Hi there
I've just got back from a week in Sydney. I went over there to see some shows. I saw "Disney's Beauty and the Beast - the musical", "Elvis, his revolution - the musical" and "Tina - the Tina Turner musical".
B&B had such magnificent special effects. When it started off, I thought, "Oh, no, they're using a screen background? I don't particularly like it when shows rely on a static screen background of a village or woods, etc. But, my goodness, everything soon changed and the show became spectacular! Even the background of the dark and dreadful woods became super-scary through background screen action. "Be My Guest" song was the highlight, with the full cast performing their hearts out.
I had seen Disney"s B&B many years ago in Wellington where the props were all constructed by Weta. But this Sydney production was much more lavish.
"Elvis, the Revolution" (I haven't quite got that title right) was about his story from childhood to his Las Vegas performances. Like "Mama Mia" and "Tina", the "Elvis" songs were fitted in to reflect the stage action. Not only did I love this show but I loved the audience too. Everyone had memories of Elvis and chattered away non-stop to each other, perfect strangers. I met one woman who said she used to be a milliner and had made a hat worn by Nicole Kidman for "Moulin Rouge" when the movie was being filmed in Australia. This lady insisted on taking a picture of me on the stairs of the State Theatre. The theatre is ostensibly the oldest non-stop operating theatre in the world.
I met a lady the day after seeing the Elvis musical and she said she hated the show -
"We've got better Elvis impersonators in the area where I live," she said contemptuously. "We have Elvis competitions every year. They sing every note as it should be sung, not like that bloke last night."
"But this show isn't a tribute act. It's a musical," I tried to explain. "It has a story, a plotline. It's tailored for now, for today's audiences."
"Mmmmm..." She wasn't convinced.
Then I saw "Tina". Oh, there were some parts in this musical that were so sad. And violent. This show started (like the Elvis musical) from Tina's childhood right up to all her later hits (post-Ike). The last half-hour was spectacular.
The "Tina" audience was full of "Sex and the City" sort of women who arrived in bunches, toting cocktail glasses, wine glasses, and bottles. They were tipsy when they arrived, tipsy-er when they arrived back in their seats after interval, and at their tipsiest when the show ended. At intermission, theatre staff scooted around gathering up plastic glasses and bottles from under seats.
I went to other places as well as shows. Much more about this another time. I did take the expected pictures of Sydney Harbour Bridge and The Sydney Opera House, even though I've been to Sydney quite a few times before. Somehow it feels obligatory to always take photos of these icons.
me on foyer steps in State Theatre, Sydney
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