tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-281354082024-03-13T16:06:34.277+00:00MICHAEL GRAY'S ARTS BLOG"the gross and scope of my opinion ..." Hamlet I,1.Michael Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833858109753977580noreply@blogger.comBlogger1704125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28135408.post-56445132327742658492028-01-01T23:55:00.000+00:002020-04-26T23:12:49.721+01:00DON’T WATCH THIS SPACE
DON’T
WATCH THIS SPACE
As
I hinted in Goodbye to all that, I shall continue occasionally to
write for other websites when they need a reviewer – I shall try to
mention such rare appearances on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/MrMichaelGray
do
follow/friend me if you want to see those updates,
and
also to use Twitter as I did before to flag up anything that is
published
https://Michael Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833858109753977580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28135408.post-29739148516587739742020-03-20T20:43:00.000+00:002020-03-20T20:43:37.501+00:00Constellations
The
life of bees, and even theoretical physics, are increasingly familiar
tropes in fiction and the drama.
Nick
Payne’s moving miniature watches these worlds collide, and the
boy-meets-girl story [girl-meets-girl in this production] is
refracted into infinite fragments, applying arcane elements of
relativity, quantum mechanics, string theory … But you don’t even
need GCSE science to share Michael Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833858109753977580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28135408.post-48450117913084651282020-03-18T19:30:00.001+00:002021-06-30T22:41:28.822+01:00Red Skies
The opening of a new Eastern Angles tour is always an event. But this
show uniquely so – a closed-door premiere before the production is
moth-balled till next year. A real privilege, but a pleasure tinged
with sadness, to be part of a very small audience for this first and
last night.
Arthur
[Swallows and Amazons] Ransome married Trotsky’s secretary ? And
played chess with Lenin ? George [Michael Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833858109753977580noreply@blogger.com0Church Walk, Stowmarket IP14 1ET, UK52.187729 0.99609926.665694499999997 -40.312495 77.7097635 42.304693tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28135408.post-20855809719350232032018-01-01T23:30:00.000+00:002018-02-18T18:35:12.863+00:00THANK YOU
Huge
thanks to all those who’ve sent appreciations and good wishes – I am especially touched by this piece in the CTW Newsletter – and to
those organisations, professional and amateur, who have offered us
complimentary tickets with no expectation of a blog review.
As
some of you will have noticed, I am trying to see as much live
entertainment as my wallet and my wife will allow – apologies toMichael Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833858109753977580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28135408.post-41649410415807410772018-01-01T22:58:00.000+00:002018-01-03T22:58:47.389+00:00GOODBYE TO ALL THAT
GOODBYE
TO ALL THAT
01.01.2018
The
year turns, and the reviewing calendar is empty.
No
more blogs, no more double bookings, no more press night perks.
After
45 years and thousands of reviews, in print and online, it’s time
to hang up the “reviewing bag” - pens, notebooks, torch, cough
sweets, water – and put my feet up.
What
do you mean ?
In
brief, no new entries on this blogMichael Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833858109753977580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28135408.post-9958539121539050702017-12-31T23:00:00.000+00:002017-12-31T23:00:04.183+00:00TOP TEN OF 2017
TOP
TEN OF 2017
31.12.2017
Lots
of retrospectives, with critics picking their favourite treats of the
year gone by.
I’ve
not done too well in 2017, to judge by the Guardian’s choices –
several lists, including this democratic selection. Just Emma Rice’s
lovely Romantics Anonymous, and the National’s superb Follies. And
of course I was not invited to either.
But
this, my Michael Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833858109753977580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28135408.post-21009867497480276262017-12-31T17:50:00.001+00:002018-01-02T13:13:59.960+00:00A NEW YEAR CHARITY CONCERT
A
NEW YEAR CHARITY CONCERT
Essex Youth Orchestra with Essex Youth Chamber Choir
Rotary
Club of Chelmer Bridge
at Chelmsford Cathedral
30.12.17
The
EYO has been celebrating its 60th
anniversary, and this great concert enabled us to share in the
festivities.
Rotary
have been promoting these New Year concerts for some years – not
always seasonal Strauss, though I recall one Michael Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833858109753977580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28135408.post-63152410021615674992017-12-27T20:38:00.000+00:002017-12-27T20:38:22.984+00:00MUSIC FOR CHRISTMAS 2017
MUSIC
FOR CHRISTMAS 2017
Hutton
& Shenfield Choral Society at the Brentwood Centre
23.12.17
Steeped
in tradition and Christmas spirit, this musical treat heralds the
start of the festivities for many.
