anders hatlo, musicals, personal, theatre

Actually, no one else really cares, but there you go.

A 18-year-old girl from Norway is officially Europe's best poker player. Yay. We sponsored the event, so I guess I'm more interested in it than most other people.

And I watched the World's Greatest Elvis or whatever tonight, just because a Norwegian was in it. And I quite ashamedly have to admit that I spontaneously shouted "YES" and started applauding when Kjell Elvis went to the finals. Thank god for that, as he was quite rubbish in last week's The Weakest Link (the poor guy speaks horrible English).

All we need now is for the Norwegian ladies to take home the soccer World Cup. Fingers crossed!

I also watched Ant and Dec's Saturday Takeaway and In It to Win It (Dale's back! He/hey!) tonight. So shoot me.

My trip to Norway was nice; I fell in love with Oslo again, and I must say it's a real treat going there when you've become used to the very noisy, crowded, dirty and run-down city of London. It was even more expensive when last I was there, though. And unfortunately for me, some of the things I bought...ok, MOST of the things I bought, in fact, are only available in Scandinavia, so I sort of had to pay through my nose. And then airport security seized my mustard! The bastards! ;-) I hadn't even considered it to be fluid, so shame on me.

The plays were very good. Arsenic and Old Lace had a quite modern take when it comes to theatricality, and it was of course great fun to see Johannes Joner and Anders Hatlo together on stage again. I still owe them a lot for prolonging my life by several years, I'm sure, after having watched Mysteriet Myrna Vep and Sound of Musvik (too) many times. Breaking the Waves had a modern feel as well, but this was much more in the same mold as the original Lars von Trier film. It got to me, and even though I know the story well, I felt quite cross there at the end, which is actually quite a feat for the actors, especially considering the fact that I was sitting at the very back of the balcony and with my shortsightedness didn't see much of their facial expressions. I had to switch seats because they had made this "interesting" set which basically obstructed the view for most of those sitting at the edge of the first few rows. So my front row seat became a back row one, not quite what I had in mind for the trip, but at least I got to see the play.

And the worst thing is that the highlight of my trip was buying a couple of DVD's I couldn't get anywhere else, and also to FINALLY make use of Torill's great Christmas present from a few years back--a gift certificate for the Oslo cinemas. So I went to see Tatt av kvinnen, a Norwegian film I'm sure they won't screen here other than in arty-farty-way-too-expensive indie cinemas, even though it may become Norway's Oscar contender for next year. I also got to spend seven hours at Gardermoen Airport, which was quite excruciatingly tedious and should not be attempted by anyone EVER! And THEN the plane didn't leave until 50 minutes after the scheduled time of take-off. Since I had checked in four hours before the plane was scheduled to leave, I was also without my quite vital nasal spray, as for some reason they didn't seem to sell anything even remotely like a nasal spray anywhere within the secured zone, so by the time of landing I thought my ear drums were going to explode. The upside was that the plane had caught some tail-wind and thus we didn't land long after the scheduled time. In addition to this, the passport control didn't take more than 5-10 minutes--the queue started moving just after the pessimistic guy behind me had hung up on his wife, complaining about "the joke of a passport control" and how his "ETA now seemed closer to 11 PM than 10". This complaint started literally a minute after getting into the queue, so not a very patient man. Then I had some luck with the luggage as it arrived one minute, tops, after I got through the passport control. And my nose was finally free! All in all a nice trip.

I would also recommend the Thon Hotel Spectrum for a budget stay in Oslo. Well-kept, good service, clean, and they had free internet access downstairs and cable in the room. I even got to see a film I hadn't seen before! Amazing!

