Spamalot - October 2013

Six months ago, I turned 30 and one of the presents I received was a £50 theatre voucher for use at any show playing at an ATG theatre. Obviously as I live near central London, I knew immediately it was going to be used on a West End Show. Once I went through the list, I whittled down my choice to two shows, Once and Spamalot. I ended going with the latter, firstly because I wanted it to be a show both me and my husband would enjoy and secondly, because as noted in a previous blog entry, Bonnie Langford convinced me I would enjoy it. 

I booked the tickets literally two weeks before my chosen date and ended up with amazing seats with me only having to pay an additional £7.50. Our seats were located in the stalls, in the middle of Row F! Definitely a fab present to have received when it got me seats like these. Sadly, after all the hassle we went through to get a babysitter, we ended up losing our babysitter at the last minute, meaning my husband was unable to come. Luckily for me, a friend of mine happened to be in town that weekend and was able to come along to the show with me.

Spamalot is currently playing at the Playhouse Theatre, which is located right by Embankment London Underground Station. On Fridays, the cast perform show twice in five hours, at 6pm and 9pm. I had chosen the 9pm show as I wanted to be able to meet the cast at the end of the show at the stage door, like I always do when I see a West End Show. The Playhouse Theatre is actually a really small, but gorgeous theatre. Even though we were sat in the stalls, you could tell that no matter where you sat you would have good and unobstructed view of the stage. It is definitely a great theatre for shows of less extravagance. 

The show is currently starring Les Dennis as King Arthur and Bonnie Langford as the Lady of the Lake, who are backed a small but fabulously brilliant and talented cast. As Bonnie had told me, when I had met her at London Film and Comic Con, the show really is taking the mickey out of musicals as it is full of over the top songs, but at the same time, it stays current with what is going on the world, to the point it through a reference to the new royal baby, Prince George! I am not going to give too much away as I really don't want to spoil the show as I think you should all go and see the show instead! The show is ridiculously funny, literally bordering on the line of crude and vulgar (but that depends on your sense of humour). My fave reference was to Justin Bieber and his waxwork and the characters' plan to go and melt his face off, which got a huge cheer from the audience! Some jokes did push it, with one of the cast members (and I sure this part of was improvised) joking they were going to get fired for just how dirty the joke was! But what I really loved is that the cast would giggle during the show at the jokes, whether or not it was part of the script! 

Bonnie Langford was absolutely brilliant as the Lady of the Lake. She has an amazing singing voice and brilliant comedy timing and is a fabulous dancer. Les was fantastic as King Arthur, though his dancing skills not so much! The entire cast were fantastic. All had strong voices and fantastic comedy timing! They make this show fantastic! The Voice of God, at our performance, was performed by West End legend, Michael Ball. He was so funny and he even swore, even if it was bleeped out. 

After the show, we went to the stage door and met Les, Bonnie and Adam Ellis. Due to the wigs worn, we did not spot some of the cast when they left! Adam was the first out and I told him how I thought he sounded fantastic singing like a woman, to the point that he really sounded like one! Les came out next but ended up shouting at a guy who was waiting at the stage door, who decided to insult him. It was a little scary seeing Les shout the way he did but he was very nice to those who had waited patiently and were polite to him. Though I somehow I managed to blur the photo when I took it! Bonnie came out last and as before was absolutely lovely to meet and I managed to get a better photo than I had gotten at LFCC.

Spamalot is currently available to book till February 2014, so if you get the chance, go and see the funniest show playing currently in the West End! I know I intend to go back, this time with my husband, if it is extended past that date!

Bruno Mars' Moonshine Jungle Tour - The O2 Arena, October 2013

Back in February, I booked tickets to see Bruno Mars live at The O2 Arena. The time between booking and finally seeing him really felt like it dragged on forever. So you can imagine my excitement when the day finally arrived! And typically my daughter got to come with me as my friend was unable to come!

I have to admit, while I think the choice of support act was a good one as it really did fit with Bruno's musical style, the set was just far too long at 45 minutes. I ended up being fed up and just wanting Bruno to hurry up and get on stage as I had already waited long enough from when I booked back in February!

