Salford

REVIEW – Wicked – UK Tour (The Lowry – Salford)

kristobel
Ashleigh Gray as Elphaba ©Matt Crockett
Ashleigh Gray as Elphaba
©Matt Crockett
Date: 4 june 2015
Upstaged Rating: 

There was a bustling, excitable crowd at The Lowry in Salford last night to catch the final leg in the UK tour of WICKED. People of all ages, seasoned theatre goers and musical newbies turned out to catch this phenomenal show which has won 100 international awards and continues to build on its popularity, casting its magical spell over audiences all over the world for over a decade.

 With a focus on Glinda and Elphaba, Wicked inverts and twists the story about the witches of Oz and in a spectacular and poignant way reveals an alternative perspective to the characters and our perception of good and evil. Glinda, forever loveable but not always ‘good’, becomes a character who is redeemed through her experience and the ‘Wicked’ Elphaba, endearing and resolute, struggles in a society where she is perceived as different.

©Matt Crockett
©Matt Crockett

Emily Tierney is outstanding as Glinda, with a ‘toss-toss’ of her hair she plays the ‘popular’ but superficial blonde who eventually stands to become the Good Witch of the North. Ashleigh Gray, steals the show as Elphaba with a warm, witty and emotional portrayal of The Wicked Witch of the West. Their pitch perfect and powerful rendition of ‘For Good’ left the audience as bewitched as the grand ‘gravity-defying’ climax at the end of the first act when Elphaba finally realises her sorcery powers.

Samuel Edwards gives an energetic and well realised performance as love interest Fiyero and Steven Pinder delivers a strong performance as the contrived and power hungry not-so-Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

©Matt Crockett
©Matt Crockett

Directed by Joe Mantello, Wicked is a theatrical feast for your eyes, ears and hearts – Stephen Schwartz’s magnificent music and lyrics are delivered with vigour by the live orchestra and energetic cast and Susan Hilferty’s exquisite and bright costume design and ensures that wherever you cast your eye about the stage there is always something to intrigue. And Eugene Lee’s lavish set design works in perfect harmony with Kenneth Posner’s striking lighting scheme.

Wicked was met with a well deserved standing ovation by the responsive and enthused Northern crowd and now that Wicked has embarked on the final flight of its UK tour – I would urge you to get your ticket and take this trip to the magical Land of Oz while you can.

-Kristy Stott

Wicked is playing at The Lowry in Salford until 25 July 2015.

REVIEW – Different is Dangerous (The Lowry)

kristobel
 
Date: 14 may 2015
Upstaged Rating: 

Different is Dangerous aims to give a unique insight into the lives of the Asian community living in Leeds. Devised and performed by Fadia Qaraman and Nyla Levy of Two’s Company, the piece aims to explore multicultural life, the challenges of ethnicity and present the voices of Asian Leeds locals.

Qaraman and Levy use a combination of fictional monologues and a technique called headphone verbatim as a means of presenting these personal stories from within the Asian community living in Leeds. The idea is that the performers each wear a set of headphones which relays an audio script to them – each actor then aims to recite this audio script not only word for word but with exact precision, capturing the nuances and speech patterns of the original interviewee. The idea is that there is as much information embedded in the way somebody speaks as the words that they actually use.

Setting is very minimalist consisting of just four chairs and Qaraman and Levy only have 2 scarfs as props, but this is the idea of this type of theatre – it is not meant to be highly visual. Both performers shift between the different characters with ease as they tackle subjects such as unprovoked attacks, relationships and politics. The two creator-performers also reveal some controversial viewpoints as well as some lighthearted and humourous conversation.

Qaraman and Levy certainly manage to keep the audience listening throughout the full 50 minute experience. And despite the performance style not being highly visual, you do still manage to get lost in the everyday voices, opinions and beliefs of the community in Leeds.

Different is Dangerous certainly succeeds in getting people to think and discuss cultural identity in Britain, raising the profile of a topic that some people still feel uncomfortable talking openly about.

-Kristy Stott

REVIEW – One Man Breaking Bad – UK Tour (The Lowry)

kristobel
image
Date: 01 March 2015
Upstaged Rating: 

Remember that feeling of loss when you reached the end of the final episode of season five of Breaking Bad? One show which had taken on a permanent place of residence in our hearts – we loved the characters, we felt like we actually knew them and we had taken them into our lives. I don’t know about you, but I really struggled when I reached the end of Breaking Bad. I tried to replace Walt with Dexter but it just wasn’t the same – I was attached to Heisenberg and Jesse Pinkman.

Well there is good news for anyone still suffering with withdrawal symptoms from the Emmy award-winning TV drama – Miles Allen, has brought his One Man Breaking Bad parody show to the UK for a full tour. Throughout the performance time of 80 minutes, Allen manages to condense all five seasons of Breaking Bad and take on the challenge of impersonating all of the lead characters,

Talented impersonator Allen uses our favourite meth head Jesse Pinkman as a narrator for the story, sticking closely to the original narrative, he manages to put his own spin on the action, using relevant cultural references to the NHS and the UK government as well as squeezing in some hilarious impressions of Peter Griffin, Homer Simpson and Gollum.

Miles Allen’s impression of Skyler is particularly entertaining – as he throws the blond synthetic wig haphazardly on to his head and dulls his voice to her low patronising tone. Allen really is a skilled performer, taking on pretty much every character in the series convincingly, as well as performing Breaking Bad dance moves (Better Call Saul and Die like Jane) and fashioning Miley Cyrus’ Wrecking Ball as a strange parody with Walt Jr taking the limelight.

The show is interactive and high energy and Allen encourages the audience to join in wherever possible – whether it be chanting key lines from the show or picking participants from the audience to re-enact the ‘pizza on the roof’ scene.

One Man Breaking Bad is a light hearted and skilled stand up show which taps into a shared love of one of the best TV shows ever made. What did confuse me, however, was the number of people who raised their hands, at the top of the show, when Miles Allen asked, “Who hasn’t watched Breaking Bad?” Aside from the mass plot spoilers, I was puzzled they they had even bought a ticket.

This show is for those people who watched, lived and loved Vince Gilligan’s Breaking Bad and in Allen’s own words it is “a love letter for all of the fans who lived through the blood, meth and tears of the greatest TV show ever made”. If this review has whet your appetite and you fancy revisiting the world of Walter White and co, One Man Breaking Bad will definitely get you your fix.

-Kristy Stott

One Man Breaking Bad continues its UK tour at The Severn Arts Centre in Shrewsbury tonight.

Further tour dates can be found here.