Labels: anders hatlo, dennis storhøi, film, Norway, personal, theatre, TV

Not quite like Brideshead Revisited, for which I am grateful. But anyway, a couple of weeks ago I bought the first three series of A Country Practice on DVD and started watching it from the beginning...something which I'm afraid I hadn't done before. I know this is a great disappointment to you all, but I have obviously been lying when I've said I've seen every episode of this series before. Apparently, there is at least one, perhaps two series I missed completely, because there are people there I don't remember having seen before at all and also a few of my questions from the first time around have been answered (background stories etc.). It's a thrill watching the show again; unfortunately it will take me many years to gather all the episodes, as--basically--they haven't released more than the first three series yet, and I think there were ten or so in total.

Of course, the most important episodes are in the fourth series (read: the ones with Philip Quast in them), but I have also managed to expand my Quast collection with a few hard-to-find gems from the eighties lately and don't really feel the urge to see yet another clip of him in his late twenties right now. I watched a bit of Around the World in 80 Ways the other day and had to turn it off when he started jumping around in his yellow shorts shouting something about his 'nana. That's just disturbing.

I had an awful dream last night; it was very eventful and also very difficult to cope with once I woke up, but the funny parts were when I shouted abuse at some Swedish actors who were performing in Oslo, because I apparently thought they should "keep their filthy sense of humour in the Swedish gutter" (the actors in question were in fact mostly known for being in a popular soap/drama in the nineties (in real life), and that show was only unintentionally funny), and when I was stalking Anders Hatlo for some bizarre reason. The funny thing was that he knew I was stalking him, and didn't really bother. But when I inherited a London house from someone who had hanged themselves the dream turned very nasty indeed and I must say I'll probably remember this one for years. Dream interpreters are more than welcome to just look away, really.

In other news we went to see The Bourne Ultimatum on Monday and this is the first time I think an action film like that would be better to watch on a smaller screen. The filming was so restless and difficult to follow that I became dizzy in places and had to look away. It was definitely action-packed, though, and I loved the fact that David Strathairn was in it a lot.

I have also become the official Norwegian voice on our company's automated telephone system, so when people phone us, they will always hear my voice. Poor things! It was all very weird recording it, especially as my voice is even darker than I thought it was! I sound horrible! Help! But it's weird at the same time, as I've always been told that I sound like my mum on the phone, but she certainly doesn't sound like that! Hmmmmmmmmm...

Labels: anders hatlo, david strathairn, dreams, film, personal, philip quast, TV, work

Well, now I'm cross. Not only did my "Les Misérables" version with Gerard Depardieu and John Malkovich turn out to be the stunningly BAD English version of the brilliant series and not the French one, but today I am told that the Oslo Nye theatre has an amazing line-up in store for this autumn (Arsenic and Old Lace with Anders Hatlo and Johannes Joner and then Dennis Storhøi will turn up in Breaking the Waves) and I will be stuck here because it is way too expensive to travel to Norway. The price of the hotel room in itself would ruin the whole experience for me. Grrrr. Staying with my parents would be a cheaper option, but then the train company takes its unfair share and I have a feeling just sleeping at their place and spending the rest of my time in a different city would be a bit rude even for me. ;-)

I am going to sulk the rest of the day.

Of course...now that Evita is not showing anymore and I have heard no news about any upcoming projects with Philip Quast at the helm (or backstage or FOH, for that matter), I might possibly be able to perhaps spend my bonus (touch wood, btw, haven't had that one confirmed just yet) on a trip to Norway this autumn. Hmmmmmmmmmm...

Labels: anders hatlo, dennis storhøi, evita, film, philip quast, theatre

My birthday was celebrated downtown at an Italian restaurant (which we will probably not return to) for dinner and Garfunkel's for dessert and coffee before sauntering across the road to the Trafalgar Studios in order to see Lee Evans and (especially) Jason Isaacs in The Dumb Waiter. The one-act-play (by Harold Pinter) was very well performed. We had a laugh before the play when someone suddenly said "shh!" and people stopped chatting, expecting the two actors (who had already been on stage for quite a while) to stir and start the play, only causing the usher to begin laughing. The play didn't start for another five minutes or so.