Accompanied
by the excellent Aurelian Symphony Orchestra, the choir gave us Rutter, of
course: his Angels’ Carol, with Lynne Creasey’s harp, and the
Shepherd’s Pipe Michael Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833858109753977580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28135408.post-51635698994484061772017-12-20T10:10:00.001+00:002017-12-21T19:54:35.593+00:00CHRISTMAS AT BLACKMORE
CHRISTMAS
AT BLACKMORE
Stondon
Singers at the Priory Church of St Laurence
19.12.17
This
year’s concert of carols – a cherished advent tradition for many
– was a fine blend of familiar favourites and fresh discoveries.
A
score of offerings, including four congregational carols. Beginning
with the much-loved We Will Rock You, and ending with a setting of
Tennyson by the Finnish Michael Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833858109753977580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28135408.post-68602753905599604912017-12-18T23:05:00.000+00:002017-12-23T14:58:26.620+00:00BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
BEAUTY
AND THE BEAST
Chichester
Youth Theatre at Chichester Festival Theatre
16.12.2017
No
compromises in this year’s Youth Theatre offering. The deeper
themes and complex emotions are fearlessly explored. And all the
professional support – music, design, choreography and more –
that makes Chichester musicals so special is devoted to the
service of these talented young performers.
ThisMichael Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833858109753977580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28135408.post-75745333057432017642017-12-17T22:59:00.000+00:002017-12-21T23:00:24.182+00:00ADMISSION ONE SHILLING
ADMISSION
ONE SHILLING
Patricia
Routledge and Piers Lane
at the Minerva, Chichester Festival Theatre
26.11.2017
As
another memorable Chichester season ends, we are reminded of the
opening show – 40 Years On. Like that show, which includes a
specific reference to “lunchtime concerts in the National Gallery”,
this exquisite entertainment includes Chamberlain’s Michael Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833858109753977580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28135408.post-24757025030317736852017-12-13T17:26:00.000+00:002017-12-14T09:07:11.505+00:00NARNIA – THE MUSICAL
NARNIA
– THE MUSICAL
at
Brentwood Theatre
12.12.17
The
much-loved C S Lewis classic is not easy to bring off on stage.
This
American version from the 80s, book by Jules Tasca, music by Thomas Tierney with lyrics by Ted Drachman, is a full-blown musical with some
pleasant tunes for all – captures the excitement of the Pevensies’
adventure, and even manages a brief Blitz frame.
Michael Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833858109753977580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28135408.post-83850589316406855872017-12-13T12:36:00.000+00:002017-12-13T12:36:27.260+00:00THE RAMAYANA
THE
RAMAYANA
The
Crick Crack Club at the British Museum
10.12.17
for Remote Goat
The
Ramayana is a vast, sprawling epic, which has come down to us in many
forms. Largely through oral traditions.
So
it is a good choice for storytelling specialists the Crick Crack
Club; their presentation is much abbreviated, and wholly absorbing.
We’re
promised a battle between good and evil, truth and Michael Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833858109753977580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28135408.post-13959016892642790412017-12-10T22:02:00.000+00:002017-12-10T22:02:15.720+00:00THE LADYKILLERS OF HUMBER DOUCY LANE
THE
LADYKILLERS OF HUMBER DOUCY LANE
Eastern
Angles at The Sir John Mills Theatre
09.12.17
Another
helping of seasonal jollity and surreal fun, this time from the pen
of Harry Long. Not a spoof on the original, he insists. Perhaps an
hommage.
Just
as hilarious, and still recognizable, but with a very different feel,
not least because the string quartet has now become a troupe of
Michael Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833858109753977580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28135408.post-80449427449046008352017-12-09T21:09:00.001+00:002017-12-09T21:09:39.884+00:00THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR – THE MUSICAL
THE
MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR – THE MUSICAL
CTW
at The Old Court Theatre
08.12.17
Shakespeare’s
problem comedy –
a star vehicle for the fat rascal -
seems to cry out for music; there’s a long roster of adaptations
from Salieri to Sullivan, Verdi to Vaughan Williams. And only a few
years ago the RSC did a musical version, not too successfully.
Peter
Jeary’s take is a very different kettle of Michael Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833858109753977580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28135408.post-24817841041140290862017-12-04T16:05:00.001+00:002017-12-04T16:05:25.196+00:00SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS
SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS
One from the Heart at the Civic Theatre Chelmsford
02.12.2017
A portentous start, with Richard Strauss, a star cloth and a flying mirror, but One from the Heart soon get into their panto stride in a show, directed by Kerris Peeling, that’s packed with comedy routines and high octane musical numbers.
The USP this year is The Man in the Mirror – not Michael Michael Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833858109753977580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28135408.post-52284665678269522372017-12-03T22:26:00.000+00:002017-12-03T22:26:30.178+00:00SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS
SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS
Mercury Theatre Colchester
for The Reviews Hub
This sparkling Snow White – Daniel Buckroyd’s fourth panto for Made in Colchester – is a delightful cocktail of glamour, glitter and good old-fashioned fun.
