By Imogen
Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000qry2
Available until: 16th May 2021
Sir Matthew Bourne is one of the greatest ballet choreographers and directors alive today. He has adapted many well-known stories, some ballet some not, like The Nutcracker, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Carmen (as The Car Man) and most famously of all Swan Lake to give them a more modern twist and greater relevance to the 21st century.
By Imogen
Link: https://kingsheadtheatre.com/whats-on/i-wish-my-life-were-like-a-musical
Available until: 12th May
Lots of people wish their life was more like a musical. It all looks so glamorous up there on the stage. This musical is actually more about wishing you had the life of a musical theatre star than literally wishing that you’re green all over and that a whole city thinks you’re evil and your family is dead and your boyfriend is never going to die and what if he doesn’t age and you do? I’m sure having a toyboy is a lot of fun (I’m too young to have toyboys, boys who are younger than me are so immature) but you don’t actually want them to look like your toyboy.
By Imogen
Link: https://www.stream.theatre/season/83
Available until: Livestreams on Sunday 25th at 2.30pm and 7.30pm, Monday 27th 12.20am and 7.30pm, Tuesday 28th at 12.30am.
In Pieces is a new musical with music by Joey Contreras. There is no book, just lots of songs one after another and it’s performed by lots of big West End stars.
The music is very good. If I had to say what style it is I would say some of it is similar to Dear Evan Hansen but the music doesn’t all sound the same. It is tuneful and fun and there are some sad and lyrical songs too.
By Imogen
Link: https://www.stream.theatre/season/96
Available until: Final performance Sunday 11th April at 7.30pm.
Content warning: Disenchanted! contains adult language and content. It tackles difficult subject material including misogyny, race and sexuality. It may not be suitable for people under the age of 16 who aren’t as mature as I am and parental discretion is advised.
Disenchanted! is enjoying a very short run on Stream Theatre starring some of the very best of West End female talent. It has already been seen off-Broadway but I don’t think it’s got any further than that. It’s ridiculous really. It’s a really good musical.
By Imogen
Link: https://www.stream.theatre/season/91
Available until: Livestreams at 7.30pm Monday-Friday with a matinee on Wednesday at 3pm. On Saturday there are shows at 3pm and 8pm and on Sunday it’s 2.30pm and 8pm. The final shows are on Sunday 18 April.
The Musical Theatre Academy is a drama school in London which has been named Stage School of the Year twice. Something Old, Something New is a showcase for the graduating class of 2021 but all the students feature.
By Imogen
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BseBCzOh6s
Available until: Sunday 4th April at about 7pm
Jesus Christ Superstar was one of the first musicals Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber put online for free and now he’s bringing it back to celebrate Easter. Not that Easter was exactly the best time for Jesus but there are great musicals on all sorts of weird subjects. Sir Andrew has also written musicals about cats hanging round a junk yard and trains having races with each other and that sounds so boring but they’re actually good musicals.
By Imogen
Link: https://play.wiener-staatsoper.at/event/1c3e3dee-79a9-4114-a6f9-e497c66758d9
Available until: 17th March at about 6pm
Rigoletto is about an ugly old hunchback, his adopted daughter and her really bad taste in men. He’s cute and everything but I really wouldn’t bother. I mean I’ve heard of students pretending to be dukes but dukes pretending to be students? Not in this lifetime.
By Imogen
Link: https://stream.roh.org.uk/packages/tony-and-the-young-artists/videos/tony-and-the-young-artists
Available until: 21st March 2021
Tony and the Young Artists is a concert performed in the Crush Room and the Royal Opera House. Tony is Antonio Pappano, the Music Director of the Royal Opera House. Three of the current Jette Parker Young Artists appear in this concert, soprano Alexandra Lowe, mezzo-soprano Stephanie Wake-Edwards and tenor Filipe Manu.
By Imogen
Link: https://barntheatre.org.uk/secret-society-240221
Available until: Performances every night at 7.30pm until Sunday 7th March.
The Secret Society of Leading Ladies is like a private concert just for you. The Barn Theatre has gathered together fourteen musical theatre stars, each singing a showstopping song from a hit musical. There are songs from modern classics like Waitress and Mean Girls (nothing from Six though despite having two Queens in the cast) but they’ve also got musicals like The Wizard of Oz and Fame for old people (though I quite like Fame to be fair, I saw Keith Jack in that and he is to die for.)
By Imogen
Link: https://play.wiener-staatsoper.at/event/8837b898-1fdc-4f7d-9b6e-0f6349110e20/play
Available until: Probably 20th February at about 6pm UK time. There’s another showing on the 22nd at 6pm too.
When you think about Donizetti (if you actually know who he is, you wouldn’t believe the number of idiots who don’t), you often end up thinking about the tragic opera of Lucia di Lammermoor but Donizetti actually did loads of comedies too. This is probably his most famous one though it actually isn’t performed very often. If you go to an opera-themed concert and there’s a tenor there, there is a fair chance he’ll end up singing Una furtiva langrima (some tenors seriously need to extend their repertoire but to be fair it is a beautiful aria with technical and emotional challenges) but the other arias and ensembles aren’t nearly as well known.
By Imogen
Link: https://www.romeojuliet2021.com/tickets
Available until: Performances at 7pm from Monday 16th-Saturday 27th February. Matinées on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays at 2.30pm.
If you’re one of the idiots who thinks musical theatre actors aren’t proper actors, you need to watch this production of Romeo & Juliet. Romeo is played by gorgeous Sam Tutty who was starring in the brilliant new musical Dear Evan Hansen in the West End when our entire industry got shut down.