Then we went home and I entered my room to start packing for my trip the next morning. Or I would have entered my room, if it hadn't been filled with 100 balloons. The perpetrator had to spend the next 45 minutes helping me moving them into the sitting room. It was fun, though.

Thursday was a day of waiting and travelling, basically. I eventually landed on my parents' doorstep and got to meet the new member of their family, the long-haired dachshund who had managed to turn nine months by the time I visited them. He was as ecstatic about my arrival as of seeing me every day for the next four days. Incredibly happy all the time. The other dog was also very happy to see me (he was the only one who actually knew who I was--of course, my parents know me too) but was a bit more dignified and didn't try to nibble my heels every time I went somewhere.

On Friday I got to see the town's brand new shopping centre (well, extension to the old one, that is), and it had grown to a rather amazing size, at least compared to other Norwegian shopping centres. Finally found some sheets and linen for my bed. Impossible to do that here. No DVD's of the Seks som oss series, though, so I will have to buy them online later and ship them via people in Norway. My aunt and uncle came for a visit during the evening and watched telly with us. Which was nice.

Saturday was brilliant in that I visited Oslo, which was nice, cold and smaller than I remembered, and finally met up with Torill for the first time in almost two years. We went to our...uhmm..."favourite" cafe, which had not changed much. The service was crap, the coffee was lukewarm, the furniture questionable. But hey, many a good idea has been produced there, usually followed by an even better plan. We then went on to have pizza at Peppe's Pizza, and I am pretty sure that was my last meal there. I swear they must have forgotten our pizza, because it was delivered only a couple of minutes before the pizza for the people on the table behind us, who ordered 30 minutes after us. It took them more than an hour to actually come up with the pizza, and it was barely warm by the time it arrived. We ate it, paid for it and left them an extra 5p, more as an insult than anything else.

The rest of the evening was spent at the Oslo Nye theatre, and I must say it feels good to mention that theatre again. Hopefully I will be able to re-visit it within a year or so. I went to see Fiddler on the Roof, which has very deservedly received much praise. I was a bit scared it would drag on forever--even though I secretly wanted it to--as I had a train to catch, but after three hours the curtain was lowered and we all had to leave. I was thrilled all the way through, but especially pleased to discover that Anders Hatlo and Dennis Storhøi had a long scene together. Just do a search for "La Cage" on my blog and your memory will be refreshed.

After that highlight of my trip, Sunday was a bit of a let-down at first, but then I got out of bed and went to visit my grandmother and later to my aunt and uncle for a family gathering of sorts. We spent some hours there chatting and drinking lots of coffee (only after two hours my aunt told me it was caffeine-free and I almost fell asleep that instant). And watching telly. I re-watched an episode of a documentary they showed on BBC1 a few months ago.

Monday was supposed to be another highlight of my trip, but as I woke up with a sore throat and didn't want to risk giving anyone a nice cold, I stayed at home and chatted with my mum instead, until it was time to go shopping for sweets and crisps (yes, I actually go to Norway to get proper snacks) and then have a lovely meal (fish, naturally, we were in Norway, after all) before another large number of hours waiting and travelling.

I was as secure as can be on my way to Norway, as they did everything but a full cavity search on me and my stuff, but on my way back they were a bit more relaxed. One funny thing happened, though, apart from the flamenco dancers sitting next to me in the departure lounge--as I went through the passport check, one of the police officers recognised my middle name and asked me if I was related to a certain someone who happens to be my mum's cousin and the local police commissioner. When I said yes, they both smiled and told me to say hi. It's a bit more chummy when you're a local, for some reason.

The best thing about the trip was that I was kept so busy I didn't even think about the computer games waiting for me at home.

One day I am going to earn enough money to afford going by British Airways instead of the low-price companies.

