The Musical Traveller

  On Saturday, I went to see the legendary jukebox musical, Mamma Mia, at the Novello Theatre in the West End. I've been a huge ABBA fan for as long as I can remember and have seen the show once before, though it must have been at least 10 years ago. The film is also one of my favourites of all time!  I was most excited about being able to see my West End hero Mazz Murray in the role of Donna Sheridan. I spent the entirety of lockdown watching Mazz sing songs from the show at various different online theatre events and I completely fell in love with her version of Donna and her voice in general. I've seen her perform once before, in Chicago as Mama Morton, but I have to say that I think Donna is Mazz's best role to date. The strength in her vocals brings about a completely different interpretation to some of ABBA's most well loved songs, and I think this is what makes the production so brilliant. Her ability to switch back and forth between vulnerability and power, espe...

For those of you who haven't seen my Instagram and TikTok, I spent last week in New York for my birthday! Whilst I was there, I got to see the Tina Turner Musical at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on Broadway and it was incredible! The story follows the inspiring journey of Tina Turner from being a young girl growing up in Tennessee to the world famous performer she is now. It explores her turbulent marriage to Ike Turner, with whom she separated from after years of physical abuse, as well as her damaged relationship with her mother, who left her as a young child. Despite the clear difficulties that Turner has had in her life, the actual performance is both light-hearted and humorous in parts yet emotional when needed.  The score is the highlight of the show, due to it consisting of some of Turner's greatest hits, along with some of her lesser known but equally powerful songs. I went into the show only knowing a small number of Tina Turner classics, such as 'River Deep Mountain ...

  On Tuesday, I was invited to the opening night of Tell Me On A Sunday at The Lowry Theatre in Manchester. I wasn’t familiar with any of the songs (bar the title track) or really what the story was about, so it was exciting to watch it completely blind. The show wasn’t like anything I’ve ever seen before, as it is a one-woman show. Jodie Prenger plays the role of Emma, an English woman living alone in New York as she experiences the trials and tribulations of love and dating. The story is told through a series of letters to her mum back at home, as well as through songs directed at characters, such as Emma’s multiple love interests, who are never seen by the audience. The venue was very intimate, which enabled the audience to really connect with Emma’s story and feel apart of it. The simplicity of the set and stage keeps all of the focus on the music and the narrative. The nature of the show meant that all of the pressure was on Jodie to express to the audience exactly what was ha...

Hi Guys! I thought that today, I would share some of my favourite musical theatre movies. I first discovered my passion for musical theatre through some of these films, and I have found that they are great to watch whilst we are all stuck inside. The soundtracks are great and they provide some much needed escapism from all the chaos that is going on in the world right now, which I think we all need sometimes!  Let me know your favourite movie musicals - especially if they aren't on the list- as I'm always on the lookout for new musicals to obsess over! Here's mine... 1. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1999) This was the first movie musical I ever saw as a kid and it holds a dear place in my heart. I used to watch it (on tape!!) at my grandparent's house and I fell in love with it. I think I must have watched it every week for about 2 years! It is definitely one of the older ones on the list and you can tell from the quality of the p...