David Porter » Entries tagged with "musicals"
The Beggar’s Opera: How One Work Feeds Many Reinventions
Like body part transplants, ideas get recycled. One 18th century play with music inspired other art forms in entertainment history, and still speaks today. On the principle that in life nothing is ever wasted, no experience is too insignificant that some creative can’t turn it into a novel, play, movie, painting or song, The Beggar’s Opera is a study in how the arts feed off each other. It also shows how later work can be far more ‘original’ than the first works. The Beggar’s Opera First hitting the London stage in 1728, John Gay’s piece was an immediate success being performed more than any other work in the whole century. It was original in the sense that it broke from contemporary Italian operatic conventions: it used dialogue and music to push plot that … Read entire article »
Filed under: Articles at Suite 101
GCSE: The Musical
Mini Mouth Youth Theatre at The Cut, Halesworth Abridged review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 12 December 2011 Full review published in the East Anglian Daily Times, 13 December 2011. After NHS The Musical, and musicals about Titanic, Thalidomide and Ofsted, the time has surely come for one about the General Certificate of Secondary Education. It comes in the form of an original piece written and directed by James Holloway, leader of the Mini Mouth Youth group at The Cut. The large open stage was a perfect setting for an energetic ensemble of thirty young to older teenagers. This group are being trained in theatre techniques and performing arts in their own time, and it is a joy to see some success stories of tomorrow learning their craft today, and mastering the discipline needed to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Reviews
Male Baldness Need Be No Barrier to Success in Life
In an age of image obsession, technology to change appearances and to fight aging, strangely, baldness can be an asset, inspiring confidence and authority. There is an entire website devoted to famous baldies, or follicularly-challenged/hair disadvantaged as political correctness would have it, which lists, among many, bald actors (John Malkovich, Yul Bryner, Patrick Stewart, Telly Savalas); African Americans (Samuel L Jackson); musicians (Sinead O’Connor, Moby, Elton John); politicians (Winston Churchill, Gorbachev); and sportspeople (Duncan Mayhew, Michael Jordan). Clearly, in no way can their lack of hair have meant any shortfall in success during their careers. Bald Men Facing Fashion Issues In the article Embrace Your Baldness in 5 Steps, AskMen UK advised fashion conscious worried balding men to “embrace their baldness.” It said that “Michael Jordan made it cool for black men and … Read entire article »
Filed under: Articles at Suite 101
Guys and Dolls
Guys and Dolls at the Maddermarket Theatre, Norwich Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 17 September 2011. Good to see the Maddermarket enthusiastically relishing the challenge of another classic musical. And they’re doing it brilliantly. Set in New York’s 1950s seedy underworld, the unlikely love between a gambler and a Salvation Army sergeant is well sustained. Every comic possibility is delivered with panache. The 3-piece band are outstanding. Director John Mangan has done a creatively, deft job, alternating locations, maintaining pace and allowing song gems like The Oldest Established, I’ll Know, A Bushel and a Peck, Take Back Your Mink, Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat and Luck Be a Lady to speak for themselves. He plays and dances a mean sidekick, clown-like character in it, too. Melissa Sampson portrays the difficult buttoned-up/falling in love role, while … Read entire article »
Filed under: Reviews