Labels: anders hatlo, animals, dennis storhøi, holiday, jason isaacs, musicals, Norway, theatre

I watched Garfield the other day, or rather Pusur, which is the Norwegian-dubbed version. According to friends and other reviewers from abroad, the film wasn't worth it. According to Norwegian friends and reviewers, the film was definitely worth it. I thought it was going to be crap, but the Norwegian reviews were right; it was hilarious! (I was trying not to be too biased, considering three of my favourites were dubbing the film, three whose names have been mentioned on this blog frequently.) So I would, once again, suggest that everyone who didn't like the film, or who hasn't seen it yet, or everyone else, really, should learn Norwegian and watch our version, because it apparently gave the original a whole new dimension.

(My server is down. Sorry.)

Current track: Some boring song on the radio.

Labels: anders hatlo, dennis storhøi, film

What a perfect title. Three stories for you this time.

The first one is about yesterday, when I discovered that Riget (that would be the original, Danish version of Kingdom Hospital; the American one I managed to avoid and will keep on doing so - it really annoys me when Hollywood has to "fix" something that isn't broken just because they think it's tedious to read subtitles) is out on DVD. I bought the two DVDs (both series) and as soon as it was dark enough (which was at around four in the afternoon; don't move here if you're used to "normal" day and night cycles, for instance if you live in southern California) I put it on. I was supposed to watch one episode only, but I just couldn't put it away and ended up with watching the whole first series; four and a half hours of the most surreal comedy horror series ever made (David Lynch, go home! Twin Peaks was mediocre compared to this!) I'm looking forward to seeing the second series this weekend (hopefully).

The second story is from earlier today, when we went for Christmas lunch at a fancier restaurant somewhere in the smart (some would rather say "posh") area of the city. It's up in the hills and the view is stunning. Usually. Thankfully I've seen it before and could visit anytime, but the poor busload of English tourists there today must have been very disappointed when they experienced the fog being so thick they could hardly see the nearest shrubbery. I felt sorry for them because I know how extraordinary that view normally is. I also felt a bit sorry for them because they treated themselves to the Christmas buffet, and I would imagine they were a bit perplexed. We were actually discussing this among ourselves, in Norwegian, saying they'd probably think the pinnekjøtt (which means "meat on a stick" - but tastes better than it sounds) would be spareribs because it looks a lot like it:

It is, however, made from lamb and therefore wouldn't taste quite as they'd expect. Plus, the garnish is different than what you'd like with your normal spareribs. We must have said "spareribs" once too many or they thought it up themselves, either way we soon heard them saying something about "the spareribs" and so decided to stop commenting on the food from there on. They looked very pleased when they were done, though, so hopefully they didn't think it was awful.

The third story is sort of a two-part one as it actually started last week. I went to see Sound of Musvik (it IS supposed to be a jocular name, not a misprint or a weird, Norwegian way of spelling "music") for the second time last Friday and apart from the fact that it was amazing and all that, I was also directly told off by one of the actors, much to my dismay and yet, at the same time, to my amusement, for not joining in. I concur wholeheartedly, but at the time I was just too embarrassed to do anything even remotely sensible. I got back at myself tonight, as I watched the masterpiece play a third time (and, quite possibly, the last, even though I really, really, REALLY would like to go to the closing night in two days); this time I joined in big time, I even sang in public, something which I haven't done since Year Six or thereabouts. Luckily the whole audience sang, otherwise I wouldn't have. In addition, they both lost track of the plot completely and didn't seem to want to get back to it anytime soon, and I cannot stress this enough: The audience loves this kind of abruption to a comedy. In other words, don't fret if you actually forget your lines, don't run off stage crying or something, because we would most likely love you even more afterwards. The downside to tonight's performance is that it was the last I'll ever see of it. If I hadn't had all that studying thing going on these past few months I would've gone more often; I mean, I've waited for this opportunity to see the two of them working together on such a play for seven years and when it finally happens, the run is much too short and I have too much to do. The annoying bit is that I seriously feel down when I know I'll never see one particular play or show again, and there really is no reason to feel that way, as I know perfectly well it's not the end of the world, especially since I've actually seen it and won't be kicking myself for years on end for missing the entire run (did I hear someone shouting Mysteriet Myrna Vep in the back there?) - silly girl.