But it ended up being worth the wait, because when he finally came on stage, he was brilliant! The show was electric and so fast moving, that it didn't feel all that long (it was around a 90mins set). He performed a good variety of his songs, from stuff from the latest album, all of his classics and even the stuff he had featured on for other artists!

It turned out, as I had found out earlier in the day, that it was Bruno's birthday that day and he was still performing despite that. So his band got the entire audience to sing Happy Birthday to him! Hearing the entire arena sing was definitely a surreal thing! Bruno even looked a little embarrassed!

Overall, this show was definitely one of the best live gigs I have been to! Bruno knows how to command a crowd without the need for big theatrics, which is not something that is easy to do these days! Even better though, was that the tickets costs much less than other concerts I have attended at The O2! Next time Bruno Mars is over in the UK touring, I definitely hope to be there!

London Film and Comic Con Winter - October 2013

London Film and Comic Con Winter replaced last year's Entertainment Media Show this year. Despite not having planned to go, due to lack of funds, the line up was too good to resist, specifically because of the huge number of Doctor Who guests that had been announced for the weekend. Plus as it fell on Matthew's birthday again, it was great excuse for a Mummy/Mattie day as he calls them.

Due to the lack of money I had, I decided to keep the number of people I met to the bare minimum and to Doctor Who guests only. So in the end, we ended up meeting Bonnie Langford, Paul McGann, Noel Clarke, Neve McIntosh and Andrew Hayden Smith. So while it ended up being a quick trip in comparison to previous conventions, it was definitely well worth it. Especially considering everyone we met wished Mattie a Happy Birthday!

Once inside, we headed straight over for my only photo shoot of the day with Noel Clarke. It had just started when we got there and as we have an extra help pass, we were in and at the front of the queue very quickly. Noel was absolutely lovely and attempted to engage Mattie in a conversation but Mattie was having none of it! It seemed Mattie was not going to be in the best today as he had been at previous conventions!

Once done with the photo shoot, we headed down towards the back of the hall where the autograph area was and immediately jumped in the queue to meet Bonnie. I have to admit, besides Dancing On Ice, I have never actually seen Bonnie in anything (though this was to change) and yet I still knew who she was! She was absolutely lovely to meet. We ended talking about the musical she currently starring in, Spamalot. I told her I was planning to coming to see it very soon and she informed she was due to leave in a few weeks (which helped a lot when I came to book). I also told her I was not a Monty Python fan and she told me it was not necessary to do so as it was more of taking the mickey out of musicals. She also told me about her mum, who like me, does not like Monty Python but had seen Spamalot 12 times! This really put my mind at ease about booking tickets (which I did a week later).

Next we went to see Paul McGann, who, as I tried to explain to Mattie, used to be the Doctor. I think Paul may have taken offence to this (in a joke sort of way) as he jokingly went on the defensive and said he was the Doctor, putting simply that once the doctor, always the doctor, which quite honestly is true! I did admit I had never seen his stint as the Doctor but that my husband had! We then went to see Noel for an autograph, who was an absolute joy to meet. We ended up chatting about his small but important role in Star Trek: Into the Darkness. I won't say how the conversation went just in case you have not seen the movie as not to spoil it for you.

We then headed over to see Neve McIntosh. She had a ridiculously long queue, longer than the crew had expected. Perhaps as she is part of the current cast of Doctor Who helped towards how many people wanted to meet her and trust me, it was worth meeting her. She was very sweet to Mattie, explaining that she had chosen to wear her human make up that day (she play Madame Vastra on the show, the green lizard alien thing, sorry cannot remember what type) and on being told it was Mattie's birthday, she sung Happy Birthday to him! Definitely one of the best guests we have ever met at a convention!

Finally, we met Andrew Hayden Smith, but only after a long wait. He had been on a lunch break and then had interviewed Noel! While waiting I was discussing with the crew and some other fans about his role Byker Grove and trying to remember the name of his character. But he was worth the wait as he was very sweet, but quieter than I expected!

It was a quick day for us, but as always there was a fab line up of guests and some absolutely brilliant cosplayers! Cannot wait for my next convention in March!