Hello and welcome
to my new blog! So as a bit of background, I have started this blog mainly to
share my theatre exploits but, you know, bits of my life might slip through the
net.
Back in
October I became a Young Ambassador for Sheffield Theatres with the aim of
getting more young people to visit the Crucible, Lyceum and Studio that make up
Sheffield Theatres. The Live For 5 scheme they run pretty much does what it
says on the tin – anyone between the ages of 16 and 26 can get up to two
tickets for selected performances on selected dates for £5 each. That’s cheaper
than going to the cinema! Just go to the Crucible Box Office and set up a Live
For 5 account and you’re off! I would also recommend paying in cash just to
avoid the booking fee. If you’re at all interested please click here for the Sheffield Theatres website, here for the list of Live For 5 shows and here for the Live For 5 Facebook page.
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| 'Showboat' programme! |
The
Christmas musical this year at the Crucible is ‘Showboat’. I’ll admit I was sceptical
when this was first announced. I had only heard of a couple of the songs and didn’t
really know the story. But I was pleasantly surprised when the curtain rose on
the 12th of December at 7:15. You really forget how big the Crucible
stage is until you see one of these productions – it’s so immersive as well for
these big productions because you are so close to the stage. The story of
‘Showboat’ follows the floating theatre, the ‘Cotton Blossom’ and spans across
four decades. The play starts in 1880s Mississippi and mainly follows the show
boat’s captain’s daughter as she falls in love with a riverside gambler and
makes a new life in Chicago, only to come back to the boat impoverished.
However, this play is not a simple love story – the story is intrinsically
about race and portrays the exploitation and working conditions faced even
after slavery had been abolished. The themes of family and community are also
closely intertwined with this and makes the musical itself much more complex
and layered.
The singers
were also all fantastic but the two I would highlight are Emmanuel Kojo and
Gina Beck who played Joe and Magnolia respectively. Kojo started off the entire
production and his voice was brilliant – just so rich. Beck was just like a
1940s movie star and her voice blended so well with the orchestra. All in all
it was a very good production and if you can get to Sheffield to see it, I
highly recommend it! ‘Showboat’ itself runs until the 23rd of January and Live For 5 tickets have been extended for the 2nd of January, the 6th til the 9th of January and the 20th and 21st of January. And if you can’t get to Sheffield to see it live, BBC 2 is showing the 1951
film version on the 29th of December starting at 8:45.
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| Some of my next season tickets. Still got a few more to get! |
So there you
go. Please keep checking back here for more theatre news and reviews and other
random musings. I hope everyone has a happy new year!