All in all, this last year has been supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (sorry, watched Mary Poppins the other day) theatre-wise and I've had such a jolly time I'm having trouble seeing it getting any better than this. Actually, I think I shouldn't live in a city where they've got theatres and brilliant actors...which would rule out most larger cities in the world. It gives me a headache just thinking about all the great plays I'm going to see in the future. Hopefully some of them will be my own.

Current track: Tom & Mick - Somebody's Taken Maria Away (quite fittingly, coming to think of it)

Labels: anders hatlo, Christmas, food, musicals, personal, theatre, TV

If you ever wondered what happened to the von Trapp family after The Sound of Music you should learn Norwegian ASAP and get a ticket for Sound of Musvik at Centralteatret in Oslo. I am very biased when it comes to this one, but trying not to be I have to say that this show will probably be even more fun to watch in a month's time, when they've perfected the quick costume changes. Because yesterday...well, it didn't work. Too many dead spots. On the plus side: The rest. ;-) Especially when they completely lost track of everything that resembled a plot and started interacting with the audience. I want more of this!!! Fans of Norwegian popular music will love this show.

The weirdest thing happened, though. I bought my ticket last week. I then finally managed to persuade a friend of mine to join me yesterday (she decided after the first act that we need to see the show again, by the way), so she bought a last-minute ticket. I said it didn't matter because the seats were unspecified. Well, turned out they weren't. However - we'd got seats right next to each other! What are the odds? Spooky...

Well, I'd like to thank the creators/performers of Musvik for prolonging my life and giving me a very tired jaw already 15 minutes into the show from laughing so hard - AND for bringing a few elements from Mysteriet Myrna Vep into this...ahh, the memories...

I shall return at a few later dates.

Current track: Nothing.

Labels: anders hatlo, musicals, theatre

I'm just too daft sometimes. I bought A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (the film from 1966) a few months ago but didn't put it into the DVD player until today at around breakfast time. About two minutes into the film I thought "so that's what Michael Crawford looked like when he was younger...but...haven't I seen that guy before?" He looked a lot like the guy from Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em - a comedy series I know because my mother thinks it's funny. Personally, it's too much slapstick for me, but it ran for five series so it must have been a hit back in the mid-seventies. Anyway, I just had to turn on my computer to check IMDb, and turns out I was right; he did indeed play the protagonist of that series. How did I miss that completely when I taped a few episodes for my mother a couple of years ago? I mean, I always read all the credits on everything I watch!

Also, the first reviews of Sound of Musvik are out; I read the one written by Mona Levin and she didn't quite like it, as usual. I wonder if that woman ever enjoys anything in her life. AND I can't believe they let her write the book about Oslo Nye Teater for its 75th anniversary this year; she can't write (I'm not just speaking about her spelling; that's not half bad, but more about the fact that she writes very plainly) and it's probably filled with miserable stuff. Unfortunately (for all of us) she is one of those reviewers that make my theory even more firm: Most reviewers are just failed actors/directors/producers/writers/musicians/artists and want to get revenge on the scene that "unjustly ignored them" because they had no talent. Why on earth don't they just get another profession? Why does everyone have to be so damn negative all the time; it's like other people's happiness should be squashed at every opportunity.


Maria (right) and her vicious, lesbian twin sister Marina.
Photo: Bent Are Iversen, Aftenposten

I'm going to see Sound of Musvik next week no matter what. AND I know I'm going to love it. I don't care if Levin is actually right (for once) - that the story isn't too consistent. The fun part of that play is to watch them change costumes like a whirlwind and then lose track of the next (ten) lines. It's supposed to be fun, for God's sake! Loosen up a little, Levin; you may actually end up enjoying something sometime!