By Imogen
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-s36InfIl0
Available until: Unknown
I hope I never have to sink this low.
I seriously hope I never have to sink half as low. It’s bad enough that my
school production has been cancelled three times and my professional
engagement. I can’t believe I’m saying this but it’s lucky I’m still young
enough to go to school. At least I don’t have to go out and get a boring job. Or
stay at home and get a boring job. That would be just too humiliating. And if I
have to do the job the main character does in this play I would die.
By Imogen
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SqpcFOchjA
Available until: 14th May
2021
I’d never even heard of Teatro Real
Madrid. If you’d asked me what it was I’d have guessed that it was the
Bernabeu, the stadium where Real Madrid play, their theatre of dreams. Spain
doesn’t exactly have a great operatic tradition. It is a very musical nation
but there aren’t many operas written in Spanish. Even the ones with a Spanish
feel like Carmen aren’t written in Spanish.
By Imogen
Link: All
I Want For Christmas Is Theatre - Thespie | Thespie
Available until: 14th
January if you booked the Extended Bundle or Christmas Day if you didn’t.
This is another great concert from
some of West End’s biggest musical theatre stars. They all sing really well and
they mostly take a lot of care with their appearance which I think is very
important.
There are a lot of Christmas concerts
with people from the West End singing Christmas songs and it is getting a bit
repetitive now but this concert included a lot of songs I haven’t heard in any
other concerts. And when they do sing one of the popular songs they always try
to do something a bit different with it. It is mostly groups rather than solo
singing so there are lots of harmony possibilities.
Link: https://www.stream.theatre/season/6 £23
Available until: Livestreams every
night at 7.30pm until 1st January 2021, plus 2.30pm matinee on Wednesdays,
Thursdays and Fridays
Christmas concerts are a great
opportunity to see some of your favourite West End singers. It’s not as good as
seeing them live. There is a good selection of singers and actors here so
there’s a good chance of seeing someone you like. They sing most of the same
Christmas songs as in the other concerts but it’s not their fault there are
only a limited number of good Christmas songs.
By Imogen
Link: Girl Power – Thespie
| Thespie
Available until: Monday 21st
December
Boys are so important to my life and
it’s so rubbish that I haven’t been out with one since March. It’s really
unfair and I don’t know why they can’t sort it out. There are some boys who
said they would kiss me but I could never go out with anyone with such a
terrible disregard for my health. It’s a vicious circle.
But girls are very important to me too
as confidantes and I have my little group and I have my role models. Seven of
my biggest role models are the girls in this concert, the Queens from Six.
Jarneia Richard-Noel (Jaye’J) plays Aragon, Millie O’Connell used to play Boleyn,
Natalie Paris plays Seymour, Alexia McIntosh (Lexi) plays Cleves, Aimie
Atkinson used to play Howard, Maiya Quansah-Breed used to play Parr, and Grace
Mouat used to cover all six roles. She’s not one of those understudies who’s
not good enough to play a leading role, she’s an understudy who’s too versatile
to play just one. (It can be a curse being versatile, I should know.) All the
other girls from Six are obviously my role models too but they’re not in
this concert.
By Imogen
Link: The
Theatre Channel Episode 3 - The Theatre Cafe
Available until: 27th
November 2021
The Theatre Channel Episode 3 focuses
on musicals which are or have at least been described as rock musicals. There
is a wide range of different songs which are sung by stars of musical theatre.
The biggest star is John Owen-Jones but there are some young cute men in it
too.
By Imogen
Link: https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/show/fiver-the-concert/#schedule £15
Available until: There are livestreams
on Saturday 28th November at 3.15pm and 7.45pm. It seems to be
available for a while after the show too so you don’t have to watch it
completely live and you can pause it.
Fiver is a great show because the star is a member
of the audience! At the start of the show, Alex James Ellison invites an
audience member onstage and grinds against them till they give him a £5 note. I
wonder how successful that is. I mean he is so hot, some people might hold out
on him all night and only admit right at the end that they don’t even have a
fiver. I mean not many people do. It’s all plastic nowadays. Cash isn’t even
legal right now in some places.
By Imogen
Link: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/surrey/performance-preparation-academy/saturday-night-fever/e-gjqdde £22
adult, £17 concession, PPA graduate £12, PPA student £5. + booking fee
Available until: This production must
be watched live. There are livestreams Thursday-Saturday at 7pm and a Saturday
matinee at 2.30pm
In some ways this musical seems so
old-fashioned. The idea that if you get pregnant you have to marry the guy or
have an abortion. There’s nothing about adoption or being a single mum or
giving it to your parents to look after. There were only 2 options, abortion or
marriage. I do think it’s good it’s basically the girl’s decision, if she won’t
get an abortion then the marriage has to happen. But I’m glad we’ve moved on
from that.
By Imogen
Link: https://www.thetheatrecafe.co.uk/livestreams/out-of-the-spotlight-into-the-darkness-episode-1
£9 for single episode or £25 for the complete 3 episode series
Available until: The Theatre Café website says N/A.
The Theatre Café have been one of the most active venues
through this annoying lockdown business. They started off by streaming concerts
from performers’ homes and more recently they’ve actually been letting the
performers into the café. The Apollo Theatre is one of the theatres that have
really tried to get up and running again. The Government messed all that up but
even though the Apollo can’t let audiences in they can’t stop the performers.
Some of this show is filmed at the Apollo and some is at the Theatre Café.
