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Sherlock Holmes (1988)
h god, I oughtn’t to like this… This is by Leslie Bricusse, who brought us “Pickwick”, “Stop The World – I Want To Get Off” (I strongly anti-recommend that show), songs from “Doctor Doolittle” (which are awesome btw, you totally need to watch that film if you haven’t seen it), and lyrics for hire, including… Continue reading
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Shout! The Mod Musical (2000)
Postponed from last week, here’s what I think of this jukebox musical, which no doubt asserts that captures the spirit of the Swinging Sixties in London, England, with a cast of five Mod girls – “mod” = “modern”, in case you’re not enough of a face or a high number to know this – who… Continue reading
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Simply Heavenly (1957)
OK, so as you can see from the above, this was written by Langston Hughes (an actual poet, it’s based on his own work) with music by David Martin. It had a brief but successful run in New York in 1957 but flopped in London, and was revived in the “off-West End” in 2003. I… Continue reading
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Singin’ In The Rain (1983)
Hmmm. A prime example of how casual shoppers (or in my case, completist library browsers) can end up with a sub-par product: it turns out that VPL and therefore now I have the 1984 London cast recording of this show, which is short (13 tracks including the overture) and which for no obvious reason includes… Continue reading
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Some Like It Hot / Sugar (1972)
So yeah, this was turned into a musical in 1972 but its name was changed to “Sugar”. And now I’ve listened to the 1992 West End revival, where they changed the name back. Did I tell you I don’t like Tommy Steele? He’s in… this too. The songs are by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill.… Continue reading
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Songs For A New World (1995)
You ought to know Jason Robert Brown’s name by now; his major shows include this, “Parade”, “The Last 5 Years”, and “13”, and he’s also banged out a very good solo album, “Wearing Someone Else’s Clothes”. He’s been called the new Sondheim, and certainly Sarah grimaces in pretty much the same way when someone shows… Continue reading
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Songs From An Unmade Bed (2005)
This show is short – I like that – and a revue – I usually like that – and features one singer singing eighteen songs with lyrics by one guy, Mark Campbell, and music by eighteen different composers – which is interesting. The result is eighteen vignettes of single gay life in New York –… Continue reading
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A Tribute to Terry Pratchett (2015)
Gil Jaysmith – 12 March 2015 He asked them for a few minutes alone to enjoy the afternoon sun, and with a brief hug and a squeeze of the hand they left him. His hat brim was low as he settled back into the chair, surveying his garden with satisfaction. Those azaleas were still looking… Continue reading
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The Sound Of Music (1959)
1949 autobiography, 1956 Austrian movie, 1959 musical, 1965 musical movie, endless revivals since then, and right now, a 40th Anniversary two-CD soundtrack edition with bonus versions of all the songs. Argh. The plot: an Austrian governess is dispatched from the convent where she was confusing all the nuns to take care of the seven children… Continue reading
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South Pacific (1949)
The perils of movie soundtracks… My head has just been compressed to the approximate size of a walnut by the singing voice of Giorgio Tozzi, the Met opera star who sang for the character of Emile. If you’ve never heard an opera star singing “Some Enchanted Evening”, with full dynamic range and directly into both… Continue reading