Or...is this a revenge for Mysteriet Myrna Vep when they made a gag about her; I'm pretty sure it was Hatlo that said to Joner that he had to be more professional and get back to the script or else he'd make sure Mona Levin would review the play! Aha!

I think I'm going to start calling her Sylvia. Regular theatre-goers probably understand why.

Current track: Armand van Helden - My My My (my current favourite)

Labels: anders hatlo, comedy, musicals, personal, theatre, TV

Right, so the only copy of the magnificent Mysteriet Myrna Vep among my circle of friends has gone missing. This is a bit of a crisis, because old saggy-arsed NRK TV takes about ten years to make a request come through, by which time even the American embassy has moved house and I will be dead from impatience. I'm probably the only one asking them to repeat the incredible show, even though it had a huge cult following back in 1996 when they did a sold-out run at the Centralteatret (yes, part of Oslo Nye, let's not go there.) As far as I know, they even sold backstage tickets back then. So I'm devastated (although not very surprised) that the nearly worn-out copy has gone AWOL, and so I'm putting out a general request: If anyone's got a copy, I will personally pay heaps of money for it, make a few DVD copies and even be willing to go to gaol for it; because it'd be worth it. And, let's face it, Norwegian prisons are a laugh, really.

However, all is not lost. Due to exceptionally low media coverage and the fact that I have no contacts within the business whatsoever, I did not know about this until a couple of weeks ago, but they're going to put up an all-new "musical" at the very same theatre starring the very same actors (Anders Hatlo and Johannes Joner), partly written by them and partly by the terrific Are Kalvø (I listen to him on the radio every week) and directed by the very same director (Bjørn Sæter - lots of strange letters there) and there's absolutely no way I'll be able to stay away from there. It's called Sound of Musvik and will be a continuance to the story about the Von Trapp family (I used to hate The Sound of Music, because I hated musicals in general; why no one sent me to a shrink I do not know; I love it now and have also become an avid follower of all sorts of musical productions these past two years (damn Les Misérables and Philip Quast, that's where my interest in theatre in general started, and I don't really mean "damn", naturally).) I digress.

For some reason I have this sneaking suspicion, though, that my interest in theatre actually began with Mysteriet Myrna Vep (yes, that would be "Irma Vep" in English...) back in December 1997 when they showed it on telly, and was reawakened in 2000 when I went to see The Rocky Horror Show at the same theatre. I don't know why the interest was dormant for so long, but it's gone haywire now, as if to make up for so much lost time. *shrugs*

Is there a point to all this? Ermm...right, yes, something about booking tickets before they're all sold out.

Current track: Erasure - I Love Saturday (JX Mix)

Labels: anders hatlo, comedy, music, philip quast, radio, theatre, TV

An era that lasted for five months. *laughs* That was the last time I went to see La Cage aux Folles; I have seen more than 10% of the performances and I doubt that I will be this obsessed with any show again in the near future.

No one (really) messed up today, so that was a bit of an anti-climax, but at the same time Morten Rudå seemed to have become much more at ease since Tuesday (which I am pretty sure was his first time as Albin this time around, as Dennis Storhøi played that part last Saturday (not that I was there last Saturday)), and everyone looked like they were having fun. Anders Hatlo spilled some tea on me, so I suppose I should be happy with that. *winks*

We never got around to eating anything, though, so I am quite hungry by now and I've hardly got any food in the house. I feel like pizza, but I haven't got enough cash. Yes, this is as interesting as my post-La Cage-life will be. From now on I shall only write about what I didn't have for dinner. That'll teach you. *smiles*

Current track: A strange mix of several showtunes

Labels: anders hatlo, dennis storhøi, humour, musicals, personal, theatre

This whole day at work has been...blech. We did close to nothing up until lunchtime. After lunch we did absolutely nothing. Except solving crossword puzzles, imagining our near-infamous "what if"-scenarios (like, "what would you have done if your partner suddenly decided to quit their job, become a nude photographer and build a studio in your basement?" - although lately they've become very dull and even more bizarre than usual.) Then, to top it off, the boss came back to argue about our wages (again) and we left for our holiday an hour later, extremely mad at him.

