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 ...

  Last weekend, I went to the Manchester Opera House to see my favourite musical of all time- Waitress! Having seen it in London back in 2019, ( see my review here! ) I knew what to expect, but this time was even better than last.  I was fortunate enough to be able to see the incredible Lucie Jones as Jenna, for the second time, before she leaves the role at the end of the year to take on Elphaba in Wicked. In my eyes, Lucie is the best Jenna Hunterson. She plays the role effortlessly, with her outstanding acting and vocals highlighting that she really is at the top of her game. I've never seen a round of applause last as long as it did after she finished the emotional ballad 'She Used To Be Mine'.  I was very impressed by Matt Willis' portrayal of Dr Pomatter. Having seen David Hunter play the role last time, I wasn't sure what to expect from Willis, but I was very pleasantly surprised. He took the character in a different direction, taking on a more awkward and sh...