"A Piss Stained, Piss Poor Country . . ."

So I'm back from a busy weekend in London with considerably lighter pockets.

I managed to cram 4 shows into 3 days and all for the grand total of £94.50. Some where considerably better than others but, we'll get to that.

Firstly 4 shows for £94.50.

They weren't shit seats either. Front row, center-mid stalls and centre dress circle - not too shabby considering these seats normally range from £60 to £85.

I should have spent about £200 plus, but thanks to the miracle of days seats (and some very lovely box office people) I didn't even hit triple figures. 'MAZIN.

So for a break down.

Jersey Boys

The tale of Frankie valli and the Four Seasons. It's been on my to-view list for a while but, its a jukebox and quite frankly, there are better more original shows out there. But Phantom was sold out of cheap seats and Richard Blackwood was still in Shrek so I kinda had no option.

I got all excited cos my program listed Ryan Molloy as playing Frankie Valli, and yer know, he's pretty fuckin' awesome. But when the curtain went up, Jon from S-Club 7 appeared and made me all confused.

No preshow announcement, just a wee note in the programme - at some performances the role of Frankie Valli will be played by Jon Lee. Annoying to say the least.

Not a great deal to say about this show. Lots and lots of songs. Typical jukebox audience who think that 'cos they know the songs they're entitled to sing along.

But all in all, good. The band should deffo get a shout out 'cos they were AMAZIN. Surprisingly this was also noted by the audience who didn't rush to leave and actually stood and applauded the orchestra after the curtain call. (Aberdeen audiences take note por favor!)

Once you've seen it, you've seen it. I won't be going back but I would recommend a visit. Even while Jon from S-Club is in it. He's bloody good.

Crazy for You

Me and the new flatmate made our traditional (well, we did it last year too) trip to Regent's Park open Air theatre to see their production of Crazy for You.

The weather held out, for the most part, and the show went on. The dancing in this show was crazy, tap numbers galore (it is Gershwin after all) and PERFECT synchronisation. The set was clever and the costumes bloody gorgeous.

There's rumours of a transfer to the Novello which is awesome for a wee open air production. Probably wouldn't see this production again, just because the atmosphere of and open air show cannot be recaptured in a housed production, but you'd be missing out if you didn't give it a shot.

Betty Blue Eyes

Holy. Shit.
THIS is the standard that all new musicals should aspire to. Witty dialogue, tear jerking performances and gorgeous songs.

The fact that its closing is horrific. The fact that Mackintosh didn't pull his finger out and get a cast recording made and released earlier on in its run is fucking criminal. A sentiment shared by Sarah Lancashire, who played the female lead Joyce Summers, whom we met at stage door.

The show is charming, heartfelt and so completely joyous you walk out of it feeling that you can take on anything in life.

There is not a single bad comment I can make about this production save for the fact that each and every one of its marketing team members should be strung up. Few TV appearances, hardly any marketing outside of London and hardly any publicity surrounding the fact that Sarah Lancashire, Reece Shearsmith and Adrian Scarborough were all leads. And they weren't even stunt-casted. Each and everyone of them brought something to the show.

I can only hope that after pouring a lot of money into buying an animatronic pig, the producers give it a second chance on tour.

The Wizard of Oz

First of all, don't judge me. I love the film and have played Dorothy so I was dying to see what a professional production would look like.

Frankly, it was all a bit panto.

We got the understudy, Sophie Evans, for Dorothy who was lovely. Played the role perfectly to be honest. In fact, you can't fault the performance at all.

To blame for the gaudy spectacle are the people who decided what a 72 year old classic needed was some new songs, and that the Wicked Witch of the West needed to be sexed up a bit, and her minions needed to writhe around to a nightmarish polka number.

Fucks. Sake.

We only spent £15 on our tickets and I'm glad. If I'd have paid full price I'd have reported the Really Useful Group for theft. It wasn't memorable, it wasn't groundbreaking, it was a mess. Which is a shame, because the cast were all fantastic (except the children, who I could've done without) and really looked like they were having an ace time.