When I got back home there were six musical CDs waiting for me (the ones I ordered from Amazon a few weeks ago) - well, I had to pick them up at the post office, so I walked there. In the rain. But I needed a medium-long walk. Even in the rain.

Tomorrow's the last performance of La Cage aux Folles and thank Bob for that. They're going out with a bang (hopefully); Morten Rudå will be playing Albin quite brilliantly and we're hoping for Anders Hatlo to forget his lines because he's perfect at adlibbing and we're sitting in our front row seats and waiting to be entertained in the most fabulous way. I will be flirting with all the dancers. And I'll vow not to return to that theatre for at least a couple of months. Which is quite a feat considering this past half-year. Nationaltheatret will be seeing more of me soon, though. *winks*

Why do I have a feeling this summer will be exceedingly dull (for me, that is)?

God bedring, Dennis Storhøi!

Current track: Trying to decide which of the CDs to put on

Labels: anders hatlo, dennis storhøi, musicals, online shopping, personal, theatre

There's ABSOLUTELY no reason for my putting that title on this post, except that it's a FABULOUS one.

Today's performance was a completely new one, as the whole thing started with The Dreaded Announcement For Any Long-Distance Traveller: "Morten Rudå will be playing Albin and Hans Marius Hoff Mittet will be playing Jacob due to sudden illness." Luckily, I'm not a long-distance traveller, and I've been kind of toying with the idea of seeing Rudå and Mittet doing other parts, except for the fact that that of course would mean that either of the two gentlemen Hatlo and Storhøi had to be ill. Turned out Rudå was as good as I had expected, even better, and that we all had a jolly good time. Get well soon, Dennis, hope to see you again this week, and if not then take care and have a nice summer!

This is, however, the Dreaded Announcement for me whenever I go to see a play abroad. I usually go just to see that particular play, and usually just to see that particular actor (whomever that is.) Most of those plays turn out to be very good anyway and I often notice other brilliant actors during the performance. It's still not quite the same without that particular actor appearing in the play as announced. Not when you've paid through the nose to get there. Of course, that's a rather selfish thought. A perfectly natural thought, but a selfish one nonetheless. Touch wood, it hasn't happened to me yet. I'm still very nervous every time I go to London to see a play. Other people would worry about the flight or something. I worry about a play. *laughs*

Current track: My neighbour's telly. If anyone has a spare flat to sell, please contact me.

Labels: anders hatlo, dennis storhøi, musicals, theatre

Wednesday: Went to a concert at the Concert Hall, featuring Tommy Körberg, Lisa Stokke, Mia Gundersen and Jørn Hoel singing The Beatles and ABBA. Brilliant! Tommy apparently was in a very good mood (let's just say it's quite obvious that he loves music), and Lisa was as beaming as ever. Mia looked like she was having lots of fun as well (even forgot to start singing at one point because she was concentrating on listening to the huge orchestra behind her), but Jørn I hardly saw at all (due to a man sitting in front of me). Anyway, that's the third concert featuring Tommy Körberg that I've been to this year, and I just admire him more and more. His voice gives me goosebumps. Really. Wow.

Thursday: My fourth visit to Oslo Nye Teater in order to see La Cage aux Folles. One of the dancers was missing from most of the routines. Anders Hatlo did not mix up his lines. I got some toast on me, but no saliva. ;-) Anyway, I actually couldn't watch the I am what I am bit at the end of act I this time around. Too emotional. It's chilling how much that scene gets to me. I actually managed to bruise my hand during the curtain calls because of all the applauding (I felt I had to applaud even harder than usual because people apparently didn't want to give them a standing ovation (we eventually did).) All in all, just one word sums up the evening: Wow.