David Shields’ designs feature giant candles, surrounding the flown title, and later the magic mirror and the Princess’s glass coffin. There’s an Michael Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833858109753977580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28135408.post-42605446903162861842017-11-30T22:56:00.000+00:002017-11-30T22:56:53.540+00:00DAVID CHIVERS AND MARY BLANCHARD
DAVID CHIVERS AND MARY BLANCHARD
lunchtime
concert at the Cramphorn Theatre
29.11.2017
One
of my resolutions for 2018 will be to go to more lunchtime concerts.
Jumping
the gun here, for this very enjoyable selection of twentieth century
music for clarinet and piano, part of the Environ Music series
curated by Jeffery Wilson.
His
Arioso was the encore in this programme, which had two Michael Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833858109753977580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28135408.post-26572619626378797222017-11-29T21:28:00.001+00:002017-11-29T21:28:26.235+00:00THE SECRET THEATRE
THE
SECRET THEATRE
Shakespeare’s
Globe at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
24.11.2017
Like
last season’s Wonder Noir White Devil, this atmospheric production
opens in complete darkness, and the tale of deception and
surveillance is intimately lit by hand-held candles and oblique
winter daylight from the Playhouse windows.
The
design ingeniously suggests the spymaster’s trade, with built-in
Michael Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833858109753977580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28135408.post-22446240473151421732017-11-27T22:44:00.002+00:002017-11-27T22:44:31.772+00:00THE OLIVE BRANCH
THE
OLIVE
BRANCH
Harry
Christophers and The Sixteen
at Chelmsford Cathedral
25.11.2017
Their
seventeenth Choral Pilgrimage, and once again Chelmsford is lucky
enough to be on their camino.
The
programme this year is a blend of Palestrina and Poulenc, two
composers separated by more than 300 years, each writing in a very
different musical idiom. But both creators of sacred choralMichael Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833858109753977580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28135408.post-72960652993391945422017-11-24T22:44:00.000+00:002017-11-24T22:44:58.680+00:00QUIZ
QUIZ
Chichester Festival Theatre at the
Minerva
23.11.2017
“What
is truth and what is lies, what is fact and what is fable ?”
ponders the Headmaster in Daniel Evans’ first play of the season,
Alan Bennett’s Forty Years On.
The
same philosophical puzzles are posed in his last, a new piece by
James [This House] Graham.
He
gets the meta-theatricals in early, as one cast member hesitates
Michael Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833858109753977580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28135408.post-40239447456551840312017-11-22T14:53:00.000+00:002017-11-25T14:31:27.005+00:00LES MISÉRABLES
LES
MISÉRABLES
BOSSY
at Brentwood Theatre
21.11.17
A
huge challenge to fit Victor Hugo’s epic onto the tiny Brentwood
stage. BOSSY,
who have been here before, wisely choose to emphasise the human
stories rather than the wider picture.
The
barricades [anyone for tennis?] are effective, with
smoke and flashing lights from the battle beyond. Good work
from the student militants hereMichael Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833858109753977580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28135408.post-84529272394422864592017-11-20T21:52:00.002+00:002017-11-20T22:05:17.218+00:00THINGS TO COME – CHELMSFORD BALLET COMPANY’S SNOW QUEEN
THINGS
TO COME – CHELMSFORD
BALLET COMPANY’S SNOW QUEEN
Chelmsford
City of Culture ?
One
of the strongest recommendations, surely, would be that rare thing,
an amateur ballet company performing regularly to the highest of
standards.
Chelmsford
Ballet Company has been established in the City for almost seventy
years, and for 2018, they’ll be following up their successful Michael Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833858109753977580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28135408.post-89780874769069945672017-11-19T15:56:00.000+00:002017-11-19T15:56:47.624+00:00THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS
THE
DREAM OF GERONTIUS
The
Waltham Singers at Chelmsford Cathedral
18.11.17
“This
is the best of me,” -
words of Ruskin quoted by Elgar at the end of the manuscript. Andrew
Fardell and the Waltham Singers
made a
strong case in support of this assessment.
It
is a great work, both in its conception and in the forces required.
As
in their Lenten concert earlier this year, the Michael Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833858109753977580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28135408.post-59431770738427852582017-11-16T22:33:00.000+00:002017-11-16T22:33:04.379+00:00LADIES IN LAVENDER
LADIES
IN LAVENDER
Hutton
Players at Brentwood Theatre
15.11.17
A
charming period piece, with two juicy roles for the more mature
actress, two stock characters, and two cyphers for the younger
generation.
Hutton
Players – directed here by Patrick Stevens – field a fine sextet.
The Widdington sisters, set all a-flutter by one
Andrea Marowski, the
Angel, the Greek God, the Polish Michael Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833858109753977580noreply@blogger.com0