Today: Went for a walk downtown again, after work. Visited the Vigeland Park for the first time. *embarrassed* Very cold out, but I survived. Obviously.

Tomorrow: Looking forward to My Family being back on telly. Will be warming up with Citizen Smith. Would like to go for a walk downtown, but I'm running out of places to go, and somehow it seems as if I just have to end up by the stage door of Oslo Nye Teater. *raises eyebrows*

Current track: Denis Leary - Asshole

Labels: anders hatlo, comedy, concert, music, musicals, theatre, TV

Spotted one celeb today, during an extended walk in downtown Oslo. Very frustrating that my theory on how extremely easy it is to see any celebrities in this city was close to being wrecked, but minutes before I ended the walk I passed one of the actors from (yep, you guessed it...) La Cage. Bought another ticket, by the way. I am now officially hooked on that musical.

On my walk around unknown parts of Oslo I noticed this street which had three or four erotica shops and two Bible outlets. LOL! And to those middle-aged men trying not to look conspicuous as they're hiding behind a slim lamppost - just get a grip. We all know what you're there for, just get into that shop and buy whatever it is you want and get on with your life. Puh-leeze!

I've started watching, or rather listening to the commercials on telly again. I used to know them by heart, about eight years ago, but then I started zapping during the commercial breaks. Now that I've been made aware of the increasing number of well-known actors doing voice-overs for commercials, I've started a sort of a competition with myself. Pointless, really, as I won't get the correct answers unless I approach the actors in question, but it's fun for now. Keeps me seated for hours on end. :-)

Have a day! Any day!

Current track: Zip, nada, zilch.

Labels: anders hatlo, musicals, theatre, TV

I'm just too easy to please. I've had a great birthday, doing more or less nothing. I've done half of my dishes (it's a huge project, doing the dishes; I need at least one intermission), I had two phone calls from family and I may have some presents waiting for me in my postbox. Watched Riding in Cars with Boys for the third time. The only embarrassing thing happening today was the pilot episode of Coupling US. I mean, for Bob's sake, the original, British, BBC version is one of my favourite TV series, but nooo, that's not good enough for the Americans, is it? They have to make their own, more boring version. I know, I know, they've got the same writer and some of the same producers, but the actors didn't work out very well. Or at all. Now, about the American remake of The Office...

More highlights of the day: Anders Hatlo and Johannes Joner appeared on a quiz show, and then, very surprisingly and completely unannounced, Dennis Storhøi in a short interview about the new series. Woo-hoo and wa-hey the lads!!!

I'm off to watch Door to Door. Bill Macy and Helen Mirren and lots of awards mean this film is great. See ya!

Current track: Girls Aloud - Jump (For My Love)

Labels: anders hatlo, comedy, dennis storhøi, film, personal, TV

The downside of going to the theatre is that I get this immense kick out of it, it feels like I'm untouchable and that I have found my purpose in life. Unfortunately, when I come down from this high I become more depressed than ever and persuade myself that I'll never make it and that I may as well give up right now.

What brought this on? I just got back from seeing La cage aux folles at Oslo Nye Teater. It's great. It's wonderful. I feel as if I'm in love. I probably am. In love with the stage, once again - that part really annoys me. Either do something about that ache or forget about the whole thing. Don't just dabble somewhere in the middle. Anyway, the musical was fantastic, we laughed a lot and the actors and dancers were brilliant. Dennis Storhøi was extremely charming as the perfect drama queen and Anders Hatlo was great to watch as the club owner Pierre.

I'm not sure if we spotted any slip-ups. Must get back to you on that. I remember seeing Charly's Aunt about ten years ago; they spent 15 minutes going completely improv, with one of the actors laughing so much he spent most of those 15 minutes with his back facing the audience. We were all in tears by the end of the show.

Current track: None.

Labels: anders hatlo, dennis storhøi, musicals, theatre